Mike Roblin

Thanks Dave, what I was taught was to start by reviewing the combined G and use that as a gauge for the overall grip available for the tires/car. Obviously if a corner has helpful camber or an uphill braking zone that can give more grip - you have to adjust how much you are looking for. Generally speaking, I'm seeing a maximum 1.35G lateral from my data so I was working to review where I was less than this but not at WOT to find the lowest hanging fruit to work on. Once I have that ironed out I'll start looking at other channels of data to further refine things. This seems like the best path for me so far!

I still think back to the session in your office where we reviewed the lap of that GT4. And you asking me to generate 1.7G decel in the uphill braking zone going into Turn 13! I really just need to spend more time with it and to dedicate myself to the regiment of pulling the data as soon as the session goes cold. Easier said than done when I am running around as the CI for the event, but still doable if I set my mind to it.



Mark, I'd be glad to do an event where we can work together with a coach. We'll have to coordinate for the next time! I'm sure Mr. Penske will be thrilled with our progress

Mike Roblin

Larry - Thanks for the great graphs, too bad I can't give you data these days. Excellent point though.

Peter,
Working to get away from "maintenance" throttle (or shortening it as much as I could) is what I was working to improve in T1 and T17 during this event. It really struck me when I was at VIR how much being in positive throttle affected the steering of the car over bumps or curbs and that was when it clicked for me that holding the car back was actually making the bumps WORSE than if I got back to WOT and held on. Another place where this was apparent was clipping the inside curb coming through T3, if I wasn't thrust positive it would really upset the car - but if I was, I could feel it but the car remained stable.

My goal in T1 and T17 was to arc the car in while dragging the brakes but then once having the right sight picture getting back to WOT as soon as possible. In my review of the session data over lunch today, it is apparent that I reduced my time between EoB and getting back to WOT, now I just need to work on pulling my vMin up a few MPH at a time until I get to a speed that correlates to a higher gSum. In the braking zone for T17 I initially get to a gSum of ~1.3g but as I quickly bleed off my brake pressure my gSum drops away more than necessary and my vMin of 63 MPH corresponds to a gSum of about 1g instead of my target of 1.3g.

What this tells me is that I'm on the brakes too early, bleed off too much pressure too soon (trying not to overslow too much before the second turn-in point), and over slow for the corner. My goal based on this is to move my BoB deeper into the corner (a little at a time!) and to raise my vMin just before crossing perpendicularly under the bridge while getting back to the throttle with more discipline to staying at WOT!

Next time...

ProCoach

Bingo, Mike! And people spend thousands with pro coaches to find this out.

j/k, there’s a lot more than that to it, but you have the crux…

I’ll say only that the next goal for you is to carry more speed DEEPER into the brake zone, so that you have more energy in the car when you finally needs to turn.

Mike Roblin

Thanks Peter, hopefully I can figure out a day to get back up to Sebring in February so I can put this into practice. Probably a bit optimistic though as I need to find a new truck to replace the one some @$$hole stole out of my driveway last week...

ProCoach

Where is the sad button?

To practice, brake in the normal place, just not so hard. Strive to roll more speed deeper (further) into the brake zone by either beginning your brake release sooner and slower, or just don't maintain pressure so hard. Audit the gSum to make sure it's never below 1.1 or 1.15.

Sorry to hear about the truck.

ProCoach

I agree your goal is to preserve your good, efficient and high-decel braking by moving your BoB further in, but it's a tricky place to do that. So, just go easier. Maintain 1.1 or above and distribute that over a longer area, deeper into the corner so you can stay at or above that in the transition to cornering. Your vMin should last only momentarily. That is the goal.

Here is a great heat map of the distribution of forces acting on the car in all axis (gSum). This guy was the first I worked with more than a decade ago who turned, THEN braked and maintained high gSum throughout. Now, he's in a forty-five year old LeMans 2-liter car doing 2:05's (he is a New Yorker with period LeMans experience), but he's DOING it.


gSum heat map, Sebring T17

Color legend for heat map

Good luck, hope they find that truck or you get a new one fast!