linzman

Spent the day at Thunderbolt. First time in this car. Need some tips on how to get my time down a few more seconds. Here's a sample video of 3 pretty clean laps. Would like sub 1:34 times. Hammer away, but be gentle


VimeUhOh

Thanks

GuyIncognito

linky no worky.

linzman

Working now. Sorry

Veloce Raptor

I will look later and comment. I do a fair amount of coaching there, and was just there this past Tuesday & Wednesday...

linzman

Thanks Dave,

This was from Tuesday. I was in the black 968 with orange and green graphics. Would have loved to meet you. I think I'm at the stage where a little coaching would go a long way.

Veloce Raptor

Sorry I didn't meet you either. I remember seeing the car on track though.

Let me look at the video later in the day when I am at my computer.

FYI, my email is dave@racecoach.net

ProCoach

Aaron Povoledo and Scott Leder are up your way, too.

GuyIncognito

you'd probably find half a second or more just tracking out over the curbs...

what tires?

it looks like you could be carrying a bit more entry speed into some of the high speed turns, particularly turns 1 and 6 (watch your friction circle "grow" past the apex).

nice correction out of 7 on that second lap

E55AMG

As Procoach said, Aaron Povoledo is near here. He's a good friend and I've spent a lot of time with him at NJ. He would say you can't go fast there without hammering the curbs. Many of the curbs at Thunderbolt were raked in the direction of the track so offer incredible amounts of grip.

Use ALL of the trackout curb after turn 1 almost until it ends to really open up the arc into turn 2. Lots of grip to be had using the curb at turn 6.

There's a youtube video of Aaron doing a track walk at thunderbolt which may help.

ZSA Motorsport

dude ,nice work. whiel not relevant, i think have track records at njmp in 3 different cars, configurations including the gtb1, gtc5 and the overall track record in the gtc5 last year. again, irrelevant, but i have some speed on that track.

here are my few cents.
1. get a firesuit on. really. you're doing FAST times nad you're a good solid driver hauling out there. you are not sufficiently protected especially at such a high speed fast turn track like thunder bolt. i so hate watching vids of great drivers hauling at tracks and seeing their forearms.
2. blip - you need to blip a good bit more. almost seems like you're not blipping at all. you start really push the pace even more and snap off the trhottle onto the brake wiht the coasting, you're going lock up the wheels, zing the motor, wreck the car
3. i n general into 1, and into the fast right hander, i think its 4, you're coasting a bit..yo ucome off the throttle maybe unsure of the brake marker you want, and you coast a bit, then brake. if you look at brake data, you want to be full throttle and then jump off the gas onto the brake spike the brake and trail off, bak to power. just be more definative with the braking..full throttle and then brake. eliminate the coasting.

1 and 2 are very solid i think. 3 is good. you might get away with a small lift and back to power or subtle drag of the brake. you give upa ton in the fast right hander as well its not that fast as you're doing it. too much coasting.
full throttle brake turn in, eat up in the isde curb if your car can handle it, back to FULL power dive on the brakes and roll thru the left handers.

entrance to octoupus, the right hander, get on the inside right curbing it will help rotate the car quick just for a blink, expect some looseness, quick hands, turn left and jam to the left hand arc.

octupus itself - get on the curb on the left, will loosen up the left side, grip on the right car will rotate better, less dirt than on the right, and more throttle just try different zings of throttle to see what the grip will hold, sometimes its better one lap and even better the next, then crap if someone brings dirt on the track.

here's the pca track record lap. i ran it the same yesterday in the cayman for a cayman track record by a few seconds, same stuff just less trail braking and different brake markers, but same line.

https://vimeo.com/48312103

ZSA Motorsport

oh, and #1 way you're going to get faster is to spend the time and money with a professional coach who knows the ins- and outs of the specific track. a great coach will help your driving skill, blipping, eyes-up, etc and know the nuances of the track that find time.

best money you can spend .

ProCoach

I REALLY enjoyed being hired to finalize the placement, design and validation of those curbs in June of 2008, before the track opened. Set two track records since then, and that's the best single tidbit of advice I've heard.

Agree with Steve. Working with a coach with VERY intimate knowledge of the track can pay huge dividends. Good luck!

PasPar2

Love this track, learning alot from this post. Thanks!

linzman

Awesome advice so far. Keep it coming. Thanks everyone. As far as my car, 968 with great suspension, stock motor, running Hoosier R6s, although they were pretty used up. Used to run an 87 911, so the pedal setup on the 968 is still giving me some trouble with throttle blips and I still sometimes wonder if the back end is going to slide a bit This car is definitely easier to drive, harder to "toss around" but still a lot of fun. It was only my 6th track day in that car, so I'm still learning the car.

ZSA Motorsport

being able to blip and rev match is like critical item #1 else you're risking your car, your motor, your trans, yourself, the guy to the outside of you , behind you.. all for osmething which, with some tweaking, is really no big deal. frankly though you're not even trying to blip and missing it or over blipping. in watching your vids, you're just dropping it down a gear.
rennlist sells pedal assemblies, pedla covers with tabs on them, that really help. on my WC cayman , i just put a rennline assembly and put the tabs on up high. they have pedals with tabs high on the gas pedal and low, and they have ones which you can adjust so over time, as you get better at it, you can trim it out.
but its a must have skill.