Stage guide · Mars Cup round 3
Stage 3 — The Opener
Stage 3 is the short one and the sharp one: a 1,164 m sunset descent through eight gates, dropping 65 m from 158 m to 93 m. It starts at once — gate 1 sits 51 m off the line and gate 2 only 75 m after it, both of them real corners on the steepest ground of the run.
How it drives
A braking stage disguised as a downhill. The opening two gates are taken at about 42 and 49 km/h on a 24-33% grade — and at 0.38 g, with almost no rolling resistance and no aero to speak of, lifting off does not slow you down. Everything after gate 3 opens out and rewards commitment.
Pace notes
Brake before the start line, not after it. The first corner arrives in 51 m, and stopping from 100 km/h takes 125 m.
Stay in LOW through the first two gates. The torque helps you place the rover, and you are not carrying speed through them anyway.
Brake before the crest, not after it — in low gravity the rover is airborne far longer than your instincts expect.
If you overshoot a gate you must come back through it, so losing two seconds braking early beats losing fifteen turning around.