Hot Lap - Queensland Raceway by Stone Borthers Racing

Marcos Ambrose, takes us on a hot lap of Queensland Raceway.

The Queensland Raceway may look like an easy track to drive, but it is actually one of the most technical tracks of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

You need to extract everything possible from your car to ensure a lap that will get you somewhere towards the front of the field.

At the start-finish line at Queensland Raceway you are in fifth gear and travelling at around 220kph.
Turn one is the foundation of a really good lap and the secret is getting over a bump at the breaking point at about the 120m mark. You then drop to fourth gear and try to get your car as settled as possible.
You carry around 155kph through the corner and remain in fourth gear and get up to 195kph before dabbing the brakes for the next right-hander.

Your speed drops to around 145kph as you try and stick to the inside of the corner. It is vital to get a good run in and out of this corner in qualifying and it is also a good place to pass if everything goes right during the race.

You jam it into fifth just after the exit and into sixth for a split second and a top speed of around 250kph down the back straight.

You brake at round the 170m mark for turn three, but you need to be careful because the track falls away a little and can easily grab you unawares.

You drop down to second gear for the slowest corner on the track and a speed of around 78kph. It is then quickly back into third at the exit and up to fifth and a top speed of around 225kph. The brakes get another workout at the 150m marker which is right next to the in-field flag points.

I maintain third through the complete corner, while I know some guys get down to second. Speeds vary from 80km through to 135kph through this section of the track. You jump into fourth and then fifth as quickly as possible and a top speed around 220pkh before lining up for the sixth and final corner.

Similar to turn three, turn six is a second-gear affair with a speed of around 80kph. Again, it is imperative to get this section right so you can get a nice clean run on to the main straight. If you get the power down early you can move back up to fifth gear and cross the start-finish line again at around 220kph. Like anywhere, the trick to this place is being smooth and consistent.

That is even more vital during the race because the Queensland Raceway can be extremely hard on brakes and tyres. Overall, QR is a place where you can have a real go because of the extended run off areas.
It is also a terrific place for spectators because you can see every part of the circuit from almost any vantage point.

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