ProCoach

Jack, I can tell you that the very small variance between your TBL (I need to study how you have segmented the track) indicates NOT a lack of potential, but instead that you are driving to a particular "comfort level" and doing a VERY consistent job of it.

You will need to be more granular in your examination and grade your execution of fundamental skills, as well as develop more localized alternate strategies and test them to break through this plateau...

Good luck!

jrgordonsenior

Good point that I hadn't previously considered. Introduce yourself if you're coming up this weekend....

KaiB

You will need to be more granular in your examination and grade your execution of fundamental skills, as well as develop more localized alternate strategies and test them to break through this plateau...

Now THAT is a mouthful!!! I tried Google translate, but it won't work on Krausian.

ProCoach

Hahaha!

You have to pay attention to the individual skill executions that make UP the lap time, instead of the LAP time...

Veloce Raptor

I think what Peter is saying is that, as skills get better and better, and the driver is able to place the car closer & closer to its absolute limit, smaller and smaller nuances of driving skill can make a major difference.

KaiB

Oh, I understood...but had to run to the closet and put a bow tie on first - only then did it all come to me.

Cheers. VIR may become my home track soonish...

ProCoach

multi21

Jack's video shows that he is moving over track right after start finish.

The data guru's can chime in on this, but I remember Kimi saying something years ago that made perfect sense. When driving at Silverstone on hanger straight, guys will typically go across the track diagonally. Kimi would stay on the same side of the track for the longest time and at the end move over to the other side to set up for the next turn. When asked, he said that his revs were higher if he stayed on the same side of the track and then when he moved over they wouldn't drop as much and the distance covered was shorter and that it proved to be the right line and strategy based on his lap times in that sector.

Would this apply to a sports car on the front straight at Willow Springs?

Matt Romanowski

^^It could. This is when you need to run experiments and use the data to tell you exactly what is fastest.

ProCoach

That (charting two exit lines, one diagonal across, one straight/then cross) is a good way to apply this advice.

But yes, it makes sense.

jamm

I got all confused when i saw the The Stig driving Jack's car....or Jack is pulling out all stops to get to a 1:25 by getting a new driving suit Is the leather jacket retired?

Seriously, don't overlook the psychology of being able to get a little closer to the edge when you feel you've addressed safety.

Love an old line from a Ducati-racing buddy about finding the limit...."I'll never know how fast I can be until I can see god"

JackOlsen

Yeah, the wind was out of the northwest and was pretty strong. It cut the drama in 1, like you mention, and pushed me into the late apex on 2 in a way that seemed to be -- oddly -- throwing me out farther and more to track left on the exit. It could be that it was letting me carry more speed there. It was definitely knocking me around at the exit of 8, but I can't generate enough speed to get me to the left side of the track there (I wish I could), so those kind of sudden wind-induced car-width lateral moves still get your attention, but in my case don't cause anything bad to happen.

Yes. I think it was out of the north just enough on this day that it didn't help. I've definitely used the wall as shelter in the past.

Thanks. (Even for that last paragraph, which is slightly above my pay grade. )

I have to note one piece of bad-news/good-news. The two most important corners on the track are the ones I'm still the most inconsistent on. Turn 5 changes its grip level from visit to visit and also frequently has debris on it. But I can't blame conditions for my blowing it on the most-recent lap. I should be able to stay above 69-70 mph through that corner, but dropped to 62 on the 1:26.88 lap. The wind made up for the loss, somehwat -- but of course I could have hit the rev limiter with that tail wind if I'd driven turn 5 correctly.

And I'm still seeing very big variations through turn 9 -- like 4-6 mph variations, which is nuts. When I'm over 103 at the apex it can mean .4 or so seconds to the lap compared to when I'm at 100 or 99.

So the good news is that there is definite room for improvement on these two corners, which you'd think I would have nailed down after over 100 days spent at this track. But that's not the case, yet, and I can clearly do better.

Outside of those corners, I agree -- I've gotten pretty consistent. Here are the two sessions I ran last Friday before the German crew started strapping cameras all over the car. There was no traffic other than me. So you can see I'm pretty consistent overall:



One difference between the two year-apart laps was my speed through the tighter sections of the track. This is because of a single change in the car, which I think will pay even more dividends with a little time and testing. I switched from Bilstein HD dampers in the rear to Öhlins that were valved to specs set by Hayden at Wevo. The car is already more consistent with them and slightly faster through the tight stuff. And I haven't really gotten to know them yet.

This is my new top speed in turn 8. It was a 1:33.5 by the data, which is only 1.5 mph from my rev limiter in 5th:



With the limited amount of top speed still on the table, it makes the news about the shocks even better. I've got to make the rest of my time in the medium and lower-speed corners.

Over the next 10 months, when the track will be too warm for a personal record, I hope to fine tune the shock settings so that next year in the December/January window I can make that run at a :25.

And of course if I get a chance to toss the keys to a pro, I will -- data and cameras running. Whether I'm in the last 15% or the last 5% of what this car can do at this track, I can't say for certain. A pro could really help in making that number more specific.

JackOlsen

You mean the suit? I had to bring it because the guys from Auto Bild were shooting pictures and video all day. And like you say, why not do what you can to avoid dying in a fire?

Besides, that leather jacket is heavy. You might notice that the passenger seat is missing in the new lap. The new steering wheel is lighter, too.

Veloce Raptor

Jack, the other thing a pro can do is really shorten the set-up process for those Ohlins, as well as teach you how to self-analyze them and thus how/why/when to change them.

kurt M

...and his Oh **** level is very...level.