GTPlanet’s GT6 Track of the Week 32: Swift Motorsports Park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hie_8zv7vbk

We’re back! Due to some technical difficulties, Track of the Week has been sidelined since the beginning of summer, but that’s been all cleared up. For a refresher, our last featured track was Schwarzwaldschleife, a high-speed blast through the forest. The latest route to step into the spotlight is a very different animal, with plenty of tricky technical sections.

Download Swift Motorsports Park from our GT6 Track Database

As you can see from the map, this is a beast of a circuit. Not only do its 21 corners cover the spectrum in terms of speed and severity, but the entire track bucks up and down throughout the lap. Swift Motorsports Park requires patience before a driver hopes to tame it, so a first-generation Dodge Viper seemed an appropriate ride for the sighting lap.

Powering down the main straight toward the first turn (“Overture”), the big snake needs to drop the anchors just before the rumble strip arrives on the left. It pours itself into the following S-bend, before that gigantic V10 gets a chance to sing on the way into Turn 5 (“Bridge-Hairpin”). You get a clear view of the track ahead here, but it still doesn’t prepare you for the significant drop near the apex of T6.

The run downhill to Turn 8 (“Sting”) is easily my favourite part of the track. Letting the car’s weight work to your advantage, it naturally pushes to the outside after the first part of the double-left, meaning you can lean on the tires early to get turned into the next portion. In a car with as little aero as the Viper, it’s exciting: we can only imagine how much more it would be with the downforce of a race car, or in a full pack during racing.

“Prep” does what it says, a slow right getting you situated for the next succession of corners. The first two require only a slight brush of the brakes, but T13 (“Score”) demands a serious stomp on the middle pedal. The Viper gets a little loose exiting here, requiring a few dabs of oppo to get pointed in the right direction. Two turns later, I misjudge the the braking point and nearly run off course. If you need an example of how not to enter “Hoist”, look no further!

The rest of the lap goes by without incident. The downhill slalom that makes up the “Presto S” offers a fantastic view of the early part of the lap, and feels great in the way that only gravity-assisted S-bends can.

Swift Motorsports Park is equal parts fun and challenging. It’s certainly not a track you’ll master quickly, so if that sounds appealing, you’d be wise to add it to your collection.

That’s not all on the Track of the Week front. Voting is now open to select TOTW 32, and the submission thread for Week 33 has gone live as well. Head on over to the forum threads below to find out how you can take part:

GTPlanet Track of the Week 33 Voting Thread
GTPlanet Track of the Week 34 Submission Thread

See more articles on GT6 Course Maker and GT6 Track of the Week.