European Le Mans
Portimao: Series preview
"Le Mans" style start for the 1000 Km of Algarve competitors For the very first time since the creation of Le Mans Series, drivers will take a start "Le Mans" style. This third round of the season is then the occasion to revive the most glorious ...
Edited: Jul 17, 2010, 3:22 AM
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"Le Mans" style start for the 1000 Km of Algarve competitors
For the very first time since the creation of Le Mans Series, drivers will take a start "Le Mans" style.
This third round of the season is then the occasion to revive the most glorious time of Endurance.
Start will be given at 5pm (local time) for a finish at around 11pm.
A track lap with...Olivier Pla!
"The Algarve circuit is fantastic because it is different from most new tracks. It has a good mixture of high speed and slow corners with a few blind turns and it winds up and down all the way. The track is interesting and very demanding.
You accelerate hard from the start line which goes slightly downhill. You brake hard and change down quickly from sixth to third gear for the first right-handed corner. This corner is tricky first because it is bumpy, but also because you have to carry the speed through the very short straight. The second corner is high speed which is taken flat out then hard on the brakes for the first hairpin, taken in first gear.[...]
You have to accelerate very early in this right-hander because it is uphill to blind turn 4 and flat-out till the next left-handed hairpin. The track is bumpy on that part so the car moves a lot. Braking is very difficult because the track turns sharply downhill and you brake very late, although the entrance is blind. Uphill again for a long straight with a flat-out left-hander... and you can't see the exit! You come quickly down the hill which can be flat-out in qualifying into double-apex turn 7 and 8, which is off-camber; it's very important as it influences the following short but steep hill. It goes down and up again after turn 9 taken in fifth gear. The straight leads you to the most difficult corner - double-apex right-handed turn 10. You have to brake late, but as you cannot see where the track goes, it is hard to find a point of reference. You can't miss your braking. The track drops down again with a flat-out left-hander before you jump on the brakes for an uphill left-hander taken in second gear. A quick squirt of power before you jump on the brakes for the double-apex right-handed turn 13. This corner is also tricky because it is off-camber and you must accelerate as soon as you can to carry the speed all the way up the hill towards the last corner. It is taken in fifth gear and flat-out but this can be very tricky because when you turn your wheels, you can't see if there is a car around the corner. Then you are back to the start-finish line which is very bumpy as well."
-source: lemans series
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