Left Foot Braking with Pentti Arikkala

I recently had the pleasure of attending a one-day left-foot braking course with Pentti Arikkala (1989 Lombard RAC winner) as part of my birthday present from Hilary. What a great day it turned out to be. Previous pupils at Pentti’s course have included Tommi Makinen, Colin McRae, Richard Burns and one Michael Schumacher Esq.!

I had made enquiries via Email about availability on the Thursday and the following morning I received a telephone call from the great man himself. He informed me that he had a course running on the Sunday with one spare place. We agreed that I would attend provided the Indy car race at Rockingham on the Saturday didn’t get postponed. However, he assured me it wouldn’t as he was intending going along and watching too.

As predicted the race took place on the Saturday and I duly made my way to a disused wartime airfield near Oxford for the 10 o’clock start on the Sunday. Signing on and the briefing took place in a caravan at one end of the concrete runway. We were told that we would learn the left foot braking technique by getting to drive both a front-wheel drive V6 Mondeo and a rear-wheel drive Cosworth. At the end of the day we would also be shown some of Pentti’s more flamboyant techniques in a four-wheel drive Cosworth.

The first session started with three pupils jumping into the V6 Mondeo with Pentti, who would demonstrate the left-foot braking technique around a series of cones that had been laid out in a large loop along the runway. The unusual element to this was that Pentti was sitting in the passenger seat! The car was fitted with dual controls (i.e. throttle, brake and clutch) and we were all under strict instructions that we were only there to steer and he was there to use the pedals! It was a very strange sensation steering a car without any pedal input whatsoever. By the third cone Pentti had provoked the car into some very interesting angles which needed an awful lot of work on the steering to correct and then keep up with.

After a few circuits the benefits of the technique became apparent and it was soon my turn to have full control of the car. The technique for a front-wheel drive car involves using around 50% throttle with your right foot and applying the brake simultaneously with your left foot just before arriving at the apex of the corner marked by the cone. Amazingly the tendency for the car to understeer disappears as the brake is applied and it tucks in very nicely around the cone. Using my left foot on the brake seemed very alien to begin with, but surprisingly it didn’t seem to take too long to adapt.

Once we had all had a go; we then swapped over to the rear-wheel drive car where a slightly different technique was required. In this case the brake and throttle had to be pressed separately otherwise the car would simply have understeered straight off the road!

After a break for lunch at a very pleasant local hostelry we returned to the airfield for some further tuition plus a number of demonstrations from Pentti in the four-wheel drive Cosworth. First up though was a brief session on the art of the handbrake turn, which will be very helpful in getting into that tight spot in Sainsbury’s car park on a Saturday morning!

Later on we had a brief session to ably demonstrate Pentti’s pet hate, the ABS system. ABS is fitted to virtually every car produced these days. However, the test was designed to show the difference between an emergency stop from 50 mph without the aid of ABS and then with it. Each of us was allowed to drive and take a turn using both methods. We came to a skidding halt on the concrete airfield, initially without the aid of ABS, and took note of where we had stopped. The ABS was then switched on and we repeated the test. Amazingly it took another twenty yards to bring the car to a halt. Now I know that for the less experienced driver ABS allows them to steer to avoid the accident whilst still braking. But I can now understand why Pentti’s first action, in getting into a different car, is to pull the ABS fuse from the fuse box!

We then moved on to a demonstration by the great man on how to perform the ‘Scandinavian flick’. Those of you with any interest at all in Rallying will have seen this manoeuvre performed by virtually every car taking part on a special stage. It consists of throwing the car in completely the opposite direction to the approaching corner. At the last moment there is a blur of hands on the steering and the feet dance on the pedals and as if by magic the car turns in the opposite direction and takes the corner under a beautifully controlled power slide. Pentti is a past master at this technique and it was a pleasure to be able to sit next to him and see such genius at work.

Interestingly, in conversation afterwards Pentti asked me if I had seen Kenny Brack using a version of the same technique on the Rockingham oval the day before. Apparently Kenny Brack was using a subtler version of the technique, to reduce understeer on the initial turn-in, on each of the 200 mph corners at Rockingham! Later that evening when I got home I watched the video of the race and Pentti was right. My admiration for Kenny Brack’s abilities went up significantly after seeing that!

The day closed with a competition to see how much use we could make of what we had learnt. The choice of front or rear-wheel drive car was up to each individual, but it consisted of one practice lap of the circuit with Pentti alongside and then one timed lap. Modesty prevents me from telling you who won, but we all had a thoroughly enjoyable day. I for one intend to put some of the techniques learnt into practice with my motor racing as I can see some real benefits to be gained, particularly into fast corners where a gear change isn’t required.

If any of you are interested in attending one of these sessions yourselves and enhancing you driving skills, then details can be found on Pentti’s Website at www.leftfootbraking.com

Colin Rodger

The Acorn : December Edition