After making mistake after mistake, I was slowly getting faster.
“Now it’s time to start fine-tuning the little things!” I thought, full of enthusiasm.
My braking and cornering had both become more consistent, and I was working hard to find even more time.
But once again, I started noticing that my corner entry speeds weren’t as consistent as they should be.
Not again!!! Whyーーーー?!?!
I was careful to make my pedal transitions as quick as possible.
My exit speed from the previous corner was consistent, and I was paying close attention to my braking point, too.
So why weren’t my corner entry speeds consistent?!
That’s it!
It must be the temperature!
The temperature must have changed dramatically in just a minute or two, changing my speed on the straight!
Yeah, right! No way!
Anyway, one day, I was driving in the wet when I messed up my heel-and-toe a little.
I hesitated for some reason while downshifting from third to second, and ended up going into the corner still in third gear.
And somehow, my stopping distance became noticeably longer.
“Wait, even though I’m braking as hard as I can with ABS doing its job, can engine braking really change my stopping distance?”
Apparently, the rear brakes simply weren’t powerful enough to lock the rear tires.
And because I was so focused on the brake pedal, the timing of my clutch engagement wasn’t consistent.
Once I made sure to do the whole heel-and-toe as quickly as possible, the problem went away.
Oh, so that’s what it was. Idiot!
Lesson Learned
Do your heel-and-toe as quickly as possible.