[wrigby]

But you exit going faster, which means you make up time on the straight after the corner.

[rtkwe]

It's a balance, many of these cars can accelerate and decelerate very hard so the time to get back to the full speed for the next section is fairly short reducing the effect of slowing down. The effect of taking a too wide racing line though means a large multiple in the distance travelled.

[dotancohen]

  > The effect of taking a too wide racing line though means a large multiple in the distance travelled.

So a better driver typically takes a shorter route than a less skilled driver? Can a very skilled driver get the Kessel Run down below 12 parsecs?

[HPsquared]

Cars can usually brake and turn harder than they can accelerate.

You also tend to spend more time on the straight after the corner, than in the corner itself

So you mostly optimise for corner exit speed, especially if the car has particularly slow acceleration and a long straight comes after the corner.

[taneq]

Yeah depends on the corner but the general thumb-suck approximation is sound.

[oarsinsync]

Assuming there is a long enough straight before the next corner