Alsace - Village

Alsace is a fictional circuit that appears in Gran Turismo Sport. As the name suggests, it is a 5km circuit set within a French village (presumably named Alsace).

The circuit is set along French roads that undulate and turn quite spectacularly. There is a wide variation of corner types, from high speed sweepers to low speed hairpins. There are also moments where the player may have to brake whilst or shortly after turning their vehicle. Because of this, it gives the circuit a tarmac rally impression as opposed to a conventional race track.

This track can be raced at Dawn, Morning, Daytime, Afternoon, Evening, Twilight and Dusk.

Sector 1
Turn 1 is a tight, ascending, right hand corner. Use the 50m marker board and the green kerbstones as your cue to start braking. Here, the angle of the surface changes near the apex of the turn, making it easy for the car to lose balance. Make sure to maintain stable and careful control of the car.

For turn 3, after the high speed left, start braking using the gate before the corner as your cue, and decelerate along the center line. Here, again, the surface changes on exit, so be careful on the throttle. Move the car to the right side, and enter turn 4. Driving on the center of the track, slightly let off the throttle mid corner and clear the apex. From there, go flat out as you exit the corner.

Sector 2
Turn 5 is a right angle, right hand turn. Brake using the beginning of the kerbstones as your cue, and start acceleration just before the apex to raise your exit speed. For turn 7, brake using the double guard rails on the left as your cue. Pass through the apex of the turn, around where the gate is, then make your exit towards the marshal's post.

Turn 8 is a high speed corner to the right with a banked surface. After turning in using the 50m marker board as your cue, follow the center line of the track at partial throttle as you go around. Get on the right side, around where the kerbstones on the inside ends, then go flat out up to turn 9.

Sector 3
The final sector goes over a hill, ascending in the first half and descending in the latter half. The change of loads on the front and rear of the car here can make it unstable, and will require some careful driving.

Enter turn 10 at full throttle, start braking before the apex, and continue to enter the turn 11 hairpin. Keep on the brakes until midway through into the corner to change direction. Once the outer kerbstones come into view, open the throttle to accelerate out. Alternatively, partially apply the brakes through turn 10 and travel around turn 11 at partial throttle, moving form the inside kerb to the outside. This technique, however, is difficult to pull off as there is a great chance to lock the brakes and overshoot the turn.

Turn 12 turns into a rapid ascent midway. Let off the throttle before entering, then operate the throttle carefully in order to avoid losing traction. Once the track goes on the descent, brake in a straight line towards the apex of turn 15. Turn tight around turn 16, staying along the center line of the track as you go around, while applying the brakes. Once clear, pass through the final corner, turn 17, in a straight line. However, you can also go through the turn 15-16 chicane while maintaining partial throttle the whole way, without the need to apply the brakes further.

Suggested Set-Up
As noted above, Alsace is essentially a tarmac rally stage. As a result, it is best treated as one when considering set-up.

The gearbox is going to be the most crucial component to getting the fastest laps around the track. The overall top speed that can be achieved is quite low, but more important is how the car maintains its power through the sweeping curves. If you are using an automatic gearbox, it is important to adjust the gearbox so that you don't drop a gear through letting your speed drop. Using a manual gearbox, it is necessary so that you don't fall out of the optimal power band and have to drop a gear. Though this can be fiddly, it is critical to get this right so as to not waste vital split seconds shifting an extra, unnecessary gear.

The suspension set-up should be adjusted as to cater to slow speed, technical circuits. Care should be taken so that it doesn't induce unnecessary oversteer. It is also important that it doesn't upset the cars braking and accelerating properties, as doing so can hamper the car and reduce overall lap times.