GETTING PLAYFUL: So let’s take a high-speed left hand sweeper (like the section from the bridge to the uphill hairpin on Camp Brule at Baie-des-Chaleurs). <b>You come in fast – maybe 80kmh after the bridge, and turn the wheel to the left a little. A stab on the brakes suddenly shifts the weight to the front wheels and lightens the rear, pitching the car into a left-hand slide. Once you’ve got it sliding, you get off the brakes and straighten the wheel, so you’re in a nice left-hand drift with the wheels clawing in towards the apex of the turn.</b> Hold the throttle steady to keep the balance and ride out the long drift. If you’re getting a little wide (watch those concrete blocks!) lift your right foot a little and press with your left foot on the brake a little to shift weight to the front. Once the line tightens get back off the brake and hold the throttle steady. As you begin to exit the corner, get on the throttle to straighten the car out for the exit and to accelerate. Whoo-hoo!! You did it! You’re probably still going 80kmh. And all the steering you did was a little left twitch before the corner began in order to start the slide.
GETTING FANCY – THE PENDULUM: Some corners are really tight, and you’re not going to get the car to yaw around them enough with the normal technique described above. If you try to turn in really hard you’ll probably understeer off the outside, and even a normal drift may not be tight enough. <b>Don’t reach for the handbrake. Instead, do a “pendulum” turn, or a “Scandinavian Flick.”</b> By turning the car into a slide away from the corner and then snapping it around to slide in the right direction for the corner, you will transition the car more quickly than if you just turned in alone. Here’s how you do it, for a left-hand pendulum: 1. start on the inside of the approach road, or at least with enough room to snap out wide. 2. turn right - away from the corner – and touch the brakes to initiate a right-hand slide. Use this slide to scrub off some speed – as we said above, use it as your braking. 3. turn the wheel left – into the corner – and punch the throttle for a second. This will transfer weight to the rear wheels and cause the car to snap (yaw) hard to the left. 4. straighten the wheel as the car snaps left and balance the throttle to hold your left-hand slide. As above, adjust with throttle and brake as necessary to shift weight. 5. As with a normal corner, get on the throttle as you want to straighten out and accelerate to victory!