Cupra TCR – Tor Poznań Track Guide

Happy new year to all followers of 4Fun Sim Racing Team!! After a long break, we are glad to bring you yet another track guide for a FWD touring car. TCR Winter World Tour championship p/b zerobandwith visits Poland’s Poznań on Monday, Jan 4. Let’s jump right in and analyze this car/track combo to make the most out of this race.

Cupra TCR is a FWD touring car that has quite a lot of horses waiting to be tamed by you. You should be aware of its power curve though as it peaks pretty early. As you can see above, torque hits around 450 Nm at ~4800 rpm and power hits 350 bhp roughly at 5200 rpm whereas the engine is capable of revving nearly 7000 rpm. This means that you shouldn’t use all of your rpm range while driving this car and make sure to shift up before going above ~5300 rpm. On the other hand, the wide rev range and SEQ transmission allow you to downshift very quickly and this helps to slow it down nice and easy.

Tor Poznań has everything but elevation change. A huge high speed hairpin at T1, two sharp turns at T3 and T6, a very fast left-hander at T10, a technical section at T11-T12-T13, and, last but not least, T14 which is a 5th gear right-hander. The track is not excessively demanding on the tires but the CW layout coupled up with a FWD vehicle can beat LF tyre if you ask too much from it. A downside of this track is definitely the lack of distance markers.

Here’s a hotlap (1.30.046) at this track with Cupra TCR which was unleashed by Omer Kinay:

T1: Different types of cars might have different optimal line through this corner. A late apex here will give you an advantage on the exit, so you might opt for it if you want to defend your position while approaching into T3. Otherwise, according to our analysis, it’d be faster to hold a tighter line with Cupra TCR. Start braking softly right after the white line on the pit straight, hug the apex as early as you can and stick to the kerbs until they end. Open up the steering wheel softly on the exit aiming to hit the very end of the exit kerbs.

T2: Push, push, push! Who calls this thing a turn? 🙂 Don’t go wide unless you are defending.

T3: Put your right tyres on the white line and hit the brakes hard. Then, releasing them gently into the corner but still applying some pressure will help you get a tidy exit. If you hit them later than ideal, don’t try to compensate by going early on throttle as going off-track here will kill your speed significantly over the next mini-straight.

T4-T5: Aim to hit the mid section of the sausage kerb. Don’t be too eager on the throttle as it might cause you to open up and have a very tight entry into T5. The racing line on the exit of T4 should be pretty tight. You can use a lot of kerb on your right-hand-side on the exit. Don’t forget to upshift into 6th gear on the straight!

T6: Downshifting into 2nd gear here helps with braking but the exit will be better with 3rd. You can aim to hit the mid section of the sausage kerb here too. Well, they are coming pretty handy, aren’t they? Don’t go very wide on the exit and try to make your way quickly to the right side of the track in order to prepare for the next turn.

T7: A very deceptive turn. It’s not flat out unless you can manage to get a VERY wide entry. If you overdo the throttle here, you cannot position your car well enough for T8 (which is the case in the hotlap).

T8: Ideally, you should aim for the sausage kerb again but the hotlap slightly misses the apex here. If you ever sense that you are gonna go wide (very easy to do so and end up with a slowdown penalty), you can quickly downshift and upshift. This technique in FWD cars will help you to get back into the racing line. Be careful though, you’ll slow down but not light up the brake lights so it’ll be very easy to get punted this way when there’s somebody close behind.

T9-T10: A little bit of a release of the throttle at midturn of T9 will prepare you for the fast approaching T10. Slow down just enough to allow 5th gear, and go flat out right before you hit the apex. Use the brown concrete part of the kerbs generously.

T11-T12-T13: It’s all about T11 entry here. Try to put your LF on the sausage kerb. As soon as it touches it, start your soft braking and intentionally miss the apex of T12 to get a wider entry into T13. There’s a sweet spot of braking here at this technical zone. Depending on your timing, you can easily lock the fronts (the car will not turn) or lock the rears (the car might oversteer and cause you cut T13). So applying the brakes generously when you are not turning your wheels, but releasing them gently when you start turning (right before T12 apex) can be a safe strategy. Give T13 sausage kerb some love too and, ideally, exit this section flat out.

T14: Braking gently after the service road on the left and downshifting into 5th will help to have a tidy line here. Use the apex and exit kerbs for carrying maximum speed into the pit straight. Don’t be very late in upshifting into 6th.

If you read this post until this point, it means that you now have the privilege to obtain the 4Fun racing setup 🙂 Click HERE to download it and let us know if this analysis and setup can help you improve your lap times!

May the downforce be with you.