Season 12 Week 11 - Circuit de Barcelona

I didn't like this place at all the first time I tried it. After going back I changed my mind. Tricky in a way in that some places are faster than you would think. I know John tested there and his reported times are much better than my testing times.

Great comments Joel, I found out the truth of what you said when running some test laps here today! The major impression I had after running some laps, the major tip I guess is the better way to say it, is this. The yellow curbing is something you want to stay away from. Coming into Turn 1 at Elf you need to apex very close to the yellow to setup for the immediate left hand Turn 2 at Renault.

So we have to stay away from it and yet for optimal lap times you must get temptingly close. Look up ahead to Turn 2 and the runoff area in the shot above. You can see some very long yellow curbs there was well. Go off track exiting Turn 1 and into that area and you will be in a lot of trouble!

Here is an overhead of getting close without upsetting the cars balance. As in other tips have a look at the rubber laid down on the track to get yourself familiar with where your car should be.

These curbs will get progressively more difficult as we advance down the circuit. I found the corner at La Caixa (Turn 10) very difficult to get right. This next shot was typical for my session. You pay here with a significant bump when you go wide exiting 10, get to far over and it is a 1x

You see how the curb is a little higher here than earlier on the circuit. Once we get to the very difficult Turns 13 thru 16 there is zero margin for error as the curbs will destroy you in this series of corners. Practice will make perfect. I think the best tip I can offer here is this... slow is fast.

The yellow curb is massive here.

Tip of the week. Stay off the yellow curbing and in the final series find out what this means... slow is fast.

Very true,

I found some time and ran some laps today. Using this information and pure practice I picked up 2 seconds. I still have a way to go but it was fun.

I think what Bill has said is key to corners 14 and 15, slow in and fast out! This is very important as it leads you onto the longest straight on the track. Maximizing your exit will pay off all the way down this long straight. Work on getting the entry into 14 and timing the rollback to full throttle without getting on the yellow curbing on exit of 15. I did just that a couple times in practice and it's not pretty! If you do manage to save it, the curbing will most likely damage your car.

Without a doubt.