|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
8 Feb 2007, 23:45 (Ref:1836861) | #1 | ||
Racer
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 108
|
Porsche 997 GT2 RSR review from Brands Hatch
The first Porsche 997 GT2 RSR to be delivered to a European team (Tech 9), ran yesterday at Brands Hatch (with me and Leo Machitski driving), obviously the first to see the light of the UK as well.
Well, after running it in and having 15 min proper testing in it for the first time yesterday, I thought I would let those that are interested know what it's like. For a start, it seems everything has been thought of; the amount of work that Porsche have put in is amazing really and it shows in the detail of the car. Even down to how the steering wheel is put on, it's done by magnets and all you have to do it slide it on without having to even lift the ring at the back, like normal, and it's on, it's a really weird feeling and you think "is it actually on!?"! There are enough buttons on the wheel to keep me occupied for the year, including traction control up and down (12 different settings) lol. The car sounds great, it's very load, even with the silence package that we have on for FIA GT! Brand Hatch limit is 105db for any car at 4000rpm and the RSR was at 108db on idle and 116db at 4000rpm. We eventually got stopped testing because it was too load, we had to lift off on the straight and keep it at 7000rpm, (goes to 9000rpm) too keep the noise down. How the car drives is also amazing, it's really glued to the track, with a lot of down force. It's very precise and goes where you want it too. On the standard setup it is understeering because of the amount of rear grip, but we soon got most of it sorted out. When it does start to go, the traction control system is amazingly good and I am sad to say I think we will be faster with it on as it is so developed and it will defiantly keep the tyres in good shape for the long races. It’s a nicer and in a way easier car to drive than the GT3 as it’s got so much more grip, your not fighting with it all the time like the GT3. It’s just a proper racing car and handles more like a light single seater than a heavy GT car. I don’t actually think I can find any faults with it yet, maybe the throttle is a bit stiff, but that will bed in with time. The torque is very good, it’s got more low down compared to the GT3 car, but from 8000rpm to 9000rpm I don’t feel that it pulls that well and not really much difference in letting it rev up there. That could be the ratios and that the engine is brand new and need to loosen up, but the lower down torque is great, especially in the first 3 gears! The gearbox is sweet and the changes are very precise and smooth. The clutch is also great, really easy to use, especially when pulling away you don’t even have to use any throttle if you want, it will just pull away smoothly. All in all this is a great new challenger from Porsche and I’m my opinion a Ferrari beater, even if it does not in the early stages, Porsche will not stop developing it until it does. But I am confident it will be either faster or about the same pace as the Ferrari over a lap and for the race distance who knows, we will have to wait and see. I can't seem to attach pics any where, but here is a vid Leo uploaded to you tube of the night before the test, unloading and starting the car ect ect http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsn9vEOQGiU Oh and before you ask why it woulden't start, it was low on fuel for transportation from Weissach so had no fuel pressure hehe... Well that’s all I can be asked to type atm, but any questions you guys have about the car, I am happy to try and answer them if I can . Last edited by Sean Edwards; 8 Feb 2007 at 23:53. |
||
__________________
2009 Porsche Supercup & LMS & FIA GT & VLN --- 2008 Porsche Supercup & FIA GT & VLN --- 2007 FIA GT --- 2006 FIA GT3 --- 2005 British GT |
8 Feb 2007, 23:55 (Ref:1836871) | #2 | |
Race Official
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,102
|
Sean, thank you very much for taking the trouble to post such an in-depth account of your first experiences with your new baby. Great stuff!
|
|
|
9 Feb 2007, 00:09 (Ref:1836883) | #3 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,418
|
Very Very Cool
Good Luck this year |
||
__________________
"When the fear of death out weighs the thrill of speed, brake." LG |
9 Feb 2007, 01:15 (Ref:1836893) | #4 | |
Rookie
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 22
|
Thanks Sean and good luck!!
|
|
|
9 Feb 2007, 01:17 (Ref:1836894) | #5 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 6,958
|
Thanks Sean. One note, the car is called the GT3 RSR, not a GT2 RSR.
|
||
|
9 Feb 2007, 08:52 (Ref:1837064) | #6 | ||
Racer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 268
|
it's not the first "euro" 997, Redolfi had his car on sunday :-) btw good luck to sean and to all the team, tech9 really looking like one of the best team in GT racing
|
||
|
9 Feb 2007, 09:01 (Ref:1837076) | #7 | ||
Rookie
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 94
|
Brilliant account Sean. I am only gutted I didn't know you were testing. I only live 5 minutes from Brands and would have happily bunked work to catch a glimpse.
I was lucky enough to be at the Spa 24 Hours last year and the car looks and sounds beautiful. It was pretty quick out of the box there (for an hour or so ) so I am really looking forward to the Porsche Ferrari head-to-head. |
||
|
9 Feb 2007, 09:19 (Ref:1837086) | #8 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 712
|
|||
|
9 Feb 2007, 09:35 (Ref:1837106) | #9 | ||
Racer
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 108
|
Thanks guys!
No problem guys, thought some of you would like it. Hehe, I know the model is GT3, but just stating in title that it's a "GT2" compeditor... Francesco, it is as we had our car on Friday 1st Feb (and tested it on Wednesday) Porsche were the ones who made sure we were the first European team to have it What series are that team running in, LMS or FIA? Lol The Tour, I did post about it in the fia gt rumour thread, shame you missed it Yeah, good quali and start, but gear box problems hindered them badly there. Obviously it was only a beta car as such, the new one I expect to have no such problems |
||
__________________
2009 Porsche Supercup & LMS & FIA GT & VLN --- 2008 Porsche Supercup & FIA GT & VLN --- 2007 FIA GT --- 2006 FIA GT3 --- 2005 British GT |
9 Feb 2007, 10:21 (Ref:1837168) | #10 | ||
Racer
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 402
|
Nice video. Did the camera get singed! What was that being modified with a hacksaw? (heard in background)
|
||
|
9 Feb 2007, 10:23 (Ref:1837171) | #11 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 712
|
The Team is Autorlando, the series, LMS and GT Open .
|
||
|
9 Feb 2007, 10:55 (Ref:1837202) | #12 | ||
Racer
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 281
|
Great post Sean. I hope we got more like it during the season.
|
||
|
9 Feb 2007, 11:55 (Ref:1837246) | #13 | |
Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,144
|
On a related note to the "first european 997 RSR": Does anybody know whether Manthey have some plans racing one somewhere? I mean, they co-developed the car at Spa and they are a very competent racing team. Did they announce any FIA GT or LMS intentions?
|
|
|
9 Feb 2007, 17:25 (Ref:1837498) | #14 | ||
Racer
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 108
|
Hehe, it didn't get singed, but we did
Air jack securety mounts were being modified from 997 cup to 997 RSR for tempoary use, hacked to bits Im sure I will post similar things during the year, as long as people are interested hehe... I have not heard anything about Manthey, it would be good if they ran a RSR in FIA GT! |
||
__________________
2009 Porsche Supercup & LMS & FIA GT & VLN --- 2008 Porsche Supercup & FIA GT & VLN --- 2007 FIA GT --- 2006 FIA GT3 --- 2005 British GT |
9 Feb 2007, 17:39 (Ref:1837504) | #15 | |
Race Official
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 18,837
|
Good luck in 2007
|
|
|
9 Feb 2007, 19:44 (Ref:1837588) | #16 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,418
|
Sean Dont forget to get us some INCAR racing videos this year.
|
||
__________________
"When the fear of death out weighs the thrill of speed, brake." LG |
9 Feb 2007, 20:11 (Ref:1837609) | #17 | |||
Racer
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 108
|
Quote:
We will run an onboard camera all year, so will post the best bits of each race or somthing... |
|||
__________________
2009 Porsche Supercup & LMS & FIA GT & VLN --- 2008 Porsche Supercup & FIA GT & VLN --- 2007 FIA GT --- 2006 FIA GT3 --- 2005 British GT |
9 Feb 2007, 22:59 (Ref:1837728) | #18 | ||
Racer
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 402
|
It's nice to know that with all this computerised gubbins and carbon fibre/kevlar whatsits that you still can't get far without a good old hacksaw!
|
||
|
25 Feb 2007, 16:24 (Ref:1851104) | #19 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,007
|
Hey Sean, what about some timesheets from Monza, on the Thursday timings looks like you were quicker than the BMS factory car, what happened Friday?
|
||
|
26 Feb 2007, 04:29 (Ref:1851701) | #20 | |||
Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,487
|
Quote:
|
|||
|
26 Feb 2007, 11:14 (Ref:1851905) | #21 | |||
Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,007
|
Quote:
|
|||
|
26 Feb 2007, 14:51 (Ref:1852034) | #22 | ||
Racer
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 108
|
Yes, on Thursday I beat Collard in the BMS car, which is great for confidence. I had the chance to go out behind him in the second session of the day for 5 laps and learnt a few things from him. He then made a small mistake at Paribolica and I managed to slipstream past him into T1.
Friday Leo put it in the gravel and we missed most of the days running. I did post a 1.51.9 again on Friday morning on old rubber, but only got a few laps in. The track was quite a bit faster on Friday than Thursday and we missed the crucial second session, where the track was at it's best to try new tyres. We tried a different compound of Michi's in Fridays last session, but went the wrong way on setup, as we were already on the back foot by loosing a lot of testing due to Leo's excersion. Anyway, on Friday we learnt a lot about the cars setup and it should stand us in good stead for the Nogaro testing next week. |
||
__________________
2009 Porsche Supercup & LMS & FIA GT & VLN --- 2008 Porsche Supercup & FIA GT & VLN --- 2007 FIA GT --- 2006 FIA GT3 --- 2005 British GT |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Flying Lizard receive 997 RSR | dj choc ice | Sportscar & GT Racing | 12 | 2 Jan 2007 00:23 |
ASM with Lola B05/40 and Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Schumi19 | Sportscar & GT Racing | 7 | 7 Nov 2006 04:38 |
Porsche 911 (997) GT3-RS | gwyllion | Sportscar & GT Racing | 50 | 5 Oct 2006 19:42 |
Porsche 911 RSR a brick? | Liz | Sportscar & GT Racing | 26 | 12 Mar 2004 10:40 |
UK newspaper review of Brands Hatch race... | The Moon Monkey | ChampCar World Series | 30 | 8 May 2003 16:34 |