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Anyone have good video coverage of themselves in a 996 GT3 at the Glen?
Really looking for a car with stock gearing to get a feel for what gear I need to be in for various sections.
running 20-30 laps on iRacing each evening in a car that's close to the speed of our cars to get the flow down but the gearing in our cars is still what I"m really looking to nail down.
You can find video, but the thing is the visual cues and lines will be a bit different with the new pavement.
Depending on what tires you're on or how hard you're pushing you will be quite a bit faster than me. One thing I would note is hold 4th as long as possible on the back straight. Look at the second video (nascar config) for reference of that.
Thanks man...I"ll study these tonight when I'm not trying to play them loudly in my office :-) I keep looking for the shifter hoping I can see it!!!
I'm gonna go out at least the first day on Nitto's so I won't be setting the world on fire. We'll see if I mount sticky tires at some point and make a go at a quick lap.
Here is a recent lap (sorry for crappy video - I need to move to a GoPro instead of iPhone). For me with stock gearing it's a 3rd and 4th gear track. Chet
at back straight with stock gearing you will redline 4th gear going into bus stop.
true 149 mph by gps not car gauges
Yeah...the speedo is pretty optimistic. I've seen 146 via AIM data on the back straight at Mid Ohio and the speedo shows mid 150's. I'm interested to see if / when I hit the limiter in 4th and if I need to go to 5th at all. I'm doubting the additional shift will be warranted but that's why I started this thread to get a feel before I go.
I would try to stay in 4th as long as you don't hit the limiter too early. You can take the bus stop and t5 in 4th. Possibly even the laces if you carry enough speed. Then you only need to go down to 3rd for the toe.
t2 to the bus stop is deceiving because although it seems to flatten out after the esses, it's basically all uphill. Plus it's better to get the braking done on the early side so you're not fighting the car to carry speed through the bus stop.
Also, they say the bus stop curbs are much higher now, so you might not want to bounce off of them too much. YMMV. We were all slamming them in the m3 at the AER race, which may or may not have caused some of the issues we saw.
If you're liberal with the throttle up the Esses, you'll need to go to 5th up the back straight. I like to shift to 5 a little early, coming out of the last right hander, then the downshift doesn't happen so quickly afterwards.
I'm in 4th almost all the way around, 5th before entering the bus stop. I go down to third for the toe, the heel, and turn 1. I'm often tempted to go down to 3rd for 11, but I've tried it in 3rd and 4th and I don't think it's any faster with the downshift.
Have fun out there! The new pavement is good for a couple seconds off your lap. If you take a pass on the back straight, be warned that there's a crown in the road and it can surprise you as you move right passed the centre. Avoid the curbs in the bus stop - your setup may be okay with it, but they upset the majority of cars.
Here is my race 2 from WGI from earlier in the year in the SPB. I was just there in the GT3, but no video up yet from that visit. If you look through the videos on my Youtube channel you wil find some from previous years in the GT3
Wanted to follow up here and thank you guys for sending me video and tips for this track. Many of you reached out to me outside of this thread and provided extra video as well. It was all VERY helpful.
My first day I struggled a little bit with the track. It's an intimidating SOB and I was a little bit in awe of the place for the first little bit. My Nitto NT-01 setup has ALOT of rotation in it for mid ohio which was detrimental to progress at Watkins as I was constantly chasing the rear of the car with it sliding everywhere and I had no confidence in the car at all. Setup changes and more wing on Saturday got the car feeling much better and the times were starting to finally really drop when I had a problem with one of the rears. Looks like it had the belts separate on me thankfully it stayed in one piece and only tore up the plastic liner in the rear wheel well.
So that was all the excuse I needed to mount sticky rubber and have a go at it. With the balance now on the understeer side I really got comfortable with the car and started to really focus on getting the track down. Sunday right before lunch I laid down a couple laps I felt were pretty darn good:
From there I went out the last two sessions not pushing as hard and just enjoying the track...what a wonderful place to drive. If you've never been there you NEED to get there!!!
Hopefully I can return the favor of video sharing...I haven't checked the video card to know if I got the good laps or not. the camera shut off at some point during that session but if I've got them captured I'll edit and share.
I had a similar scary situation over the weekend. Was at Palmer going over the top, about to head down the dipper into 7 and bang, two rear wheel studs broke. Car went siedways and lost brakes due to pad pushback. It all ended well thankfully.
Next time you head to the Glen let me know and I will try to be there. I am there in 2.5 weeks for the 4th time this year. One of my favorites.
Great times, and I knew you would love the Glen. I really want to get there soon with the new surface. I've heard it is even better. I echo Matt's comment. Let me know when you return, and I'll try to get there. It would be a blast.
Matt, is the 6GT3 back together? It would be amazing to see that car there again.
I did that to a Hoosier once at the Glen. When I saw it, knowing the speeds and blue shrubbery everywhere at the Glen, I gasped!
07-26-2016, 04:23 PM
Watkins Glen: 996 GT3 In car video
