How To Drive: Braking and powershifting

Whenever I’ve been lucky enough to sit beside a top flight shoe in full flow, it’s usually been the way they brake that’s blown me away the most – because there are some truly dark arts at work when it comes to braking. In the end it’s something that separates the haves from the have nots possibly more than any other aspect of driving.

And one of the simplest but most overlooked things to get right – be it on road or track – is getting yourself comfortable behind the wheel. Why? Because if you can’t get yourself into a driving position in which you can hit the brake pedal hard without having to think about the physicality of doing so, you’ll never be able to brake properly. If you can’t deploy the brake pedal in the right way – using not your ankle or even your knee but instead your entire core, whereby the power you exert on the pedal emanates from the base of your spine – you won’t be able to generate sufficient pedal power when needed, not comfortably, nor will you be able to summon the touch required when only the gentlest of brushes is needed.

So before you do anything or go anywhere, spend time getting your driving position spot on. See what it feels like to mash the brake pedal hard but also caress it gently. If you can’t do both without having to adjust your posture, you’re not sitting how you should.