Jay Leno's track time

First off, there's precious little shifting in a lap. Besides the starting, it's all 3-4-3 work. easy peasy.

Second of all, he drove poorly.

I would argue that weight is at most .5 second on a lap as short as TG's. If that.

But yes, it is surprising how many people don't know how to drive fast. it's not a natural thing for most people.

Steve
 
Steve Levin said:
First off, there's precious little shifting in a lap. Besides the starting, it's all 3-4-3 work. easy peasy.
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The Lacetti does have the worst gearbox in the world though. I drove one (well, an Optra, same thing), and it's like it's made of pudding. I was missing shifts, getting it in the wrong gear constantly, and I've driven a manual for many years and have never had a problem on any other car. From the other side, I can't imagine.

Let's be honest though, 1:48 is pretty good for a fat old guy. He's probably the highest fat old guy on the board.
 
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Jakain said:
In that Eric Bana movie "Love the Beast, Jay Leno had guest starred and they talked about motor racing. IIRC Jay Leno said something to the effect that he didn't like racing competitively like he wouldn't like having sex competitively; Leno made a similar joke/reference to this during his lap on TG. He fully acknowledges that he's not very good at it; and prefers other venues of vehicle enthusiasm like driving the car on the road and fixing something up in the garage.
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Censport said:
Not every car enthusiast is a racing driver. Very few, actually.
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This.
He's a huge petrolhead alright, but veering a good bit more on the *car* enthusiast side than the *driving* enthusiast side of it.
In a lot of the videos for his high performance cars and bikes he freely admits that he is nowhere near capable enough to take them even close to their true potential, so it's not really surprising that he's not the quickest guy on earth.
 
Everyone who is disappointed with Jay Leno's time, I suggest you install one of the good car racing simulators (STCC, RACE08 etc...) and try to beat the time of people who've played these games for years.
Following the racing line just isn't enough...it's the speed in the corners that matters. Your lap may look perfect, you might be at the edge of your abilities, but you still won't be as fast...just +5mph in every corner makes a HUGE difference at the end.
Yeah I know it's just a game...but it's amazingly similar to real life racing (well, not the feeling of course).

Like Jeremy said about the Hammerhead - "this is where you make, or ruin, your lap". Losing even 3-4mph when you take that corner, will cost you dearly at the end of the lap.
 
He did just about as well as I expected he would, if you watch him on TV and his online videos enough you'd know that he readily admits to not being the best driver in the world. Like his joke (which he apparently didnt get to finish during his lap, or maybe the second part got cut out)

Jay Leno said:
Driving a race car is like sex, all guys think theyre good at it, but most of em arent
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Just because you arent capable of taking a car to its full potential doesnt mean you cant just own it and appreciate it for what it is. Id bet there is only a handful of people out of the many who have really fast cars that can drive them on a track as fast as they can go. All the others just have to appreciate what their cars can do without necessarily experiencing it, and Jay seems to be perfectly happy doing that.
 
Jay was not bad at all, actually technically almost perfect. He just was not so hard on the throttle. Naturally, it's very rare to see the guy in his late '50s to be as steep as Jay Kay in his '30s. Not the same kind of a car lover either, more like a 'May-ish' kind...
At least he looks much faster than James :mrgreen:
 
2Billion said:
Let's be honest though, 1:48 is pretty good for a fat old guy. He's probably the highest fat old guy on the board.
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I guess you missed Brian Johnson the week before?

With the instruction of the Stig I think some folk who don't consider themselves great drivers shine because of their ability to follow instruction, their lack of fear (sportspeople) and resultant ability to be smooth, whereas some other folk just do what they think is right even though it aint.
 
hansvonaxion said:
I guess you missed Brian Johnson the week before?
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Anyone who can perform as the lead singer for a hard rock band at over fifty is hardly fat. Old, maybe, but in top shape.
 
Dr_Grip said:
Anyone who can perform as the lead singer for a hard rock band at over fifty is hardly fat. Old, maybe, but in top shape.
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I dunno, he's in good shape, but kinda tubby.

I agree with scathing that weight isn't that much of an issue, in a go-kart sure, but in the Lacetti it isn't worth seconds a lap.
 
hansvonaxion said:
I dunno, he's in good shape, but kinda tubby.

I agree with scathing that weight isn't that much of an issue, in a go-kart sure, but in the Lacetti it isn't worth seconds a lap.
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Brian Johnson's fit for an old guy. How many 60 year olds do you see in that kind of shape?
 
I thought he did well on his lap.

I just loved how excited he was to be there. He seemed nervous for a guy who has spent most of his life in front of an audience.

..
 
I don't think being fat or not has anything to do with it. And old racing driver would be at the top of the chart no matter how fat he'd have become. It's talent what counts the most.
 
2Billion said:
Brian Johnson's fit for an old guy. How many 60 year olds do you see in that kind of shape?
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I'm just saying he isn't skinny. He's solidly built. Sheesh.

The fact that he's 60 and was so fast just shows the age argument doesn't really hold up. I don't think the weight argument is a big issue either. 60kg vs 120kg perhaps, but Johnson vs Leno you're talking negligible difference.
 
hansvonaxion said:
I'm just saying he isn't skinny. He's solidly built. Sheesh.

The fact that he's 60 and was so fast just shows the age argument doesn't really hold up. I don't think the weight argument is a big issue either. 60kg vs 120kg perhaps, but Johnson vs Leno you're talking negligible difference.
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Fat is a state of mind.

Seriously, a more athletic guy (Johnson) is going to kick the ass of a fatty (Leno) because of other, tangentially related fitness factors.
 
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I am disappointed with his lap time because he is a HUGEEE petrohead and since he owns so many cars, I would think he would have track experience and perform beautifully on the track. I thought wrong....
 
That rugby player weighs more than Jay and he posted one of the fastest times. Brian Johnson is 61 years old. Jay Leno is old, heavy, and mediocre in racing talent. A shame considering his fantastic car history.
 
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Steve Levin said:
First off, there's precious little shifting in a lap. Besides the starting, it's all 3-4-3 work. easy peasy.

Second of all, he drove poorly.

I would argue that weight is at most .5 second on a lap as short as TG's. If that.

But yes, it is surprising how many people don't know how to drive fast. it's not a natural thing for most people.

Steve
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correct. and most people think you HAVE to hit brakes to slow down. instead just easy off and on the throttle. From all the times I've seen the lap done, I'd say penultimate, gambon and hammerehead are the only corners that necessitate the use of brakes. but thats just me
 
shad_68 said:
He's a huge petrolhead alright, but veering a good bit more on the *car* enthusiast side than the *driving* enthusiast side of it.
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This.

Jay doesn't seem the type to thrash and destroy cars around race tracks.
 
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