Corner Lab

Your car, the corner, and what it's doing there — the setup changes worth trying, in order.

The lap

Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans · 24 Heures

11 corners, 6 of which decide the lap. What each one asks of the car, and what you do about it.

StraightFast cornerMedium cornerSlow corner
Wing level wanted1/5
Traction demand3/5
Braking demand4/5
Kerb usage4/5
The lapThe lowest-downforce lap of the season and the longest by a distance. Mulsanne demands minimum drag; the Porsche Curves demand a stable platform. You cannot have both.
Set up forMinimum wing and longest gearing of the year, then spend everything left on making the Porsche Curves survivable.
Classic mistakeA wing level that makes the Porsche Curves comfortable. You'll be seconds a lap down on the straights and it won't be close.
Works hardestBrakes at the chicanes; fronts in the Porsche Curves
Length13.6 km · road course · FR
Corner by corner

Every corner on this layout

A marks the corners that decide the lap.

T1 Dunlop Chicane

Slow chicane · uphill

The first braking zone, uphill into a tight chicane under the Dunlop bridge.

Technique
Straight-line braking. The kerbs here are usable but not generous.
Demands
Braking-limited · Kerbs are part of the line · Low speed — aero does little · Wants yaw on entry

ESF Esses de la Forêt

Fast · flowing

Quick downhill esses through the trees, taken with real commitment.

Technique
Rhythm. Get it wrong and you compromise Tertre Rouge, which is far more costly.
Demands
High speed — aero is live · Wants a settled rear · Transient, not steady-state

T2 Tertre Rouge

Fast right onto Mulsanne

The corner that feeds six kilometres of straight. Arguably the most valuable exit in motorsport.

Technique
Get straight and get on it. Nothing else on the lap repays exit speed like this.
Demands
Traction-limited · Exit-phase limited · Rear grip limited · High speed — aero is live

MC1 First Mulsanne Chicane

Braking from maximum speed

Braking from the highest speed you'll see all season into a tight chicane.

Technique
Bleed pressure hard as the downforce leaves. Straight-line as much as you can.
Demands
Braking-limited · Kerbs are part of the line · Low speed — aero does little

MC2 Second Mulsanne Chicane

Braking · kerbs

The same test again, with tyres and brakes a little further gone each lap.

Technique
Consistency over heroics. This is a 24-hour corner.
Demands
Braking-limited · Kerbs are part of the line · Low speed — aero does little · Traction-limited

T8 Mulsanne Corner

Slow · 90° right

Heavy braking into a slow right at the end of the longest straight.

Technique
Stop it, point it, drive out. Simple and unforgiving.
Demands
Low speed — aero does little · Wants yaw on entry · Traction-limited · Braking-limited

T9 Indianapolis

Fast right into slow left

A fast, blind right that immediately becomes a heavy braking zone. One of the trickiest sequences on the lap.

Technique
Commit to the first part, then get the car straight fast. Misjudge it and Arnage is ruined.
Demands
High speed — aero is live · Braking-limited · Transient, not steady-state · Wants yaw on entry

T10 Arnage

Slowest corner on the lap

Tight and slow, and prototypes struggle to rotate here more than anywhere.

Technique
Patience. Trying to carry speed just washes you out to the exit.
Demands
Low speed — aero does little · Wants yaw on entry · Traction-limited

PC Porsche Curves

Fast · continuous · low downforce

The hardest sector of the season: fast, continuous direction changes in a car set up for straight-line speed.

Technique
Rhythm and respect. The car will not feel good here, and that's the correct compromise.
Demands
High speed — aero is live · Aero platform sensitive · Wants a settled rear · Compression or crest loading

CC Corvette Corner

Medium right · exit of the Curves

The last element of the Porsche Curves, feeding the run to the Ford Chicanes.

Technique
Get straight early. You've survived the hard part — don't throw it away here.
Demands
Sustained mid-corner load · Traction-limited · Exit-phase limited

FC Ford Chicanes

Kerbs · last corner

The last chance to bin it, on big kerbs, every single lap for 24 hours.

Technique
Consistency over aggression. This is where tired drivers lose races.
Demands
Kerbs are part of the line · Bumpy surface · Braking-limited

Corner names and numbering follow common usage; some circuits number differently between layouts.