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We all know what happens when a racing car takes on a road car around a race track
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except in this case we've come up with a slightly different take on that challenge
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because the Hyundai i30n road car and its sister WTCR racer might well be closely related in
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branding and fundamental design but in reality they're completely different animals from one
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another. The racing i30n which won the world touring car championship outright in 2018 and
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which costs three and a half times as much as its road-going cousin
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has 350 bhp, can do 0-60 in less than five seconds, wears slick tyres and weighs well under 1,300 kilograms
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Whereas the i30N we already know is one of the quickest, most focused hot hatchbacks money can buy
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But it still wouldn't stand a chance over a single lap beside its racing brother
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So, for today, the challenge will simply be this. Can the racer complete seven laps of the Tazio Nuvolari circuit
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just outside Milan in northern Italy before the road car can complete six laps
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So it'll be me driving the i30N road car and my friend Mr Dickie Meaden driving the racing car
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Lucky sod. But do you know what I reckon I got half a chance here because we already spent a lot of time in the i30N at Evo and we know that it is a proper weapon of a hot hatch For this I am going to be in N mode and I going to have the TC and the ESP switched off because it is just faster
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I think I need to get a little bit of practice in and I'm going to leave it to my friend Mr Meaden to talk you through the racing car
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Clearly, I want to beat Steve in this race. I've never driven this car before, but this man has
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Can you explain the best way to drive this car? The most important thing is to build your confidence slowly
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This is because we don't have tyre warmers, so you will probably need one or two laps
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Only at that point you can start to attack. Also, an important thing is to have a good launch
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And there's quite a specific method or technique to this. So the technique is that you stop, you select first gear, you still have the clutch pressed
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then you start to pull the handbrake. So you build a preload with the clutch
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you need to press the launch button. As soon as you want to start, you just release the handbrake
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and you come off the clutch, and you need to hold the launch button up to the point where you shift to second gear
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The biggest time gain will be under braking and in the corners compared to the road car
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Well, thank you for the tips. You're welcome. Steve, I'm coming to get you. Time to find out
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Right here we go 280 horsepower versus 350 and also the racing car weighs we worked
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out about 300 and something kilograms less than the road car. So it has got the e-diff and it does work well, you've got to commit to the throttle
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in order to hook the diff up. I've got six laps, that's a fast speed
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I'm not sure if I'm going to do it. So it's just about being neat and tidy, that's first lap and I absolutely, I've got no idea
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where he is. Where is he, where is he, where is he
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It's such a good feeling when you get this car turning and it's squeezed on the power
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Right, let's give it some proper commitment through here. My lord. Gearing's quite short
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Which actually works quite well on this track. It kind of flies up the revs
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Brakes are standing up to it. And this is a proper heavy braking circuit
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This is such a strange race. Since the start I haven't seen Steve
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Three volt to go. The brakes are so good when you really hit the pedal hard
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It's so much harder than you would in a road car. It's fast for that
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So much fun. Where is he? I like the fact that I can't see him
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All gear. All gear. These tyres must be going off as well
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I love the way it turns into these slick tyres So much weight
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Oh, sugar. He's catching me. 15 seconds a lap is the difference, pretty much, between these two cars
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What do I do? I could just become a total mobile chicane so that he can get past me
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Oh, no, that's just scrappy, Sutcliffe. What are you doing? Oh, no, he's just going to do me out of the last corner
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I don't believe this. I do not believe this
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Nice to see you. Congratulations. Congratulations. The road I30N might have been beaten just
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but I thought it was fantastic to drive around this circuit. Genuinely, it was a blast to drive
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but in the end the fearsome WTCR i30N was just a bit too tasty for the road-going i30N to handle
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mind you i got to drive the road car straight back to the airport whereas Dickie still had
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to put his car back in the truck and go through all that other palaver either way it was as they
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say, a great day out at the races
