You don't often see much in the way of track tips for Eastern Creek. So I thought I'd give a run down of how I tackle the track in my standard NA6 MX-5 on Bridgestone RE55s. I don't claim this is the best way to get around EC, but it's the best I've managed so far. Plenty room for improvement, and all suggestions are welcomed!
First of all, start with a
track map with official numbering of the turns.
Turn 1This is the scariest corner of the track because of the sustained high speed cornering which has claimed many victims over the years, including a fatality as recently as
19th March 2011. I've been gradually stepping up my commitment to turn 1 over the last year. Started with a dab of the brakes, then just had a long lift of the throttle, then I graduated to a short lift before turning in and mashing the throttle, and now finally I have the confidence to take the entire corner flat knacker without lifting at all. It is a hair-raising experience. Turn-in from the right edge of the road when you're about level with the flag marshall and hold on. The corner was resurfaced in late-April / early-May 2011 and it seems to offer substantially more grip now. My Vmin in turn 1 jumped from 162km/hr to 165km/hr and 1.0G lateral acceleration (225m corner radius). Whew! Note that I usually take it easy on my first lap and then push hard once I've got plenty of heat in the tyres.
EC_turn_1 by
Guran5, on Flickr
Turn 2Turn 2 is a lefthand, off-camber and uphill hairpin with a corner radius of 36m. It was resurfaced
just before Christmas 2010. It can be tackled in many different ways. Some prefer a double-apex tight line but I usually start wide, aim mid-track and apex late. There used to be a couple of white dots painted on the surface for this line but they're gone now. After the resurfacing, my typical best Vmin jumped from 65km/hr to 67.5km/hr in second gear, with 1.0G lateral acceleration. At the last round on 22nd May, I even managed Vmin of 71km/hr and 69km/hr which suggests that I'm washing off a bit too much speed before turning in. However, this is a corner where you're more likely to lose time by trying too hard - have patience, lots of it!
EC_turn_2-9 by
Guran5, on Flickr
Turn 3This one is flat knacker in my car in third gear, nowhere near the limit of grip at the speed I have available (0.86G lateral acceleration). The corner radius is about 100m and I approach it from the righthand side of the track after carrying as much speed as possible from turn 2. Apex early and let it drift out to the left on exit - speed increases continuously after exiting turn 2 with no minima.
Turn 4This turn is at the bottom of a dip after a quick brake and downshift to third gear, and then flat throttle and mid-late uphill apex. The corner radius is about 100m and I carry about 1.0G at a best Vmin of about 108km/hr; I held 110km/hr a couple times in April. It's possible to take it quicker but you have to be very careful with the crest that follows which causes the car to get light and lose grip. Many people lose it and hit the wall off to the right after the crest. If you do manage to hold a higher speed over the crest, you then end up too far to the left for turn 5. It's best to aim for a mid-track exit so turn 5 is lined up better.
EC_turn_4-5-7 by
Guran5, on Flickr
Turn 5After the crest, the track drops again before rising for the nicely cambered turn 5. Because the exit is uphill, maximum corner speed is critical here. I usually start from mid-track or a little to the right (difficult after a fast exit from turn 4), have a quick dab on the brake, turn-in and plant the throttle for an early apex, letting the car drift to the outside concrete strip. I've been getting gradually braver in this corner, increasing Vmin to 103km/hr. The corner radius is 75m with a 1.1G lateral acceleration thanks in part to the track camber.
Turn 6This a hardly a corner in a stock MX-5, merely a 0.7G kink to the right at about 125km/hr. I keep to the right after exiting turn 6, and get as close as possible to the turn 6 ripple strip to line up turn 7.
Turn 7I struggle with this one so much that I used to use second gear - now I use third gear. It's a downhill left-hander with a 60m radius. After turn 6, I get hard on the brakes and aim for a mid-apex, getting on the throttle at the apex. There's lots of track out to the right on the exit, but it's disconcerting because it feels like you're running out of road while at the same time the car seems to bog down due to the uphill climb that follows. I managed better consistency here on 22nd May with a typical Vmin of 86km/hr and up to 88km/hr with 1.1G lateral acceleration. I don't think there's much more to be gained here except for trying to open up the radius in the first half of the corner to take advantage of the track available on exit. But that would mean apexing earlier and delaying full throttle, so maybe it's not worth it?
Turn 8After passing under the corporate hill pedestrian bridge, the blind left-hander is another daunting corner. The bridge plays havoc with the satellite reception for the GPS datalogger, so my data here is a bit rubbery. The corner radius is about 115m, and downhill on exit. I start as far to the right as possible, turn-in after the track crests and just before I spot the apex, and plant the throttle through the corner. The car wants to run out to the right and I let it go to about mid-right. Until recently, I took this corner in third after a slight lift before turning in, but then had to shift into fourth halfway through, which upset the balance badly. At the last round, I experimented with short-shifting to fourth just before turning in, and took the corner flat without a lift. It worked very nicely, with a Vmin of around 129km/hr compared with 124km/hr previously! Lateral acceleration was 1.1G.
Turn 9 (refer Turn 2 graph above)
Turn 9 is right-hand hairpin after rounding Corporate Hill. It's cambered a bit and downhill. The corner radius is 34m so it's slightly tighter than turn 2, but you can carry similar speed due to the camber differences. I've gradually improving my Vmin here, typically with a best of 66km/hr in second gear and 1.1G lateral acceleration. However, on 22nd May I was experimenting with a mid-track turn-in and it didn't work out so well - usually managed up to 64km/hr Vmin. So, I think the best line is to start from the far left, get on the power early, apex late and let the car drift to the outside concrete strip.
Turn 10This is another non-existent corner for a stock MX-5. It's a righthand kink at 0.8G at about 129km/hr in fourth gear. I keep to the left after the back straight, turn in gradually and apex the middle to line up turn 11.
Turns 11 and 12Getting a good exit from this sequence is critical for a good run onto the long main straight, and it's also important to treat it as two corners. This section of track was also resurfaced before Christmas 2010 so it now offers a lot more grip. I dab the brake at the end of the turn 10 ripple strip, downshift to third and aim for a mid apex to turn 11 (sometimes riding the ripple strip), with a little trail-braking (not too much though or you'll swap ends!). I used to manage about 88km/hr Vmin in turn 11 (65m radius), but now take it at up to 95km/hr with 1.0G lateral acceleration. After the apex there's a short full throttle blast, running out to the concrete pad on the right, before lifting the throttle and turning in for the long turn 12. I like to use the throttle lift to provoke a bit of oversteer and then carry it through most of the corner. The radius is about 58m and it's uphill with camber so I can hold 1.1G lateral acceleration with the throttle planted the whole way and a Vmin up to 92km/hr. I aim for a late apex and run right out to the concrete pad on the right. Take care not to hit the concrete pad early because there's a sharp step at the front edge and a few MX-5s have bent rims hitting it.
EC_turn_11-12 by
Guran5, on Flickr
Finally, there's the 700m long blast down the main straight. I usually change into fifth gear at around the 200m marker, and reach a top speed of 171km/hr (I've seen 176km/hr with a tailwind and slipstreaming another car).
Good effort there Paul 
. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the thread. I'm still learning every time I hit the track and so long as that continues, I'll keep on enjoying life without mods. 
