Feature: SimHQ’s Fast Lap:
Virtua_LM’s “Le Mans ’79”

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Tertre Rouge: Racing coaches will tell you that the most important corners to get right are the ones that spill out onto a long straight. Maximizing corner exit speed translates directly into a higher overall speed on the subsequent straight. It is for that reason that Tertre Rouge is the most important corner to get right at Le Mans, for it spills out onto the longest straight in all of racing. You’ll be in 3rd gear as you approach the braking point for the corner. It’s a wide-radius turn (for Le Mans), so you’ll be using 2nd or 3rd gear to negotiate it. But the key here is to not over-cook the throttle as you slide through the apex. The track loses grip near the exit, and if you have to back off the throttle you’ll spoil your average speed down the long straight. So pay attention to the tires and the chassis’ slip angle as you apex in order to maximize your exit speed.

The Mulsanne Straight / Hunaudierés Straight: Here it is — the most frightening straight in racing. Known by some as the Mulsanne straight (the road leads to the village of Mulsanne) or the Hunaudierés Straight, cars on this stretch can reach well over 200 mph, and remain at that speed for nearly a minute.

In VLM’s ’79-’86 incarnation, there are no speed-sapping chicanes — just a torture test of engine and transmission, with cars running on the rev-limiter in top gear for what seems like an eternity to the driver. And if the car is not set up precisely, drivers will have their hands full of more than a cell-phone and a latte — but rather in a cat-and-mouse struggle with the steering wheel as they try to keep the car pointed down the track and away from the tree line! Don’t think for a minute that the Mulsanne Straight is easy. Nothing is easy at 200+ mph!

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