Second GT3 Track Day
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Second GT3 Track Day
I took the car out to the Porsche D.E. at Firebird East yesterday. The group was nice enough to recognize my racing credentials and put me into the advanced group.
The first session I was able to run in the "Uber" group, which was just me and a CGT. The guy in the CGT was taking things easy so I mostly had the track to myself. I passed him once and then never saw him again. I'd have driven the CGT to its limits. But, then again, maybe I lack judgment.
The CGT left after the first session and they decided to kill the Uber group, with only one car left. Still I got like 6 sessions by 2:15 pm. Two hours of track time from 8 - 2:15 is damn near unbeatable.
The car again proved flawless. The balance was unparalleled. In the carousel I was able to use the throttle to steer the car nicely. Just small variations in the throttle would get the rear end to rotatate for me while I held the steeing input mostly constant.
The brakes were, as usual, phenomenal.
I had to be careful with the other cars out there because the closing speeds seemed to be something that the advanced group was not used to. They all had much lower HP cars and I would catch up to them quite quickly. To make matters worse, the brakes on the GT3 were so much better than those on the older cars that people also did not expect me to put the car next to them in a corner. I did it just once, and then decided against it in fugure corners. The rate of closing speed from a 2004 GT3 vs. a 1969 911S (no matter how tweaked) is mind boggling. Thow in a much greater rate of decceleration and you've got a potential disaster in the making no matter how experienced the two drivers are.
Any way, it was loads of fun. By far the best way to enjoy your GT3. IMO, Porsche has finally succeeded in delivering the benefit of a rear engine, RWD car (better rotation in corners and better grip at the rear) without the detriments of the setup (tendency for the tail to lead). The car is unflapable unless you do something very stupid. (In the case of stupidity, you probably are worse off in a GT3 with rear weight bias and no traction control).
Yours in speed,
The first session I was able to run in the "Uber" group, which was just me and a CGT. The guy in the CGT was taking things easy so I mostly had the track to myself. I passed him once and then never saw him again. I'd have driven the CGT to its limits. But, then again, maybe I lack judgment.
The CGT left after the first session and they decided to kill the Uber group, with only one car left. Still I got like 6 sessions by 2:15 pm. Two hours of track time from 8 - 2:15 is damn near unbeatable.
The car again proved flawless. The balance was unparalleled. In the carousel I was able to use the throttle to steer the car nicely. Just small variations in the throttle would get the rear end to rotatate for me while I held the steeing input mostly constant.
The brakes were, as usual, phenomenal.
I had to be careful with the other cars out there because the closing speeds seemed to be something that the advanced group was not used to. They all had much lower HP cars and I would catch up to them quite quickly. To make matters worse, the brakes on the GT3 were so much better than those on the older cars that people also did not expect me to put the car next to them in a corner. I did it just once, and then decided against it in fugure corners. The rate of closing speed from a 2004 GT3 vs. a 1969 911S (no matter how tweaked) is mind boggling. Thow in a much greater rate of decceleration and you've got a potential disaster in the making no matter how experienced the two drivers are.
Any way, it was loads of fun. By far the best way to enjoy your GT3. IMO, Porsche has finally succeeded in delivering the benefit of a rear engine, RWD car (better rotation in corners and better grip at the rear) without the detriments of the setup (tendency for the tail to lead). The car is unflapable unless you do something very stupid. (In the case of stupidity, you probably are worse off in a GT3 with rear weight bias and no traction control).
Yours in speed,
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