Jim Clark on braking

[Dare]

Found this Clark article on his
theory on braking,thought you
may like it Steven

http://forum.racesimcentral.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=462960&d=1219704214

[Alianora La Canta]

Now that was really interesting stuff. I don't think Jim would have had much truck with the massive amounts of simulation, pre-race tests and wandering around tracks that teams feel is necessary nowadays...

[cosworth151]

Great find, Dare! Thanks.

[Steven Roy]

Thanks for that Dare.

I have seen similar comments from him in the past about braking into a false apex but the fixed braking point indicators is a first from Jim.  Bob Bondurant in his race driving instruction book goes on at length about trail braking into a corner and uses Clark as the example of how to do it perfectly.  The book is a must for anyone who wants to understand racing technique.

The best example I have ever come across of using fixed features for reference points relates to the Alfa Romeo team.  I can't remember the year or the circuit but it was lined with white stones and Alfa sent people to each corner to watch where their lead driver was braking.  The driver would signal exactly where he wanted his braking indicator and the Alfa man painted one of the white rocks bright red.

The bright red stones worked perfectly until the night before the race when one of the rival teams went out in darkness and painted dozens of rocks at every corner red.  So in addition to using things that need a bulldozer to move them you have to choose something that can't be disguised with a paint brush.

[Alianora La Canta]

  And presumably not bulldozers themselves in case they move during the race (though I don't know of any team that has actually made this mistake in F1)...

[John S]

Good find Dare!   

I have heard about Clark's false apex before, but not had such detail as he explains here. 

The most interesting point, for me, is the comment on overdriving and how a driver can be just as fast when he believes he is backing of a bit.

It's a way of thinking we see in this article, and an incredible ability to feel the limit of both the car and track, that sets Jim apart from the rest for me.

[lkjohnson1950]

Jackie Stewart said in his early days he was having difficulty with a corner at Spa, so he went to Clark, as a fellow Scot, for advice. He said the first thing Clark asked him was if he had crashed or gone off there. When Stewart replied no Clark said " well then you don't know if you're going as fast as you can, do you?" His braking technique points out why Lotus machanics said people who tried to run Clark's set-up usually came back complaning of severe understeer.

[Steven Roy]

well then you don't know if you're going as fast as you can, do you?"

That sounds more like Gilles Villeneuve than Jim Clark.  I am really surprised he said that.

[lkjohnson1950]

That's what Stewart reported, though it may not be a word for word quote. I was surprised when I read it because I didn't think it sounded like Clark either.