Lime Rock Ferrari Challenge

Which day was this on? I wanted to go up on Sat, but my wife talked me into the family going to our local town's gathering (you know -- food and various businesses in the area have tents setup, and some junk for the kids to do -- moon walk, sand art, etc...)... as it turned out, we found out that day that the town moved it to Sunday, and by then it was too late to head up to Limerock!!

Next year... I hope that this year's town event help convince my wife that seeing a bunch of Ferraris and other awesome cars is much more fun for all of us...

 

Damn, I totally missed out! Didn't know about the event until Saturday morning when I woke up at 11:30, by 12:30 I am already on my way there. Got there at 3:00, by then the FXX was already loaded into the trailer But even so, I am really glad I went as I am leaving the States for good in 2 weeks time; it was a chance of a lifetime to see those ultra rare fcars and masers!

I didn't get to meet any fchatters, but I did spot some of their cars. Steven on the track almost the whole time I was there, and saw William's fleet leaving(my gf was taking pics of your F40 going up the slope if you remember ) led by the F40 followed by the TR and slutmobile(poor thing was soaking wet!)

The vintage race was just awesome! The 250 GTOs and SWBs sounded amazing! Never thought the BB512LMs were good looking before, but now I am in love with it after seeing it in action; and I think the driver behnd the wheel was rather skilled just by looking at his lines and cornering speed(maybe its the car).

The weather was ridiculous on the way to Limerock, but overall i had a fabulous day! Too bad I ain't going to be here next year

 

Hey all,
I was at the Limerock event so I probably ran into more than a few in the paddock. I have been trying to hit as many Ferrari events I can in the local tri-state area to get some good sound bites (yes I was the one walking around the paddock with the microphone and sound equipment filled back pack) and eventually make a compilation CD. Anyways while the Limerock event is open to the public, the up coming Watkins Glen event is Ferrari Club specific and last year I could only get in under the pretext of taking a 3 lap track tour, so once the batteries ran out, I was not allowed back in and the gate attendants less than amiable.
If anyone plans on attending this event and has a guess past or would be willing to count me on the guess list, it would be greatly appreciated. Unfortunately until I am able to get my Grigio Ingrid 360, this appears to by my best hope of getting in. As appreciation I would be happy to supply a copy of the events sounds/pictures on CD.

Also anyone interested in the Limerock event sounds, please contact me at [email protected] or [email protected] Thanks for any help on the issue in advance!

 

i'm game, MANY thanks for the tips!!! i do indeed sustain to barely accelerate after the left turn to then before the right turn (and accelerate after apex onto noname straight). William, make sure next time at LRP they classify you as an instructor because LRP only allows instructors as ride along. Have been crunching the data and i KNOW i am losing time by not going fast enough at the downhill. At Big Bend i am sustaining about .95G or so with 'blips' above and below that.

ALL help is ALWAYS appreciated.

PS: i can send you the Traqmate raw data file if you want to DL the program from their website and churn through the data.

FYI: the tires were my street wet Mich Pilot PS2, and not the r-compound Mich Pilot Cups. Was dialing in the car and getting progressively faster each day, and the below graphs are Saturday at 12:40pm or thereabouts.

1:09:85 lap... traction circle and turn map below. The By Distance maps begins/ends at the Start/Finish line. Due to the, frankly, lack of HP/TQ it seems it reads BRAKE at the uphill when the accelerator is actually floored. Perhaps i need to downshift from 4th to 3rd before the uphill??? What did you do there?

ALL help is ALWAYS appreciated.
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Hi Steve:

I was very impressed with your runs. I was the slooow NJ 308 in your group. I had a blast and I hope my point buys were OK and did not slow you guys up too much !!

Anyway, being green, I had an instructer with me and he advised that going into the turn uphill, to brake slightly, downshift to 3rd and floor it up the hill, then quickly to 4th as you straighten out over the hill.

William H, i also think you should get flagged as instrcuter as I woud love to see how a 308 is to be driven !

Oleh

 

You did great! Am glad you had a blast and look forward to seeing you at future track events. Watkins Glen FCA Empire Region is September 1, 2, and 3.

Many thanks for the tip! Wish the car had more torque. From my data i can see she is in 4th doing 5,000 rpm as we enter the uphill, but the car's rpm has a small downtic during initial climb and then almost nothing of a slow uptic in rpm until she reaches the top of the hill. As for speed, we are doing 80mph upon entry, but the hill slows the car down 8 mph

So yeah, can see how being higher in the rev range could help for sure. Thanks again and will try 3rd for sure.

 

Steve,

You just need to be sure that you get that shift done BEFORE you turn into the right hander into the uphill, with a clean heal/toe. If you start turning in before you release the clutch, you're going to go for a little excursion into the guard rail there as the rear end lightens for a moment on the turn-in before the compression on the hill.

Also, you might want to try making the turn onto the main straight off the downhill without hitting the brake at the bottom, late apexing, and letting the car track all the way out while building into the throttle. The more speed you carry onto the straight, the faster you will get down to Big Bend. Brake as late as possible and carry more into Big Bend if you can. And try taking Big Bend as a carousel instead of double apexing it (keep right wheels low of the NASCAR concrete pads).

Just a few thoughts. Picked up some of those tips over the years and found they all made for faster lap times.

 

Amen, the brakes are VERY brief there and perhaps if i grow larger danglies and carry more speed there the car's revs will be more into the 'range' of higher HP/TQ. The 308 is such a dog for torque in fourth going up the hill IMHO

This is what i was doing SATURDAY, but not Friday. Agree she carried more speed and felt more balanced. The classroom instructor, a great guy BTW, said to wait until the car just begins compressing as it just reaches the beginning of the bottom and take the turn. On Friday i was early apexing so on Saturday i waited for the bottom hill compression. This had the car feeling more balanced and allowed for more speed in the neighborhood of an additional 10 mph or higher. Could probably go faster still... next time... next time

Many thanks, and agree i am lacking speed from the hill and this hurts me all the way until the brake zone at about 3 or 2 depending on my speed (and b@lls) at the time.

Some guys say make it a double apex of Big Bend, though i do the carousel as you suggest and carry enough speed to go from the right apex (just touching the FIA curbing) to have the car track out on the left (this is before the left hander). Am pretty darn good at this, though sometimes am carrying so much speed the car goes into a neutral drift to ride quite a bit on the FIA curbing to the left, which i really try to avoid at this point. Touching the FIA curbing is one thing and fine with me and do it often, yet try to avoid going deep into it and riding it for a bit.

There are definitely places that need improvement, no doubt about it. Really appreciate your words of wisdom. Many, many thanks.

Alas, did not video capture much on Saturday, though here is a Friday run being about 1:12 so you can see the line and hear things. It aint perfect, but it least it gives you an idea. Note that the camera is mounted on the left side extension lip of the 308's dash and not center in the car.

http://www.ispexperts.com/limerock072106.wmv