“Going Faster: Mastering the Art of Race Driving” was produced by the Skip Barber Racing School.  I picked it up a decade ago as a supplement to the “Speed Secrets” series I already reviewed.  So my natural inclination is to compare the two.  “Going Faster” definitely goes into more detail.  While both talk about the ideal dry and rain lines through example corners, the Skip Barber book extends that out to examples where a driver might have to make four different throttle adjustments during a single turn.  They also include a lot of telemetry data.  Be advised, most examples are for open wheel cars [like they use at their schools].  There are a lot of sidebars from race drivers like Dorsey Schroeder, and Jeremy Dale.

One interesting thing I noticed was a comment about spinning a car.  Some people say, “if you don’t spin, you aren’t pushing the car”.  But cars don’t generally spin without notice.  From my BMW CCA magazine, I know tires make different noises when slipping through an aggressive corner and when they are about to release their hold on the asphalt.  Lopez’s comment was that a professional driver spins maybe once a month.

If Speed Secrets was a college course, it would be a 200 level class, and a solid foundation.  Going Faster would be a 300 level.  [For 400 level you have to stop reading and get behind the wheel at a real track].  If you are serious about racing, I would definitely check out “Going Faster”!