Dane Cameron: I think The Corkscrew definitely ranks
as one of the most difficult corners in the country.
Certainly one of the most unique, by far.
Definitely kinda "stomach in your throat"
when you come over the top and plunge back down the hill.
Hey, I'm Dane Cameron.
Driver of the #6 Acura Team Penske DPI
in the IMSA WeatherTech Series,
and I'm here to take your turn by turn
around Laguna Seca.
Here we are, front straightaway at Laguna Seca.
This is actually Turn 1, big rise there.
Hard braking now for Turn 2.
So best passing opportunity onto the race track.
Turn 2, Andretti Hairpin as it's known here.
It's actually very very low grip
here in the center of this corner,
so a lot of different lines can take place here.
There's kinda one line you would take for passing.
A different line you're gonna take for qualifying,
when you're trying to get a little bit more speed
out of the car.
There's actually two different sections of apex curbing,
and you'll see me turn the car back
to get that exit out of there.
Again, trying to get your hands straight,
trying to get maximum traction.
So now we'll go up to 3rd gear, into Turn 3 here.
This is a really tricky corner, really tricky entry here.
Kinda have to hustle the car from the right side of the road
back over to the left.
The car never really quite gets straight here.
You either feel like you charged into the corner
and lost the rear of the car,
or you feel like you under drove
and then you lose the front of the car.
So it's a really tough place,
and definitely one of the corners
you never feel like you quite get right,
or never feel like the car fully wants to cooperate there.
So out of Turn 3, into Turn 4, under the bridge there.
This is a really quick corner, Turn 4.
Kind of a wide entry,
but it tightens up a lot there on the exit.
Fourth gear corner, so it's quite fast.
You have to turn in a little bit earlier than you think,
get into the grip.
And one that really punishes you if you get greedy
and you get back to throttle too early.
A really difficult corner,
especially when the tires start to wear,
but one that feels really good when you get quite right.
Turn number 5 here, another pretty hard braking zone,
but you can get pretty deep into here.
This corner has a lot of camber
so you can really brake pretty deep.
There's a little bit of banking there
to help you through the corner.
And it kind of encourages you to turn early into the corner,
but that's the wrong thing to do,
'cause it turns so much more past the apex, there.
So you really have to be patient,
and this is probably one of the most important corners
to have your car placement right.
The most dangerous section at Laguna Seca
is probably Turn 6.
Very quick left hand corner,
blind approach over a small crest.
You kind of give just a small touch on the brake,
turn in with speed and you can't see the apex,
so you can't see the center of the corner at all.
And you really have to be committed to big speed,
because it leads up to a really big hill
on your way up to The Corkscrew.
So typically this is where you would see the most spins,
as evidenced by the skid marks that are on the track there,
it's pretty typical to be a little too fast,
drop a wheel corner exit and be fighting to get the car
back on the track and kind of have it spin over to the left.
What's most common is to basically go flying off the road
when you get to corner exit.
So I think The Corkscrew definitely ranks
as one of the most difficult corners in the country.
Certainly one of the most unique, by far.
And it's the type of corner
that you never feel like you've gotten right.
I think what makes The Corkscrew difficult
is honestly more of the approach to it,
than the actual going down the 5 or 6 story drop.
Obviously it's very unique,
you don't see anything like that
anywhere else in the world.
It's a left hand corner at the top there,
and untraditionally you start breaking
or you start approaching the corner
from the left hand side,
which at a normal corner would be wrong.
Then you kind of drift from left side of the road
over to the right side once you come over that crown.
But once you get the car slowed down and turned,
and you get to that apex there on the left,
the corner's kind of about over from there
and the big plunge down the hill
is kind of the bonus out of the back side.
You actually use a little bit taller gear,
so it's probably slow enough to be a first gear corner,
but typically you'll roll that second gear
because as you plunge down hill, that 6 stories,
that 5, 6 stories down hill, the car gains speed so quickly.
The load on your body going through The Corkscrew
is kinda unique.
So typically you're having G-forces side to side on your
body, and forward to backward.
But what we don't normally see in racing
is kinda those vertical G's, as you drop down the hill.
So definitely kind of "stomach in your throat"
when you come over the top and then plunge down the hill.
Everything's a little bit light,
you're kinda coming out of the seat just a little bit,
and then when you get to the bottom
obviously everything comes crashing back down
and compresses quite hard, there.
So Turn 9 here is one of my favorite corners on the track.
And it's really tricky, because it's so wide on the entry
and then narrows up so much
and goes a little bit off-camber at the exit.
So off-camber means that the road is falling away from you
and trying to pull that car off the road.
It's definitely a tricky corner.
It suckers you into thinking, "Maybe I can be flat.
"Maybe just a little more throttle."
This and that.
And it always tries to bite you
when you get to the exit there,
you realize if you got it right or wrong.
So a really short straight away
between Turn 9 and into Turn 10.
This again is a really fun corner.
It's got just a great flow on this section of race track
once you come down through The Corkscrew.
Here you do have that camber to help you,
but again it's quite easy to overdrive
because the pavement is so old.
And you're just trying to get it just right.
Again, if you're too early into the corner,
the front tires are gonna give up
and you'll feel like you're running out of race track
on corner exit.
So Turn 11 has got to be the lowest grip corner
on the track.
You never feel like you can brake super hard, there.
And again it's a high use track
with some pretty old pavement,
so you always feel like you're balancing the cars in here.
Even though it's first gear and very very slow,
the minute you turn in
the car's kind of fighting you in the rear.
It's really tricky,
and obviously it's hugely important as well,
because you need that really strong exit
to get maximum top speed through Turn 1, and into Turn 2.
So if you're weak here
and you're struggling for corner exit,
you're just going to be a sitting duck
and you're getting passed when you get down to Turn 2.
So it's one of the toughest places to get right,
but it's one of the most important for the lap, too.
So once you've finally got the power down out of Turn 11,
start pulling through the gears,
climbing the hill over the crest in Turn 1,
and start the process all over again for another lap
at Laguna Seca.
AJ Caldwell: Hey, I'm AJ.
Thanks for watching.
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