davyboy

Because I can't do it after 75 laps, lol

I seriously have problems believing some of the lap times that get quoted by some people. I know how fast I am going to get between 9:15 and 9:30 - and I know exactly which way the track goes!

...so I think to quote a 8:30 or whatever on a 2nd lap is, to me at least, unbelievable. How can you learn the track in that time, how do you even you which way the track is going to go?

[I know timing is not everyones cup of tea before anyone starts!]

[Edited by davyboy - 9/24/2003 12:41:23 PM]

dingy

PMSL - my post got deleted.

Seems you lot don't like the truth.

Harj is a conman and a liar.

Tony Quinn

I've seen someone learn the track to a good standard in 5 laps, in fact it was to such a good level that when he offered me a turn at the wheel I was thinking "Bugger, this is going to be embarassing. I'm meant to be teaching him". I think it is relatively easy to learn the track when it is empty, especially if you have been doing homework as Richard had. If your first laps are during busy spells then I can understand how you might think it is impossible to learn because you are always watching the mirrors and driving offline.

Don't worry about how quickly you are driving, the objective has to be to enjoy yourself safely. There are no prizes for being the Touristfahrten Champion and you will find that you end up looking a pratt if you behave that way. Being quick does allow you the privilege of spending most of the lap looking forwards however. You'll be amazed at how fast a standard Impreza can lap the 'ring, quickly enough to be filling Richard's 350bhp mirrors coming off the last corner. If you are happy with your speed, fine, enjoy yourself, it's a good respectable speed. If you want to go faster, get one of the oldtimers alongside and he can give you some pointers on where to gain speed safely. I remember a guy who had spent a day and a half getting down to 10'45" and thought that was on the limit. I talked him round his next lap and he clocked a steady 9'10" without any drama at all. It's so much easier when you have the knowledge and belief in what your car is actually capable of.

To Richard, I would say it's great that you have such enthusiasm for the place but please take heed of what people have said. There is a lot of bad driving/riding out there. You have the speed but are unused to mixing with people thinking in a very different manner. Many of the others on-track are similarly unfamiliar with the thoughts of others but are also very slow and panicky in places and the bikers are hopelessly vulnerable should an accident occur. There's always another lap, this is especially relevant when you are new to the circuit and guaranteed to shortly beat your latest, greatest time by 20 seconds or so. You should always be doubly careful when there is more than one vehicle around because everything becomes a lot less predictable and don't challenge Sabine to a race! She might be able to arrange an empty track and would surely dish out a monumental humiliation. Always remember that you can't have fun if you spend the day talking to the Polizei.

Type R

Doh missed a good trip, I was sat on a beach in the rain, whilst you folks were having fun

I love reading all the banter and fun people had, makes me very jealous, hopefully go next year in my Elise with some crappy Jap engine, no prizes for guessing

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

Daveyboy, perhaps when they quote times they may not be timing from the correct points or they may have slow stopwatches?

Just read the link to the M3 site and yes it does seem strange that someone could do a 8.46 on their 2nd ever lap.

I could understand it if it was me doing that time but as I don't time myself we will never know now

56 laps and I still haven't got it yet (and I'm a driving God too).

F

johnfelstead

I did 7'56" on my 12th lap, or at least i thought so until i realised my passenger crapped it so much he pressed the button early. Hello Richard.

I didnt time a single lap this last weekend trip, it was too busy to even think about going quickly in safety.

Such a shame they banned video cameras. I would have had some great footage of how not to drive the ring from some of the ********* i saw in front of me.

owbow

Tony, will you let me drive yours next time? i'll look after it... ask Harj, he'll vouch for me...

Owain (still haven't had a go of mellow's scoob...)

hammy

I can totally understand someone doing 8:46 on there seventh ever lap especially in an EVO with uprated brakes and on D01J's.

I don't own an EVO or Scooby but have driven both and spent alot of time as a passenger in them. It amazes me just how user-friendly and easy to drive they are, which is exactly how a good car should be (I wish mine was).
I've managed an 8:24 lap which as I stated on the incar vid' was "horrible" IE: fighting with the car, knackering and rather uncomfortable for both the passenger and I.
Compare that with lapping the 'ring in Tony Q's Scooby (<300bhp) in 8 1/2 mins with the car so well balanced, without drama and as if hes on a Sunday drive, its a Joke (and on me).

I agree with John, its best to drive a civilised car and concentrate on driving the circuit rather than having to concentrate on driving the car and not be able to drive the circuit. And also Chris, a Scooby makes a good driver very good and a very good driver untouchable.

I was lucky enough to learn the 'ring in a day (yes that includes every single turn-in, apex and exit point).
I believe THE BEST WAY TO LEARN THE 'RING is to share a lower powered car with someone who knows the circuit very well and take it in turns to drive, so you get every other lap to drive with instruction and laps between to observe where you went and exactly where you should have been going without the worries of being overtaken, etc.

Within 10 driven laps on the sameday Tony Quinn and I were racing each other for lap times without instruction, we finished the day at 10:07 for me and 10:02 for Tony, not bad BtoG times for a std 1.4 Puma! The next day 9:40's (if dry) would've been on the cards but a biker fukd the engine so I ended up with a 1.6 Astra estate for 3 laps in the wet.
Before that weekend the only LAP i'd done was crawling round at 40mph just after the 2000 24hr race, it took me about 20 minutes and I still nearly managed to go off. Beforehand i'd read 18odd pages of pace notes from a BMW website but they were 99% useless, I only remembered there was a Karussel, but where?

DO NOT try learning the circuit by reading pacenotes whilst driving on your own, especilly if they're not in the right order!!

So after 14 laps in 1.4/1.6 LHD hirecars my first ever lap in my rather old Ford Sierra Special (the one above GL i think) was 8:27, one up and no vid'.

Now for the excuses, the reason I was so slow was because:
#1
I hadn't time to put the stilauto's on, so still had my gold raceline RL7 wheels on and the front spokes had hairline cracks in, so I was a bit concerned about taking any curbs like wipperman.
#2
The front o/s disc had just been diamond skimmed by Nissan-Adenau and wasn't bedded in yet.
#3
10miles in over the last jump (before double apex right) my brake pedal hit the bulkhead, Mintex 1144's (fr & rr) really are **** aren't they!
#4
I had to run a restrictive tailpipe (supplied by Nissan-Adenau) to reduce the noise from 108db to 98.5db which reduced est' 400bhp (Big lag & 2,500rpm power band) to 380ish.
#5
The lap is to long with the T4 increasing the engine bay temp' / inlet charge reducing the power @ the gantry to nearer 300bhp, just aswell due to excuse#3.
#6
I had some traffic (never heard that one before)
#7
I'm not that good a driver.

So yes, I can totally understand someone doing 8:46 on there seventh ever lap.


Was great to see everyone there, shame the circuit was closed so much, I missed out on alot of passenger rides (Chris, John, Tony) and wanted to take a few more people round in the rather Gold 1.4 Pug 206.
If you saw it going slowly >10min laps then it weren't me drivin.
It made my weekend when a local said his mate in a Porsche struggled to keep up and asked was it modified, to which I should have replied, ASK HERTZ.

Cheers, Stuart


ps Richard, Gareth Lloyd would have whooped yo *** big time with his boggo standard beema and as for Sabine, don't even go there!

[Edited by hammy - 9/26/2003 4:31:38 AM]