balaclava
The fireproof hood drivers wear under their helmets to avoid burns to the face and neck.

balance
When a car doesn’t tend to oversteer or understeer, but goes around the racetrack as if its on rails, it’s said to be in balance, or neutral.

banking
The sloping of a racetrack, particularly at a curve or a corner, from the apron to the outside wall. Degree of banking refers to the height of a racetrack’s slope at the outside edge. On some road courses, certain turns may actually be banked outward, a very difficult type of corner known as off-camber.

bite
Adhesion of a tire to the track surface.

blister
Bubbles on the surface of a tire created by overheating of the tread compound.

bottoming
This is when the chassis actually touches the ground as the suspension compresses from aerodynamic downforce, and from vertical G forces on oval track banking or over bumps in the pavement.

brake fade
When the fluid in the brake system exceeds its boiling point due to hard use, bubbles can form in the brake lines and calipers. Since these bubbles can be squeezed smaller by pressure from the brake pedal, the pedal tends to go soft and may even go to the floorboard without the brakes working properly.

braking zone
The area leading into a turn where drivers apply the brakes to set the car up for manoeuvring through the turn. Each driver’s braking point differs, depending on the car’s setup and the driver’s level of skill.