… with Narain at the wheel

Having completed the first sector, a short straight before the ‘looping’ right-handed Repsol takes the car upto 280 km/h in sixth gear.

Then it’s hard braking, down to 130-odd km/h, followed by a short burst of acceleration upto 290 km/h to reach the Seat hairpin that grinds the car down to second gear at 90 km/h — the second slowest point of the race.

Accelerating out through a gentle left curve at 280 km/h in fifth gear, the driver brakes hard before taking the left-hander that follows in second gear at 136km/h.

The trick here is running over the exit curb to make a wider exit; many drivers get nervous at this point.

A short uphill straight to the right-handed Campsa curve, which leads into the Nissan backstraight; speeds attained here vary between 270-290 km/h. Again, the exit curb plays an important role to gain extra speed.

Making it through the modified La Caixa left-hander, the tighter entry drops speed to 70 km/h — the slowest of the circuit — before another hairpin (Banc De Sabadell). The driver must brake gently as he turns; the rear end tends to snap away.

Two right corners, the first taken flat out at around 240 km/h and the next (New Holland) at 225 km/h brings you on to the final straight to the finish line. The important thing is to come out quick from the last corner as the pit-straight that follows is very long.