Spot landing ... or the search for the apex
01/21/2013
The ideal line with its apex is a key topic in every sporty driving course. Where should the car hit the inside of the bend? Where is the slowest point of the bend? At what point should I be able to accelerate again? Cars have become faster and better. Today, you can brake much later and harder, accelerate out much more aggressively and thus increase the average cornering speed.
But the slowest point, i.e. the apex, is and remains the same with every car (regardless of the speed driven). A good driver takes the corner identically regardless of the vehicle, whether he is in a Bugatti 35B, a 2 CV (Döschwoo), a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari Enzo.
The cornering technique has to be learned. As you can clearly see from the Mini - taken at the SAR driving course in Monthléry in 1963 - the driver learns from lap to lap. The instructor also becomes more and more "aggressive" and clearly points out to the driver the last few centimetres that are being wasted!
