ervtx

First, a cross post from the Racing / DE forum re: a 2-day private DE organized around a special guest instructor, Patrick Long (just a few weeks after he secured the ALMS championship).

best-de-everl

And now the smile.... His first comments upon climbing into my car:

http://www.vimeo.com/7889643

Land Jet

Nice!

Where is Motorsports Ranch located?

MartyB

Awesome video! I love that you had the ***** to stay after it after spinning a few times!

ervtx

Cresson, Tx. Due south of Fort Worth, a little more than an hour's drive from Dallas. We used the 1.7 mile configuration, but there is also a 3.1 mile configuration.

Just to be clear, the cross post is not mine. The car in that video is a Cayman S. (I drive a GT3). I have not yet posted my event videos, but FWIW, I did not spin

JR944

Great fun! What sort of feedback did PL give you?

mobonic

was the car PL is driving in the video a Cayman S??

ervtx

There are two videos referenced above.... Here is the video from the owner of the Cayman, which includes both owner and PL driving (PL's is somewhere in the middle of the movie):

http://www.vimeo.com/7865358

Here is the video of PL driving my car, an '07 GT3 (1 lap):

http://www.vimeo.com/7895268

His Porsche contract prevented him from riding as a passenger, so his instruction was limited to the classroom, and "by example" (driving each of our cars while we watch from the passenger seat). For those of us who frequent this track regularly, the added benefit of having him drive our cars was the ability to use our data loggers to capture his line, turn-in, braking, etc. for future comparison purposes.

The particular lap that is in my vimeo clip is 100% driving and 100% observing (I was watching his hands, his feet, his eyes, the tach, etc.). But in almost all of the other laps, there was constant discussion - we talked about the changing conditions of the tires as they warmed up, the impact of different gear selections he tried on certain sections with respect to the trade off of stability vs. torque, which turns it made sense to upshift in the middle of the turn vs. before/after, higher degree of steering input under braking for type 2 turns, etc. Afterwards, he made a few comments regarding my suspension set-up for that particular track.

Bottom line, he helped me with things related to getting the most out of my car on that particular track. The instruction that actually made me faster, however, came from the group of professional instructors and racers that came with PL, and who were able to sit in the passenger seat and instruct in the more traditional format. Prior to this event, I had been in the top PCA run group for nearly 2 years, and had driven this track many times before. Yet I was still able to improve 4+ seconds between day 1 and day 2 (on a 1.7 mile track). Not at all like a PCA DE... more like a professional race school.

Virtual Surgeon

As an inexperienced "racer" and new to the sport. I appreciate your comments.

roberga

do you get out to Pacific? There is a track day on the 18th. Hope to meet you there. gordon

bjereb

Thanks for the great post/video. The sound of the engine without the wind noise is great. Question for any of the DE instructors. When doing DEs I have been instructed to be smooth and slow with the hands (no sawing of the wheel). When wathcing a Porsche factory driver who is very accomphlished I'm seeing the opposite. Am I not hearing my instructors correctly?

bob_dallas

Great video - thanks for posting. Interesting that he short shifted into 4th through tombstone/boothill. I've played with both ways but have talked myself into keeping the torque up with 3rd through there. In actuality, you can't fully use that torque anyway through the turn so I'll go back to trying 4th. Same thing coming out of wagon wheel and into Ricochet which is another turn where you can't use all the power in 3rd. Something to try out next weekend for sure. I'd love to hear any tips that he gave you for the GT3. I went to the first Patrick Long day a few years back and loved it but was driving my 997s and 73rs. He couldn't drive the RS because of the fixed seat position so I just had a quick ride around with him in my S.

ervtx

Funny that you mention "without the wind noise". This was not a PCA event, but out of habit, I drove every lap with the windows down. The first thing PL did as we left the grid was roll the windows up!

All of the drivers and instructors noticed the same pronounced movement of his hands, and we all had different opinions. I did not get a chance to ask PL about it, though. I don't plan to go out and start sawing the wheel myself, but I can at least understand that at some level, it was not re-active, but rather, pro-active. From the passenger seat, it seemed as though he was experimenting with the limits of adhesion at each location, speed, slip angle, etc. He was moving quickly from one car to the next, all with very different handling, tires, etc, so it was his way to get comfortable with each car.

Hi Bob; he only short shifted there once, mostly due to the slower car in front of us coming out of Tombstone. However, I got some excellent coaching on that turn from one of the local cup car drivers that went something like this...
It took me a while to get up the nerve to do that because in my prior car (C4), the lift would have just caused the car to plow on in the same trajectory (and go off). In the GT3, it produces the rotation required to hit the apex. As an aside, this event did more for my ability (confidence) to throttle steer high-speed corners than anything else. All of my lower lap times came from higher entry/exit speeds at Ricochet, Tombstone, and Big Bend. I mean, I thought it was fun throttle steering through Wagon Wheel, but once I finally figured out how to drift slightly through Big Bend, and go WOT before the apex at Ricochet in order to get the car pointed a little more to the left, it was like getting bit by the track bug all over again!

I was taking Ricochet in 3rd both before and after the event. The only thing that PL showed me that was different was an upshift to 3rd while still in the middle of Wagon Wheel, instead of waiting until the track-out. For him, it translated into more speed prior to Ricochet, which allowed him to shift to 4th after the hill. I haven't tried that wagon-wheel upshift yet, so I can't say whether or not I would carry the same speed after the hill.

He said that my car was just a little soft in the front, which I knew beforehand, because the suspension was tuned for TWS, not MSR. That said, I've put about 8 track days on that particular set-up, so I'm sure it's settled and needs to be re-done. From tire wear, I'm pretty sure that the rear camber has increased beyond the original setting, so that may explain some of it. I've posted those original settings somewhere on here in a old post...

I haven't figured out which days yet, but I do plan to get some member days in over the course of the rest of December now that PCA DE season is over. Hope to see you out there soon...

TRAKCAR

Thanks for posting! Good to see some common sense from factory drivers!

I can't stand it that we always have to drive with the windows open on track, I believe most European tracks make you drive with them closed. Some cars even close windows for safety when crashing.....

bob_dallas

Thanks Russell - good tips. I'm nowhere near WOT in 3rd there but that gives me something to work towards. See you at the track.

bjereb

Thanks Russell. I guess PL knew that he wasn't going to need to wave anyone by - so he could keep the windows closed! After watching your video I went looking for more on-board video of Patrick and saw the same steering wheel motion. I think you right though - he's testing the level of grip.