[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by GunMetalGrey

haha Thanks! I'm driving in all of these vids.

These are both from the same day, Aug 8th.

The battle against GT4 is later in the day and my tires are starting to cord. I made it 2.5 track days with these tires, and when we looked at the tires after the crash, it was obvious I should not have been driving with them

Well, big congrats are in order! 1:20 seems an uber lap indeed! I recall saying something to this effect regarding the car's capability over a year ago? Wink, wink
I am now officially calling for 19s!
Stickier tires notwithstanding, you got there very quickly and deserve a big credit. So what now?!

Well, some comments that may help ya:

You are fast, but still lack consistency. That's normal given the number of track days behind your belt: flashes of brilliance peppered with occasional sloppiness asking the car to do unnatural acts lol! Watch out for these, as your speeds are very high and as you continue to push the car could get away from ya very quickly indeed (and you know it already).
So really focus on car control skills and balance refinement vs pace. More of the latter without the former is always a bad idea.

I am impressed with your trail braking to rotate the car! Yay! And with throttle modulation on exits. Being too greedy only produces understeer and scrubs off speed, right?! Your fastest recorded lap while chasing the GT3 is excellent. The next one...well, you got off easy as it could have ended badly. I am sure you know why that happened, right?

Also, my impression is that while you were chasing the GT3, perhaps you were more composed and likely focused on your own driving vs the "kill". Tires going off notwithstanding, the GT4 chase suggests impatience and over driving as a result. ALWAYS focus on your own driving, especially your vision which is absolutely paramount to fast pace. NEVER pay attention to traffic except with your peripheral vision. I know you've read it somewhere before

Lastly, onto the "trouble corner". Obviously i have not driven it, so take my comments only as suggestions and chuck them if they dont work. Firstly, it is a hairpin, so a double apex corner. Secondly, it goes up hill, so you will experience understeer and then traction limitations when the pavement evens out and the rears get lighter on transition.
My suggestion is: ensure that you enter it properly, as in being properly tight on entry. Maybe try turning in a bit sooner (shallower entry) with the first apex being sooner vs later, which should enable you to brake later, but rotate sooner and hence get on the power sooner. No idea obviously, but it is also possible that camber is better on the inside vs outside of the corner, which would help with both rotation and traction. Ive watched a few vids of fast laps and that's what some drivers tend to do. See how it feels and what the car tells ya.

I will post a vid of an AMG GTS, as a driver keeps the car beautifully balanced and he lays a few fast laps within less than a tenth of each other. He is slower than you and it seems like a demo ride with a passenger, but that's besides the point here. A few amateurs, if any, can be THIS constant. Perhaps you will find some tips/suggestions there, including regarding that difficult hairpin, as he manages to get on power quite early.

PS That wiggle at the top of the "trouble" corner just before you blow by the GT4 is not oversteer, but rather gobs (and i mean GOBS!) of understeer. LF is screaming at ya for a looong time! That's *the* issue here. A little wobble when the weight transitioned forward at the top was a very teeny tiny loose moment, which only took straightening the weel to correct. Nothing to speak of.
Whenever you hear a tire complaining like this, it is telling you it is about to *let go* and you MUST help it recover immediately. Ignoring it usually leads to severe consequences. Remember, going fast is predominantly about effective weight transfer management. The better balanced the car, the faster it will corner. In addtion to feeling the car, listening to what the tires are telling you is equally important.

Anyhow, kudos on your fast lap! Cheers!

[TrackClub]

Here's the vid of the AMG. Very impressive driving imo.
Hopefully it will offer some further tips for ya GMG.

[GunMetalGrey]

Thanks for all the feedback TC, I appreciate it!

I found I was starting to lose focus on my third session of the day, that's where the footage against the GT4 came from as well as the as a good chunk of the later part of the video against the GT3 (there were actually 3 different sessions against the GT3 all on that same day spliced into one vid).

As for the "problem corner" the track; you think it's understeer huh? Are you sure? I never thought of that, it doesn't feel like it (but I'm not great at feeling things and don't have a lot of experience).

The TC symbol is going off and the green throttle bar is showing throttle being applied, I thought I had power induced over steer twice on that same corner before passing the GT4.

My reasoning, though I'm not say it's right, was this: because the rear end feels like a 4x4 with a locked diff refusing to accelerate and put power down around that corner at the Apex and exiting the corner after the Apex, therefor I was trying to induce power oversteer so the rear end would not lock up like that.

Instructors have never said that corner 16 is a double apex, only corner 4 and corner 17 (out of 19 turns).

What do you think about diving in deeper and keeping more to the outside left edge of the corner so as to avoid that more pronounced change in camber and elevation at the APex of that corner?

Normally I don't think that line would make any sense but it's the only thing I can thing of to avoid the more pronounced characteristics of that corner.

[GunMetalGrey]

Originally Posted by TrackClub

Here's the vid of the AMG. Very impressive driving imo.
Hopefully it will offer some further tips for ya GMG.

Thanks, I haven't seen this vid in a while, I used to watch it before I started tracking here, it is very smoooooooth.

I'll have to find out which instructor was driving this car, I believe it has Michelin Pilot Cup 2's on it and I have a feeling he wasn't pushing the car hard with those kind of 1:23ish lap times which does make consistency easier.

I was fairly consistently in the 1:20's (video's I have not posted yet except for my PB lap) and had a few 1:21's in my first session of the day. I'll post these next.

I believe I was told by the lead instructor that anything within the same second or with 2 seconds was considered "consistent" for this track, but I'll double check that.

[GunMetalGrey]

4 consecutive Laps in the 1:20's with (one lap at 1:21.11 because of slower traffic)

[TrackClub]

Yep it is a classic understeer and as i said: very severe. Listen to the vid as the sound from the LF is unmistakable. That's exactly what severe understeer sounds like. Now, it is quite possible that rears were also sliding a bit hence you got the TC flashing, but i think it was mostly at the top when a major weight transition happens (and the rears get light).

A rule of thumb is anytime you can straighten the car SOONER for exit, the earlier and harder you can apply power. Hence my (purely academic) suggestion to enter earlier and rotate sooner (a la the AMG). But, frankly, i also had a thought of a very late apex, sort of per your comments.

No question imo it is a double apex corner. The AMG drives it as such and any hairpin corner is fastest done as such. Old and crusty "school line" instructors may disagree with that, but all pro racers will agree.
Check what Krumm says in his book. Hope you got it to study

Bottom line, try different lines and see which one gives you an opportunity to get on a power earlier.

1-2 secs on a 1:20+ track is not very consistent. Note that AGM drivers delivers 3 laps within a few hundreths of each other. Slower, or faster, that's very consistent.
And of course, turning a few laps at 1:20s is much more difficult and also very consistent indeed! Just watch out for those "oh shit" moments, like forgetting to brake

All in all your driving is very good! You just have to develop a better feel, to avoid any drama moments. That takes seat time. So, be aware of it and push in SMALL increments. Try introducing more steering corrections as well. They are useful to practice in order to get a better feel of the balance and for them to become subconscious when really needed. It is also a good idea to start correcting before major drama develops. It helps the car avoid over or understeer. Ref my notes and watch top level pros.

Bottom line, youve made a *fantastic* progress. But given your speed and lack of fully developed feel for the car, it is a very tenuous time (for any driver at that stage). Hope it makes sense? Cheers!

[GunMetalGrey]

Thanks TC! I appreciate that

One question, what does LF stand for?

Also sorry to the creator of this thread for hijacking it

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by GunMetalGrey

Thanks TC! I appreciate that

One question, what does LF stand for?

Also sorry to the creator of this thread for hijacking it

Left Front (tire). Ditto my apologies to Nicly Bobby for the hijack!