Altamont-The Track Map,, Seriously

Here’s what John says to do (I’d take his word for it!)

Cars exit from the pit-paddock area (Pit Out) just before T3 on the 1/2-mile oval and the track runs counterclockwise.  Banking at T3 is 12 degrees and 11 degrees at T4.  The LeMons track turns back into T4 of the integrated 1/4-mile oval which is 8 degrees, but because you’re now running the 1/4-mile track backwards, the corner is waaaaaaay off-camber.  This corner is called “The Bank.”  Up the 1/4-mile banking into “The Loop” (that Mickey Mouse looking ear between the two ovals) which is a double-apex corner, and getting this right is critical to owning the infield of the course.  Exiting “The Loop” brings you back onto the 1/4-mile at the entrance to T3… again, you’re running backwards onto the back-straight to the transition is waaaaaaaaay off camber as you drop down.  It’s trickier than it looks at speed but when there’s a lot of cars and traffic, any line will do — just get through it unscathed.  If you can do it at speed, it depends on what kind of car you have.  Rear engined cars (like my Porsche Turbo) hate the off-camber and slide all the way to San Jose before they stop.  In my GTA car, (550 HP) the torque pulls me out of the off-camber roll okay but the power curve is short in order to get set up for the next corner.  Front wheel drive cars are point and shoot… don’t lift… and trail-brake into the right-hander.  It’s a quick reverse of vehicle dynamics for the sharp right-hander into “The X” and by the middle of the “X” get far right for the exit out of “The X” onto the front straight of the 1/2-mile (4 degree banking).  T1 on the 1/2-mile usually has a man-made chicane to keep everyone honest. Out of T2 (on the 1/2-mile banking), the basic line is stay high to make an easy and fast transition into “The Esses.”  However, staying low is the defensive line to block the entry apex.  The esses can make you or break you.  Most drivers screw these up so bad that I have passed three cars in our Miata before they know what hit them.  The key: slow in and fast out.  Too fast in and you miss the apex… which puts your car completely out of sorts and in the dirt.  Slow in, hit the first two apexes solidly, then short shift to pick up the power curve for the exit.  This should give your drivers a basic understanding of what to expect.  BTW – in the Miata, we do 20 up-and-down shifts a lap, from 1st to 4th and back again.”

All the best –

John Condren

Team Heavy Downforce and somewhat associated with AMP

Advertisement