How much will 10-15kg cost in a G40?
Discussion
I've been racing MX5s in the Ma5da series this year and had a blast. One of the things that killed me though at the start of the season was my weight in a low powered car.
However the Ma5da series has a fairly generous minimum weight of car & driver of 960kg and after losing 50lbs the car was much quicker and able to keep up with the whippets when we exited corners at the same speed. (trying to take driver skill out of the equation)
I'm looking at G40s next year as the logical progression, but the weight is more tightly controlled in this series as there is a minimum vehicle (without driver) weight - min vehicle 790kg, min all up 880kg. The minimum vehicle weight then inhibits drivers >90kg and even with the best will in the world at 6'4" and a large frame, I am still likely to be about 10kg overweight compared to the field.
I appreciate that talent may overcome this, but not mine, at least not yet; I'm trying to judge the impact of being 10kg overweight in a G40. Ideally it would be in lap times for benchmark tracks such as Brands Indy, Donington Park, Oulton Park or even Silverstone GP.
Anyone have any ideas or can point me to how I may calculate it - or even tell me that 90% of the field are 10kg over anyway so don't worry
Thanks
Mark
However the Ma5da series has a fairly generous minimum weight of car & driver of 960kg and after losing 50lbs the car was much quicker and able to keep up with the whippets when we exited corners at the same speed. (trying to take driver skill out of the equation)
I'm looking at G40s next year as the logical progression, but the weight is more tightly controlled in this series as there is a minimum vehicle (without driver) weight - min vehicle 790kg, min all up 880kg. The minimum vehicle weight then inhibits drivers >90kg and even with the best will in the world at 6'4" and a large frame, I am still likely to be about 10kg overweight compared to the field.
I appreciate that talent may overcome this, but not mine, at least not yet; I'm trying to judge the impact of being 10kg overweight in a G40. Ideally it would be in lap times for benchmark tracks such as Brands Indy, Donington Park, Oulton Park or even Silverstone GP.
Anyone have any ideas or can point me to how I may calculate it - or even tell me that 90% of the field are 10kg over anyway so don't worry
Thanks
Mark
Mark,
I have just had a driver join us from a karting background who is around the 90 kg mark. He has aquitted himself well in qualifying in his two events so far. Pace wise I would say that it may not be as bad as you are thinking (Max of 0.5per lap). For me potentially the biggest area will be cockpit size?.
Have you had a test in a car ?. I may have an opportunity for you test a car in the near future. Great car to drive but challenging !!.
Any advice etc hapy to help .
Best wishes.
Nick. www.in2racing.co.uk
I have just had a driver join us from a karting background who is around the 90 kg mark. He has aquitted himself well in qualifying in his two events so far. Pace wise I would say that it may not be as bad as you are thinking (Max of 0.5per lap). For me potentially the biggest area will be cockpit size?.
Have you had a test in a car ?. I may have an opportunity for you test a car in the near future. Great car to drive but challenging !!.
Any advice etc hapy to help .
Best wishes.
Nick. www.in2racing.co.uk
Hi Mark,
You may be pleased to know that the minimum weight for G40's in Challenge is actually 890kgs with driver. It was changed in Bulletin 12 dated the 20th June 2011. Interestingly, nothing changed in the order of driver pace, the gaps remained more or less the same after the increase, proving the bulk of lap time is in mastering the art of driving them.
Regarding your height be aware that a Junior 2010 chassis has a much shorter cockpit than any 2011 chassis (also known as an EPB chassis, Extended Pedal Box). You can tell the difference dead easy from a simple question..... Short chassis have a cable clutch, EPB's have an Hydraulic one.
Like Nick says they are brilliant cars to drive with the sequential gearbox and not complicated to run either. Ginetta are very helpfull and carry a good spares stock to each race which makes running privately quite straight forward. I raced in MX5's a few times in its formative seasons and the G40 is actually quite similar on many levels.
If I can help further please give me a shout.
www.piranhamotorsport.com
You may be pleased to know that the minimum weight for G40's in Challenge is actually 890kgs with driver. It was changed in Bulletin 12 dated the 20th June 2011. Interestingly, nothing changed in the order of driver pace, the gaps remained more or less the same after the increase, proving the bulk of lap time is in mastering the art of driving them.
Regarding your height be aware that a Junior 2010 chassis has a much shorter cockpit than any 2011 chassis (also known as an EPB chassis, Extended Pedal Box). You can tell the difference dead easy from a simple question..... Short chassis have a cable clutch, EPB's have an Hydraulic one.
Like Nick says they are brilliant cars to drive with the sequential gearbox and not complicated to run either. Ginetta are very helpfull and carry a good spares stock to each race which makes running privately quite straight forward. I raced in MX5's a few times in its formative seasons and the G40 is actually quite similar on many levels.
If I can help further please give me a shout.
www.piranhamotorsport.com
Thanks guys really good input and very much appreciated.
890kg is a much more achievable weight with a 790kg car. I'm guessing that will include about 2kg of fuel and clothing/helmet, but even so it's a good help.
I've been in touch with Ginetta and going to test a G40 on 1 Dec at Donington. I'll see how it is then. At 47 I'm a bit old for a G40J
I spoke to the team that look after my MX5 this week about running a G40 next year for me and it seems that I was the second one in a month to ask them the same question and they had already done a lot of research into it.
So IF I fit, IF the budget is there or thereabouts and IF the 2012 dates don't clash with the Ma5da series then it could be time to go shopping
Thanks again
Mark
890kg is a much more achievable weight with a 790kg car. I'm guessing that will include about 2kg of fuel and clothing/helmet, but even so it's a good help.
I've been in touch with Ginetta and going to test a G40 on 1 Dec at Donington. I'll see how it is then. At 47 I'm a bit old for a G40J
I spoke to the team that look after my MX5 this week about running a G40 next year for me and it seems that I was the second one in a month to ask them the same question and they had already done a lot of research into it.
So IF I fit, IF the budget is there or thereabouts and IF the 2012 dates don't clash with the Ma5da series then it could be time to go shopping
Thanks again
Mark
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