Tips for a quick lap at Phillip Island

[Paul Gulliver]

I found this piece on the MX 5 website, maybe useful for Alfa punters heading down to the island this weekend.  I would also be interested in any additional comments from club luminaries such as Frank Musco , Jim Neilson , Phil Baskett , Mick Aarons etc. if they are listening


OK, let's go for a fast lap of the Island.

First of all, if you haven't been before, realise that this is a fast circuit - much faster than any other circuit you are likely to encounter. To set a good time, you must be comfortable with your ability, and your car's high speed handling. Fortunately, the track generally has large runoff areas, but the addition in recent years of gravel traps full of large stones means that you may shred your paintwork if you go off. (Side note, if you bury your car in the gravel, please stay off the racing line until you have shaken them all loose - I've had a cracked windscreen due to these stones)

The general tactic is to keep your speed up everywhere. MX-5's aren't strong acceleraters, so don't go sacrificing entry speed, and do your utmost not to wash off speed in the flowing corners by throwing the car around.

The other point to note is that all the exit ripple strips are serrated, and you can lose a lit of grip if you go onto them, so be cautious.

OK, let's do the track...

Main straight:
It's long, and fast (you're coming onto it in 4th gear). Sit back and have a coffee, because you're in an MX-5 and it will take a while to get to Turn 1...

Turn 1:
Be brave. Be very brave. This is the best corner of any track in the country, and probably the scariest (though not the most dangerous). On the approach, the track is flat after the start/finish line, and dips down over a crest into the first corner. Coming over this rise you are usually in 5th. Stay flat on the power. Be brave. Entry speed is somewhere around 170-180 kmh. Your top speed may be higher depending on your car. You don't need to brake much in a straight line - you really only need to wash off speed as you enter. (On track rubber and if you're really on it, you can go flat through here, but by then you probably won't need these notes). So a little gentle braking just before you turn in, and a small amount of trailbraking in (or just washing off speed with a lift) is all you need.

The corner is quite strongly cambered around the apex, so it will usually pull you through with lots of grip. You should be on the power before the apex - leave it in 5th, or if you're going very aggressively (or didn't get to 5th) go for 4th gear. Exit relatively wide - many people try to hug the right at the exit to set up for Turn 2 - I think this is unnecessary. You can be most of the way out to the left at the exit.

Turn 2 (Southern Loop):
This corner seems to go forever. It's something like 200 degrees around from entry to exit. Entry is uphill, and the exit is downhill. The outside half of the track is slightly off-camber and usually marbled, so don't go wide unless you want to go off.

Assuming you were fast through turn 1, your entry line will probably be from mid track. Don't worry about getting all the way over to the right. The beginner's line is to take a wide entry (following a line in the tarmac, then take a very late apex for the run down the hill. This is nice and safe, but you can go much faster through the first half of the turn.

To get it right, use a double-apex. Come in hot and fast (4th or 5th gear), clip the first apex as you trailbrake and downshift to 3rd (ease it into gear - if you try and force it you'll probably grab 5th again...). This downshift can get the car quite loose, so be ready to countersteer. (My favourite track memory ever is holding half a turn of opposite lock all the way around here).

Allow the car to drift out a little mid corner, but no more than half track width. You will need to be back on the power and ready to line up the second apex. By the top of the hill you should be flat back on the power.

The exit of Turn 2 is probably the riskiest part of the track. There's no reason it should be, but I know two very nice cars that have been written off here in a big way. On the left (inside) of the track is a big earth bank - foolish drivers who drop a wheel off at the exit, and try to pull the car back onto the track, are usually rewarded by having the track spit them off the left side into the bank. So if you run wide here, ease the car back on to the track very gently! Stay out on the right as you go down the hill and over the crest. You'll probably be shifting to 4th right at the exit.

Turn 3 (sweeper):
In a standard MX this isn't so much a turn as a bend in the straight. You'll be flat all the way through. The only thing to really note is to use the minimum steering input possible to avoid scrubbing any speed off - use your fingertips on the wheel, that's all. Allow the car to run wide a little at the exit; you don't need to hug the left.

Turn 4 (Honda):
A fairly conventional 2nd gear right hairpin.
You'll be approaching fast (~180) and need to do lots of straight line braking. (If you brake too late, you can use the exit road as an escape path.) Theoretically you should late apex, but you don't need to make it too late, because in an MX you won't be going that much faster at the exit.
Only a little trailbraking is necessary, and be back on the power early (before the apex). Wheelspin can be a problem if you have an open diff, so careful on the throttle control.

Turn 5 (right kink):
Again, not much to note here. A wide entry from the left as you exit 4, use turn 5 to get over to the right and line up the entry to Siberia.

Turn 6 (Siberia):
A very tricky corner - in a 5 speed you're stuck in a trap between revving the rings off in 2nd and being too slow, or lugging 3rd and battling to accelerate up the hill at exit. I usually choose 3rd.
Again it's a long corner, and you need to trailbrake lots. In fact, I find I'm not braking at all until I turn in. Potentially this can rotate the car, but that's essentially what you want it to do.
Apex moderately late, but don't confuse that with staying wide mid-corner. You can keep close to the inside for most of the bend.
Be on the power as early as possible to haul yourself up the hill, and once again, if the car isn't being forced out to the outside edge of the track then you were too slow going through the corner.
If you want to try something different, left foot brake this bend.
If you want to try something really different, left foot brake and don't lift - just hold the throttle flat. This will work really well in a turbo car.

Turn 7 (left kink):
Not much going on here. Enter wide from the right, end up on the left ready for the next corner. Shift up to 4th.

Turn 8 (Hayshed):
Again, relatively easy in a slow car, you're still flat all the way through, so like Turn 3, just fingertip it through and don't lose any speed.

If you bother to look to your left you'll see the structure this corner is named after, but you won't have time for that because you're setting up for the famous...

Turn 9 (Lukey Heights):
Fast, blind, off camber. Very scary, very fun.
Don't bother going too far right on the entry - mid track will do. Again, lots of trailbraking here, you shouldn't need to brake until you turn in. In 4th gear this will threaten to spin you off, so be veeeery gentle on the brakes. All you're doing is scrubbing off a little speed.
You can stay in 4th or drop it into 3rd if you're confident and perfectly rev-match the downshift.
Fairly early to medium apex, and allow the car to drift out as you crest the hill. Not too wide though, you'll need to be back on the left for MG. If you've got it right, the whole car will be four-wheel-drifting with the steering quite straight and the throttle nailed. It feels awesome.

Turn 10 (MG):
Another right 2nd gear hairpin, but this time at the bottom of a hill, downhill entry and uphill exit. The latter fact destroys your exit acceleration, so you must carry as much speed as possible. This is the last braking point before the straight, so it is probably the most critical corner for a good lap time.

Enter from the very far left of the track, straight line braking down the hill and a little trailbraking.

A lot of people late apex this corner, to prepare for Turn 11. You don't need to. Turn 11 is much more open, and in a slow car you don't have the acceleration to need to compromise MG. So use a medium apex, and use all the exit width. Be hard on the power from the apex, and you shouldn't need to lift again until turn 1. (If you need to back off to get around 11, then I'm wrong and you'll need to change your line through MG. But try it.)

Turn 11:
You should be flat all the way through this corner.
About the only thing here is that you need to upshift to 3rd somewhere in this corner, and this can result in a little drift or wheelspin. So be smooth on the upshift and easing the power back on. If you've done it right, you'll be forced all the way out to the exit ripple strip, but you shouldn't have to back off.

Turn 12:
Again, another potentially dangerous corner if you run wide at the exit. I've seen cars run out wide and hit the outside wall, or worse, spin back across the track and backwards into the pit entry wall. Which is perpendicular to the direction of travel. 3 rows of tyres didn't prevent the need for a medivac chopper...

You'll be flat through here in a low powered MX, and should be up to 4th before you turn in.. Lots of positive camber that pulls you through the corner. It's a medium apex - don't be too late or you'll scrub speed as you turn too sharply. Don't turn in too early or you'll be running wide at the exit. Again, just guide the car through as smoothly and gently as possible, and carry as much speed as possible onto the straight. If it's wet, then ease your entry speed so you can get back on the power for the exit.

Use all the track width, and don't run wide of the apex.

And you're back to the straight! Unproven, but theoretically I think it's better to stay away from the pit wall, it would mess with the aerodynamics.

Have fun and play safe!

[aggie57]

Hi Paul

Lots of good tips there but quite a bit that would cause comment with many drivers. It's also written very much from the perspective of a low powered standard car. For instance the hayshed takes on a completely diffent character in anything with reasonable power. Same as the run down from Southern Loop to Honda. It becomes a real corner.

Happy to chat about it Sunday.

Alister

[Paul Gulliver]

Alister, I should have noted that this was probably more relevant to lower powered cars, (like a large percentage of club racers). I certainly understand that Hayshed seems pretty innocent corner in a 30 y.o Alfa but would be a different kettle of fish in  Porsche GT3.

Another interesting resource on this forum  is the video's & pictures section  . As someone relatively in experienced I find  it is very useful to watch the likes of Frank Musco , Jim Neilson & Choderboy getting around . I like Frank's "truth meter" on the dashboard of his car. If you watch any of Franks video's its an in cabin brake light. Helpful in reviewing the data as to when you actually brake as opposed to when you think you  brake. Frank's screaming in the car is also helpful, " at least you know he is trying".  Jim Neilson's  technical analysis is also interesting to observe. Choderboy, well when he is not being a 'Gumby" he just appears to get around smoothly. Lots of other good drivers to watch, especially from the  Alfa Island magic collection  earlier this year

Looking forward to Sunday and any other tips.

Gully



 

[Sheldon McIntosh]

All seems like pretty good advice to me, and advice which took me about 6 track days at PI to learn for myself.

The only thing I would add is to not cut the corner at turn 12, the ripple strip on the inside really upsets a car with standard suspension;  I only did that once.

Speaking of Hayshed, one of our recent Club Champions apparently braked through there in a pretty standard GTV6 first time.  When asked what he was doing, he replied "well, I used to drive a car through here that had 650BHP, that used to be a corner as far as I recall".

[Frank Musco]

Learn to hold your breath for 2 minutes at a time.  

Seriously, very good notes for going fast at the island in a relatively slow car like my Sprint.
Over the past 4 years I have found time by not using the brakes at turn 1, Siberia, and Lukey heights, I coast for a split second before turning, and by being very, very smooth with the steering input and throttle application. So by doing this I can keep the car more settled for my driving ability. With more practice with the transition from braking to accelerating, while changing gear, I will try to go deeper into the braking areas like the notes suggest.

Apart from talking lines and where to brake and so on, most important is to relax and have FUN, then the lap time will improve. When I try to drive fast, I usually go slower

[jimnielsen]

I think that its certainly a reasonable basis for thinking about a sensible approach to each of the corners at Phillip Island. I used to drive the Giulietta that I once had in a similar fashion to this, with a few minor exceptions:

  On the approach to turn 1 you would (of course) be in 5th and approaching 195kph, it would have been nice to stay in 5th here to add smoothness, but this was impossible due to the need for acceleration out of turn 1.  The transition from 5th to 4th added just about enough speed retardation to avoid braking (if you had the line right).
Siberia:  caught between 2nd and third gear - too many revs in 2nd no acceleration in 3rd. In the Giulietta I would shift to 2nd at the entry and to third just after the apex, this worked well, but I did destroy a very nice car doing this when it flipped at the gear change and I hit the inside wall backwards....This was the trickiest part of the course in the Giulietta.
After MG its just focus on making sure that you really have your foot flat as you approach the straight (after making sure that you don't spin in the effort to make that 2nd to 3rd change).

Kink after southern loop - didn't even notice it in the Giulietta. - same at hay-shed .

I did 1:51 in the Giulietta at Phillip Island - and thus far have gone no faster in the 155Q4 (also done a 1:51) But its a very different driving experience.

On the approach to turn 1 you are at 240kph, so you are going to have to loose some speed - the battle is not losing too much!
southern loop comes up fast, I use the 'beginners method' starting midway on entry and tightening to the 2nd apex, I find I can get the turbo back to full boost faster this way.
The kink after southern loop is a real issue, you're in 4th pushing 180 at the entry and the car is really wanting to go faster - I have to back off the throttle here...still getting to 200 at Honda. Honda is the most difficult part of the circuit in the Q4, the car is just not at its best in 65 kph 2nd gear corners. Siberia is easy though - 3rd gear all the way, quite tight on the inside. Back to 180 at hay-shed - I'm on the brakes quite hard then till i get the nose pointed where I need it.
After MG the Q4 is much trickier than the Giulietta, because you can't really open the throttle right up at all, the 2nd to 3rd change comes at an inconvenient place..

Here hoping I can go faster next weekend.. my secret plan is to follow Goodall...while watching Musco in the rear view mirror...

[Paul Gulliver]

Here hoping I can go faster next weekend

Jim, aren't we all . Thanks everybody for your imput so far.

[aggie57]

My very first lap at Phillip Island was at the first meeting AROCA ran there after the track re-opened.  Around 1989 or something like that and I followed a certain Frank Porter, who older members will remember as a very capable punter with many years of experience racing Alfa's at all levels but was also the dealer principal at Alfa City at the time.

Anyway, that day Frank turned up in a white automatic 75.  Hardly the fastest Alfa but the lines and the balance, well all I can say is to this day I still use most of the same lines and if ever follow someone around Lukey's that's not using his lines in the back of my mind I can still hear his words of advice after we came in. 

Oh - Paul, I was actually thinking of my first time in Alan's GTV6 when I mentioned the Hayshed.  After years of punting standard cars around the place that frightened the bejesus out of me!