Macca

Patsy beats Paul today. Front and rear into the tyre wall in the wet. Ron was passenger. Quite unfortunate. I sat the session out as Jo was running shopping duties in the Focus at the time. Their car will be off the road a couple of months I should say...

Corrected for start line a PB 1.37.72 so .08 off Bambers time in the CCS red GT3 November on Trofeo R though I'm sure he had time up his sleeve. Porsche sorties record last season was Whittaker 991 GT3 Cup at 1.2943 IIRC so 8s slower in a road car. I have the lap on film and I'll post but not much left on the table to be fair maybe 2-3 tenths. I've been getting consistently faster in the GT3 last few years but now getting more track time means quicker = more wear in tyres and brakes. I think time to let go before bankruptcy. HD with new tyres probably high 10s etc...

Had a ball in the Focus. Nothing can keep up with it in the rain. 1.54-1.55 in the wet so it goes ok...

John McM

Macca. This app is still delaying our posts.

nzskater

That's a stonking time, Macca. The wear factor does become real eventually (is part of the reason I haven't signed up for any track days recently). You could always buy a Lotus...

Sorry to hear about Patsy and Ron's car getting up close and personal with the tyre wall. Hope it's all just superficial.

Dave, the trophies still yours until someone acknowledges their accident personally or there are photos How's the orange terror coming along?

Macca

Thanks Jake.

If anyone is looking for a full AIM telemetry system solution for their track day let me know. Mine will be removed from the GT3 this week. Smartycam HD 2.0 with Solo DL head and OBDII cables etc. Like new condition can be programmed to work with any number of vehicles. Very simply set and forget system. Beautifully build camera, really robust.

Macca

Here are the sector times at Taupo for the record lap. Im hoping this one will stand for a while and I can retire from the GT3 gracefully ;-)

I did not have the DSC in the car. I have this for sale for any 981/991 owners interested.

The second below is the Ford Focus RS fastest lap time in the pouring rain. The car was embarrassingly quicker than anything else including Steve Rs 718S and Richards new GT3RS. Of course its mostly down to the 4WD system which is very capable even stable during four wheel spin up drifts which we much fun. Im unsure what it will do in the dry as its is on roadies (which probably helped in the rain) but Id guess at mid 40s on those tyres and a few seconds less on MPSC2. Bloody good fun.

Maxem

Yes, never a pleasure to give up the trophy in light of the unfortunate circumstances required to win it. But we all play the same numbers game and it's Patsy's turn!
The Orange T is in bits, partially done but waiting on a few genuine parts to arrive. Steve is thinking mid next month but I'm not busting to get it back as builders, crap, and plumbers with big pipes surround the red SC daily at the moment. I honestly don't know how it doesn't have a big 10x2 shaped crease in the roof by now.

Macca

Here is some in car from my record lap. Unfortunately AIM sets the start line at the braking zone on the back straight. The lap time reads 1.38.48. Corrected for the actual start line the time is 1.37.72.

This was my first session of the day with freshly fitted MPSC2 rear tyres. The fronts were on their third day (and cycling out after the second session!). It was dry, temps were around 18C and the surface was clean and relatively quick (no wind or pumice dust). A couple of small errors and a few places where I was a bit early on the brakes and late on the throttle. AIM shows the best sector laps at 1.35.51 however I suspect that would be difficult to achieve. I think there isnt more than 3-4 10th seconds left in me in the car.

The session was only 8 laps long. 6 full laps at pace. Uncorrected they were all under 1.40 with light traffic. Jo and John Friedel had a stopwatch on the pit lane wall and verified the times within 2 tenths. The car sounded wild along the straights apparently :-). I will miss her. Someone is going to get an absolute weapon. The car is set up stock other than exhaust.

Macca

Here's the adjacent lap. Gets lonely out there. I need a GT4.

Macca

Not my fastest lap, and struggling with 5 day old rear tyres that corded on this session. This was Mike Eadys Tracktime group, by the afternoon it was possible to sneak in a clear lap. The car is good for 1.10.80 or less here on fresh MPSC2 tyres. The car was moving around alot under me in these sessions but its hard to tell from the video...

PHG

which car was Patsy driving.. not the Pcar?

Macca

Yip. The GT3. $$$

gt38088

woohoo Macca, hard to stop. You may stop chasing the ever diminishing rate of gain and its a hobby after all, but I bet you will the wringing the neck of whatever happens to be the car of the moment.

Macca

Thanks Graeme. Yip. I think that is pretty much guaranteed. I expect Taupo will be the home to 1000s of Macca tortured horsepower over the next 12 months LOL.

Leong and I were discussing wear rates on consumables. As we've got faster tyre sets have been demolished faster. In the last four track days things have speed up again for me as Im getting enough regular seat time to compound the gains that in the past have had long periods of latency in between. Now a brand new set of MPSC2 will last me 3 days. They are 3350 a set, although Ive just chucked a few sets in my UK container in the hope of reducing cost.

The suggestion was that if we backed off 2s a lap we could get back to the 4-5 days we were enjoying from tyres 12-18 months ago.

I contemplated this for a few days. Buying tyres cheaper probably gives me a day back for "free". But the reality is Im still gettling a bit quicker in the car over time so those gains will also be eaten up at some point. Brakes and rotors are also incrementally diminishing (on factory pads I get only 6 days from my fronts).

The reality is I did not buy a car that can produce a say 1.36-37 at Taupo to be driving it in the 40s to conserve tyres, pads and rotors. I save some money ever track hour but have "invested" in a platform Im not longer using the potential of.

I loved driving the Focus RS last few times at the track. Its quite the giant killer. In the wet/damp its seconds faster than my GT3 on any track.

I think, despite what some think about the "arms race", I would like to start pedaling a variety of stuff closer to the limit but with hopefully a more modest cost per track km. Probably what ever I have "in stock" that hasnt sold. It would be nice to start with the GT4, then maybe a base manual Carrera or something. Lest see what happens...

Macca

^ I need to add the above opinion is a personal one. I dont tend to do things in moderate degrees so others approach to such a situation may well differ. The more mature and fiscally prudent amongst us who have the discipline may well choose to back off a bit to conserve cost. I hope I behave that way some day, but right now Im not built like that...

996tnz

Long may it last Macca. Save your moderation for choosing complementary begonia colours in 50 years time. Good to see you hammering that club friendly track on your doorstep with every weapon at your disposal and setting some reference times.

Sorry to hear about Patsy getting physical with the walls though. Where on the track did it happen? Taupo does seem to like taking a bite every now and again. I once got close to donating paint and more to that circuit too on a wet NITT day a few years back. Right when exiting the S onto the start-finish straight next to the pits, with the raised wet grid markings helping the rear break loose. 'Heard but not seen' that one, as I was the only one still out fishtailing in the water. Probably just as well I wasn't also playing tag with a Focus RS by the sounds of it!