Van

I got a lot of good data from Watkins Glen with Hudson Valley. But I'm pretty new to this data acquisition stuff, so I thought I'd see if the folks here can offer pearls of wisdom.

Here's data from my fastest lap: the track map with segments, then those segments on the G-force, velocity and RPM graphs.





In the past, I've been criticized for not using the whole track - there's still room for improvement, but I made a point to get closer to the edges.

Here's some video - but not of the "fast lap" above - my video recorder ran out of storage there was so much track time!

Veloce Raptor

Data like this is really good for analyzing when/how much you are braking, when/how smoothly you are coming off the brakes, and how soon you get back to the throttle. It is also good for seeing where you may be overbraking. For example, you show the same longitudinal braking G's in the Bus Stop, 6, and 7 (which is uphill and on camber). IMO, most folks overbrake in all 3, and give away huge momentum. But I expect a lot of brake G's into the Bus Stop due to the high entry speeds. I would look for less braking into 6 and 7, however. Maybe along the lines of what you do in 8.

PedroNole

Ok...IN GENERAL, I thought you were about 2-3 feet off most of the apex's and, from the data, it looked like your shifts could have been quicker. I don't think you were overdriving the corner necessarily but you could have been on the throttle quicker if you had more track out which you were losing due to your narrower track.

On the data, I always want to see VERY sharp peaks VERY close together on downshifts and it seemed to me that you had excess space in between them in your data which equates to lost time due to footwork. It seemed like you were still coasting (not ON throttle or brake but just maintenance throttle) in a couple of sections as well.

You're obviously a good driver and now you're trying (rightfully so) to focus in on the fine points.

As far as the apex's go, this is what is great about video... I usually think my line is great but then I look at the video and realize I was a foot off the apex and didn't use all of track out. This affects my speed because now I'm driving a two foot narrower track than everyone else is. I'm also not able to get on the throttle as quick.

Again, good driving just focus on the fine points.

Van

VR, so you're recommending braking at the same spots, but being lighter on the brakes - shed a little less speed and be able to more quickly transition the weight transfer for the corner set? (The "carry more momentum in" thing...)

Good comments on the shifting, Peter.

It's also a good point about getting closer to the apex. From comments posted a few months ago, I made a point of driving over the curbing at the apex of turn 1. I was surprised that I hit it less than 1/2 of the time! Sometimes it's harder than you think!

Veloce Raptor

Van, to be clear, I did not watch your video. After watchig it, I concur with Peter about apexes & maintenance throttle. In answer to your question, yes. IMO, you do not need to scrub that much speed into 6 (it is a lot faster and grippier than most folks realize) or into 7 (the uphill & on camber aspects slow the car plenty already). I am a big advocate of earlier, gentler braking than many folks, which allows me to get back to throttle well before the average bear. I am also an advocate of earlier gentler turn ins (but NOT early apexes) as a way to broaden the radii of corners and thus carry more speed thru them.

JClark

I was just going over my data from WGI. It's going to be a long 7 months before I can get back there...

-You can turn in earlier for T3. You were a little late to cross over to your left which left you were early for 4 (and close to the wall).
-You can use more curb in the bus stop, especially on entry, to straighten it out.
-Get all the way to the left for the turn in on 11. Important turn.

Slick camera setup, what is it?

Van

It's a bullet camera mounted in the grill and a digital AVI recorder in the cockpit that records onto compact flash (with a microphone in the cockpit). It has worked quite well, and only cost about $300 to set up.