Poor-sha

I've had this video around since Track Attack in May but everyone liked the video I posted the other day so much I decided to edit and put this up too.

http://www.vimeo.com/6493905

Short-Throw

Approximately a 1:34 on South with a damp track and a passenger is a scary ride from the right seat. Sean, what rubber was on the car? Very nice of Nigel to let Johnny go by on the South straight! 5500rpm in 4th gear in those conditions is pretty awesome (2:56 mark in video -- also notice the short shifting as to not beat on somebody else's car ) The pros are so good at early correction. If you notice he drove the car on the rear tires where there's a larger footprint and then corrected for over-steer, rather than relying on front tire grip to give away first.

Thanks for posting and making us yearn for Track Attack 2010! How many days is it now?


Mike

ssdeuce

Poor-sha

My car had the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires on it at the time and a compromised alignment (only -1.5 front camber).

I remember Johnny commented to me during the debrief that he tended to short-shift simply because the car had so much power and it made it much easier to put the power down.

Poor-sha

Here's the video without the music and with about an extra lap of track time on it.
http://www.vimeo.com/6500187

Lan.Jet

Another excellent video thanks for posting.

95jersey

First, I know that Johnny is an awesome driver, several time Le Mans winner, and while not familiar with that course, it sounds like he crushed it. But I couldn't help but notice all his corrections. I am just saying, if one of us posted that exact video of us driving, we'd call it kind of sloppy and overdriving the car a bit....am I right?

Putting on the flame suit, but I am just saying. Are we doing something wrong? I look at video's of fast laps where the driver is smooth as silk, no mistakes or sudden kick outs, and such, but Johnny seemed a bit loose.

Kubs

I think youre right to an extent. Driving street tires is not like driving r comps or slicks. You do a bit more "dancing" in street tires like Johnny. Even though he made quick movements of the wheel that car seemed to maintain balance, for the most part, and he wasnt jerky.

Very cool video!

Vette Daddy

God stuff. Thanks for posting.

vette6aut0x

Cool video and a great weekend.

Do you have video from the dry session Saturday afternoon when Johnny drove this car and was being hounded by the Autobahn first-timer in the daily driver base C6? I'd love to see that one, especially the part where Johnny's left hand goes up and over.

vette6aut0x

This is absolutely true, plus the track was damp and that car had a significant push, from the looks of the video, which required a good bit of hand movement and quick throttle application to turn the car. Driving on the rear tires, as Mike put it.

Johnny drove my car with the Hoosier A6 trial rubber and a dry track Saturday. We were going significantly faster than in this video, and although we did a fair share of sliding, there were less than a handful of corrections in 5 laps, and these were all in really slow turns.

Poor-sha

That must not have been my car because both times Johnny drove my car were Saturday morning and then again on Sunday once. This was the only run that remembered to turn the camera on though

Could it have been Jim Hall's car?

vette6aut0x

Maybe. Was his car parked in front of the Pfadt trailer? It was a Katech modified car that I heard had 600+ HP.

Poor-sha

That was Jim's car with the Ethanol motor.

Short-Throw

I can understand your interpretation, but honestly it's not the case.

The video doesn't truly show how slick the track was. MPSC's need heat and on a damp track that's not an easy task. Autobahn is a technical track with the longest straight being 1809 feet, not much room to see high speeds for tire warming. Also, Autobahn has different surfaces in different spots and some of the sealant can make for some interesting conditions given it poured the night before.

It may appear sloppy and overdriving, but it wasn't. Johnny was quite busy, but the car wasn't! With the combination of Sean's power, tires and track conditions, Johnny actually drove that car pretty conservatively.

With perfect conditions the following day, Johnny drove the Beast and believe me, it was a sight to see.




Mike

Bills Z06

, Thanks for posting!

Lan.Jet

I had a few Pros drive my car this season also and I think you have to give them a break. The street cars are a lot different than what they are use to and they are usually jumping in and out of several cars at the events it takes a few laps to get the feel of the car. Especially if the car has issues like mine this year. Here is a clip of Andy P driving it at VIR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgxlCPlqdD8

burners

Cool video.

LG Motorsports

Hi,

You guys have to give these guys a break. they are in a strange street legal car with who knows what the suspension is at, and they are driving with NO Gloves, no suit and no safety harness, WITH A PASSENGER.

No pro driver in his right mind would drive someone else's car anywhere near the limit under these conditions.

And knowing that, even driving at 80-90% the cars still get away from them.

So my hats off to the owners of these cars who track them regularly. Both cars seem to be a handful and in need of some "taming" and calming down.

Any time a pro driver gets into a customer's car everyone gets a stop watch out to compare 5 or 6 laps by Johny O or Andy or whoever.

Just be thankful that we are all in hot rods at the track and maybe get some feed back on the chassis set up from the pro drivers.

Just my .02

Thanks guys

Lou Gigliotti

LGM

dcvee

Nah. Fast drivers make corrections all race long. HPDE students are conditioned to believe that calm hands are fast hands. That's bunk. Whatever hands make fast lap times without overheating tires is what's required.

It's best to learn control via calm hands vs fast hands since it leads to less overcorrecting in students.

PS...Great Video...would be better without music however. You could listen to throttle management/steering input(tire squeal).

Don