I’ll be honest, I’d almost forgotten about this video, which dropped on to YouTube only last week. It’s Christian Gebhardt doing the Sport Auto Superlap in the new Porsche Cayman GT4.
Stickers, Ts, Hoodies...
Now, I’m gonna feel really bad about this, but not bad enough to stop writing it. I think this is a very messy lap – and that’s despite me being very impressed with the overall laptime.
7m42s. A decade ago that was a Nürburgring laptime for a supercar. Now it’s a mid-to-high range sportscar and the really big boys are already under the 7minute mark.
But even with this impressive time (only 1 second slower than the engineers predicted) I can’t get past the selection of second gear for some really slow corners.
Yes, the Pistonheads review did mention the overly long gearing. But second gear for the middle of Aremberg? Really? It’s the way Christian has to change back to third before he’s even got the car straight again that really has me cringing.
I’m not doubting his courage, or even his skill. But the gear changes, yes. They seem unnecessary. As do the use of the kerbs – which do nothing much to help the apex speed and have the effect of pogo-ing most street cars to the point of traction problems on the exit.
But am I being too harsh? What do you think?
