These are the corners that put fear into drivers' eyes. These are Jalopnik readers' choices for the ten toughest turns in motorsports.
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We restricted ourselves to turns that are currently existing. If we didn't, you could expect to see the Masta Kink from the old Spa circuit. It was on the course's ultra-long straight, at times taken at nearly 200 miles an hour, and it killed or nearly killed some of the world's best drivers.
Oh, and we left off Eau Rouge because we ourselves nominated it yesterday. It isn't as tough as it used to be, now that it has runoff areas anyway.
Furthermore, we had to restrict ourselves to well known turns at the most internationally known tracks. That means we left off tons of seriously challenging turns on America's road courses. Let us know what corners we left off, and particularly those which you yourself have driven.
There's plenty of room in Kinja below for your longest racing stories.
Photo Credit: jujuteux
10.) Adenauer Forst at the Nurburgring
As you can see, this turn has been catching drivers out for decades and isn't stopping anytime soon. Suggested By: TokyoBayAquaLine
9.) Nouvelle Chicane at Monaco
Drivers stream out of the dark Monaco tunnel into the blinding sunshine and they have to immediately set up for this tight chicane. Get it wrong and you're going into another car, or you're plowing sideways into wall directly in front of you. Suggested By: TheCraigy
8.) Indianapolis and Arnage at Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans)
Le Mans used to be famous for its kink on the Mulsanne straight taken at well over 200 miles an hour, but that's gone now. We still have the daunting Arnage, virtually unchanged since 1923. Drivers rarely seem to get it right, and there's a wall waiting for them just past the track. Suggested By: Rebilwrack
7.) Turn 8 at Istanbul
This isn't so much as one corner as it is four high speed turns melding into one. Nowhere else in motorsports will you experience as high g-forces for as long as you do here. Suggested By: OhAlbanianCar
6.) The Ws at Pikes Peak
Pretty much all of the Pikes Peak hillclimb is a massive challenge, even more so now that the cliffside roads are paved. It just means you're going faster when you spear off the road. Suggested By: AltitudeAssault
5.) Turn 3 at Darlington Raceway
Just about the toughest turn in oval racing. Even the best drivers get 'the stripe' from meeting the wall. Suggested By:
4.) Ballagarey corner in the Isle of Man TT
Like Pikes Peak, just about every turn on the Isle of Mann course is out to get you. It is the most deadly course in motorsports, an the 140 mph + Ballargarey corer is one reason for that figure. Paul Dobbs was killed there in 2010 and Guy Martin almost died there the same year. Suggested By: triumphd600
3.) The Wall of Champions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Few corners manage to gets as loose as turn 13 at the site of the Canadian Grand Prix. You face the Wall of Champions, named so for all the F1 world champions who've crashed there. Suggested By: DasWauto
2.) The Corkscrew at Laguna Seca
While some would say that the high speed "turn in and pray you come out the other side" Turn 6 at Laguna Seca is the real challenge for drivers, we can't leave the legendary Corkscrew off this list. You turn in bind, looking at trees across the road for reference points, then get the sickening feeling of g forces in every direction as you turn left and right while basically going off a cliff. Even the very best go off here. Suggested By: Brian, the life of
1.) Turn 1 at Indianapolis
What's that you say? A corner on a track where you don't even turn right is the toughest in the world? Allow reader The Scrambler to explain.
Now before all your road race snobs get up in arms about the fact that it isn't a real corner because you don't have to brake for it, or some other bullshit, remember that 1) I'm one of you and 2) that is what makes the corner so tough.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909 for 1909 cars. The cars have gotten much faster over the years, but apart from the occasional repave, IMS still features the same relatively narrow racing surface and a relatively flat 9 degrees of banking in the turns it did when it opened.
he approach to Turn 1 begins with the exit of Turn 4 and the run down the long front straight. Thanks to the height of the grandstands and their close proximity to the track, the effect for the driver is like racing into a tunnel, while trying to precisely place his (or her) car on a very narrow racing line while scrubbing off as little speed as possible and (ideally) turning in without lifting off the throttle. Today's IndyCars probably see speeds in the 235 MPH range, but when Arie Luyendyk sent the all-time single lap record of 237.498 MPH back in 1996, he was probably in the 250 MPH range at the end of the front straight.
Top that with your Corkscrew, Karussell, Eau Rouge, Up Hill, Kink, or any other road course corner. I love them all, but for pucker factor, Turn 1 at Indy has them all beat.
Suggested By: The Scrambler