Van

I was at Mosport for the VARAC Canadian Historic Grand Prix - a vintage race where they had a 944 group as a tribute to the Rothmans/Porsche series in the 1980s.

Anyhow, here's a little footage from one of my races.

ZR8ED

The track looks really good from your perspective (the track). I have not run the track post improvements, but it looks like it is a much faster track than before! You could have used a few more hp to dive into 1st. You seemed a bit slow. Don't worry folks, I'm just giving him a friendly ribbing as I've driven this track for many years...though it was in a GT1/GT2 capable Datsun Z car, and an extra 150hp goes a long ways on this track.
Glad you had a great time, at a spectacular track! A great weekend it was indeed. (alive in corner 5 is my favorite place to watch from)

kevin12973

Great job Van, on the driving and the video work. All the pop up notes makes watching so much more interesting.
Cant wait for you to be my instructor, one of these days.

goatfarmerdave

Great footage.You have to drive that track to appreciate the elevation changes.When you do a track walk it becomes very evident.You can hardly walk up 5A! Great track and great new owners bringing it back to one of the premier tracks in the world.Many professional race car drivers over the last 30 years have said Mosport is one of the toughest and thrilling tracks out there.

VirginiaF1

Hi Van,
@5:05 you termed out at 113mph.
How much faster would your 951 racer have been right there?
As always, thanks for racing and for posting and for commentating.
We all know that competitive racing, even in a 944, ain't cheap.
Poor Margaret..

Dubai944

Great stuff Van.

Van

Low 130s. Interestingly, my turbo was only 2 seconds faster per lap. (The orange car is lighter, handles better, and I'm a better driver now.)

VirginiaF1

Wicked.. and what is your estimated Lap Time for the 914?
Or at least how would the mid-engine handling characteristics differ in attacking the apexes?

Ernie J

Lap times depend on car prep, my SP3 car 3L 16v ,1.36.ish ,all 951 cars this weekend lapped at 1.38 's. 914's level of prep/driver skill ??

Turbodan

Great video Van.
Great to see you this weekend!
Great driving too.
Will you be back next weekend for the club race?
I had a shot of jaegermeister Sunday night at a wedding inspired by you and the orange 934 on Saturday.

Van

My 914 is a street car with factory suspension, but a bit more power than stock. I'd expect it to be 15-20 seconds slower. As for mid-engine handling, it's not so much a difference on "how to attack the apexes", but rather how the car rotates in the first half of the turn - e.g. the point when the driver starts initiating turn-in to the point where the car's new trajectory will take it to the track-out point.

A mid-engine car has more mass at the center of the car as opposed to the ends, so all things created equal, it will be able to change its course of direction (rotate) quicker - think of a figure skater pulling in his/her arms while spinning. However, this rate of rotation is also affected by wheelbase length, camber settings, tire compounds, corner balancing, spring rates and shock valving. So, with all those variables, it's still possible to have a mid-engine car that *does not* seem to rotate well.

Whatever type of car you have (and/or setup), once that "rotation" is achieved, you can get on the gas, reduce the rotation, and power out of the corner. Driving fast is a balancing act of maximum speed while initiating rotation and applying the gas as early as possible. Too slow at corner entry, you can get on the gas early, but you're already slow. Too fast at corner entry, you're delayed getting on the gas and your speed on the straight will suffer.


I can't be there for the PCA race.

Van

Here's some more of my footage:



And the good parts:
1:40 - Spin in T5a, followed by a restart where I gain positions back
4:30 - Saturday's G70+ race with an epic battle with a Civic
12:45 - Sunday morning in the rain with a foggy windshield
13:45 - In the rain with G70+ with a clear windshield
15:00 - Feature 944 race on Sunday with an epic battle

VirginiaF1

Nice pass at 5A on the yellow #83 but how did the black 944 at 0:36 pull away so fast from you starting at 5C? I thought no Turbo's?
Have you dyno'd the Jager?

And thanks as always for the detailed description on the 914's turn-in attributes... Cheers. Mike

Van

There were some SP3 (Super Cups - like S2s and Turbos) in with our group. And that black car was an SP3.

I have dynoed the car, and there is certainly some room within the rules to develop more power. I think I'm going to focus exactly on that before my next race!

Steinkrunk

Holy crap that looks so fun! I can't wait to get into racing...my cars coming together slowly but surely hopefully I'll get to my first DE by the end of summer