The lap
Sakura Streets is a Japanese street circuit, narrow and quick. The start straight runs east along the river, then the lap turns through right angles round the blocks, opens into a fast S through the temple park, stops at a hairpin by the shrine and runs back down past the station. The road is twelve to seventeen metres between walls, so the right angles are tighter than they look and the S through the park is the one place the car gets to breathe. It rewards a driver who can string the right angles together without touching anything.
Corner by corner
- Start and finish on the straight along the river.
- Right angles round the first blocks.
- The fast S through the temple park.
- The hairpin at the shrine.
- The run back down past the station.
- Onto the river straight.
How to drive it
- Make the right angles square: brake, turn, then throttle, one at a time. Trying to flow them costs a wall.
- The S through the park is flat in a settled car. Set it up straight out of the last right angle.
- The hairpin at the shrine is the overtake, and the only one. Defend the inside on the way in.
Race it
Sakura Streets unlocks in the career for 20,000 crew cash, earned from race prizes. Once it is yours it can turn up in the championship and in the Daily Challenge, where a wet day means less grip. Your best lap here goes to its own Game Center board, and any lap can be sent to a friend as a ghost.
