RE: GT40 at Goodwood: Time For Tea?

[Kawasicki]

Lordbenny said:

RacingPete said:

Nope - they use specially made racing tires from the vintage era... like these

http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/700x16-r5-dun...

I've seen that company advertising in Motor Sport/Octane.

As I said, seems mighty odd that a near 200mph 60's GT40 is still made to run old compound/tread patterns when much safer modern tyres are available. I'm all for 'keeping it real' but when it comes to safety I dont think any compromises should be made.

I think safety shouldn't be the top priority...and it's wonderful that this type of Motorsport exists!

[sisu]

Zajda said:

Fonz said:

Lordbenny said:

As I said, seems mighty odd that a near 200mph 60's GT40 is still made to run old compound/tread patterns when much safer modern tyres are available. I'm all for 'keeping it real' but when it comes to safety I dont think any compromises should be made.

Modern tyres will only give them more grip and allow them to go faster, Kenney Brack will still be on the limit only you have made the limit faster. Therefor the drivers will be having bigger accidents if and when they make a mistake. More grip does not necessary make it safer.

+1 Exactly.

More grip = faster accidents, less time to correct mistakes.

And the other thing is, particulary on dry track - you have an old racer, with chassis designed for contemporary tires. If you put on modern rubber, you will cause more stress on the chassis and potentially force it to operate beyond it's intended limits, which could be dangerous - you may experience some unintended geometry changes or break something.

Getting the tyre/wheel - weight balance correct is difficult. Having modern tyres doesn't always mean it will be easier to drive. Monkey explained it well with the Lister being balanced. Others were confused by the Aston Martin winning the race when there are a bunch of Lightweight E-types with bigger tyres and less weight which in the dry might be better.

[heebeegeetee]

Lordbenny said:

RacingPete said:

Nope - they use specially made racing tires from the vintage era... like these

http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/700x16-r5-dun...

I've seen that company advertising in Motor Sport/Octane.

As I said, seems mighty odd that a near 200mph 60's GT40 is still made to run old compound/tread patterns when much safer modern tyres are available. I'm all for 'keeping it real' but when it comes to safety I dont think any compromises should be made.

Wouldn't that mean you'd ban all old cars from road and track, despite their excellent safety record?

[jl34]

vrooom said:

Proper car, none of too much grip modern car. ford GT40 has big V8 in back. 62% of weight in back, 38% in front. 427Ci (7 litre) big block V8, 485hp @ 6200, with 475lbft@4000.

I like this kind of car and handling.

Actually it doesnt , it uses a 289 CI 4.7 litre small block ford developing around 420+ bhp. The big block was only used in the Mk2 and MK4 variants.

[Paperboy]

Wow. I want balls that big!

[jeffw]

jeremyc said:

est lap by Brack in qualifying was 1:44.824.

He did a 1:22.792 in the (dry) race ...

Mind you Buncombe delivered a 1:21.755 at an average of 105.68mph

I did 1:29:64 from a standing start at a Sprint in August. Which makes you realise how quick these old cars are !

[FourWheelDrift]

Podie said:

Isn't Brack the guy who had the huge accident years ago?

Yep, highest recorded G force accident survived. Was 214G, took the record from David Purley.

[aeropilot]

toppstuff said:

When people don't think there is anything wrong with the racing in F1 at the moment, they should be made to sit down and watch the revival.

More excitement in one day than in an entire season of F1.

Absolutely.

I was there Saturday, and I agree, more exciting racing in that one day than a whole season of the so-called top flight of motorsport.

In fact there was more excitement just in the marvellous Jim Clark tribute than a typical F1 season

Oh....the sound of that glorius Lotus 38, even at parade pace

[Dirty]

WOW! Looks like someone replaced his wheels with castors and his brake pads with brushes yet he still manages to kick box the thing round at rocket speed! Most impressive!

[garypotter]

Awesome bit of driving, thank you for sharing and as previously mentioned this is why fans are turning away from F1 and the drivers from years gone by have so much respect from fans.

note to self - must get tickets for next year

[Yeloperil]

vrooom said:

Proper car, none of too much grip modern car. ford GT40 has big V8 in back. 62% of weight in back, 38% in front. 427Ci (7 litre) big block V8, 485hp @ 6200, with 475lbft@4000.

I like this kind of car and handling.

Adrian's GT40 is a Mk1 so has a 4.7 litre / 289 cu in small block V8, all the more amazing its performance for what should be a 1965 spec motor......

[Yeloperil]

The video of Kenny having fun on a patchy wet track was in fact taken during Friday practice and not as stated in the PH Header during Saturdays race. I spoke to Kenny and one of their Lanzante mechanics immediately after he returned Adrian's car back to the paddock remarkably in one piece, save for some orange paint from the chicane wall on the left side engine cover vent. I commented to him it looked a bit of a handful. Kenny replied that he and Adrian had discussed what sort of setup to go for and had mutually agreed on the one we witnessed in the video. All credit to the both of them the following day they kept the car on the black stuff and went on right down to the wire to win the Whitsun Trophy. Absolutely stunning car control of the most highly developed GT40 on the planet.

[heebeegeetee]

Yeloperil said:

The video of Kenny having fun on a patchy wet track was in fact taken during Friday practice and not as stated in the PH Header during Saturdays race. I spoke to Kenny and one of their Lanzante mechanics immediately after he returned Adrian's car back to the paddock remarkably in one piece, save for some orange paint from the chicane wall on the left side engine cover vent. I commented to him it looked a bit of a handful. Kenny replied that he and Adrian had discussed what sort of setup to go for and had mutually agreed on the one we witnessed in the video. All credit to the both of them the following day they kept the car on the black stuff and went on right down to the wire to win the Whitsun Trophy. Absolutely stunning car control of the most highly developed GT40 on the planet.

Thanks for that, we were watching the race at Madgewick, and didn't think the track was quite that wet or recall the wiper being on.

We did all think though that Brack was taking Madgewick best.

[turbobungle]

Fire99 said:

Now that's how racing should be. Sorts the men out from the boys with that kind of driver input.

Amen to that!

[FWDRacer]

Kenny Doppel Coconut Ballbag Brack. Bloody awesome.

[williredale]

That car could only be more of an animal if it had pointy teeth and a furry tail. Incredible driving to keep it on the track at that pace.

[Dan Friel]

Amazing performance by Brack. I was there and conditions were horrendous at the time. The track was very slippery at times on Friday, oil from old cars and water aren't a great mix!

nsa said:

For context, I counted a 1:48 lap by the GT40 in the video, which is about what I did in a 200bhp car in the dry - not a particularly strong performance by me.

To put that in context, Olly Gavin did a 1:47 in the wet and down to 1:33 in the dry, in a mini cooper, on period style tyres. Shows what talent can do.

[donaldwh]

I did not see Kenny take his hands off the wheel for gear changes, how come? Can a F GT40 circulate all Goodwood in 4 th gear perhaps, lots of torque I know but................?

[405dogvan]

He's not so much steering that as issuing a chain of strongly worded suggestions - which the car is mostly ignoring completely...

Epic stuff - I'd suggest that the car isn't perhaps quite "in the spirit of Goodwood" tho - I cannot have been THAT much of a handful and won Le Mans can it? I mean you cannot do that for 4-6 hours without binning it!?!?

[aeropilot]

donaldwh said:

I did not see Kenny take his hands off the wheel for gear changes, how come?

As already mentioned, GT40 has the gearshift on the right hand side in the cill of the monocoque, and that's out of view from the camera. You can see his left foot operating the clutch if you look at his feet.