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After a wet weekend and cancelled races in Zhuhai, the skies weren’t looking too promising for my extended stay in Zhuhai to test the Formula Renault. The track had been flooded as well as the surrounding areas, and the forecast looked just as gloomy for the rest of the week.
Day 1 Monday came with a washout morning, but by mid afternoon the clouds cleared and I hopped in the car using a sequential gearbox, got buckled in and off I went for a lucky 2 sessions. To prepare over the weekend, I had the time in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia hospitality to get some laps in the simulator with the Zhuhai track, to memorise the circuit. My first session was a familiarisation of the track as it dried up, getting my brake markers down and my lines. Looking over my telemetry when it was compared to my coach, Portuguese race driver Rodolfo Avila from ART Motorsport and a driver in the PCCA, was an eye opener for where I could improve . With every student he takes on, Rodolfo is to the point and serious. If you are looking for someone to coach you and pat you on the shoulder for your efforts, you’re knocking on the wrong door. The mistakes were explained and handed out for me to correct, before I developed any bad habits in the open single seater.
My aim? To carry more speed in to the corners while driving confidently. This training would help me when I hop back into my Honda Civic Type R, after which that day would seem considerably slower. The telemetry never lies, so if I could conquer the turns at faster speeds and G-Force, I would have a lot more time to think and react when I hit Round 3 in Sepang at the end of June in the Malaysian Super Series.
Day 2, I let my previous day’s telemetry sink in and I went straight out on circuit, catching a few laps before the heavens opened once again. I changed to wet tyres and felt the anticipation to drive in the wets in a single seater for the first time. I had 2 laps out being mindful of the streams across the circuit but I spun out on the exit of T9. If I had one word it would be ‘Annoying’. Sitting there to be claimed felt like I was last kid to be picked for the baseball team. Throttle control was ever important here.
My second session I made some minor adjustments to my driving style, to see if it would improve my telemetry, but I found I was a lot more aggressive the first session and realised the new driving style didn’t work as well for me. I went back to what I felt comfortable with and concentrated on the the important factors which would allow me to find tenths in every turn. After one and a half days of driving, I clocked a 1 min 45.5 seconds, 4 seconds from almost the limit of what that particular car could drive. In perfect conditions of cooler weather, track temperature and perhaps less head wind, it would only matter once I drove at the absolute limit.
In a straight line, the Formula car wasn’t significantly faster than the Honda Civic, which reaches speeds of up to 200km/hr down the straights of Sepang. Faster only by 20km-30km per hour, the massive difference was felt around corners. Using slicks, I was able to brake later at the 100 metre mark , carry a hell lot more speed into the corners, with faster acceleration from 0-100 km/hr. I felt twice as much G force in places like left hand T10 (my favourite) notorious for sending people into oversteer and into the left side wall. With the Formula Renault more aerodynamically engineered than the Honda Civic , it was a learning curve of sorts to learn to trust the down force from the big wing. The last turn T14 in Zhuhai, the fastest corner on the circuit, was the main area where I could have most definitely put more speed down. Moving forward and not thinking what I could have done, next time I can only go faster!
Looking forward to the next testing in the Formula Renault and in the mean time, I’m heading back to Sepang end of this week to track the Honda Civic FD2R with my new found confidence and how I can push myself further.
A big thank you to Rodolfo Avila and ART MOTORSPORTS for the testing!
If you would like a test experience with them check out: Asia Racing Team MOTORSPORT Facebook
| Phone | +86 756 339 4811 |
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| art@art-motorsports.com | |
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| Website | http://www.art-motorsports.com |
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