Alex Yoong’s Guide to Easter Creek, Australia
Alex Yoong will be racing in Round 6 of the 2008 A1GP in Australia in a couple of weeks, and once again, he shares his opinion of the Eastern Creek circuit with us. This is what he says.
The next round on the A1GP calendar is the Eastern Creek Circuit in Australia; it will be the third visit to the track which has been on the A1GP calendar since the inaugural season. We’ve had strong outings at Eastern Creek in previous years, being in the top ten in all four previous races, so we’ll be hoping to keep up that tradition this year.
The Eastern Creek Raceway is 3.93km long and runs in an anti-clockwise direction; it’s a really challenging circuit that offers various opportunities for overtaking. The track flows through landscaped hills, creating a variety of tight bends followed by long straights, so the emphasis is getting the cornering and breaking right. To succeed at this round the A1GP car needs to be well hooked-up to cope with the demands of the tricky circuit.
The New Zealand and Australian rounds are very popular with the teams; I’m not sure whether that’s because they are fans of the circuits, or because they usually get a free, week-long holiday in the sun in-between!! Many teams stay out between the races, because it’s easier than heading back home for the week, although Malaysia is near enough to go back and have a few nights in your own bed. However I don’t think those that stay in the region are complaining, it’s a lovely place for a short break.
If you’re thinking of heading over to Sydney for the A1GP, aside from the on-track action there are plenty of attractions to keep you entertained, such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge Bridge-climb, Seaplane Safaris, and (my favourite) the ‘OzJetboating Thrill Ride’, we did this last year before the race and it was incredibly fast. However for the less thrill seeking holiday makers, there are still plenty of things to do such as a leisurely harbour cruise, a wine tour, or even a visit to one of Sydney’s great landmarks; the Sydney Opera house.
Here are some facts about Sydney, which you may not already know:
Australia is the smallest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent in the world. It is the only country which is also a whole continent
Sydney – Australia’s first and largest city, also known as Sin City
The capital of Australia is actually Canberra; however it is a common mistake for people to think Sydney is the capital city
Because Sydney and Melbourne kept bickering over which city should be the capital of Australia, it was decided that neither of them would be capital and instead, a new capital would be built in the middle of them both – Canberra
Sydney is located on Australia’s south-east coast and is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.28 million
A resident of the city is referred to as a Sydneysider
The city is built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, leading to the city’s nickname, “the Harbour City”
By air, Sydney is 17,174km from London, 16,025km from New York and 6612km from Kuala Lumpur.
Sydney is one of the largest cities in its land size. It reaches across 1580 square kilometres
The Australian Lyre Bird is the world’s best imitator; able to mimic the calls of 15 different species of birds in their locality and string the calls into a melody. It has also been known to mimic the sound mobile phones
If you want to head over to Australia to catch the sixth round of the A1GP championship, then Malaysian Airlines travel frequently to Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth airports.
The circuit dynamics are as follows:
Turn 1 is a massive corner for this circuit. It’s not crucial for the ultimate lap time but drivers love it as it challenges them so much. This sweeping left hander is approached at 270kph and is partly blind. If the car is right and you are brave this corner is taken with the throttle flat. You will see 3 G through this corner and to make it tougher there is a big bump on the apex. If the car does not ride the bump well and you still try and take it flat be prepared for a big accident.
Turn 2 is a tight left and hairpin and is one of the few overtaking places on the track. It’s important to brake very late here and to try and carry some speed across the apex.
You need to lift a little through turn 3 as the car searches for grip. You are hard on the throttle, going up through the gears and there is a nasty bump just after this corner. It is so bad that all 4 wheels lift off the ground as you go over it.
Turn 4 is a challenging right hander where you brake from 5th gear to 4th gear. When you are on the limit through here, the back of the car is constantly trying to break away and you have to be vigilant for the snap oversteer.
There is time to be had through turn 5 just by being smooth and trying to let the car run. It’s a little off camber and you need to use every inch of the track at the exit.
You brake through turn 6 and it’s easy to lock up the front left hand wheel as you flick the car through turn 7. You need good traction as you exit turn 7 in second gear and watch for cars running wide onto the dirt as they struggle to keep the back of the car inline.
Its off camber and blind as you go through turn 8. It’s taken in 4th and very quick. You will see lots of cars making mistakes here because it is blind and if you carry too much speed it’s often too late to do anything about it and you end up on the grass.
Turn 9 is a straight forward right hand hairpin. You just need to be careful during the braking zone as it falls away which makes it easy to lock up a wheel or four.
Turn 10 and 11 is similar to 6 and 7 where you brake through the first part. The difference is it is much faster and you have to be very aggressive over the cubs.
Turn 12 is probably the most important corner on the track as it leads on to the start finish straight. If the car is good here, you will be quick over the entire lap.
