MaxLTV

That's amazing how close our times are. Judging from vids, my PBs are somewhere between yours and Bens for T-hill and Sonoma. At Laguna I barely got 1:39.9 (but I got tons of excuses for that), and the 5-mile, where I got low 3:29s over the top (on a cooler day though). I'd like to think that they are so close because we are all approaching the limits of these cars, but I'm not going to fool myself.

I think you are faster at T-hill by so much because 1) more T-hill days to get comfortable with GT3; 2) less walls, so GT3 speeds are not as intimidating. Also, Sonoma rewards reckless abandon in regards to the cost of totaling the car, so it generally does not favor GT3s

By the way, 1:24.1 is my PB for the West course. Not sure if it's any good - I was sliding around on purpose, finishing off tires.

MaxLTV

1.49.0, but I lifted before T1 and T9 where it was not necessary out of fear, which has to cost some time, and I cannot figure out the carousel.

m3irish

My first time at COTA in the car I was driving less than my best at 2:29s on the stock Dunlops. We'll see what I can do this coming Monday.

orthojoe

It is cool that our times are all pretty close. Friendly competition is always fun! I also think thill times are a larger delta over the spyder because it's a longer course and thill rewards high horsepower cars. All of my time gained over the spyder was after T6 where you have high speed straights and exits. Before T6, the cars were even. You are definitely right about the walls at sonoma, though. I always leave extra time on the table at T8-10 out of fear.

1:24 on the thill west side seems about right. I ran 1:26 with the spyder, and it's a short course with no big areas for large power advantage.

Rob in Potomac

Need some times from east coast tracks.

We ran Watkins Glen a couple of weeks ago and my best recorded time - before my lap timer quit- was about 1:13. I believe I had some faster laps following the last recorded one, some PB likely about 1:12. Last year, also ran 1:13 in 997.2 GT3, so clearly have potential for better times - except track was very bumpy and in relatively poor condition which we all agreed was worth about 1 second. Reason for shutting down track to repave.

At Summit Point, ran 1:21.9 this year, which compares with 1:21.8 last year in 997.2, so clearly have not pushed 991 close to what it (and I) can do. Will push a bit harder in a few weeks.

991 is completely stock. 997.2 ran on 888's, and had minor suspension mods, toe links and AP rotors.

Rob in Potomac

rnh204

Rob - Did you mean 2:13 for the Glen?

Rob in Potomac

Absolutely - thanks for the catch.

Manifold

My best recorded laps at WG were 2:09s, but I was lazy and only timed a fraction of my laps. Maybe there were some untimed 2:08s in there, but could be wishful thinking. Fastest session was probably my last one, but I didn't go out with the timer on because the track was somewhat wet, but it wound up drying completely and there was almost no traffic. The esses were bumpy, which can feel disconcerting, but the car was able to find grip if asked to do so.

At Tbolt, my best laps were 1:31s, but there was traffic, and the rear grip continued to fall away over the day, I think because the rear tires are almost done (about 2900 track miles on them), whereas the front tires are much newer. Driving a loose car slows me down quite a bit. With better rear tires and no traffic, I think I could have easily been in 1:30s. Others will surely get to 1:29s, maybe lower.

At Summit Point, I just started timing laps and had a few 1:21s with some traffic, and theoretical best is 1:20.4. When I can actually do 20s with some consistency, I'll be happy. If I can get to 19s, may reward myself with a cup car.

Rob in Potomac

At the Glen, it is all about confidence. Starting with T1, might be able to keep foot to floor until bus stop - this really has potential for reducing lap times. Not there yet. Also entering T6 down chute and through to T11 - entering front straight, lot of room for improvement, but as you saw last weekend, T6 ate up a lot of race cars. Would love to get down to 2:08's, but that will have to wait until next year.

I plan on driving TBolt end of August and will see what I remember and how quickly I relearn track.

As far as SP, I am in complete agreement with you, I think 1:20 flat was my virtual best also, but there is more available in the esses and especially entering T10.

Rob in Potomac

Manifold

At WG, I'm flat coming out of T1, but I have to lift somewhat before T2 and am not flat again until after the apex of T3. You'll definitely run wide in T2 if you attempt to do it flat. I think you were losing time in T6 due to braking late and turning in late, which killed your momentum. I brake earlier and less, carry more speed in, and turn in earlier, to take advantage of the camber. And in general, I think fully exploiting the camber is one of the keys to WG (eg, I don't unwind the steering in T1 until I'm close to tracking out, since the camber allows you to both hold the steering - or even add some steering - and continue feed in throttle). Of course, after the repaving, the track will be somewhat of a new ballgame!

I'm not yet comfortable with the car at SP. Feels fine when doing 22s or 23s, but when going faster than that, I continue to be plagued by instability in the bumpy braking zones for T3, T5, and T10. As you suggested, straightening my line from T9 to T10 helped, but still having issues. I'm going to try asking less of the brakes and smoothing things out in general.

My Tbolt number is just something thrown out there as a data point. I don't have enough time at that track to be comfortable really pushing it, and I timed some laps mainly just to set a personal benchmark to gauge my progress in the future. I suspect that plenty of 991 GT3 guys will be posting faster times this season.

CPederse

Has anybody done The Ridge in WA and have some benchmark times in the 991 GT3 from there?

Pacific Raceways?

I'll try to get on these later this summer and would love to have some benchmarks.

forklift

This^. A 991 GT3 is a K car in PCA racing/stock. Depending on the track I would add 1.5-2 seconds for Hoosiers and then subtract that for PDK and other advantages so I'm thinking these should be good times to shoot for if not a second or two faster for a 1/3. Clarke's records were in a 7/3 and the VIR is on the old pavement as well:

Brainerd K MICHAEL STEWART 1:47.680 2013-07-28 Enduro Race
CMP K CLARKE SIMPSON 1:38.392 2013-10-25 Qualifying
COTA K MICHAEL STEWART 2:39.103 2013-05-11 Qualifying
Daytona K JAMES STANISLAW 2:02.697 2014-10-26 Enduro Race
Hastings K ROLAND MANARIN 1:35.563 2013-06-01 Sprint Race
Heartland K ROLAND MANARIN 1:48.330 2012-04-14 Sprint Race
Laguna Seca K TOM GATSOULIS 1:42.068 2015-06-07 Sprint Race
Lime Rock K BARRY LUCAS 1:00.656 2012-04-28 Qualifying
Mid-Ohio Pro Course K GEORGE TSANTES 1:36.506 2013-07-07 Enduro Race
Monticello K JEAN AUDET 2:35.279 2015-05-09 Qualifying
NJMP Thunderbolt K KEN NIELSEN 1:27.015 2013-08-25 Sprint Race
NJMP Thunderbolt with Chicane K TIM HOLT JR 1:31.575 2012-05-13 Sprint Race
Road America K MICHAEL STEWART 2:32.127 2013-09-01 Sprint Race
Road Atlanta K JAMES STANISLAW 1:33.080 2015-03-28 Sprint Race
Roebling Road K JAMES STANISLAW 1:17.762 2013-03-02 Sprint Race
Sebring K JAMES STANISLAW 2:19.444 2015-02-01 Enduro Race
Summit Point K CLARKE SIMPSON 1:16.770 2013-09-28 Qualifying
VIR K CLARKE SIMPSON 2:01.077 2013-06-22 Qualifying
Watkins Glen K TIM HOLT 2:04.661 2012-06-02 Sprint Race

Rob in Potomac

SP is my home track, so have driven many laps and feel pretty confident there, but runoffs are not great, although there has been much improvement in past year. T3 and T9 are most treacherous. T4 is almost universally driven with care, although I instructed someone in a 430 challenge car and we hit 120 coming down the chute, so I guess it is there. T5 is mostly treated as throw away, but I tend to enter on right, just to reduce distance since speed is not an alternative. Do you ever run with Potomac PCA - we are there mid July and August - 3 day weekends?

With regard to WG, little surprised that you feel T2 cannot be taken flat out. I am not certain but I think that at some point I was flat out after entering T2 to bus stop - unless you are referring to entrance to T2. But, you are right on with regard to camber, that is reason we have a track walk on Friday evenings for green and new to track drivers.

Rob in Potomac

forklift

Rob, Manifold is the Potomac DE Safety Chair.

Manifold

Was safety chair, I recently retired. Now I get to talk about lap times and try to go faster, but will still try not to crash. Rob and I know each other.