Knockhill this Sat 12th 11-3pm!! Hot Marques

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:39 am

Well, how are the new track alterations???

G

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:47 am

Gareth wrote:Well, how are the new track alterations???

G

I didnt bother going on as the weather was pish, but from a spectators point of view it was hard to notice any difference apart a few kerbs missing and looking very slippy.

Shug I think I was behind you on the way home.

Post by **Shug** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 2:04 pm

Ah - wis that you Kenny? A Skyline in the convoy as well?

Anyway - the track...

To be honest, there was no way of telling what it would be like on a decent dry day. The tarmac is literally just laid - we were the first (apart from some school cars) to drive it in anger.

Kerbs are now tarmac (as yet, unpainted) and there were no markings of any kind on the track. They've relaid the whole shebang - now a damn site smoother, no big bumps on the way into the hairpin and the way up to the chicane is now not quite so much of a compression.

Main changes are on the front straight - the whole straight is 2M wider, so it's a straight now and not a banana. Duffus (or SEAT or whatever stupid-arse sponsors name it now has) is much wider as a result. The apex kerb is that 2M further to the right, so the line is much different and the guys from KH were saying it was a good 20MPH faster in the dry as a result.

Downside being that it still funnels into MacIntyres at the bottom, which is dimensionally unchanged (although you can use more kerb, being tarmac) So you've got a LOT of speed to lose by the bottom of the hill. Could get interesting thorough there!

Can't say whether I like it or not yet - I loved the old Duffus, but didn't have a chance (I was only there for 2 hours and there were 3 red flags) to really get a good rythm with the new layout. I basically used the session to hoon about and make sure the car was okay for Cadwell next week.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 2:10 pm

Shug wrote:Ah - wis that you Kenny? A Skyline in the convoy as well?

Yep, the Skyline is Donald from TRS new 430bhp toy.

Post by **Shug** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 2:12 pm

430bhp - explains it

Quick beastie.

I didn't have my usual SE overtaking head on, so hope I wasn't a hold up.

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 3:24 pm

Shug, do you reckon this will benefit the scooby/evo boys over us?
What I mean is, is it not as tight. This is where I noticed a difference in grip when chasing Si. If these changes have made it faster, smoother and not as tight it will not benefit me/elise/exige/caterhams etc drivers.

Post by **Shug** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:44 pm

Can't be sure... I'd say gut feeling is that it'll be the same balance as before. The Elise will still grip better (thanks to the lower weight and CoG) and the tintop boys will have to still lose lots of speed on the drop down Duffus. I'd say the Elise will still make bags of time here, as they are managing the extra mass over the crest, we can stay planted and brake much later...

The smoother track benefits us, as it keeps our relatively heavy (compared to overall car weight) unsprung masses better controlled (the wheels won't patter as much) = later braking and better cornering.

You'll need bigger balls to go quicker, for sure, I think there will be more of a courage factor on the Duffus entry than ever before...

I may be proven wrong, but we can only find out...