Even as the sun started to rise cars started lining up in the pits. A typical australian morning.
So what do I think about the track and facilities ?
First of all let me say I don't agree with the track being rated in the media as a third world facility. It is not! Having said that, on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), the facilities i.e. pits, paddock, restaurants, toilets etc only deserve a 3. The owners should try to keep the paddock stone and pebble free as much as possible. It is annoying when you're using slick rubber and have to pick up crap along the way. The pits are covered so it's a plus. Toilet facilities are shockingly 3rd world country though ! Restaurants non existant except for a canteen which although serves its purpose could have a lot more choice and not look like it's someone's shed converted into a diner. Fuel bowser ok but who wants to pay over $2 for 100RON ? It's a race track, if organisers want more participants they should aim to keep the costs lower to entice people ! I didn't see any tyre shops anywhere either so forget about any tyre related work.
Now let's move on to the track itself. The length of this circuit is about 200m over that of Tsukuba 2000. The track is bumpy in places but the surface isn't too bad. It actually has a very nice, technically challenging layout, I personally really liked it and i'll go over each and every corner in a second. It is also a very hard track on brakes ! There were marshall posts all around but there were no marshalls in them ! (What were they thinking ???) This partically surprised me as slower cars which were being lapped were not shown blue flags to let them know of the cars behind. On a plus side, they allowed only 14 cars on the track at a time which was good and access from the pits was controlled by green/red lights. I'd give this track a 5 for safety/organisation, a 7 for layout/technicality.
So let's review this track corner by corner.
Main straight (4th gear through the start/finish line) towards the first corner which is a late apex hairpin. On entry it is a little bumpy especially on the left side and the run-off has a lot to be desired (nothing but sand with a scary ditch seperating the track and the sandpit). You can take that corner in 3rd and move straight into the S'es which are great fun ! They very much remind me of the S'es at Suzuka but shorter! Half way through the S'es you change to 4th and run towards an uphill right hand kink which is fast but if you miss the late apex you could end up cutting through the inside of the next corner. That next corner is a wide uphill left hander followed by a blind, uphill right hand kink which I found particularly scary. 1 you can't see beyond the hill, 2 if you carry too much speed you'll be forced to the outside and end up hitting the ripple strip which I presume would be hard to recover from (it looked v. rough !). As you make your way through that corner you'll be going downhill towards a bottom hairpin which is pretty much the same as the 1st corner except the entry is downhill and the exit is uphill, again with a late apex.
As you exit you race towards the hill on the back straight and as you reach the peak presumably in 4th, 5th momentarily the car feels very light due to minimal downforce at that point before you start going downhill again at 180km/h+. Love that part of the circuit and the sheer downforce greatly helps with the braking and negotiating the last corner which is a 90 degree one. As you exit you're on the main straight.
My favourite sections are the S'es, the right hand kink on the exit from S'es, back hairpin and the top of the hill on the back straight !
[All comparisons are against the likes of Tsukuba, Fuji, Suzuka and Ebisu circuits in Japan]
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