A lap around Montreal with Jarno!

By role
June 9 2003

Trulli is getting ready for the upcoming Canadian GP that will take place in Montreal. Jarno will be present for his 7th consecutive year at the Canadian track. He has scored 2 sixth positions at Canada. One in 2000 driving for Jordan and the second one last year while driving for Renault.

Jarno describes a lap at the Gilles Villeneuve track:

“I start the lap on the short pit straight reaching around 300kmh in fifth gear before braking hard for the first corner. The first part of the corner is a left-hander taken in second gear at around 115kmh but as soon as I exit this corner I drop down to first gear, dabbing the brakes to set the car up for the very tight right-hand corner. I apex this corner at around 65kmh and this is followed by a short straight where I will reach around 245kmh in fourth gear before dropping down to second to take the first right-hand part of the corner at around 115kmh.”

“I accelerate gently through the left-hand part of the chicane, kissing the apex at around 130kmh. Before reaching the next chicane I have to negotiate a fast right-hand corner which I will accelerate through flat out between 240kmh and 265kmh. Even though it's taken flat, this is not an easy corner, and as I exit, even while I have still got some cornering force on the car, I have to brake to enter the second chicane.”

“Again I will have drop down to second gear taking the first part of the corner at 90kmh before accelerating through the second half at around 130kmh. On the next straight, I will touch 300kmh in fifth gear before braking for the third chicane. Braking here is very difficult because the circuit is quite bumpy and I need to choose my line into the corner very carefully. I need to drop my speed down to around 105kmh so will again be using second gear. Just as in the previous two chicanes, I stay in second gear then accelerate carefully through the left-hand second part of the chicane, apexing at around 145kmh.”

“Leading down to the hairpin I will once again be expecting to hit around 300kmh in fifth gear. During the race, this will be one of the best overtaking opportunities, and practice is a good opportunity to look at the different lines that I can use in the race.”

“Once again, I brake extremely hard for the hairpin, as I need to get my speed down to around 60kmh in first gear. Following the hairpin is the longest straight, where I will be at full throttle for around 15 seconds, which gives me plenty of time to think about the very difficult final chicane.”

“I will approach this at the highest speed we reach on the circuit, roughly 320kmh in top gear. Once again, as is the nature of this circuit, I will be braking extremely hard and will take the first part of the final chicane at around 120kmh in second gear. Through the second part I can increase my speed slightly and remaining in second gear, I will be apexing at around 135kmh and using every inch of the track in order to get good speed over the finish line.”