Ciro Pabón wrote:Again, I feel forced to present the world famous...
Lessons on mid/late apex for beginners, by Ciro.
The line you adopt depends on several things. I quote myself.
NOTE: THERE ARE NO EARLY APEX CURVES UNLESS YOU WANT TO END LAST... or unless you want to read A LOT.
The mid/late apex depends on:
- the radius of the curve.
- the power of your car
- the grip of your car
- the distance between curves
- the sideslope and type of transition between curves
1. Radius
On a
large radius curve you are fairly fast while taking the curve. Because you're fast at mid curve, there is no point in taking the late apex. So,
mid apex it is.
On a
small radius turn you gain little from mid corner speed. The time you spend around a tiny corner is small. It's small enough to make this an area you should despise when looking for shorter lap times.The faster you push the right pedal, the faster you'll get out of this area. You want exit speed and you want it now!
Late apex, by all means.
2. The Power of your car
In command of a
low powered car you want to point to a
mid apex so you can carry all your meager speed through the curve, because the puny thingie engine you have in your back won't respond on exit.
On a
high powered car you look for a
late apex. So, you have a loooong exit ahead of you, while your glorious engine pushes you against the back of the car and gives you the fast exit you are looking for.
3. The grip of your car
A
high grip car, with slicks the size of my posts is not the same as Green Powered Dude Reload electric car with bicycle tyres, sure. So, it will give you the ability to treat tight corners as if they were corners with larger radius. Conclusion: take the
mid apex.
In a
low grip car what's the use of trying to carry a high mid corner speed? You under steer as hell and end up without a racing line. You use raw power (hopefully) to "straighten" the car. Use a
tight late apex corner. Yeah, I know this is confusing. You have to test that. Go.
4. The distance to the next corner
If there is
20 meters to the next corner, what do you gain from exit speed? Zilch. You take
mid apex, get a fast midcorner and brake in time for the next one.
Now, if there is a long,
long straight after the curve, by all means, take a
late apex, get all the acceleration you can on exit and laugh happily. Believe me, there will be a HUGE difference when you can accelerate early between you and the mid apex guys at the next entrance.
5. Sideslope and transition.
Nobody understand when I explain this. Read about road design and we'll talk later.
I would be very grateful if any racer here can give me his opinions, these are mine. There might be other factors. Theoreticians, guys, please abstain.
Those claiming that John Doe is a "natural late apexer", pleeeze... if that's the case, then John Doe is an ·/&=%$hole.
