Apex Speed Obsession: A Game-Changer for Fast Drivers

I'm using a SmartyCam to send my drivers nuts on numbers. You can do the same on the cheap.

I've just gone back to using a SmartyCam, I had the very first one which I bought 15 years ago full of hope that it would be a miracle. It could have been but the lag was a bit too much, and it had a few flaws, like sometimes just not working at all.

But, I just went and bought a new one. It’s way better.

Why have I spent close to a grand on a low definition go-pro that plugs into the MyChron?

Because I think it will help take my drivers from being very fast, to unbeatable.

The point is, it allows my drivers to get obsessed with:

• Apex speed

• Exit speed - the product of a great apex speed

• Top speed and when you hit it (earlier the better) - the reward for apex and exit speed.

It also allows us to filter out data anomalies, that can lead you down a long rabbit hole of nonsense:

• When we can ignore some data because of a tow for example. If you gain time from a tow, then you can eliminate it as a driver change or chassis change.

• When the data tells a story that doesn’t quite add up - not that rare. Sometimes the data says you took a different line via GPS, and the video can confirm, or more often deny that actually took place.

Yeah, its a pretty good piece of kit. Maybe I should be getting sponsored to say all this!

Smartycam screenshot - 22mph is the minimum speed of this corner (wet) - Target is to beat it

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BTW -You don’t need a SmartyCam to do all this, you can combine your data from whatever device you have and use software like DashWare to merge that with your videos, which I strongly recommend you do. It’s just that the SmartyCam is much faster, it’s a luxury item.

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Healthy obsession with apex speed

So, obsession with apex speed is what I'm going to try to induce in my driver for this weekend, because the camera displays it exactly where it occurs. When you show a driver a number, in this case the lowest speed they reach in a corner, they naturally want to beat that number.

It just happens.

Then with subsequent attempts to beat that number on video you can identify moments that either delivered a higher speed, or caused that speed to drop.

With a normal camera, you have to impose your opinion that they did a better or worse job. Drivers tend to get tired very quickly with that.

With numbers on the video, opinion isn’t required which means you can delay the inevitable clash with a driver on why they no longer listen!

What kind of moments affect the target speed?

With quick drivers who are close to winning but not quite there, I’m looking for small slides:

• Mid-corner rear end slides induced by being too greedy on entry

• Under-steer moments caused by releasing brakes too early on entry

• General over-driving from trying to chase targets (might even be induced by setting this target)

• General inaccuracies and inconsistencies with hitting apexes

Then once apex speed is maximised, we look to steal some entry speed.

This means ‘SLOW IN - FAST OUT’ becomes ‘NOT SO SLOW IN - JUST AS FAST OUT’.

The ultimate goal then becomes ‘FAST IN - FAST OUT’

Each and every success, failure, mistake and moment of magic is captured for the driver to digest visually.

My predictions for what will help my driver jump a level tomorrow