CHRIS CURVE/GOOSENECK
Turns 5-7
Chris Curve feels like it goes on forever. It’s all about your positioning and arrival for the Gooseneck. Keeping the throttle pinned all the way round and having the car squirm underneath you will put you out of shape. So while you may have gained a small margin in terminal speed, you’ll be in a pickle for the next corner. You have to feed the power on smoothly and be prepared to correct the steering as it’s not one input.
When you’re powering on, you’re taking lock off to let the car run out wider to the far left as it accelerates. Throttle control is so crucial here.
The Gooseneck comes at you quickly. The trick is knowing how much speed to take off for the right-hander, which dictates how much you carry through the left. If you’re massively on the power on exit, then you’ve scrubbed too much off at the entry. You need to be smooth on entry and not take the car by the scruff of the neck. The SR8 has huge downforce, so it was a very fast section of track for us, with a quick shift down to third.
HALL BENDS 07 Turn 11-14
Hall Bends is a technical section. Back in the day you could sneak a bit of the pit exit on the left before you turn in to the first right-hander to open it out a bit more. Now that’s probably frowned upon.
As you go into the corners, everything is higher than you – all the buildings and spectator banks – so it almost feels like you’re headed into a valley. That makes the section feel tighter than it is.
But this whole section is about attacking and using the kerbs to help find the right line. I stay in third and balance the throttle here. It’s where you’re least likely to be overtaken, so you can concentrate a bit more on your line. This whole section is about making sure the car is in a straight line for the Hairpin.
HAIRPIN/BARN 08 Turns 15-16
If you’ve messed up Hall Bends and the car is loaded left or right, you’re likely to lock up and not make the apex for the Hairpin, or even end up in the tyres. It’s hard on the brakes and down to first for the tightest corner on the track. There’s no runoff, so you can’t afford to get it wrong on the way in or the way out. The corner is downhill, so it can spit you out if you’ve got it really wrong.
The track goes downhill more steeply the further you get towards Barn, and that turn will always throw in understeer on the exit because of the way it drops away from you. It’s a very important turn, because you need the drive out to get the best run down the straight. Keeping the car balanced as best you can is key, as is getting back on the power nice and early. You can pick up the left-front if the car isn’t positioned right and that means you have to wait to get back on full power. The corner does open up on exit, so you can head in with second gear, then quickly shift up to third and carry the momentum all the way back down the straight.