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A fast lap with David
Coulthard
A flying lap starts with Woodcote,
which is easily flat in the dry, but can be a little bit tricky in
the wet. Then it's past the pits and down to Copse, which is taken
in third or fourth gear, depending on the balance of the car. It's a
very short apex and quite a fast corner. You enter Becketts in fifth
gear, drop down to fourth for the lefthander, and stay in fourth
gear for the exit of the righthander. It's one of the best corners
for the drivers, and equally for the spectators I think. If you get
it slightly wrong, you cock it up all the way through.
The important thing there is to get good positioning for a good exit
down Hangar Straight, because obviously that's a good opportunity to
overtake. You get up to about 190 mph, before what is now a revised
Stowe.
They've opened it up and it's flat now, taken in fourth gear with a
very quick entry. It should offer overtaking opportunities, but
we'll have to wait and see. It was second or third before, really
tight.
After Stowe it's a pretty straight run down into Club. It's second
gear on entry, then third, fourth and fifth as you exit. It's quite
a tricky corner. You then have the run up to Abbey, and you get up
into sixth before braking and dropping down to third. It's a fairly
straightforward chicane. Again the exit is important because then
you go down the hill and under the bridge, and through the Bridge
Corner.
That should be flat in qualifying - but it won't be flat in the race!
It's fifth gear, and then pretty much as you exit you have to brake
and turn into Priory. Now the complex has been changed, the exit is
much shorter, so you have to stop very quickly.
Priory is taken in second gear, which you hold all the way through
the complex. Priory, Brooklands, Luffield One and Two are all pretty
straightforward second gear corners. The complex is quite big and
wide, and you're struggling with understeer and oversteer and
generally trying to get on the power. Also on the exit of Luffield
Two any loss of time you get there you carry all the way down
through Woodcote and Copse.
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