Rob in VA

It sounds like Skeen is getting on the throttle early which is giving the car good exit speed?

James - do you have any in-car video you can share?

bobt993

Mike Skeen was only 20 or 21 years old when he did the Speed drama. I know he had been doing Spec E30 and did very well in MidAtlantic/National NASA events. I have had a couple brief conversations with him at the track and he has always been very polite and open. I think he has been on a steady rise and earning every ride he gets. Glad to hear he did so well. I realize there are some young hot shoes getting rides at barely 18, but 21 seems a reasonable age to start getting noticed.

SpeedGT3

Can someone post the TRAP speeds at the end of the back straight at Mosport. I would love to know what the Caddy, Vette, Viper and the Porsche did. If the Vette is pulling 10-12 car lengths, I bet that translates in to 5-10 mph difference and the end of the straight. Maybe James @ GMG can tell us.............

ProCoach

^^that^^

mklaskin

It's hard to tell, but is the ECU matching revs on the down-change? I can't tell if he's blipping with his foot, and it sounds awful quick!

Also, James, how are the new Pirellis? I know they're a big step up from the Toyos...

Circuit Motorsports

The Vette wasn't the fastest in the trap. Can't remember who was. I saw a picture that had them listed and can't figure out where it was.

IIRC the Vette was middle of the pack. Maybe 5 off the fastest but if you go back and look at James post you have to take all those number with a grain of salt. The draft can skew the numbers and other factors. It's pretty obvious that the Vette is getting out of the corner really quick. What the reason is, is most likely multi factorial. Power, gearing, corner exit stick, Skeen's right foot, etc.

James-GMG

Skeen's incar is impressive....he drives the car well.
I will post some video when I get it....car's are now in Ohio in our satellite shop and I am back in the shop so I will try and get some.

The fastest car down the straight was by far the Viper with the Vettes next, then the Caddies and then the Porsches.....although it was closer than you would think.......but you should think of it this way.....two drag cars run the same top speed at the trap but they can get there with different ET's....that's where the Vette and Viper are so strong....

The Pirellis are great....an impressive slick with a lot of grip for the hardest compound from them.

Just think, the WC GT cars are only just over 2 seconds a lap slower than the ALMS GT cars....would love to put some "Factory Michelins on the WC cars to see what they could do!

WC is definitely a great place to race with top drivers like Long, Pilgrim, O'Connell and Pobst....and now Skeen, he is a young gun making a name for himself.

Greg Smith

You have to remember that spacing between cars is based of of time, not car lengths/distance. So if 2 cars exits a turn at 53mph and run it up to 159mph, the distance between the two cars is going to triple(assuming no draft and equal cars). So yeah, enter a turn 5 cars lengths behind and you'll be 15 cars lengths back at the end of the straight, or the lead car 'pulled' 10 car lengths.

"They get to their top speed quicker", that would imply they're either gear or power limited to that speed, which is not the case(I don't think you meant that, but it's poorly worded). I realize top speed doesn't tell the whole story, but it's a decent way to judge power. If the Vettes do have a mid range power advantage the top speeds would say you have just as much top end advantage. Of course many more factors go into this including exit speed, aero, gearing, etc...

Now we just need to do a data overlay .

James-GMG

SCCA did do overlays......that's why the Vette and Viper are getting restrictors!

mklaskin

WC looked unstable for a while. Happy to see it getting stronger.

The new TV package is a huge improvement!

Pirelli North America

Check some excellent HD videos for this past World Challenge at Mosport:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PLB3970EB8FED2DFE3

Congrats to James, I'll post more photos when they are ready

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pirelli_north_america/5755907650/http://www.flickr.com/photos/pirelli_north_america/5755907650/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/pirelli_north_america/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pirelli_north_america/5755907960/http://www.flickr.com/photos/pirelli_north_america/5755907960/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/pirelli_north_america/, on Flickr

jrgordonsenior

Geez he even drives P-cars.....
http://www.youtube.com/user/michaels.../4/RQNrzGGMogk

mark kibort

its probably a situation dictated by how James if coming off the corners. he gets more exit speed and ends up with the same top speed. What he was talking about as far as "more torque " of the caddies, vets, vipers, etc, was more about the shape of the HP curve, or more flat out, HP/weight advantage.
There could be aerodynamic drag vs total available hp, but that is debatable that the vet would have an advange, but the trade offs of the porsches smaller over all drag coef. might counteract thiat if the HP/weigths are the same.

remember Sears in '03? I think it was the first year of the restrictor, and McClure was running only 1mph less down the main straight after a 20% restrictor

Thats why i think your top speed equaling theirs, is because of your advantage off the turns. the data will show something like this

There would be an advantage with HP curve shapes, in that the vets and vipers would normally have a broader HP range. (assuing that the HP weights are the same). with both cars having close ratio gears, i dont think that is a big factor, but im sure that the lighter car.
If a car can acceleate faster, it will have a faster top speed, unless the faster car is gear limited. I think you came off the corners faster, and got in a draft!

mark kibort

thank for posting that. that vet sounds awesome.
I dont think gearing is an issue, as both the GT3 and vet have some close ratio gears. If they have the same HP to weight , the difference in their HP curves wont be too different. I would think that the vet might have an advantage in power to weight. over the range of narrow gears, I dont think the difference will be that much. I dont know what the weights with rewards is for both now, but if james is 440rwhp and 2900lbs, the vet at 3200lbs would need less than 500hp to be equal. I bet it has a little more than that!

James-GMG

If you don't think the Vette has an advantage, just take a look at these 2 in car videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/michaels...31/P7RRH5zrB_E

http://www.youtube.com/user/michaels...30/h1Hmh950tTQ

And keep in mind, the Porsches and Volvos get out of the hairpin much better than the Vette.

Again, Skeen drives the hell out of that car......but the Vette is such a strong car you can see why SCCA is pulling it back.