New Sepang Track for Championship Formula Racing

Sepang has been one of my favorite tracks for Championship Formula racing since I built it.  This year, the F1 track underwent some updates mostly to things that are important in real life but did not functionally change the profile of the track, except in the final hairpin.

Below is a great video that shows what they did and the anticipated changes to the racing line.


Now, I've never had a problem with how the CFR version of this corner worked but this gave me an excuse to re-profile Sepang for CFR and thus the special 2016 version of Sepang is born.  The track is exactly the same as its earlier iteration until the last corner.

Sepang 1999

Sepang 2016

The 2016 version of this final corner has only one racing line through the middle lane and a longer effective corner.  The inside lane is normally going to be the worst approach through the corner -- reflecting the new banking inside the corner.  But if you hit that first space you can accelerate coming out of the corner and down off the banking.  The line is the best way through the corner, but sometimes it is better to stay on the gas and use the outside lane that allows for later braking.

The 1999 version of Sepang had two racing lines and a staggered entry that made it advantageous to line up as far inside as you could before the corner.  In many CFR corners it is better to take a longer lane through a corner if you can take it faster because you get to move before slower moving peers (in addition to other benefits).  But this staggered entry meant you could dive inside and be guaranteed to move before faster competition slightly behind you.

I plan to race the 2016 version of Sepang early 2017 at Winter Games Fest in Rockville if you happen to be in the area.

• PDF of Sepang 1999
• PDF of Sepang 2016