Road Atlanta boasts a short circuit length at 4.08km and lap times just under 80 seconds! Packed into this are intensely loaded corners, narrow approaches, massive elevation change and the constant pivots in direction that make this circuit so special.

To give you a true picture of the amount of elevation change, the total for the lap is 236 meters. Bathurst has 174 meters in change from bottom to top, doubling that for 348 meters over the lap. This roughly means 56 meters of elevation change per kilometer at Bathurst, and 59 meters per kilometer at Road Atlanta. All of a sudden Darrell Waltrip's 2011 quip naming the mountain a “geological oddity” meant he must not have turned many laps of this adrenaline thrilled Hall County-based circuit!

This one is about challenges. It’s a challenge to get the thing to settle, to stop, to pivot and to settle again. We’ve got a low-grip roller coaster on our hands where passing opportunities come at a premium.

How about that Super Sprint format? It's back, baby! Two races, two starts and twice the mayhem! Similar in style to the format from Detroit Belle Isle, pit stops will be required on fuel for the second race, with the amount required being almost equal to the time stationary for a tire stop! Fuel saving makes your race position worse in Race 2, not better!

The last visit to this circuit for the main championship was our season decider in 2023, which required James Scott to overcome a mountain of points to beat Madison Down to the title. His hopes would go out the window on Lap 1 with a mega start and dive to take the lead at the first corner, only to lose everything at the top of the hill with contact, banging doors with Ethan Grigg-Gault and skating wide.

Since then, Scott’s trajectory has been much the same as the elevation change from this circuit, bit of up, bit of down. Can this be the opportunity he needs to recapture a bit of that speed he’s been missing of late? Unfortunately for the Chiefs Esports Club, it’s an overall lack of pace in the car which seems to be their detriment

With this second iteration of the Super Sprint format in 2025, we will get our opportunity to decide if it's been a success or failure. 

Detroit gives me hope, however, that race required a little bit of assistance to become what it was. Could we see another Safety Car in this one?

Split qualifying is back! With the lap not boasting a whole lot of room, especially to get out of the way, the grid orders for this round will be set with a 25 minute qualifying session prior to each race. These will be divided up by Race Control to ensure each half of the grid gets 10 minutes to set a lap time with — hopefully — minimal interruption.

Points for the round will be split across the two races, with 1/3 place points on offer in Race 1 and 2/3 in Race 2.

The fuel window to get home is going to open at the end of Lap 5, but in earnest from Lap 6. With a short fire, lap deg will be minimal at best and clear air will dominate the strategy. Lobs Esports have shown on multiple occasions their desire to stay out long, but it could be their downfall this week; overtaking opportunities at Detroit earlier in the season required Filsell to up the tempo against the aggressively defensive Down, and Road Atlanta feels like there is more chum in the water than that.

My predictions for the Georgian hills are that we don’t get a Safety Car, which triggers some in the mid pack to get into pitlane right on the window I discussed before. You’re just not going to get a better opportunity to overtake.

Gear up race fans, it’s going to be feisty in Georgia! Elbows out racing could lead to huge accidents at multiple points across the narrow and twisting circuit. See you all Wednesday!