Thunderhill West turn guide (lots of pics)

[buzznasa]

So, after doing 18 laps on the full Thunderschleife, I thought I would put together a turn by turn guide of what to expect (mostly). Granted, this is based solely on my experience so take it with a grain of salt. This is based on the full 5 mile course, and not the 2 mile alone (which means that turn 2W isn't included)

Here is the map of the course with turn numbers as given to us:


Since everyone who has already been to Thunderhill is familiar with the East Track, I will start with the transition from East to West.

Coming around turn 8E you will be carrying a lot of speed.


Instead of staying to the right between 8E and 9E to prepare to 9E you will want to move to the left to prepare for the connector to T-Hill West.


You can carry more speed through here than you think. This is the beginning of 9C which comprises several turns in an of itself.


Like the entrance into the Cyclone, you can use the compression of the suspension to let you brake harder which is very important. Heel-toe from 4th to 3rd. This is a VERY tight, blind corner. Like the Cyclone, you want to brake early, stay to the right on entry, and apex late to handle the 90 degree left hander. Don't let the two markers fool you into thinking the road goes between them perpendicularly. I made that mistake leading the pack in the first session. Once I crested I knew I wasn't going to make it so I just took it straight off track and came back on track after the chicane. My entrance speed was mid to high 40's in 3rd


Once to get over the top, make sure that your left wheels hang real close to the inside at the top of the crest. You can go straight across but you will want to turn in just a little more to set up for the right-hander crest. Apex late on the right hander to set up for a straight run down the backside.


It is a blind crest that will go to the left once you are over the top.


Once you crest the right-hander you can see the high speed left and right that will bring you onto the West track. However, the trick is to prepare for the right hand turn at the bottom. Because this is downhill you will accelerate like scalded cat. I went into 4th after the left hand sweeper so that I wasn't trying to shift through the right. Again, apex late on the right hand sweeper because, while it isn't as blind as the previous two corners, you can't see what's coming from the top of the hill.


Once you crest the right hand sweep you can see the exit of 2W meeting the 9C connector. The problem here is like the problem with the bypass around 5E. Is isn't a smooth transition. If you look closely, you can see a little crease that starts at the bottom left of the image and curves up to the right. This will upset the car as you merge in and you don't want to have any rotation exacerbating the problem. On top of that, you have slight crest shortly after which will unload the car. If you aren't pointed in the correct direction you will lose a lot speed trying to keep from sliding off to the left. So, when I was exiting the sweeper I was aiming a little to the left between the two trees that you can see in the distance.


This put me at the bottom of the crest ready to move to the right for the braking zone to set up for 3W. I was easily going as fast going into the braking zone into 3W as I was at the end of the Start/Finish. However, it is on a downhill run and you have to slow down a bit more. You can also see a flag stand off to the right of the braking zone.


Coming around 3W you can see the entrance to the esses heading to turn 4W. You will notice that the right hand turn is slightly off-camber. Since you just loaded the right side of the car coming left the rebound, plus the slight negative camber going around the right hand turn can cause you problems.


Fortunately, you don't have to turn it too far. You can take the right hander almost straight through to 4W. There is a cone way off in the distance indicating the turn-in for 4W. Again, this is a late apex to set up for a straight run to 5W.



Once you get around 4W you can make a good run straight to 5W. You can see the next flag stand at the turn. 5W has an early entry to set up for the esses heading to 6W.



Once you get around 5W you can see the very fast run to 6W. The problem that I had here is that I ran out of gear in 3rd at ~86mph heading to 6W but not enough time to shift into 4th. I bounced off the rev limiter a couple times before having to slow back down around 6W.


Coming into 6W, like a lot of the turn in the West track, it is a late turn in to set up for the run to 7W.


Once you get around 6W, you apex late and make a fairly straight run to the hairpin at 7W.



Turn 7W is a 2nd gear turn which means you have to be hard on the brakes after good shot from 6W.


Once around 7W you accelerate up to 8W going back up to 3rd gear.


I took a wide turn going up the hill toward 8W. Another flag stand here at 8W.


Once at 8W I set up for a straight run over the crest. I aimed for an imaginary 4th braking marker so that I could compress the suspension enough to turn in and then stomp on the brakes.


At the bottom of the hill it was quick on the brakes and back down to 2nd gear for the hairpin around 9W.


Once around 9W I stayed in 2nd for the run to 10W. And, another flag stand off to the right.


10W is the entrance to the Start/Finish straight on the West track. I was still in 2nd and stayed way to the right to apex late coming onto the straightaway.


Once around the hairpin it is hard on the gas heading to 1W. I redlined in 3rd about 3/4 of the way down the track so then it was a choice between going up to 4th for about 2 seconds or bounce off the rev limiter. I chose to go to 4th.


At the end of the straight I get on the brakes (but not too hard) and back down to 3rd to turn slight left to set up for the turn around 1W. 1W is a couple of small straights but they can be connected together into a single turn. Once I made this left, I was straight on the brakes to slow down for the next two rights.



Here you can see the flagstand at the entrance to 2W but the cones to divert you to 10C.


Heading up 10C is definitely "up". Apex both of these and stay to the left as you get to the top of the hill. It is a blind drop down the back side.



This is a lot steeper than it looks. Because it is a steep drop, it will be hard on your brakes but you need to slow down a good bit to make the right turn back onto the East track.


Once you make the drop, swing wide and use the berm to bring yourself back to the right at the end of the straight to set up for the left around 10E.


And there you have it. Thunderhill West is very technical and well suited to our cars.

Here is my best lap of the day. I missed a few lines but you can't learn that many turns in one day :-p
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVYAQ9dedNo"]Thunderschleife Best Lap - YouTube[/ame]

I hope this helps anyone else who heads out to Thunderhill to run on the West track. Have fun, stay safe, and

[B2FiNiTY]

amazing write up! I can tell a lot of time was spent on this and hope others can appreciate it!

[Xerious]

Great job Buzz! Great driving in the video as well especially just learning the new part of the track.

[CamryDS]

Great lap buzz and video was really interesting to see!

[MyRx]

Great write up! That's a lot to soak in but worth def worth, esp the video. Thanks!!

[PMok]

very cool, thanks so much for the effort you put into making this guide Buzz!
I will definitely be referring to it when I will be heading to the West side course.

Just a suggestion, but you know what would really make it super awesome, is if you included with each turn/photo, a mini map showing where on the course you are. I found myself scrolling up and down a few times trying to look at the map in reference to the description of each turn, I suppose I could have just opened the image in a different window and had them side by side, but doing that would just be the icing on an already impressive cake.

[garfull]

I ate dirt at 9c twice and at 1w. Near the end of the day the outside of 1w was full of rubber similar to the outside of 3e, but since its a combination of a few corners like buzz stated you can make it one large corner and avoid the outside all together.

they also said the west side was resealed the day before too.

[doggieboy09]

Thanks for the future reference! Did you use E85 for the track?

[buzznasa]

Originally Posted by doggieboy09

Thanks for the future reference! Did you use E85 for the track?

Yup. Took two 5-gallon fuel cans of E85 with me.

[buzznasa]

So here is a short video of some of the off track excursions that happened where my camera could see. There were lots more that the camera didn't see. It is a very tricky course.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLf-h4FIzW8"]Thunderhill West off track excursions - YouTube[/ame]

[ck-GT86]

Thanks for all the tips tonight, Buzz. Helps so much to hear from experienced trackers

.ck

[BigFatFlip]

Great write-up Buzz! Also, I'm going to start calling it the "Thunderschleife" (or is it Westschleife?)

[ddeflyer]

Just thought I would add some more comments from when I was there on the opening day (so take with a grain of salt, everyone was playing with lines and track was really greasy).

Blind crest at 9C just as you are about to start down the hill: There is a tree off in the far distance. We found that it was a good reference for positioning until over the crest (you can see it in one of Buzz's screen caps).

Unlabeled kink at end of 2w on five mile: There is a severe camber change as you go through this area and you have a loaded car going at a good clip. Be careful here it is potentially a real car eater (could find yourself sliding off very quickly into a graveled drainage ditch on the left side).

4w: It is a decreasing radius turn. I am not sure what the consensus line through it is yet, though it seemed to be most comfortable taken as a modified single apex. Essentially entering mid track and holding out until you can nearly see the apex (which is quite far through the corner) and then increasing steering lock (turning in more). This is a very tricky corner because it is quite easy to drop two wheels by turning in what seems like an OK time but is in fact too early (one of the offs that Buzz caught on video was this). It also has the classic attributes of a decreasing radius turn with changing speeds and steering lock. It is good corner to hang back from other people on some if you aren't confident in their abilities since their over shooting the corner has a decent chance of hooking and shooting back across if handled incorrectly. The good news is that the terrain around the turn looks mild and speeds are not crazy.

1w and up the hill complex: I'm not sure if you said this or not, but these turns are fantastic to take as a constant radius turn. Getting it right is sweet.

[mike the snake]

Great review! Thanks.

That guy in the green RX7 should have gone "pedals in" a lot earlier, that was dangerous.

Are you running a carbon hood? I see the hood bouncing around a bit in your vids.