The DSC Ed was the only media observer to the first ‘outing’ for the brand new circuit simulation for the brand new Baku street circuit, due to host the final round of the 2013 FIA GT Series from 22-24 November.
It fell to Danny Watts to complete the first ‘virtual’ laps of the spectacular, high-speed ‘between the walls’ 4.38kms Baku World Challenge street circuit at Darren Turner’s Base Performance Simulators facility in rural Oxfordshire.
Thanks to access to the CAD drawings of the circuit the circuit itself is inch perfect, though the surrounding buildings are, for the moment at least, more generic (with the exception of the the landmark flagpole, the second tallest in the world)
“It is going to be a real challenge and damn good fun,” said Watts after his first experience of the Baku World Challenge circuit last Friday. “The first thing you notice is that it has just about every corner you would want to see on a challenging circuit. There are slow speed corners followed by some quick ones and also hairpins and some fast chicanes. I can see immediately that there will be at least two or three very good overtaking opportunities, so all in all it is going to be a real adventure.”
Watts, who has experience on two of the most exciting street circuits in motorsport – Monaco and Macau, believes that the Baku circuit will test drivers to the maximum, saying: “It will be a physical and mental test, street circuits always are. But the main challenge will be just getting the initial rhythm of the place right from the beginning of track action. All in all it looks to be a real driver’s track and I think it will create some spectacular racing next month.”
Utilising the Base Performance simulator, Watts believes will be a key advantage for the Trackspeed Porsche team, where he will share a 997 GT3-R with Martin Ragginger (AUT) at the Baku World Challenge at the end of November.
“It is crucial to get an appreciation and understanding of the track before you get there. Yes, the track walk and taking an actual look at the track is important, but using somewhere like Base Performance Simulators gives you a head-start because it means you get all your homework done before you turn up to the track. It is vital to know where the bumps are likely to be, what the corner radius’ are and when and where you will be able to push. A lot of course depends upon the severity of the kerbs but even that you can anticipate on a simulator, so it is a major benefit to get time on here.”
Watts will land in Azerbaijan direct from the Macau Grand Prix meeting; will be looking to take momentum from that weekend in to the big races in Baku. Watts will not be alone in making the long trip from Macau to Baku as Sébastien Loeb will also be competing in the Chinese principality that weekend.
Here’s the film from SRO with their top PR Man Sam ‘Sniffer’ Smith on presenter duty with a pair of full laps in the DSC exclusive video below, the first featuring a slow lap with commentary from Danny, and the second an altogether more spirited affair, though Danny, ever competitive, ensured that some of the tricks he’d picked up from his sim running didn’t feature here, his best effort being a full 10 seconds faster than this seemingly impressive effort!
