Nail Craner Curves
Ron Haslam, who’s nailed Craner curves some 62,937 times in his career, talks you through this epic sequence of corners
The way to tackle the first corner at Donington, Redgate, is to square it off; go in deep, get the bike turned and then get a good, strong exit to power you out into Hollywood, the righthander on top of the hill.
Hollywood is where it all starts. It’s tempting to turn-in early but, if you do, that’ll throw you out in the middle of Craner. Turning-in early will make you super-fast through Hollywood but this whole section’s about getting each corner to flow.
You’re driving pretty hard out of Redgate and you don’t use the full width of the track, just wind it on and apex just before the kerb on the right. Keep driving as you stick close to the right-hand edge of the circuit. The trick then is to keep the bike parallel to the last kerb on the right-hand side of the track before Craner, and to stick as close to it as you can as you run through. Run along that kerb, roll off to steady the bike and turn-in as you reach the end of it. If you get that right you’ll be on the right line to get through Craner without running too wide for the Old Hairpin.
The key with the apex of Craner on the left is to get the bike sorted out before the track drops away again. It’s dead simple. It flattens off a little here before dropping away again and if you’re still trying to get the bike turned you’re guaranteed to lose front – you’ll be going quick when you do, too. So change direction before the brow and drive though before getting back over to the left of the track for the Old Haripin, which isn’t a hairpin at all.
