This weekend, we took home two first place finishes in NASA Time Trials, but also had the unique opportunity to race against a Ferrari F430 GT that is being prepped to compete in the 24hr next year. I've never had so much fun chasing a car around a track. :cheers:

Too bad I only had 3 laps worth of fuel on board....I ran out.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt5i9RVzZmc

UPDATE: Mike Davidson sent me his in car video from the same session. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS2yhz_STGE

 

was Skeen driving it?

 

Nice chase Sharif!

 

No, Mike Davidson was driving it. Skeen is one of the drivers of this car, and he ran a 1:55 on the Full Course on Sat.

 

yeah,
I think Mike, Mike S, and Chris C. are all driving it.

 

Awsome!

 

looks like a hell of a time, jealous

 

Thanks for sharing. Outstanding show of car and driver both! Do you know any details on the F430? It faster in the straight than I expected. Not as fast as the GTR though?

 

^^The 430 is clearly faster it pulled on the gtr on the straights and coming out of the corners

 

It's hard to tell. I'm sure Sharif didn't want to tailgate it either at 150+ mph. I know the F430 is light, but I can't imagine the hp/weight ratio is much better than Sharif's GTR. Check around the 4 minute mark - Sharif is holding back and right on his tail.

 

Great video! How much Boost were you running in the GTR?

 

simply incredible...i was getting excited just watching

 

F430 Specs: From the Risi Team.

the inside track
Technical Specifications

ENGINE

Type | Ferrari F136, 8 cylinders with V 90° layout.
Capacity | 3.998,6 cm3.
Materials | Aluminium alloy engine block and cylinder heads.
Intake system | Air induction limited by two restrictors 28.8 mm.
Timing system | 4 camshafts (2 per each cylinder head), 4 valves per cylinder.
Injection and ignition | Magneti Marelli engine management.
Fuel | Unleaded 102 RON, 88 MON.

POWER TRAIN

Type | 6 speed + reverse sequential control.
Differential | self-locking, adjustable by blades.
Clutch | 5�1/2 synthesized three discs.

CHASSIS AND BODYWORK

Chassis | aluminium monocoque, steel safety cage (per FIA rules), engine and gearbox stiffly fitted to the chassis.
Steering system | rack and pinion system, power steering.
Suspensions | independent wheels, overlapped aluminium triangular wishbones, adjustable shock absorbers, adjustable anti-roll bar.
Brake system | Brembo, steel discs 380 × 32 mm (front) 332 × 32 mm; (rear), 6 pistons; (front) and 4 pistons (rear) calipers, adjustable brake balance.
Bodywork materials | carbon / kevlar / nomex / aluminium.
Aerodynamic devices | adjustable single profile rear wing, carbon floor with rear diffuser.

Weight | 1100 kg (all the liquids at the standard level, without fuel and driver).

From looking around with restriction the hp is ~525 +/- 25. Purely speculation since I can't find concrete numbers.

 

nice vid.

 

1100kg? in pounds the F430GT is gonna be pretty darn close to 1000 lighter!

 

I was definitly driving 10/10th's if not 11/10's, and tried to get as close as possible. This particular F430GT weighs 900 lbs less than our GT-R. I hit the scales after this session with me in the car I was at 3833. In speaking with the team owner and drivers, they are in the process of shedding more weight to be more competitive in their class.

This F430 had a speed advantage, but seemed to be after the 100mph+ mark which is what i would expect for this car. But it was interesting that I was able to gain the advantage under braking each time, and corner entry. Part of this could be attributed to his race slicks, which require a couple laps to get up to 100% max operating temperature.


At the end of the day, the F430 GT is an incredible race car that is faster than our GT-R, but it was fun to be able to stay on it's bumper for a couple of laps.

 

^ I didnt mean anything by it. By all means i more than commend you on your driving and your equipment especially considering what you were up against.

 

After holding up (lifting) behind him around 100 mph the 430 seemed to be genuinely able to gap the GTR from there out. Was that difference in gearing? I would image the 430's ratios are pretty tight all the way up to the effective top speed for the track config.

 

2 seconds faster a lap?

neato video

 

Our laps in the video are within a few tenths of a second of each other. He did the 1:30 lap on his 7th lap...long after I excused myself. . My fast lap was my 2nd lap.