| Possibly another of the more faceless F1 circuits,
Magny-Cours has often failed to capture the imagination,
especially amongst the fans. A modern circuit, Magny Cours
contains a mixture of high and low speed turns and
whatever its minus points it is a very smooth ride for the
drivers with the smoothest surface on the current
calendar. Giancarlo Fisichella takes you on a lap of the
Magny Cours circuit:
"Magny Cours is unusual in that it is probably the
only circuit where you cross the start/finish line in
first gear accelerating up towards the first left hand
corner Grande Courbe which is taken at full throttle in
fifth gear at around 170 mph (275 kph).
Leaving this corner, I remain in 5th gear reaching over
175 mph (280 kph) before a very light touch on the brakes
into Estoril. This is a very long right hand corner taken
in fourth gear at around 120 mph (190 kph). It is very
important to balance the car here as it will tend to
understeer as the corner progresses. It is also a very
important corner as it leads on to the long straight down
to the hairpin at Adelaide.
Estoril is where Mark Blundell crashed heavily while
trying to lap Andrea de Cesaris in 1993.
On this straight, I accelerate up to over 185 mph (300
kph) before braking hard for the first gear hairpin
Adelaide, which is taken at just under 37 mph (60 kph).
From this hairpin, traction is important as you accelerate
up to 5th gear at around 175 mph (285 kph) before entering
Nurburgring the first of the fast chicanes taken in 4th
gear at over 125 mph (200 kph).
Adelaide is where Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna
collided in 1992. This is also where David Coulthard gave
Schumacher 'the finger' in 2000.
A short acceleration up to 155 mph (250 kph) leads into
the braking area for the left-hand hairpin 180 which is
taken in 2nd gear at just under 50 mph (80 kph). Again,
traction is important out of this corner as it leads into
the next fast chicane Imola taken in 4th gear at around
127 mph (205 kph).
Very shortly after leaving this chicane, I'll brake
very hard down into second gear for the long right-hand
Chateax d'Eau corner taken at around 60 mph (95 kph). This
is the corner where the cars tend to oversteer a lot on
exit and it is necessary to control the wheelspin very
carefully.
A short 4th gear straight where the cars will reach 160
mph (260 kph) leads into the final relatively difficult
Chicane taken in second gear at 77 mph (125 kph) for the
first part and then down to 68 mph (110 kph) for the
second.
The final chicane is where Jean Alesi span off in 1994,
then collided with Rubens Barrichello on attempting to
re-join the race. This is also where Jacques Villeneuve
made a desperate last lap effort to pass Eddie Irvine in
1997.
Finally, I enter the last corner Lycee, which is a very
tight 1st gear corner taken at around 40 mph (65 kph),
which leads straight on to the start/finish line."
The varied nature of the track means cars would be likely
to opt for medium to low downforce. The smooth nature of
the track circuit also allows the cars to have a very low
ride height giving them that extra bit of speed. |
