{"id":41678,"date":"2017-07-07T06:36:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T13:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=41678"},"modified":"2017-07-07T06:36:34","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T13:36:34","slug":"unlocking-the-secrets-of-qualifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/unlocking-the-secrets-of-qualifying\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlocking the Secrets of Qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Unlocking<\/p>\n

What is it that gives certain drivers a distinct advantage when it comes time to lay down one quick lap? Some drivers have an obvious edge here, whereas others simply don\u2019t – and those who can\u2019t cut the mustard have to work extra hard during the race to compensate. It\u2019s not easy to find that little extra in one\u2019s own ability, since it requires treading into an area of performance which make most drivers slightly uncomfortable. However, it\u2019s not just boldness, grit or bravery that a quick driver needs to secure the frontmost position on the grid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Psychology<\/b><\/p>\n

Getting into the state of mind necessary for a quick lap requires different approaches for different temperaments. I remember one jovial instructor suggesting I envision a girl I liked the look of before heading out onto track. \u201cI remembered my best friend’s older sister. It worked for me,\u201d he said with a shrug of his shoulders. Fueled by Red Bull and concentrating on that one redhead with whom I’d shared eighth grade English, I went out confident I\u2019d snag pole position. I bit my lip and hoped that my instructor\u2019s advice would stir some sort of beast within. It didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to try and remember that qualifying is a high-speed game of connect the dots. Obviously, sheer exuberance is not going to get a driver too far, since locked brakes and massive handfuls of opposite lock aren\u2019t the best way to progress forward. What a driver needs to do is \u201chit their marks,\u201d as some like to say. Others use the term \u201cringing the bells,\u201d which, though describing something slightly different, amounts to basically the same thing. In other words, a driver needs to get the turn-in points, apexes and braking distances millimeter-perfect before trying to extract the extra 10% courage and a heightened sense of awareness can offer.<\/p>\n

\"Unlocking
A quick catnap can help clear the head prior to qualifying, when a premium is put on concentration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fortunately, there is a semi-methodical approach to racing for the drivers who can\u2019t drive on adrenaline alone. Once a driver gets an idea of their lines and the places their car should occupy on-track, they can nibble away at the lap time: squeezing the brake pedal a few feet later, releasing that pedal a few feet earlier, taking bigger chunks of curb when possible and applying that throttle just a fraction of a second earlier than the brain suggests. Since it\u2019s easy to overcook a qualifying attempt, it pays dividends to work up gradually to these points rather than going banzai on the first lap.<\/p>\n

\"Unlocking<\/p>\n

After donning the helmet, the driver needs to be completely concentrated. Those who manage this the best seem to be slightly aloof and self-contained when they pull their visors down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Getting the Right Ingredients <\/b><\/p>\n

Another reason to avoid the bull-by-the-horns approach on the first lap is, even if you\u2019re ready to string together that pole lap, the car might not be. Getting the tires up to temp quickly – more quickly than others – can prove a huge advantage, because it not only gives you more grip, it can give you more time to explore the limits of adhesion. If the series doesn\u2019t use tire warmers, what lots of drivers like to do is brake hard and turn the steering wheel violently. Braking heats up the rotor, which in turn warms the rim, which then transfers the heat to the carcass of the tire. Zig-zagging warms the outer surface of the tire. Turning and braking, or turning and accelerating simultaneously, will stretch the tire and provide the necessary stick.<\/p>\n

The driver can try to make their car a little pointier by stiffening the rear, softening the front or changing the aero balance front to rear. This would not necessarily be the best setup for an entire race, since the car would be hard to live with and premature tire degradation would squelch average race pace, but in qualifying it\u2019s about getting the absolute maximum out of the car – being the hare, not the tortoise, is the objective here.<\/p>\n

\"Unlocking
A slightly loose setup is usually quickest over the course of a few laps.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once the tires are up to temperature, it\u2019s most important to try and get the most out of them. Depending on the category and the amount of money involved, it might make sense to drive the qualifying tires off the car. Other series mandate drivers must start on the tires on which they\u2019ve qualified, so the driver needs to be sure not to wear them out too quickly. Whatever the case, the quickest drivers need to understand the limitations of their tires, and since the qualifying session is typically quite brief, the drivers need to extract the utmost from their rubber and themselves in a relatively short span of time. No wonder drivers often look a little tense before the start of qualifying.<\/p>\n

The environment should try to suit the driver, too. Not only should the car be working optimally, but sometimes waiting until the later stages of qualifying helps enormously, since the track has \u201crubbered in,\u201d and there\u2019s a little more grip available from all the tires depositing little specks of rubber on the line. For that reason, it\u2019s crucial to try and attack the track when the ambient temperature is best, so everything warms up and offers the desired amount of grip.<\/p>\n

Waiting can be useful for other reasons, as well. Waiting to find a break in traffic is helpful, since all the speed and talent in the world can\u2019t compensate for a backmarker trudging around on-line as you\u2019re trying to stick in a flyer. It\u2019s never easy guessing this period in the qualifying session, but if guessed correctly, it’s an easy way to improve the chances of a quick lap.<\/p>\n

\"Unlocking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is it that gives certain drivers a distinct advantage when it comes time to lay down one quick lap? It\u2019s not just boldness, grit or bravery that a quick driver needs to secure the frontmost position on the grid.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":41679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,3470,5029,5401],"tags":[41,1632,461,2683],"class_list":["post-41678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-tos","category-news","category-racing","category-racing-tips","tag-news","tag-racing","tag-tech-tips-2","tag-tommy-parry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/1-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-aQe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41684,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41678\/revisions\/41684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}