Your local track guide - Rockingham

Rockingham only opened for business 10 years ago. Before then it was a mere industrial wasteland left from an old steel works. Unlike all other major UK circuits, the track is formed around an American-style oval - it was originally built for IndyCar racing and hosted CART races in 2001 and 2002. The giant oval soon earned Rockingham the accolade of fastest circuit in Europe as Tony Kanaan, in his Mo Nunn Champ Car, lapped the 1.5 mile course with an average speed of 215.397 mph.

The International Circuit is more of a conventional track layout but Turn One is still the same as it is with the full oval.

A nice feature about Rockingham is that it is easy to remember the names of each corner as they are painted on the walls as you turn-in. This makes discussing your approach much easier and allows you to make much easier use of track guides like this one.

Turn One

In almost every car that takes to the track this will be taken flat-out. It has a seven degree banking which helps plant the car through the corner, however it is not as straightforward it first appears as you need to take a very deliberate line or you can find yourself being sucked into the wall on the exit. On the approach you should be right up against the wall. Your turn-in point will be the second set of painted “Rockingham” signs after the start/finish line. Ease the car into bottom of the turn and on the exit allow the car to drift gently back towards the wall – do not lift off the power aggressively or you will send the car into lift-off oversteer.

Deene

This is a tricky corner because you are leaving the banking and entering the flat infield area of the track. Braking needs to be heavy as Deene is a tight squared-off hairpin and the entry speed is high. As you brake, you will need to ease the car down the banking so be careful you don’t lock-up and be aware that as you are essentially travelling downhill, this can upset your braking and it is easy to overshoot the corner. Once you have the car turned-in it is fairly uncomplicated, ignore the first apex and aim for the second. Once at the apex it is a straightforward acceleration zone.

One thing to be aware of with Deene is the large change in camber at the point of crossing from the banking to the infield - there is a noticeable step which can scrape the nose of cars with a low ride height.

Yentwood

Ease the car over to the left-hand side of the track on the exit of Deene and get on the power down the small straight towards Yentwood. The track will begin to fall away slightly so be careful under braking - locking brakes is common here. Turn-in late and apex just in front of the tyre that sits behind the kerbing. Get on the power on the exit and use all of the road.

Chapman Curve

As you exit Yentwood, it is easy to feel like you are on a long straight as the crest in the middle of the road completely hides Chapman Curve. You don’t need to brake until you are over this crest but don’t get caught out by how quickly the corner appears. The turn-in is late, with the car apexing just in front of the tyres but don’t use all of the road on the exit. The temptation is to let the car run wide as soon as you apex, but hold the car slightly on the inside so you can get the best possible entry into Pif Paf.

Pif Paf

As you approach Pif Paf you will see why you need to hold the car to the right. Brake in a straight-line and turn-in as you are alongside the marshal’s post. Your apex is at the sharpest point of the corner (it should, again, be marked by tyres) and then let the car run wide towards the escape road. Run the car along the escape road and as it ends, ease the car into the second apex on the left. Open up the throttle and unwind the steering lock, running alongside the kerbing on the exit.

Gracelands

The approach to Gracelands is short and a slight crest obscures your view as you arrive at the turn-in point. Braking isn’t heavy and you will be able to carry quite a lot of speed through here – get back on the power halfway round the long inside kerbing. You can use the concrete run-off on the exit but if the track is wet it is best to avoid it.

Tarzan

This is where a lot of overtaking takes place on racedays. The track is wide which tempts following drivers to attempt a banzai-style lunge down the inside and it is difficult to defend. Brake hard and turn-in late - the sharpest point of the apex is off-centre which can tempt you to turn in too early. The corner is fairly straightforward and you can use the pitlane access road on the exit to open it out.

Chicane

The chicane at Turn Four of the oval is messy and the exit back onto the banking can upset the balance of the car.

Use the end of the pitlane as a reference point for braking, you will have picked up more speed than you realise so you need to bury your foot into the middle peddle to slow the car on entry. Turn-in as you are alongside the marshal’s post and once you are through the first apex the mid-part of the corner is fairly simple. The high kerbs make it impossible to gain any advantage from trying to steal a bit of extra track so it isn’t complicated to carve your way through the chicane without losing any time.

The most difficult part of this corner is the exit back onto the banking so try to keep the car slightly to the right-hand side after the second apex and aim for a late apex on the third. Open out the corner by letting the car drift out to the wall but be ready to catch the back if it tries to step out on you as the camber changes.