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This hotlap is from my third session at Sepang. Getting better with the line and with braking at an appropriate time. Still working out the line. I've got some work to do on the back corridor including corners 5-8. Those are extremely important for fast lap times because they are high speed.

The other thing I'm discovering is the curbing at this track is rough. You can put two wheels on it with no problem, but don't drop a wheel off the other side on most corners or it will wreck you.

Still like this track.

Overhead View

In-car View

This hotlap is from my second session at Sepang. I'm not dissatisfied with it, but it illustrates some classic mistakes that are hard habits to break. The primary mistake I'm making is focusing on entry speed instead of exit speed. In a lot of the corners, you will see me shoot past the racing line and the car I'm chasing start to pull away when exiting the corner. At this stage of my learning, I need to be focusing on the line and exit speed, not on how late I can brake.

But it's a start.

Overhead View

In-car View

I like this track. It's challenging in different ways than Albert Park. Being a purpose-built track, it's wider and generally has a lot more of a runoff area. It has a decent amount of vertical change which adds more challenge to finding the right balance of the car while driving. It has a lot of corners that are long, sweeping, and fast which you will find more challenging.

I don't like how the AI enters and exits the pit lane. On entry, it is in the racing line and then veers wildly to the pit lane crossing the outer lane of traffic. Not sure how it will react if another car is out there. On entry to the track, it again veers wildly back into the racing line. I have yet to be hit by one, but I have seen other AI cars get hit by one re-entering the track.

I drove about 60 laps today and rode along with the AI for another 20 or so. I've gotten up to speed pretty quickly on this track after my initial analysis. I'm still finding it hard to put together complete laps, but I feel like I'm further along after this many laps than I was with Albert Park.

Attached is a hotlap from the AI, as well as a screen shot of each corner.

AI Hotlap, In Car

AI Hotlap, Overview

This lap was completed in 2:04.709 (124.163 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.

Corner 1

Corner 1 is a tight hairpin leading quickly into a left-hander.

2nd gear, 4679 RPM, 47 MPH
13.667 seconds from start
22.163 seconds from corner 15
5.396 seconds to corner 2

Corner 2

Corner 2 is a slightly downhill left-hander immediately after the turn 1 hairpin.

2nd gear, 4333 RPM, 43 MPH
18.733 seconds from start
5.066 seconds from corner 1
17.767 seconds to corner 4

Corner 3

Corner 3 is a sweeping right-hander that is taken full out.

Corner 4

Corner 4 is an uphill right hander.

3rd gear, 4604 RPM, 60 MPH
36.500 seconds from start
17.767 seconds from turn 2
9.8 seconds to turn 5

Corner 5

Corner 5 is the first of two high-speed corners along this corridor.

5th gear, 5525 RPM, 109 MPH
46.300 seconds from start
9.8 seconds from turn 4
4 seconds to turn 6

Corner 6

5th gear, 5488 RPM, 107 MPH
50.300 seconds from start
4 seconds from turn 5
7.5 seconds to turn 7

Corners 7 and 8

Corner 7 is a flat, fairly high-speed right hander that leads almost immediately into the Corner 8 which is also a right-hander.

Corner 7: 4th gear, 5645 RPM, 93 MPH
57.800 seconds from start
7.5 seconds from turn 6
12.867 seconds to turn 9

Corner 8: 4th gear, measured acceleration

Corner 9

Corner 9 is one of the bigger breaking zones outside of the hairpins. It is a tight, uphill, left-hander.

2nd gear, 4438 RPM, 45 MPH
70.667 seconds from start
12.867 seconds from turn 7
9.033 seconds to turn 11

Corner 10

Corner 10 is a right-hander that trickles into corner 11.

Corner 11

Corner 11 is a fairly high-speed right-hander that falls away and leads to a short downhill shoot.

3rd gear, 5349 RPM, 70 MPH
79.700 seconds from start
9.033 seconds from turn 9
8.267 seconds to turn 12

Corner 12

Quick left-hander.

5th gear, 5728 RPM, 113 MPH
87.967 seconds from start
8.267 seconds from turn 11
7.133 seconds to turn 14

Corners 13 and 14

Continue acceleration from corner 12 into corner 13 before beginning braking for corner 14. Corner 14 is a long sweeping right-hander that is at least two corners built into one. It falls away and seems to go on forever before opening up to one of the two straight-aways enclosing the main grandstands.

Corner 14: 3rd gear, 4535 RPM, 59 MPH
95.100 seconds from start
7.133 seconds from turn 12
20.783 seconds to turn 15

Corner 15

Corner 15 is the second hairpin and leads back onto the front straightaway.

2nd gear, 4908 RPM, 50 MPH
115.833 seconds from start
20.783 seconds from turn 14
22.163 seconds to turn 1

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