I attended an HPDE at COTA last month with The Drivers Edge and I'll share my experience here in case anyone else is doing homework in preparation for this monster like I did.
First off, this track is extremely technical and the fastest track I've been on by far but it is also the funnest and my personal favorite now that I've got to know it. It is so wide that it gives drivers multiple ways to take certain sections and none are right or wrong for the most part so you see a huge variation in drive lines. Make sure to respect this track though, 4 cars that weekend left in much smaller form then when they arrived and on flat bed wreckers. Luckily nobody got hurt but a Ferrari, GTR, Corvette, and a Porshe all met the junk yard that weekend. A few more had off track excursions with minor damage and half a dozen or so were done in by mechanical failures which leads me to my next point.
This track is hard on wareables, especially brakes. I upgraded to Ferodo DS2500's which are a 1000 degree pad and they held up amazingly well as far as fade but I did overheat them by the end as I got faster. They ended up smearing on my rotors from the heat and I had to have the rotors turned later and throw away the pads which were crystalized and cooked. For a track like this you'll want a full race pad like Carbotech XP8's minimum.
OK, into the good stuff.
Turn 1
I was hitting around 120mph coming down the front straight and don't be deceived, you can brake quite late here due to the uphill climb. Some people like to hug the far right of the track here but I found that the track was wide enough I didn't need to do that and came in more on the center of the track. This is a hairpin and you can take it in 2nd or 3rd gear but I prefer 3rd and I'll tell you why. Charging back down the hill you pick up speed and you pick it up fast. I found that if I dropped all the way to 2nd it threw off my timing trying to shift while accelerating through T2 and I wanted to be in 4th before going into T2 not trying to shift while in the turn. Try it both ways and see what you like. Make sure to come all the way back left before entering T2. BEWARE, at the top of T1 it flattens out if you go to deep and this can upset the car and cause a spin.
Turn 2
I saw some people late apex this constantly and I always ate their lunch going into the S's. Apex this turn normally and point the car down track and roll into full throttle and track all the way out. This is all while coming down the hill so you won't have to steer to track out much the car will float down there on its own. DONT fight it and try to come back to the right to enter the S's, you'll oversteer and end up in the wall. Let the car come to the left all the way and then come back center a smidge just before entering T3 and the S's.
Turn 3-4-5 aka the S's (4th gear)
This is a decreasing radius set of turns and everyone has their way of doing them. Some say brake in between turn 3 and 4 to set the front and then aim down the middle when you see 4 and 5 lineup. I personally set the front end with a brake tap just before entering T3 and then maintenance throttled through while trying to straighten them up as much as possible. Coming out of turn 5 you should be starting to accelerate in preparation for what my instructor called the "straight away" of T6-11.
Turn 6
Turn 6 is uphill and blind so it will kinda throw you off until you get used to it. The trick for me that I learned from watching my instructor was to cut turn 6 really tight so that you drive over the rumble strips almost the entire way around. Doing this the strips help pull your car around the corner letting you carry great speed. People in front of me that tried to late apex it always ended up slower.
Turn 7 and 8 (downshift to 3rd for turn 8 to drive up the hill)
This one is another one that I saw many variations of. Some late apexed to set them up far left to enter turn 8 but from what I saw that always ended up slower and more work. My line was to tap the brake to set the front end and give lots of throttle pushing me to the far right for turn 8. I'd then straddle the rumble strips and maintain speed which sets you up for far greater exit speed going into turn 9 than if you had late apexed 7.
Turn 9 and 10
These are standard corners, nothing fancy. Once you round out turn 9 you'll be full throttle and still full throttle going into T10 and tracking out. You'll be in 5th gear on this straight.
Turn 11
Some say the most important turns on the track are the ones leading to the biggest straights, and this is a BIGGIE. The track is so wide here don't bother tracking all the way right for entering T11, middle will do. You'll be heel/toeing all the way down to 2nd gear here. Now pull out a kindle or check your email for the longest straight on the track. No really, take a breather and relax here and watch your speeds for giggles. I maxed out 5th gear on this straight at around 143mph, dont bother with 6th lol.
Turn 12
SUPER heavy braking zone here, don't overshoot and you'll be fine. You *could* go to 2nd gear here if you were out to get your best time, but I found that 3rd was enough grunt for me. Track out and come right back to the left in time for 13 and stay in 3rd gear through 13-15.
Turn 13-15
This is a really odd section and another one where you'll see 5 ways to do it. I usually just straight line braked for 13, track all the way out left, apexed 14 and then shoot really deep towards the jumbotron you'll see in the background. You can go wide or middle going deep setting up for 15, I did it both ways and found I didn't really make up my mind what I liked better.
Turn 16-17-18
This is a very fast sweeper and a hell of alot of fun. You'll be shifting to 4th coming into it and steering with throttle is the name of the game here. My instructor like to say the turn was the sexy lady and you need to dance with her. We'd enter the turn and he'd say LETS DANCE! You won't apex 16 but instead apex 17 and straighten up a little to drive you deeper left before rotating the car a little more to carry in to apex 18 and then track out left. Be super careful on this one, there's lots of rubber marbles and stuff if you get too far left here and you can easily start a 4 wheel drift here, trust me I know. You'll track out left after 18 and then immediately get to to the right and brake and downshift to 3rd for turn 19.
Turn 19
This one is deceptive. It is a off camber turn and I saw several people go off here or spin. Treat it with respect and you'll be fine to get back on gas, shift to 4th and charge at turn 20.
Turn 20
This is a standard turn heading to the 2nd longest straight on the track. You'll be dropping back down to 2nd again here. Don't freak out if you run out of track a little tracking out here, there's a good amount of run off. This is where the GTR ate it, they overcooked it and instead of just going 4 off he gave it gas and figured he'd let the computers fix it. WRONG, ate the left wall, dead GTR.
And that's it! Again, this is my personal opinion after learning this track. Different drivers, different cars, different power levels, different gears, might have plenty of other views and like I said this track is so big there's several "right" ways that you can do it.
My Car:
2015 GT PP
BMR Cradle Lockout CB005
Steeda CAI
FRPP Sport Catback
Forgestar F14's 19X10 squared
Bridgestone Potenza RE11's 285/35/19 (Found 29PSI cold to be the sweet spot)
Ferodo DS2500's in front, stock PP pads in the rear
ATE Super Blue DOT4 Fluid
Bobs Oil Catch Can
Full Tilt Boogie Racing Shifter Bracket
Alignment was pushed to the max aggressiveness within the OEM specs
I was there with my Dad who has a red C6 Z06 who you will see in these video's. He passed me on the first day but I got much faster on day 2
He's running Bilstein shocks, Toyo R888 tires, and Carbotech XP8's on all corners. Also there with us was a guy with a V8 Miata full race prepped, and a guy with a 67 GT350. Other cars there included everything from Vettes to Vipers to Porche's to McLarens and Ferrari's and Lambo's!
These were my last 2 and fastest sessions
[video=youtube;eVFOkpwKC9k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFOkpwKC9k[/video]
I was approved Solo for my last session which was with the sunset. It was beautiful!
[video=youtube;v1mdJEqQjvE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1mdJEqQjvE[/video]
And here's a bonus session where my instructor drove my car. He drives and races a FR500C!
[video=youtube;yQAdmCtlQ7w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQAdmCtlQ7w[/video]
Please feel free to ask questions. I have a lot more pics if anyone is interested. Hope this helps someone get ready for a great time!
First off, this track is extremely technical and the fastest track I've been on by far but it is also the funnest and my personal favorite now that I've got to know it. It is so wide that it gives drivers multiple ways to take certain sections and none are right or wrong for the most part so you see a huge variation in drive lines. Make sure to respect this track though, 4 cars that weekend left in much smaller form then when they arrived and on flat bed wreckers. Luckily nobody got hurt but a Ferrari, GTR, Corvette, and a Porshe all met the junk yard that weekend. A few more had off track excursions with minor damage and half a dozen or so were done in by mechanical failures which leads me to my next point.
This track is hard on wareables, especially brakes. I upgraded to Ferodo DS2500's which are a 1000 degree pad and they held up amazingly well as far as fade but I did overheat them by the end as I got faster. They ended up smearing on my rotors from the heat and I had to have the rotors turned later and throw away the pads which were crystalized and cooked. For a track like this you'll want a full race pad like Carbotech XP8's minimum.
OK, into the good stuff.
Turn 1
I was hitting around 120mph coming down the front straight and don't be deceived, you can brake quite late here due to the uphill climb. Some people like to hug the far right of the track here but I found that the track was wide enough I didn't need to do that and came in more on the center of the track. This is a hairpin and you can take it in 2nd or 3rd gear but I prefer 3rd and I'll tell you why. Charging back down the hill you pick up speed and you pick it up fast. I found that if I dropped all the way to 2nd it threw off my timing trying to shift while accelerating through T2 and I wanted to be in 4th before going into T2 not trying to shift while in the turn. Try it both ways and see what you like. Make sure to come all the way back left before entering T2. BEWARE, at the top of T1 it flattens out if you go to deep and this can upset the car and cause a spin.
Turn 2
I saw some people late apex this constantly and I always ate their lunch going into the S's. Apex this turn normally and point the car down track and roll into full throttle and track all the way out. This is all while coming down the hill so you won't have to steer to track out much the car will float down there on its own. DONT fight it and try to come back to the right to enter the S's, you'll oversteer and end up in the wall. Let the car come to the left all the way and then come back center a smidge just before entering T3 and the S's.
Turn 3-4-5 aka the S's (4th gear)
This is a decreasing radius set of turns and everyone has their way of doing them. Some say brake in between turn 3 and 4 to set the front and then aim down the middle when you see 4 and 5 lineup. I personally set the front end with a brake tap just before entering T3 and then maintenance throttled through while trying to straighten them up as much as possible. Coming out of turn 5 you should be starting to accelerate in preparation for what my instructor called the "straight away" of T6-11.
Turn 6
Turn 6 is uphill and blind so it will kinda throw you off until you get used to it. The trick for me that I learned from watching my instructor was to cut turn 6 really tight so that you drive over the rumble strips almost the entire way around. Doing this the strips help pull your car around the corner letting you carry great speed. People in front of me that tried to late apex it always ended up slower.
Turn 7 and 8 (downshift to 3rd for turn 8 to drive up the hill)
This one is another one that I saw many variations of. Some late apexed to set them up far left to enter turn 8 but from what I saw that always ended up slower and more work. My line was to tap the brake to set the front end and give lots of throttle pushing me to the far right for turn 8. I'd then straddle the rumble strips and maintain speed which sets you up for far greater exit speed going into turn 9 than if you had late apexed 7.
Turn 9 and 10
These are standard corners, nothing fancy. Once you round out turn 9 you'll be full throttle and still full throttle going into T10 and tracking out. You'll be in 5th gear on this straight.
Turn 11
Some say the most important turns on the track are the ones leading to the biggest straights, and this is a BIGGIE. The track is so wide here don't bother tracking all the way right for entering T11, middle will do. You'll be heel/toeing all the way down to 2nd gear here. Now pull out a kindle or check your email for the longest straight on the track. No really, take a breather and relax here and watch your speeds for giggles. I maxed out 5th gear on this straight at around 143mph, dont bother with 6th lol.
Turn 12
SUPER heavy braking zone here, don't overshoot and you'll be fine. You *could* go to 2nd gear here if you were out to get your best time, but I found that 3rd was enough grunt for me. Track out and come right back to the left in time for 13 and stay in 3rd gear through 13-15.
Turn 13-15
This is a really odd section and another one where you'll see 5 ways to do it. I usually just straight line braked for 13, track all the way out left, apexed 14 and then shoot really deep towards the jumbotron you'll see in the background. You can go wide or middle going deep setting up for 15, I did it both ways and found I didn't really make up my mind what I liked better.
Turn 16-17-18
This is a very fast sweeper and a hell of alot of fun. You'll be shifting to 4th coming into it and steering with throttle is the name of the game here. My instructor like to say the turn was the sexy lady and you need to dance with her. We'd enter the turn and he'd say LETS DANCE! You won't apex 16 but instead apex 17 and straighten up a little to drive you deeper left before rotating the car a little more to carry in to apex 18 and then track out left. Be super careful on this one, there's lots of rubber marbles and stuff if you get too far left here and you can easily start a 4 wheel drift here, trust me I know. You'll track out left after 18 and then immediately get to to the right and brake and downshift to 3rd for turn 19.
Turn 19
This one is deceptive. It is a off camber turn and I saw several people go off here or spin. Treat it with respect and you'll be fine to get back on gas, shift to 4th and charge at turn 20.
Turn 20
This is a standard turn heading to the 2nd longest straight on the track. You'll be dropping back down to 2nd again here. Don't freak out if you run out of track a little tracking out here, there's a good amount of run off. This is where the GTR ate it, they overcooked it and instead of just going 4 off he gave it gas and figured he'd let the computers fix it. WRONG, ate the left wall, dead GTR.
And that's it! Again, this is my personal opinion after learning this track. Different drivers, different cars, different power levels, different gears, might have plenty of other views and like I said this track is so big there's several "right" ways that you can do it.
My Car:
2015 GT PP
BMR Cradle Lockout CB005
Steeda CAI
FRPP Sport Catback
Forgestar F14's 19X10 squared
Bridgestone Potenza RE11's 285/35/19 (Found 29PSI cold to be the sweet spot)
Ferodo DS2500's in front, stock PP pads in the rear
ATE Super Blue DOT4 Fluid
Bobs Oil Catch Can
Full Tilt Boogie Racing Shifter Bracket
Alignment was pushed to the max aggressiveness within the OEM specs
I was there with my Dad who has a red C6 Z06 who you will see in these video's. He passed me on the first day but I got much faster on day 2
He's running Bilstein shocks, Toyo R888 tires, and Carbotech XP8's on all corners. Also there with us was a guy with a V8 Miata full race prepped, and a guy with a 67 GT350. Other cars there included everything from Vettes to Vipers to Porche's to McLarens and Ferrari's and Lambo's!These were my last 2 and fastest sessions
[video=youtube;eVFOkpwKC9k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFOkpwKC9k[/video]
I was approved Solo for my last session which was with the sunset. It was beautiful!
[video=youtube;v1mdJEqQjvE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1mdJEqQjvE[/video]
And here's a bonus session where my instructor drove my car. He drives and races a FR500C!
[video=youtube;yQAdmCtlQ7w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQAdmCtlQ7w[/video]
Please feel free to ask questions. I have a lot more pics if anyone is interested. Hope this helps someone get ready for a great time!
Last edited:
