[jluetjen]

I believe that Trail Braking is definitely one of those "Horses for Courses" sort of things. It's very useful in some situations and less then helpful in others. I agree with the points made above (The Traction Circle, the criticality of the release and the concept of managing the balance of traction front and rear by using the brake and gas) so I'm not going to say more. A couple of other observations which I've made on the subject:

1) I've come to the conclusion that trail braking is one of those things which has to be unlearned while a novice and then relearned as you get better. Being the latest braker will rarely make for a fast lap. The important thing is to learn how to carry as much speed as possible through the corner -- especially the entry into the apex. Generally novices over-brake for corners since they don't have a clue how fast a car can really travel though a given corner. So worrying about trail braking when you are a novice will often make your laps slower not faster. I think that this was Skip Barber's point in the above example. Think about it: More time on the brakes, less time on the gas just can't equal a faster lap.

2) Speaking of Skip Barber, when I took their class at Lime Rock they definitely steered students away from trail braking for the first couple of days. I think that this was for two reasons, the first I mentioned in point 1. The second reason is that since we were using FF cars, they are naturally very direct and "twitchy". Novices generally don't have the reactions nor the experience to manage the sudden oversteer that results from too much trailing throttle oversteer. So first we had to learn to "walk" (and threshold brake in a straight line) before we could "run" and trail brake. Put simply: K-I-S-S.

3) Speaking of Lime Rock, I think that Big Bend at Lime Rock is one of the classic trail braking corners - of which there are few. Since it occurs at the end of the longest straight, is a long 180 degree corner which exits onto a short straight into the S's. In this situation, exit speed is not critical, but carrying top speed down the front straight is. Not to mention the corner is so long that there is a long time spent balancing the throttle. The result is that the corner rewards carrying the braking zone deep into the entry of the corner. I suspect that the corner at the end of the back straight at Mid- Ohio (going into Madness?) is similar in this regard, but I've never driven there. Many tracks don't have corners like this.

4) Another point made at Skip Barber is that many people use trail braking as a crutch. Novices often get nervous and take too early of an apex on corners. When they get the car to the apex, they use trail braking to rotate the car so that it is positioned for the exit. This is often when they will spin. Remember the video of the Subaru rolling at Lime Rock's climbing turn. It spun because he TTO'd (which is less drastic then Trail Braking) after taking an entry to the corner. Usually the fastest turn-in point and apex are a lot later then most people think they are. If you are doing it right, in most corners you won't need to trail brake and you will be carrying a heck of a lot more speed then someone who does. Picture making up 50-100 yards in one corner alone! That is how drastically different the cornering speeds are.

5) Trail Braking will often depend on the car and its set-up. Porsches with their rear weight bias will often reward it (for the reason mentioned by others above) while punishing its abuse with a spin. Stock Cars (as well as I suspect AUSCARS and most Touring cars) have most of their weight already on the front. So trailbraking will put more weight on the already overworked front tires which sounds to me like a recipe for understeer.

6) Finally, for every rule there is an exception. If everyone around you is trail braking into a corner, you might want to consider NOT trailbraking. Try taking a wider entry and a later apex with more time spent on the gas. You may find that the rest of the field is outbraking itself and you can pass them on the gas.