Turn by turn guide to the Gateway International Raceway trackFrom TrackpediaIf you know this track then please try to start this guide. Once, someone starts then other readers should refine it to make the descriptions better. But, someone has to be first. Just click the edit button on the top of the page or the right and go.
Track Map
Turn 1Your approaching Turn 1 coming down the front straight. Depending on car speed and obvious down force levels you will either have to brake heavily and then turn in or you might be able to get away with just turning in and maybe a brush of the brakes. Setup as far to the right as possible and watch for the inner wall to end and you will see turn 1 open up. As soon as you see turn 1 start to appear past the inner wall begin your turn in smoothly. I found that the fastest path through was to hug the inner wall as the apex and track out straight towards the edge of the track on the right side with the target being about one car length off the edge of the track. There is some debate about whether tracking out all the way is the best route but with almost all the fastest cars I have seen going wide is faster. The transition off the oval onto the infield is mildly rough and in low stiffly sprung cars might cause adjustment to your line to find the smoothest route. Overtaking here is tough but can be done by getting position on the inside and forcing the other car wide through this fast turn. To defend your position take away the inside line by running in the middle down the front straight and drifting in as needed to block. Passing around the outside here is nearly impossible and can be easily defended. "i can't remember what i used for a reference point for turn in, but it sucks trying to find one. iirc, the wall on the inside dividing the track and pit lane that follows the curvature of the road course, as soon as i can start to see the signage painted on the wall, that was my turn in. i assume NASA will have cones up that basically mark the apex of T1. i didn't really brake for T1, but you'll be going a LOT faster than i was into it. careful, it's a nasty transition off the oval onto the road course. i would soften up your suspension because it's rough and as soon as the car settles your on the brakes trying to get slowed down for T2, and you always want to be able to get on the brakes about 10ft behind you." - tnord from www.roadrace-autox.com "T1 is the entry to T2. Don't think of it as a turn so much as a setup for T2 and you'll be ok. Try to do anything fancy there is foolish because the real time is made getting through T2 effectively. In a fast FWD, expect to be braking well before turn-in for T1, then gassing it over the bumps and getting back into the brakes as you cross them." - richbot from www.roadrace-autox.com, SM TR Holder
Turn 2the following is from some guys over on www.roadrace-autox.com: "there's a seam in the pavement the miata guys try to straddle while braking, you could try and use that for your starting point. you won't use all the pavement to the right, and don't try it or you'll be in the wall HARD. your FWD piggy will probably want to carry farther out to the right before turn in (to square the corner off), but there's some broken up pavement that i used as my turn in for T2. maybe try a few feet to the right of that to start. there's also a floodlight on the inside that is a bit different than the rest, but i have a hard time making my eyes find it. stay off the curbing at the apex, but you can use it at track out (although i think there's a big hole off the end of it) " - "tnord" "T2 is a medium-speed left-hand sweeper, and you want to track out on the grass at the exit of the rumble strip." - Richbot, current SM TR Holder Turn 3"T3a/3b is where a lot of people throw huge chunks of time away. Use all of the 3b trackout and turn in earlier than you think you should for 3a and you'll be surprised at how much speed you can carry through there. A lot of people run out of talent in T1/T2 and so a lot of people think that's the crashingest part of the track but it isn't. If you're driving well the most difficult place to get through without putting it in the wall is T3." - richbot from www.roadrace-auto.com, SM TR Holder Turn 4"T3/T4) i could do it without lifting/braking, but i think it was actually slower because i ended up feathering off throttle towards track out of T4. i'm sure you'll use some braking, just make sure you brake enough so that when you go to the throttle you can stay on it all the way through. careful on T4 track out, iirc the pavement starts to fall off camber and that wall is awful close." - tnord from www.roadrace-autox.com Turn 5"T5 is a place where a lot of people forget to lean on the front tires and just kindof cruise through on their way to T6, which is a tighter turn. It's basically one big double-decreasing apex turn and you can't just sit there waiting for T6 or you'll get smoked." - richbot from www.roadrace-autox.com, SM TR Holder Turn 6"T5/T6) flat through the little kink to the left, and stay on it through the apex back to the right and on the curbing. the corner will start to turn back to the right, but you'll basically be driving straight off the track while braking. get it slowed down enough so you can turn in for T6, you'll probably be real close to the edge of the track for this. you can use the curbing at track out, but don't get out in the grass, it's a rollercoaster and you'll go airborne. i'm sure jarrod will chime in with his experience." - tnord from www.roadrace-autox.com "T6 is a place where you MUST look ahead. If you don't, you'll drive off the track at trackout and there's a jump out there, BTDT." - richbot from www.roadrace-autox.com, SM TR Holder Turn 7There are several lines through here, depending on what you need to do. Good corner for overtaking. "T7 is the only important corner on the course. Set your car up for this turn and forget the rest of the track. I don't use the dirt on the backside of the corner as my apex but that's because I'm in a momentum car. A 260hp FWD will DEFINITELY need to get on the gas late and hard here so get your turning done early. There's definitely a huge difference between the line you drive here when you've got someone in your mirrors and when you're driving on your own. It's extremely easy to get passed here if you're not good under braking." - Richbot from www.roadrace-autox.com "T7) i hate turn 7 and i couldn't ever get it right (which means my times sucked) the only thing i can tell you is that there's a little triangle of concrete joining the asphault of the road course and oval that the miata guys use as the apex. track out will be your sideview mirror scraping the tires and the concrete. have fun." - tnord from www.roadrace-autox.com Turn 8 |
