The Fast Lap

T1L: Coming out of the last corner before the start finish straight, it is as always very important to make sure that you carry as much speed as possible out of the corner with you onto the straight. Stay on the outside line all over to the right hand side of the track as you accelerate down the straight ,and go up the gears; 3rd through 4th and then 5th. As soon as you’ve selected 5th gear, start the turn in to the left-hand kink, putting your left-hand side tires onto the kerbing. It will be almost impossible to keep the car to the left-hand side of the track after this turn because the speed will tend to carry the car towards the right. To combat this tendency, feather the throttle a bit when apexing T1. If you go wide, nudge the car gently towards the left as you will need to enter the next turn from the left side of the track.

Then it’s time to apply the brakes as hard as you dare before turning in to T2R.

T2R: This turn is very bumpy and it is quite tricky to keep the car settled and staying in control over it through this section. The only cure that works is by not being too fast! This turn rewards a slightly early turn-in, which means you almost slide the car into the turn in 3rd gear, aiming to use the kerbs a bit. It takes some practice to get this half-way right because even if I call it a slide, you must be clean, smooth and above all not overdo the sliding bit, as the car is very nervous here.

T3R: As soon as you have cleared T2R, T3R is upon you. You can accelerate gently away from T2R and maintain a smooth acceleration through T3R, as long as you are attentive to any tendencies in your car for the rear-wheels to loose their grip. A bit of steering help from the rear axle is most welcome. What this means is that while you accelerate, the car will help you complete the turn by rotating a bit over the rear-wheels. You can feel it in the way the car is almost, but only almost spinning out.

The short straight leading up to T4L should see you hit top revs in 3rd half-way down the straight, so it is possible to go to 4th gear before having to brake again for the next turn.

T4L: T4L is a 200 – 220-degree turn, which I take in 2nd gear in order to be able to maximize the acceleration out of this turn.

Exiting the turn you accelerate gently and efficiently, which really just means as fast as you can without experiencing wheelspin or having any big sideways moments, as such dramas always cost you a lot of time.

T5L: T5L is really more a fast kink than a proper turn but it is extremely challenging and very god fun too as it tightens a bit. It is a bit of a challenge getting through here as fast as possible. Coming from the acceleration phase out of the previous turn you are in 4th gear and now you have to lift off a bit – about halfway through the latter part of the kink. The road not only falls away from you ever so slightly, the turn also tightens up here. The car is very light and very sensitive to any input to steering wheel and pedals. Try picking up the throttle very briefly when you are in the same position as the car in the image below.

There is a reason why Emerson Fittipaldi once said that driving a racing car is like flying low over the ground!

You want to be positioned exactly right, on the left-hand side of the track before entering Complex 1 which consists of Turns 6R and 7L, and the turns should be straightlined as much as possible.

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