The next stop in my kart racing career is here in a rolling green hills of southern Virginia right on the North Carolina border. I'm currently leading the championship points in the two classes I run, and i plan to maintain my lead into the final race of the season at Summit Point, West Virginia.
Today was practice for my races tomorrow and Sunday. WKA (the event, however, is run by the Woodbridge Kart Club) runs the full 3.27 mile course here at VIR, which is essentially a big triangle with some esses and hills thrown in. It's more fun then it sounds... As some of you may know, recently the iconic VIR Oak Tree, which looked over the hallowed Oak Tree turn at the south end of the course, fell down about a month ago.
Nevertheless, the track continues without its silent sentinel standing guard over the track.
Not much happened today in practice, i learned the track in the first two sessions, then my crew and I (namely my parents and I) wanted to find some more strait line speed, as there are three long straits on this course. We changed gears and such, found that my lap times actually went down. That's pretty much all that happened, other than the engine cutting out on the final series of corners.
I actually couldn't figure out a conclusion to this article other than"I hope I win". That should pretty much cover it.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Difference Between a Hypercar and a Supercar
This has been of subject of literally no debate over the years, but I would like to change that. You see, to a casual observer these two are basically the same. Both are very fast, both are very expensive, and both are very loud. Most people who care about this kind of stuff determine the difference by the figures. There is no set line to distinguish between a hypercar and a supercar, such as it must get to 60 from a standstill in under three seconds to qualify as a hypercar. An example of what most people would call a hypercar would be the Bugatti Veyron, for obvious reasons. This is a car of mind boggling numbers. It has 10 radiators, 1001 horsepower, and can reach speeds in the area of 250 miles per hour (look it up if you really want to know the exact number). The Supersports version of this car can hit 270! Now for an example of a supercar. Most would say the Ferrari 458 Italia is a supercar. It can still top 200, it goes around corners incredibly well and makes a hypnotizing noise while in the process. But it somehow isn't as incredible as the Veyron.
But the way I see it, the difference shouldn't be in the numbers. It should be in how the cars feels. In order to be a hypercar, you must be laughing and enjoying yourself while driving it, regardless which way you're facing. However, you are probably saying "Oh well on that basis a Ford Focus ST is a hypercar then because it's fun to drive!", but no, I'm not finished. A Hypercar must also exhibit a certain level of lunacy and ridiculousness. The Italians tend to be very good at this, hence Lamborghini and Pagani (I know the owner of Pagani is Argentinian). Cars that fit this bill include pretty well every Lamborghini, every Pagani, and the Spyker C8. There are more, but i'd like to move on.
Now by now you may be thinking that somebody could still say an everyday car could be a hypercar by these standards. To cure this, I've decided that a car must first qualify to be a supercar before it can become a hypercar. Now becoming a supercar is still mainly reliant on numbers, so we'll stick to the established supercars.
So there, I've just given a comprehensive to a question nobody is asking.
But the way I see it, the difference shouldn't be in the numbers. It should be in how the cars feels. In order to be a hypercar, you must be laughing and enjoying yourself while driving it, regardless which way you're facing. However, you are probably saying "Oh well on that basis a Ford Focus ST is a hypercar then because it's fun to drive!", but no, I'm not finished. A Hypercar must also exhibit a certain level of lunacy and ridiculousness. The Italians tend to be very good at this, hence Lamborghini and Pagani (I know the owner of Pagani is Argentinian). Cars that fit this bill include pretty well every Lamborghini, every Pagani, and the Spyker C8. There are more, but i'd like to move on.
Now by now you may be thinking that somebody could still say an everyday car could be a hypercar by these standards. To cure this, I've decided that a car must first qualify to be a supercar before it can become a hypercar. Now becoming a supercar is still mainly reliant on numbers, so we'll stick to the established supercars.
So there, I've just given a comprehensive to a question nobody is asking.
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