Thunderhill ALMS Pro 1 - Rob 0

[robains]

Back from Thunderhill event with HOD (Hooked On Driving) - Johannes Van Overbeek was there in his Porsche GT3 Cup car. Read more about Johannes here.

HOT day, 98F. My car was dialed in (best it's ever felt), made some rake adjustments, took a little out of the rear wing and it felt very well balanced.

Had a small issue with exhaust leak at muffler joint, kept separating which probably hurt my power. But otherwise it was a great 4 sessions and I'm regaining some confidence in my car.

<object width="640" height="360"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6669361&amp;server=vimeo.com &amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portr ait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6669361&amp;server=vimeo.com &amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portr ait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="360"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/6669361">ALMS Pro GT3 Cup vs Rob Lotus</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/robainscough">Rob Ainscough</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

[robains]

Here are some pics from the event from GotBlueMilk folks. I might buy a few, they do great work.

I really do need to think about new springs/shocks, these are just way too soft.

Rob

[apk919]

Yep, a well-driven GT3 is a fast car... I had fun swapping positions with one last weekend too... but it wasn't being driven by a pro driver. Are you still on the Track Pack springs/shocks?

Did another Exige S's photos get slipped in to yours? I see a stock wing in there...

[SteveLevin]

Very cool!

Your driving is really good. The only real comment I have is that when you exit turn 9, don't turn back to the right quite so quickly; let the car run down the hill and then gently swing it back over for turn 10. You would be surprised how much speed you scrub hugging the line to the right.

Steve

[jasper]

nice video

I did a HOD event in a rented Panoz a couple years ago, and besides the fact that I could barely see over the hood, I had a good time - thunderhill is a great track

I've been just left in the dust by GT3 Cup cars, they are really fast in the right hands

[robains]

Steve,

I usually do let it drift out so that there is no scrub, but it depends on the condition of the track. In HOD events there is considerable "clag/dust" out there as not many drivers run a race line in a HPDE type event. So going out there will pickup dirt/dust/junk on my tires which would compromise their effectiveness in T10.

On corner entry I use scrub to complete my desired apex speed. But on very hot days (like it was), I have to be careful how much I want to scrub on turn-in, vs. braking -- managing tire heat. On this day, I really had the car dial in, felt awesome even though I was only driving 9/10ths (drove to the track on my Hoosiers, needed to get home on my Hoosiers - no support vehicle this time).

Andy,

GT3 Cup ($326,000) not the same as a GT3 ($110,000), I've passed plenty of GT3's.

Rob

[apk919]

Originally Posted by robains

Andy,

GT3 Cup ($326,000) not the same as a GT3 ($110,000), I've passed plenty of GT3's.

Rob

Hah, yes very true... there was a GT3 Cup out in one of my sessions too... and it was well-driven (Bret Curtis races in the ALMS series too).

[robains]

Nice data, I was gonna estimate about 10-15 sec a lap faster than me and you confirmed. But if you add up the bits:

1. Sequential gear box 2-3 secs
2. HP/weight 5.8 vs. 6.9 3-4 secs
3. TQ diff 1-2 sec
4. Brakes 1-2 sec
5. Big Slicks 4-5 sec
6. Shocks/Springs 2-3 sec

13-17 sec

Now where did I put that $326,000 disposable income?

[ZJChaser]

Andy... that was Brets World Challenge car. Its a good bit quicker than his Cup car. More power and more aero than the Cup car. Normally has to run on R888 in WC but since it was a POC event he was running full slicks. He was faster than the RSR that was out there as well though. They are doing ~170 on the straight where we are are only hitting 125-135

[apk919]

Originally Posted by ZJChaser

Andy... that was Brets World Challenge car. Its a good bit quicker than his Cup car. More power and more aero than the Cup car. Normally has to run on R888 in WC but since it was a POC event he was running full slicks. He was faster than the RSR that was out there as well though. They are doing ~170 on the straight where we are are only hitting 125-135

Wow... he was so fast that when I entered the infield straight on one lap, I checked my mirrors and saw nothing... by the time I got to the esses, they're waving the passing flag at me; WTF? Where did that Porsche come from?

[robains]

Finally got my Session 3 video done:

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Session 1 and Session 2 video to come later.

My fastest lap of the day was actually done during Session 1 - 2:02.5 when it was cooler temps (75-78 F at 9am). Which it had stayed in the 70's cause I'm pretty sure I could drop a couple of seconds off that time even driving 9/10ths.

The Crow's nest configuration costs about 5.3 secs (I compared video of my car when I ran the bypass so that's were I got 5.3 seconds from) so figure 1:56-1:57's. Have to run with NASA (they run the bypass) on a cooler day with a support vehicle and see if I can get into the 55's.

Rob.

[robains]

Full Session 2

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[robains]

Part 2 of Session 1 - fastest lap of the day was last lap in this session (2:02.4), low fuel, 25F cooler morning than afternoon.

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[Tracktimeplz]

Ok whos the guy in the ST exige blockin you in that session 3 vid...


Come on, which one of you is it?

[ZJChaser]

what were the ambient temps?

[robains]

Originally Posted by Tracktimeplz

Ok whos the guy in the ST exige blockin you in that session 3 vid...


Come on, which one of you is it?

Haha, that's a friend of mine, he doesn't post on LT (I know a lot of Lotus track people that don't post on LT). He's at a different experience level and wanted to try out Group D (Advanced/Race prep) -- he was having fun, all good.

I'm sure if he wants instruction, he'll ask for it, don't want to force anything on him -- just told him to stay within his comfort level, and he did.

Posted the same Session 1 video up on youtube, seems like YouTube drops less frame in HD mode.

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Would like input on Vimeo vs. YouTube from you folks, please. Specifically frame rate and/or skipping of frames.

Thanks, Rob.

[robains]

Originally Posted by ZJChaser

what were the ambient temps?

Morning (Session 1) it was about 78F, Session 2 89F, Session 3 and 4 98F (someone with a weather station said 102F, I was just going by my iPhone weather data for Willows).

Rob.

[tko211]

Cool video. I drove Thunderhill in a 65 Shelby Cobra back in July of this year. had a great time but all I kept thinking about was "how cool would this be in the Lotus!" Your video confirms that it would have been a blast! I love the spot on the video where you climb up to the crows nest on the hill. Very cool.

[robains]

Originally Posted by tko211

Cool video. I drove Thunderhill in a 65 Shelby Cobra back in July of this year. had a great time but all I kept thinking about was "how cool would this be in the Lotus!" Your video confirms that it would have been a blast! I love the spot on the video where you climb up to the crows nest on the hill. Very cool.

Thank you sir. Crow's nest increases lap time by about 5.3 seconds. I've done a side by side video in my Lotus, one using Crow's nest and one using Bypass and ran a timer from point to point in each -- bypass is about 5.3 seconds faster plus/minus 1/10th.

Session 1 Vimeo Hosted Version

Session 1 YouTube Hosted Version

I think I prefer YouTube hosted version.

Rob