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TPTCC Track Guides: Donington

by Stuart Brown

#21 'Lord of the Rings' Opel Calibra

A nice varied track that races well online. There are awkward blind corners over crests that can cause the little slips that make for overtaking opportunities. Plenty of elevation change, fast, medium and slow turns with hairpins and a chicane. A fairly long lap at 4.023 miles with good racelaps in the 1.37's.

With 4 fairly long 'straights', getting off the previous turn well is important to good speed around here.  These are:

1 -  Out of  Redgate Corner (Turn 1) all the way down the hill - its not straight but easily flat out unless in traffic. 

2 - Out of the Old Hairpin, under Starkeys Bridge and up the hill through Schwantz should also see you in 5th gear and easily flat out with a clear track. 

3 - Then out of Coppice the 2nd and long right hander onto Starkeys Straight towards Park Chicane.

4 - Leaving the last turn Goddard and down the Wheatcroft Straight crossing start/finish line.

This is a track you can lose a bit of rear wing on if you want to because of these 4 long sections, however I wouldnt overdo it or you'll suffer too much elsewhere.

A lap as I see it

I brake where the end of pit road joins the racetrack and slow a little more than I want to.  Redgate tightens on itself and is longer than it appears on entry.  Drift the car into the turn and get back on the gas.  If my line is good I just run out of kerb on the inside and put the RF in the dirt, but its not a problem.  Drifting wide to the outside the same thing can happen because the track continues to bear right through Hollywood.

As soon as you leave Redgate point the car towards the inside of Hollywood - the long right hander going down the hill.  Keep it smooth and as far to the right as possible given the varying radius and elevation of this turn.  Getting the line right into the Craner Curve as you go downhill will help make the car a lot more stable braking into the Old Hairpin at the bottom of the hill.  You want to end up with the car over to the left on approach to the Old Hairpin, but take care to avoid putting a left wheel on the kerb braking because it will likely make the car get loose in a hurry.

Its important to keep up good momentum through the Old Hairpin and getting the car stable so you can get on the power early is more important than time you could gain from going in hot.  Keep it smooth and use all of the road and this turn will reward you all the way back up the hill on the other side.

Try to put a left wheel on the kerb by Starkeys Bridge and don't let the car drift too far to the right up through Schwantz because you need to be over on the left for the approach to McLeans.  Braking into it and dropping to 3rd I aim to apex right at the brow of the turn that makes the car go light.  Getting on the power in McLeans is a confidence thing because you're committing to a corner with a blind crest.  Its easy to push wide or get loose over the hump and end up catching the sand so have some respect for this turn.  Its also not uncommon to come over the blind crest to find someone else stuck in that sand or recovering from it.

A short blast and we have another blind right crest entering Coppice, but this one is more important to keep speed up through as it continues as a long right hander and leads to the straight where you'll see your top speed.  The key to this turn is to make sure you use all the road on the way in so you can carry more speed safely over the rise.  Try to get a feel for how to get through there without the car sliding around as it "lands" after getting light.  You need a setup that will let you get on the power and stay on it as soon as the car has landed.... loose enough not to push wide on exit, but tight enough not to land sideways over the brow of the hill.  A small slip here is unlikely to see you off track, but can cost significant time or position.

Braking for the Park Chicane its important to pick a marker and stick to it because you've got a tight gap to squeeze through.  I brake just as the 100m board passes the window on my right.  To keep up momentum through the chicane I like to look through it to the other side as I approach so that I can see the line through the complex as a whole.  This helps to have the confidence to get on the power early - before the 2nd apex.  While you can pass here, unless you are in a strong position before arriving it can easily go wrong because of the way it funnels.

Braking into the Melbourne Hairpin I use the edge of the brow of the hill as the mark, but be careful as its easy to overshoot if the car gets too light over it and if you're overtaking up the inside you must brake a fraction earlier or you wont make it giving your opposition the chance to double back up your inside.  You'll likely be trail braking your way into this turn trying to get the car slowed down and turned in.  Take a late apex and head up towards the final turn, another hairpin at Goddards.  Use the same technique as the previous hairpin being more mindful of a strong exit for the run down the straight.  This turn has caught many a driver out with its off camber making it a little harder to get the nose tucked in.