It’s been some time since I posted any track guides, but I’ve been busy and couldn’t do much practice before any of the races. It’s just less than a day before the actual race, but I thought I’d write this quick guide and upload a lap of the track, which turned out to be my PB as well.
The Onboard Lap Video
Track and Setup
In my first drive around here in the 69 mod some months ago, I came to the conclusion that it’s best to run the maximum wing angle at the rear of the car because of all those long medium and slow speed corners, and the lack of a really long straight. It worked really well in terms of lap times, but it may be more difficult to make passes in the race, so getting a good position in Qualifying is important with such setup.
The setup itself took a while to dial-in, mainly due to the huge camber changes and the way they unsettle the car. Eventually I stiffened up the suspension all around and reduced the front wing angle somewhat, in order to stop the car from suddenly snapping on corner entry or mid-corner, and also to combat the subtle bumps in some places which try to send the car to either side.
Another issue was tire temperatures, but I think I managed to come to a good compromise with those, and as long as you don’t slide too much you can keep them cool enough.
Here’s a ZIP file with the replay of the lap and the setup that I used:
Anderstorp 1969 Brabham BT26 Replay and Setup
Track Guide
Here’s a map for the track that you can use as a reference:
http://www.gpltd.bcsims.com/track_images/atorp/map/map-atorp.pdf
Start/Finish Straight – The lap begins with an exit of a 2nd gear 90 degree righthander (which we’ll come back at at the end of the lap) and some nasty bumps on the left side of the s/f straight which can suddenly send you left or right, so be careful to react as soon as possible when that happens and make quick corrections with the steering wheel. Lifting up here can makes this worse, so try to stay flat out and correct with the steering only.
T1 Startkurvan – This is a very tricky corner to take right because of a vast change in camber which begins well before the turn-in point and thus makes braking a lot more difficult. I find that the safest line on entry is the middle line, so I try to avoid staying wide for too long or turning-in too early. The latter can easily send you over the inside curb and that’s usually enough to lose control and go off the track, while delaying the turn-in too much can result in the rear wheel clipping the dirt edge and spinning you off into the armco.
Change down to 2nd gear as you brake and try to carry some speed into the corner by trail-braking into it, and for the first part of the corner keep a wider line. This is so you can cut across diagonally to take a very late apex and accelerate on full throttle well in advance, drifting the car all the way to the outside edge of the track. Don’t be afraid to clip the edge on the exit, but keep the steering wheel as straight as possible or you can spin all of a sudden. This is valid for all corner exits of this track BTW.
T2 Opel – I really like this corner. You can enter it very fast and carry a lot of speed, then slow down inside the corner to prepare for its tightening radius on the exit. For Qualifying I stay in 3rd gear before the corner even though that means hitting the redline of the revs, but in a race I would short-shift to 4th just for a second or two.
Turn in while still going flat out and begin to lift up and apply the brakes as soon as you do that. Aim to clip an early apex initially and drift while as the car carries speed, changing down into 2nd gear. The bowl-shape of the corner allows you to push really hard here, so just go for it and move as high as you dare in the middle of the corner while still decelerating.
As soon as you reach about the middle of the corner, begin to accelerate gradually while turning back towards the inside, and try to set the car into a mild drift with the throttle. The frontend should almost go over the very late apex where the track tightens up on the exit, so you won’t go too wide and off into the grass once you come out of the banking. It’s a blind exit, so it takes some practice to build the confidence.
T3 Hansen – a tricky 1st gear corner, especially its exit which goes downhill and leads to a loss of frontend grip. Never brake too late for this corner or you’ll be in for a long trip over the grass, or might even end up hitting the armco which is not too far off from the track.
Brake just as you pass by the 100 marker on the straight before Hansen and change down to 1st, then turn a bit early into the corner because it lacks any camber and you can easily drift wide if you delay too much. These cars decelerate very rapidly when you’re off the throttle, so get back on it as soon as you point towards the apex, but be smooth and gradual with the throttle application.
You need to delay full acceleration a bit to avoid going wide because of that drop in altitude I mentioned, but if you find yourself going dangerously towards the edge of the track, just short-shift into 2nd – the lift-up for the gearshift is enough to bring back the front-end to the left.
T4 Karusellen – a very very long corner and one that seems to have multiple lines through it, so it’s a good place to racing someone side by side. Turn in just as you shift into 3rd gear and get an early apex before going wide in a similar fashion as in T2, but instead of braking, keep your foot on the throttle just enough so the car settles into a constant speed while the tires stay close to the limit.
Listen carefully for the sound from the tires to judge how fast you should be going, but focus on your line at the same time. Use mostly the steering wheel to counter any instability and avoid changing the balance of the front and rear ends too much with any abrupt pedal work. Stay in the middle for the majority of the corner, and begin to gradually go back to the inside as the camber starts to diminish and the pitlane entry becomes visible on the left.
You would have to decelerate for a moment near the end of the corner, before accelerating shortly but firmly – this would help you drift the car into the right side of the track so you can be well-positioned for the following corner.
T5 Gislaved – This is the slowest part of the track and one that is suitable for overtaking or allow someone to close up before the next section. It’s very tricky to slow down properly for this corner or turn-in at the right moment, but it’s better to slow down to early than too late for it.
Change down to 1st and try to set the car into a slide as you brake. The low speed would prevent you from spinning off and the slide would allow you to point the frontend at an angle towards the apex of the corner, which helps with earlier acceleration. Because the revs tend to drop a lot here, I like to pump the throttle a few times to spin the wheels and build some revs before accelerating out of it, so you can try that in practice if you want. Be careful with the rearend as you accelerate because it can spin quite easily; apply opposite lock in a timely manner to avoid that.
T6 Sodra – A smooth and nice corner, with no bumps to unsettle the car and no excessive camber to make it more difficult than it is. Brake just when the pitwall on the left disappears and change down to 2nd as you turn-in for another early apex, setting your front right wheel to almost climb the curb on the inside.
Let the car drift a bit as you carry speed, but don’t go too wide. Try to begin your acceleration very early, but never apply too much throttle soon because you need to keep the car tucked in for as long as possible. Producing some power-drifting here with the throttle helps with that and also keeps the revs higher before the exit of the corner. Get back to full throttle when the connection between the track and the airfield track appears in front of you and aim to clip the grass strip with the left side of the car.
Flygrakan – Stay in the middle of the straight to avoid moving too much and lose speed (no matter how negligible) by adjusting your line. It’s very easy to lose sight of where the track goes here in the race when running behind someone or having someone on your side, so keep your focus on that and don’t hesitate to ease off a bit if you’re not sure.
T7 Norra – There is a wind-direction flag pole on the right before the corner which works perfectly as a brake marker. Brake hard just as you go past by it and change down to 2nd gear. Normally I would advice that you take a late apex, but due to the short length of the straight after the corner, you’ll gain more time by carrying more speed into it.
Turn in early and try to set your RF wheel to ride the inside curb, and even a bit of the grass. Delay your acceleration until you’ve almost reached the outside on the exit – the way the track is flat here can be misleading to how early you can step back on the throttle.
T8 Atlas – the final turn is a very tricky one as I mentioned at the beginning of the lap – there is no proper brake marker before it, it has a tighter entry, an open middle part and again a tighter exit, as well as some bumps just when you think it’s over.
With my setup I brake just when my 2nd gear reaches close to maximum revs, so you can try that as your braking point reference. It depends on how fast you exit the previous corner of course, so it’s not so reliable (as seen on the video 😛 ). Because of the layout of the corner, you need to turn-in early and keep the front on the inside before you accelerate as the corner opens up.
As mentioned, be careful on the exit and get away from the edge of the track, otherwise the combination of grass and bumps can really send you going into a bad direction.
Well, that was a lap around Anderstorp. I blew the engine in the race last time, so if you’re using my setup, make sure to avoid staying into high revs for as long as you can normally do with it in Qualifying.
