Nice catch Dion!

We haven't posted a good onboard for some times now so  let's ride along with Dion Von Moltke in his Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 GTD during a dry practice for the Sahlen Six Hours of the Glen.  

Von Moltke with co drivers Christopher Haase and Bryce Miller placed third in class for the very wet race.

Check out the slide at the off camber turn 9.

American Endurance Racing.

Racing at Watkins Glen in late October, the trees blazing with fall colors, is simply glorious.   Axis of Oversteer  was recently invited to drive in twin 7.5 hour races by the new American Endurance Racing series and it was great!

Photos by Bob Magee

At Team Axis we have all been involved in competition of one kind or another, from SCCA Pro Solo autocross to Time Trial to NASA and PCA Club Racing to Carrera Cup and Ferrari Challenge.
Sprint races are great, we love the 11/10th-ness of it but endurance competition is also an integral part of the tin top experience, the pinnacles of racing with fenders being marathons:  Le Mans, The 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, Daytona, Sebring, Bathurst.

At some point, a true tracktard yearns for that sort of punishment.

CG has raced at the top of the pyramid: the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Bucket list taken care of  but ultimately he found the experience somewhat frustrating, cost/benefit wise.   As you can imagine, calling it expensive would be a wild understatement and the frustration of losing Sebring because of a faulty $10 brake pedal light switch is close to  unbearable.

At the opposite side of the spectrum is what is affectionately know as "crapcan racing" and right here let me get one thing out of the way:  Axis was banned from Lemons.

Apparently they did not appreciate efforts to actually race,  we like to race and, without taking anything away from those who enjoy comedy infused competition, that scene is just not for us.

Here's the rub for the endurance pining tracktards,  there is not much between the lofty heights of Pro/Am racing like Daytona  and the comedy of Lemons.      There are one off races Like 25 hours of Thunderhill and, closer to us, the 12 hour Devil in The Dark and there is Chump Car.

But what if you already take part it, let's say, NASA club racing and you feel the urge to endure? Where could you race your well prepared Honda Challenge or GTS or Spec E30 car for longer than 45 minutes?

This is where American Endurance Racing is hoping to fit in.  

AER was started by group of Chump car refugees who were unsatisfied with the direction of that series.   Their goal is a series with simple rules that can accommodate cars from SCCA, NASA, BMW and Porsche club racing as well as some faster Chump/Lemons cars.

And my goal here is to convince any club racers reading that it's a great idea.

AER invited Axis to race in their "VIP" car at the double 7.5 Hour Enduros at Watkins Glen.  It's the first time anyone has deemed Axis worth inviting to anything,  thank you AER!

So, club racers, what's your most expensive consumable?  I know, the whole car is a consumable but you probably spend enough on tires that the idea of back to back 7 hr races is daunting, right?

AER solves that by mandating 140+ street tires. Most people used Dunlop Direzza or Falken Azenis, I believe most people used the same tire for Friday practice and both of that 7.5 hour races.

But wait, I'm not going to put street tires on my race car, it will not be any fun, you say?

OK, it will be slower of course but not nearly as slow as you think.  If your car stays healthy you will set your fastest times towards the end of the race.   I set what was the fastest lap in one of the two cars I drove,  6 laps from the end of the 7.5 hour race.   Jeff "speedycop" Bloch drove another of the AER "press" SpecE30 to a 2:21.xx lap after pounding a well used set of Direzza for almost 90 minutes.
That's not slow, The lap record for SpecE30 at Watkins Glen, on Toyo RR is a high 2:18!

Street tires will, without a doubt, work your driving chops as will driving 90+ minute stints.  I drove three stints of over 90 minutes over two days and I can tell you I drove almost every one as fast as the car would go, I know I'm a better driver for it.

Josh Hughes busy running strategy 

Another great plus, you don't have to change to rains.  At the Glen where weather changed from freezing rain to bright sunshine a few times during the week end, this was very welcome.

What about pit stops?

The idea is to give those not willing to put a huge fuel cell and expensive filler equipment in their cars a chance so there is a mandated minimum number of stops based on the lengths of the race and each stop/driver change has to take a minimum of 3 minutes, pit in to pit out.

Classing is done based on qualifying times.  Sandbagging will only cause one to be moved up in class.

That's mostly it as far as rules.  At Watkins Glen,  while the field was more Chump car than Club Racers, the classing seems to work quite well with only a couple of adjustments needed.

The AER press cars were mostly BMW SpecE30s.  It would be fair to say that, while perfectly functional,  they were all less than impeccably prepared.  On the second day, Josh Hughes, Travis Okulski, Kyle Aaron and myself finished second in class despite a car that had become so slow, some of the local wildlife could climb the Esses faster.  No matter, we all drove the car as fast as it could possibly go for our full 90 minute plus stints, using practically no brakes around the track and having fun with futile passing attempts like this.

And then there is is that spirit of endurance.  One of the AER cars lost its transmission on the first day of practice, the guys were up until 4 am putting a new one in with the car on jacks.  Heroic and the car went on to a class win thanks in part to one of the top NASA club racers, the very fast Eric Wong.

The race winning car crashed hard on Friday, t-boning the safer barrier at the exit of turn 11 and smashing most of the front end.    I watched as the frame rails were pulled "straight" using a chain and a pick up truck, space for the radiator was made using a large sledge hammer.     The car was somehow buttoned up by Saturday morning and went on to two back to back overall wins thanks in no small part to some truly amazing driving in the rain by Pirelli World Challenge's Mike Skeen.

So, racers, I urge you to take a look,   the event was well run, cost is reasonable,  drivers are good and the atmosphere was super friendly and fun....  I mean, c'mob, someone actually showed up with a whole pig to BBQ!   It was delicious!

The final race of the 2014 season for AER will be at Lime Rock on November 21-22, bring your snow tires.  In 2015 AER will expand with races at Summit Point, New Jersey Motorsport Park, Watkins Glen and more.

How To Drive Faster: Watkins Glen

How To Drive Fast is the second new regular feature on Axis. We found ourselves never quite satisfied with many of the "how to" guides out there on the internet, usually they are way too generic and written perhaps for an audience with less experience than what is the average Axis tracktard reader.

To remedy that we thought to ask pros to share their way of getting around faster, the setups they use and maybe dig up a few "speed secrets" here and there.  We will avoid most discussion about "the line" unless it involves, to paraphrase Mr. Pumpelly, turning in early with big speed.  You can get the "school line" from your instructor-saurus at your next track day.








The logical first choice was always Watkins Glen, the historic home of the US Grand Prix built in the late 1950s on a plateau above Seneca Lake in upstate New York.
People always talk about how the Nürburgring has no runoff, the Glen's baby blue Aarmco is looming just as close, ready to ruin your day. 
It takes skill and attributes to go fast here, The Glen is a Power track but the key to being fast here is having the right setup to carry big speed though the famous "Esses" and still being good though the medium speed turns on the far side of the track.

For this first installment we spoke with Dan Clarke who hails from the UK and has raced open wheels in Champ Car, Indy Lights, Formula Ford, Formula 3 and tin tops wit in NASCAR Nationwide and most recently in the Intercontinental Trophy Series in a Porsche Cayman for Isringhausen Motorsport.

We asked "Speedy" Dan about how he looks at the track and which way he goes with the setup. This is specific to a mid engine Cayman but some aspects are applicable to any layout.

Fire!

Part of the final test for NASA's competition school involved getting out of the race car, from fully strapped it with the engine on, in fifteen seconds.
It's not as easy as you'd think: you have to shut the engine, open the door, drop the net, undo your belts and radio plug and crawl out. It's a damn good thing to practice though because, you just never know.

And it's not just Ferraris that spontaneously combust, check out what happened to the Magnus Racing Porsche driven by John Potter at the Sahlen Six Hours of the Glen when the electrics let go.

Not sure why Potter does not activate the onboard extinguisher but the fact it takes almost two minutes before a fire extinguisher is deployed might be because the 2012 Daytona winner pulled off the main track and onto the "NASCAR" shortcut, stopping away from a marshal station.

Practice getting out of your car!

UPDATE: Magnus Racing told us Potter did activate the onboard extinguisher but that the system is aimed at the driver's legs, the engine and the fuel cell, not the dash.
You can read Magnus Racing's blog HERE

How I stopped worrying and learned to love driving in the rain.

Well, OK maybe "love" is too strong a word, but certainly "enjoy" and not sit in the garage waiting for the rain to pass. Fully wet track days are statistically pretty rare here, but what if you ever move to the UK? If you are disturbed by rain you would never get on track!

Last week at Watkins Glen we had what could best be described as a deluge. The track sits on a plateau and that meant that not only did we get rain but the whole facility was essentially in the clouds.
Visibility varied from none to barely enough to see the next corner. There were substantial delays but eventually they made the decision to open up the track and I was out for the Time Trials.

First few laps were a bit cautious but by the end I managed the second best time in class, less than a 1/2 second behind my friend Luke who had cleverly rented a set of Hoosier Wet race tires. I was driving on Michelin Super Sport excellent tires though they may be, with over 7000 miles on them they don't quite have the same level of grip.

I noticed looking at old videos I was about 15 seconds a lap faster, in worse conditions, than the last time I was at the Glen in the rain. Back then, Stee and I would marvel at how CG would blow by us in the Carrera S he had at the time. So what did I change?

I would have to say it was 95% mental, I just stopped being afraid. Sure, I kept my guard up but I was not anxious. The other 5% was probably better tires. I did not do anything to the car other than set the shocks to full soft but there are a number of things I learned. They seem obvious now but I'll skip the ones you will typical hear a driver's briefings and in the classrooms. Maybe some can help my fellow tracktards.

1. Look at the track:

Get to know where water is puddling, where rivers are forming, this will change throughout the day, so know what to expect

2. Don't brake in puddles and rivers!

Seems obvious but if you run a particular track often, your braking points will be engrained in your memory and you will tend to want to follow the same pattern regardless. A good example of this was the run into turn 7 (the Toe) at Watkins Glen where a river forms diagonally from left to right, just about where you might think of braking. The right play there is to go against your instinct and actually brake later, past the river where there is no standing water.

3. Cold brakes grab.

If you are running race compound pads remember that on your first few laps your cold brake pads will be very grabby, not much of an issue in the dry but in the wet you might find yourself skating on ABS right when you fist start to pick up speed. Both Stee and I had this same experience in the bumpy braking area for turn 8, but only on the first lap or two.

4. Both axles count.

If you are driving a RWD car, remember your rear wheels have to get passed the river as well. Sounds stupid but there is an interval of time there and if you are only thinking of your front wheels, you might feed power in just that split second too early...

5. Your corner speed is largely irrelevant.

Speed in the rain is not made on the turns, it's made in a straight line, coming out of the turn. Traction is why 911's are so awesome in the rain. (if you do it right).

6. invert your braking, apex and track out.

As there is little speed to be made up in the turns, you want to minimize the time you spend there.
The "Dry line"(blue) will almost always be more slippery  so you have two different strategies for turns: the classic rimshot (green) or the elbow (red) where you would come in braking on the inside, park it, turn and shoot out. Which one will work best will depend on the turn, the conditions and your car.

7. There is no rain line.

Regardless of what they tell you, every corner is different, every car is different and conditions will vary. Turn 9 was a good example, the best line through was the dry line. Why? because it's off camber and if you just did the prescribed wide arc you would end up in deeper water and gain nothing. Taking the dry line at the appropriate speed worked for both me and the Freep.

8. Learn to let go of the brake.

Sounds counter intuitive especially if you have ABS and new fangled traction control but that's what saved me at the end of the clip above. In the braking zone into turn 1 the car started coming around. rather than trying to fight it I released the brake which allowed the car to settle.

9. Straight line hydroplaning is scary.

Can't help you there, when you hit a puddle at over 100 and it moves you over 5 feet, it's just unnatural and it sucks and proof that in the end you always have to dance with physics!

To show you good rain driving in a scary place, I included a clip of CG in a PCA race at Daytona. Never seen Daytona wet before and CG does a very artistic 720º on the infield. No worries though, he will make his way back through the field to a top five finish.

170 mph in the rain? That's just plain sick!



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Speed Secret

Top speed at Watkins Glen Bus Stop, Traqmate GPS verified.

Without: 136.3 mph.
With: 139.8 mph.

That's why gardening is good for you!

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Watkins Glen at night. October 2, 2011 by Sean Curran
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Bumper Cars at the Glen

I'll be honest, the only time I can stand to watch NASCAR is when they burn their "tars" on a real race course. They still crash into each other all the time, just like on the ovals though. On a side note, that has to be the biggest safety worker on the planet in the blue jumper.

Formula 1 at Watkins Glen

Yup that's a recent spec McLaren F1 car running turn 11 at Watking Glen. The picture was posted by Nathan Sunseri who was on hand to see the Mobil 1 organized promo event. Lewis Hamilton and Tony Steward swapped a tight F1 for a big NASCAR . It's going to be shown on SpeedTV later tonight.. 2:10 for the NASCAR..really?

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Team Axis at the Glen: Dodging 944's and other Stories

Axis Pete Thibault was up at Watkins Glen recently for the NASA Spec e30 race and you can find his tales of dodging Porsche 944s after the jump.

Have a look at his full race videos: Pete is way too modest about his skills behind the wheel, he made some great moves in that race (an opportunistic outside pass in turn 10 comes to mind).

Just to give you an quick idea, I think the difference between a racer and a guy with a race car is illustrated PERFECTLY in this video: faced with a closing gap, the racer will always press the right pedal (or in the case of an e30...not lift :)).
Pete is a racer!

Pete writes:

After a crack of dawn tow from New Jersey, Justin and I arrived at the Glen with Axis 343 Spec E30 ready for battle.

Team Axis quickly hit the track for practice and the car immediately handled very nicely, perhaps a little soft up in the higher rpm range, but i was running good times.

During this practice session, a 944 drove right into me. Yes, in practice and for no apparent reason other than total brain fade!!! That 944 driver insisted to officials it was me who hit him, a swift correction with some of my own, choice words followed. I love having video in the car!



We started the Saturday race in P3. Our Spec E30 group, running within the larger race group, paced itself at the back of the main pack, we would start the race as we got to the pit in wall. Got an ok start but then was powered by climbing up the esses.
As always, some 944s got in the way with the racing, but ended up finishing up the race P3, little over a second back from the leader. The top 3 E30 fastest laps were 3 tenths apart.



Sunday i started the race in P4 with the motor really showing its lack of power in qualifying. Started to check some motor sensors and found that the air flow sensor was again, faulty. With Justin's help, I installed in a new unit about 10 minutes before gridding for the race.

After the first race lap, i could feel that the motor was back to power. Some great, clean racing i came out in P2 position.



Axis 343 was taken to battle at the Glen and came out with quite a few scars butI think that this race weekend will be hard to top. Running nose to tail with J. Allen, and S. Curran for both days was a blast. Congrats to J. Allen for the both Spec E30 wins.

And to some 944 drivers some situational awareness will do your class some good!

Group 52: the Rat's still where it's at.

If you don't know the Rat then you don't know Jack, but if you ever do get to run with Group 52, the east coast's best, expert only, invitation only, open track club you will have know Jack.

We talked about Group 52 before here, it's where you go when you've had enough of the various car club "driving schools" and you are grown up enough to be fully at ease on track and just as good at looking ahead while keeping an eye on the mirror so you don't panic when 600HP (OK fine, 450) crashman trucks roar inches from you into a braking zone. It's all cool, everyone there is (mostly) in total control and (generally) an adult. I've now been to quite a few of these events and every time I'm amazed at how well having essentially a single rule (don't be an a-hole or you'll go home and never return) works.

Continued after the jump

More pictures on TracktimePhotos.com

It was my first time back at Watkins Glen since the catastrophic engine explosion in my MCoupe exactly one year ago and I was happy to see that despite year old track tires I was able to do a few laps in the 2:12 range, the same as with the old expired S54. I did however have some issues...again with a leaking differential which kind of ruined my first day. But, I ended up fighting the urge to quit and the diff problem was resolved. That interesting issue and how it was resolved in my next post.

I was there with Axis Adil who was running his newly acquired 997 GT3 for the first time. He did very well, running in the low 2:10 with ease. There is no way around it, 997 gt3 are awesome cars. (you might want to turn the volume down for this one)



It was also interesting running the "Short course" for the first time. Having that long straight after the outer loop sure puts a different prospective onto "turn 10" (which becomes turn 6, I think). Here are a couple of rather slow I'm afraid, laps right before I was black flagged for leaking diff oil...again.



Group 52 is by invitation so by all means I encourage you to seek someone who can recommend you (including us). Remember though that those who sponsor are responsible for your actions and will also be sent home if you mess up. Not an issue if you are ready. How good do you have to be? hmmm let's say that if you can drive a Mini Cooper S around the Glen like this guy you will be fine!

Great Week End for Team Axis!

4 wins (5 if you count Time Trials) and 6 podiums for Team Axis this Memorial Day week end.

On Saturday, at New Jersey Motorsport Park with NASA, Pete took first place and set an new track record in Spec E30 with the Freep coming in third. On Sunday places were reversed with the Freep taking a commanding victory with a car severely damaged by shrapnel from a competitors exploding motor. Peter was right behind for and Axis 1-2. IN GTS3 on Saturday Stee avoided on track trouble to come in fourth. I held up the flag at the TimeTrial TTB class.

Start of Sunday's Spec E 30 race from Pete's car. Pete started 5th and climbed up to 2nd place. The trick with Spec E30 is to keeping momentum so brakes, well, they don't see much use.





The big annual Porsche Club were at Watkins Glen and CG, as I predicted, laid waste to the competition winning Saturday in H-Stock configuration and taking the overall win in the Enduro on Sunday with a big wing I-Prepared.

A blistering 2:08 lap in the I-Prepared Cayman



Next big event will be Hyperfest at Summit Point, see you there!

MORE PICTURES AND VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP




CG in the H-Stock Sprint race, dicing with Baron Jacobs in the Green 911.


Time Trial laps at NJMP Lightning



Home

Watkins Glen Gets Major Improvements

Watkins Glen International and its parent company, International Speedway Corporation, have announced significant improvements to the track will be completed by this year.

The improvements are intended both to improve safety and in some cases to improve competition and involve paving over some of the gravel traps at the exit of the "Bus Stop" and Turn 10.

Turn 5 (outer loop/carousel/turn 9...depending on what series you follow) will see all the grass removed and a better crash barrier installed.

Turn 11 will get a SAFER Barrier. FIA curbs will be installed in turns 5 and 10.

Good to see the Glen get some TLC, what Axis is debating now is how much faster will these changes make the track?

(Racer.com)



end of post

Bavarian Jake makes the news...

You might remember this inexplicably Jake badged BMW M3 featured on our pages... Apparently Mr. Epic Baller made the news when his first ever race in a Corvette ZR1 ended abruptly about 10 minutes in and is now splashed on the pages of Jalopnik...

Our own The Dough, T-Neck and Eddie were at Watkins Glen and sent us these observations:

"Remember the winner who built up his e90 coupe and turned it into a racecar? Well, he owned a ZR1 as well and decided to turn that into a race car too. After a few sessions in the instructor group over the weekend (where he ran around passing with no point), he put it into the wall ... (T Neck called it). What a shame. "

No doubt Mr. Sobolewski will return with a matte black, Jake decal-led, Ferrari Enzo at the very least!

end of post

Axis love

As I was browsing though the Niagara Region Porsche Club of America site, my eye fell on the picture of a 944 in the garage at Watkins Glen.

I could not help but notice an Axis sticker on the windshield! Cheers fellow tracktard, that sticker is sure to cut a good 6/10th... given the right wind conditions!

And here is the rest of it.

Hard Fighting at the Glen.

A great in car video from Joey Hand's Turner Motorsport BMW M3 from the June 7 2009 Grand-Am Koni Challenge race at Watkins Glen.

As the video starts, there is a restart after a yellow flag, it's mayhem! If there was ever a better illustration that there is no such thing as a "racing line", this is it. Don't miss what happens between Bill Auberlen and Andy Lally in turn 7 (the Toe).

As a bonus, after the jump, you can see the race side by side from Auberlen's and Hand's cars.

Seven at the Glen

Time: About 4:30pm, September 25, 2008
Place: Watkins Glen International, BMW CCA Oktoberfest
Situation: Driver School, Instructor Run Group
Conditions: Humid. Cloudy. Dry track surface.

I took my pal Mr. Worst... Passenger... Ever for a spin (figuratively) in the Instructor Run Group to prove he can trust me behind the wheel and to hopefully show him a good time. A good time was indeed being had when we came upon something more interesting: an E65 BMW 7 Series being driven quite hard on the track. I'm not gonna lie, it was kind of sexy to see the big girl working so hard. Mr. W.P.E whipped out his Blackberry (whew) and snapped a quick sequence (hit the jump for the good shots).



BMW CCA's Oktoberfest is the closest thing to a BMW orgy (and that's close enough, thank you), so you're most likely to see a 7er on the track at an event like this.

Now, the Axis of Oversteer is perfectly comfortable putting cars that don't fit onto a roadcourse in the name of entertainment, but as we closed on the big 7er we realized what a glorious match was occurring between this big car and the track surface. Sure, it rolled a bit, but not too badly thanks to the ARS system. The brakes appeared effective enough for the pace (somewhere above leisurely), and it accelerated beautifully. I never ran into the instructor who was driving her so smoothly, but if you're an Axis watcher, be sure to send us an email. Nice work out of you!

-Freep

Axis designed Sector 111.5 spoiler

When the brutal forces Adil and CG subjected the Axis-Martini Exige S to proved to be too much for a crucial aerodynamic component, a solution had to be engineered on the spot...

As you know, the Exige body generates a generous amount of downforce, so much so that it proved fatal for the pretty carbon fiber front spoiler CG and Adil had installed on the Axis-Martini Exige toy.

OK, that and the fact that Adil had previously cracked it at an autocross and thought he would cover the crack with a single SCCA sticker. Obviously the speeds at Watkins Glen made the blingy carbon fiber piece fold under and scrape itself into oblivion leaving the car without a chin.

Enter gaffers tape and years of study in a wind tunnel and you have this awesome looking and aerodynamically perfect (it has to be, just look at it) solution. As a bonus point, it proved to be 87% more structurally rigid than the original Lotus part!

Here are a few more pictures from the Group52 track day at the Glen earlier in June.

BimmerWorld checks in

Seth Thomas, one of the drivers for the BimmerWorld SpeedWorld Challenge Touring Car team, sent us two great in car videos and some comments.  

The first is from a race at Watkins Glen. Having just driven there it's great to see how fast a proper race car can be, they run well below 2:10 in traffic,  that's fast.  From the in-car it looks like the BimmerWorld BMW 325 handle extremely well.  Still subject to the laws of physics though and when team leader James Clay gets into turn 11 a little too late and wide,  well...look at the video. (and yes, it was 3 out of 3 BW cars)...

Seth comments:

" This is a video I am not sure how to comment. This is how you don't take T11? This is how crazy and fast the Glen can bite you? There really isn't anything that can be said about this footage other than this is nuts!"

In the second video are highlights from VIR.  Great race for Thomas who went from seventh on the grid to second on the podium behind Kuno Vittmer's Real Time Racing Acura.

 "This is what racing is all about. The only part that could have made it better is if I could have made the pass. Kuno did a great job defending and if he did make a mistake it was always in a spot I couldn't take advantage of. It was a battle of give it take between two very equal cars."

Watkins Glen Day 4, let's sum it up.

If there is a measure of how cool Group 52 is it has to be that with 52+ cars, most of them racers and with one of the two days rather nasty and wet, there was not one crash, not one weird incident, not one warning, maybe a spin or two but that's it.

This with a group where pretty much everyone was going balls out...(sorry ladies, I know there were a few of you driving... I blame Stee entirely for my choice of words!) yet it always manages to be utter coolness! I think we all are extremely grateful to be in with this crowd.

On a personal note it was also great to run into more and more of our readers, NICE! Awesome that some of the Nascar truckers read Axis... you guys DO need to bring those trucks to the Nürburgring, they would love you there!

We all had a great time, Stee drove his car with a properly set rear toe and was immediately more confident. Adil drove CG's 997s and loved it and was smiling despite more issues with the Exige S (tach not working, engine weak, a cracked Sector 111 carbon fiber soiled which folded under at speed and required a gaffer's tape repair which I'm sure was infinitely more solid than the original part!).

CG and I both improved our personal best lap times. Pretty close actually, with him just below 2:12 and me just above. On the screen grabs from the Traqmate software you can follow our laps, a battle of a little more grip vs more power, better gearing and I think, much better aerodynamics in the Porsche.

Our lines are a bit different with him driving the classic Porsche line but for example, our braking points are almost identical. The only difference that I carry more trail braking towards the apex in turn 1 and 7 ("the toe").

The other big difference is our line in the "outer loop" (the right sweeper after the chicane). I shift to 4th, carry more speed and stay way inside, cutting distance by a lot. In the end though, I wonder if it's worth the effort as we both have the exact exit speed... I'll have to ponder that one.

I made a side by side video, CG on the left me on the right. The quality is not so great as an embed but if you want you can press the "HD is Off" button and follow the link to the Vimeo site where you can get a pretty quality good full screen of it.

I also added the same on their own just in case the side by side is too annoying!

So the final tally is CG 2:11.997 (ironic no?) and AC 2:12.159. Not too shabby for street cars with radios, air conditioning and navigation.

But check this out, if you cheat a little bit and on the Traqmate software move the lap start from the actual Start/Finish to the uphill section after the "toe of the boot" the best lap times are as follow:

AC 2:11.850, CG 2:11.585.

But that not nearly as crazy as our "Theoretical best lap" times, 2:11.704 for me and 2:11.246 for CG. See, there is always room for improvement!

The Data Overlay was output with TraqStudio software from Traqmate.