What is the Most Satisfying Corner Complex in Sim Racing?

Best Sim Racing Corner Sequence 01.jpg
We want to hear what our readers think is the most satisfying series of corners in sim racing.

Corner sequences or complexes are successive corners on a racing circuit grouped together, where your speed and attack angle through each corner affects your line through the next. Getting the timing, angle and speed correct through these sequences can have a major impact on your overall laptime.

Perhaps the most famous example in racing is the Eau Rouge / Radillion complex at Spa-Francorchamps. Most of us as sim racers know the feeling of hitting the entry at exactly the right angle and carrying a lot of speed, which eventually leads to a successful launch up the Kemmel straight. Conversely, most of us also know the feeling where you check your mirror at the wrong instant before beginning your ascent through the complex and awkwardly enter Eau Rouge, which then slows the car to a larger degree through Radillion.

Best Sim Racing Corner Sequence 02.jpg


Running fast and aggressively through a complex is among the best experiences you can have as a sim racer, which makes other sites such as the Porsche curves at Circuit de la Sarthe or Brunchen at the Nurburgring Nordschleife such rewarding corner sequences.

Lesser known, but no less rewarding corner complexes include the 7/8/9 sequence at Virginia, the S-curves at Suzuka, turns 9 and 10 at Termas De Rio Hondo (thank you Automobilista 2!), and Ascari at Monza. But we want to hear your favourites. Which complexes challenge you as a sim racer, but pay you back handsomely when you get them right? Let us know in the comments below.
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

The porsche Corners in LeMans... Eau Rouge-Radillion in Spa and Magots & Beckets in Silverstone... those are my favourites...
 
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Last six turns at Velo Citta.

Brake hard downhill into a left after coming off a straight. Right, left chicane while still going downhill a la the Corkscrew, short straight, off camber left, the left again before turning right on a long sweeper to the main straight. Hard enough on your own. Much more difficult when you got cars nest to and on your six.
 
Just bumped in, being away from RD some days, and sorry haven't read a single post/comment to this article, but here some immediate ramblings, of which I'm pretty darn sure will change every minute past my post.

Being a track hunter for +40 years, mostly interested in closed race tracks, but also historic public street slopes, being from the past or the present, different track versions, shortened by history evolvement/purpose built test variations/temporary streets/one-off's,. etc. at some point it gets out of your hand in your memory.
Which was just further intensifyed by when first free track mods were available during late 90ies.

Though lots of interests outside simracing and motorsports, it strikes me that my all overshading interest, almost since my first word, has been race tracks - aka mostly closed circuits. Both the slopes themselves but indeed too their history.

I'll take the liberty to break 'good corners/sections' into different species like
  1. Hotlapping/qualification
    • one for the brave - guts delivering huge time gain when fulfulled
    • Delivering good flow, of which you can't wait for coming back to next lap
  2. Competition
    • one for the brave - overtake just doable with max confidence
    • sections able to deliver exhillerating battle
Moreover conditions like whether dry, wet, dusty, concrete, etc. Could be same slopes, but raced in different times/conditions.

But further deviding is needed. As most sim racers have experienced a corner/section can be like totally different world, depending on vehicle type, engine power, car design, age, etc., most prominent difference (I might have forgot plenty here)
  • Open wheelers/single seaters
    • modern aero-pack with more grip than power
    • aero-pack with less grip than power - that could even be a Formula Ford 2000 with early simple aero round tight corners
    • non-aero single seaters, e.g. Formula Ford 1600, classic F1, F2, F3 before aero-introduction, etc
  • GT Cars
  • Muscle cars
  • Vintage muscle cars
  • Classic sports cars
And GoKarts, Trucks, Pre-war Grand Prix Cars, Rally cars, Monster Trucks, A hot tub with three wheels (and so on, the Jimmer-way)

You get the idea.

Just think of your fav. corner taken at your favourite tracks - and you might notice that 'favourite corner/section' often differs depending on vehicle, boundary and weather conditions.

OK, just nearly ran out of time, so after way too long introduction, here a first bid (of which my mind surely will change about just past clicking 'post') and I really should devide according to my above reservations.

I will initially stick to courses that I think most people know. The others, more unknown and courses that history has sadfully mostly wiped out of modern generations knowledge, must wait to another time.

Bathurst Mount Panorama
Very simple, it's both uphill and downhill lot to speak about
  • Griffin's Mount-Reid Park-Sulman Park section. To me this section is among top 3 of separating the sheeps from the goats. Pro's vs. Average Joe. If not THE #1 on the list. You could take the Cutting into the equation. Thing this is the section of which took me longest time to get right, across all tracks.
  • Skyline-The Esses-The Dipper section. Quite the opposite with this section. Here you quickly become familiar with the limits (If only in the hard way, heh).

Nürburgring Nordschleife - difficult to pick a single out - love 'em all
  • Hatzenbach-section. Especially coming from Nordkehre (now known as Sabine Schmitz-kurve) down the long right-sweeper. In both front wheel and rear wheel cars your mind typically will ease on the gas, but in some vehicles feeding full thruttle the right way from Nordkehre it is doable to keep hanging on in the right-sweeper.
  • Schwedenkreuz (no explanation needed)
  • Fuchsrühre (easy, but especially first time rollercoaster experience)
  • Adenauer Forst - entering section at speed, setting up your car on the verge and trying to make the narrow right-hander as 'wide' as possible, you know you've done it when escaping towards Metzgesfeld feeling the higher exit speed
  • Spiegelkurve / "Piff-paff", the double-left-right-kink after Kallenhard towards Hit-Miss-Hit to Wehrseifen tight. In some cars: possible at full gas. In other cars: you pay the bill (and then Hit-Miss-Hit itself, but is so often mentioned).
  • Wippermann - after Höhe Acht. Really cool but also anxiety provoking section with series of blind corners possible to take at very high speed indeed.
  • Pflantzgarten 2 - the 'dip' leading to the Bellof S. Talk about anxity, the funny thing, though, is that I've been the most confident at real life track experiences here.

Spa-Franchorchamps
  • Pouhon. I'm really delighted the attention this corner has received in recent years. It doesn't matter that it steals a little from perhaps the most famous corner-combination of them all, depicted in the article here. Though it grieves me with recent years HUGE run-off area. But watched especially smaller GT-car competitions seems almost like drivers thinking of a real overtake possibility.
  • Blanchimont. Same story as above. Before run-off it was only for the brave to go full throttle round.
  • Raidillon. Obvious reasons.
Classic Spa - now this I haven't raced at speed real life, so solely down to sim experience.
  • Bournenville. Obvious reasons.
  • Malmedy. Approach differs depending on vehicle speed. Have to think of the very exit, almost like a blind corner, otherwise expensive bill will hunt you.
  • Masta Kink. Obviously. And same story as Malmedy about very last part of exit.
  • Stavelot. Very dangerous max brake 1st gen hairpin down town, but later and most known sweeper-version is just such a blast, coming down Masta Kink at max speed and just going to the limit lap after lap, just next lap entering big sweeper with tad higher entrance speed, delevering a different history of steering negotiation, tap-braking or different approach by not braking, just letting tad off the gas on entrance and steering round, gas feeding/tapping, trying to catch max exit speed. Can in some manner be compared to Bournenville.
Road America
  • Carousel. Most people relate The Kink as THE corner when speaking of this track, but to me Caousel leading to The Kink is just such a pure joy. Especially raced in classic heavy, big blocks with sluggish suspension and understeer, racing door-to-door with competitor in a similar handful of vehicle. Or as hotlap trying to negotiate max exit speat down to The Kink. This corner gets me every single time. Just wow.
Barber Motorsports Park
  • T7-T7a-T7b-T8. This brake section is especially fun in close competition.
Now I ran out of time, leaving me in deep frustations, lots of obvios mentions let out, having a bad feeling leaving out more obvious personal preferences and so much desire to share from the heart of both modern and deceased tracks. I could write an essay of my favourite Targa Florio sections or likewise song of comparing dangerous sweeping last-corners of Riverside and old Peraltada of Hermanos Rodriguez, or...no, not now.

Just as long as the question isn't limited to 'choose one of your children right now, we will shoot the others immediately' as I can honestly say I haven't a single favourite.

Just take a glance through basic lists as e.g. List of motor racing tracks or List of auto racing tracks in the United States, go through them, realize that, ofcourse, Wikipedia is not complete lists. Then take out the magnifying glass, dig into history, dig into every turn, dig into different nature. discover courses that no longer exist, but visited by tens of thousands in historical times, now lying either deserted in a desert or converted into soulless shopping centers, residential areas or something completely different, non-motorsports related. Then move back to present times' existing courses again and go into the details of all layers.

This has been my world for as long as I can remember - and the obvious primary reason for my decades-long craving for sim racing.

So my input could be only the beginning of a never ending story, but maybe I should just stop.
 
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I prefer strongly historic race so I nominate the top part of Napoli, it's scary! :inlove:
I second that. Even racing slower Grand Prix cars that the one demonstrated here. Also the first twisty down-section past finish line to lowest point. When you in endurance suddenly feel a flow all the way down in a very handful of a pre-war grand prix vehicle it's really a thrill. Not to forget the twisty uphill part.
 
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Remember kids there are no bad corners - just bad drivers.

:D

Old saying but about clothes. "There are no bad weather - just bad clothes". But i also love many corner combos on Oulton Park. :cool:
 
Laguna Seca - Corkscrew
Monte Carlo, Monaco - the KINK

Many others I can picture, but can't name the tracks until I am running laps & it suddenly hits me - OH, I'm on THAT track...
 
Premium
Some great bits of track on here already - I'll add Fat Alfie's Bremgarten (they could all be here) from Turn 1 to about turn 7 - a great piece of road in any car!
 
Some great bits of track on here already - I'll add Fat Alfie's Bremgarten (they could all be here) from Turn 1 to about turn 7 - a great piece of road in any car!
It is very much against my will to take anything away from Fat-Alfie, but just have to add that Bremgarten is a historical Grand Prix Circuit in the natural surroundings as it often was back in the 50ies, so a real world section. And the track has been available as a mod for other sims a decade before the AC-version (though by far the best).
And speaking his other masterpiece (all of them are, ofcourse), Deutchlandring is also more or less also the real world slopes from the time when a counterpart to the Nürburgring was planned.
Same story with Thompson Road of which in fact was called "Thompson Road Grand Prix Circuit".
And even Fonteny I think is inspired by the natural sourroundings in France.
But full credit to Fat-Alfie for the work of making tracks with tons of pinnacle immersion :inlove:

Speaking those AC mod works I very much like the Deutchland ring first section from finish straght, down the long right-hand sweep and then the hairy sections all the way to the button :inlove:
But in first row Thompson Road, the entire section from Circus Hairpin - The Snakes - Devil's Bend - Long Loop - Peak Bend and the decicive brake point of Range Hairpin in order to negotiate max exit speed for the Thompson Mile.

Oh wait, that was the entire track :D
 
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Premium
I know it's gonna be weird putting an oval track on here, but Turns 3-4 at the Sitges-Terramar. That part of the track is so steep & fast. Combine that with the lack of barriers & bumpy surface, if the rear end slips even slightly you're gone. It's a proper test of nerve, even in the low-powered machinery of the cars in-period; let alone anything faster or more recent.

Even if I did own a VR headset, the Terramar would still probably be the only track in all of AC that I would exclusively race on screens since going over the lip of either banking is horrifying. Just look at this replay footage courtesy of GPLaps.
 
Most satisfying corner complex in sim racing? The one I get right.

Difficult, unpredictable and rare to find. I think I ticked all the boxes.
 
- La Source, Eau Rouge, Raidillon, Pouhon

- Courbe Dunlop, Chicane Dunlop, S du Têtre Rouge, Indy, Arnage, Virage Porsche, Virage du Pont, Esses du Karting, Virage Corvette

- Abbey, Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, Stowe

- The 90, Esses, Outer Loop, Chute

- Parabolica
 

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Mike Smith
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