Location: Opera Paris Car: Renault Clio Sport V6 Phase 2, 2003 Demo Time: 1'35.441 Gold Time: 1'36.620 Videos:S-11 (3rd person)S-11(1st person, with display)
Replay:
S-11 (.max format) (coming soon)
Preparation:
chicane: noun - a barricaded, tightly curved, or zig-zagged roadway that
forces traffic to slow while still permitting it to pass; the series of
structures which form such a roadway.
Practice on the same Time Trial course, in the same Arcade car, but
change its tires to both F/R Sport Softs. This MR Clio has a little
understeer, so
get
used to shifting its weight onto the front tires, by either lifting off
the accelerator or by carefully applying the brakes, to enhance its
steering.
Taking the Test:
Because the Clio is a well behaved MR car, you can gun the gas at the
starting line and you will not get tire slippage. Head straight
off the line towards the "Shell" sign [pic #1]. Consider the first set
of
corners as one set taking as straight a line through them as possible.
Miss the first right curb, but be aware that there is a small bump in
the road near it [pic #2].
Half way between the first two apexes, change into
3rd gear. Clip the left curb [pic
#3], but there is no need to clip the one on
the right, at the exit. If you do clip the right curb, you should be
all of the way up on the red brick shoulder of it [pic #4], to lessen a bump which
unsettles the car too much. Whichever route you take, smoothly
power your way through this whole section and don't swing wide past the
third curb. After you exit this course's first zig-zag section, stay
well
away from the green pad at the narrows [pic #5] and head for your
right-side
destination, at the far end of this short straight, changing into 4th
gear as soon as you can.
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Just after you see the red brick of the next left curb, slow down to
take
the 90° corner [pic #6]
and try to either clip the curb [pic
#7] or just miss it, exiting
wide to the right [pic #8],
in 3rd gear, under full power. If you wish, you can
briefly run over the straight rumble strip, since it is not rough, but,
if you do, try
to no more than centre the car's tires over it [pic
#9].
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Accelerate in 3rd gear, sticking to the right side, all of the way to
the second white
dashed line, before you start cutting to the left. Apply full braking,
mainly to slow down, but also to fully load the front tires, to be able
to
safely navigate
this next tight corner, on your left [pic #10].
Brake too late and you will hit the far barrier. Before you clip the
blue curb, release
the brake and get back on the gas, still in 3rd gear [pic #11]. (If you stay in
3rd, you will have less shifting to do, losing less time, and it really
isn't necessary to drop into 2nd in this section, if handled properly.
If you feel the engine is bogging under load (less than 4600RPM), then
take 2nd gear to get back up to speed, as they do in the demo, but get
back
into 3rd, as soon as possible.) As you exit that first left, don't
swing out too far [pic #12]
changing directions as smoothly as you can, to take
the next two corners as a set, in as straight a line as possible, just
clipping both curbs [pic #13].
Exit with a straighter line, in the middle of the
roadway, far away from the railing barriers [pic #14].
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Slowly vector over to the far left side towards your destination point
and, finally, change into 4th gear a few car lengths past the red/white
barrier. Now
comes
another two sections where you can lose a lot of time, if handled
poorly. From the left side
of the track, just after you passed into shadow, brake late for the
right apex [pic #15] and
stay to the right [pic #16].
The natural tendency is to follow the dark tire mark and clip the
apexes, but try not to do that. Make a wide left turn around the apex,
to keep your speed up and not hit the barrier. You will also need to
get
into 2nd
gear while passing through this chicane and stay in it, too, even after
you exit [pic #17].
Depending on your exit speed, there
probably won't be enough
time to get into 3rd and back down into 2nd gear again, to take the
U-turn! With this in mind, start your approach to the next
section, a tight, 180° left turn.
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Because the exit should govern your racing-line, the basic procedure to
quickly
taking the tight 180° loop is to make a wider than normal
racing-line
through the first 2/3rds, to not lose momentum and to create your own
very late
apex on the far side of the turn. You are not going to be able to
swing the rear end out with this MR car, as recommended for your IA-9
licence, therefore, you will be slower if your line is too tight.
So, staying on the right side of the
short straight, head straight up the track beside the rumble
strip longer than you think is necessary [pic #18],
until you are on top of the building's shadow [pic #19]. You need to slow down
and start making your wide left arc [pic #20], in front of the
Paris Opera, and be
very careful with your acceleration. If you are not careful with your
speed, you will end up taking this
corner either too narrowly or too wide and you will spend too much time
correcting your racing-line. Stay in 2nd gear, as you modulate the gas
pedal and just clip the curb well past the apex, on the exit side [pic #21] of the loop. As soon as
you make your apex, change direction, get
on the accelerator as soon as possible, to power through the
approaching right turn, clipping the curb [pic #22] and exiting near
the
left rumble strip, but there is no need to run over it. Change into 3rd
gear well before you approach the end of the
rumble strip. Your exit speed is extemely important here because you
have now entered the longest straight.
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Under full power down this long straight, slowly vector towards your
far right-side destination point and get into 4th gear as quickly as
you
can. Just before you pass under the red Firestone banner [pic #23], give a short
stab to the brakes,
to shift the car's weight onto the front-end tires again.
If you don't do this, chances are that you will understeer into the
crash barrier. As soon as you can, move towards the left apex [pic #24] and get
back on the gas, so that you lose little speed here. Be very aware of
tires screeching and use good steering to keep that to a minimum, since
it indicates you are pushing the limits of the tires. As best as you
can, follow the black tire markings, but miss the right-side
barrier [pic #25]. Be aware
of the small bump which can launch your vehicle into
the air [pic #26], making
you lose speed. Carefully vector back towards the left
side again, for the next challenge.
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Approaching the next right-left chicane, plan well for your exit. This
is a critical set of corners, so near the end of the test and the
left turn is made more difficult because of the close wall at the exit.
This chicane can be navigated as either a rounded S (if you enter too
hot) or as an S with a
straight line through the centre (like two Js joined together). Going
straight through the centre is faster. This is
why you did some practicing beforehand - to learn your strategy on an
unfamiliar course.
The right-left chicane is more awkward if you enter too fast, but you
may find yourself
braking too late and ending up on the far side of the first 90°
corner; you then have to handle the chicane as a rounded S.
Because you have to rock the car so much in the distance given, this is
definitely more difficult and a bit slower for you because the distance
covered is also longer and speed is slower.
Instead, near the dashed white line, slow down early, in a straight
line on the left side of the road [pic
#27], around the time you
pass over the small bump near the end of the last long straight and
stay in second gear throughout this
tactical section. Take the 90° corner from the far left so that
your car can exit close to the right side of the roadway [pic #28] while losing as little
momentum as possible. Traverse the short straight and change direction,
trying to just clip the inside left curb [pic #29], while
carefully modulating your speed with a little braking, so that you
don't either exit too wide and hit the wall or lose too much speed.
Exit straight down the right side and prepare
for your final left-right chicane.
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After another short stab of the brakes for taking the left apex [pic #30],
carefully use power through to the right one [pic #31] and exit near the
sweeping left wall [pic #32].
Modulate the gas, to stay near the inside of the
final turn [pic #33] and
not
understeer too far away from it. Anything slower than 50MPH is too
slow; anything faster than about 55MPH and the car will understeer. As
soon as you feel
confident, get back on the gas and accelerate into 3rd gear straight
down the right-side white line and across the finish line [pic #34].
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Following these instructions, you should be able to easily take a
minimum of 1/2 a second out of the gold Opera Paris time.
Time to pop the champagne cork!
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