Watkins Glen In A Civic

Published: August 18, 2014

Turn 1

Braking at 250; with good brake pads can possibly do 225. Trailbraking aggressively.

Turn 2

Turn in before the turn in cone/end of the curb, maybe 2 car lengths before.

Turns 3-4

Easily flat out. But had understeer with higher than optimal pressures (49 psi on R888).

Bus Stop

With race pads, brake at the concrete patch (the second one, 200 marker) after turning into the turn. Kill the entire first curb. With higher grip tires can possibly stay away from some of the remaining 3 curbs; otherwise drive over the flatter part of them which - in Civic - is tolerably flat.

Turn 5

Easily flat out until R888 had no tread remaining, then had to lift.

Turn 6

With race pads, start braking where the right guardrail moves further away from the track. Very soon after start curving the car into the turn. Half of the braking should be done while turning. Follow banking and hit the apex under power. Aim to be flat out half way between track centerline and apex.

Turn 7

Still figuring out the line - had much understeer there. Braking at 175-150?

Turn 8

Braking at 150-ish, braking into the turn. There is a groove right at apex curbing, hitting it makes the car rotate a lot better into the turn and through the apex, creating effortless trajectory through the corner.

Turn 9

Brake 1/2 into the white line extension, off brake at 2/3-3/4 into the white line extension and turn in. Still working on hitting the apex just right, often have understeer there.

Turn 10

Comfortably flat out.

Turn 11

Brake for a second then dive for the apex curb. As with 8 there is a groove at the apex curb which makes the car rotate much better.