A lap of Suzuka with Gianni Morbidelli
The Suzuka International Circuit is an iconic track, and for the first time in its history the FIA World Touring Car Championship uses the full Grand Prix layout of the Japanese circuit. Gianni Morbidelli, a former F1 driver and now a star at All-Inkl.com agreed to take the TouringCarTimes readers for a ride at the 5,807 km layout, which he knows well from his past single seater experience. Enjoy the lap!
“At the start/finish straight we are very fast and go up to 240 km/h before braking for Turn 1. The initial part of this corner is quite tricky and fast, so you need to have a good level of downforce to get into the corner as quickly as possible. I downshift to fifth at 178 km/h, then down to third gear for the second corner. The braking is not easy as the car is loaded on its left side – the corner being right-handed -, so you need to be very careful under braking for Turn 2.”
“We then have a fascinating series of corners where it is absolutely forbidden to take a wrong line, because if you make a mistake you carry it up until the end of the section, which is composed of four corners – a left-right-left-right sequence – all in fourth gear. Here it is very important to have a good turn in because the quick succession of corners means that the front has to be very precise. Turn 6 is the slowest of the section, it goes downhill and the car will always tend to understeer and if you force too much to try to get the rear to help you turn in you can easily lose it and spin. It is the most important of the section, because it leads to the uphill Turn 7, which we do in full acceleration, shifting up to fifth gear, before the braking for Turn 8.”
“The braking is very tricky here because we arrive there at almost 210 km/h, I downshift to fourth and turn in, but there is a compression which makes the car naturally a bit unstable and it’s very easy to lose it. I then go down to third gear for Turn 9. I use the inside kerb to help the car stay on the apex, and I also make full use of the outside kerb. There is a lot of understeer from mid-corner on, in the acceleration phase, which is also why sometimes you will see cars go beyond the kerb at the exit of the corner.”
“We then arrive to the hairpin in fifth gear and downshift to second, and again we have the car loaded to one side, although to the right here, as we have Turn 10 before it. The braking is therefore quite tricky because the rear will tend to be light and a bit unstable, and you are at risk of missing the apex if you don’t do it perfectly. We go down to 65 km/h, and then you have to be patient and stay on the apex for more than you would naturally do before going on the power, because the track is a bit bumpy and the traction is quite poor on the exit. I try to make up for that by using an early upshift to avoid wheelspin.”
“Turn 12 is all done flat out and we go up to sixth gear as we prepare for the tricky Turns 13 and 14. I downshift to fourth, it is a fast corner and it’s not easy to keep the rear from slipping away from you, so oversteer is always there ready to catch you. If you have oversteer there it unsettles you for the following corner, which is very important due to the long straight after it. Personally, I downshift to third just for a few seconds to help the car keep its balance and use the engine braking as well to go down to 142 km/h. I turn in, use the kerb and then go back to fourth gear. You want to think about the exit rather than the entry of the corner because of the long straight after it.”
“Turn 15, the iconic 130R, needs a little braking before turn in, it is a very quick on-off at the entry. It’s a tricky corner for the WTCC cars and that is where the driver can make a difference, because it’s easy to gain or lose a couple of tenths there. We arrive at a top speed of 237 km/h and go down to 215 mid-corner. You need a good level of downforce for a stable rear end, but if you have too much you are of course penalized on the long straights, so it’s not easy to find the correct compromise.”
“At the exit of the corner I am still in sixth and move to the left to prepare for the final chicane, Turn 16 and 17. It is not as easy as it may seem because there is a different type of tarmac, so the grip level changes and you have to manage that very carefully. You need to anticipate the braking from 225 km/h to avoid going wide or losing the apex for the right-hand corner, and I downshift to second gear and make full use of the kerb. The same goes for the left hand corner, where it is important to go early on the power. I use an early upshift again to third to help the traction as I go back to the start/finish straight through Turn 18, which is completely flat out and leads to the end of the lap of this fantastic track.”
We hope you enjoyed the ride on board the Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze of Gianni Morbidelli.
