One of the biggest problems I see when instructing students on a racetrack is that they will enter corners fast enough that they cannot slow down in the corner itself. The issue is that when you push the envelope enough, you risk spinning from either lift-throttle oversteer or brake oversteer. The threshold for either brake or lift-throttle oversteer is MUCH lower than the ultimate cornering capability of a car, and that can get people into trouble. Its not that my students intend to take these risks, they simply don’t have the exposure or experience to realize the precipitous position that they can put themselves in.

The typical scenario is I have a fast student rapidly approaching a much slower student. The fast student enters a corner at his usual pace and rapdily gains on the slower student, forcing the faster student to slow down to avoid a collision. I’m aware of the dangers that this presents and always warn my faster student well in advance to slow down and give the slower car more room.

To drive the point home, I always explain a situation I had several seasons ago. I was driving at Watkins Glen, and was very fast through the right-hand sweeper just after the chicane. There was a slower car much farther in front of me, far enough in front that I thought I would catch him on the straight, not in the corner. So I went balls-to-the-wall through the right hander and, sure enough, quickly found myself right on his tail. Now I was trouble: If I’d have lifted, I’d have spun. If I’d have braked, I’d have spun. And if I continued on the path I was on, I’d smashed into this car. And because I had banked on using the entire track, I couldn’t really use my standard straighten-the-wheel-and-get-on-the-brakes technique to slow down, as that would have taken me off the track into the wall. Fortunately, I was able to lift off the throttle and straighten the wheel enough to not hit the car without spinning.

This just reinforces the dangers of committing to a corner. There is nothing wrong with going all-out in a corner, but make absolutely sure that once you cross that point of no return you can make it all the way through the corner without incident.