RE: Time for Tea: Porsche 911 GT2 RS Road Atlanta lap

RE: Time for Tea: Porsche 911 GT2 RS Road Atlanta lap

Tuesday 30th April 2019

911 GT2 RS Road America lap record: Update!

First it was Road Atlanta, now it's Road America - the GT2 RS US road trip continues!



You'll remember a few weeks back Porsche claimed a production car lap record at Road America with the 911 GT2 RS, which you can view below. Now, as part of one of the more interesting US road trips that ever there's been, it's done just the same thing at Road America.

David Donohue was driving, setting a 2:15.17 around the four-mile track on the new Michelin Cup 2 R N0 tyre. And, well, that's about all you need to know. That same unimpeachable composure and searing speed is familiar from the Atlanta lap (including nearly 180mph down the main straight here), the apparent friendliness of the car as impressive as the outright performance.


This time, though, Porsche has also filmed the GT3 RS lap; as well as being just three seconds slower at 2:18.57, despite giving away 200hp and more than 200lb ft of torque, it means there's another opportunity to experience that 9,000rpm flat-six. And that's well worth doing. They're both available for you to peruse below, of course; but if we to watch just one, there'd be no contest...

 

(MB)



ORIGINAL STORY, 27/03/2019:
Road Atlanta is one of the great old school tracks, the sort that thrill and excite but also bite very hard when things go wrong. Located in the hills of Hall County, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta itself, the track has fast, flowing and undulating corners that require big commitment from a driver. Don’t attack its Esses, for example, and speed is compromised on the following straight, but go at them too hard and the concrete walls are all too close.

This outcome might have sat quite high up the risk assessment form of whoever gave the green light for Porsche to time its 911 GT2 RS at Road Atlanta. But then again, there are few better locations this side of the Nurburgring to demonstrate a supercar’s pace and poise. So it was to the American circuit that the German marque took its latest 911 flagship for another lap record feat, with esteemed racer Randy Pobst entrusted with threading it around the 2.5-mile course as quickly as possible.

This is a lap you will want to immerse yourself in; widescreen monitor and headphones should be mandatory equipment before you click the play button. Pobst, a 61-year-old former GT racing champion, knows his way around the GT2 RS and Road Atlanta very well, and the onboard shows how confidently he encourages all 700hp to help him along. We know first-hand how effective the fastest 991.2 model is at mixing tremendous speed with wonderful adjustability and predictability, but the way Pobst pushes all traits to their limits makes for brilliant viewing. And a new lap record.

So get the kettle on and watch one of the finest supercars in the world nudge past 170mph and pull 1.7G on one of the best driver's circuits out there. We look forward to the next one...

 

Author
Discussion

RacerMike

Original Poster:

4,205 posts

211 months

Wednesday 27th March 2019
quotequote all
Decent lap, but looks a lot more steady than the 'Ring laps. But then it might just be Randy's driving style! He seems to make a habit of casually resting his left arm on the door which always amuses me!

unsprung

5,467 posts

124 months

Wednesday 27th March 2019
quotequote all
PH article said:
Located in the hills of Hall Country
it's Hall County, actually

no R

the selection of the track at Road Atlanta is also convenient for Porsche, which maintains its North American headquarters -- a vast $100-million campus cum experience centre -- in Atlanta




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_County,_Georgia

https://newsroom.porsche.com/fallback/en/company/p...







Ares

11,000 posts

120 months

Wednesday 27th March 2019
quotequote all
1.7g.... Wow... Just wow.

RacerMike

Original Poster:

4,205 posts

211 months

Wednesday 27th March 2019
quotequote all
Ares said:
1.7g.... Wow... Just wow.
Absolute peak....sustained it's about 1.3-1.5 which is mega for a road tyre.

C.MW

473 posts

69 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
Decent lap, but looks a lot more steady than the 'Ring laps. But then it might just be Randy's driving style! He seems to make a habit of casually resting his left arm on the door which always amuses me!
Yes, I think Randy's driving style is to put fluidity above all. Looks more stable than the Ring lap but going by the vid it still wags its tail a bit more than it should under full braking. I only tried a gt3 and that was one of my complaints about that car along with pedal placement not ideal for heel and toe (maybe it's my foot) and the gearing that's too long to be considered a track car's.

mrclav

1,295 posts

223 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
Randy is indeed a very 'smooth' driver - he's also one of the most consistent I've ever seen when it comes to lap times in these sorts of disciplines. A supremely calm driver!

E65Ross

35,078 posts

212 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
Ares said:
1.7g.... Wow... Just wow.
Absolute peak....sustained it's about 1.3-1.5 which is mega for a road tyre.
It is amazing, but I wonder what the Senna can do....!?

moonigan

2,138 posts

241 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
Memories of too much time on Forza.

coppice

8,610 posts

144 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
If you want to see something rather more dramatic at Road Atlanta , can I recommend the outstanding Jim Pace in the McLaren M6B Can am car ? On YT of course.

soad

32,895 posts

176 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
moonigan said:
Memories of too much time on Forza.
You say like that's a bad thing. hehe

RacerMike

Original Poster:

4,205 posts

211 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
E65Ross said:
RacerMike said:
Ares said:
1.7g.... Wow... Just wow.
Absolute peak....sustained it's about 1.3-1.5 which is mega for a road tyre.
It is amazing, but I wonder what the Senna can do....!?
Probably 1.2-1.4 :P The Senna really isn't anywhere near has high downforce as McLaren would have everyone believe. It's one of my biggest complaints with McLaren's marketing strategy as they really don't need to tell so many fibs. The cars are still good to drive, whether they have tonnes of downforce or not. The fact the 720s was only 2s off the Senna around Anglesey on PZero's (vs the Senna's Trofeo R's) tells you most of what you need to know about how much downforce it actually runs.

E65Ross

35,078 posts

212 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
E65Ross said:
RacerMike said:
Ares said:
1.7g.... Wow... Just wow.
Absolute peak....sustained it's about 1.3-1.5 which is mega for a road tyre.
It is amazing, but I wonder what the Senna can do....!?
Probably 1.2-1.4 :P The Senna really isn't anywhere near has high downforce as McLaren would have everyone believe. It's one of my biggest complaints with McLaren's marketing strategy as they really don't need to tell so many fibs. The cars are still good to drive, whether they have tonnes of downforce or not. The fact the 720s was only 2s off the Senna around Anglesey on PZero's (vs the Senna's Trofeo R's) tells you most of what you need to know about how much downforce it actually runs.
But look at how much faster it was around the track on The Grand Tour....slaughtered everything! May have been poorer conditions at Anglesea?

RacerMike

Original Poster:

4,205 posts

211 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
E65Ross said:
RacerMike said:
E65Ross said:
RacerMike said:
Ares said:
1.7g.... Wow... Just wow.
Absolute peak....sustained it's about 1.3-1.5 which is mega for a road tyre.
It is amazing, but I wonder what the Senna can do....!?
Probably 1.2-1.4 :P The Senna really isn't anywhere near has high downforce as McLaren would have everyone believe. It's one of my biggest complaints with McLaren's marketing strategy as they really don't need to tell so many fibs. The cars are still good to drive, whether they have tonnes of downforce or not. The fact the 720s was only 2s off the Senna around Anglesey on PZero's (vs the Senna's Trofeo R's) tells you most of what you need to know about how much downforce it actually runs.
But look at how much faster it was around the track on The Grand Tour....slaughtered everything! May have been poorer conditions at Anglesea?
The Grand Tour track favors cars with high power as it's got lots of areas of low speed acceleration. Either way, if you watch any onboard Senna laps, it's nowhere near race car levels of downforce. They claim 600kg plus of downforce, which would match a GT3 car, but even with Bruno Senna driving, it's slower than a GT3 car in the damp in the middle of a race:

https://viewsync.net/watch?v=SLF7llq3ty8&t=343...

As I said. I'm not really trying to knock the Senna. There's no doubt it's a phenomenal car to drive, but it doesn't need the hubris claiming it's a 'no compromise' track car. Is no more of a track car is than a GT2 RS, but that's nothing to be ashamed of.

I suspect peoples ideas of a road legal track car will be somewhat re-calibrated by the Valkyrie. In the videos posted by Carfection last week of the Valkyrie sim, I think it's probably pretty obvious that the other car they compare it to in the Sim (which is described as the current pinnacle of hypercars) is probably a Senna. On Catchpoles first lap in the Valkyrie he was over 20s faster over one lap...

E65Ross

35,078 posts

212 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
RacerMike said:
The Grand Tour track favors cars with high power as it's got lots of areas of low speed acceleration. Either way, if you watch any onboard Senna laps, it's nowhere near race car levels of downforce.
Bare in mind it's on road legal tyres....but surely the above would help 4WD reasonably highly powered cars (eg Huracan Performante), the difference between 650bhp and 800bhp or so from low speeds isn't a huge amount to be honest....

RacerMike

Original Poster:

4,205 posts

211 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
E65Ross said:
RacerMike said:
The Grand Tour track favors cars with high power as it's got lots of areas of low speed acceleration. Either way, if you watch any onboard Senna laps, it's nowhere near race car levels of downforce.
Bare in mind it's on road legal tyres....but surely the above would help 4WD reasonably highly powered cars (eg Huracan Performante), the difference between 650bhp and 800bhp or so from low speeds isn't a huge amount to be honest....
A Pirelli Trofeo R isn’t really far off a slick. Maybe over sustained laps, but for one lap pace the Trofeo is very close to their slick.

Anyway, the Senna is a mega quick car. Whether it would beat the GT2 RS on a hot lap is currently anyone’s guess, but I don’t think there’d be much in it!

Onehp

1,617 posts

283 months

Thursday 28th March 2019
quotequote all
Not much in it probably, as a 720s on the same tyres already makes a very tough competitor for the GT2RS.

Anglessey is not a track where a Senna can generate a lot of downforce, which is of course very much dependent on high speeds (square of speed).

All silly cars really, I prefer the 720s as the least silly and most usuable for a very soft price, all relatively speaking of course.
Even the Germans let it win... https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/test/mclaren-7...

998Dude

1 posts

64 months

Friday 29th March 2019
quotequote all
Whelp there goes my night trying to beating this time on Forza 7