5 Things I’ve Been Doing Wrong When Driving Fast

Having braked nowhere near hard enough, I steam into the hairpin bend I’ve been cocking up for the last few laps, washing wide into understeer. Attempting to regain composure, I do the exact opposite by getting on the throttle much too soon, kicking the rear out and messily catching the slide before I end up pointing the wrong way and looking like a damn fool. It’s really not easy, driving fast on track.

And yet, fast forward to the end of our day of high performance driver training at the Nardo Technical Centre in southern Italy, and I’m actually driving to a reasonably respectable standard.

We’ve spent the day swapping between a 718 Cayman S and a 911 Carrera 4S Targa, starting off with a slalom, moving to emergency braking and turning manoeuvres before heading to the tricky but brilliantly flowing handling circuit for several glorious hours of hot laps.

In that time I learned firstly that Porsche is almost irritatingly good at producing sports cars (well, we knew that already), but more importantly how to be much better at the whole track driving thing. I learned this not necessarily by finding out what I should be doing on track, rather what I’ve been doing wrong up until this point.

Grabbing our instructor Andreas Mayr before leaving, we had a chat about exactly what had been tripping me up earlier in the day, and why it’s important to rectify these (reassuringly common) mistakes. And while this is all to do with track driving, it’s worth noting some of it is applicable to road driving too (head over here for a more road-focused guide). So listen up and learn from my mistakes…

Mistake 1: Not sorting the right seating position

Mayr calls this the most basic step, and it pains me to admit that after jumping in a car someone else has been driving, I always rush finding the right seating position. I often end up too close (not quite pensioner style but close nonetheless), much to the amusement of my colleagues. But it’s vital to nail the right position.

So what is the right way to be sitting? Over to you, Andreas:

“First you put the seat as low as possible to better feel the car, then adjust so you can reach the pedals effectively. A good angle [for the bend in your legs] is 120 degrees, so in case you have a crash it absorbs the energy like a spring. When you use extended legs the energy will run to your hip - you can break your hip.

“The next step is adjusting the backrest to keep it as straight as possible so you have good support in your shoulders. You should have a relaxed position, and you adjust the steering wheel so you have your arms well bended and your hands at 9 and 3 o’clock. If you put your arm straight over the steering wheel, the steering wheel should be at your wrist.”

Mistake 2: Pulling the steering wheel instead of pushing

This is actually something I’ve been told before by previous instructors who’ve had the tricky task of trying to shape me into a semi-reasonable helmsman, but I still don’t put much thought into how I achieve my steering inputs.

The key thing is to push on one side of the wheel, rather than pulling the other. “In a right corner [for example] you use the left hand to push the steering wheel so as to support yourself in the seat,” Andreas explains, adding: “You better feel the car, feel the understeering and so on.”

Mistake 3: Braking too soft, and too soon

Unless you’re driving like an utter clown or performing an emergency stop, you generally won’t use full braking force on the road. On the track though, it’s vital you’re not too gentle and early with your brake application, as I was at the beginning of the training day. “On a race track to stabilise or ‘set the car’ you use a harder braking pressure, a little bit before ABS [kicks in],” Andreas explains. Plus, there’s the obvious benefit of increased deceleration, which is useful if you don’t fancy going too deep into the corner. Like into the tyre wall at the far end of it.

It’s also important to roll off the brakes gently, as a sudden departure of braking force is going to upset the balance of the car, as will a sudden change in acceleration or a brake application mid corner.

Mistake 4: Throttle impatience

Just up from that aforementioned hairpin I spent the day ballsing up, there’s a lovely, flowing S bend. The trouble is, it was all too tempting to get on the gas too early, when I still had too much steering lock on. Particularly troublesome in the mid-engine, rear-wheel drive Cayman - when its impressive reserves of grip do run out, the back goes rather quickly.

The lesson here? Be patient, and stay the hell away from the loud pedal if you’ve armfuls of lock still.

Mistake 5: Not realising how much there is to learn

I’ve never been daft enough to think I’m some kind of driving god, but I’ve done enough track driving over the years to make myself feel like I’m not bad. But a day of intense training on Nardo’s challenging handling circuit proved I still have acres of room for improvement. Unless you’re an actual professional driver, there’ll almost certainly be areas to improve how you drive, whether it’s on the track or off.

So be open to a little training. It’s thoroughly rewarding, and above all - spectacularly good fun.