A stunning stunning lap. Unlike watching a lap around WGI in an Indy or NASCAR this is very relatable, albeit on on a whole other level!

The steering, throttle and braking inputs seem to be so carefully balanced on the edge to get the maximum amount of speed.

Surprised to hear it was 68 degrees. While not a warm day I wonder what the car would have done on a 58 degree sunny day!

Lastly, the fast lap seems to have been done "F1 style" where the driver takes the prior lap slow and only speeds up on the final corner. He jumped from a 2:09 to a 1:51.

For me, I have to be going full bore by turn 9 to keep my momentum up, and get my juices flowing, to put down a good flyer. I guess that is the difference between us mere mortals and a professional driver. Also, I guess the horsepower of the car means that he could reach maximum terminal velocity at turn 1 merely by punching it between 10 and 11.

 

Luigi,
During his previous lap he was trying to get his tires pressure and temps up to our target in order to have everything under operationg conditions.. We feel that there is a bit more in the car and figure there is a mid 51 in the car as it sits. The track service was still pretty cool this morning and there was a bit left on the table with dialing in the ABS a bit better. Once again , thank you for the support and recognition on this lap around the glen.

 

Thats an epic lap Charlie. Fastest 981 GT4 MR in North America. That vehicle is well sorted. 718 Owners, eat your heart out =)

 

MSR
Here you go . Stock 981 GT4 MR @ GT4 America ( Watkins Glen event )

 

I was at the Apex Driving event where this lap was run. It was a two-day event and I don't think it ever got as warm as 68 degrees on either day. At best I think it got into the low 60's in the afternoon of the second day but the mornings were pretty cold (40's to 50's) on both days. I heard about this car while I was there but there were so many GT4 Clubsports at the event that I didn't know which was which.

 

Looked like a nice 1:54.53 to me...

 

Marc,

This is my car. Here is the same video without the music.
.
J. Rizzo

 

Great run. Congratulations on the car and thanks for sharing.

I saw a couple areas that I am losing time and now I am anxious to get back there and try some more. Nothing like getting getting us excited about going to the track right before we get snow bound for a few months.

Thanks

Ed

Ed Baus

 

Stellar driving, car sounds great! Nice power!

 

Stellar driving, car sounds great! Nice power!

 

Man he gets on the gas with authority. It's interesting to see a few coasting spots like in the carousel. That's something i'm currently working on: when coasting is better than small amount of gas which might cause understeer. Normally some gas there is caused by overbraking and trying to make up for it.

 

Yep, full throttle from turn 1 all the way to the bus stop. Not even a gentleman's lift at turn 2...

 

"Gentleman's lift" Ha!
When I was learning WGI, I literally had to take my right hand off the steering wheel and push on my knee when going into 2 so as to learn to NOT lift there.
Such a wonderful track.
Sigh... And now we begin our winter of discount tents.

 

Yeh, you shouldn't lift in 2. Then again my experience is only in an E36 M3 with much less power. The Speed Secrets Ross Bently/Peter Krause track walk through video is very good and in it they say very very few cars should need a lift there.

I more meant his application mid turn. He's quick on the gas at or just before the apex and doesn't waiver a bit until the next braking zone. That's obvious in theory, but its harder in practice i find when looking at my data. I tend to dither/dabble with the throttle as i apparently tend to overslow and then try to make up for it a little. I feel like sneaking on the gas a little early is fast, but its much slower than carrying proper speed through in the first place. It also tends to lighten the front of the car reducing turn-in and tricking you into thinking you're going too fast and so you overslow even more. I saw an instructional video on youtube saying that to break this habit you should force yourself not to get on the gas before the apex. If you overslow you simply coast to the apex and then gas. Then you can isolate the entry from the exit and work on bringing up entry speed while the exit remains the same.

 

Thanks for the shout out. Between Ross and I, we've worked with thousands of drivers over the last thirty-five years at the Glen.

So often, most drivers drive to what they THINK the car will accept, not what it WILL accept. The compression at T2 is your friend.

The perceived drama comes later, when you change direction to the left. But, if the geometry is correct and you're committed to throttle, almost every car through does not require a lift or a breathe.

Yes, Jan's commitment is superb and as you say, unwavering. The product of confidence, experience and an incredible depth of understanding of the physics that the car is subject to, at every moment and with every control input.

Hah! You are NOT alone! But at least you see it. It's all about going too fast in the optimal slow spots and too slow in the optimal faster ones. The dither/dabble/lack of commitment is the chief challenge that ought to be tackled first.

Excellent analysis! And rampant at every track day/DE and club race. But, you're thinking the right way, and show good understanding of the factors involved.

What a great explanation you've made, working through this challenge.

I woke up this morning thinking how similar, yet explained a little differently, my thinking is with the presenter of the video you saw, Dion von Moltke. Same concept, different words and explanations.

Dion has presented a bunch of high quality information and his signature work is based on not applying throttle too early.

While many of us realize and recognize that most drivers finish their braking too early, allowing the nose to rise and compromise their steering efficiency, our goal is always to "get back to power." Easy to do that too early, though.

The problem is that the car HAS to be pointed in the right direction before you "pull the trigger." Which often means you need to move the brake zone INTO the turn, which is hard working up the courage to do.

Of course, once you do it and feel better about it, it's easier to roll speed in.

Dion has done a wonderful job in boiling it down to the most important objective, which is "no power" (or "no pedal," IF you're going fast enough) until the apex, then progressing quickly and evenly to WOT.

A great, simple way of explaining it, similar to the curriculum honed, developed and presented by all of us as Skip Barber instructors.

All of us who teach this stuff professionally (and the pros that achieve high levels of execution do so all the time) agree. Optimizing the fore/aft control inputs are the last frontier, once you master the line and develop more and more commitment.

It's really fun to watch. Jan is fun, Cory is fun, Spencer was fun. Those guys had/have serious commitment! But, the bottom line is that the entry has to be part of the "slowing phase" and only at the apex zone does it turn into the "acceleration phase."

Everything in between is just dithering...