When it comes to long straights in the FIA World Touring Car Championship they don’t get much longer than the blast from Turn 13 to 14 at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Measuring 1175 metres in length, this stretch of asphalt – and the long braking zone that awaits – is overtaking heaven for the stars of the WTCC. LADA Sport Rosneft’s Nicky Catsburg is your guide.
“It all starts in the corner before the long straight which is a killer for front-wheel-drive cars because the corner just goes on and on and on so you tend to destroy your front tyres there,” the Dutchman explains.
“You have to set the straight up in the corner before so if you want to overtake you have to try to have a really, really good exit from Turn 13 and maybe sacrifice the entry a little bit in order to have a good exit.
“If you want to defend on the straight sometimes you really have to defend in that corner, just over-slow people a little bit in in the middle of the corner to try to have a better exit.
“On the straight you can take a slipstream out of someone and then you have the room and opportunity to overtake on what is a massively long straight and a really big braking zone where you can gain or lose a lot of time and also a lot of positions.”