
Rethinking the Big Picture
The Track
Standard corners are not always very standard though, sometimes finding apexes and corner edges can be very challenging. When I’m breaking down a track for a new Track Notes, it is a large complex puzzle with many pieces. Sometimes, the edges of a corner are not actual physical track edges, and the driver will need to instead visualize where they are. Even then, apexes and corner edge placements and angles are not static and will change depending on a car’s capabilities. On top of that, tracks often have sections where we need to connect these components into long unbroken strings that must all be optimized together. Check out the downhill section of Mount Panorama.
The Car

The Object of the Game
To help you along in this challenge, let’s break it down into its individual components. That way we can make sure we understand each part separately and that should help us with our final solution once we put it all back together. There are three components to this challenge. Corner entry, which is getting from the start line to the apex. Corner exit, which is getting from the apex to the finish. Then our last component is that we will have to turn the car around at the apex.
A Basic Drag Race
A braking Challenge
A Corner
The Basic Racing Line
The Corner Exit Drag Race
A Real Traction "Circle"

The key factor to pay attention to here is the ratio of lateral vs longitudinal acceleration. Even the F1 car on our original game piece wouldn't truly have a round traction circle. It has phenomenal acceleration, but as it's rear-wheel drive only, this still doesn't match its turning and braking abilities, especially at race speeds where aerodynamic downforce comes into play. In comparison, to actually have a round game piece car, we would not only need four-wheel drive, but also enough power to keep all four tires at the edge of wheelspin throughout the entire corner exit. These kinds of cars do exist and in certain types of racing like rallycross you actually will see drivers take smaller arcs around hairpin corners. This is a very rare situation however, so for most corners and racing classes, the ideal solution is quite different. Let’s look now at how it’s actually the shape of a car’s true traction circle that determines how a corner should be optimized.
Back To The Races
by Adam Brouillard