Share this
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Yahoo
Technorati
Googlize this
Facebook
Vote (1)
Tags
Index |
 |
 |
indicated that the driver should position the seat to have their wrist curl over the top of the steering wheel with a foot touching the floor beneath the brake pedal. Povoledo also noted that we only use about 5-degrees of the 180-degrees of vision humans are blessed with. We need to rely on peripheral and keep our focal point on where we want to go, not where we are at. The brain is hardwired to coordinate with the hands to go where we are staring and that isn’t the fastest way around the track. It is imperative to look up ahead and not pay attention to other drivers or obstacles in the foreground.
Later on, we were placed in with the Advanced group. These drivers have race licences and even some full race cars. It is like being thrown in with a pit of lions wearing a meat suit. Then it was time for Povoledo to do some lead-follow in a new BMW M3. The 420hp coupe however was no match for the GT-R and was left lagging in the distance after only half a lap. Since Povoledo didn’t observe much of the cornering technique, he was brief about the critique. “It is pretty clear you have the track figured out and the GT-R is very capable because you walked away from a very powerful car.” Povoledo said “You definitely have the balls to approach corners very fast and are ready for the Advanced group next time.”
It was an honour to receive those compliments from a pro driver like Povoledo and a personal milestone to get over apprehension associated with Canada’s most technical track. Kensai Racing Days attract some serious hardware there in the form of some Grand-Am Koni Challenge cars, Castrol Touring cars and all kinds of vintage and purpose-built race cars. Not to mention some hot street machines like Ferrari 360s, and several Porsche GT3s, one of which we were able to dog so much through turns 3-5 they had to pull over to let the GT-R pass.
The GT-R is undergoing a few more modifications to increase the wheel horsepower to upwards of 600, along with a limited slip differential, which should improve lap times. Since our GPS lap timer didn’t work, we had to resort to more archaic methods which put the car in the low 1:30s. Not bad for a street car, that is full weight, retains A/C and power steering as well as a full Alpine audio system!
