By Chris Tropea
Jul 15, 2022
What does a lap time of 2:16.10 around Sebring International Raceway look like? Something like this video from the cockpit of our 2004 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 project car.
Our own J.G. Pasterjak set down the flyer at the 2022 SCCA Tire Rack Time Trials National Tour Powered by Hagerty.
4/8/22 1:05 p.m.
So the vast majority of lines look absolutely text book but there are 3-4 spots that seem slightly off. I assume this has to do with the bumps?
4/8/22 1:59 p.m.
Where in particular? (I know where I feel like I screwed up but I'm curious where you think I did)
4/8/22 2:16 p.m.
Minute 1:13 to 1:46 on the video is where I saw some things:
1:13 the exit of the left kink
1:19 the kink, slighty wide of the apex and possibly not full drivers left before turning into the 90 right at minute 1:24.
1:41 right hander seemed wide of the apex kerb
1:46 not sure on this one but you turned in well before what appears to be a turn in cone, you were spot on at the apex so I wasn't sure why the cone was where it was.................I just noticed the turn in cone on the video is all.
4/8/22 5:20 p.m.
JG I should add that I'm by no means suggesting anything is wrong; it was simply a fact that I some things that were different from what I expected. Note I have 0 experience at that track. Also note I do like the fact that you used all of the exit kerbing.
4/8/22 7:03 p.m.
It is good to know somewhere in the US there is 'pavement' that is worse that the Streets of Portland OR. Wicked fast car you got there.
4/8/22 10:23 p.m.
So this is actually really interesting, because the things you pointed out are some of the things that make Sebring one of my favorite tracks. In more than a few spots, the geometric racing line is not the actual fast line, and in particular a few of the spots you mentioned. So it's actually really cool to have someone with no experience there, but who knows how to decipher a racetrack, decipher things from video.
Okay let's start with 1:13. Actualy, let's back up even more to 1:09. You first instinct in that right hander is not to use all the exit, since you go immediately left again. But that whole section of lefts is basicaly full throttle, and the line through it is whatever line you need to maintain full throttle. If I get a good exit on the right hand T10, I need to use a lot of the area off to the right to let the car swing out at full throttle. In a slower car ou can kind of stay in the middle of the road and cut distance.
The "kink" at 1:19 really isn't as much of a kink as it looks like, so what you're trying to do there is line yourself up for the entry to the right hand T13, which is literally one of my favorite turns in the world, and the one you're referencing at 1:24. The proper entry to 13 is actually at a bit of an angle. You're braking almost directly toward the control tower (actually you aim just to the right of it). Not so coincidentally, they call T10 "Tower Turn." If you try to square yourself up to the edge of the road for your entry, you end up driving way further than you need to, and likely giving up speed on the entry to force the car over. T10 is amazing because when you turn in, the car starts to push wide of the apex and you think to yourself "oh man I screwed this one up..." then you hit the road camber and the car digs in and if you timed the entry moment and pace right you can bury the throttle early and drive right by the apex. It's amazing. I got the timing right, but I went in a little too hot. You can see I picked up some time getting to the apex, but I wasn't full throttle again until I was practically at the exit curbing. Luckily it didn't cost me more than it did.
As for 1:41, this was a bit of a happy accident. Ideally I'd have liked to have been a little further left on the initial entry, but I got a good run through the left hand sweepers, and I was also braking a little early everywhere as I was still unsure if the ABS glitch would come back. Also at that point I was even on my previous best lap delta, and I knew I was running out of opportunities to make up time, and the low fuel light was on. So this would be the final fast lap of this session. There's plenty of runoff there, so I just rolled off the brake early and tossed it in figuring "what's the worst that can happen?" and the damn thing stuck. I got a huge green boost in T15 (the right hander) and rode that through most of the end of the lap.
1:46: So, that's kind of a turn-in cone, but really it's more of a track limit cone. That's also pretty much the turn in point you would use if you weren't going to use all of the exit curbing, so I think that's why the Skip Barber school put that mark there. I, however, paid for the whole track, even the questionable parts, so I'm using all of it.
The biggest screw up, though, is way back at :26, and that almost cause me to bail on the lap. I tried to get on the throttle way too early in the left hander and had to back off a bit before the exit. Ideally I should have waited until about :26.80 to roll back in, and any speed I gave up mid corner would have been regifted to me and then some down the next straight. But I'm not full throttle until like :27.60, and you can see the delta climb because of it.
4/8/22 11:33 p.m.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
I figured the variances were Sebring-centric. Naturally becuase the track is notoriously bumpy I assumed it was that.
As for the bit at :26 - 27:60 I noticed the throttle management but wasn't sure if it was the track surface or a bobble. I was also wondering if passing the car just before that might have been a slight distraction?
4/9/22 3:26 a.m.
Nice video and that is the hot lap video I was mentioning to do for that C8 video. Next time move the camera to the right and just behind your head so that we can watch you driving while still looking out of the car.
4/9/22 9:57 a.m.
I'll answer this in the C8 thread.
4/9/22 1:40 p.m.
Great lap! Is the push through the Carousel a standard way to scrub a little speed or could you brake a little heavier to rotate the car for the exit? I love the T10-T13 complex. Your reading of 10 is spot on. You can carry a lot of speed through there but it definitely has downstream effects. The T13 line just feels so weird, like you are pointing off track before you turn in. I thought your line though 17 was sublime.
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