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Thanks to Peter Krause
of Krause & England
for providing us with his description of a CMP Hot Lap….enjoy!
Carolina Motorsports Park - Hot Lap
A welcome addition to the few purpose built road-racing
facilities in the Southeast, the 2.235 mile, fourteen turn track five
miles south of Kershaw, South Carolina has already proven a hit among
the many marque club and Club racing participants who have sampled it's
sinuous curves. Conceived in early 1998 by two road racers who were
bemoaning the limited access to such storied venues as Road Atlanta
and Charlotte (now Lowe's) Motor Speedway, Carolina Motorsports Park
is now a reality, sure to gain in popularity for marque club driving
events and amateur sports car racing.
CMP's primary focus is towards this growing market. Such
is the demand that Mickey Clyburn, the affable and able track manager,
has had difficulty accommodating every group who wants to take advantage
of a prime weekend date. Alan Wilson's challenging course design has
succeeded in laying down the invitation for every driver that samples
CMP to come back and unlock the secrets of this relatively easily learned,
but difficult to master, road racing circuit. Let's take a lap at speed…
Heading down the pit straight towards Turn 1, a slightly
more than 90 degree lefthand bend, requires braking at approximately
the white timing line for most quicker street cars lining up the right
side of the car parallel to the right side of the track no more than
twelve inches from the edge of the pavement. Turn in for Turn 1 should
be at the smaller secondary paved path coming in from the right, start
turning in at the end of the paving, then move the point back as you
become more comfortable. The goal is to place the left front and rear
tires over the gently inclined curbing 3/4 to7/8 of the way around the
Turn 1 apex. As with a majority of the corners at CMP, discipline is
required to slow the car down to a point where the car will positively
and completely respond to the initial steering input. Tracking out perhaps
3/4 from the left side of the road, bend the car to the right gently
through the slightly quicker Turn 2, apexing with the right wheels gently
on the curb/pavement seam precisely halfway, marked conveniently with
a four foot thin white line extending out from the curbing, tracking
out no further than halfway to the left, preferably 1/3 from the right
side edge of the pavement in the short straight between the exit of
Turn 2 to the entrance of Turn 3. It is not necessary to "straighten"
the car for the entry to Turn 3 as you gain confidence and speed through
this section. Far more important is developing the ability to "build
" from initial turn in at Turn 1, adding speed in graduated steps
and extending the rhythm of turning left, then right, then left at ever
increasing speed. The apex for Turn 3 is an area on the inside curb
from 1/2 to 2/3 of the way around, unwinding and applying progressively
more power as you rocket across the "wetlands."
Heading up into the "Faith, Hope and Charity"
carousel, first you must negotiate successfully the dauntingly quick
Turn 4. By extrapolating turn in from the permanent braking markers
on the right (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, turn-in), bend the car to the left without
downshifting, allowing the left side tires to apex ½ way to almost
the end of the Turn 4 curbing aiming the car for a point 1/3 of the
width of the track from the right at the entrance of Turn 5. By creating
the straight braking zone from the end of the Turn 4 curbing to turn-in
for Turn 5, you can effectively use the uphill compression not only
for negotiating Turn 4, but also to get the car slowed down as quickly
as possible and effect a quick downshift at the end of the compressed
braking zone. Entering Turn 5 from the center/right side of the track,
place the right side wheels over the curb/pavement seam for an extended
period, generally the last half of the curbing, with the ultimate goal
of initiating a single arc that will allow you to apex over the last
third of the curbing at Turn 7. As a way to ensure that you are on the
correct radius, track-out from Turn 5 mandates placing the left wheels
within six inches from the left edge of the pavement over the last quarter
of the outside concrete rumble strip. This rumble strip is on the left
side of the road over the last half of the short straight connecting
Turn 5 with Turn 6. The highest point of this complex is just after
the Turn 5 apex curbing and the car will "tighten" it's line
as you roll on the power headed towards this outside curb. As the road
continues to fall away in the Turn 6/ Turn 7 complex, slight changes
to the arc should be made through changes in throttle position, not
the steering wheel. Exiting Turn 6 1/3 of the way from the left edge
of the track will allow extending the most open approach to the all-important
Turn 7. Make certain that the right side wheels do, in fact, touch the
curb/pavement seam over the last 1/3 of the Turn 7 apex, finally allowing
track-out to occur at the end of the rumble strip on driver's left.
Taking a breath only for a moment, get ready for one of
the most challenging corners on the circuit. A gentle bend to the right
precedes the uphill, camber-gaining Turn 8. Allowing compression to
aid in shortening the braking zone, use the permanent braking markers
to extrapolate again the turn-in point. This less than 90 degree right
hand corner flows beautifully from the exit through "the Swoop";
Turn 9, a mere bend in the road…Turn 8 is inevitably one of those
corners, like Turn 6 at Road Atlanta, that leaves a driver muttering
"I could've gone through quicker…" The speed of the corner
again requires the precision to get the right side tires onto the curb
from 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through, otherwise, the sand-traps beckon…Down
the longest straight we go, headed into Turn 10; "the Kink".
Despite numerous boasts to the contrary present in every racetrack paddock,
Turn 10 is not "flat out" in most marque club cars …especially
if you insist on placing the right side wheels over the raised pavement
extension at the theoretical apex. The raised pavement is due to the
presence of the "West Course" return road, coming in from
the right, unsettling the car substantially precisely when you desire
the most stability. By initiating a "confidence lift" and
by being back on mild throttle as you bend the car to the right, the
risk of unsettling the car and going off or presenting yourself as a
spinning target to the following cars is avoided. Tracking out generally
doesn't require a trip all of the way to the left edge of the track,
but if it does, be sure that track out occurs at the end of the rumble
strip on the left. Continuing the arc to the right gently will allow
the car to aim for the extreme right side of the track in preparation
for heavy braking for the tricky Turn 11.
The difficulty with Turn 11 has to do with the fact that
the initial 135 degree, 102 foot radius has a short straight followed
by another 24 degree, 182 foot radius bend to the left which serves
to extend the turn, hence the steering input. Driving deep into the
corner all of the way on the right side of the track, brake enough to
get the car to "come down" to the apex, which is 3/4 to the
end of the curbing on the inside. Allowing the car to track out no more
than 2/3 of the track width from the left, continue an arc to bring
the car back over to the left to drive deep into the corner for entry
into Turn 12. Turn 12 is more than 90 degrees, slightly more open than
the entry to Turn 11, but don't get sucked into opening up the wheel
prematurely, tracking all the way out to the end of the exit curbing.
Blast up the short straight to Turn 13, align the left
side of the car parallel with the left side of the track with the
left front six to twelve inches from the edge of the pavement, braking
hard and turning in for the 90 degree right hand bend. Interestingly
enough, the 57 foot radius for Turn 13 is the same as the radius for
Turn 14, but the almost 120 degree Turn 14 requires you to slow more
than for Turn 13 to allow the car to negotiate the corner without
tracking out too far. The apex is again running the inside tires over
the curbing 3/4 of the way around Turn 13, tracking out fully to the
left. Braking hard for Turn 14, turn-in is a small "divot",
or cutaway into the left side of the pavement about six inches long.
Turn-in should be decisive, as this is the slowest corner on the course,
exit speed being extremely important. Place the inside wheels over
the last third of the curbing and track out to and at the very end
of the rumble strip on the left side of the track. Move the car gently
across to the right as you rise and fall over the gentle crest in
the middle of the pit (start/finish) straight, preparing to line the
car up on the right side of the track in anticipation of braking hard
for Turn 1. If pitting, indicate your intention early and stay left
at the exit of Turn 14. Drive left of the yellow line and slow significantly
for pit entrance. Take a deep breath, you've earned it!
- Peter Krause
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