Track Overview #2: Sonoma Raceway

Introduction to Sonoma's Elevation Characteristics

Sonoma Raceway presents an intense challenge in the first sector with dramatic elevation changes, while the second sector becomes more stable and flat. Understanding these elevation changes is crucial for proper line selection and grip management throughout the lap.

First Major Climbing Section

The track begins climbing drastically early in the first sector. As the track goes up, up again, and continues climbing even more, drivers experience a significant increase in grip. The uphill gradient provides substantial grip through this climbing phase.

The Crest and Loss of Grip

At the point where the track crests and drivers can no longer see the racing surface ahead, grip conditions change dramatically. This requires careful planning:

• Bring the car as far left as possible before the crest

• Brake on a straight line approaching the crest

• Recognize that grip is already reduced at the crest itself

• Be aware of a brief moment of camber before the apex

• Understand that the track falls away after the crest, making that camber largely irrelevant

Turn-In Technique at the Crest

With zero grip available, the turn-in must be executed carefully. The track features a huge crest that can cause the car to achieve airtime on some tires. You can hear the engine RPMs increase slightly as the inside tire lifts off the track, creating wheelspin even at high speeds. From the turn-in point through to the exit, grip is essentially zero as the car is falling, falling, falling all the way to the outside.

The key strategy is to rotate as much as possible in the first half of the corner, despite the challenging conditions. Even in the first half, the track transitions from uphill to flat, meaning reduced grip everywhere. This makes it a very tricky corner with high risk of spinning on exit.

The Compression and Camber Corner

The next extremely fun corner features several key characteristics:

• Significant grip climbing up to the corner entry

• Compression and camber occurring simultaneously

• Very grippy conditions generating high G forces and neck strain

• Zero grip on the exit

Rotation Strategy for This Corner

Turn in aggressively and rotate the car as much as possible in the first half. Since the exit cannot be seen from the entry, and the track will be falling significantly in the second half, rotation distribution should be approximately 60% in the first half and only 40% on the exit.

As the car goes through the corner and begins falling, the exit becomes very sketchy because visibility is limited regarding how much slide to the outside is acceptable. It's very easy to get into the dirt and potentially spin to the inside afterward. The solution is to be very careful with line selection, bring the car as far left as possible, achieve lots of rotation early, and make the exit straighter. Even with a straight exit, micro adjustments on the steering are necessary to prevent sliding.

Mid-Corner Braking Zone

The next braking zone is pretty grippy, with the track appearing almost flat but creating a slight compression. However, as the turn-in begins, the track goes down, resulting in less grip on exit.

Braking and Turn-In Approach

Brake aggressively and get the car to turn significantly. As power is reapplied, the track goes down with slightly less grip, but the camber compensates for the downhill gradient. While initially you would expect less grip due to the downhill section, the cambered nature of the corner provides good grip once you get deeper into the apex.

Understanding Elevation Changes During Driving

The good news about these elevation changes is that constant attention isn't required while driving—only during the track learning phase. Once memorized, drivers know intuitively what lines to take, making the mental workload significantly lighter during actual driving.

The Blind Uphill Entry

Another challenging section features an uphill approach where the track goes up, up, up, up with no visibility. This corner has absolutely zero grip on turn-in, which requires a counterintuitive approach:

• Turn in very early, almost aiming for the inside apex

• Cannot rotate the car from the outside due to lack of grip and sliding risk

• Execute a straighter line to the inside

• Reserve rotation for the second half of the corner

This line doesn't make sense when viewed from a top-down perspective, but becomes logical when considering the elevation changes.

The Cambered Second Half

After the straight initial portion, the track reveals significant camber while still downhill, with substantial banking allowing aggressive turning. As the exit approaches, camber reduces but the track creates a compression—the surface goes down then compresses in a specific area. This very aggressive compression makes the car turn a little bit more naturally.

After this compression, the track becomes officially flat with perhaps a very subtle off-camber section where the road surface changes from one side to the other. This off-camber is barely noticeable but can be felt slightly.

Second Sector: Subtle Elevation Changes

Following the intense first sector, the track enters areas without major grip changes, but subtle variations still matter at a high level.

Visible Corner with Subtle Decompression

In corners where the apex and entire corner are visible, there is no grip on turn-in. Braking likely begins in an area where the car is falling slightly, meaning not a lot of grip during braking. While very subtle and not a huge difference, these elevation changes make a significant difference at a very high level of driving.

The turn-in reveals a slight off-camber and decompression, but more grip returns as the track flattens again. The off-camber is very subtle as the car crosses back to the track due to a surface change. During this change, a small bump requires a correction, but the exit remains pretty flat.

Final Sections to the Hairpin

The remainder of the lap features minimal elevation changes:

• Generally flat throughout the section

• Small compression followed by slight decompression at one exit

• The radius is essentially straight, so elevation attention is minimal

• Very flat braking zones

• Very flat chicane with direction changes

• Pretty flat fast left before the hairpin

• The hairpin itself is also pretty flat

Key Takeaways for Sonoma Raceway

The first sector is the most important section of Sonoma Raceway. Failing to account for elevation changes can create real trouble when driving the track in real life. The essential strategy is to plan lines that rotate as much as possible where grip is available, then rotate progressively less and less when grip is not there. This elevation-based approach to line selection is critical for fast and safe lap times at Sonoma.