Hot Lap - Barbagallo by Stone Borthers Racing

Marcos Ambrose, takes us on a hot lap of Western Australia's 2.41km Barbagallo circuit.

You head over the start finish line in fifth gear at around 200kph, but your mind is filled with what you are going to do at turn one.

This right-hander is very flat and it is easy to lock a wheel - any mistake and you can end up bogged in the sand on the outside of the corner. This corner is always pretty spectacular on the opening lap of any race. This is one big right-hander which shoots you into a sequence of quick left and rights - you are constantly bouncing off the kerbs setting yourself up for the sweeping left-hander up the hill, pulling a couple of gears as you go.

The left hander is a sweeping double apex up the hill which you basically tackle in third gear. It is then a short change to fourth as you reach the brow of the hill before turning the car right. You then race down the hill and set yourself up for the right hand loop - this is heavily cambered to the inside and is much faster than you think.

It is important to get through here without locking a wheel and get on the gas as early as possible for the run up over the hill. Timing is everything here because the rear of the car tends to get away on you if you get on the power too early. You race up over the hill and hit sixth gear and around 250km just over the rise before getting on the brakes about half way down the straight.

This is a really aggressive stop because you start a gradual climb as you approach the final corner. Any mistake here and you are into the gravel on the outside of the turn. It is vital not to hit the kerb on the inside, but it is equally important to bounce off the outside kerb to straighten up the car for the run down pit straight and back into turn one.

A good lap will take you just over 57 seconds - that's one of the quickest laps in the championship.

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