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There was a joke in F1 many years ago that one of the top racers of the time (forgot who) found a winning edge from LFB: He convinced his main rivals to adopt the technique!
Well, 2-3 years ago I first tried LFB on a sim (Rfactor 2), and within 2 hours I was faster than right foot braking on same car and same track. So I tried it with a different sim (iRacing), and I was faster or same with LFB as with normal braking. And I never used LFB before that. So there probably is something to it.
So I tried it in real life, and did not get any improvement. But I think it's mostly because in real life g-forces and seating position interfere and make it more tricky - my back starts to hurt from being twisted to the right, dead pedal is too far from brake pedal, etc. I do believe that with practice LFB is indeed faster. But realistically, in my current point in life and driving skill, I'd probably get a bigger improvement from extra 30 minutes of sleep before a track day than from working on this skill.
Well, 2-3 years ago I first tried LFB on a sim (Rfactor 2), and within 2 hours I was faster . . . .
So I tried it in real life, and did not get any improvement. . . .
A very good (at least I thought) racing coach/performance driving instructor I once had the luck to listen to, suggested to me that a large element of "performance driving" &/or racing was elimination of as many opportunities of making a mistake as possible, e.g. missing a shift, or shifting in the wrong place or time, foot slipping off the brake etc. His analysis of LFB I believe would have been, unless you are very good and comfortable with it, it's a bad technique to make a mistake with, and when you're (well me for sure) first trying to learn or use it, . . . . . . lots of mistakes, from over braking (no good left foot sensitivity etc.) to messing up and confusing pedals, which depending on where, when and who one is on the track with can come close to courting disaster. Kudos to all those out there who are LFB Masters of the Universe. To the rest, . . . . my two cents is, "Proceed with caution." The two pedal PDK setup certainly makes it a lot easier to try the technique out.
^ A PCA national champion club racer told me that one of the keys to winning races is "minimizing the number of fk-ups per lap."
Regarding LFB, a distinction should probably be made between doing it to (a) minimize the transition time between brakes and throttle (which seems to be what Rohrl is doing) vs (b) applying brakes while still on the throttle. Arguments can be made to justify both approaches, but I personally have never tried LFB, since I find RFB challenging enough as it is.
It seems to me I was faster with the regular comfort suspension setting - could also be the minimal fuel I had one board.
Our tach is fairly technical and man I could have used a shift light. The revs come up so fast that it actually takes some serious mental attention not to redline. I can see what AP was getting at.
It could be cool if we could retrofit shift lights on our GT3.
On the LFB issue, I have always raced with leftfoot braking (F3, blancpain, Frenault), however, my race car does not have a hydraulic brake so my initial hit is around 120+ bars. I find it more difficult to use left foot braking when its a normal car (brake pedal very soft)
GoPro bumper cam video with HLT data overlay! A solution to the terrible audio is in the works for next time
Your lines look ok so it's hard to tell where time is lost. As a frame of reference we were just there for the SCCA majors and our best in the spec racer fords were in the 1:32-1:33 range. In stock configuration the gt3 should be around 4-5 seconds a lap quicker so a well driven gt3 should be 1:27ish if the lap times at other tracks are any comparison. So that gives you a time reference although be careful. Pacific is not a friendly track for mistakes! You seem to have mastered HLT which is pretty cool!
Update- quick check of lap records and the 1:27ish is maybe a little aggressive, more like 1:29ish. Time trial records in cars with similar hp/ weight is around that time.
Thanks for the feedback montoya! It was only my second day ever at Pacific so working on getting up to speed cautiously... definitely not a place you want to get something very wrong! 1:29 sounds like a good target time for a racer going 10/10ths in the GT3. I'm hoping to clean up my line enough for 1:31 or so as an amateur
Some footage of my last track day at the Nurburgring GP (tourist drive)
My car is stock, except for brake pads (Pagid RS29). No setup. Fuel tank at least 1/2.
Others GT3 are also stock. TC/ESP for everybody!
05-25-2015, 11:30 PM
