It’s been a little while since my last blog when I gave up some secrets on how to qualify well. This time I thought I would share some aspects about my favorite corners at Road America.
We just finished a very exciting weekend for Rounds 8, 9 and 10 of the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama. A massive pileup at our previous event at Watkins Glen caused the race to be postponed, so we had three races instead of two at Road America. This made the weekend very long, and at times it was extremely stressful with a mix of wet and dry track conditions. However, with the additional races and mixed conditions, I became very accustomed to the track and there were a few corners that I especially enjoyed.
One of my favorite corners at Road America is Turn 1 for a two of reasons:
- In the Porsche GT3 Cup car you’re approaching the corner at almost 170 mph and from braking to acceleration the car feels like it’s on a knife’s edge the entire time. Even at the apex – which is the slowest point in the turn – you’re still moving at 105 mph.
- More importantly, it’s possible to pass going into this corner but it can be very intimidating because of how fast the Porsche is traveling.
The Kink & Canada Corner
My other favorite corner at Road America is Turn 11, otherwise known as “The Kink”. It’s similar to Turn 1 but there’s only five feet of forgiveness until you meet the wall and the wall is still undefeated against all challengers. Every year “the Kink” claims a victim. In fact, it happened again this year during Round 9, ending the race under full course caution.
[THE VIDEO ABOVE IS NOT OF JAKE, BUT AT THE VERY END YOU CAN SEE HOW “THE KINK” CLAIMS ITS VICTIMS]
With “the Kink” you have to remember, and this is very important, that one small mistake can open the door for the cars behind you going into Canada Corner (Turn 12). Turn 12 is very demanding on the Porsche’s brakes as you’re going from 160 mph down to 70 mph at the apex. All the bumps in the braking zone don’t make it any easier as you feel the Porsche dance around the track during deceleration.
These three corners are part of what makes Road America such a daunting and thrilling track to race. What are some of your favorite corners and why?
A new face to watch out for. Jake Edison, 21, of Littleton, Colorado is the newest member of 2016 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup championship winning team, Kelly-Moss Road and Race. Eidson’s resume was developed in both open-wheel and sports car racing, with highlights that include winning the 2013 Team USA Scholarship and more recently, the Hurley Haywood Scholarship, which landed him a full-season ride with Kelly-Moss Road and Race for 2017. Eidson will be the one to keep an eye on ahead of the 2017 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge season.