GPL hay Eldred (or, The Masta Mystery solved?)

Comparing a 3:22+ run with Eldred's 3:24+ run, he is losing a full second at Masta, another .5second at the two righthanders after Stavelot (especially the first one), with an interesting spike *after* LaSource. So. Masta. People on VROC talk about maintaining 180mph thru here, wishful thinking for me, but staying above 170mph is doable. The main problem I had in the past with this turn is that unless I slowed down quite a bit beforehand, as I made the left-hand turn the nose of the car would tend to stay pointed at the armco on the right, and I'd always be afraid of hitting it. So what you want is to point the nose further into the left-hander which also brings out the tail slightly. Try this on the Burnenville turn where you have plenty of time to watch whats happening: Keep it floored all thru the turn and you will start to lose it near the end of the turn as the nose drifts out. Now pump the brakes. On my car this has the effect of rotating the car, bringing the tail out slightly and tucking the nose back into the turn, exactly what you want. So just do this at Masta. As you approach Masta lift very slightly (but keep your foot heavy into the throttle all thru the turn), turn gently and push on the brakes. The car should rotate nicely to the left away from the armco, then lift off the brakes mash the throttle and complete the turn. Do this well and you'll be running 3:23 instead of 3:24. For the 1st LaCarriere turn after Stavelot, you are downshifting. Do not downshift. Keep tight to the left of the road around the preceding left-hander, look immediately far ahead to the right-hander, visualize the line, lift slightly, turn gently into it and get back on the throttle. You are doing all this immediately after the left-hander, do not wait til the turn is close. You should be at 170+ all thru the turn, just as at Masta. No downshifting! Similarly the 2nd right-hander, but come down one gear and brake plenty beforehand. If you find yourself lifting off the throttle at the end of the turn to avoid the berm, then you aren't braking enough before the turn. You want a high exit speed here for the following straight. Finally, Eldred is being overly careful rounding the final LaSource turn and losing several miles an hour. The tendency is to relax here (yay I completed the lap!) and you need to focus, be aggresive and mash the throttle at the beginning of that short straight. rms [email hidden] (PS: now someone tell me how to get to 3:18)

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Andre Warringa) writes:

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>On Sun, 27 Aug 2000 21:06:14 GMT, "Roger Squires" <[email hidden]> >wrote: > ><snip> >>As you approach Masta lift very slightly (but keep your foot heavy into the >>throttle all thru the turn), turn gently and push on the brakes. The car >>should rotate nicely to the left away from the armco, then lift off the >>brakes mash the throttle and complete the turn. Do this well and you'll be >>running 3:23 instead of 3:24. > ><snip> > >>(PS: now someone tell me how to get to 3:18) > >By not braking before Masta :) >Seriously, braking before Masta is not necessary and shouldn't be >done. A slight lift off the throttle is more than enough. >Drive on the right side of the road, lift a little bit when you're on >the dark groove and turn in. >The key for me was that I turned left and right to wildly. Smoothness >is the keypoint here, especially when you turn to the right. If you >turn too wildly the car starts to glide, costing much precious time. > >Andre >

Problem it, when you screw the pooch at Masta, you have to wait another 3 1/2 minutes to try it again. I wish there was a 'Spa-trainer'... Joachim? :) I ran 5-6 laps at Spa yesterday. On the 2 laps that I got through Masta successfully(170+mph), I screwed up somewhere else... All the rest of the laps, I couldn't hit Masta. :( Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPL hcp. +50.77 Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

In article <apfq5.2957$[email hidden]>, "Roger Squires" <[email hidden]> writes:

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>Comparing a 3:22+ run with Eldred's 3:24+ run, he is losing a full second at >Masta, another .5second at the two righthanders after Stavelot (especially >the first one), with an interesting spike *after* LaSource. > >Try this on the Burnenville turn where you have plenty of time to watch >whats happening: Keep it floored all thru the turn and you will start to >lose it near the end of the turn as the nose drifts out. Now pump the >brakes. On my car this has the effect of rotating the car, bringing the >tail out slightly and tucking the nose back into the turn, exactly what you >want. So just do this at Masta. > >As you approach Masta lift very slightly (but keep your foot heavy into the >throttle all thru the turn), turn gently and push on the brakes. The car >should rotate nicely to the left away from the armco, then lift off the >brakes mash the throttle and complete the turn. Do this well and you'll be >running 3:23 instead of 3:24.

That would take more confidence in the car(or ME) than I have at the moment...<g> I've torn up MANY cars trying to get through there quickly. At the moment, I'm conceeding Masta, and just trying to get through it SAFELY... For me, that's at about 160mph.

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> >For the 1st LaCarriere turn after Stavelot, you are downshifting. Do not >downshift. Keep tight to the left of the road around the preceding >left-hander, look immediately far ahead to the right-hander, visualize the >line, lift slightly, turn gently into it and get back on the throttle. You >are doing all this immediately after the left-hander, do not wait til the >turn is close. You should be at 170+ all thru the turn, just as at Masta. >No downshifting!

You can't turn to the right immediately after leaving the left-hander, though... Where's the turn-in point?

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> >Similarly the 2nd right-hander, but come down one gear and brake plenty >beforehand. If you find yourself lifting off the throttle at the end of the > turn to avoid the berm, then you aren't braking enough before the turn. >You want a high exit speed here for the following straight. > >Finally, Eldred is being overly careful rounding the final LaSource turn and >losing several miles an hour. The tendency is to relax here (yay I >completed the lap!) and you need to focus, be aggresive and mash the >throttle at the beginning of that short straight. >

You mean the straight between La Source and the previous turn? I think that lap was an anomaly. I normally get back on the gas until the brake markers. I think I screwed up the line on that particular lap, and had to get out of the throttle to keep from crunching the car... But, even though I have more speed there NOW, my laptimes are still lower than that 3:24. I'm just losing it somewhere else, I guess... :( Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPL hcp. +51.31 Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

On Sun, 27 Aug 2000 21:06:14 GMT, "Roger Squires" <[email hidden]> wrote: <snip> >As you approach Masta lift very slightly (but keep your foot heavy into the >throttle all thru the turn), turn gently and push on the brakes. The car >should rotate nicely to the left away from the armco, then lift off the >brakes mash the throttle and complete the turn. Do this well and you'll be >running 3:23 instead of 3:24. <snip> >(PS: now someone tell me how to get to 3:18) By not braking before Masta :) Seriously, braking before Masta is not necessary and shouldn't be done. A slight lift off the throttle is more than enough. Drive on the right side of the road, lift a little bit when you're on the dark groove and turn in. The key for me was that I turned left and right to wildly. Smoothness is the keypoint here, especially when you turn to the right. If you turn too wildly the car starts to glide, costing much precious time. Andre

On 28 Aug 2000 14:04:58 GMT, [email hidden] (EldredP) wrote: >Problem it, when you screw the pooch at Masta, you have to wait another 3 1/2 >minutes to try it again. I wish there was a 'Spa-trainer'... >Joachim? :) A Spa trainer wouldn't so much good, it helps quite a lot when your tires have warmed up a little bit while taking Masta... Besides, a little bit of practice at the rest of the track never does harm :) Andre >I ran 5-6 laps at Spa yesterday. On the 2 laps that I got through Masta >successfully(170+mph), I screwed up somewhere else... All the rest of the >laps, I couldn't hit Masta. :( > >Eldred

EldredP wrote: > > Problem it, when you screw the pooch at Masta, you have to wait another 3 1/2 > minutes to try it again. I wish there was a 'Spa-trainer'... > Joachim? :) What I'd like is something that repeats a corner. You could have a track that has a long straight, then masta, then long straight, then masta, etc so you can try a corner several times (obviously with a U-turn somewhere otherwise it's a VERY long track!). Can't be that hard for the track editor guru's can it? A lesmo trainer would be nice too :) Kev