Driver No. 1
This race course is more challenging than fast. It demands smoothness and concentration from the driver. There is a certain rhythm that once learned will achieve much faster lap times than "hard on the gas, hard on the brakes". Chris Piku gives a description of what it's like to drive around the course:
Starting off
" Coming down the start/finish straight at full speed, squeeze the brakes at the pit lane exit (start braking too late and your vehicle can transform into a short-range hang glider as the lard slopes away and you take to the air!), down shift to third and balance the car through the middle of turn one. Bring the car in tight to the inside edge of turn two (but not as tightly as the vintage A.J. Foyt stock car which ran down into the gully during the Meadow Brook races), then drift toward the outside and accelerate to Bluff Bend. Gently lift off the gas and steer though the bend.
Through turns 3 & 4
Skeet House Turn requires quick, short braking, a down shift to second and a turn left. Accelerate quickly up and around Waterford Bend, shifting into third. Balance the car through Hilltop Turn and stay to the inside. The outside of Hilltop falls off sharply and many cars have ended in the trees by going too wide.
Through 5 Down the straight
Accelerate down Hilltop through Pelton Bend, shifting to fourth gear. Big Bend is a fast turn. It's important to carry lots of speed through Big Bend and continue at full throttle down the main straight.
Into turn 6, through the Esses...
Brake smoothly before turn 6, down shift to third, and balance through the turn. Paddock Curve is smooth and fast. At the Esses lift off the gas and cut the inside edges of both small turns. The esses look a little faster than they are, and cars often find their tails coming to the front through here. Accelerate toward Swamp Curve (the swamp water, and in past years a rowboat kept watch for silly drivers). Start wide and move to the inside, then back wide and inside again. You're at start/finish and ready to do it again!"
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Last updated January 29, 1997