Blackwood

Overview

As Live for Speed's first and best-known track, Blackwood is rather versatile in its layout. Placed out in English countryside, on the fringe of urban sprawl, Blackwood contains a wide variety of turns. While the course itself is not tremendously difficult, there are enough passing opportunities for experts to distance themselves from beginner drivers. Blackwood has undergone renovations since its debut, mainly to enhance the pit lane, start/finish line, and make certain turns smoother and more forgiving (the chicane, for example).

The Blackwood GP layout is the most popular track with online users in Live for Speed S2.

Configurations

Not counting reverse layouts, Blackwood has three configurations: One road course, one rallycross course, and a car park for autocross.

GP Track

• Distance: 2.1 miles / 3.4 km
• Grid Size: 32 cars
• Laptime Range: 0:53 - 1:41

The "Grand Prix" road course starts at Blackwood's downhill start/finish line, and as the front straightaway turns to the left and uphill, caution must be taken for the first turn hairpin. Not only is the hairpin blind until about 50m before the turn, which is far too late for some cars to brake in time, it also creates a large share of first turn pile-ups, as drivers attempt to out-brake each other and lose awareness of their surroundings. On a server with a large amount of known beginners or otherwise inexperienced drivers, it may be advisable to back off early coming into the hairpin and let any chaos unfold in the turn, before driving through any wreckage. This hairpin leads immediately into a chicane, which is best taken single-file. Drivers should tuck in and attempt to maintain as much speed as possible for the back straightaway that follows.

The back straightaway is very long, and serves as an excellent area to draft and pass opponents. The right-hander at its end will require well-timed braking, and can also be used to pass through outbraking. While it may be better to tuck behind any leading opposition for the rest of the course, there are plenty of turns that can be capitalized on in the event of driver error. However, too much aggression in the second half of this circuit may prove more costly than helpful.

Rallycross

• Distance: 1.1 miles / 2.0 km
• Grid Size: 24 cars
• Laptime Range: 1:00 - 1:13
• Rallycross starts are three cars per row

The rallycross course starts off on the GP Track's front straightaway, but turns sharply to the right onto a dirt section before reaching the uphill leading to the GP's hairpin. While this right-hander may lead to a few early pile-ups, it's generally wide enough that any accidents should be somewhat avoidable.

The first dirt section has a jump that may upset faster cars, and a long, sweeping hairpin turn to the left. Knowing how to run both the inside and outside of this hairpin will prove useful for passing opportunities. A right-hand opening hairpin leads onto a segment of the GP back straightaway, and also requires a smooth transition. A small straight leads to a fast right-hand turn onto the second dirt section. Learning how to enter this turn as fast as possible will prove extremely useful, as inexperienced drivers often enter slowly and can be passed rather easily.

The second dirt section has a slight s-turn, but good car placement should keep this section high-speed. Care should be taken to move towards the inside on the right-hand part of the s-turn, as this leads back onto the tarmac and front straightaway.

Car Park

• Capacity: 16 cars
• Requires an autocross layout for racing

The Car Park is essentially a parking lot behind the front straightaway grandstands. While it's useless on its own, using Live for Speed's autocross editor to create a track will give this empty lot some function. Some servers may also utilize the Car Park or Autocross track for either solo events or "banger" racing, which puts slower cars on a short track and lets them duke it out no-holds-barred.