A Lap Of The Lake With Brighty
1/3/2004 16:27 (Press Release) -
Jason Bright knows his way around the Albert Park grand prix track - he's been racing there in a V8 Supercar since 1998, winning three of the six races staged there in the past two years. The Gippsland-born racer loves to turn it on for his "home" town and hopes to add to his trophy cabinet this weekend in the Netspace V8 Supercar Challenge.
Here is a hot "Lap of the Lake" as seen from inside Bright's #50 PWR Racing Commodore:
"A fast lap around Albert Park starts with a good run past the start/finish line on Aughtie Drive, where you reach up to 250km/h before braking around the pedestrian bridge and threading into the first right-hander. It's one of the most critical braking areas and you usually pick third gear because you want to carry as much speed through the corner as possible to set up for the next section.
"There are many overtaking opportunities at Albert Park, because it drives more like a road course than a traditional street circuit - such as the Clipsal 500 or Indy - where the walls are never too far away. The first corner and the quick flick left that follows is your first chance, grabbing fourth gear while you're still opening up.
"If you carry your corner speed well you can set up behind someone to sneak up the inside at Turn 3, in front of the Aquatic Centre. You exit Turn 2 at the right of the track and work your way back to the left, being careful of a crest in the track as you approach the braking area. The crest, a slight curve and a little bit of camber makes it easy to lock the inside wheels.
"Take second gear as you pull into the right-hander, then you've got a good set of corners coming up around the top of the lake. Grab third as you accelerate into the left-hander, and fourth gear before the right-hander at Turn 5. This is a very quick corner with not a lot of run-off, and quite blind, too. It takes a fair bit of commitment to get it right.
"The next little straight weaves and winds under all the trees. If it's been raining it's the last place to dry, and it's quite dark and hard to see. Wet or dry, braking into Turn 6 is one of the hardest parts of the track because it's difficult to pick your braking marker. You can carry a lot of speed into Lakeside Drive if you get it right, so it's a crucial one. It's a definite advantage to have a car that gets its power down quickly without being too hard on the tyres.
"As you sweep down past the golf course you can hit the limiter in fourth if the car is set up well. If the car's got any attitude at all through here, it'll eat up its tyres or overheat them. There's a lot of time to be made by getting that section right. The first of the two chicanes is tight and a good overtaking opportunity, back to second gear, sometimes you'll sacrifice your entry a little bit to get over to the right and make sure you can get a good exit.
"Get it right and you're flat to the floor down Lakeside Drive until you reach the chicane at Turns 11 and 12, which is the most exciting part of the track and one of the quickest corners we race on. You charge in with your right-hand mirror almost touching the wall at 220km/h. It's easy to overcook it and go in a bit too deep - you're probably doing 150km/h through the corner - which messes up your exit as you scrape past the tyre bundle on the right.
"Passing Powerhouse you arrive at the bottom end of the lake for an easy 90-degree right-hander with pretty hard braking. There's more room on the exit than a lot of people realise and you can certainly overtake here. Accelerate out and change up to third gear, and some people will take Turn 14 in fourth. It's deceptively difficult - you get through there and quite often feel as though you just didn't nail it!
"Get back over to the right-hand side quickly for the next left-hander, the tightest corner on the track and another prime passing opportunity. You want to carry some corner speed here, but it's also crucial to exit on the left to get a good run on to the start-finish straight. Take third gear as you turn on to the straight and get the power down as the start-finish line comes into view."
Release Date: 27/02/2004
PWR.
|
|
