![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.rhinopeel.com\/sbmrl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Austin.jpg\")
<\/a>Austin<\/p><\/div>\n
Circuit of the Americas is a tricky, counter-clockwise circuit that isn’t easy to get right.\u00a0 The uphill slope of Turn 1 makes for a bit of a blind approach at speed followed by a moderate bend for Turn 2.<\/p>\n
Turns 3 and 4 will compress the field and provide for passing opportunities.\u00a0 The exit of Turn 4 is key to a fast lap as it sets up Turn 5 and the track’s long back straight.\u00a0 Infamously, Turn 4 was the spot where the Stig was cut off by Ice in last year’s race, effectively ending any hopes he had of scoring decent points.<\/p>\n
The long back straight will tempt the speed demons to floor it through Turn 6, but there isn’t much room for error with Turn 7 following closely.\u00a0 The saving grace here is that Turn 7 is much more forgiving than it first appears, so carrying a little speed into it isn’t terrible.<\/p>\n
The remainder of the 3rd sector of the track is the part where drivers can become complacent.\u00a0 The trio of short corners that finish the track aren’t particularly intimidating, but they are spaced in such a way as to catch drivers between gear choices.\u00a0 Can you shift up to fly through the straights and slow down enough for the corners?\u00a0 Or is it better to try to get maximum effort out of a lower gear?\u00a0 Those choices can be complicated by any driver who has been hard on their tires through the rest of the lap.\u00a0 For evidence, one need only look at Nero’s race last year, where he came into the third sector in 2nd place and finished in 7th.<\/p>\n
Starting Grid<\/span><\/p>\n With one race in the books, the starting grid for Austin will simply be the reverse order of finish last time out in Portland.<\/p>\n As is league policy, pit selection will be in order of team standings, with ties broken by reverse order of average starting position.\u00a0 That leaves the following:<\/p>\n Austin will be Bubba McQueen’s home race.<\/p>\n Among current drivers, only Jaap has finished higher than 6th at Austin.\u00a0 He won in 2015 and finished 5th last year.\u00a0 Mater holds the record for points at Austin after winning last year’s race and finished 2nd the year before.\u00a0 It has never been a good track for Scandinavian Blitz, with Captain Slow and The Stig having the fewest point totals of all SBMRL drivers.<\/p>\n Perhaps most notably from last year’s race, Osito Racing Company proved that they would not be a pushover in their rookie season.\u00a0 They scored a double podium finish that bodes well for Sprite Racing, who now have a race under their belts and will be looking to emulate ORC’s Austin success.<\/p>\n SBMRL @ Circuit of the Americas<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our second race of the 2017-18 season takes us to Austin, Texas to race Circuit of the Americas.\u00a0 It’s the third time in as many seasons that we’ll race COTA, and coincides with the 2017 Formula 1 United States Grand … Continue reading \n
\n
Track History<\/h3>\n