Track Analysis: A Detailed Lap 'Round Monaco : Part 1

        For those of you who know this track as Gran Turismo’s “Cote de Azur”, you’ll be able to ride along as we take a detailed lap of this historical track. Also this will be talked about as if the walls at Sainte Devote and the 4 Pool Corners were still there; which they should be, even if they were removed for safety reasons - This is Monaco, and that’s what makes it “Monaco”.  

Also - Here’s the Greatest video of the Lap, but there are many phenomenal on-board videos. 

Crossing the Start/Finish line under trees, billboards, buildings, and over a thousand different white and yellow lines on the track (remember - these are city streets 99% of the year), you flash down a curved straightaway topping out at over 150mph, pit exit is at right.

Up ahead, a champion’s wall of sorts, although easier to mess up than the “Champions Wall” in Canada. Just about everybody, including Lewis Hamilton in practice last year, has hit the gas too early or the brakes too late, trying to dish out one more tenth of a second, and bashed the outside wall at this corner.

This is Sainte Devote, and it’s not exactly an overtaking opportunity unless you have a much faster car then the one ahead. You want to pull the car over to a bumpout in the wall to your left, then immediately twist right to just miss the inside barrier. If done right, your left wheels will almost touch the left wall as you start your trip up the hill.

Now although this is considered a straightaway, it is not, just as the other two “straightaways” here are not. Beau Rivage is a left-right-left-right full throttle hill climb, with the time between each turn of the steering wheel becoming smaller and smaller.

At the top of the hill you’re almost blind, but the brakes must be applied right at the peak and you’ll want your car in the perfect position to dive into Massenet. You really do feel as if you “dove” into a pool because of the slight elevation drop-off and the way the G-forces pull you after a winding straight. This long left-hander is the only corner in all the corners around the world that I have never nailed 100% while in video games.

You’ll want to “diamond” this corner but in a certain way, using the bumps and lines as your guide. Don’t diamond too soon or you’ll have to swing out again ruining your time. Diamond too late, and you’ll almost be hugging the inside of the next corner rather than keeping your correct line for the outside-inside-outside at the next bend, the right-hander Casino. As you can imagine, there is a beautiful casino on your right, but don’t look at it for even 0.002 seconds or you’ll crash.           

 The direction change from the end of Massenet to Casino is harsh, but you’ll get the car sliding just a tad so when you come out of Casino, you’ll roll out just fine onto the short shoot. What makes this little run down to Mirabeau so interesting is that you have to take your sliding car from Casino, correct it, then throw it out to the right, correct, come back to the left (Miabeau being a right-hander), all to miss a bump. Although this isn’t as prominent as it was in the old days, it’s still there.

Now Mirabeau is one of those corners where you think you're done, keep turning, think you're done, keep turning, and you're still not done. When you finally see the opening, you cut left - although don’t get on these curbs; they’re pretty high, as some curbs on the track you can utilize and others you cannot.

There’s now a drop off in elevation as you plunge down to the “Grand Hotel Hairpin”, although I’ve heard many different names for this arguably “Most Famous” corner in F1. Other names are the “Loew's Hairpin”, or the “Station Hairpin”. The feeling of the long corner, then cut, swoop and dive down, is just amazing even if you get it slightly wrong. Note that even this 2-3 second plunge has its technicalities; as you want to clip the left wall bumpout, then right one before slamming on the brakes for this extremely tight left-hand corner.

This can be taken in 1st or 2nd gear depending on car and set-up, but if you dare take this in 1st, you're going to accelerate out in a very tight space so there is little room for any correction *The video shows this well*.

You can use the curbs if you’re passing someone and have to hug the inside, but your best line is a bit outside, as this corner is so very tight (unless you're in a car with a two foot wheel base, that is).

Next is a double apex section, right-right. With your car fishtailing after the punching of the gas pedal, you can throw it over to the left to get set for this sector. For the first corner, you may use the curbing provided along with the sidewalk depending on your line choice!

When you come out, you may want to swing over to this emergency road-like area on the right side, as it could give you a better entry to Portier. Although, if you go for the extra room it must be done with an odd line, because this will not suit a normal exit of the first corner.

When going through Portier, you don’t want to exactly use these curbs, as they are of the high, bumpy kind and are just added so someone doesn’t smack the barrier.

If there’s any corner you want to get right though, it’s Portier, because your next section is the longest to overtake. Moreover, as soon as you get out of the hairpin, it is essential that from that point on you hit all your lines the way you desire, so as to achieve the goal of a perfect Portier exit.  

Part 2 Next Week....