Stage guide · Mars Cup round 4
Stage 4 — Down the Mountain
Stage 4 runs off the mountain: a 1,689 m sunset descent through seventeen gates, from a 192 m summit to a finish 134 m lower, beside The Eight. The first eight gates ride the top, between 160 m and 192 m; from gate 8 the ground falls 124 m in 850 m to gate 16.
How it drives
A hairpin stage. Five of its sixteen corners turn more than 100 degrees, and three of them come in a row at gates 9, 10 and 11 — left, right, left, 182 m from first to last — on the way down. Then the gates close in: 12 to 14 are 16 to 18 m wide, the narrowest on Mars, with 53 m and 27 m between them, before 360 m of open descent to the last corner.
Pace notes
Gate 1 is 46 m off the line and the road turns 104 degrees left through it. Brake before you reach it, not in it.
Gates 3 and 4 are the summit, at 190 m and 192 m. Gate 4 is a 109-degree left, and gate 5 is a 93-degree right 106 m on and 32 m lower, so you arrive at it downhill.
Gates 9, 10 and 11 are the hairpin triple: left 106 degrees, right 114, left 104, with 93 m and 89 m between them. Take the first one slow and the other two come to you.
Gates 12 to 14 are 16 to 18 m wide. Aim for the middle of each; there is no room to cut a corner.
After gate 14 the road opens: 360 m and 46 m of drop to gate 16. Carry everything, then brake for its 51-degree left; the finish is 104 m on.