Track Day Mosport Aug 31/Sep1

[Sleeper_08]

Being a new member of this forum I am not sure if there is any interest in seeing videos of other peoples track days but just in case here is some from my recent SVTOA two day event at the Mosport GP Circuit on Aug 31 & Sep 1. It was organized by Track Guys.

When we arrived on Monday there was still a lot of activity and structures in the pit area there from the ALMS race weekend. Things got off to a slow start as a result and we had 4 sessions of about 20 minutes each. My results were not good. My previous fastest lap was a 1:50.897 and the best I did was a 1:51.65. It may have had something to do with my fire alarm going off for over half an hour at 1:30 AM but I wasn't too happy.

On Tuesday they combined the two slower groups into one and ran each of the three groups for 5 sessions of 30 minutes. I went much better and in the first two sessions 7 laps were under 1:50 and the best was a 1:48.062 which is about 2.8 seconds better than my previous best. I even think I had it sliding between the apexes in turn 2 a couple of times.

I'm still about 6 seconds off my brother's best time in my car of 1:41.902 so I have lot's more to learn.

Here is a video combined with the data of my fastest segment times over the two days. Note that my car is presently running on KDW2s and the best they give on a flat track is about 1 G. In the video is a funny shaped graphic called QView which is described in the MaxQData Quantum manual as;

"Qview™ is an innovative way to visualize the performance of a car as it drives around the track. It combines lateral acceleration, longitudinal acceleration, and speed differences into a single graphic that is easy to grasp.

Notice that we have switched to a view directly over the car, as if you are a helicopter flying and turning with it. As you scroll forward in time, the track will pass underneath you. The top of the display is the forward direction of the car. The width of each block is proportional to lateral acceleration. The length (in the direction of travel) of each block is proportional to longitudinal acceleration

The inside color is red for braking, blue for accelerating. Intense red is hard braking, intense blue hard acceleration. White means you are neither braking nor accelerating. Blocks are 0.2 seconds apart"

Here is some more video, some with data, of the two days. The first run of the track lots of cars

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

Includes chasing the Lightning

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

I think that is the STi I'm chasing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G4n72aFino

In this one it felt like everything was passing me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_86JyLpwkAM

Here is a run starting with the Fusion and then the Lightning truck. The Cobra passes me at one point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdLguM3g8SM

This one has the data added. The Fusion again and the Blue and white GT500 only this time he has learned the way around. The EVO? also appears along with the STi. The red S197 was also quicker than me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A3ahOi5daU

Chasing the silver Cobra Mustang. I think he was playing with me and would let me catch up and then really pour it on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv98Yu-s5Xw

 

[race4food]

ohhhhhhhhh track guys!!! That was an expensive weekend...Dont those events cost like $500.00 for the weekend?

 

[race4food]

quick hint...The red and white run off guards are where you want your tires for each turn. if you put your tires right on them or close you will be near perfect on the apex.. and dont follow the other cars..

 

[Sleeper_08]

ohhhhhhhhh track guys!!! That was an expensive weekend...Dont those events cost like $500.00 for the weekend?

It was $400 CDN for the two days which is a good price for a Mosport event.

 

[Sleeper_08]

quick hint...The red and white run off guards are where you want your tires for each turn. if you put your tires right on them or close you will be near perfect on the apex.. and dont follow the other cars..

My #1 objective for a track day is to drive the car home. Certain corners at Mosport, such a #1, can be really nasty if you put two wheels off. Ask the VW driver who did and ending up hitting the wall and took his car home to Boston on a trailer.

This video is my brother, who has over 10,000 laps at Mosport driving, my car and he has the line correct;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iS5UBK3phw

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Oh, I hear you about keeping your car safe, but I have to R4F and I had the exact same thought: "Use the WHOLE track; you paid for it!" You don't have to go to the outside edge of the candy-stripes, but on your vids it didn't look like you were even getting close to them. It's not a matter of taking it to the bleeding edge, but proper turn-in, apex, and track-out points will actually allow you to be smoother, with less sudden transitional loading, which equates to faster AND safer.

Another critique (constructive only!!) is that you have the "highway paradigm" happening. You can close your following distance significantly, since unlike the highway, the other drivers are not going to suddenly slam on the brakes for no reason, are not eating and drinking, emailing or texting, or applying makeup. They're heading to exactly the same spot you are, there is no cross-traffic, and they're moving at roughly the same velocity (+/- 5mph or so at the turn-in point), so there is no need to leave as significant a gap as you do. I couldn't hear the engine to assess your throttle work, but my gut is telling me that you were pedaling it mid-straight to avoid closing on traffic. Take a look at the velocity data on your video #6 (data overlay). At 16 seconds in, I can see your speed decrease from 121mph to 95 when you closed on that silver car, even though you were nowhere near the braking zone going into turn one Once you dropped to 95, you accelerated back up to 98, then hit the brakes for the turn. You may not have even realized you had done that, but for whatever reason, you gave up a significant speed advantage to maintain spacing. You *could* have sucked right up on his rear bumper by the turn-in point, followed him right through the apex, and probably made the pass cleanly on the next straight. Because of that, you gave up a pisspot of momentum, and you never really got back in range of him.

Also, look where you tracked out at 1:00 into the video: that's mid-track. You should have been all the way left, right up against the candy-stripes! By decreasing the radius of the turn, you gave up the opportunity to accelerate sooner, which let the silver car pull on you. I'm not talking about being reckless, or out of control, but in honesty, a rear-drive car like the Mustang is safer, more controllable, and yes, faster, with a little throttle on through the corner apex. Getting on the gas sooner, with a wider arc through the turn, will give you more positive control over the car. If you're going wide, just lift off the gas a touch, without winding the wheel in more and upsetting the balance of the car. Another thing to look at: the next turn is a right-hander, so if you had tracked out, you would have been perfectly on-line for the next turn, without extra control inputs and weight transfers.

At 1:32, you slowed again for spacing...

Trust me, it's not my intent to bash you or your driving here, I'm just trying to offer a few pointers on how you can drive faster even more safely. I drive to and from the track in mine, and so I set lower limits than the guys that trailer theirs as well, but there is a point where pulling back for safety actually has the opposite result.

Please forgive me if I'm restating something you know, but there is a fairly simple, reproducable technique for late-apex cornering. Accelerate until you're flat out of room, then "touch-squeeze" the brakes. Don't jam on them, but touch the pedal with the ball of your foot, then squeeze (rapidly) on the pedal until you reach threshold/ABS, then release at about the same speed, don't snap-release the brakes either. Take a line entering the corner wide, all the way at the track edge, and go deep, deeper than you think. Make a smooth turn-in (single motion, don't jerk the wheel!), and either trail-brake (advanced) or breathe a little throttle (neutral to barely accelerating) to get the attitude through the corner that you want. At the instant you make your turn-in, you have committed to an arc, and that arc WILL cross your apex point, so ignore the apex and look ahead to your track-out point. If you are running the correct arc, you should be clipping the inside edge of the corner, slightly after the actual center-point of the natural corner arc. Now that you're looking ahead to your track out point, and you are clearing the apex, start rolling on the gas, and use the gas pedal to steer the car. If you're drifting wide of your track out point, ease off the gas slightly until you're back on line. If you're running in too much to the center of the track, breathe in a little more gas until the car pushes out to the line you intended to run. About mid-way between the apex and your track out point, you might be surprised to find yourself at WOT... What this technique does is lessen the rate of weight transfer, and makes the car take a "set" smoothly and maintains that set. Because the car is balanced, and riding comfortably on the suspension, you have control input in reserve (wheel, gas, brake) that will allow you to correct for any sudden issue that may develop, like a slick spot, or a slightly hot corner-entry. The late-apex line like that is not only fast, it's also very safe, since you do the bulk of your braking and accelerating in a straight line.

Your brother's lines do look quite good, and you would do well to compare the videos side-by-side, turn-by-turn, and look for his turn-in, apex, and track-out points. If you have the opportunity, get an instructor in the car with you for a day, and you'll be amazed at what you can do comfortably that you thought previously was unsafe...

Here's one of mine:



VIDEO

Take a look at the way I handle the control inputs: everything is smooth, no jerking, no yanking, no stabbing of brake or throttle. Smooth is fast, and also controllable. Also note the way I use the ENTIRE track through the corners, and how I'm not afraid to suck up to the back of the Infinity at the end of the third lap. When you hit a corner, you need to repeat a mantra: ALL the way out; ALL the way in; ALL the way out. Also, listen to your tires, they will tell you when you're approaching the limit in a corner. If it ain't squeeling, then you ain't wheeling! Squeeling, like in my vid, is a good indication that you're using all your grip in the corner. Howling or squalling, however, will tell you that you're right at the edge. Silence means that you went over...

 

[Sleeper_08]

SoundGuyDave

Thanks very much for the constructive comments. I'll study them while watching the video.

I've had a few sessions with instruction, primarily with my brother who is a Porsche Owners Club instructor, and hopefully will be starting off next year at Mosport with another full day session with him. For this year my final day of the season is this coming Saturday at Toronto Motorsports Park which is a lot slower and has fewer things to hit

 

[race4food]

My #1 objective for a track day is to drive the car home. Certain corners at Mosport, such a #1, can be really nasty if you put two wheels off. Ask the VW driver who did and ending up hitting the wall and took his car home to Boston on a trailer.

This video is my brother, who has over 10,000 laps at Mosport driving, my car and he has the line correct;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iS5UBK3phw

It was $400 CDN for the two days which is a good price for a Mosport event.
I am soooooooooo with ya!!! I traded my Cobra for the 05 because I was too scared to run it, I don't care so much for the GT but I still want to drive her home..

It was $400 CDN for the two days which is a good price for a Mosport event???? What is the CD? to US these days???

10,000 laps at Mosport ...HOLY SHITZ NITS!!!!

Thats more than I have at TWS!!!!!

All I remember is that CARGUYS=$$$$$$$$$$$$

They run a good event but DAEYUM!!!!!