I was running low 1:21's pretty consistently with a fastest lap of 1:20.3 when I pushed a bit harder. Then it all went to last night as soon as we did a race and was running 1:23's. How is the tyre life over 15 laps running at sub 1:20's? I could imagine there will be significant drop off in times as the tyres go off.
Last night in practice I watched Dan Holland run an 18.5 Picked up some good ideas and ended my session with a 19.1 A couple of tips I have found for Deep Forest in the MX5: - don't be in too low a gear around the turns, it will slow you down too much - don't oversteer the car (too much) around the long sweeping turns, it washes off too much speed - the left-handed sweeper (after the first tunnel) needs good speed through the turn to get a good exit speed for the climb up the hill (towards the 2nd tunnel). Take this turn too slow and lose valuable time. Upon exit if your not in the 150's (km/h) when you straighten up (as you pass that close rock wall to your right) you're going too slow. - the last turn is crucial for top speed down the finish straight - very high 180's (km/h) when straightening out of the turn (at the end of the ripple strips) or you're taking it too easy. Hope this helps
Don't stress too much,i've noticed that when you get into the 19's you chew your fronts,making it impossible to brake hard,& they run wide(.......Below),etc,getting penalties,so if you come up on someone that has been doing 18-19's early in their stint towards the end of their stint,you should be able pass quite easily.I really think this race is going to be about consistency,not outright pace
Once the tyres get down to 7's, those long radius turns need to be taken a lot slower, and the final turn will show who wore their tyres out too quick.
...Especially at turn 1 trying to pull up down the hill! Yep,i noticed you'll be 5-10km/h slower on exit once tyres get there,simply because you have to have the power on to not lose speed up the hill onto the straight &the rears overpower the fronts for grip
young revhead it depends i know when to use my pace and when i can just cruise so ill see when the time comes
Yep,sorry i had unexpected visitors last night,& being the in-laws i couldn't be ignorant & ignore them & jump on,especially since the FinLaw brought a bottle of bourbon with him!!!!lol I'm gonna jump on in 5 mins if you're interested
That's the way mate,try to keep tabs on where your competition is on the map,so you can pace yourself.No point gaining 10secs in 5 laps if you lose 12 in the next 5