| From the
Start-Finish line, cars approach Nord Kurve, a fast
right-hander that is taken in 4th gear at 125 mph and
exited in 5th ready to move up to top gear and
accelerating to around 210 mph for the long run to the
first chicane. The posthumously named Jim Clark Kurve
slows cars to 2nd gear as they brake hard at -3.2g,
decelerating to 60 mph before accelerating back up to
200 mph deep into the forest.
Before the Ostkurve,
the drivers get busy. The previous straight turns into
a sharp right-left turn taken in 2nd gear at 50 mph
before it becomes a long right-hand bend about 350
metres before Ostkurve is entered – a chicane which
is a right-left taken in 2nd gear leading into a long,
fast right-hander and on to the next straight. The
Ayrton Senna Kurve, which is also known as Bremskurve
3, is approached down the back straight at 205 mph.
The left-right turn slows the cars drastically to 60
mph as it’s taken in 2nd gear and then it’s
full-power as the cars accelerate back up to 195 mph
before the stadium complex begins to come into view.
The Agip Kurve is a
fast right-hander that is taken in 4th gear at 105 mph
and leads quickly into the Sachs Kurve as drivers
shift down to a 60 mph 2nd gear for the hairpin that
has a well-earned reputation for being slippery. The
final section in the stadium complex that leads back
to the start line, the Süd or Opel Kurve, is a
double-apex hairpin with both right-handers taken in
3rd gear at an average of 90 mph and leading into the
finishing straight where cars can accelerate to 175
mph.
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