Fuji Speedway 07/07/29

I spent a little bit of time on Saturday playing GT4 and trying out Fuji Speedway. Considering I've got the 180 kmph limiter, I figured that I'd be happy with a 2'20 time on the real thing.

Fuji turned out to be a little more different to the game than Tsukuba had been. If nothing else, it seemed narrower in places. Braking in real life is a lot easier than in the game though as you don't have fuzzy pixels getting in the way and you can really feel what you have and how fast you are going.

I drove as I always drive now with DSC completely off. The first lap, really took me back. It was such a long course, the hills constant corners making for a really technical experience. It had just about everything and the F1 is going to be really exciting there.

On the first session I drove a couple of 2'17 laps when nobody was slowing me down. I was really happy to break under 2'20 so soon but was wondering how to go faster. In session 2, I managed a 2'15.06 as my best lap which I was pretty excited over.

The following lap with confidence running high I lost the back on the fast 3rd gear left turn and also lost it off the last uphill chicane before the end. Looking at the footage, I'm still a bit puzzled by a) how fast I lost the back and b) why I lost it in the first place. Perhaps, I was pushing my tires too hard and needed to give them a break.

I remember the long left one vividly. I had lots of time to think of what to do during the slide. As it started to go, I put on opposite lock as fast as I could, as it kept going I put on more. I then put in the clutch, hoping that taking power from the rear wheels would bring it back around. (Perhaps this was wrong though, maybe I should have dabbed the gas to give the rear a bit more grip instead as the slide was not invoked by power but rather by loss of grip). As I started to get a bit closer to the wall, I decided it was time to brake and take the rest of the speed off asap. It was funny to watch myself react to everything so quickly and yet make a very conscious decision about braking.

I had a fantastic day none the less. Main thing is to learn lots each time and this I feel I did. It was great to see Yoshida-san lose his track cherry in his Cayman S which is pictured here. He had a great time as did the rest of us. Hopefully, I'll get some footage sorted out soon!