Spring Mountain--left foot braking?
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St. Jude Donor '13 thru '22
I been out there twice, 4 days total, and they have never mentioned or tried to teach anything about left foot braking.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Easton, PA
When I was there last month, someone in the classroom asked about using both feet while driving on the track and they said what ever you are comfortable doing, continue to do it. They don't recommend it since the manual trans people already need both feet for the gas and the clutch.
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Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
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From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Actually left foot braking is a fairly sophisticated driving technique. It is easier with an automatic but it is possible to do it with a manual transmission car. There are plenty of online videos taken from NASCAR cars running on road courses where drivers like Ricky Rudd drove around the course using the right foot for the throttle and the left foot for the brake. Here is a Ricky Rudd video from 1994. Check the footwork beginning at 22 seconds into the video:
You may notice he downshifts at least once without touching the clutch.
Bill
You may notice he downshifts at least once without touching the clutch.
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; Feb 14, 2019 at 12:50 PM.
Safety Car
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St. Jude Donor '12-'13
Not anymore....NASCAR cars are clutchless now. They still manually shift but blip the gas to clutch at shiftpoint. Listen to the shifts. When they went to this they had cameras mounted to show their feet. That Tide car is pretty ancient history.
Tech Contributor
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From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; Feb 14, 2019 at 07:00 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2003
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From: Brighton Mi
If you watch rally guys they look like they are tap dancing because they right and left foot brake/clutch. Sometimes you gotta be on the brake a little bit to settle the car.
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2018
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At Spring Mountain I was told that it was OK to do whichever I was comfortable with, but that they did not teach left foot braking. Later I had the opertunity to discuss track driving with Richie Hearn, and his opinion was that a Corvette would perform best with right foot breaking because the slight additional time would allow the chassis to settle before turning. He said some faster cars such as Indi cars did not need that extra time.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Buckeye, AZ
St. Jude Donor '12-'13
I am guessing no one here is as good a competition driver as Ricky Rudd or even Ricky Bobby. Seeing a pro do something is many times very hard for amateurs to aspire to. I watch pro golfers put fades on the ball to go around obstacles, and I try to do it but keep falling short...lol i will say on the road courses I have run or auto cross events, once you get into the high gear you dont need to downshift a lot, normally in only a couple spots, so you could use just left foot. For most folks here on a 1 mile plus road course with many turns will a second make that much difference? Most likely not, being the real gains in times come from running clean/smooth without mistakes and hitting your marks. Hell in many cases a 1 second error in the pits with pros means little. The only time I have had to shift a lot was when I started boiling my brake fluid on my 1996 makimg me use my gearbox for braking to let the fluid cool. I agree with many here in that you should do what is comfortable. I have right foot braked for 45 yrs because of stick shift and I plan on still doing it that way when I go to Spring Mountain next week!!!!
Le Mans Master
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From: West Burbs of Chicago IL
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2009
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From: Chalfont PA
That footwork by Rudd was pretty special. I had not seen that before. Thanks for posting that Bill!
A few years ago forum member Southern Son posted something that I will never forget. He said there may be those that LFB but he would be surprised if they were quicker. Meaning guys like me, pure amateurs that do 5 to 10 events each season so 15 to 30 days total. I was a LF braker in my car at the time. I used my right foot again and checked my lap times and damn if he wasn't correct. Made no difference. I was slow either way.
I am however a little quicker using my LF for the brakes in a DCT equipped car. In my Wife's C7GS or in my C6Z I would still bring my left foot over to cover the brakes approaching fast sweepers if no downshift is required out of habit but lap times don't lie. For me it does not matter.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2018
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From: Margate, FL
ILater I had the opertunity to discuss track driving with Richie Hearn, and his opinion was that a Corvette would perform best with right foot breaking because the slight additional time would allow the chassis to settle before turning. He said some faster cars such as Indi cars did not need that extra time.