>>Corner Two at Mosport is often [and rightfully] listed amongst the
>>top-ten most challenging turns in the world...
They're both good but, having had the distinct pleasure of once racing
at Mosport, I'm convinced it's Corner Two.
I was driving an '88 Honda Civic. In an underpowered car like the
Civic, Corner Two is approached flat out. I cannot imagine what it
would be like in an F1 car!!! If you're a rookie and wimp like me,
you will find it very hard to resist lifting off the throttle when
approaching the brink. Corner Two drops away steeply to the left into
a valley. The turn in point is somewhere [but where dammit?] just
before the crest, the apex is just beyond. The *** is that you
cannot see where the corner goes until it's too late to turn anymore.
You have to commit yourself to a line and hold it because, as the car
sails over the crest, the car gets very light and it refuses to turn
anymore. Any late attempts at course corrections will [at best] see
you fetch up backwards at the bottom of the hill. You better hope you
aren't pointing at the green stuff as you crest the hill. As the car
falls into the valley and gradually bottoms out, the suspension
compresses and loads up tremendously so there's all kinds of grip for
the remainder of the turn.
Each time over this curve I'd try a slightly different line. And I
never got it right once the whole weekend. Each time as I approached
the crest I'd be thinking, "too fast, Too Fast, Way TOO FAST, OH GOD
I'M GONNA DIE!" But as the car was squeezed back down onto its
suspension at the bottom of the hill and the cornering loads again
tried to stretch the tires off the rims, I'd be thinking instead, "WAY
too slow, you wimp!, next time around, don't back off".
I once heard someone describe Mosport's Corner Two as the ultimate
cojone caliper for determining who's got the biggest.
-Ferdinand-