Lamy says
attitude is
importantHamilton struggled in ‘diva’ Mercedes
at Monaco in 2017 but still won titleBleekemolen’s adaptability
helped tame the PorscheBleekemolen and SVG took second
at Surfers Paradise in 2013KALISZ
DOLEMAUGERGODETSU
TT
ON
21HOW TO DRIVE AWKWARD CARS
1 AUGUST 2019of your racing shoes melted because the
exhaust ran right near the pedal box,”
says Bleekemolen. “The throttle and brake
pedals were really hot, so you got blisters
on your feet. Even the gear lever was so
hot that you couldn’t touch it anymore.
There were a few races where you were
completely done!”
When dealing with awkward machines,
drivers are somewhat limited by their car’s
inherent traits – one with the handling
characteristics of a boat is not going to be
transformed into a pacesetter overnight- but there are steps drivers can take to
avoid leaving any scraps of performance on
the table. For one, as Lamy points out, “the
fi tter you are, the better you feel in the car”.
Karthikeyan admits that he didn’t take
fi tness seriously enough in his early career,
but this changed when he moved from
Formula 3 to Formula Nippon in 2001,
driving a Reynard 99L that wasn’t
blessed with power-steering.
“You had to be really fi t to drive those
cars,” says Karthikeyan, whose Impul
team-mate Satoshi Motoyama won his
second of four Nippon titles that year.
“I struggled a lot just to keep the steering
input in. Sometimes I could qualify well
but couldn’t drive well in the races, so
I had to work my ass off in the gym.”
Dutchman Bleekemolen was one of few
overseas guest drivers who showed well
enough in Australian Supercars’ popular
Gold Coast 600 invitationals in 2011 and
2012 to be asked back for the Bathurst
1000, where he and Shane van Gisbergen
fi nished 11th in 2013. He attributes hisquick adaptation to the V8s – “the most
diffi cult cars you can imagine, lots of
power but no grip” – and to the Porsche
Supercup, where he scored a podium on
his debut weekend at Indianapolis in
2005, to identifying the key traits of the
car and working out how to use them.
That’s a useful skill for optimising any
car but especially so in one-make racing.
“Braking technique, doing the blip, was
key to being quick [in the Porsche],” recalls
Bleekemolen, who won the Supercup title
in 2008 and 2009. “We had ceramic brakesthat would lock up easily. Compared to
GT3s now it was really hard work, a lot
of good drivers never got any results.
“It’s diffi cult but because I drove so
many cars early in my career, jumping from
A1GP to a Clio or a Mini and back, that
challenges me to feel what the car is acting
like and what the best way to be quick is.”
According to Lamy, even a subtle shift
in mentality can also make a positive
diff erence. He regards every car that is
uncompetitive as diffi cult, but by the
same token acknowledges that diffi cult
cars can often be among the quickest. Sure
enough, Lamy only has fond memories of
the Viper with which he won back-to-back
Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2001 and 2002.
“It’s like going to rental karts, even if
there’s not enough power, you just try to
optimise what you have and make the best
of it,” Lamy says. “You always have cars
that are diffi cult in some moments of a
weekend and you think it’s impossible, but
then you change the set-up and it becomes
OK to drive. I always try to be positive.”
However ‘diva-like’ a car is, when a
driver learns to master it they can form
lasting memories sweet enough to make
up for cramps, blisters and melted boot
soles. Just don’t ask Karthikeyan to jump
back into the F112. Q“Braking technique,
doing the blip, was
key to being quick
in the Porsche”
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY