VIR North — Race Line
Estimated from data not in trackdays.ai. The line, speeds and braking points come from cars lapping at a typical quick HPDE pace, checked against published track guides and brake markers. If you have data you would like to contribute, please send it to upload@trackdays.ai to help improve our estimates.
Heads up: This is an estimate of a typical quick HPDE line, not any one car's lap. Braking points are a starting point, not a target: start a little earlier and work later in small steps. The line goes straight from throttle to brake; amber only marks where you really lift or hold part throttle. VIR North has no corner map of its own, so the turn numbers are the Full Course's, placed where the two courses share asphalt; the North connector's corners carry no numbers.
- Throttle
- Coast / partial
- Braking
- Apex
- T4Off-camber corner
Arrows show the direction of the lap. The grey basemap is USGS LiDAR: dark = asphalt, light = grass. Tap any map for the full-size image.
VIR North is a shorter lap that keeps the T1 to T6a section and the Roller Coaster descent of the Full Course and links them with a short, very steep uphill connector. Exits matter most, especially Hog Pen onto the front straight, and the blind brows at the top of the connector and at the Roller Coaster call for finishing your braking in a straight line before you get there. Corners on shared asphalt drive like their Full Course versions, but you arrive at T14 much slower, so adjust your braking there.
Sectors
The lap starts with the front straight into the long right of T1, the T2 arc, the long left of T3 and the slower T4, all on Full Course asphalt at the lowest part of the venue. Brake firmly and straight for T1, be very smooth as you start slowing for T3 while still slightly turned, and give up a little speed at T4 to set up the Snake.
Through T5 and T5a, get the car turned early and squeeze on the power, then flow through the banked lefts of T6 and T6a. The North connector then turns right up the steepest climb at the venue, so brake in a straight line before it and keep the car settled over the crest near the top, where you can't see far ahead.
The connector rejoins the Full Course at T14, at the top of the hill, then drops steeply over the Roller Coaster brow through T14a, T15 and T16 to the downhill double-apex Hog Pen. Keep your inputs gentle while the car goes light and then loads up, and save your effort for a clean Hog Pen exit onto the front straight.
Corners
The front straight bends and falls toward T1, so stay flat to your brake marker, then brake hard while the car is pointing straight. T1 is a long right that opens up, so take a late apex while you learn it and let the car unwind out toward the left edge. The mistake to avoid is lifting early on the straight and then coasting: brake once, firmly, and look for the apex.
From the survey: T1 and T2 sit at the lowest point on the course.
T2 is a smooth, banked right-hand arc that joins T1 to the braking zone for T3, so keep the car flowing on steady throttle. You start slowing for T3 while the car is still slightly turned, so come off the throttle and onto the brakes very gently. The mistake to avoid is a stab at the brakes here, which unsettles a car that is still carrying load through the arc.
T3 is a long left that tightens toward the end and climbs gently, so brake modestly, turn in a touch later than it looks and aim for a late apex. Once you see the exit, unwind the wheel and let the car run out toward the right, where the exit is wide. The mistake to avoid is turning in early: the corner keeps tightening and the camber dips inside it, so an early apex runs you out of road.
T4 is a slower, banked left whose real job is to set up the Snake that follows. Brake in a straight line, take a slower, tighter line than usual and keep the car near the left side on the exit instead of running all the way out, so you arrive in position for T5's right-hander. The mistake to avoid is carrying too much speed and tracking wide, which ruins the line through the next three corners.
T5 and T5a are one long right whose radius steadily opens, so turn in from the left side, find the first apex and squeeze on throttle as the corner straightens. Get the car pointed early here so you can stay on the power through T6 and T6a. The mistake to avoid is treating T5 and T5a as two separate corners with a lift between them: one smooth arc is faster and calmer.
T6 is a quick, banked left that comes straight off T5a, so your placement out of the right-hander decides how much throttle you can use here. Keep your steering smooth and stay on steady power, using the whole road without a sudden correction. The mistake to avoid is a lift mid-corner, which shifts weight forward and makes the car wander toward the right edge.
T6a is the last left before the North Course leaves the Full Course, and it is banked all the way through. Commit to a smooth arc and track out to the right, then settle the car on the short straight before braking for the steep uphill right onto the North connector. The mistake to avoid is a messy exit here that leaves you out of position for the connector's braking zone.
On the North Course you arrive at T14 at the top of the steep connector climb, not off the long back straight, so you need much less braking than on the Full Course. Keep the car straight and settled, take this left with almost no camber at the apex, and stay calm over the brow just beyond it before turning into T14a. The mistake to avoid is braking for the Full Course: you are carrying less speed here and will overslow.
From the survey: The North connector rejoins the Full Course here, after climbing 21 m with a +13.6% ramp: steeper than anything on the Full Course.
Over the brow, turn decisively into this right as the road falls away down the steepest drop at VIR, on light, steady throttle. The car is light at the top and then loads up as the slope levels, so keep your inputs gentle and don't let the car run all the way to the left edge, because you want to be near the middle for the next left. The mistake to avoid is turning in before you can see the apex over the brow.
From the survey: Over the brow, then the steepest descent at the venue (−11.6%).
T15 is a downhill left with the most off-camber surface on the lap just after the apex, but you arrive slow from the T14a stop, so there is no braking here: turn while the car is still on the better surface. Touch the apex late in the corner, then let the car track out toward the right, waiting for the wheel to straighten before you add power. The mistake to avoid is early throttle while the car is on the off-camber part past the apex, which pushes it wide.
T16 is another left that keeps falling downhill, so ease off (a lift or a light brake) while straight, bend the car in and return to gentle throttle, keeping your real braking for Hog Pen. Track out only as far as you need, then set the car up on the left side for Hog Pen. The mistake to avoid is hurrying this corner: a tidy T16 decides how early you can get on the power through Hog Pen.
Hog Pen is a downhill, double-apex right onto the front straight, best driven as one smooth, constant arc. Clip near the first apex, let the car drift slightly out between the two and come back to the second apex, then add power and use most of the road out to the left as the car compresses. The mistake to avoid is too much throttle too early, which runs you out of road at the exit, often onto the edge where grip is worse.
From the survey: Hog Pen: downhill onto the front straight.
Version history
- v1.1 · 2026-10-01 — Speeds and braking points rebuilt from cars at a typical quick HPDE pace, with each brake zone placed where the braking actually starts. Braking for T1 now starts about 20 m later; T3, T4, the connector and T14 are within 5 m of before; T16 carries speed to a short brake for Hog Pen. The line now goes straight from throttle to brake, with no coasting in between. Version history and feedback contributors added.
- v1.0 · 2026-10-01 — First version.
Feedback contributors
Drivers and instructors whose feedback has improved this line. Thank you.
- Mike M — no coasting between throttle and brake; braking points (v1.1)