On the optimality of handbrake cornering

The aim of this paper is to investigate the optimality of the handbrake cornering technique for a Front Wheel Drive vehicle. Nonlinear Optimal Control theory is used to formulate the problem of optimal cornering and to simulate manoeuvres used by race drivers. Handbrake cornering is optimal with an appropriate selection of the minimization cost. The optimal solution is validated against data collected during the execution of the technique by an expert race driver on a loose off-road surface. Further optimization results considering high adhesion road surface are obtained to show that the optimality of the technique is not affected by the road conditions.