A lap of Brands Hatch with Gary Paffett

Prior to qualifying at Brands Hatch, last year’s winner, Mercedes’ Gary Paffett, explains the secrets to a successful lap of around the short 1.9 kilometer circuit to TouringCarTimes.

“Well, Brands Hatch is such a short track, so you need to get into a bit of a rhythm as doing just one lap is quite difficult.

“You’ve got to be on the limit, especially in places like Paddock. I touched the gravel on the way out of there last year in Q4 and lost some time, but you have to attack it as it’s so fast. You also have to be confident going into it, because the entry is blind and you have a white line on the edge of the circuit which is right next to the gravel. It’s incredible because the minimum speed at Paddock Hill bend is 180 kph, so it’s just incredibly fast.

“After that, you head up the hill and pick your braking point into Druids which again is so difficult, because it’s uphill and the car stops so quickly. You have to brake maybe 50 meters before, but if you misjudge it by a few meters, you’ll lock a wheel you’ll end up in the barriers as it flattens out, so a couple of meters difference in braking is between being perfect and being out of the race. It’s tricky and I’d say it’s one of the more difficult braking areas on the track.

“It’s an incredibly challenging circuit with just five corners, and they’re all very difficult. In Paddock it’s difficult with the braking, Druids is hard, as is Graham Hill at the bottom of the hill. You don’t really brake much, but it’s all about carrying your speed to get the speed down the main straight, so for me, when compared to other drivers, it’s one of the most challenging corners to get right on the circuit. You approach it turning left out of Druids, and it’s difficult to brake, turn and carry the speed at the same time.

“Then you’re at Surtees which is great fun as it’s flat or almost flat. It’s incredible. You get the adrenaline going through it and when you’re there, you’re like “oh, wow! Next corner!” If you don’t concentrate, you think “oh yeah, I’m there” and then “oh, no! I’ve missed it.” Then you’re off and into the tyre wall.

“Then you stop the car and try and carry some speed into Clearways without running too wide, which is quite difficult because you’re never straight whilst turning into there, as it goes up the hill. Then the difficult thing from there is getting on the power, so you’re on the throttle, turning and taking the crest at the same time and the car just does not want to stick to the ground; the wheels are spinning all the time.

“You see a lot of people running wide at the exit of Clearways, because it’s difficult to not lose time as a result of wheelspin, but then you just hug the white line and cross the finish line.”