Further to my post on the "Something New" thread, another story, [or
2] by the old bloke.
Jim clarke was the bane of Collin Chapmans life. Sure he won Lotus
lots more races than any other driver could have, but he was totally
illiterate when it came to understanding handling, & was no help in
developing Lotus cars.
Clarke would be given a new lotus F1 to test, would do lap record
times, & when asked what he thought of the car would simply
say, "it's fine", & wander off. Other drivers, of the same car,
would spin off, all over the place, & if they got back to the pit
area would complain the thing was a death trap, & totally
un-drivable.
To test him once, the pit crew, including a couple of Ozy mates of
mine, once set up a car to be totally un-drivable, for a private
practice session. Clarke lapped at lap record speeds, & declared the
car, you guessed it, fine.
In a Monarco GP, he had the pick up, for the rear anti roll bar fall
off, [it was a Lotus], early in the race. The car would now be
understeering so badly, most of us would have gone straight on, at
the next corner, killing ourselves, or retired immediatly.
After one lap, to get the feel of this now useless car, Clarke set a
new lap record, & was running away from the field, when something
else broke, [it was a Lotus].
So stop bitching about the cars handling, learn to drive like
Clarke, explloit it's weaknesses, & go quick, despite the thing.
There is another side to all this.
Jack Brabham was, [& probably still is] a bum, the greatest bum that
ever sat in a racing car, [perhaps except for Shoey]. After learning
the basics of suspension set up from Ron Toreneau, he bacame the
greatest suspension tuner ever.
This beautiful story comes from some other mates, who were crewing
for the team at the time.
Jack had a yank driving for him at this time. He was no mug, & went
on to build some pretty good cars himself, but had best remain
nameless here. Lets call him Dan.
Now, Jack & Dan took a couple of new F1s out to a circuit to do some
testing. This was the first time out for the new seasons cars.
They both did a couple of laps, then checked the tyre temperatures,
across the tred, & adjusted cambers, & went back out. At this stage
Jack is doing 2 second above Lap Record times, [LR+2]. Dan is doing
something similar.
Jack did 2 laps, then adjusted the [anti]roll bars. Another couple,
& lowered the front ride height 1/2", another couple, & adjusted the
rear roll bar, & the tyre pressures again.
2 more laps, & he's doing LR-1 sec, & put the car in the trailer. 50
minutes later, after a lot laps & changes, Dan is still doing LR+2
sec, & they called him in, & went back to the factory. Dan gave his
crew some changes to do, & Jack gave the following instructions;
Lower the rear roll centre by 1/2", & fit a 1/8" thicker rear roll
bar, [the only changes requiring more than adjustment],
Lower the ride height 1/2"; Widen the front track 1/2" & the rear
1"; lengthen the wheel base 1"; fit 20 lb stiffer front springs, &
10 Lb softer rear springs; & add 1 degree castor on the rear.
They returned to testing the next day, when, after 5 laps, & a
couple of adjustments Jack was down to lap record -3 seconds. Dan
had now got to the old lap record.
Dan was called in, & given jacks gar, [after a change of seat
insert]. On his 3rd lap, dan was down to lap record -5 seconds.
So the moral is, If you can't learn to drive it, get a Jack Brabham
to set it up for you.
PS. I was 2 seconds quicker than Jack, in the same car at the same
track, just 5 months later. This proves that he was telling the
truth when he said that "I believe in winning, at the lowest speed
possible". I wonder if even he knew how fast he could go, if he
really tried.
Hasbeen
Hasbeen
