[GunMetalGrey]

Finished my 2nd dry open lapping day at the track (4th day in total including wet and training) and got a PB of *EDIT* 1:24.77 (not 1:24.66) or about 1 second better than my last PB of 1:25.60 (video coming soon).

So to give an idea of how hard this track is to put together mistake free consistent laps, Adrian (the former F1 back up car driver and lead instructor here) said he's driven over 100 circuits in Europe and says this is in the top 3 for technical/difficulty compared to all of them.

Did I mention they are putting in the longest straightaway in all of North America by 2020/2021?
Lap times will be between 4 minutes and 5 minutes, they will be nick naming it the Nuremberg of North America.
In a town of a few thousand people about 1 hour away from a city of 300,000 ppl.

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by GunMetalGrey

Finished my 2nd dry open lapping day at the track (4th day in total including wet and training) and got a PB of 1:24.66 which is 1 second better than my last PB of 1:25.60 (video coming soon).

So to give an idea of how hard this track is to put together mistake free consistent laps, Adrian (the former F1 back up car driver and lead instructor here) said he's driven over 100 circuits in Europe and says this is in the top 3 for technical/difficulty compared to all of them.

Did I mention they are putting in the longest straightaway in all of North America by 2020/2021?
Lap times will be between 4 minutes and 5 minutes, they will be nick naming it the Nuremburg of North America.
In a town of a few thousand people about 1 hour away from a city of 300,000 ppl.

Congrats on your new PB! Thats a big gain in pace indeed! Given your experience level (novice), there is tons more to get out of the car, especially given the character of the track. Focus on receiving more instruction, it will pay big, long lasting dividends: guaranteed!

As far as the new plans for the track layout: sounds very exciting indeed! Presumably they will have to add quite a few more corners vs just a long straight to make it a 4-5 min lap. FYI: many orgs who run on tracks with very long straights rarily run them as such and instead create chicanes (even just with cones) to prevent folks from flying off the track at braking zones. It wil be interesting to see what they do safety wise. NB i think you meant to say Nurburgring? Nuremburg is famous, but not necessarily for good historical reasons.

All circuits offer their unique challenges. Some more technical, some less. Some low speed, some high speed. Having said that, any undulating track will offer extra challenge of weight transfer management, especially to a novice. Re-read my notes i have shared with you, as there is a specific section about it, just for that reason.

PS What is Adrian's last name please? He must have been an incredibly prolific driver to have sampled "over 100" Euro tracks as that would mean every single one of them and then some?! Incredible!!!

[GunMetalGrey]

Adrian Horne is his name.
Don't know if he ever got to drive an F1 car in a real F1 race or not, but he was apparently a back up driver of some kind at some point for an F1 team.

Have your brakes ever felt different part way into a session?
I could start to "feel" mine more (like there were a little rougher in terms of friction but not vibrating/pulsing/warping feel) and they were making a slight friction/rubbing noise. Nothing crazy loud.
They feel fine again on the street, just noticed it most of the day while tracking.

[NickyRacerBoy]

What your feeling with brakes is normal.

[GunMetalGrey]

Originally Posted by NickyRacerBoy

What your feeling with brakes is normal.

Thanks!

Must be something to do with he increased heat I'm guessing...

[GunMetalGrey]

Here's the vid of my 2nd dry open lapping day at the track (4th day in total including wet and training) with new personal best lap 1:24.77 shown first followed by other laps consistently in the 1:25's
Can't wait for the expansion of the track!

https://youtu.be/gdN0wvuenr8

Does anyone know what software let's you compare current laps with past laps letting you know where you are losing and gaining time in comparison?

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by GunMetalGrey

Adrian Horne is his name.
Don't know if he ever got to drive an F1 car in a real F1 race or not, but he was apparently a back up driver of some kind at some point for an F1 team.

Have your brakes ever felt different part way into a session?
I could start to "feel" mine more (like there were a little rougher in terms of friction but not vibrating/pulsing/warping feel) and they were making a slight friction/rubbing noise. Nothing crazy loud.
They feel fine again on the street, just noticed it most of the day while tracking.

Sorry not quite sure what it is that you're describing, so can't really comment. Mine stay consistent. Moreover, the stockers, unlike many other racing pads dont make any noise. Have you checked how much pad do you have left? It could also be related to Stabilitrak kicking in, but unsure.

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by GunMetalGrey

Here's the vid of my 2nd dry open lapping day at the track (4th day in total including wet and training) with new personal best lap 1:24.77 shown first followed by other laps consistently in the 1:25's
Can't wait for the expansion of the track!

https://youtu.be/gdN0wvuenr8

Does anyone know what software let's you compare current laps with past laps letting you know where you are losing and gaining time in comparison?

Consistency is key and you are getting there. Take your fastest lap and compare it side by side, corner by corner with that S2000 lap i posted. Compare your line vs his line, how he enters each corner vs how you do it, what his speed is mid corner vs yours and where he applies power on exits vs you. This will take a while to analyze but if you do it carefully, you will improve your lap by another second easily and guaranteed.

[NickyRacerBoy]

Get yourself AIM SOLO DL

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by NickyRacerBoy

Get yourself AIM SOLO DL

This ↑↑↑


GMG - one of the neater things you can do with the Aim Solo suite (once you've downloaded the data to your computer) is overlay the traces of speeds, g's, and other data from multiple laps. This won't necessarily tell you what you need to do, but it can tell you (more or less) where you need to work on something.


Norm

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

This ↑↑↑


GMG - one of the neater things you can do with the Aim Solo suite (once you've downloaded the data to your computer) is overlay the traces of speeds, g's, and other data from multiple laps. This won't necessarily tell you what you need to do, but it can tell you (more or less) where you need to work on something.


Norm

This x2 for NickyBobby re tool and Norm re commentary.

I'd add this: at this stage, looking at your own data will likely produce limited results, if any, as due to your (still limited) skill level you simply dont know what you dont know - awareness wise as to WHY you went faster or slower. What i mean by that is that sometimes going slower thru some sections means less scrubbing of speed, better exit and faster sector time. So if one just looked at the speed and tried to replicate the fastest speed everywhere, a laptime may not improve much.

Without being FULLY aware WHAT made you faster WHERE and WHY, data alone won't really be very useful at this stage.

Having said that, what works every time (to a large degree) is comparing somebody else's faster lap to your best lap (assuming similar tires) and comparing the line, braking points, entry speed, mid corner speed and exit speed. This is easy and provides easily identifiable areas for improvement.

Also, you have tons of data on your PDR already. Your previous PB is now your average lap time (great stuff!), but your new PB is a second faster. Look at your PDR and figure out why - using the same comparison suggestions as above. Write it all down, corner by corner.
Pros do it for all tracks they run: they make notes for each and every corner. What do do, what not to do, what to watch out for, what to maximize, etc. They use this info to visualize a perfect lap. Try it. Until you can visualize driving a perfect lap with your eyes closed you will never run a perfect lap on a track as driving such lap must be done subconsciously relying on a feel of the car only. And your vision of course.

Anyway, your pace is VERY good for your experience level. Getting to the max of what you can deliver (vs the car) will take some time to bring your skills up to a much higher level. At this stage you're just scratching the surface. Also, on a short, 19 corner track, leaving 0.1 per corner equals virtually 2 seconds per lap. 0.2 is almost 4 seconds. Be patient and you will be rewarded hugely as this circuit is perfect for learning. You might be excited about them adding a long straight, but you'll soon discover that straights are actually quite boring and what matters the most (fun wise) is the corners )

Keep on tracking! You're doing very well and there are easily identifiable areas for improvement based on just watching your PDR. Maybe review it with Adrian and ask him for advice. Or send it to Racers360. Basically you are over slowing corner entries and over driving mid corners and need to be MUCH smoother. FYI: Stabilitrak masks many of your errors and prevents rotations that the car is capable of (with a ***skilled*** driver). Without it you'd experience many spins by now. So dial it back a bit and focus on fast, but smooth. The S2000 vid is an excellent example of it. Cheers!

[GunMetalGrey]

Originally Posted by TrackClub

Sorry not quite sure what it is that you're describing, so can't really comment. Mine stay consistent. Moreover, the stockers, unlike many other racing pads dont make any noise. Have you checked how much pad do you have left? It could also be related to Stabilitrak kicking in, but unsure.

I had over 50% left on both front and rear prior to the event... Not sure if our brakes would act differently of not since we have different models of car?
They were hot enough to be smoking by the end of the last session...

[GunMetalGrey]

Originally Posted by TrackClub

Consistency is key and you are getting there. Take your fastest lap and compare it side by side, corner by corner with that S2000 lap i posted. Compare your line vs his line, how he enters each corner vs how you do it, what his speed is mid corner vs yours and where he applies power on exits vs you. This will take a while to analyze but if you do it carefully, you will improve your lap by another second easily and guaranteed.

Agreed, started doing that last night and started noticing things I had not noticed before that's for sure.

[GunMetalGrey]

Originally Posted by NickyRacerBoy

Get yourself AIM SOLO DL

Excellent, thank you!
I will look this up