RAW | join me onboard the ferocious Sauber C9 Mercedes for a few laps of testing at Donington Park

Автокөліктер мен көлік құралдары

Just stumbled across this footage on my laptop from a shakedown test at Donington Park back in 2021 in one of my all-time dream race cars, the sensational Sauber Mercedes C9 Group C Le Mans car, at that time recently restored by MotoHistorics in the UK, an exceptional historic race preparer. Public test days at Donington are open to all and any race cars and licence holders, so sything between Radicals, Ford Ka's and Porsche GTs certainly kept my attention! Overall I remember just being blown away by the performance of the car: so much raw power and extremely competent handling for its age - similar in so many ways to contemporary Le Mans prototypes, but of course lacking the driver aids we take for granted nowadays such as traction control, paddle-shift and power steering. This leaves the driver with a LOT to manage and it was thirsty work for sure, with my neck in particular struggling towards the end of the day. Some of you will notice that I'm not super- consistent with my gear selection or apexes or lines and so on - sometimes these are just small mistakes, the kind that are easy to make when you're dialling into an unfamilar car for the first time, others are deliberate mini-experiments just to help me learn what the car likes and responds favourably to. Towards the end of the run I get a clear lap or two, without any traffic to navigate and you can see how the car just LOVES being let off its leash. Softer braking, higher apex speeds, smoother steering input... all unlock an even higher performance window where the car seems to just inhale the road ahead. I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed recording it:)
A Ford Ka! 03:17
It's busy out there: 04:01
Fastest lap of the run starts at: 05:48

Пікірлер: 64

  • @rofufoja
    @rofufoja Жыл бұрын

    A beast to be tamed. Makes Donington look like a tiny circuit. It barely has a chance to stretch its legs. Simply amazing and thank you for sharing with us!

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    Pleasure, glad you enjoyed it:)

  • @user-vo9pn3sn1x

    @user-vo9pn3sn1x

    Жыл бұрын

    Great driving Sam, I wish it had a passenger seat so you could take me for a ride. The engine sounds amazing!

  • @dedge12858
    @dedge128587 ай бұрын

    Imagine you've taken your Ford Ka for a shakedown and one of these flies up your inside at the old hairpin. Absolutely glorious footage.

  • @imsa15463
    @imsa15463 Жыл бұрын

    C9 with telemetry driven in anger at donington. You sir earned my sub today. Love the channel just found you. Thank you for sharing. More please :)

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks and welcome to the channel:)

  • @MachoMadness69420
    @MachoMadness694209 ай бұрын

    Love the fact there’s an old Ford KA on the track at the same time as this beast 😂😂

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    9 ай бұрын

    Ha, i didn’t!;)

  • @justinlehnert9667
    @justinlehnert9667 Жыл бұрын

    The mid range acceleration is really insane.

  • @panno675
    @panno675Ай бұрын

    This footage is absolute gold, never thought a c9 could be so rapid in fast weeping corners

  • @johnnywinstone
    @johnnywinstone Жыл бұрын

    Perfectly filmed onboard, IMHO. Very enjoyable camera view point and engine sound. Thanks also for the written insight too; most helpful.

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @SRAMEK
    @SRAMEK3 ай бұрын

    What a beast..The C9 a C11 are my all time favourite racecars.

  • @xWILZTAx
    @xWILZTAx Жыл бұрын

    You're a very lucky boy, I'd give my right bollock for a few laps behind the wheel.

  • @berca76
    @berca76 Жыл бұрын

    Holy sh*** 250kmh through Craner Curves to Old Hairpin 😲

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    ;)

  • @mo-r-racing
    @mo-r-racing8 ай бұрын

    lapping 7 seconds quicker than my SR3. damn. It must be nice to experience that relentless power.

  • @danwebster4130
    @danwebster4130 Жыл бұрын

    Thats tremendous. 150mph through the craners is insane 😎

  • @danwebster4130

    @danwebster4130

    Жыл бұрын

    woops I accidentally clicked the dislike button and then unclicked it....rest assured I DO NOT DISLIKE THIS!

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    Ha;) No worries!

  • @joshuachipling6923
    @joshuachipling6923 Жыл бұрын

    You are one lucky guy. That sound coming into the hairpin gave me goosebumps.

  • @jblovell9065
    @jblovell90653 ай бұрын

    Beast is an understatement

  • @philippemadore843
    @philippemadore843 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for the ride,that was absolutely epic

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it

  • @marcusFZ6
    @marcusFZ6 Жыл бұрын

    What a crazy car just in terms of how quickly it's get from anything to over 200 in a blink of a few gears. Not many corners approached where the speed was 200 or more.

  • @berca76
    @berca76 Жыл бұрын

    I accidentally clicked the like button at leat 60x. Sorry for that! Anyway fuc*ing amazing video! I love C9 and C11 so much!

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks a lot!;)

  • @Sassenhaim
    @Sassenhaim6 ай бұрын

    I saw the track shaped like a whale eating krill, hmm isnt this Donnington. Then i read the description 😂😂 Thanks for sharing such an amazing view and ride , kudos🤙🤙🤙🤙

  • @mortythealien2783
    @mortythealien2783 Жыл бұрын

    what a beast!

  • @mantasisganaitis2281
    @mantasisganaitis2281 Жыл бұрын

    Wonderful drive. One of the best race cars ever. And I sometimes think that it might be the best one.

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    It's def gotta be up there hasn't it

  • @Kikos_Garage
    @Kikos_Garage5 ай бұрын

    That’s a whole lot of car to be ripping around, looking like the boss! Very nice drive @samhancock!

  • @iamconstantlyhungry
    @iamconstantlyhungry3 ай бұрын

    awesome fast 💨 ride 😮

  • @weeman2727
    @weeman2727 Жыл бұрын

    What a car, what a noise, what a circuit 🫡

  • @montydrewett673
    @montydrewett673 Жыл бұрын

    thats got to be the quickest thing i've ever seen go around donnington

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    It def felt like being on 'fast forward'

  • @erikbritz8095
    @erikbritz80952 ай бұрын

    *monstrously fast*

  • @Milkydrummer
    @Milkydrummer19 күн бұрын

    I can’t imagine taking such a fast car around a circuit like donnington….

  • @gianlucar.4428
    @gianlucar.4428 Жыл бұрын

    Well done Sam.. Beautiful

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @seelow12
    @seelow125 ай бұрын

    Very nice

  • @willknowler8194
    @willknowler819410 ай бұрын

    Be cool if you have some Barcelona test footage for this car. Top work

  • @mcwriter007
    @mcwriter0076 ай бұрын

    Go Big Dog go! Let nothing stand in your way!

  • @schumi3319
    @schumi3319Ай бұрын

    Cette voiture et ce moteur sont fabuleux !!!

  • @vonPelger
    @vonPelger8 ай бұрын

    1:23,1 is a damn good time

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    8 ай бұрын

    We went a bit quicker than that later on in the day;)

  • @vonPelger

    @vonPelger

    8 ай бұрын

    @@hancock_sam it seems to me that these are vintage slicks? Or are these actually more special tyres? Thanks for your reply 😁

  • @paideadwing
    @paideadwing10 ай бұрын

    MEGA FOOTAGE! Thank you so much for this. Got a question: do you know how much boost you were running on the engine and an estimate of the horsepower it was outputting? I know that it could go over 900 bhp with boost at max 1.2 bar, but you probably ran it winded down to something lower?

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    10 ай бұрын

    Good question, I’m not sure as this was a while ago, but about 900bhp sounds about right.

  • @retardno002
    @retardno0023 ай бұрын

    Driving this? I'd piss my pants if I saw it pop up my Ford Ka's rearview mirror, let alone drive it. Thank you for the video!

  • @EverythingAutomotive13
    @EverythingAutomotive13 Жыл бұрын

    Sam thank you for sharing amazing! 2.6G at 250KPH!

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    My pleasure!!

  • @jeshkam
    @jeshkam Жыл бұрын

    So jealous...BTW are you going to this years' 24h LM?

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    I’ll certainly do the Le Mans classic, but sadly not the modern 24h!

  • @geoffdeller7747
    @geoffdeller7747 Жыл бұрын

    That's the go,,,,, H pattern gearbox and heal and toe. I'd like to see some of the kiddies try that.

  • @RacingWithChuck27
    @RacingWithChuck2711 ай бұрын

    Why turbo boost were you running

  • @jodyjo_gd3
    @jodyjo_gd35 ай бұрын

    Different subject but I saw the sound update for this car in the new Forza Motorsport and the game is nowhere near close to this beautiful sound!

  • Ай бұрын

    0:24 that was a little pig 🤣

  • @DouglasJWalker
    @DouglasJWalker Жыл бұрын

    😀

  • @cyoann8050
    @cyoann8050 Жыл бұрын

    Porn as always my dear Sam, instant like

  • @hancock_sam

    @hancock_sam

    Жыл бұрын

    ;))

  • @marylouknipe1290
    @marylouknipe1290 Жыл бұрын

    😢 'Promo SM'

  • @themardybum08
    @themardybum087 ай бұрын

    Lol the poor sod in a Ford Ka doing his best to stay out of trouble.

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