I’ve said it plenty of times: the line between real-life racing and virtual racing continues to get blurry. Pro racers are turning to simulators and sim racers are turning pro.
And racing simulators are an amazing way to practice.
But they can shoot you in the foot.
One example would be any type of racing line assist.
Interference With Our Vision
The suggested line tends to make us look just in front of the hood of the car.
Instead we need to be looking ahead.
Looking ahead, or through the turn, helps us anticipate instead of react.
How far ahead is far enough?
In general, we want to keep our focus on the top third of the visible road and let our peripheral or side vision keep track of reference points and other drivers.
Looking ahead is key to driving in a composed, calm manner. Looking at the line assist will delay all of your inputs and hurt your turn exits.
Acting as a Crutch for Track Memorization
The racing line assist also allows us to be lazy with finding braking and turn-in points.
With that big distraction painted on the road we are no longer racing but reacting to what the line is showing us.
Next Steps
Now if you use this assist, you can disable it cold turkey. Or try weaning yourself by switching to a braking-only line. Set a goal or timeline to shut it down over the course of a week or two.
It won’t be as fun at first, but you’ll thank yourself later.
There is one exception: if you have not gone through the full Keys to Speed program you might show the line assist to get an idea of your racing line. To learn how to make a faster racing line feel free to join here.
