Here are two schools of thought exemplified by two different "experts" (IMHO) on the topic (
excerpts taken from Racer University):
Neil Roberts writes:
"
Everyone will tell you that smooth is fast, but there is one exception. The power-to-braking transition at the beginning of a straight-line braking zone can and should be as abrupt as you can manage. That is how to make a pass stick and it is worth a little bit of lap time, so you want to slam the brakes on at the beginning of every straight braking zone. Of course the brakes had better be warmed up first."
Peter Krause writes:
"
Jim Myers, my coach, forced me to move away from being seduced by the sensation of doing something special by "slamming" on the brakes. He refocused my attention towards "squeezing" ON the brakes earlier and, more importantly, focused me on where and how soon I could get OFF the brakes. This reduced my natural tendency to over-brake for the corner and allowed me to become comfortable introducing the slight instability required in order to begin the rotation of the car. This leads to the next phase, how to integrate the end of braking into helping the car to begin turning into the corner."
And Neil Roberts closes his views with:
"
Most cars can decelerate harder than they can corner or accelerate. That’s why it takes highly developed skills to avoid braking more than you absolutely have to. As your skills and brake system tuning improve, you will find that you use the brakes harder, but for less time and distance in each braking zone. Mastering the art of deceleration is tough to do, but it is highly satisfying, and it adds to your on-track safety by enhancing your contact avoidance skills."
With all due to respect to Mr. Roberts, I am in Peter's camp on squeezing the brakes, especially during the initial application and modulating them through the whole braking zone and trailing as best as I can.
What say you all? Which technique, in general, do you subscribe to?