Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean
Cool run around the ring, and I obviously don't know the track, but it did not look like the greatest line in many of the turns and gear selection might even have been questionable in places.
An example would be that he doesn't even appear to setup for the slowest corner on the track, and he misses what i would consider to be apexes all over the place.
Again, not saying I could do better, just that he did not appear to be that great of a driver IMHO.
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Actually, that was a pretty clean lap. Much of the "ideal line" around the ring is compromised by bumps, killer curbs, and plane old fear.
Specifically, you can't "setup" for the carousel. You just have to slow way down and limp though it, or risk destroying the car. And most of the apexes he's missing are either too bumpy/too high of a curb to risk, or he's missing by such a small amount that it won't really make a big impact on the overall lap time. Better to lose 10ths driving conservatively rather than lose seconds having to recover from a large error on a corner exiting onto a 3 mile long straight... or worse, shunt and kill yourself.
Think of the track more like a rally than a normal closed course track. You really don't memorize each corner, each braking zone, each apex, each track-out point. You learn the big landmarks (usually the spots where it's easiest to kill yourself), and then get a basic understanding of the corners/sectors to the point where you have basically the same amount of foresight a rally driver has with his co-drivers assistance. You expect laps there to be 9/10ths at best, because it's virtually impossible to run 10/10ths the whole way around... what with all the traffic, bumps, paint, curbs, etc. The track is just too unpredictable to run flat out and expect to survive the lap. And frankly, you don't need to run flat out, because the course is so long that even record setting laps are littered with mistakes. All you have to do is make sure your mistakes are all small, i.e. drive conservatively.
So, not to say your analysis of the lap is wrong... just pointing out that for the 'ring, it was pretty clean. Wanna see a filth dirty lap? Check out the (in)famous Yellow Bird lap of the 'ring: