So going into 5, I'm entering at 120, acceling after apex, light braking to load front left, cutting in and getting on through 6 and revving out to 3rd for turn 7.
Where do you figure I can improve here?
1 and 2 I know is a disaster. I'm hesitant about full sending it through 1 like Joe and Cole do (*especially* when they're in the Fit).
Should I be turning in there normally, or late apexing like I should be doing though 7 and 8?
Also, thank you so much for the video!
Having videos from outside is always good, and what I miss the most, as it is the only way to ensure I am doing what I think I am doing (...but I am hitting the apex, I am sure...)
Remember that you should ALWAYS work on three things to improve your times, in this exact order:
1- Line (is the car where it should be?)
2- Corner Exit Speed (am I maximizing the entry speed into the straight?)
3- Corner Entry Speed (am I maximizing the speed I got during the straight for as long as I can without screwing up the mid-corner - and the exit speed from said corner?)
If you look at the video and check where my car is and where your car was, you will see that our lines are "crossing" in the middle and you never reach a good positioning for corner exit.
Turn 1: you are passing miles from the apex, and finishing miles from the corner exit (that cone by the starter, on the left). it "feels" safe because you are away from all walls, but it is slow and you end up making the car turn more than it needs before/during this turn. Turn 1, despite being a "fast" turn, it is actually a pretty mild one.
Turn 2: Because you are starting from the middle of the track, it becomes much tighter than it needs to be, and will delay your ability to hit the gas earlier in the turn.
My advice here: Break before the turn in, steady gas through the turn trying to hit the apex (but not too close, there is a bump there that might upset the rear), straight line from there pointing to the exit cone, use that "straight" to break hard, or as hard as you need to make the apex on turn two, and open up the gas as soon as you are sure you will hit the apex. Adjust/adapt for your car's behaviour (on-throttle-oversteer RWD, for example)
Turn 5/6: you can't do turn 5 without thinking of turn 6... five is a compromise turn, where you have to sacrifice a bit to set you up for the best possible speed getting out of 6 (because of the long straight afterwards). The way to ensure this, is to make 6 as "straight" as possible, perfect entry, apex and exit positions. Without teleportation, you can't be at the best exit position for 5 and best entry position for 6 on the same lap: they are at the exact opposites of the track.
Best way to tackle this combo is to start turning early for 5, with a REALLY late apex (as in, the apex and the corner exit point are the same), and stay there because turn 6 is about to start. For me, because of the FWD, I usually do a quick feathering on the brakes just to load the front and get the dead-assay to swing the load from right to left and it is back on the gas up until the 100m mark for turn 7.
You are getting into 5 with a good speed, but washing out to the right at corner exit, which puts you in an awkward position to take turn 6, and completely compromises your corner exit speed on the fastest straight we have in this track.
Try these things next event: stay on the right line, even if you need to slow down to 7/10th to build up confidence in the position and attitude of the car, and then start building up exit speed. Last thing to work on is entry speed: least amount of gain for the most amount of risk.
