Harry's Garage - YouTube
Discussion
A Michelin paper map of Europe with all his road trip routes and hotel stops marked onEVOTECH3BELL said:
I've never fancied a track day, never fancied hillclimbs.
Me neither, and I have no interest either in those driving days you can buy where you choose a car such as a Ferrari and take for a few observed and slow laps. But I would happily pay to take that same car and drive it sensibly on public roads to get a realistic every day driving experience. EVOTECH3BELL said:
I've never fancied a track day, never fancied hillclimbs.
Sprints though seem like a good format
It's a very accessible form of motorsport, especially on some of the sprint events where you get 6 or more timed runs rather than an untimed practice and two or three timed runs.Sprints though seem like a good format
Big Stevie said:
EVOTECH3BELL said:
I've never fancied a track day, never fancied hillclimbs.
Me neither, and I have no interest either in those driving days you can buy where you choose a car such as a Ferrari and take for a few observed and slow laps. But I would happily pay to take that same car and drive it sensibly on public roads to get a realistic every day driving experience. Great to see Goodwood Sprint video has generated lots of positive comments, I thought it came out really well and I have to thank my son Charlie for dashing around getting all the trackside clips from various points on the circuit when I was out on track. I'll try and answer a few of the questions raised in the last few posts..
I think a lap of Goodwood was faster in the 80s/90s despite the surface being better now than it was previously. The big reason for saying this is the chicane is much slower today than it was back then. I remember it being a quick dab and into 3rd in the Elan, rather than a biggish stop and grab 2nd today.
The Project 8 is a near perfect weapon for Sprinting in my view, as is the GTR. You want a trustworthy chassis than you can nibble away at the outer limits without fear of a sudden loss of control, which is why 4WD is a big advantage, especially in the wet.
As for my performance on the day, I was disappointed with my final run as I didn't attack the first corner hard enough. I should have pushed harder and slid around more than I did, as that would have generated more heat in the tyres for Fordwater, which is why I really wanted another run. Had it have been dry from the very start, I think a run in the high eighties was on in the Project 8 but I wouldn't have got close to the winning 85 time without a whole lot more practice.
I have zero interest in tweaking the P8, I like it exactly how it is. I prefer to become a better driver than rely on adding more bhp in the chase for quicker lap times.
Garry Metcalfe's times were the most impressive to me in my class as his GTR was showroom standard (it was one of the latest Nissan GTR with CCM brakes), plus he's older than me! The other GTRs there were 800bhp machines, with plenty of tweaks and two sets of tyres/wheels to use, depending on track conditions. The 820bhp RS6 was impressive too, it was entered by a German father and son team, who regularly come over to as many Goodwood events as they can. We went out for beers with them afterwards..
I've looked at doing mechanise but have been put off by the difficulties in fulfilling orders from outside the UK, which I would get as 60% of my audience is outside the UK. One day..
I think a lap of Goodwood was faster in the 80s/90s despite the surface being better now than it was previously. The big reason for saying this is the chicane is much slower today than it was back then. I remember it being a quick dab and into 3rd in the Elan, rather than a biggish stop and grab 2nd today.
The Project 8 is a near perfect weapon for Sprinting in my view, as is the GTR. You want a trustworthy chassis than you can nibble away at the outer limits without fear of a sudden loss of control, which is why 4WD is a big advantage, especially in the wet.
As for my performance on the day, I was disappointed with my final run as I didn't attack the first corner hard enough. I should have pushed harder and slid around more than I did, as that would have generated more heat in the tyres for Fordwater, which is why I really wanted another run. Had it have been dry from the very start, I think a run in the high eighties was on in the Project 8 but I wouldn't have got close to the winning 85 time without a whole lot more practice.
I have zero interest in tweaking the P8, I like it exactly how it is. I prefer to become a better driver than rely on adding more bhp in the chase for quicker lap times.
Garry Metcalfe's times were the most impressive to me in my class as his GTR was showroom standard (it was one of the latest Nissan GTR with CCM brakes), plus he's older than me! The other GTRs there were 800bhp machines, with plenty of tweaks and two sets of tyres/wheels to use, depending on track conditions. The 820bhp RS6 was impressive too, it was entered by a German father and son team, who regularly come over to as many Goodwood events as they can. We went out for beers with them afterwards..
I've looked at doing mechanise but have been put off by the difficulties in fulfilling orders from outside the UK, which I would get as 60% of my audience is outside the UK. One day..
M4SER said:
Great to see Goodwood Sprint video has generated lots of positive comments, I thought it came out really well and I have to thank my son Charlie for dashing around getting all the trackside clips from various points on the circuit when I was out on track. I'll try and answer a few of the questions raised in the last few posts..
I think a lap of Goodwood was faster in the 80s/90s despite the surface being better now than it was previously. The big reason for saying this is the chicane is much slower today than it was back then. I remember it being a quick dab and into 3rd in the Elan, rather than a biggish stop and grab 2nd today.
The Project 8 is a near perfect weapon for Sprinting in my view, as is the GTR. You want a trustworthy chassis than you can nibble away at the outer limits without fear of a sudden loss of control, which is why 4WD is a big advantage, especially in the wet.
As for my performance on the day, I was disappointed with my final run as I didn't attack the first corner hard enough. I should have pushed harder and slid around more than I did, as that would have generated more heat in the tyres for Fordwater, which is why I really wanted another run. Had it have been dry from the very start, I think a run in the high eighties was on in the Project 8 but I wouldn't have got close to the winning 85 time without a whole lot more practice.
I have zero interest in tweaking the P8, I like it exactly how it is. I prefer to become a better driver than rely on adding more bhp in the chase for quicker lap times.
Garry Metcalfe's times were the most impressive to me in my class as his GTR was showroom standard (it was one of the latest Nissan GTR with CCM brakes), plus he's older than me! The other GTRs there were 800bhp machines, with plenty of tweaks and two sets of tyres/wheels to use, depending on track conditions. The 820bhp RS6 was impressive too, it was entered by a German father and son team, who regularly come over to as many Goodwood events as they can. We went out for beers with them afterwards..
I've looked at doing mechanise but have been put off by the difficulties in fulfilling orders from outside the UK, which I would get as 60% of my audience is outside the UK. One day..
The first corner used to be a mental block with me, it felt as though you had to brake for it after a lap that included the straight but you can actually just scrub off speed as you turn in off the power. The lap becomes a lot faster when you can get your head to commit. Goodwood is also not very forgiving if you do go off.I think a lap of Goodwood was faster in the 80s/90s despite the surface being better now than it was previously. The big reason for saying this is the chicane is much slower today than it was back then. I remember it being a quick dab and into 3rd in the Elan, rather than a biggish stop and grab 2nd today.
The Project 8 is a near perfect weapon for Sprinting in my view, as is the GTR. You want a trustworthy chassis than you can nibble away at the outer limits without fear of a sudden loss of control, which is why 4WD is a big advantage, especially in the wet.
As for my performance on the day, I was disappointed with my final run as I didn't attack the first corner hard enough. I should have pushed harder and slid around more than I did, as that would have generated more heat in the tyres for Fordwater, which is why I really wanted another run. Had it have been dry from the very start, I think a run in the high eighties was on in the Project 8 but I wouldn't have got close to the winning 85 time without a whole lot more practice.
I have zero interest in tweaking the P8, I like it exactly how it is. I prefer to become a better driver than rely on adding more bhp in the chase for quicker lap times.
Garry Metcalfe's times were the most impressive to me in my class as his GTR was showroom standard (it was one of the latest Nissan GTR with CCM brakes), plus he's older than me! The other GTRs there were 800bhp machines, with plenty of tweaks and two sets of tyres/wheels to use, depending on track conditions. The 820bhp RS6 was impressive too, it was entered by a German father and son team, who regularly come over to as many Goodwood events as they can. We went out for beers with them afterwards..
I've looked at doing mechanise but have been put off by the difficulties in fulfilling orders from outside the UK, which I would get as 60% of my audience is outside the UK. One day..
Bravo Harry, superb video. The "taken a long for the day" feel with the way it started off early morning, to the first forays and developing on to the final chase for the perfect lap. I think I enjoyed this as much as your frankly wonderful European road trips. That P8 really is a marvel of engineering, that it can be so competent out of the box with just some good tyres. It's heartbreaking that Jaguar won't likely make anything as committed again. If there ever is to be a P9, it'll almost certainly be electric, and that's just not cricket.
A sprint day like that is pretty much the only viable form of track motorsport for EVs though. Just a few laps spread over a day and lots of downtime for recharging if necessary.
The main issue would be all the downtime from having to repeatedly clear all the Tesla's from the gravel and barriers after they've understeered like your mother's Audi in the 80s at the meerest whiff of a corner.
There's a chap who keeps trying to get his S up Prescott and it's remarkable how it doesn't want to do it and the chap is a more than competent driver also.
But sprints and hill climbs could work well for EVs and also maybe allow for extra days if the noise is less distressing to Leslie and Clive who recently retired and bought a shoebox nearby and are spending their time now trying to close the circuit, the local schools and getting the overly flash, swarthy looking neighbour sent to Ruanda.
The main issue would be all the downtime from having to repeatedly clear all the Tesla's from the gravel and barriers after they've understeered like your mother's Audi in the 80s at the meerest whiff of a corner.
There's a chap who keeps trying to get his S up Prescott and it's remarkable how it doesn't want to do it and the chap is a more than competent driver also.
But sprints and hill climbs could work well for EVs and also maybe allow for extra days if the noise is less distressing to Leslie and Clive who recently retired and bought a shoebox nearby and are spending their time now trying to close the circuit, the local schools and getting the overly flash, swarthy looking neighbour sent to Ruanda.
DonkeyApple said:
A sprint day like that is pretty much the only viable form of track motorsport for EVs though. Just a few laps spread over a day and lots of downtime for recharging if necessary.
At last year's Abingdon CARnival sprint Tesla Model 3s came 3rd, 6th, 7th and 13th overall. Gassing Station | TV, Film, Video Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff