First time out in the Cup Car

Larry Herman · #1 08-01-2011, 09:35 PM

This past weekend I took the 996 Cup Car to the Riesentoter DE at Watkins Glen. The car was awesome and ran flawlessly. And what a kick to drive.

Thought that some of you guys would like to see it.

AllanJ · #2 08-01-2011, 11:06 PM

Sweet! I bet you're still smiling.

FTS · #3 08-02-2011, 12:03 AM

I heard you also briefly met Brian; it seems it was a terrific event.

Here are few random thoughts as I am watching the vid:

Oh c'mon Larry, where are all the sensors connect to the G2X/IQ3?
Looks like weather is pretty good, but out lap seems slow, must be using slicks
Although I love the sound of my GT3s engine, nothing compares to a Cup's sound. Now that I tasted it once, it is addictive
Larry should upgrade to a Cup sequential, I wonder if they have one for the 996 Cup?
Terrificly smooth driving, still outlap though, we'll see...
OMG, look at the diagonal Gs...
, he did a 2:03 on his out lap, , too funny
OK, 2nd lap is a 2:01, I am sure mid 50s are on their way
I don't feel bad about shifting from 5th to 3rd now
curbs don't seem to be upsetting the car at all, cooool.
too much traffic for 50s today I guess

Terrific driving Larry, enjoyed the vid.

Larry Herman · #4 08-02-2011, 11:51 AM

Fatih, mid 50's? Ouch, I'm not Leh Keen. The fastest times for this years Club race were right around 1:59 flat, so considering that it was my first time in this car, haven't driven much in the last 3 years, was on used slicks, had a bowl of goldfish on the passengers seat, etc, I'm pretty pleased.

FTS · #5 08-02-2011, 02:42 PM

It was terrific driving Larry, including the fish bowl

I was literally giggling when I saw the 2:03 on the outlap and thought "he'll do mid-50s by the end of the session, just warming up the tires"

Larry Herman · #6 08-02-2011, 03:21 PM

It's the old autocrosser in me. It doesn't take me 2 laps to get the slicks working.

bman · #7 08-02-2011, 07:04 PM

Great to meet you Larry. Sorry we didn't have more time to chat; next time.

Wow! Very impressive especially considering the car is new to you. Great driving and you make it look so easy. Thanks for posting this. It allows me to overlay my laps to see where I am losing time. I already knew T1 and T2 were weak spots for me and sure enough I am losing 2 seconds from T1 to the bus stop. I plan on comparing our laps more closely.

There were a few brief moments, when I was following you, that I thought I could hang.....not! But in those moments I was blown away by how stable the car looked. I want one!!!

My car's new to me this year too and I don't have many days at the Glen; in any car. My goal was to turn some 2:04's but I fell just short. I was able to run a few 2:05's but struggled to find clean laps without traffic. I am surprised you found so much open track! What session was this?

Oh! and thanks for not posting any vid where you pass me

Enjoy your cup!

Larry Herman · #8 08-02-2011, 08:44 PM

It was nice to meet you too. You are peddling that Turbo around pretty well. That was done on Sunday morning, the 2nd Red run session. Nobody went out in it for some reason. The 3rd session after lunch was just clogged with traffic.

bman · #9 08-03-2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry Herman

The 3rd session after lunch was just clogged with traffic.

I was out there in the red/black combined and it was clogged but still fun. This was only the 2nd time I've ever run with RTR and I enjoyed it. Met a lot of new people and some fast drivers

Mike in the Z06 was rippin it up. I couldn't catch him either but had a blast trying to keep him in sight. Like you, he would gap me from T1-T3 every time, so I've got to figure that section out.

FTS · #10 08-03-2011, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry Herman

It's the old autocrosser in me. It doesn't take me 2 laps to get the slicks working.

I think you are right. I really dislike when people go 50-60% of their normal speeds during the outlap waiting to warm up the tires. I think it takes longer when you do that. While I was autoxing, we had to be up to speed on first run right after the first couple of gates, and at the end of the run, we'd have to cool down the tires by spraying water on them

TRAKCAR · #11 08-03-2011, 10:27 PM

We do that so we get a couple of clear laps before we catch the slower cars; Pretending we are warming up tires ;-)

FTS · #12 08-03-2011, 10:40 PM

Oh yea, sorry for mixing it up, good strategy

landjet · #13 08-04-2011, 09:20 AM

Fatih, ask John Hill about not warming up his tires. He shook hands with Mr. Tirewall because of it.

FTS · #14 08-04-2011, 12:45 PM

Of course, I am not saying to out 100% on the out lap and don't warm up the tires, but you can warm up tires by pushing them in the corner (a little bit of overdriving them) while going 80%.

Interestingly enough on any given session, my best times are within the first 4-5 laps, generally 2nd or 3rd lap, then it starts dropping off and leveling; generally.