Now it’s time for something completely different! For today’s fast lap Friday, Josh Herbert reset his new personal best at NJMP Thunderbolt after his Go Pro had died. So instead of his video, let’s take a look at what set his new lap apart from his previous best – with data!! Below is a graphic representation of Josh’s speed around the track with the green line being his new fastest lap and the red line being his old previous best. There are plenty of differences, but let’s take a look at some key points in the laps.
Point 1 (1.069 Seconds up) Turns 1 through 4: Josh gained some straight-line speed starting the lap (we’ll address that later) but fairly closely matched is braking point and minimum speed through turn one. However with a better drive out, he was able to gain almost a 4mph advantage over his previous best. Josh was able to maintain this speed advantage through turns 2, 3 and up until the braking zone into turn 4 gaining him a full second in just the first few corners.
Point 2 (1.256 seconds up) Turn 4: Josh matched his brake point for turn 4, but came off the brake and picked up the gas earlier resulting in an additional 5mph through turn 4 and down the mini straight before 5.
Point 3 (1.917 seconds up) turn 7: Slightly higher corner entry and mid corner speed, however Josh was driving the car more consistently at the limit (note G Sum) on corner exit resulting in a huge gain in speed out of the corner. Combined later braking and a tighter line into turn 9, this corner gained josh 0.5 seconds alone.
Point 4 (2.563 seconds up) There’s a lot going on between turn 9 in the finish line but as this section is typically referred to as the octopus, we will lump it all together. From the exit of 7 Josh approached this section with a tighter and shorter line than this previous lap but maintained the same minimum speed through 9. Once the car was turned in, Josh was able to carry 3 mph more through turn 9 and into 10. Previously Josh experienced some oversteer on corner exit of turn 10 however he kept it nice and tidy this time and gained around 3mph going into turn 12.
Point 5 (2.778 seconds up) In turn 12 it seems that the added stability of the new rear wing paid off by keeping the rear end planted through the final corner allowing him to carry more speed out of the corner and carry a 3mph advantage down the straight.
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