Mike Roblin

So, an update from my last event during the Base Camp Goes Racing weekend with PBOC. There were a few technical issues again with my data systems (BOTH my Catalyst and VBox had issues connecting to satellites on Sunday!) which is frustrating but I was still learning and finally am starting to get my mojo back in turns 1 and 17 after fighting confidence issues for the last year or so while I've been getting used to driving this car.

Good news first: I was able to lower my personal best again this weekend while working to execute the fundamentals more consistently and even though the tires were going off by the end of the weekend I was still learning. Actually, I think it helped that I had the grip falling off because I was able to rotate the car on corner entry a little more easily and that gave me confidence to work on initiating and catching that rotation. Unfortunately none of that practice is shown in the video below due to the aforementioned technical issues on Sunday but I know I was driving even better later in the weekend even though the tires had less to give. Makes me excited to come back again and keep chipping away at this...

Mark Dreyer

That’s fantastic driving Mike. I’m sure some of the pros can give you some tips, but I’d be lucky to match that time personally. I think you might be able to eek a bit more pace through turn 1, 10 and 13 but honestly that’s seriously nit-picking. Good work and I’m sure if we ever get to run together I’ll be trying to keep up with you!

Veloce Raptor

Super-solid work, Mike!!

Mike Roblin

Thanks Mark, I was definitely more confident in turn 1 later in the weekend. More to come next time! Looking forward to meeting you at Winterfest (or sooner!)

Thanks Dave! I've appreciated your feedback throughout this thread

Veloce Raptor

I would love to work with you guys at WinterFest if there is an opportunity to do so. That 996 Cup platform remains my favorite

MSR Racer

Is that a stock 996 cup, PCA GTC-3 spec? If so, a very good lap. I bet you can brake deeper into T1, T7 and T17

Mike Roblin

Yes, the car is a stock 996 Cup and GTC3 legal. I agree about the braking and later in the weekend that’s exactly what I was working on. I think that with fresher tires I still have some more room for improvement. Thanks!

Mark Dreyer

I’m in if any of ya’ll want to share the cost of bringing Dave to Florida for the PBOC event!

De Jeeper

I would haul him and his rig down for the north east on the Pete for a few sessions of coaching. This would be epic for me..... i wonder if i could pull it off???

NastyHabits

I'm in as well if Y'all need another. For scheduling, I'll be registering for Solo HPDE T/F/S.

rickster997

I would be in but in a 991.1 GT3. Super Solo/Solo T/F/S.

rickster997

Nice lap time Mike! My tires were a bit wasted as well... As I showed you..

Mike Roblin

Finally back on track and I couldn't be happier to have spent several awesome days with PBOC at Winterfest last weekend. Had a great time hanging out with all of my Rennlist friends and was very excited to get back in the car after 14 months off. Driving the car felt like putting on my favorite pair of jeans and I was immediately comfortable being back out there. Ended up getting down into the high teens on day one and although I had better tires on Saturday than Sunday I was only able to put together a whole lap in my last session on Sunday.

The nice part about that is that I have some easy areas of improvement the next time I head out once I'm on fresher rubber. The places I really lost out the most were not being able to take Turns 11 and 14 flat out (which was easy when the tires were newer) and down into Turn 17 where I was much better several times earlier in the weekend. Also, blowing the apex in 13 didn't help much either. On the flip side, I seem to have regained my 'mojo' in Turn 1 even though I can still see some time to be gained there.

Enjoy the lap!

lgusto

Hi Mike...focusing on the title of this thread....beautiful lap.

To coin the phrase "from the mouths of babes" I think it's smart that you don't use many of the exit curbs even though you could pick up some time doing so. I used to use ALL the road and paid the price with wheel bearings. My left front went bad and I think it was mostly due to T16, which I notice that's one where you did hammer. Hard to give up that shot into Ullman though and I usually ride it to the dirt. My only other thought is that your vMin of 63 is similar to mine in T17. You're a much better driver in a faster car so I would expect that you can add another 5-10 MPH to your vMin in T17. But perhaps the softness of my stock suspension helps me manage the bumps.

Hope to see you out there sometime soon.

ProCoach

Agreed on the first part.

Agree with that range on the second part, but the key is WHERE and, more importantly, HOW LONG that vMin occurs. In some of my examples, it lasts plus or minus 1 mph for more than SIX SECONDS. The top level guys, less than a second.

The reason why most vMins are too low is that they occur TOO EARLY and then the speed decays further as steering scrub without the requisite throttle to offset it is applied. Problem is, throttle can't be applied because the car is not yet pointing the right way, YET.

vMin at T17 examples:

2023 C8.R Antonio Garcia, 72 MPH momentarily, JUST before going under the bridge


Garcia C8.R


Tuaty 991.2 GT3 Cup


Brent Rosen 718 GT4 street car


Hal Gould 718 GT4 street car