Corner Lab

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

The lap

Winton Motor Raceway · National Circuit

5 corners, 4 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 demand5/5
Braking demand3/5
Kerb usage4/5
The lapTight, flat, narrow and famously bumpy, with low grip and almost no run-off. Nothing here rewards outright pace; it rewards a car that stays settled over a poor surface and a driver who is patient with the throttle.
Set up forCompliance over the bumps first, then traction everywhere — there is not much grip and three corners feed a straight.
Classic mistakeStiffening the car up to make it feel sharp. On this surface a stiff car skates, and the lap goes away in the Esses where you cannot afford it.
Works hardestRears out of every slow corner, fronts through the sweeper over a stint
Length3 km · road course · AU
Corner by corner

Every corner on this layout

A • marks the corners that decide the lap.

T1 Turn One •

Medium right · heavy braking

The main stop of the lap, over a surface that is working against the car the whole way in.

Technique
Brake earlier than you want to. The bumps will take the front away if you are still braking hard at turn-in.
Demands
Braking-limited · Wants yaw on entry · Low speed — aero does little · Bumpy surface

T3 The Sweeper

Medium left · long

A long left that never quite lets the car settle, on a surface with less grip than it looks.

Technique
Be smooth and be patient. Fighting this corner is how a set of front tyres disappears by lap ten.
Demands
Sustained mid-corner load · Front grip limited · Degradation over a stint

T5 The Hairpin •

Slow · hairpin

Tight, slow, and the exit runs onto one of the few places you can carry speed.

Technique
Rotate it early and get straight. There is not enough grip here to do both at once.
Demands
Low speed — aero does little · Wants yaw on entry · Traction-limited · Exit-phase limited

T7–9 The Esses •

Quick · technical · bumpy

A busy sequence over a surface that moves under the car, with almost no room either side.

Technique
Small inputs. The car is never settled here, so asking it for more direction just makes it worse.
Demands
Transient, not steady-state · Bumpy surface · Aero platform sensitive · Kerbs are part of the line

T12 Final Corner •

Medium right · onto the straight

The last corner, and the one that sets your speed down the front straight.

Technique
Sacrifice the entry completely. On a lap this short, the straight is most of where a place is won.
Demands
Exit-phase limited · Traction-limited · Rear grip limited

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

Sideways

Where to go next

The ranked answer is per car. Pick yours to see what this lap asks of it.

This lap, car by car
Acura ARX-06GTP · mid-engineAcura NSX GT3 EVO 22GT3 · mid-engineAston Martin Vantage GT3 EVOGT3 · front-engineAudi R8 LMS EVO II GT3GT3 · mid-engineBMW M Hybrid V8GTP · mid-engineBMW M2 Racing (G87)Spec / fixed setup · front-engineBMW M4 GT3 EVOGT3 · front-engineCadillac V-Series.RGTP · mid-engineChevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.RGT3 · mid-engineFerrari 296 GT3GT3 · mid-engineFerrari 499PGTP · mid-engineFord Mustang GT3GT3 · front-engineLamborghini Huracán GT3 EVOGT3 · mid-engineMazda MX-5 CupSpec / fixed setup · front-engineMcLaren 720S GT3 EVOGT3 · mid-engineMercedes-AMG GT3GT3 · front-enginePorsche 911 GT3 R (992)GT3 · rear-enginePorsche 963GTP · mid-engine