Reference Lap
Guide
I read that Formula 1 drivers vote Suzuka as pretty much their favourite circuit due to it's punishing nature. The Honda owned circuit requires precision at every corner or you lose great chunks of time. And they're right. Suzuka is every bit as impressive to drive in F1 2010 as it is to watch the real guys on it.
I develop all my setups in Practice of individual Grand Prix's and Suzuka is the most difficult track to meet the AI times. I started by using the default car setup and was seconds off the pace of the 23rd place runner. That's a huge margin considering he's seconds off the fastest driver and I'm usually on the pace of, or faster than, the fastest AI time in my Mclaren.
There isn't a corner at Suzuka that isn't a challenge. Not a corner where it didn't take a few hours of practicing the track before I started to make noticeable improvements.
First up is 'First Curve' which is entered in 5th and braking is continued all the way through to T2 which is best taken by hugging the inside in 3rd gear. I then accelerate up to 5th gear into T3 and the 'S' curves, taking T3 in 5th before downshifting into 4th for the remaining 'S' Curve turns. Dunlop curve is tough, requiring a balancing throttle and mid RPM until you sight the exit of the corner at the top of the hill and can nail it, confident you wont run wide.
Initially I thought Degner 1 would be second gear, and without curb hopping it would be, but I found it's 4th/5th gear if you cut the inside tight and brake as you turn, keeping the car wide so you can do the same again for the 2nd gear Degner 2 and the run into Hairpin. Hairpin is a corner a struggle with, as with all the corners in sector 2, where I'm losing up to 2 seconds on the top AI guys. I brake for Hairpin at the ripple strip on the inside of T10 and then try and hug the corner through T11 before getting on the power. I've noticed that pretty much all the AI cars catch me through this turn and I've frankly got no answer. Although I feel moving to right foot braking might help.
Once out of the Hairpin it's flat out through until T13 and the mighty Spoon turn, a corner which continually kicks my arse. Shifting down into 3rd gear gets me round T13 and then slowing and hugging the inside of T14. I feel I lose a lot of time through Spoon and it always feels awkward. This leaves only the last two turns which I can take better than any AI, the final fast left 130R @ about 315kph and the tight Casino Triangle, where like most tight chicanes, a heap of time can be lost if you get your breaking slightly wrong. Braking at about 90m is leaves enough room to get the car slowed down for the chicane which can be taken in 2nd gear, to avoid wheel spin on exit.
