This is a vintage video of Colin McRae teaching basic rally driving techniques to what appears to be a reporter. As with all master of their art, McRae makes everything look effortless. He’s able to instruct and hold a conversation while flying through a fairly narrow and technical dirt road in the middle of a forest. They cover a lot of basic concepts that will allow you to appreciate what rally racing drivers do if you are not already familiar with the sport.

Let me add one thing to the section on left foot braking. McRae says he likes to use his left foot to hit the brakes because it’s faster than transitioning his right foot from the gas to the brake. Most rally cars are set up with a strong rear brake bias. The reason they do this is because it allows easy drift initiation while braking for a corner. In front and all wheel drive cars, you can be on the throttle with your right foot and drag the brakes with your left foot to slow the rear wheels down more than the fronts. Left foot braking in this case gives the driver a lot of control of the sliding and weight balance of the car. There’s a good shot of Tomi Makinen doing this in the Best Motoring video I posted a while ago.

Source: YouTube user PawelPilarczyk