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The Secrets of Racing in the Rain

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SAFEisFAST
Published on Jul 29, 2016







It’s often said that racing in the rain is more of an art than a science. But trust me, there’s also a lot of science behind going fast in the rain. And in our latest video, a group of the best IndyCar drivers explain just what that is. Everything from car set-up - to finding the fast line - to dealing with near zero visibility. So join IndyCar rainmeisters Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato as they explain their secrets of racing in the rain. I think even the most veteran drivers will learn some new tricks from this video

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Secrets to Winning in the Wet (Explained)

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Driver61
Published on Aug 1, 2018

Racing in the wet is one of the biggest challenges a driver will face, and one that as fans, we all love to watch. It’s the great leveller of machinery and the moment when great F1 drivers can outshine their cars, showing off their incredible feel and car control. Think Schumacher in Spain in '96, Hamilton at Silverstone in '08, Senna at Monaco in '84, Senna at Donington in '93 or, Senna any time it happened to rain. Or, as it happens, any other time. Today, I’m going to explain why racing in the wet is such a challenge and the techniques great F1 drivers use - to extract the most from their machinery in rainy conditions.

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How Max Verstappen Is So Fast in the Rain: Brazilian GP Analysis

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Driver61
Published on Mar 1, 2017

Max Verstappen's drive in the 2016 Brazilian GP earned him comparisons to Formula One legends like Senna and Schumacher. But why was Verstappen so quick? In this video I dive into the details of Max's driving technique to understand his speed.



Scott talks about how to find grip in wet condition, what wet racing lines are and why they can be quicker in the rain. In this incredible race, Max Verstappen went from a lowly 14th position in the Brazilian GP after a poor strategic call to reclaim a podium, in only 16 laps. It was truly an excellent drive from the F1 youngster.

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New Racing movie: "Racing in the rain"

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/e...ml#post9422364

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Club Racing: Finding the right brake pad

Images by Jason Isley


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By: Jason Isley | 10 hours ago


Regardless of vehicle, brake pads are an easy and cost-effective
way to improve lap times

Be it your daily driver, tow rig, or racecar, upgrading brake pads is arguably the easiest way to improve braking for any vehicle. Simply swapping out your road-going pads for something designed for the task at hand is a surefire way to improve braking performance. But sometimes that simple task isn’t so simple after all.

When it comes to selecting brake pads, the choices often seem endless, but we have found – on more than one occasion – that the application we needed simply didn’t exist. Take our Runoffs-winning H Production Toyota Yaris for example. It’s hard to blame any motorsports brake manufacturer for overlooking this one – it’s simply not a car people expect to see on a racetrack. But with classes like B-Spec gaining in popularity and events like the Tire Rack Time Trials National Tour making it possible to put almost anything into highly demanding braking situations, you may find yourself in need of a brake pad that doesn’t exist.

Years ago, when facing this problem, we were urged to reach out to Porterfield Brakes, as word was they could produce brake pads for anything. A quick visit to porterfield-brakes.com revealed that they did, in fact, offer custom brake pads. Surprisingly, we were not limited to Porterfield’s friction materials when ordering a custom pad.

When looking for a custom brake pad fitment, the best place to start is with one of your OE pads. You can trace the backing plate onto a piece of paper and fax or scan and e-mail it to Porterfield and, based on decades of experience in this niche market, the folks at Porterfield can select the appropriate donor pad to start with, which they then cut down to size via their proprietary procedure. It’s that simple — but there are some caveats.

“It has to be in a compound that is available in a size that is appropriate to cut the pad,” says Wendy Charlier of Porterfield Brakes. “Many things factor into the equation, like the thickness of the material, backing plate thickness, and overall size. We do try to select the least expensive version that will work to help keep the ‘custom’ cost down.”



If you find yourself shopping for a custom brake pad and aren’t sure what friction material is right for you, Porterfield can help. “We will make what the customer wants, [but] if they are unsure, we match it to their use,” Charlier says. “It is up to the customer to meet the temperature ranges and modulations required for selecting that compound. Obviously if someone is looking for a Hawk DTC-70 or Raybestos ST47 for a 1,500lb car, we would advise against it. However, at the end of the day, the customer is king, and we give them what they want — with a warning, for sure.”

Back to our Yaris racecar: We wanted a Hawk DTC-60 front pad, but Hawk didn’t make the application. The recommendation from Porterfield was to use a Hawk HB110G.775 as our donor pad — this is a race-specific pad for an Alcon or AP Racing caliper. But this recommendation had us wondering if all pads in a given line are created equal. In other words, is the friction material used for a Hawk DTC-60 on the front of a C5 Corvette the same as one for a Spec Miata?

For that quandary, we turned to Edwin Mangune, the Motorsports Field Manger for Hawk Performance. “A Hawk Performance DTC-60 pad compound is always a DTC-60,” Mangune explains. This was further clarified by Charlier: “Custom pads only refer to the shape, as the compound wouldn’t ever change by model,” she says. “To expand further, a Porterfield R-4 is always the same formulation. This goes for all compounds; if the desired friction or outcome is different, we would select a different compound all together.”

And don’t fret if your car uses drum brakes. “We can reline any brake shoe,” says Charlier. “If a new core is not available, the customer can send in their cores and in about two weeks we send it back relined in one of our Porterfield compounds, R-4, RD-4 or R4-S.”

So, would you want to go to the trouble of having a custom pad produced if there were readymade choices for your car? We think so. Braking feel – modulation and control – are as important as stopping power, so if you find a friction material that you like but the application isn’t available, this is an option if it’s not offered for your car. A few years ago, we heard good things about a limited availability Raybestos compound, so we ordered custom pads for one of our race cars that normally runs off-the-shelf Hawks. Hey, you never know until you try.




Brake Pads, Club Racing

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Seating position: One with the car

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By: MazdaMotorsports.com | July 17, 2019 7:39 AM


The proper seating position means less fatigue and a greater focus on driving

Racing drivers and car builders spend a lot of time obsessing over seating position. For some, it’s about comfort and control. For others, it’s about getting the center of gravity as low as possible. And safety is always paramount. It may seem like a small thing, especially for sprint racers, but the wrong seating position can be a big problem.

“You have to be comfortable in the car, because if you don’t have support, you get tired really quickly,” explains Harry Tincknell, driver of the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship. “The G-forces take over, and if you’re not supported enough in the car, your neck is going to be exhausted. I always find that unless I’m fully focused on the driving, I’m not quick. So if I’m worried that I’m getting tired, or I’m thirsty or hot or trying to hold myself in the seat, I’m not going to be fast. You have to do everything you can to be able to focus your mind fully on the driving and not have to worry about the seat or anything like that. It’s very important to get it right.”

It’s not just racers and race car builders, though, that obsess over seating position. Mazda’s OEM engineers do as well, and that’s something that can easily be seen in the new Mazda3. The desire was to create a feeling of connection between car and driver, what Mazda refers to as jinba attai, the symbiotic relationship between horse and rider. Mazda engineers closely studied human physiology and movement and built the seat and driving position to put the body in the most natural S-shaped curve of the spine to react to movements of the car. It’s a concept that Danny Bender, who both sells and races Mazdas, fully understands and embraces.

“In a race car, everybody is going to sit a little bit different; but the goal is to kind of feel one with the car and feel balanced in it,” says Bender, who recently won a pair of races in Touring 3 at the SCCA June Sprints at Road America a week before reaching the podium in Battery Tender Global MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich at the same track in the same car.

“The idea in a race car is that you’re trying to feel the car, and the more feel you have for the car, the better you can control it around the track,” he explains. “You usually try to sit balanced in between the steering wheel and pedals where it feels the most comfortable. The engineers at Mazda can probably give you a six hour seminar about why they did what they did for the seating position and the seat itself, but what they focused on is trying to align the driver in the best seating position possible where you really do feel one with the car.”

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Part 2

In a race car, though, there is also the desire to keep the driver low for both performance and safety reasons, and the seating position must be worked around a roll cage. With the seat in a fixed position, it needs to be right. A driver who has put a lot of miles in a lot of different cars, from Spec Miatas to prototypes, has a pretty good idea of how to get there.

“I start off with height,” says Tom Long, driver coach and professional racer. “Sitting in the car, what’s the visibility like? You want to sit as low as possible in the car, but that needs to be within reason. If you find you’re tilting your head up to look over the dash, that’s an issue; the back of your neck is going to get really tired holding your head up for 30 or 40 minutes. So certainly having the height correct is going to be important – lower than a street car, but high enough that you’re not hindering your visibility.

“Second is your leg length and making sure that when you’re pushing hard on the brake pedal that you still have a bit of a bend in your knee,” Long continues. “The key there is twofold: One, if your leg is fully extended, you don’t have a lot of capability to modulate since you’ll be modulating off your calf muscle or your ankle rather than your bigger muscles. The second piece is the safety aspect – you never want to have your leg locked out like that in a crash because that would cause more damage, where a bent knee acts as a shock absorber.

“The last piece would be your arm length to the steering wheel,” notes Long. “Typically, you’re going to want this closer than what you would in a street car. When your hands are at 9 and 3 on the wheel, you need to have a decent bend in your elbow. The best way to check that is with your arms straight out over the top of the steering wheel, they should be able to break over the top of the wheel without your shoulders coming off the seat too much. The reason for that is purely upper body stamina – you have more control with the wheel closer to you, plus if you’re going through high-load corners and your arms are fully extended, you’re going to wear out your shoulders and your upper arms. If the wheel is a bit closer, you have a lot more leverage on it.”

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Fast Learners Apply Here!

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By: RACER Staff | July 22, 2019 2:47 PM

Sponsored by: Spring Mountain Motorsports
Ready to go racing? Or just looking to go fast? These performance driving schools are the perfect place to get in and get started.


1. Ron Fellows Performance Driving School
springmountainmotorsports.com // (800) 391-6891
Pahrump, NV

The Ron Fellows Performance Driving School is the “Official High Performance Driving School of Corvette.” Each program is designed for drivers of all experience levels and includes dynamic car control exercises, visual skill development and proper cornering techniques. Classroom sessions are brief, but informative. Our challenging curriculum and precision-focused track time will provide improved driving confidence in yourself and the latest Corvette.


2. Cadillac V-Performance Academy
springmountainmotorsports.com // (800) 391-6891
Pahrump, NV

The Cadillac V-Performance Academy is an exclusive opportunity to test the motorsports pedigree of the CTS-V and ATS-V on one of the nation’s most demanding race tracks. The program is designed to assist V-Series owners in mastering their vehicle’s immense power and capabilities, while expanding their driving skillset. Cadillac offers complimentary enrollment in the V-Performance Academy with the purchase of every new V-Series vehicle.

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3. Allen Berg Racing Schools
allenbergracingschools.com // (88 722-3220
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, CA


Allen Berg Racing Schools operates one, two and three day formula car racing programs using authentic Formula racecars. Operated by former Formula 1 driver Allen Berg, ABRS utilizes carbon-fiber chassis with race slicks and wings, along with the use of on-board cameras and AIM data systems for driver performance analysis. Berg’s own career included racing against Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, and many more. ABRS works with drivers at all experience levels, from karters to experienced racers. The school’s 2 & 3 day programs are SCCA accredited for licensing.








4. Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School
frankhawley.com // (866) 480-7223
Multiple Locations

Learn from the best! Novice and experienced drivers will benefit from Frank’s renowned classroom sessions on how to “improve personal performance.” Learn how to mentally prepare, perform at the highest level, improve focus and block out distraction on the track and in your life. You’ll learn so much more than how to drive in the competition license program. Or experience the excitement and thrill of side-by-side racing in the Dragster Adventure program. Great for individuals, groups or company outings. Classes held across the country.


5. LevelUp Racing School
levelupracingschool.com // (920) 838-6612
Elkhart Lake, WI &
Multiple Locations

Our instructors have pedigrees from the top levels of motorsport, including Daytona and Sebring winners, factory drivers, and race team owners. More importantly, they have decades of teaching
experience and have been called the best in the world. We run schools at major tracks in the U.S. using Spec Miatas, and we are SCCA accredited.

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6. MSR Houston
msrhouston.com/schools/competition // (281) 369-0677
Angleton, TX

Over 13 years, the MSR Houston Competition School has trained hundreds of amateur racers. We teach the fundamentals of race craft with on-track experience so that you leave the school ready to race. Each day of the three-day curriculum mixes interactive instruction with on-track sessions led by our instructors, all competition-licensed active racers. You hone your skills by going wheel to wheel with other drivers in practice races. Graduates are eligible for an SCCA Competition License. MSR Houston is conveniently located only 35 minutes south of downtown Houston. The cost for the three-day school is $1,750 with your own racecar or $3,850 renting a Spec Racer Ford or Spec Miata.