UKGTL Season 15 Fifties Endurance - Bathurst - Jan 26

[Erling G-P]

"...Just 67 seconds after he stopped..." 

Did anyone else watch the next suggested video, with the Russian motorcyclist ?  Wonder if that guy is still alive 

Cheers,
Erling

[Erling G-P]

Did some early testing yesterday.  Exhilarating track, with those narrow twisties through the rock walls, but soooo unforgiving.  Surviving 26 laps here seems a daunting task indeed.. 

Again love the 250 TR  (Tony, I need an all-series dispensation for this car - when something sounds this great, I'll gladly forego outright speed..  )

Have some specific problems with the Aston and D-Type.  The former doesn't want to turn, and the latter wanders all over the place; mostly under braking, but also under acceleration.

Dialing the steering lock up to max seemed to help a little with the Aston.  If anyone has any setup tips on how to make it more willing to turn in, and/or on how to make the Jag more directionally stable, then I'd be most grateful to hear them.  Remember it may be YOUR car I'm inadvertently wandering into, so a tip might be self preservational... 

Cheers,
Erling

[misnoimis]

Wow!!! Awesome beasts these.   What to drive???  I rather fancied a Massa but discounted them both after testing. Mainly because the designers hadn’t included brakes in the specs and the steering felt like it had been misassembled.   The D- Type was ok but the tail was a bit waggly.  Probably fine in the hands of a top driver, not me. The Testarossa was great, it felt very chuckable in the corners. Made me feel like a good driver… but the times were not great. The DBR 2 was a challenge, but the times were good. Same with the 375 Plus.

I decided to have a six lap timed run off between the Aston and the Ferrari 375. I would have thought it impossible but my fastest lap for both was identical.  

So now what? I think I might be unpatriotic and go for the Ferrari because of that engine sound, although it must be one of the ugliest Ferrari's ever made.  

[EvilClive]

What a relief that at least 2 others have found some cars a little lacking in the directional stability department. 

Maybe I started at the wrong end of the car list, and simply through bad luck tried 3 cars that all had a steering arm bent or broken?   I think that if I go with what I would like to drive, (just for the sheer hell of it) then Erling and myself might be exchanging multiple paint samples down Conrod Straight....it might get VERY messy  LOL.

I still have 4 cars that have not turned a wheel yet, so some testing this weekend or just before kick-off on Monday might influence my choice. But the most important criteris is that the car can stop in the correct pitbox and take on fuel, even if I have to finish the race on 4 recycled rubber bands, instead of proper tyres!! 

[Wiltshire Tony]

I thought they started on rubber bands 

@Roger - try getting to the pots then spray into them with a bit of good quality electrical contact cleaner (not WD40). I have used Servisol Super 10 from Maplins and it seems to have done the trick on my pots. And it has a little straw so you don't have to be a worried about wayward spray.

[Erling G-P]

Tony, are both the Mentals err.. Maseratis  available ?

Cheers,
Erling

[Wiltshire Tony]

Tony, are both the Mentals err.. Maseratis  available ?

Cheers,
Erling

Yep. If in doubt check the Drivers car roster.

[Erling G-P]

Tried my level best to make the Jag more stable in a straight line yesterday, but not with much luck I'm afraid.

Experimented with caster, toe-in, camber; the things I expect could influence it.  Dialed down the caster setting, as it seemed high, and it didn't make things worse.  Thought it improved stability a little, when I set toe-in to positive values, although that is contrary to a setup-guide I found, which specifies negative front toe-in for better stability.

Tried reducing the negative camber on the fronts, but that spoilt its cornering abilities, without making it more stable.

All changes are nuances though - I never really found anything that truly transformed it.  Would thus be happy to hear if anyone else have more luck (Although after 60+ test laps, I could probably drive it now anyway..  )

Cheers,
Erling

[EvilClive]

Tried the Jag last night and I was...quite disappointed  , it just seemed a bit gutless and with only 4 gears it felt like it needed some more grunt to compensate. The brakes scared the wotsits out of me, I actually went back and checked that the pedal setup was correct!!!

I only found time for a few laps and was around the 2:24 mark in the Jag. Any more time would have to come from improving the handling and carrying more speed through the corners. But I think that on this track it is all too easy to push 5% too hard and suffer the horrible consequences. 

As it is an endurance event, my ideal car will cruise at 200mph, take corners like it is rails and use hardly any fuel. Plus it must do all of this whilst I take a well earned sleep at about half distance    The sad fact is that I am quite likely to fall asleep, or at least lose concentration  lol.

Just going to try a couple of red cars around Aussie land.

[Erling G-P]

The Jag feels really strangled by that 4-speed gearbox, especially on a track like this, with that very long straight requiring a tall gearing.

I'm presently a little quicker in the Jag; best lap 2:22.5, but that's after a ginormous amount of laps and with my.. ahem, 'improved' setup..  


A note about pitstops, for those that haven't checked themselves.  Even though it's very tempting to turn straight onto the racetrack after a pitstop, you will have to go the entire length with the limiter on, if you don't want a S/G penalty.  I tried, and even though I kept the limiter on till I was certain I was back on the track portion of the tarmac, I still got a penalty.

Cheers
Erling

[EvilClive]

Thanks Erling. Any advice on pitstops is much appreciated here! 

[roguk]

Hi Tony ..... thanks will try.

[EvilClive]

Obviously we have to refuel at the pitstop, but do we have to change tyres??

[Wiltshire Tony]

Obviously we have to refuel at the pitstop, but do we have to change tyres??

Entyrely up to you

[Wiltshire Tony]

I spent some time yesterday on the Avus circuit to do some speed trials. The results were interesting. I'll just say that some of the cars indicated top speeds are way out