[Turn 1 - Braking]

Entering turn one you should be almost on the rev limiter in 4th gear. As you approach turn one you can use the skid marks in the middle of the track or a white boards as your brake markers. Here you can see I just begin applying the brakes within 3-4 car lengths of the skid marks in the center of the track which equates to somewhere between the 4th and 5th white brake markers on the left. Turn one is one of the best passing opportunities on the track so you’ll want to practice alternate lines to ensure you can still pick up your braking markers and make the corner.

Downshift from 4th to 3rd gear

[Turn 1 - Turn in]

Begin your turn just at or beyond the white building on the left, you should be rolling off the brake as you begin your turn in. Turn one requires a fairly late apex and you’ll want to position your car so that you can start getting back to the throttle about a car length before the inside curbing ends.Getting off the throttle gently will prevent you from apexing too early and compromising the entry to turn two.

3rd gear

[Turn 1 - Throttle application]

Here you can see where I begin picking up the throttle. If you get back to the throttle too early its very easy to induce understeer and it makes maintaining a good balance for turn two much more difficult. I prefer to air on the side of late throttle application for this reason.

3rd gear

[Turn 2 - Braking and turn in]

Swing out wide to the right using the white building as your turn in marker. You’ll want to gently brush the brake to get some weight on the front tires and prevent oversteer. You can also begin transitioning off the throttle earlier and more slowly if you don’t want to use the brakes (If for example you right foot brake or you are slower with your footwork).

3rd gear

[Turn 2 - Apex]

To start there aren’t very many good apex markers for turn two. You’ll want to use some gentle throttle application to keep the car from over rotating and feel out the car as the corner progresses. Additionally you’ll want to pick up the throttle slowly as its easier than you might think to overload the rear tires and lose speed down the next straight and through turn three.

3rd gear

[Turn 4 - Braking]

Begin braking hard between the 50 and 100 brake marker boards and gently ease off the brakes to control your turn in. You can use the natural banking of the corner to carry more speed than you might otherwise think. For turn four making sure you get to the apex with the right balance is the most important thing, I find my turn in point can vary a bit by how deep I’m trying to drive into the corner.

4th gear down to 2nd gear

[Turn 4 - Apex]

For turn four the best apex marker will be the patch of dead grass and dirt just inside the curbing. The car should be finished rotating by this point and you should be able to pick up the throttle while keeping the car fairly tight to the right hand part of the track. Washing out wide will hurt your speed down the entire back straightaway (The fastest point on the track and the best passing opportunity) so make sure you don’t try to get to the throttle too early.

2nd gear

[Turn 5 - Braking]

Braking for the hairpin is fairly straightforward affair. About halfway between the 100 brake marker board and the white building you should begin threshold braking till you can get down into first gear. The hairpin does have a bit of camber to it so you can get away with getting in a little bit deep by trailbraking. That being said going in too deep can compromise your setup for turn six if you overload the front tires and cause the car to bind when you begin your throttle application.

5th gear down to 1st gear

[Turn 5 - Throttle application]

Here you can see that because of the left hander following the hairpin I’ve apexed very late to make getting to the right for turn six much easier. Due to the lack of grip at Okayama  its pretty easy to lose traction and spin the rear tires on exit. If I do find myself beginning to lose traction I’ll use it as a chance to change up to second gear.

1st gear up to 2nd gear

[Turn 6 - Braking and turn in]

One to two car lengths before the dead patch of grass and dirt on the outside dab the brakes to get some extra weight on the front tires. This will help prevent the natural oversteer turn six induces due to the fact that its running downhill. You want to turn in with the intention of running over the inside curbing.

2nd gear

[Turn 6 - Apex and throttle application]

Having reached the apex pay careful attention to the balance of the car as its very easy to overdrive this corner and run wide on exit with early throttle application. Additionally being too aggressive with your throttle application can just as easily produce oversteer and a spin off to the left side of the track.

2nd gear

[Turn 7 - Braking and turn in]

Use the curb on the right as your natural braking marker as riding over it doesn’t upset the car. Another gentle dab of the brake will prevent any oversteer then work on picking up the throttle even before you’ve reached the apex for the run down the next straight.

2nd gear up to 3rd on exit

[Turn 8 - Braking and turn in]

The run into turns eight and nine begins with more threshold braking. This time use the 50 marker and turn in running down over the inside curb.

3rd gear down to 1st gear

[Turn 8 - Apex and throttle application]

Begin picking up the throttle just past the apex, you’ll want to be very careful with your throttle application here as it is very easy to spin the rear tires and lose time. Setup for turn nine is very important so you only want to let the car run out about halfway across the track.

1st gear

[Turn 9 - Braking and turn in]

Use another very gentle dab on the brakes for turn nine, carry as much speed as you can to the apex once again running over the inside curb.

1st gear

[Turn 9 - Apex and throttle application]

Start getting to full throttle once you’re within a car length or two from the end of the inside curb. Let the car track out to the left side of the track as keeping the car bound down to the inside can cause you to spin up the rear tires as lose momentum for the last set of corners.

1st gear up to 2nd on exit

[Turn 10 - Apex]

Turn ten is a fast right hander than only requires a slight lift of the throttle as you run over the inside curb. The most important part of turn ten is setting up the final turn as there is much more time to be lost by being too aggressive than to be gained by remaining flat out.

3rd gear

[Turn 11 - Braking]

Begin braking for the final corner just at the end of the green curbing on the outside. Be careful not to let the car track out too far to the outside since the lack of curbing means a dropped wheel can lead to an easy spin. Maintaining a good balance into turn eleven will be critical as it leads to the second longest straight and one of the best passing opportunities.

3rd gear

[Turn 11 - Apex and throttle application]

As you get to the apex get back to full throttle hard and let the car run out as wide as possible to the left for the long run down the front straight.

3rd gear