As a pure coincidence, I was at the 'Ring for the first time 2 weeks ago and I can safely say that track familiarity is more important than ultimate raw skill. There are over 150 turns, 13+ miles, and about 1000 ft of elevation changes. My sim (GT5) time and video watching did very little to prepare me. Think Road Atlanta, Road America, Laguna Seca, Sears point all wrapped in one, nly more elvation change, more blind corners, less runoff and more turns. It is clear to me that a key to a fast lap is knowing where you can hang the car out at very high speed, as many places allow running WOT for over a kilometer at a time, but that is through blind sweepers with bumps and huge elevation changes that you need to be prepared for.
Get a turn wrong? Provided you don't leave the track and hit a guardrail, it will be at least 7+ minutes before you can try it again and you have to negotiate 150 turns to get there, with the fatigue that can come with it. Epic difficulty to learn this track.
Put the Michelin slicks on an ACR-X and be fast and brave and I bet a 7:00 flat is possible. The 599 FX did a bit under that and the lap I watched was not perfect.
That said, you'll have to have the stones to run very fast, with no real margin for error in bumpy, twisty areas at over 160 mph. The last straight that heads toward the F1 track is proably 185 mph or more in an X (drag may be an issue, as well as gearing).
If Ben can get familiar enough to make a hard record run, my hat is off to him. He certainly has the skills for a fast lap, but I like to think I do too. Despite that confidence, I'd probably want to run at least a week before I'd even consider a record run at the 'Ring, and even then I think I'd have a high risk of crashing. I am simply not qualified to run any where near record pace at the 'Ring.
The graffiti is largely from the 24 hour race fans, who have access to the track before one of the most well-attended races in the world - I am told 250,000 or so go to this race.
In Europe, road racing is a big deal, unlike the US. I wish I knew why or how to make road racing popular here. If Golf can be made exciting, why not road racing?
Let's hope a SAFE record run comes of this. I say that because during my trip there were fatalities the Sunday before and Sunday after my vist during the Touristenfahrten sessions and crashes almost every lap I drove.
