quickxotica

For those so inclined: two practice laps @ 1:54.2 and 1:53.8


Widescreen HD version available if you click-through to YT.

Notes: This was at 8:25AM last Sunday and it was 50 degrees F outside and the track surface was cold... so go easy on me dudes.

Car is a stock '03 996 Carrera 2, factory X74 suspension, MPSC tires, 3200 lbs w/ driver.

Any constructive advice on driving lines appreciated (esp T1 - T3, T6 -- I was trying different paths in these and it never felt quite "right"). Thanks!

Mahler9th

Looks great to me. Are you an instructor? The fastest guy I know from the old days in one of those cars is Bob Murillo. He might be able to help you go faster if it is possible.

I was there Saturday but not instructing. I was not there Sunday (I was freezing on a sailboat on the bay watching the air show).

Anyway, although it is hard to see from video, your line looks pretty good to me. It appears that your car has some push as you seem to have a fair amount of steering in at various exits. And although it is really hard to tell, it seems like if you focus just a little more on getting to WOT earlier as opposed to later, harder braking, you might see more exit speed. That is just a feel from watching the video. It would be nice to be able to see some indication of WOT on the screen. Is that a Tracqmate system? Is it their software that you use for the overlay?

How many times have you driven at Sears Point? Turns 1-3 and 6 look pretty good to me. For a comparison on the line, check out Masuo's 2008 video here: http://www.robinsonassociates.biz/video.htm.

Different type of car, but very similar line. And this was in a race between two of the fastest cars in the PRC.

Great driving. Come on out and drive or visit at Sears Point 10/24 and 25-- the Porsche Racing Club will be there.

- Mike

dp35

Pretty good overall IMO. I don't claim to be an expert or an instructor, but I prefer a wider line through 1 and 9 than you were taking, because it sets up a wider & later turn in for the next corner, and hopefully higher apex speeds. Everyone could do T10 better. I like to be ON the apex berm at T6, and WOT just before that. I've been told to embrace the paint in 11 and take the tightest apex possible.

Here's a video of some laps I did there a couple weeks ago. The 1st lap is my personal best.

Land Jet

Nice driving. An inspired save at the top of the hill. That little car rocks.

Coochas

What video/data acquisition package are you using? Racekeeper?

quickxotica

Hi Mike. You know me....It's John T (#22)...so yes I am an instructor. I can still remember back in the day when you help me so much with my old red 944S. Thanks for the link to Masuo's video. I didn't finish watching it yet, but it was fun to see your car pulling away from him in the first laps. I can't make the PRC event later this month... Schedule issues. I did notice you stopped by with some guests on Sat, but I was too swamped with students and TOTTs to chat. I hope you are well.

Dp35: Wow that video of the Ariel Atom is insane. That thing looks like it has no inertia to overcome at all... it just changes direction NOW! Cool. I hear you about the wider line through T1. That is certainly the more common approach. I was trying an inside line, covering less distance and trying to make the entire T1-T2 complex a straighter shot. Can't say it was a clear success or not, but that was my theory. The data is mixed. On T9, I cannot swing wide to the right... the car simply will not turn back to the left at that speed in time for the braking for T10. Tried it, and had the *** step out on me at 115mph. No thanks. Hugging the left is straighter, more stable and allows me to keep WOT the whole way to T10 (on a good lap).

Coochas: Data Aq is Traqmate, which I export as a CSV file then synchronize with separate video, using Racerender software (cheap and effective). That why the layout doesn't look like Traqmate. It works.

In any case... my only frustration with my weekend was this: I just "know" this car has a 1:52.0 in it. I am over-braking for T10 and not carrying enough speed through T3 and T6. And T1 doesn't feel right no matter how I try it.

Oh well, there is always next season.

mooty

^ yes you will do 152 for sure.
what did craig do?
i had 1:54 in cay s with R888 (2006) . so you should be right there with 996 and faster

i will try your tighter line through T1.

quickxotica

Hi Mooty. My best lap all weekend was 1:53.1 on Sat when the sun was out. Craig's best was a 1:52.7. So I have my work cut out for me next season (again).

Tom W

I find a tighter line through 1 is faster but it makes it more difficult to get turned for 2. I'm about midway between the really tight line in John's video and the really wide traditional student line we teach. It's a compromise that works for me.

I'm looking for my first 1:45 next weekend and looking forward to great fun in the enduro.

Mahler9th

John:

The fact that it is you explains why the driving is done so well. I did stop by at the event with a friend... as I was driving away, my big regret of the day was I didn't have a chance to visit with you and your family. I got to visit with pretty much everyone else. Next time!

Since your skills and experience are quite advanced, I encourage you to experiment a little in a few places to determine what your car prefers. I'd use exit speed (rpms) as an indicator, along with your personal comfort.

My experience with Sears Point is that it takes a lot more effort to decrease lap time than any other nearby track. Especially for people with your level of experience and skills. Donna shares that view. It requires the car to be better balanced, and for those that are closer to stock and more difficult to dial in, it requires the driver to work harder to get the time comfortably. It takes a lot of laps in the right circumstances. How many laps do you have there? Don't be too hard on yourself. More than any other track we have around here, Sears Point takes work to gain comfort at the limit. The consequences of going past the limit or making a mistake are extremely palpable at almost all times during each lap.

That Ariel Atom video driver appears to be on or very close to the limit all the time. Very cool car and nice driving. I hope that the driver is wearing a Hans device of some similar product. The Atom appears to like a slightly different line than my car... whether it will work for your car requires some careful experimentation. I wonder which version of the Atom product that is and what tires it runs...

By the way, that is Mat Lowrance in Masuo's video. He also has a red car, but more bhp than I have. Better set-up. About the same weight. A lot more experience at Sears Point than most of us. We will probably see a 1:36 or so from him next weekend. On that day in that race he was just off kilter... so Masuo was able to race with him and win. It was a strange occurrence. If you watch carefully, Mat takes some interesting lines. I found it fascinating.

Another approach with a car like yours at Sears might be trying to hire someone like Johannes to work with you.... I think he has driven a lot of production cars at the limit there.

Cheers!

dp35

That's an NA Honda powered 245 hp Atom on Hoosier A6 tires, and a HANS equiped driver. Thanks for caring.

PogueMoHone

On the same day, a bone stock (with R compound tires) 997.2 C4S Cabrio clocked a1:50.4

race911

Nothing "wrong" at all. Sure there are compromises you have to make given the weight and "stockness" of your car. For comparision, I had the RSA out with the BMWCCA race school in March running interference for the students and could run a 1:55 pace without any stress. Had some RA-1's on an otherwise basically stock car. Best I ever ran the RSA stock class club racer back in '01-'03 was in the 1:52 range, but I never ran Hoosiers. The guys who did and had more developed cars were well under 1:50 (Galen Bieker, who's running Bob Rodriguez' other car in the IMSA GT3 series now.)

So to the comment above that a plain ol' cab with some fat R comps on it can be pretty impressive, yeah that's what development will get you! (But I really wouldn't want to be running those speeds at Sears in a stock convertible, would you?)

quickxotica

Yeah, I saw that laptime. Absolutely blows my mind. Faster than everyone there other than a couple serious race cars. I chatted the driver during the weekend but had no idea he was turning that kind of time. Seemed like a very nice guy... Apparently used to own a P-car shop or something like that. I assume he was running really fat r-comps on wider-than-stock aftermarket wheels, but still....running a 1:50.x in an '09 C4S Cab is just shatteringly fast. Better than the TT class records all the way up the next 4 or 5 classes above his. Either he was taking some big risks out there to carry speed, or those new 997.2 DFI cars are a GIANT leap forward from the 997.1. I just can't make any sense of it. Something doesn't add up.

race911

I just went and looked up the results......Adam Green? Maybe he'll pop in here to comment. Had no idea what his stable consists of now; I do know he was selling an '07 GT3 a couple of months ago, so maybe this was the replacement car.