After learning how important trail braking is, I started using it everywhere.
The extra heat meant I had to do more cool-down laps, otherwise my tires and brakes wouldn’t hold up. But there wasn’t much I could do about that, so I just made sure to cool everything down properly and kept driving.
But there was one corner where I just couldn’t make it work.
The Grip End Corner.
It’s a tight, tucked-away corner, and for some reason, I just couldn’t figure out how to drive it properly.
I wanted to go fast through it using trail braking, just like I did in the other corners.
But if I braked later, I wouldn’t make the corner in time.
If I braked earlier, I’d slow down too much.
Hmm?
I kept practicing, thinking, “My inputs must be too inconsistent. There has to be a perfect point where everything clicks.”
But even as I got better at driving the other corners the way I wanted, the Grip End Corner just wouldn’t improve.
Why…?!
Well, it turns out I could have taken that corner with nothing more than light braking. At least, with the way I was driving back then.
I didn’t need to use the brakes anywhere near full force.
But if I didn’t slow down at all, I’d obviously run off the track.
So all I really needed to do was use a little brake pressure and lightly trail brake.
Because of the shape of the corner, I had to run pretty close to the limits of the track on both the inside and outside.
I also had to downshift, so there was a lot going on at once.
With all that happening, I just couldn’t figure out that I didn’t actually need to use full braking to trail brake through the corner.
To my simple-minded brain, “trail braking” meant “full braking.”
It was an absolute eye-opener to realize that I didn’t have to think in such black-and-white terms.
I only think in ones and zeros.
Call me Digital Aki!
Not exactly something to brag about, though.
Lesson Learned
You don’t always need to use full braking.