Harris Hill Raceway CW
Harris Hill Raceway CW Notes:
Harris Hill Raceway is a motorsports circuit located in San Marcos, Texas, halfway between San Antonio and Austin. Racing enthusiasts holding valid driving licenses can register as club members to participate in the local competitions held at the venue, like the H2R Challenge Racing Series, the Miata Challenge, the Mustang Challenge, etc. Harris Hill Raceway's vision is to be the place where speed-thirsty drivers can live out their passion for racing in a secure, affordable, and exciting fashion. The track is open six days a week, with an average of 300 sunny days a year. Good weather is possible almost year-round, despite high summer temperatures, occasional rainfall, and rare winter frosting.
Racing in Harris Hill Raceway feels like riding a rollercoaster, with 11 turns snaking through hilly terrain with 150 feet of elevation changes in the whole trajectory. The road course is 36-feet wide, with a total length of 1.81 miles. The design of the track by David Donovan allows racing both clockwise and counterclockwise, with long sweepers and close angle blind turns that keep drivers guessing what's next. The signature trait of Harris Hill is turn number 4, Santa Rita, an 80-feet high hill climb immediately followed by the corresponding 80-feet dive that gets vehicles running to top speed.
CW Notes:
Harris Hill Raceway's clockwise configuration represents the facility's traditional racing direction across 2.914 kilometers through 11 turns including the signature Santa Rita corner—an 80-foot hill climb immediately followed by corresponding 80-foot dive creating dramatic elevation transition, located in San Marcos, Texas, where David Donovan designed the circuit for dual-direction capability. This CW routing emphasizes Turn 1's fast sweeper entry leading into Carmen's Corner righthander, before short straightaway enables acceleration into the uphill Santa Rita climb that defines Harris Hill's character through 46 meters of total elevation change compressed into 1.82-mile technical layout. The clockwise direction showcases the circuit's 11-meter width accommodating multiple racing lines through long sweepers and close-angle blind turns, creating the varied corner-type challenge that separates Harris Hill from Texas's flatter club racing venues.
The CW configuration's character derives from Santa Rita's psychological impact where 80-foot climb followed immediately by 80-foot descent creates speed buildup and braking challenge. The clockwise routing flows naturally through Turn 1's sweeper into Carmen's Corner before the critical uphill approach to Santa Rita where commitment over blind crest determines descent speed and subsequent corner execution. Texas Hill Country climate creates summer temperatures regularly exceeding 45°C affecting tire strategy across the technical 11-turn layout where constant direction changes stress compounds. The facility's intentional dual-direction design enables both CW and CCW configurations serving varied event needs, though clockwise represents the traditional primary direction. SCCA, NASA, motorcycle racing, and track day organizations utilize Harris Hill's elevation-intensive character as Texas alternative to flatter venues like MSR Houston and MSR Cresson lacking dramatic vertical transitions. The 11-meter width provides passing opportunities through sweepers where multiple lines remain viable. The CW configuration particularly showcases how elevation-driven design creates memorable moments like Santa Rita's climb-dive combination, where 80-foot vertical transitions compressed into rapid sequence test driver courage and vehicle dynamics across Texas Hill Country's premier elevation-challenge circuit offering character unavailable at the state's numerous flat-terrain club racing facilities dominating the regional motorsport landscape.
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