Superlap 2010 Ramblings

[NZM.031]

is it not a genuine full sunline dry carbon body kit with a genuine kagatoni front bar??... does it not run a real hollinger gearbox?? was it not already a really clean r34 to start with??

you cannot tell me that there has not been a substantial amount of money invested into this car.. unless it has been with sponsers help.. then it is not a privateer effort.

i did not in my post claim that mark is anything more than humble... i think my first line was that this car is a huge credit to him and i love it to bits.. i really hope that the car really shines on the day.

as for the video that was posted but shouldnt have been... well i hope the sponser chose the clip to really stoke up the fire in the competitors bellies... lull them into a false sense of security..

but am i wrong in saying the troubles that were had at the last super lap... aka... stability and getting the power down are still being troublesome??

marlin... im not trying to argue... this is the internet afterall..

cheers

Linton

[Marlin]

The car has sponsor's names on the side of it, meaning they helped out. The car is entered in Pro class for Superlap, a class that is for "workshops" and pros. If the car didn't have sponsor names on the side of it, it could just as easily be in Open class.

And yes, the same troubles are still a concern now as they were at last year's Superlap, the major issue is time, time to work on the car, time to test, the car is not looked after by a workshop, everything that gets done on it, Mark or we do.

I heard the Porsche guys talking about the car after is smashed them at Bathurst in November, they were all saying "yeah but it should be quick it owes $***,***". Well, it doesn't.

[Duncan1]

Hey Linton, I'd think you'd be suprised to know how much this car didn't cost. Assumptions are dangerous and your statement re "the bodykit and aero alone cost more than i care to think of." shows you know zero. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

I concurr (as does Mark) that the car is behaving ugly as sin. That's why he works until 2am every night after work on it in his back shed measuring 10 x 6 metres. And at no point has Mark himself claimed he's going to kick anyone's butt, he's a very humble guy, and knows just how quick these overseas cars are. Heck, every time we talk about them his eyes light up like a school kids with amazement.

As for the video "that video should never have been posted", well, that's not up to Mark, thats a sponsor's decision. The sponsors of the event need to summon some interest for the event somehow. Would you have prefered static pictures of Eastern Creek's grandstands?

I'm certain other teams entered and present at the event will not have the same dim witted outlook of Mark's car that this particular Speadhunters drongo does.

I obviously dont know him as well as others on here, but here is my albeit limited experience with Mark.

First time I spoke with him i had just come in to the pits after throwing a powersteering belt on the GTR,

He not only found us a replacement belt, but also fitted it up for us. We had the same problem re-occur

and he said he had experienced the same issue with the harmonic balancer we had at the time, Moreover he told us which one

to get to avoid it happening again. We got the ATI balancer and havent thrown a belt since.

We didnt ask for help, but Mark obliged!

Most recently though on Saturday at practise i broke a rear control arm, Our philosphy was that our day was over.

Mark had other ideas and offered us a control arm that he had sitting at home, he said its only 30 mins away and its your if you want it.

It was nearing the end of the day so we called it a day and towed the car home.

If thats not a down to earth guy with a passion for motorport [gtrs], helping people out, and having a good time with his hobby im farked if i know who is!

Good on you Mark. The sport needs more people like you and less like the arse clown writting that ill informed dribble.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Duncan1

[NZM.031]

I obviously dont know him as well as others on here, but here is my albeit limited experience with Mark.

First time I spoke with him i had just come in to the pits after throwing a powersteering belt on the GTR,

He not only found us a replacement belt, but also fitted it up for us. We had the same problem re-occur again

and he said he had experienced the same problem with the harmonic balancer we had at the time, Moreover he told us which one

to get to avoid it happening again. We got the ATI balancer and havent thrown a belt since.

We didnt ask for help, but Mark obliged!

Most recently though on Saturday at practise i broke a rear control arm, Our philosphy was that our day was over.

Mark had other ideas and offered us a control arm that he had sitting at home, he said its only 30 mins away and its your if you want it.

It was nearing the end of the day so we called it a day and towed the car home.

If thats not a down to earth guy with a passion for motorport [gtrs], helping people out, and having a good time with his hobby im farked if i know who is!

Good on you Mark. The sport needs more people like you and less like the arse clown writting that ill informed dribble.

just a question... am i the arse clown or is it the reponse on speedhunters that is the arse clown... i dont mind if thats directed at me.. just need clarification is all..

if thats at me.. ive never met mark... and ive certainly never ever attacked mark or said anything bad about him..

[phunky_monkey]

I honestly cannot believe the guff that Mark is receiving for simply being a guy who has built a pretty special car, which we can all enjoy, and procedes to drive it himself for fun. People feel they have the right to pass judgement and make comment on him and his car (most of which is completely unfounded), but are happy to do so from behind their computer screens like regular keyboard warriors.

I don't know Mark at all, never met the guy, but from all accounts he is a very humble person out there having fun and providing us with some entertainment which is more than can be said of most people making derogatory comments on all forums I've seen this on.

Very dissapointing.

[Duncan1]

just a question... am i the arse clown or is it the reponse on speedhunters that is the arse clown... i dont mind if thats directed at me.. just need clarification is all..

if thats at me.. ive never met mark... and ive certainly never ever attacked mark or said anything bad about him..

No mate, not you!!!

[NZM.031]

No mate, not you!!!

hahaha, rightio.

[sav man]

what about the apparent wanker in the scoin who's putting clips on the net where he's telling everyone that he's bringing his band new car to Aus, and going to blow everyone away. I know he's probably trying to build some hype, but if people are going to pick on arrogent people, it should be him.

[NZM.031]

meh... its only got 770 kw at the wheels...

if we did that though... we would be no better than them.

Rocky was the greatest and he never slandered or downtalked any of his rivals.

[Leif]

In fact, we know we need to find seconds, not tenths, to compete with the fast guys.

Having only just got some form of 4WD in the car it's now a rush to get it programmed correctly,...

Yeah this is what I was wondering about.

I think everyone expects the top Japanese/US cars to be very strong - they all have very impressive (and proven) records. But they also do a lot of these events on billiard table tracks with cambered corners. Pretty different to Eastern Creek.

On the flip side, all the Aussie fans will be hoping that our top cars can do us proud against this amazing competition. The Advan R34 obviously has massive potential, so I was hoping to get an idea from those closer to the car whether the car is likely to be sorted by May, and if it will be a genuine contender once it is.

And what about the other Aussie cars? Does anyone know about the progress of the Tilton Evo, the BSM GTR?

[Marlin]

The common belief that the overseas guys are used to running on billiard smooth tracks is a falicy. Whilst the Japanese guys typically DO have very smooth tracks, the typical US track used for Time attack are like goat tracks. Eastern Creek is somewhere in between in my opinion. I expect the US guys to be the strongest. And I wouldn't rule out a 2WD car either.

And you're totally right Leif, there's other guys flying the Aussie flag too, and I'm wondering how they're going with their prep.

Edit to try and answer your direct question Leif: Yes the 34 does have massive potential, but in reality it's a little short on power to weight ratio and rubber width at the moment. Now the 4WD is kind of half working, it at least bettered it's previous best QR time even running a massively compromised spring and damper setting that was a hangover from our trying to mask the 2WD issue. Suspension is being revisted now with a good middle ground being the aim.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Marlin

[NZM.031]

could it possibly need more wheel track?? , remembering im just a keyboard warrior and i know zip, nada, nothing.. ive just always thought the car looked like it needs a bit more track to reduce the weight transfer...

its the one thing that the r34 and the competitors seem to have differences in.

[sav man]

well it's only the yanks that have stunt jumps on their tracks.

I might get to stop in for a look on the Friday, I've got a mates wedding in Bathurst on the Sat, and i'm flying into Syd on Friday, and Dad is going to be up there with a car so getting there won't be a problem

[hrd-hr30]

I don't understand the fascination with how much the R34 cost to build, as if spending money is somehow cheating. None of the Pro Class cars were built using parts from the local scrapheap! Serious race cars need some serious parts in them, like those Linton listed, and they don't come free. That's motorsport.

[NZM.031]

im fascinated by what equipment level different cars run and how they run... i made mention of the cost of the r34 due to the very high equipment level on it... how much they actually spent, im not concerned with.. its what they can do with what they have... and what others can do with what they have... and who comes out on top..

[lofty]

Myself & BSM have nothing but good things to say about mark and his passion for motorsport, The R34 has massive potential to be fast!!

its alway's easy to be a computer critic!

The BSM GTR is being rebuilt at the moment, we came away from the last test day with a list of things that might make it faster.

we hope to do another test day before SUPERLAP.

dave

[lofty]

darn machine double post sorry!

Edited March 30, 2010 by lofty

[TheTunersGroup]

I obviously dont know him as well as others on here, but here is my albeit limited experience with Mark.

First time I spoke with him i had just come in to the pits after throwing a powersteering belt on the GTR,

He not only found us a replacement belt, but also fitted it up for us. We had the same problem re-occur

and he said he had experienced the same issue with the harmonic balancer we had at the time, Moreover he told us which one

to get to avoid it happening again. We got the ATI balancer and havent thrown a belt since.

We didnt ask for help, but Mark obliged!

Most recently though on Saturday at practise i broke a rear control arm, Our philosphy was that our day was over.

Mark had other ideas and offered us a control arm that he had sitting at home, he said its only 30 mins away and its your if you want it.

It was nearing the end of the day so we called it a day and towed the car home.

If thats not a down to earth guy with a passion for motorport [gtrs], helping people out, and having a good time with his hobby im farked if i know who is!

Good on you Mark. The sport needs more people like you

Hi Duncan,

Thanks for sharing that.

Mark Berry is a top bloke and is very very respected in Australian motorsport for not only achieving incredible results, but also for the way he conducts himself.

... that video should never have been posted, on here, maybe, as we all know the story behind it, but not on the interweb. It does look scrappy, it looks terrible actually. the japs and seppos are probably pissing themselves given that this is the flagship car for aus, and 2 months out from its home event it looks like that, worse than that though, it doesnt look like much has improved from last year's superlap. ...

The fact is that people rarely get to see in car videos of cars during testing when things are still being dialled in. If anything, the R34 testing video highlights the engineering challenges that need to be solved by May 21.

The fact the R34 testing video gives everyone access to a part of the development process that is rarely seen publicly should be celebrated.

Marlin wrote ...

"Would you have prefered static pictures of Eastern Creek's grandstands?".

I concurr (as does Mark) that the car is behaving ugly as sin. That's why he works until 2am every night after work on it in his back shed measuring 10 x 6 metres. And at no point has Mark himself claimed he's going to kick anyone's butt, he's a very humble guy, and knows just how quick these overseas cars are. Heck, every time we talk about them his eyes light up like a school kids with amazement ...

The car has sponsor's names on the side of it, meaning they helped out. The car is entered in Pro class for Superlap, a class that is for "workshops" and pros. If the car didn't have sponsor names on the side of it, it could just as easily be in Open class.

And yes, the same troubles are still a concern now as they were at last year's Superlap, the major issue is time, time to work on the car, time to test, the car is not looked after by a workshop, everything that gets done on it, Mark or we do.

I heard the Porsche guys talking about the car after is smashed them at Bathurst in November, they were all saying "yeah but it should be quick it owes $***,***". Well, it doesn't.

... In fact, we know we need to find seconds, not tenths, to compete with the fast guys.

Mark is absolutely not cocky of a win in any way. He has enormous respect for all the other teams at the event and I have never heard him say a single negative word about any other team or any other car.

I for one would absolutely love to see Mark's car win it for Australia, but I also know (as does Mark and everyone involved with the car) that there is a lot of work to be done between now and May 21, and that the competition is some of the fastest time attack cars in the world.

Regardless of who ends up winning World Time Attack Challenge, the fact is that this car was built in Australia in Mark's shed and is driven by the guy who built it, and that in itself is an amazing achievement ...

If any of you have seen the the John Britten video "One Man's Dream", Mark's attitude to innovation and his proving that you really can build an incredible time attack car in your shed remind me of John Britten's attitude to innovation.

There is a short video about John Britten and the incredible bike he built here ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/Videos/John_Britten_Video.html

- The Tuners Group

Edited March 30, 2010 by TheTunersGroup

[Evocoop]

Mark probably has more respect for the japanese teams than anyone else in the Aussi time attack scene in the fact that he's competed against them befor on their tracks and he knows how hard it is to get the good results at tracks like Tscuba. He has first hand experience with how competive these guys are. Just talking to him about their Japan trip you can tell how much inspiration they took away from that event.

On a lighter note. I just googled Tenga Eggs from a couple of pages back......... WTF?

Edited March 30, 2010 by Evocoop

[nismoman]

I'm assuming the Advan R34 will be running the super soft, super grippy compound of tyre at this event. Surely with Advan sponsorship, this should be a given.

New sets every session anyone?

If I remember correctly though, when Mark last visited Japan with the R32, didn't they find they were running a harder (and slower) tyre than their competition?