analogmike

I posted some of the sprint race 2. Sorry the sun was going down and the video gets darker and darker, not sure why as the racecam should compensate.

I didn't get a good start but the GTA car that passed me did not stay ahead for long. I was glad I left room ahead in the fast esses.

After passing Lawson, I had Chris Musante ahead of me and pulled my fastest lap of the weekend and the fastest GTC4 lap, a 1:59.3 on the lap that I passed Chris. I did T1-4 really well on that lap. The car was really hooking up coming out of T1 and I was making up my own weird lines because I was still learning the track and the car would go anywhere I wanted. And it handled great on the straights

Towards the end, Ryan Hulbert passed me in a really fast red 993 GT2 car. I think he got a 1:55 in this race which was the fastest lap of the weekend. He then made a really nice pass on Pat Williams going into the Oak Tree turn before I finally passed Pat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5vU97XG9QE

or higher quality if possible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5vU97XG9QE&fmt=6


Feel free to critique, I know I left a lot of time on the table and I sure can't shift the car like Cory does. In my defense, my right wrist was injured due to a seatbelt tightening incident... stupid things always seem to get me.

Jarez Mifkin

Good stuff Mike! A seatbelt tightening incident? I had one of those last year and my whole season was effed up!

Hulbertr

Mike,

I too was a first timer at VIR and only unlocked a couple of the secrets to a great track. Because I shared the car, I had to start last in the #2 sprint and work my way through the field. Several of you guys: Pat Williams, Chris Musante, Mike Piera, and Lawson Wilder were all together when I caught up with the pack. The #334 car of Williams/Hupfer is tough to pass as it has enough power for several cars combined.

Mechanical issues kept me busy on the car and I did not get to visit much with anybody, but I had a great time. Can't wait to try VIR again as a fast lap is very rewarding much like Road Atlanta.

#87

LVDell

Mike, good vids. The obvious places you are leaving plenty of time on the table is T5A, the climbing esses, T10 (southbend), and hogpen.

In T5A there is WAY MORE GRIP in your car so be on the gas sooner.

In the climbing esses, your entry looks good and you have a good line but once again, be on the throttle just after you breathe your entry and stay on throttle until the top and just before the T9 a quick lift to settle the nose and back on the throttle will give you great grip to stay tight right setting up southbend perfectly.

T10 (southbend), you are leaving quite a bit there. Your track out still has several feet to work with. entry looks good but you can be on the throttle more.

Hogpen. This is a place I pick up alot of time. I trailbrake both T16 and T17 and then on the throttle progressive BEFORE the compression to WOT almost immediately after.

Other than that, everything else looks really nice.

Veloce Raptor

Mike, is the 997Cup's sequential shifter difficult to operate?

analogmike

Coming from 25 years of driving a 915 tranny that demanded slow, gentle shifting, YES. Upshifts are not bad if I remember to hit it hard. But my timing during braking, blipping, clutching, and downshifting is rarely perfect as you can well hear in the video. Once, coming into T1, I may have been between gears or something as it was all screwed up for a second. Maybe Cory can give some hints after watching my video?

Bryan Watts

Have you tried downshifting without the clutch? I was having all sorts of trouble with downshifts in my old Formula Mazda until I just ditched the clutch all together once I left the pits. The transmission shifted too quickly and slowed down too quickly to bother with the clutch, by the time you had the clutch in, the transmission had slowed down too much, requiring a huge blip...it was much smoother to simply blip during the milliseconds that the transmission was between gears and not worry about the clutch.

TraqGear

Good driving and nice passes Mike. I hope to get to VIR next year as well.

smlporsche

Thanks for posting Mike. Another great video of fast laps at VIR
One thing that struck me as a person considering getting into the racing pool is how well behaved your and your fellow drivers were. I've seen DE's with more code bown moments. Has that been your usual experience? Or is it because at the price point you're at comparrred to the 944 guys you all have alot more respect for the equipment? (That's a serious question and not ment as a slight to anyone...)

One other question about the sequential gearboxes, I thought that you didn't use your clutch except for first. Is that wrong?

analogmike

Dell, thanks for the note, I agree with your observations on where I can go faster. My car wanted to push at 5a so I had to wait to get on the gas. Maybe I was too early. Hogpen (14 - 15?) was also tough to carry speed into, the car would push wide then 14a would get missed. But I think I can improve there, also carry more speed down the hill.

Bryan, the manual says to use the clutch in downshifts but it can be done without. I have not tried yet on purpose but must have done it accidentally.

Eddie, the 13/13 keeps us from hitting each other, we really don't want to get on probation. I don't think the cup car guys are any more careful than any other group. But the guys I raced with in the video were really good sports at not blocking, as I had more speed on the straights than most, so blocking would not really have worked for them. The turbos did some blocking but we got by them eventually. One fast GTC3 guy was really reckless in the fun race and I think had an incident later on so may be on probation. But the other drivers I encountered were safe and clean.

For upshifts we don't need the clutch, just for starting out in 1st, which is a pain with a multi-disk clutch in the paddock, that 10mph speed limit really beat on the drivetrain.

coryf

nice video mike! I really liked the battle with Pat. You just kept the pressure on and he gave you just enough room to squeek on by. Alot of fun to watch

The porsche sequentials are def a little "clunky". Every now any then they kinda get stuck in neutral between 2 gears and need a little bump to complete the shift. Normally it happens from just not pulling or pushing as deliberate as is required. On upshifts when this happens the engine rev's to the limiter which makes it very hard to shift into gear. You just have to breath off the gas and let the revs drop then shift it again. The "modified" stock porsche tranny is not quite as smooth as an extrac or other trann's designed as a sequential from the beginning.

Bryan Watts

It's a modified H-pattern stock tranny? So it's more like the BMW SMG system in their street cars where there is no direct connection between the shifter and the transmission? The shifter just actuates hydraulics to control the stock H-pattern? I thought I understood it to be a real sequential transmission.

Veloce Raptor

yeah, that would be very surprising

Bryan Watts

Perhaps Porsche shoved a sequential gear stack into a stock transmission casing?

Veloce Raptor

Hey, watch your language, please. This is a family web site.