Ok, I'm not the fastest man in the world precisely. But I came across a handy tool that made me improve my times by almost 2 seconds a lap. Wanna know what it is?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCmJ3Ugmrro

It's an extract from a recent Top Gear episode. On the video, Sir Jackie Stewart (Three times Formula 1 champion) teaches James May (the slowest driver on the show) some important principles about competitive driving, while testing a TVR on a track. It's a master driving lesson I'd give ANYTHING to have for myself. At the end of the day, James May's time around the track got a massive chop. So did my times around Blackwood on the XFG... Stewart gives some great examples about smooth driving and proper corner exit.

Take a good look at the video, it helped me a LOT! And I'm pretty sure it will help you improve too.

Good luck!

Cool movie, but there is one thing that wont let me sleep. Why exit of the turn is the most important part of getting good times?

Exactly. If you brake too early and enter too slow, that only hurts you in the first half corner itself(simply put). Say you go 5km/h too slow for 2 secs, that's like 1 car-length or so.

If you get on the throttle too late and exit 5km/h too slow, it hurts you during the second half of the corner AND the whole straight that follows. That quickly adds up to 5+ car-lenghts, depending on how long the straight is.

If the corner is very short and the straight that follows is very long, it's usually better to go a little slower through the corner so you're able to accelerate sooner and exit faster.

If the corner is very long and the following straight is very short, it's usually better to go faster through the corner and get on the throttle a little later.

Quote from Jeremy Clarkson :

"She" is a "he"

loved that bit of the episode

I started doing that advice *before it was described by Jackie Stewart* and it really does help, I was able to shed times off my pb, and save tyres for another couple of laps.

I lked that, thanks for sharing
Now about my times ....................

Quote from BigDave2967 :

I started doing that advice *before it was described by Jackie Stewart* and it really does help, I was able to shed times off my pb, and save tyres for another couple of laps.

In fact, most quick guys (if not all of them) handle these principles of racing like the ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.

That's why I posted them on this forum, because slower (like me) or new guys (like most who drop around here) will make good use of them.

nice video! gets the mind going...

yeah i enjoyed that episode of top gear alot i remeber i was watching best motoring a few years ago when i 1st started playing lfs.. and one of the drivers were giving the same racing tips and they helped me improved immensly.

oh cool that helps a hell of alot all i need now is a wheel and a set o pedals...and S2 if im lucky im gonna get it in a few mins..

Argggg, these google video, putfile, and you tube movies drive me crazy. I'm on dialup at home, so can't watch them. And at work where I usually download the vids and stuff, I don't have sound and a really crappy onboard 2d graphics. Is there any way to get these videos to take home and watch them?

USB pen drive

http://keepvid.com/ + some kind of USB storage?

edit: should have read the previous replies

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Because getting on the throttle as early as possible on the exit means you're going to go faster down the following straight, so you'll gain even more time.

I didn't know Jackie Stewart was still so fast. Pretty amazing stuff. He should be racing that GP Masters series and embarrassing Mansell

I'd love to see Jackie Stewart race Sir Jack Brabham would be a very special event. Two champions that know how to race and how to show respect

Well the most useful part of this entire video that Jackie Stewart repeatedly mentioned (a good thing), was about how your corner exits should be... and finding the confidence and knowledge of when to push the gas and stay on the gas without adjusting it on exit. That is definitely key to a fast lap in any car :up:

this video is wrong, the throttle can be applied and then taken off (but not fully)

there is a thing called 'beyond smoothness' which means pushing the car beyond the limit and coming back, ayrton senna did it using the throttle, and schumi does it using the steering wheel.

being smooth is a kind of 'cheat' to becoming pretty fast with no feel for what the car is doing, the last few tenths or hundreths are down to feel and 'beyond smoothness'

its very hard to understand! but true.

This is why, if one'd (have) watch(ed) Senna's telemetry you would have seen his throttle in constant (very quick) "tapping" motion, and M. Schumacher's steering wheel doing the correcting instead of Senna's throttle pedal. I think this was covered in ITV's 2006 Brazil F1 GP broadcast quite well (at least, that's where I got the info from, so sue them, not me if it's wrong )

I've seen lots of people, both in real life and in LFS who jab at the throttle wildly, upsetting the car, and causing no end of stability and traction problems.

When I point out to them that they should be smoother on the throttle (and indeed all the controls) they just tell me they are copying Senna. What they forget is that Senna is one of the all time greatest drivers, and they are numpties in a car. Unless, and I mean UNLESS, you are a driving God it's going to be a far easier, quicker and more professional looking drive being as smooth as possible.

Edit: Do not do the classic "I've got to be totally smooth" thing with this advice, and then forget to push the car and yourself. Remain smooth, but to be quick you need to be as smooth as possible whilst at the limit. Any granny can be smooth, but smoothness in itself isn't necessarily quick.

definatly! like i say, being smooth is the cheat way to becoming very fast! look at jenson button, hes only a few tenths slower than the likes of schumi but all that extra feel and skill only boils down to those extra few tenths!

Quote from ayrton senna 87 :

this video is wrong, the throttle can be applied and then taken off (but not fully)

i can picture the convo
"no jackie (one of the worlds greatest racing car drivers) you're wrong to tell a complete novice that. ayrton never drove like that" lmao, that's cracks me up every time i read it lol

come on dude, you have to admit that it was a pretty good job from Mr Stewart to teach May that ammount in only one day

to get an idea of mays driving skills, remeber the episode with the caravans?

Quote from ayrton senna 87 :

this video is wrong, the throttle can be applied and then taken off (but not fully)

there is a thing called 'beyond smoothness' which means pushing the car beyond the limit and coming back, ayrton senna did it using the throttle, and schumi does it using the steering wheel.

being smooth is a kind of 'cheat' to becoming pretty fast with no feel for what the car is doing, the last few tenths or hundreths are down to feel and 'beyond smoothness'

its very hard to understand! but true.

I'm a huge Ayrton Senna fan too (In fact, I went to the 2006 Brazilian GP and paid my respects to the man at the Morumbi graveyard after the race) but suggesting that Jackie is wrong because he didn't explain the Senna approach to the throttle is just nuts. The guy is teaching a rookie for Christ's sake. Gotta learn to crawl before you learn to walk, don't you?

Different techniques for different people. Alain Prost was smoother than Ayrton, and sure didn't hurt him, right?

...Or maybe you know a thing or two more than the 3 times WDC Jackie Stewart.

The best piece of advice for me was when he pushed Captain Slow quickly and then slowly and descibed how the car takes time to take the inputs as well. It's definitely true for the road cars in LFS especially....

lol u idiots, im just saying that its faster to be beyond the limit.
prost was slower than senna

Quote from tristancliffe :

I've seen lots of people, both in real life and in LFS who jab at the throttle wildly, upsetting the car, and causing no end of stability and traction problems.

When I point out to them that they should be smoother on the throttle (and indeed all the controls) they just tell me they are copying Senna. What they forget is that Senna is one of the all time greatest drivers, and they are numpties in a car. Unless, and I mean UNLESS, you are a driving God it's going to be a far easier, quicker and more professional looking drive being as smooth as possible.

Edit: Do not do the classic "I've got to be totally smooth" thing with this advice, and then forget to push the car and yourself. Remain smooth, but to be quick you need to be as smooth as possible whilst at the limit. Any granny can be smooth, but smoothness in itself isn't necessarily quick.

I agree. I did Knockhill a few weeks ago, where I was undergoing an Driving Experience on driving the SEAT, and a Formula Single Seater. When I was in the SEAT, the first lap, with the instructor felt really smooth around the corners, compared to being rough, on controls and throttles/braking.

During the 2nd lap of the first corner, I was a bit rough, by pushing too hard, and the punishment was running wide on the corner, and screeching the tyres a little. Just showed myself a clear example of smooth driving compared to roughness, by making my own mistake in that corner by changing style of driving.