SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Driving rFactor: A Fast Lap at Toban Raceway Park's Short Track

Turn 5L: After the stress of Turn 4's braking zone and cresting hilltop, the back straight's "esses" will seem like a piece of cake — and they are, if you negotiate Turn 5 properly. S-turn sequences at any track are often deceptively difficult, not to negotiate but to work with a maneuvering rhythm that keeps the car moving at maximum velocity. The key to the esses at Toban is to get the car balanced while finding the proper apex for Turn 5.

If all went well out of Turn 4, you're at full throttle and hustling the car down the short decline into Turn 5. As I said earlier, getting the car balanced and ready to turn is the key to success in Turns 5, 6 and 7. All the turns are wide enough to be negotiated at full throttle in 4th gear, and it's important to the car's balance to get it into 4th as soon as possible. I get the car into 4th gear a bit earlier than redline RPM, just to ensure that everything is ready before I turn the wheel in to Turn 5. Typically, the RPM is about 7400-7800 RPM and the car is about ¾ the way down the short chute that leads into Turn 5. There's a rather daunting wall placed just inside the kerbing on the inside line of the turn, but don't let it scare you into a too-wide line through the turn. This is a high-speed corner, and we fully expect the car to drift away from the wall/apex as we negotiate the turn at full throttle. With practice you can just nip the inside kerbing with your front tire as you work this corner for maximum speed, and those few extra inches of turning room will come in quite handy as you reverse the wheel and enter Turn 6.

The esses

Turn 6R: This is a no-brainer of a corner; taken at full-throttle in 4th gear with the engine near its 8000 RPM redline. Plan on just brushing the inside kerbing with your right front tire and aim the car for a late-apex point on the next turn's kerbing.

Turn 7L: The last turn in the esses. Coming into Turn 7, you should be shifting into 5th gear. If not, you're losing speed somewhere (probably at Turn 5) and need to refine your line. As I said before, your goal for Turn 7 is to clip a slightly late apex, so that you're set up properly for a smooth entry into Turn 8. You'll know if you get the right line in Turn 7 because the inside kerbing stops and you'll find your inside left tire briefly digging about in the gravel. Don't let the car drift all the way to the right side of the pavement as you exit turn 7 — it's wasted travel for the car. Keep it on the left half of the track and work your way back to the left edge of the track as you prepare for Turn 8's challenging entry.

Turn 8R: Welcome to Turn 8, the second most difficult turn on the Toban Short circuit. Once again, elevation changes create a good deal of the challenge at this turn, but so too does some pavement irregularity that will force you to alter your line in order to keep the car moving expeditiously.

The tricky Turn 8

Just prior to the braking zone for Turn 8, the pavement drops away rather abruptly, thereby hiding the corner and adding a little of the Earth's momentum to your own, which will degrade your braking as you slow down for the corner. Unlike the earlier Turn 4, Turn 8 is quite a bit larger in radius, allowing you to get on the gas a little sooner, if you've slowed the car properly for this down-hill turn. The key here once again, is to gently lift off the throttle and firmly apply the brakes just as the braking zone's darkened pavement appears over the crest in the track. As you gain more experience with this turn, you'll find you can move your braking point in a bit, but don't think that late-braking here will save you any time: it's more likely to cause you to over-shoot the corner and take an off-road excursion. Time and again you'll see folks brake late for Turn 8, only to wind up locking the tires up, scrubbing off too much speed in a panic stop, getting out of shape, or going off the course altogether. In this turn, the old adage "slower is faster" really is true. In fact, you don't want to hear too much tire scrub at all in this corner, as it's a sure-fire indicator that you'll get too slow at the apex. Concentrate on being as smooth and fluid as possible in order to get through this turn quickly. Don't make any rapid inputs to wheel, brake or throttle. Everything should move very smoothly and discreetly through this turn if you're to keep your momentum up and lap times down.

Finally, you'll find out that there's an irregularity in the pavement near the exit of this turn, near the left edge of the track. The irregularity can easily cause your car to spin out if you're on the gas when you cross it (and at the exit of any turn, you should be on the gas). As a result of this pavement issue, I've altered my line through the turn. I hug the inside edge of the track at the apex, but only let the car drift out to mid-track on the exit. This has two functions. First, I avoid the lump in the track on the outside edge. Second, I can get the car more correctly pointed toward the entry for Turn 9.

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