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This is a breakdown of my personal-best hot-lap at Albert Park. Video of it can be found on this post. The lap was completed in 1:54.926 (114.926 seconds).

The gear, RPM, MPH, and time between corners are measured at the point the RPMs begin to increase when exiting a turn, or the point that I start to unwind the steering wheel. The screen shots are also from the point of acceleration from the corner.

Let's take a look at this lap and compare it to the AI hot-lap analyzed in a previous post.
 

Corners 1 and 2

Corners 1 and 2 are located at the end of the long front straight.

Corner 1: 3rd gear, 5357 RPM, 70 MPH
6.334 seconds from start
15.367 from corner 16
15.533 to corner 3

Corner 2: Measured acceleration but if you get turn 1 correct, it should be full acceleration.

AI:
Corner 1: 2nd gear, 3700 RPM, 40 MPH
6.933 seconds from start
17.063 from corner 16
16.074 to corner 3

Corner 2: Full acceleration

Notes: I'm back on the gas much quicker and even though I'm covering more ground from midpoint to midpoint, I shave more than ½ second off the time of the AI.

Image 1: Corner 1 Midpoint

Corner 3

Corner 3: 2nd gear, 5028 RPM, 50 MPH
21.867 seconds from start
15.533 from corner 1
4.133 to corner 4

AI:
Corner 3: 2nd gear, 4206 RPM, 44 MPH
23.067 seconds from start
16.074 from corner 1
5.833 to corner 4

Notes: I'm much deeper into this corner on braking than the AI car. Since it's a short shoot to corner 4, there's little to be gained by maximizing exit speed so hold as much speed as you can deep into the corner.

Image 2: Corner 3 Midpoint

Corner 4

3rd gear, 5663 RPM, 74 MPH (I'm back on the gas at this point but it is measured)

26 seconds from start
4.133 from corner 3
5.267 to corner 5

AI:
3rd gear, 5485 RPM, 72 MPH,
28.900 seconds from start
5.833 from corner 3
5.169 to corner 5

Notes: Through this point in the track, I have shaved nearly 3 seconds from the AI's time by focusing on exit speed through corners 1 and 2, and braking deeper in turn 3.

Image 3: Corner 4 Midpoint  

Corner 5

4th gear, 6207 RPM, 101 MPH
31.267 second from start
5.267 from corner 4
9.1 to corner 6

AI:
4th gear, 6137 RPM, 100 MPH
34.069 seconds from start
5.169 from corner 4
8.331 to corner 6

Notes: I generally take a wider line through turn 5 and clip the grass near my turn in point. Can't say I'm gaining a great deal by doing this but it gives me a wider arc.

Image 4: Corner 5 Midpoint  

Corners 6, 7, and 8

Corner 6: 2nd gear, 5781, 58 mph
40.367 seconds from start
9.1 from corner 5
14.867 to corner 9

Corners 7, 8: full acceleration

AI:
Corner 6: 3rd gear, 4532 RPM, 60 MPH
42.400 seconds from start
8.331 from corner 5
14.667 to corner 9

Corners 7, 8: full acceleration

Notes: This corner remains probably my biggest struggle on the track. It looks like I lost a second in this corner but that's a bit misleading since I measure midpoints and mine was much later than the AI. Still, this corner remains tricky for me.

In the big picture, this corner is not good for passing so it serves little value and as long as you can hold your position, there's little to be gained or lost here in racing. 

Image 5: Corner 6 Midpoint 

Corners 9 and 10

Corner 9: 2nd gear, 5005 RPM, 51 MPH
55.234 seconds from start
14.867 from corner 6
15.833 to corner 11

Corner 10: should be full acceleration.

AI:
Corner 9: 2nd gear, 4760 RPM, 49 MPH
57.067 seconds from start
14.667 from corner 6
16.663 to corner 11

Corner 10: full acceleration

Notes: I messed myself up on this corner and turned in way too early. I ended up carrying plenty of speed but was a bit out of shape in corner 10. I was on the gas a bit too hard and about lost the rear and had to let up slightly which threw me off. Probably lost a 0.5-1 second on this combination of corners.

Image 6: Corner 9 Midpoint 

Corners 11 and 12

Corner 11: 4th gear, 5385 RPM, 87 MPH
71.067 seconds from start
15.863 from corner 10
3.037 to corner 12

Corner 12: 4th gear, 6339 RPM, 101 MPH
74:104 seconds from start
3.037 from corner 11
12.696 to corner 13

AI:
Corner 11: 3rd gear, 5776 RPM, 75 MPH
73.700 seconds from start
16.663 from corner 10
2.963 to corner 12

Corner 12: 4th gear, 5320 RPM, 87 MPH
76:663 seconds from start
2.963 from corner 11
13.737 to corner 13

Notes: This is by far my favorite combination of corners on this track both for hot-lapping and racing. The AI does a very poor job in this corner and it can be taken much faster.

Image 7: Corner 11 Midpoint 

Image 8: Corner 12 Midpoint 

Corner 13

3rd gear, 5136 RPM, 67 MPH
86.800 seconds from start
12.696 from corner 12
5.867 to corner 14

AI:
2nd gear, 6057 RPM, 59 MPH
90.400 seconds from start
13.737 from corner 12
6.593 to corner 14

Notes: Again, another corner that can be taken a gear up on the AI.

Image 9: Corner 13 Midpoint   

Corner 14

4th gear, 5166, 86 MPH
92.667 seconds from start
5.867 from corner 13
8.533 to corner 15

AI:
4th gear, 5217 RPM, 86 MPH
96.993 seconds from start
6.593 from corner 13
6.89 to corner 15

Notes: I'm not gaining anything on the AI in this corner but am not losing much either. Fairly low value corner.

Image 10: Corner 14 Midpoint

Corner 15

2nd gear, 4421 RPM, 44 MPH
101.200 seconds from start
8.533 from corner 14
4.667 to corner 16

AI:
2nd gear, 4436 RPM, 45 MPH
103.883 seconds from start
6.89 from corner 14
4.15 to corner 16

Notes: AI turned in early and had to get back on throttle then brake to this point where it started its final acceleration out of the corner.

I did basically the same thing and was carrying too much speed and had to go way too deep into this corner.
 

Image 10: Corner 15 Midpoint

Corner 16

3rd gear, 6562 RPM, 83 MPH
105.867 seconds from start
4.667 from corner 15
9.033 seconds to finish line

AI:
3rd gear, 5990 RPM, 79 MPH
108.033 seconds from start
4.15 from corner 15
10.13 seconds to finish line

AI is back on accelerator at this point but it is a measured acceleration.

At exit, in 4th gear, 6327 RPM, 102 MPH, 111:500 from start, 135 MPH at finish line.

Notes: This is a critical corner to get correct. I'm much deeper into the corner than the AI at the point I begin unwinding the wheel and accelerating harder. I would prefer to be closer to the curbing as well.

Image 11: Corner 16 Midpoint

Overall thoughts: I got off to a great start in this lap and with a better job in 9/10, 13, and 15, I could have easily taken another 1-2 seconds off my lap time.

This is probably my final hotlap for a while at Melbourne as I'm ready to move onto the next track. My goal all along was to break 1:55 and I did it with this 1:54:926. There's probably another second or two on the track if I can put all the corners together. Sometime in the future, I'll revisit this track.

Future tracks will likely have more personal hotlaps posted. I was working on this track for a couple of weeks before I decided to start this blog. It's taken me a couple of weeks to get the site to this point. In the future, I'll be posting more about the tracks as I learn them, not after my analysis is complete.

Overhead View

In-car View

You can’t learn ‘em all at once and you don’t need to. I’m a big fan of Ross Bentley’s book Speed Secrets. I’ll refer to it, along with my time at Skip Barber Racing School often.

One of the first things Bentley talks about when it comes to breaking down a track is to focus on the highest speed corners leading onto a straight. Far too often, we focus on maximizing entry speed and late braking, but we can gain far more time by ensuring we exit a corner properly and carry that extra speed down a straight.

The reason to focus on highest-speed corners first is it is much harder to regain speed the faster you are going. Going from 100 MPH to 110 MPH will take longer than going from 50 MPH to 60 MPH. If you can exit a corner with more speed, do it in the corners where it will be harder to recover that speed if lost.

Based on that idea, here are the corners and my priority for getting them correct. 

The Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit is a relatively flat, 16-corner track.

The screenshots and videos are from an AI-controlled car. Observing or riding along with another driver is generally one of my first steps to learning a new track. The AI serves that purpose well in rFactor.

AI Hotlap, In Car

AI Hotlap, Overview

This lap was completed in 1:58.163 (118.163 seconds).

The gear, RPM, MPH, and time between corners are measured at the point the RPMs begin to increase when exiting a corner. The screen shots are also from the point of acceleration from the corner.

Let’s take a look at a lap.

Corners 1 and 2

Corners 1 and 2 are located at the end of the long front straight.

Corner 1: 2nd gear, 3700 RPM, 40 MPH
6.933 seconds from start
17.063 from corner 16
16.074 to corner 3

Corner 2: Full acceleration

Image 1: Corner 1 Midpoint

Corner 3

Corner 3: 2nd gear, 4206 RPM, 44 MPH
23.067 seconds from start
16.074 from corner 1
5.833 to corner 4

Image 2: Corner 3 Midpoint

Corner 4

Corner 4: 3rd gear, 5485 RPM, 72 MPH,
28.900 seconds from start
5.833 from corner 3
5.169 to corner 5

Image 3: Corner 4 Midpoint

Corner 5

Corner 5: 4th gear, 6137 RPM, 100 MPH
34.069 seconds from start
5.169 from corner 4
8.331 to corner 6

Image 4: Corner 5 Midpoint

Corners 6, 7, and 8

Corner 6: 3rd gear, 4532 RPM, 60 MPH
42.400 seconds from start
8.331 from corner 5
14.667 to corner 9

Corners 7, 8: full acceleration

Image 6: Corner 7 Midpoint

Corners 9 and 10

Corner 9: 2nd gear, 4760 RPM, 49 MPH
57.067 seconds from start
14.667 from corner 6
16.663 to corner 11

Corner 10: full acceleration

Image 7: Corner 9 Midpoint 

Corners 11 and 12

Corner 11: 3rd gear, 5776 RPM, 75 MPH
73.700 from start
16.663 from corner 10
2.963 to corner 12

Corner 12: 4th gear, 5320 RPM, 87 MPH
76:663 from start
2.963 from corner 11
13.737 to corner 13

Image 8: Corner 11 Midpoint

Image 9: Corner 12 Midpoint

Corner 13

2nd gear, 6057 RPM, 59 MPH
90.400 from start line
13.737 from corner 12
6.593 to corner 14

Image 10: Corner 13 Midpoint

Corner 14

4th gear, 5217 RPM, 86 MPH
96.993 from start
6.593 from corner 13
6.89 to corner 15

Image 11: Corner 14 Midpoint

Corner 15

2nd gear, 4436 RPM, 45 MPH
103.883 from start
6.89 from corner 14
4.15 to corner 16

AI turned in early and had to get back on throttle then brake to this point where it started its final acceleration out of the corner.

Image 12: Corner 15 Midpoint

Corner 16

3rd gear, 5990 RPM, 79 MPH
108.033 from start
4.15 from corner 15
10.13 seconds to finish line

AI is back on accelerator at this point but it is a measured acceleration.

At exit, in 4th gear, 6327 RPM, 102 MPH, 111:500 from start, 135 MPH at finish line.

Image 13: Corner 16 Midpoint

Image 14: Corner 16 Exit

The 2008 Australian Grand Prix will take place on March 16 at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne Australia. The track has 16 turns and runs a distance of 5.303 KM (3.30 mile). Michael Schumacher set the track record of 1:24:125 while driving for Ferrari in 2004.

The rFactor track (http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=Albert%20Park%20GP4) for this circuit is a conversion from GP4 and has a 4-star rating from members of the rFactorCentral.com community.

To learn more about Albert Park’s history and origins, refer to the Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Grand_Prix_Circuit)

Future entries about this track will include:

• First Impressions, including AI hot laps, screen captures and statistics about each turn
• Ranking the corners for hot lapping
• Hot laps and lessons learned
• Passing zones, re-ranking the corners for passing
• Racing and lessons learned