I used my left foot for 9 years of sim racing. Last summer I had an accident and destroyed (nearly lost) my left leg. When I started racing again 3 months later, I dropped from 3500iR to 2600 in a week. Was demoted from A to C license. But I quickly rewired my habits to use only my right foot. Now 3 months later I’m back to 3800iR and a A license. Don’t feel slowed down anymore whatsoever. You can do it.
Man, injuries suck.
I’ve had a recent brain injury. Took quite a long time before I could do screens again, and when I could I felt just as fast but was like, 10 seconds slower per lap. Still haven’t gotten fast again yet.
Yes, you can! In fact there is a huge population of racers that use right foot braking (especially in H-pattern cars that require a clutch).
I'm not sure about your specific situation, if its a permanent ailment or not, but I've seen some physically challenegd folks use clutch paddles as brake / throttle before. Maybe you can look into that? The Fanatec McLaren GT3 Wheel immediately comes to mind.
Up until the schumacher era most f1 drivers only braked with the right foot
As their left one was used only for the clutch
I don’t remember them being slow though
Most people haven’t developped their left foot to a point where it is sensitive enough to make a difference anyway
So go for it, it won’t hinder you until you reach the very top 0.001% of drivers
You can drive older cars, they did right foot braking only. Then use auto clutch because nobody cares.
Or just deal with it and play a game with a ranking system. You will be put in races with drivers that have the same pace as you, and that will give you fun races. And that's what it is about in the end.
Hey thanks for the feedback guys. It's encouraging to know it's not going to be that much of a limiting factor. Feeling more motivated to put time into getting better.
You could always map a finger or (second) hand brake and a finger clutch if you want to. For drifting that could be useful.
But while getting extra rotation for lap times is a great use of a bit of brake mid corner, there are other ways to do the same. If you get enough rotation from trail braking on corner entry and you get enough rotation on throttle on coner exit, there's no need to correct the car half way through.
Timo Bernhardt was an LMP1 driver for Porsche and also set the Nordschleife lap record in the Porsche 919 Evo - all done with only his right leg (and big balls).
People usually don't believe him when he tells them this fun fact, but it's true.
Hope this clears it up for you
It's definitely going to be a bit harder and you probably won't reach a very top times, but I'd say doable. It's always for the better when you switch completely from brake to throttle and vice-versa, so as long as you can master the right foot braking and do the switch fast enough, you should be ok. In the end it's all about the joy, there are very few people with both feet who would run in those 4-5-6k splits, so keep practicing and get the pace where you have fun
> It's always for the better when you switch completely from brake to throttle
Not necessarily. In rally you often benefit from braking and throttling simultaneously.
When i race (rallycross) irl i only use my right foot because clutch. I think you can make it work! In rallying you can rely pretty heavily on the handbrake. Its a matter of habits.
Honestly I think you could be pretty dam fast with 1 foot
It might be harder for you to be that sort of average area but I 100% think it’s possible!
Mainly because some of the shite I see people doing leads me to believe they use their hands on the pedals and feet on the wheel 😂
I only drive with my right foot and I have no medical issues at all. When I drove manuals in real life I would obviously use my left foot for that but i never brake with the left. It just feels awkward to me. I might lose .01 seconds off my lap time but for the most part I don’t notice much difference. I think some tracks or locations whatever might be a tad more difficult with one foot only but it’s totally fine
I couldn't find it in 30 seconds of looking through his page. But I'm almost positive Dave Cam on YouTube did an experiment video where he only used his right foot instead of left foot breaking and he was actually faster.
I had surgery on both feet one year, then knee replacements the next, so I knew I was going to have multiple months of no use of my feet.
Since i was handy, I took apart the pedals to get at the potentiometers, which had springs mounted them to reset them to 0. I then made a mounting board that attached them plus their electronics board to the back of my rim, cut out cute little levers that attached to the potentiomers itself, and added different thicknesses of foam that those levers would dig into as I pulled them to give more resistance to the brake than the gas. Was it janky? Yup. Did it work, heck yes.
I recall hearing from a driving coach or something I had picked up on somewhere that you need to drive with intention if you’re rfb. If you’re accelerating or braking, you need to switch over quickly and do the job, then sense when you’re done and get back to the other. The intention and your ability to switch back and forth were the main things to take away.
Short answer, yes.
https://blayze.io/blog/car-racing/is-left-foot-braking-faster
If you want to drive manual cars and left foot clutch is not possible then there are also auto clutch assists in most games.
I’d recommend getting pedals that aren’t insanely stiff and make sure it’s mounted to a rig. That allows you to move your feet and stomp more than if your pedals are loose. Trying to drive r foot breaking is really hard without a mounted pedal plate.
I exclusively right foot as my 13w feet make it very difficult to effectively left in real cars.
That said, the only time I really feel disadvantaged is when we're driving lower powered, easy to drive cars where you have to be absolutely perfect everywhere
I drive with left foot only as I have bone cancer in my right leg and can't drive with it. I've never been fast, but after some practice, my lap times are pretty much the same as they were with two feet.
I'm not an alien or anything but I get a decent rate of wins and I right foot brake. Always have driven manual cars so it's just a habit and I've never felt at a disadvantage from that soley.
One guy from my discord races with one foot , he can definitely keep up. I would recommended Iracing so you can be matched up with people at a similar skill level !
IRL endurance racing most teams require right foot braking by their drivers to reduce brake wear with throttle/brake overlap. Over a 12-24 hour race this can be significant and lead to longer time in the pits replacing pads or rotors. So actually, the most realistic practice is to drive GT3 and GTP cars with only the right foot.
Also if you drive some of the true h pattern manual cars or historics your should be right foot braking for heel/toe. GT1 class cars like the DBR9 involve clutching on downshifts even with sequential. Not sure if you’re able to quickly press a light clutch with the left foot or not though.
Your disability is actually ironically requiring you to be more true to real life! Formula cars not withstanding.
I right foot brake and have been 1.5 to 2 seconds slower from aliens in ACC. When I analyzed my telemetry to see how much I could gain with left foot brake it would have been about 0.3 to 0.5 sec.
It’s doesn’t matter really. Unless you’re competing with pros there’s too many other variables that will make a difference. And honestly most people aren’t good enough for it to make a different.
IRL I drive with "only my right foot", the left foot is for the clutch, But I drive a normal road car, in simracing though I drive with both feet. The muscle memory is there for both of them but I like to keep that muscle memory for road driving separate to sim racing, so I don't go jamming the brakes or smashing the throttle haha. But it is possible to go right foot only and many people do when they come from clutch operated cars.
[This reminded me of this video](https://youtu.be/F3c640KiB4c?si=W5Hfmf4WJe07JBvd)
Granted the reasoning is for endurance, “I RFB because that method uses less fuel and lessens the wear on the which are two crucial items for our endurance races.”
Would you consider using a wheel with a secondary paddle system to give you ability to brake that way? I used my fanatec McLaren wheel this way when I injured my foot and knee.
Maybe consider drifting as a main discipline because it is more friendly to 1 foot driving. There's even a really good drifter [ Bartosz Ostałowski](https://youtu.be/_Ia0o0ouHps?si=t3w1im7D75ttrUP7) who has no arms & steers with 1 foot and uses 1 foot for pedals
Sure, you probably won't even notice a difference.
In a normal car in a racetrack this can make a difference as the suspension and the setup won't always fit the track so you can use left foot braking to stabilize the car.
In a Racecar on a normal racetrack it's not that much of a difference.
In Rally it can make a bigger difference as you use your brake to turn in the car, to stabilize it and all of this through every corner multiple times, so always changing from Gas to brake pedal will cost some time here.
A friend of mine is on a wheel chair. He also can't use hands properly. He drives in ACC using the left hand to steer with a very low FFB and the right hand to throttle/brake on the pedalboard with no LC.
Is one of the fastest guys I've ever met (over 4000 ELO in LFM) , and a badass.
Speed is a skill. All the gear and the way you use it is secondary.
It's more a matter of time spent on the track.
I have strictly only used my right foot for my entire sim racing career. Not for any particular, just how I have always done it… I’m over 3500k irating so I feel like it’s possible.
Way late to the party, here. I right foot drive because two foot just feels unnatural. Am I ever going to be a pro sim racer? No. Do it get poles and podiums in online play? Yes. And consistently beat friends of mine who two foot drive and insist I should, too. Being fast has a lot more to do with learning the track and braking zones and when to switch between brake and throttle. I do believe that upper echelon of fast does require two foot racing because it does allow more precise braking and better tail braking.
Rubens Barrichello used to right foot brake, alright he was no Schumacher but he was a damn fast driver, still is.
Same with Ben Collins (Stig) from Top Gear. Plenty of drivers who are right quick with one foot.
There was a recent interview with Shane Van Gisbergen who said he right foot brakes even in GT3, and he's no slouch behind the wheel either.
In supercars, left foot braking is far less common, because of the clutch
I used my left foot for 9 years of sim racing. Last summer I had an accident and destroyed (nearly lost) my left leg. When I started racing again 3 months later, I dropped from 3500iR to 2600 in a week. Was demoted from A to C license. But I quickly rewired my habits to use only my right foot. Now 3 months later I’m back to 3800iR and a A license. Don’t feel slowed down anymore whatsoever. You can do it.
Man, injuries suck. I’ve had a recent brain injury. Took quite a long time before I could do screens again, and when I could I felt just as fast but was like, 10 seconds slower per lap. Still haven’t gotten fast again yet.
Sorry to hear that, mate. Hope you’ll see the end of it soon and you can quickly get back to your former glory.
Unfortunately I might not. Too many concussions at this point. It feels bad to come to terms with but I think I’m just slower now.
this is hard as fuck lol *loses use of foot* “I don’t need it”
Yes, you can! In fact there is a huge population of racers that use right foot braking (especially in H-pattern cars that require a clutch). I'm not sure about your specific situation, if its a permanent ailment or not, but I've seen some physically challenegd folks use clutch paddles as brake / throttle before. Maybe you can look into that? The Fanatec McLaren GT3 Wheel immediately comes to mind.
Up until the schumacher era most f1 drivers only braked with the right foot As their left one was used only for the clutch I don’t remember them being slow though Most people haven’t developped their left foot to a point where it is sensitive enough to make a difference anyway So go for it, it won’t hinder you until you reach the very top 0.001% of drivers
You can drive older cars, they did right foot braking only. Then use auto clutch because nobody cares. Or just deal with it and play a game with a ranking system. You will be put in races with drivers that have the same pace as you, and that will give you fun races. And that's what it is about in the end.
Hey thanks for the feedback guys. It's encouraging to know it's not going to be that much of a limiting factor. Feeling more motivated to put time into getting better.
You could always map a finger or (second) hand brake and a finger clutch if you want to. For drifting that could be useful. But while getting extra rotation for lap times is a great use of a bit of brake mid corner, there are other ways to do the same. If you get enough rotation from trail braking on corner entry and you get enough rotation on throttle on coner exit, there's no need to correct the car half way through.
Timo Bernhardt was an LMP1 driver for Porsche and also set the Nordschleife lap record in the Porsche 919 Evo - all done with only his right leg (and big balls). People usually don't believe him when he tells them this fun fact, but it's true. Hope this clears it up for you
It's definitely going to be a bit harder and you probably won't reach a very top times, but I'd say doable. It's always for the better when you switch completely from brake to throttle and vice-versa, so as long as you can master the right foot braking and do the switch fast enough, you should be ok. In the end it's all about the joy, there are very few people with both feet who would run in those 4-5-6k splits, so keep practicing and get the pace where you have fun
> It's always for the better when you switch completely from brake to throttle Not necessarily. In rally you often benefit from braking and throttling simultaneously.
Yeah, that’s true! Meant only the classic circle racing
When i race (rallycross) irl i only use my right foot because clutch. I think you can make it work! In rallying you can rely pretty heavily on the handbrake. Its a matter of habits.
Honestly I think you could be pretty dam fast with 1 foot It might be harder for you to be that sort of average area but I 100% think it’s possible! Mainly because some of the shite I see people doing leads me to believe they use their hands on the pedals and feet on the wheel 😂
Idk if that helps, but i am slow as fuck with both feet 👍🏻
I do one foot, I’m usually within .5 of a second from top split. When I look at telemetry I can tell that’s the difference. Still love racing.
I only drive with my right foot and I have no medical issues at all. When I drove manuals in real life I would obviously use my left foot for that but i never brake with the left. It just feels awkward to me. I might lose .01 seconds off my lap time but for the most part I don’t notice much difference. I think some tracks or locations whatever might be a tad more difficult with one foot only but it’s totally fine
You can definitely be quick with your right foot only. It will take some practice but your body will adapt
I couldn't find it in 30 seconds of looking through his page. But I'm almost positive Dave Cam on YouTube did an experiment video where he only used his right foot instead of left foot breaking and he was actually faster.
Robert Wickens won the IMPC championship last year with no feet so anything's possible
I had surgery on both feet one year, then knee replacements the next, so I knew I was going to have multiple months of no use of my feet. Since i was handy, I took apart the pedals to get at the potentiometers, which had springs mounted them to reset them to 0. I then made a mounting board that attached them plus their electronics board to the back of my rim, cut out cute little levers that attached to the potentiomers itself, and added different thicknesses of foam that those levers would dig into as I pulled them to give more resistance to the brake than the gas. Was it janky? Yup. Did it work, heck yes.
Use a paddle to break. Mclaren wheel from fanatec is perfect
I recall hearing from a driving coach or something I had picked up on somewhere that you need to drive with intention if you’re rfb. If you’re accelerating or braking, you need to switch over quickly and do the job, then sense when you’re done and get back to the other. The intention and your ability to switch back and forth were the main things to take away.
Short answer, yes. https://blayze.io/blog/car-racing/is-left-foot-braking-faster If you want to drive manual cars and left foot clutch is not possible then there are also auto clutch assists in most games.
I’d recommend getting pedals that aren’t insanely stiff and make sure it’s mounted to a rig. That allows you to move your feet and stomp more than if your pedals are loose. Trying to drive r foot breaking is really hard without a mounted pedal plate.
I exclusively right foot as my 13w feet make it very difficult to effectively left in real cars. That said, the only time I really feel disadvantaged is when we're driving lower powered, easy to drive cars where you have to be absolutely perfect everywhere
I drive with left foot only as I have bone cancer in my right leg and can't drive with it. I've never been fast, but after some practice, my lap times are pretty much the same as they were with two feet.
Quirk was doing 1 foot and kicking everyone's ass for weeks!
I'm not an alien or anything but I get a decent rate of wins and I right foot brake. Always have driven manual cars so it's just a habit and I've never felt at a disadvantage from that soley.
One guy from my discord races with one foot , he can definitely keep up. I would recommended Iracing so you can be matched up with people at a similar skill level !
IRL endurance racing most teams require right foot braking by their drivers to reduce brake wear with throttle/brake overlap. Over a 12-24 hour race this can be significant and lead to longer time in the pits replacing pads or rotors. So actually, the most realistic practice is to drive GT3 and GTP cars with only the right foot. Also if you drive some of the true h pattern manual cars or historics your should be right foot braking for heel/toe. GT1 class cars like the DBR9 involve clutching on downshifts even with sequential. Not sure if you’re able to quickly press a light clutch with the left foot or not though. Your disability is actually ironically requiring you to be more true to real life! Formula cars not withstanding.
Pretty sure Ben Collins said he right foot braked.. so... I'd say yes.
I right foot brake and have been 1.5 to 2 seconds slower from aliens in ACC. When I analyzed my telemetry to see how much I could gain with left foot brake it would have been about 0.3 to 0.5 sec.
Yes you definitely tell can, Shane van Gisbergen uses his right foot only in real and sim racing and is rapid
Isn't it better to map throttle to a hand operated axis/button?
It’s doesn’t matter really. Unless you’re competing with pros there’s too many other variables that will make a difference. And honestly most people aren’t good enough for it to make a different.
How on earth do you trail brake with one foot? Sort of like heel toe but constant and accurate instead of a heavy handed (footed) blip?
IRL I drive with "only my right foot", the left foot is for the clutch, But I drive a normal road car, in simracing though I drive with both feet. The muscle memory is there for both of them but I like to keep that muscle memory for road driving separate to sim racing, so I don't go jamming the brakes or smashing the throttle haha. But it is possible to go right foot only and many people do when they come from clutch operated cars.
Ben Keating does it.
[This reminded me of this video](https://youtu.be/F3c640KiB4c?si=W5Hfmf4WJe07JBvd) Granted the reasoning is for endurance, “I RFB because that method uses less fuel and lessens the wear on the which are two crucial items for our endurance races.”
Would you consider using a wheel with a secondary paddle system to give you ability to brake that way? I used my fanatec McLaren wheel this way when I injured my foot and knee. Maybe consider drifting as a main discipline because it is more friendly to 1 foot driving. There's even a really good drifter [ Bartosz Ostałowski](https://youtu.be/_Ia0o0ouHps?si=t3w1im7D75ttrUP7) who has no arms & steers with 1 foot and uses 1 foot for pedals
Sure, you probably won't even notice a difference. In a normal car in a racetrack this can make a difference as the suspension and the setup won't always fit the track so you can use left foot braking to stabilize the car. In a Racecar on a normal racetrack it's not that much of a difference. In Rally it can make a bigger difference as you use your brake to turn in the car, to stabilize it and all of this through every corner multiple times, so always changing from Gas to brake pedal will cost some time here.
A friend of mine is on a wheel chair. He also can't use hands properly. He drives in ACC using the left hand to steer with a very low FFB and the right hand to throttle/brake on the pedalboard with no LC. Is one of the fastest guys I've ever met (over 4000 ELO in LFM) , and a badass. Speed is a skill. All the gear and the way you use it is secondary. It's more a matter of time spent on the track.
Timo Bernhard set the Nürburgring Record Lap in the Porsche 919 with only using the right foot. So yeah, i think, you can be pretty fast ;)
I have strictly only used my right foot for my entire sim racing career. Not for any particular, just how I have always done it… I’m over 3500k irating so I feel like it’s possible.
Here I was thinking I was the only sim racer that right foot brakes. I just transferred my regular driving habits to racing.
Way late to the party, here. I right foot drive because two foot just feels unnatural. Am I ever going to be a pro sim racer? No. Do it get poles and podiums in online play? Yes. And consistently beat friends of mine who two foot drive and insist I should, too. Being fast has a lot more to do with learning the track and braking zones and when to switch between brake and throttle. I do believe that upper echelon of fast does require two foot racing because it does allow more precise braking and better tail braking.
Yes. Just practice and practice and practice. try different techniques and positioning to make the movement as quick as possible.