Circuit Preview: A Lap of Symmons Plains with Fabs

He broke through for his first Championship win there last year and scored his first podium in 2009, so Symmons Plains has been a happy hunting ground for Lockwood Racing’s Fabian Coulthard.

Having started strong this season, he’s second in the points and looking to capitalise at a track he describes as “good fun”.

Coulthard talks us through a lap at the 2.4km, anti-clockwise circuit ahead of this weekend’s Tyrepower Tasmania 400.

“On paper, there’s only seven corners, so it looks relatively simple – but the big thing about it is once you actually get there it’s one of the tracks where the difference from the fastest guy to the slowest guy is very minimal,” Coulthard said.  

“Being only seven corners, you have to get seven corners right and generally, at the shorter track, people manage to do that. You start to get to a longer track, with more corners it becomes more difficult and you see a bigger discrepancy of times because there’s obviously more areas for mistakes.

“Tasmania’s pretty unique in the fact that the whole field is bunched up pretty close – you only need a minute amount of time and you can jump five or six spots on the grid – so it’s pretty important to get the corners correct.

“That’s no different to any other track, but here especially is pretty intense for a qualifying lap! 

“So to start the lap, if we were doing a race start, grip-wise it’s not that great.

“It’s only a short run, so it’s probably one of the tracks you get away with not having a great start because you’re turning right and then into a slow left hander – the distance to the first corner isn’t that far so you can mask a bad start by the distance to the first corner.

“The approach – on a race lap it’s fourth or fifth gear depending on the individual – it’s neither here nor there so you can use either, it just comes down to personal preference.

“Speed approaching is probably close to 200km/h. It’s quite a tricky braking because you’ve come out of the last corner, you’re going left and then you’ve kind of got to get back to the left to get to the right, and then brake over that crest …

“You’ve got a funny little dip first that unsettles the car on the way in and then the car starts to climb up the hill, and then you drop down over that crest into that left hander which I guess is turn two.

“It’s pretty unique – front locking is quite a drama – you’re very mindful of it coming through that corner but the trick is, you’re stopping the car for that left hander so the maximum amount of speed so you can stop it enough, and get the car turned from that left hander, obviously brings you oto that straight and that long kink towards the hairpin.

“So out of turn two, second gear, you try and get on the throttle as early as you can. It’s quite slippery on the exit – the track starts to fall way, it’s quite an aggressive saw-tooth kerb on the outside. If you get on that it’s very slippery so you try and stay off that.

“Then around to the right – it’s fast. It’s flat out. You’re accelerating out of second, third, fourth, fifth, up into sixth– the car is very nervous through that right hander in the rear – you’re exiting against that wall so it’s flat out but I wouldn’t say it’s easy flat.

“Accelerating down you’re looking into the hairpin.

“When the cars are in front of you – thankfully last year I didn’t have that too many times – you can see them coming back which is pretty unique, as you’re still approaching.

“The braking there is pretty intense. Obviously you’ve got to brake super late – it’s very, very narrow and you’re kind of looking into a tunnel because you’ve got a barrier on the left and barrier on the right.

“It’s really close so you’re trying to pick your marks, you’re looking for the … braking marker on the left. Sixth gear, you’ve got to brake super hard, super late, get it all the way down to first gear and you’ve got to attack the corner.

“There are various lines through the hairpin – some people go past the corner a little bit and try and straighten it up and drive out, or some people dive down to the apex, it depends how your car’s working. There’s not a right or wrong technique I don’t feel, just relative to how your car will turn at the hairpin means how you can get away with approaching and getting through the corner…

“It’s a good passing opportunity into the hairpin, same as the next corner. The hairpin is the slowest corner on the track 60km/h, the approach into the hairpin is about 240 so pretty fast.

“On the way in rear locking is quite a drama. The rear brakes are always trying to grab and it makes the rear of the car pretty nervous. Driving out, you just try and get on the accelerator as soon and as hard as you can. Obviously, first gear, you’re running right out to that wall on the right hand side and then it’s pretty much flat out all the way to the next corner.

“The hairpin leads onto such a long straight, it’s important to get out of there well and with the braking there’s a lot of time to be found on the way in, so it’s quite an important part of the track. And – pretty bizarre – it’s probably one of the only tracks I can remember where we actually use full steering lock.

“You get to the point you turn into the hairpin and you’re pretty much on the rack stops to get it around – it’s a pretty weird feeling because sometimes you want to turn more but you can’t. 

“Onto the straight – first gear all the way up to sixth gear. Approach is, as a rough estimate, about 250-60km/h (through turn five).

“Same deal – important braking zone, you sort of brake over the hump in the road. And then you’ve just got to get it pulled up, up to third gear… If you’re braking properly and really late you always run the risk of that left front locking. Around 105km/h, you get it through there, same deal, there’s an aggressive saw-tooth kerb on the exit, which is very slippery.

“And then you’re just trying to get onto the throttle as quick as you can; third, fourth, this whole time you’re coming onto the front straight you’re turning. You’re turning around the corner but you’re also pulling gears so the G-forces are quite high – you’re wedged in the seat on the right hand side with the lateral load and then you’re pulling the gear, with one hand on the steering wheel so it’s quite a cool corner, I quite like it.

“If the car’s working well you’re able to get on the throttle quite hard, get the car turned and then hard back on the throttle.

“In the vision you see cars running wide all the time, all the dust being kicked up, so there’s no exit kerb. Go beyond (the track limits) and it’s dusty dirt and quite often you see cars running wide there and not getting a good run through that first complex.

“It’s a challenging little track for the amount of corners, but it’s an awesome place. I’ve had great success there in the past. It’s awesome for spectators, being able to see the whole track without too much difficulty. There’s always plenty of action and the racing’s normally pretty hard and fast.”

Tickets are available for the Tyrepower Tasmania 400 now.