Kuragon Room - Day 2 - Link Circuit

Before arriving at Link circuit I'd heard that it was pretty safe. I hadn't really looked at the layout so when I arrived I was quite surprised to find it was based on the side of a hill with several tight looking hairpins and narrow straights. Yikes. I was in B group again so by the time it came my turn to go out and explore on the free run, I was unusually nervous. That pretty much disappeared though the minute I was out on the course. There is something relaxing about driving on a track with other cars. Relaxing and yet stimulating at the same time.

First couple of runs I stuck to 3rd gear as directed by Kuragon-sensei. This is quite tough in the 8 because there is no torque at low revs so coming out of the hairpins was murder. I decided to play with 2nd a little to explore and pulled a 1'06.358. With that time in mind, I thought that a 1'03 would be a good first mark to aim for.

For the remainder of the morning we used the main straight in 2 groups, 1 car at a time to practice full braking. This was pretty interesting. We started off by braking hard from a cone marker to stop. Once that was mastered we practiced full braking to stop inside a box marked by 4 cones. I found that I don't usually pick a braking point but rather go by the feel of the speed, so I was a little inconsistent with where I stopped. Also my brakes are stronger than I thought so I tended to come up short rather than over shoot. Got great feedback from Kuragon-sensei again over the radio each time.

The afternoon started with another free run. I scored mostly 1'03s and 1'04s with a best of 1'03.456. I was pretty happy with this as I was driving consistently and practicing the full on braking that we'd been thought earlier. It was hard to imagine going quicker, although I knew the time was there on every corner waiting for me.

Next up was more braking practice this time with a heel'n'toe downshift thrown into the mix during the stop into the box. This was not too hard as I'd been doing heel'n'toe since I first started on the track.

Finally after waiting in line during the last free session, Kuragon-sensei drove my car. I couldn't really see the peddles but I decided to concentrate again on the feeling and sounds of the car as well as his steering and shifting rather than on his lines. He stuck up a 1'02.876 which was 1/2 a second quicker that my fast lap with 2 up in the car...

With that in mind I took to the track again (forgetting to put down my passanger seat for the video). I tried really hard to get the braking just right and to accelerate quicker and smoother. There it was my first 1'02.941 lap! The car felt so good sliding around beneath me. I was getting braver and faster still. I managed to finish off the day getting faster each lap!

The video shows laps: 1'03.241, 1'02.941, 1'02.840, 1'03.321, 1'02.734, 1'18.411 (tire break) followed by my best lap: 1'02.684. I was so happy I ran over and shook Kuragon-sensei's hand. The feedback over the radio and the repeated exercises throughout the day had really helped me. I jumped up a level to get those times towards the end. I was really happy. I hope I can get back on a circuit soon to repeat that same feeling. Hmmm... no so long to wait me thinks. TC2000 awaits!


PS. Sorry about the quality! I guess leaving the seat up changed the lighting also.

Some people remarked that they couldn't see the circuit in the above video, so I decided to upload 2 laps from my previous session where I had the seat down. The lighting is very different so the circuit is clearly visible. Main differences between the videos I think are: Droping to 2nd on the final corner, grabbing 3rd on the uphill instead of holding 2nd. Braking into the middle hairpins etc more aggressively and improved shift timing as well as a more stable car. Quite different I think. Below is my previous best 1'03.456 and a 1'03.701.