Track Day 12/30/08, Ferrari F430 and Nissan R390 time trials at Road America and the Motegi Ring

While one driver taking six cars out on the track for a couple of practice runs is hardly a track day, it was necessary to get G_T's cars up to racing capacity. Today's runs were the first road trials for the G_T fleet and, with a bit of tweaking, the tuning set-ups were finalized and the cars were taken out for time trials at Road America and the Motegi Ring. The Nissan turned in an impressive time at Road America, finishing in 1:51.09. The Ferrari was slightly slower although the brake tuning was later adjusted. It turned in a 1:56.08. At Motegi the red Nissan rocketed around the track in 34.7 seconds and the Ferrari was close behind at 35.9 seconds.

Additional Notes (Road America):
Nissan R390: Very grounded through the whole race. The car is incredibly stable in the straights and hugs the road in the corners. Great power in second and third gear but power decreases above 150 mph.
Ferrari F430?: Gratifying power all around but the car can tend to loose traction under heavy braking and cornering. Easing in to the throttle after a corner is necessary to prevent dangerous wheel slip.

Additional Notes (Motegi):
Nissan R390: Very solid all around, incredible grip.
Ferrari F430: Traction loss can occur if the throttle is not closely managed, otherwise the cars power makes it a blast to drive around the ring.

The Nissan was great through Road America's varying corners


At 150 mph the F430 is just getting warmed up


The R390 put in it's best time on only it's second lap


The F430 lost traction on it's first run and plowed into the wall


After a few adjustments and repairs the F430 finished the day strong