30 replies to this topic

[Jason]

I think it's the corkscrew at Laguna Seca.
Which turn do you think is the most challenging?

[Mobile_Chicane]

I wouldn't know, but some drivers seem to think Eau Rouge at Spa flat out is pretty challenging

[p][Edited by Mobile_Chicane on 07-04-2000]

[Frans MSH]

Eau rouge, no question......;)

[A3]

Eau Rouge

[theMot]

my drive way

[BuzzingHornet]

St. Devote... more crashes there than anywhere!

[hhffan]

From what I've read from the drivers

Eau Rouge

From my experience in Sims

First Chicane at Monza
Last turn at Magny Cours
St Devote at Monaco

[PeaQ]

I would say, drving Eau Rouge backwards is pretty challengin...

[Witt]

The first corner to pop into my head is Eau Rouge, thus that's my vote. It's easily the most talked about corner in F1, and even American NASCAR/CART drivers all mention Spa as a track they'd like to drive one day.

Other difficult corners in F1, 130R, Copse, Beckett's complex, Acqua Minarale (spel?), Estoril, Blanchimont, Parabolica. See a patern here? They're all fast!

Other difficult corners i can think of.
The Esses/Dipper/Forest Elbow complex at Bathurst.
Turn 2/3/4 (don't know name) at Watkins Glen. I'm not sure if they exist anymore, but they are fun to drive on GP2. The old footage of F1 cars going through there, as they bounce off the kerb is awesome to watch.
Paddock Hill Bend at Brands

[MattB]

It seems that the Parabolica at Monza is difficult because it is very bumpy, is very tight and narrow at entry, but it is crucial for a fast lap, the driver needs to get into the corner with good speed in order to get a good boot down the straight.

[Damop]

I would say Eau Rouge followed very closely by the corkscrew. Eua Rouge just looks so damn fast and vicious. Exciting stuff. Really demonstrates those cars and drivers that are good, and those who aren't. The corkscrew is remarkable because the cars actually lift wheels as the go around it, there are significant direction changes, off-camber sections, and the entry is completely blind. Paul Tracy once said that every time he enters it he holds his breath - gotta figure it's a tough corner if someone as nuts as him fears it.

[Alfisti]

Yep... Eau Rouge looks tough.

Corkskrew is what every American reakonsis the great corner of the world... yes it is good but see the "dipper" at Bathurst for the same thing... hardly unique. Laguna Seca is the worlds most over rated track... series of mid speed corners with just the corkscrew to break it up.

Don't know the name of the corner but the fast left at the end of Elkart Lake is a tough one.

130R is a personal fav and so is Blanchimont at Spa.. underrated because of Eau Rouge.

[A3]

And imagine Eau Rouge is a "blind" corner. I never forget the first time I walked to the circuit. I was still pretty far away from it and the only thing I could see was Eau Rouge. Impressive.

2 years ago we walk back over the track after the GP and then I noticed how different things look on TV. The corner goes right up ! It's so steep, I never expected this. Great circuit, great corner.

[A3]

This is what I mean. Look at that...

[OverTaker]

Corkscrew at Laguna Seca.

[mtl'78]

Eau Rouge is the corckscrew, backwards and 200 kph's faster!

[Ray Bell]

Depends on what you call difficult, and how far back you want to go. The original Phillip Island circuit, a plain rectangle about 6 miles around, had one point regarded as plainly dangerous... it was called the 'Needle's Eye' and was half way down a straight!
I reckoned that Lobethal's few corners entered after cresting brows were pretty tough, and must have detracted from lap speeds, but the 1939 AGP winner told me it was a 'piece of cake... we just turned before we got airborne!'
In a very quick car, the run around from Griffin's Mount to McPhillamy is fairly testing, especially the precision required to land neatly in the central dip (anyone who's watched Bathurst or been there would know what I mean) so that you can start to line up the entry for the next right.
Amaroo Park was tricky in the late afternoon, with the sun setting fair in the middle of the trajectory for that fast sweep off the straight... that led to the braking area for the Loop.
But, for all that, I think Eau Rouge has got a lot going for it.

[Laphroaig]

The corner after Flugplatz at the old Nurnburgring!
Guessing how fast and far you can fly to get back in touch with the track right before you have to take the corner!

Oh.. and in the 'any' motorsports category, under 'difficult but no fun', MotoGP racers hate a certain corner at Assen. It was off-camber quite a lot which makes damn hard to take with a bike. (Even Doohan hated it ;)
I think they finaly repaved it last year...

[Pete Stanley]

There is a corner - turn ten or eleven, can't remember which - at Road Atlanta that is scary to even look at. I can't imagine driving it.

The best corners in motorsports are not only difficult to drive, but the danger is real, too. Only the best drivers are willing to take these turns at the limit. Only the best drivers know how.

Eau Rouge is one of these, and is the most famous, but it is not the only one.

Formula One suffers from too few of these corners today.

[Diffuser]

I think the drivers have said that the maggots and beckets complex at Silverstone is probably the most difficult of them all.

[130R]

Turn two at Mosport deserves recognition. Blind. Downhill. Left. Off-camber. Nastiness awaits.

[Tigalola]

Any corner that I left my braking to late for.

[JayWay]

Pete,

Are you talking about the one Carpentier did a triple flip at?

[MacFan]

The chicane before the startline at Montreal. 3 World Champions couldn't get round it in last year's race

[Wes]

Masta kink, flat out.

[Laphroaig]

MacFan, no, the Montreal chicane is probably the worst corner in the whole of F1.

Why? Because it's 'unfair';) There is so much dirt on the track and so little runoff space that the drivers that DO want to take risks and DO run on the limit have the most chance of going off!
There are too many random factors in that chicane, it doesn't add up to talent and guts, only luck if you take it on the limit and hit a patch of dirt.

[fissijo]

Eau Rouge... actually most of the Spa circuit

St Devote gets an honoury mention as well...

Joei ;)

[JaqFan]

Eau Rouge for F1.
Laguna Corkscrew for CART (front left wheel lifts off road).

I'm not sure which is the more challenging of the two, but I'd say Eau Rouge, since it's so much faster.

[DJS]

For road courses, I'd have to agree with wes, there ain't nothing like the Masta kink...

Eau Rouge is of course right up there on the list, how about the Peralta at Mexico?? A constant radius 180-degree corner, taken at about 150ish mph. Pretty straight forward... except for the bumps.

I think any of the corners at Pike's Peak would scare the crap out of me, particularly hairpins with a straight drop down the outside.

Many of the corners in rallying are more tricky than they appear, it isn't until something goes wrong than that becomes apparent.

[Brackets]

Just a small remark (pictures from A3's post):

This is actually "eau-rouge", which is not really that hard (flat out 'chicane'):

It's the lowest part of the track, and it's named Eau Rouge because the river Eau Rouge - you guessed it, with red water - runs underneath it.

*This* is where the problem starts with the infamous corner:

This part of the corner, the final left hander, is actually called the "Raidillon". It is so difficult because it is totally blind, because it generates negative G's and because it's near impossible to perfectly point an F1 car (or anything else with a "long nose" that hinders your vision) across the inside curbstones so that you can get a good run on Kemmel.

Basically, when you exit eau-rouge, you are watching the blue skies - well, not always that blue at Spa - so you need to turn into the Raidillon based on your gut feeling, not on what you're seeing. And all that at 290km/h!

Jimbo.

[Pete Stanley]

Jay Way, Did Carpentier ever run a race at Road Atlanta?

I think you mean Road America, in Wisconsin. He messed up under braking off of the long front straight and started flipping off of the first turn.