True Normans that they are, our 2 characters will answer = it depends!
Yep, it depends on so many things: is it a trackday? is it a TF (Touristenfahrten)? is the weather good? is there traffic? is my car built for it? are my many rankings on Gran Turismo deserved? am I a killer who's going to smash the clock to bits?...
yes, that's a lot of parameters, although with the last one we know how it's going to end.
Anything is possible, but you make your own luck too, or not.
Example no. 1, the Team's photographer and our resident motorsport jinx:
a discovery run, with total humility, a car with 200,000+ km, serviced, maintained, upgraded admittedly but reasonably. He discovered it as a passenger, then took the plunge...
And there was no splash! Even with a safety margin, that doesn't stop you from applying yourself, heel-and-toeing on downshifts, polishing your lines, in short not over-driving like in those shows where American cops wiggle their steering wheels left and right in front of a green screen!
The result: nothing to report, and after a crazy weekend he came home, exhausted, head full of memories, especially of the lap in a local's shitbox:
- faded 316
- S50B30 swap in palliative care
- low-cost bolt-in roll cage
- partially stripped
- 2 front calipers
- 2 bucket seats and their harnesses
- 4 suspension units
- 4 Federals
... bam, 7'55!! OK, 150 laps in 2 months helps, but still, smooth driving, no jerks, nothing brutal, that helps... almost annoying how easy it looks. It all pays off and shows once again that only the km and knowing the track count, not the car's horsepower (even if it's nice to have).
Example no. 2, the Team's most experienced Ring driver, several hundred laps, let's say that counts, ex-Lotus driver and mad tamer of the M3K:
it started well, and then, in a shaded section.... it was going through, it was beautiful, but it didn't go through
Not a big crash, but a firm little tap...
(yes, his silencers look great!).
He's in for a few parts, some panel work, a radiator, some plastic.. but everything's fine.
So what happened? Well, wanting to be safe, he left MDM switched on even though he always drives with it off. A slight drift started... and thinking MDM would sort it, he didn't react fast enough, but MDM never stepped in, and the slow drift ended with a kiss on the barrier.
Once again the Ring and its limited run-off areas show how well deserved its reputation is, even for regulars, how crucial it is to stay out of autopilot and in the moment, and how much humility you need to keep.
And what about Toto? Is he going to give up... nope, he fully intends to get back to business and not leave it on this setback.
Because as you sometimes hear: "Until you've bent a car at the Ring, you don't know how to drive the Ring!"
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