Michael Fassbender: Road to Le Mans
Discussion
Anyone else watching this? First episode was 11th October on Porsche's YouTube channel. The films track the progress of Michael Fassbender, as he learns to race the 991 RSR in a bid to race in the 2020 Le Mans 24 hour.
Interesting to watch. I remember him being pretty handy in the Top Gear Kia C'eed (third overall behind Rowan Atkinson and Matt LeBlanc).
It seems a pretty honest account of how a (reasonably good) rookie might try to find their feet in racing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBbAfDyC8f8
Interesting to watch. I remember him being pretty handy in the Top Gear Kia C'eed (third overall behind Rowan Atkinson and Matt LeBlanc).
It seems a pretty honest account of how a (reasonably good) rookie might try to find their feet in racing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBbAfDyC8f8
bunchofkeys said:
very watchable.
It's interesting; you see the difference between being someon who can drive pretty well on a track and being a racer - the difficulty of learning racecraft.There's quite a refreshing degree of humility and honesty, on behalf of both the driver and also the team. (and, I guess, Porsche too).
Steve Rance said:
The Elephant in the room is that not everyone has several million pounds in their back pocket or means to raise it as a complete novice to get there. It’s an interesting watch but bear in mind it’s the easiest possible golden ticket route. Guys with far more talent never get there.
That’s motor racing I suppose.
Yes, this is true. There is no doubt he's starting from the ground up, but just to get there requires a degree of luck and privilege.That’s motor racing I suppose.
But then access to money and knowing the right people has always been part of motorsport.
It still makes for an interesting watch.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
But the question PaulM3 raises is kind of the crux of why it's so watchable - this could be many of us on here taking this journey. it's very interesting to see it pan out.Sometimes, age is an advantage. I've always been good at taking advice and coaching, but somehow, the older I get, the faster and better it 'clicks'. In a way, I've also got more fearless, because I've simply done more (daft & dangerous) stuff. It's probably also because I've been through that mid-life consciousness (no, not crisis!) of realising you are closer to death than birth, that life is not a rehearsal, and you'd best JFDI.
There's also the complex issue of how other skills compliment driving. I mountain bike, a lot, so fitness, stamina and also seat-of-the-pants handling have some beneficial cross-over. I can see how an actor might be able to key into an innate and highly developed ability to memorise scripts, in order to learn circuits and strategies that a good team and coach provide.
Robbo66 said:
‘Seat time’. If you have enough of it, then you will be better.
Rowing, cycling, running and swimming for example require a small amount of skill and a huge amount of ‘seat time’, dedication and application.
And it is even more complex than that (s per commercial pilot's regulations) in terms of how much seat time, time since last seat time, variety and quality of seat time.Rowing, cycling, running and swimming for example require a small amount of skill and a huge amount of ‘seat time’, dedication and application.
A very brief and easy to explain example; all the dry track time in the world is not necessarily going to give you the edge in a wet race, over a (perhaps not as proficient, on paper) driver who'd had the luck to run there the week before in the wet.
SRT Hellcat said:
He looks physically very fit. But in a Cup car with aero and huge mechanical grip.
Yes, up close, the thing that always strikes you most is quite how strong [o]and[/i] lean most of these young guys and girls are who drive professionally.SRT Hellcat said:
To ultimately be very fast you have to have the gift of being able to race in slow motion. This is the pure natural ability part that no one can teach you. Mr Rance will know exactly what I mean. To carry more speed into a corner than you should be carrying and to be able to sort it all out in the corner. You can only do this if your brain has the ability process this in slow motion and not real time.
This was something Schumacher used to talk about. Easy when your resting heart rate is 30 something beats per minute, which comes back to your point above.It also dials into the experience thing too. I'm not much cop on track, but I've had the privilege of being driven by some very handy drivers and sometimes you get a glimpse of that sixth sense at work. Racing just ups the number of parameters though.
I keep plugging away with the MTB, because I think it keeps my reactions sharp and my head cool. I figure if can sort out the bike getting sideways in mud on the take-off ramp of a 10 foot gap jump, at night (don't ask), without crashing then it might just translate in some way.
browngt3 said:
Just watched the first 3 episodes. Compulsive viewing actually. Are they really intending to give him a full works drive alongside the likes of Kevin Estre?
Probably not in the same car, I guess.Talking of privilege, Estre, born in 1988 (that fact alone makes me feel very old!) began karting in 2001. I've seen him driving a 991 GT3 RS around Nurburgring on the Manthey track day and his pace and style are stunning., but even being that good, you need a bit of help and a bit of luck I guess.
browngt3 said:
Digga said:
Probably not in the same car, I guess.
I've seen him driving a 991 GT3 RS around Nurburgring on the Manthey track day and his pace and style are stunning.
Guess there was quite a queue for passenger rides! I've seen him driving a 991 GT3 RS around Nurburgring on the Manthey track day and his pace and style are stunning.
Last week's episode was at Spa, always worth a watch anyway, but it was an interesting one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7gMRbNOP7c
prand said:
Digga said:
O/T he's a big Porsche fan too.
I was driving my GT3 through Cheshire earlier this year and a grey 991.2 GT3 coming in the other direction flashed his lights and waved "Hi" as he passed:
I was driving my GT3 through Cheshire earlier this year and a grey 991.2 GT3 coming in the other direction flashed his lights and waved "Hi" as he passed:
Nice one. he was driving around in a GT-R in this show, big connection to Nissan and their driver programme.
I was on the way into Sports & Classic for service and I asked them if they knew the car. They'd done some work (not sure on this or previous GT3) fitting a sports exhaust IIRC and they confirmed who it was. (And of course there's photos and videos of the car which, retrospectively, are easy enough to find.)
I think he may have chopped this car in for a new RS now though. Anyway, seems a decent bloke.
TDT said:
Digga said:
prand said:
Digga said:
O/T he's a big Porsche fan too.
I was driving my GT3 through Cheshire earlier this year and a grey 991.2 GT3 coming in the other direction flashed his lights and waved "Hi" as he passed:
I was driving my GT3 through Cheshire earlier this year and a grey 991.2 GT3 coming in the other direction flashed his lights and waved "Hi" as he passed:
Nice one. he was driving around in a GT-R in this show, big connection to Nissan and their driver programme.
I was on the way into Sports & Classic for service and I asked them if they knew the car. They'd done some work (not sure on this or previous GT3) fitting a sports exhaust IIRC and they confirmed who it was. (And of course there's photos and videos of the car which, retrospectively, are easy enough to find.)
I think he may have chopped this car in for a new RS now though. Anyway, seems a decent bloke.
https://youtu.be/wFPsH-W7S5Q
Were you, er, okay with that pass? I take it there was consent?
TDT said:
Digga said:
TDT said:
Digga said:
prand said:
Digga said:
O/T he's a big Porsche fan too.
I was driving my GT3 through Cheshire earlier this year and a grey 991.2 GT3 coming in the other direction flashed his lights and waved "Hi" as he passed:
I was driving my GT3 through Cheshire earlier this year and a grey 991.2 GT3 coming in the other direction flashed his lights and waved "Hi" as he passed:
Nice one. he was driving around in a GT-R in this show, big connection to Nissan and their driver programme.
I was on the way into Sports & Classic for service and I asked them if they knew the car. They'd done some work (not sure on this or previous GT3) fitting a sports exhaust IIRC and they confirmed who it was. (And of course there's photos and videos of the car which, retrospectively, are easy enough to find.)
I think he may have chopped this car in for a new RS now though. Anyway, seems a decent bloke.
https://youtu.be/wFPsH-W7S5Q
Were you, er, okay with that pass? I take it there was consent?
Yes, that's the true track day spirit then. Like it. I never want to hold people up, or bully others out of the way.
I thought Fassbender did a good job at Portimao. I love their high risk, but logical strategy of making him, the slowest of the three drivers, do the first stint. He handled the mayhem of the opening laps incredibly well IMHO.
Unless you are very lucky and have a huge budget, you are always going to get a mismatched trio of drivers in an endurance team. It is an interesting mentality of how you share the work/risk and also how the drivers support and communicate with one another. I thought this came across well. f
k me though, Richard Lietz can really peddle a car!
Unless you are very lucky and have a huge budget, you are always going to get a mismatched trio of drivers in an endurance team. It is an interesting mentality of how you share the work/risk and also how the drivers support and communicate with one another. I thought this came across well. f
k me though, Richard Lietz can really peddle a car!
Felt conflicted for Felipe Laser; must be a real feather in a driver’s cap to graduate from silver to gold classification, but gutted that it’s broken up the team. Him and Leitz (stunningly talented driver) we’re a great support for Fassbender.
It looked like Felipe is racing a prototype class car in the colours of the late Sabine Schmit’s husband, Claus Abelene’s team.
It looked like Felipe is racing a prototype class car in the colours of the late Sabine Schmit’s husband, Claus Abelene’s team.
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff