Review by Boxsey
Car : 964 C2
Weather : Dry but misty in the morning
Date: October 2007
Track : GP circuit
Driver ability : improving novice
Format : 20 minute sessions (novice, intermediate, expert)
My second time at Donington but the first time on the full GP circuit which adds the Foggy esses (chicane), the melbourne hairpin and turns Goddards into a very tight left hander. This addition (IMO) adds technicality to the circuit and turns it into one that is very hard on brakes because add Redgate to the above 3 hard braking points and your brakes get very hot. So much so that in my second session my pedal went soft after 4 laps. This was a combination of my standard textar pads being 50% worn and me braking to hard. Once cooled down I enjoyed the rest of the day by being more sympathetic with the brakes (earlier and more progressively).
The points about Redgate and Coppice earlier in the thread were spot on for me on the day. A very, very late turn-in makes this corner a delight to work. By progressively feeding in the power I could get into 4th gear by the time I'd straightened up for Hollywood which meant I was getting to Craners at a much higher speed (approx 100 mph for me) than I had done on my last trip. Ricardo60 was on the same day and he too liked the deep turn-in for Redgate best of all (he'd tried various other lines through the day before I got in the passenger seat). However, I found to my cost that now I was arriving a lot faster at Craners that I had to be careful of not turning in too early - there's quite a dip on the left of the track just before the apex. I did this once and ended up in a big spin. Although there was no harm done (quite a safe place to come off really) I remembered to dab the brakes to settle the car and turn in later in the rest of the sessions.
I also enjoyed coppice a lot more this time by heeding the advice in a post above. For me it was keep in 3rd, brake lightly, turn-in and hit full power as I clipped the kerb of the first apex. Then just keep on the power and let the car drift to the left of the track ignoring the second apex. By doing this I could get to over 110 before the next braking point (Ricardo60 was getting to just over 130 in his GT3). I was quite impressed by this because the braking point is a lot earlier than if you were on the National Circuit.
Then came the new bit. Foggy esses is really fun and pretty straight forward in a 911 - brake hard, down to 2nd, turn in, clip the first apex and then power all the way over the 2nd apex, let the car drift to the left, straighten up and change up. The next bit was a swine. Easily the tightest hairpin (in my short career) I've ever tried and no camber to help you. For me it was go deep, lift off, big turn-in, progressive power until the car was straight. Goddards was equally as difficult and complicated by being slightly blind - if you got to the crest where you could see the turn fully, you had missed the braking point. The best way I got through there with speed was a very late turn-in and aim for the kerbs on the inside of the bend. But put too much power on and you ran out of track on the right (a few came off there). The funniest thing I saw was an instructor keep his pupil to the left on the approach and hug the inside kerb (at low speed) all the way round. He actually overtook two of us using this line!
In summary, I found the melbourne loop frustrating and entertaining but realised that it is a very key area to a quick lap time. In the very last session I had some laps that I felt like I had strung the corners together nicely. I started at 4th in the pit lane queue and by the end of the 20 minute session the closest car to me (my mate in his Boxster S was the full length of the pit straight behind me. Time to move up a group perhaps :wink: .
A couple of pics from the day (sorry no video
)
Stringing a few laps together got me into this position on the track.
That very tight hairpin created a lot of body roll! :lol:
Ricardo60 showing how easy it is in a GT3 :wink: