Stig's Driving Style

ryanpetit · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:30

This is one for people in the know about driving on a track I guess.
I was watching this old episode of top gear the other day, and was intrigued by something. At 0:37 and 1:01 when the Stig is approaching a corner it shows the rev's dipping right down to near tick over as if he was holding the clutch in.

Surely when at 'maximum attack' on a track, you would want to use engine breaking at its most? Or is this because the V8 in the Marcos has a large amount of torque low down it will be able to power out of the corner from low down in the rev range? Why would he do this...

This may seem a bit of a weird thing to ask, but genuinely interested

ajstan · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:35

I can't even see the dials on my screen, but its a TVR so the Rev gauge might have broken

GravyMonster · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:36

^ It's a Marcos

Sounds like he's on no/neutral throttle with the clutch out to me.

Can't remember any examples off hand, but I remember a few times that the Stig has gone relatively easy on certain cars (especially on launch). Probably due to the manufacturers being a little concerned as to the longevity of the mechanicals.

Hxc · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:36

Marcos certainly are not TVRs...

merlin · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:38

I can't see the rev counter, but it could be the rev counter sweeps anti-clockwise?

BigglesPiP · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:48

It's not always the same driver and the lap you see is a collage of clips from about 30 laps with the camera crew in different locations.

rsatd · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:52

BigglesPiP said:
It's not always the same driver and the lap you see is a collage clips from about 30 laps with the camera crew in different locations.

The secret is out!

Frozennova · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:55

BigglesPiP said:
It's not always the same driver and the lap you see is a collage clips from about 30 laps with the camera crew in different locations.

so where do they get the actual lap time from the best one from the ~30 laps or do they take an average

BigglesPiP · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:07

frozennova said:
so where do they get the actual lap time from the best one from the ~30 laps or do they take an average

Lord knows, I think they make it up based on some of the laps.

jellybeard999 · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:17

BigglesPiP said:
It's not always the same driver and the lap you see is a collage of clips from about 30 laps with the camera crew in different locations.

While i agree the stig is various drivers, surely they don't change on the same day.

antijoke · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:20

BigglesPiP said:
It's not always the same driver and the lap you see is a collage of clips from about 30 laps with the camera crew in different locations.

What?

cm1179 · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:28

anticonscience said:
What?

i believe it's a best of 3 laps but it's the same stig all the time

Burned_Alive · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:35

Broken down:

It's not the same driver each time they test a car.

You dont see the whole single fastest lap, but a cut and shut lap made up from footage recorded over all the laps driven.

antijoke · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:36

Really? Well that's a load of old carp! :mad:

Is there any basis for this? Granted driver might be different, I'd imagine hardly anyone knows this for 100% certainty, but the cut and shut job with the actual lap?

Burned_Alive · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:38

I've heard it mentioned before, but I've no idea if it's accurate. Just making it a little clearer.

rypt · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:43

The laptime is real, the TV lap is at times multiple laps merged into one

GravyMonster · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:43

Yep definately accurate.

I don't see people's objections? They edit the most interesting corners of the lap together to make it better for TV.

It always makes me laugh when people I watch Top Gear with say 'he'd have been 2 seconds faster if he hadn't got so sideways out of that corner'!

Westyfield2 · 28 Apr 2010 at 17:01

BigglesPiP said:
Lord knows, I think they make it up based on some of the laps.

I've seen proof that they've decided on the laptime before the car even arrived sometimes..

Kenai · 28 Apr 2010 at 17:52

They definitely edit laps, wasn't it Ellen MacArthur's lap where the numberplate changes halfway through her 'fastest lap'?

She must be have been ultra fast to be able to swap between cars during the lap and still put up a good time.

Pete19s · 28 Apr 2010 at 18:06

Kenai said:
They definitely edit laps, wasn't it Ellen MacArthur's lap where the numberplate changes halfway through her 'fastest lap'?

She must be have been ultra fast to be able to swap between cars during the lap and still put up a good time.

There have been quite afew times when I have noticed that. Was even worse in the first few series with the Suzuki because one had a different seats to the other.