The steeper the better, so you dont waste time coasting or softpedaling or lose velocity to air losses. Steepness is also good for the descent, getting you up t

The steeper the better, so you dont waste time coasting or softpedaling or lose velocity to air losses. Steepness is also good for the descent, getting you up to a good (terminal) velocity. It also helps if the segment is straight such that you dont need to corner. IIRC the ones who were competing for the record didnt make the effort/recovery trade off consideration, their limiter was the segment. I dont think they've found a longer perfect segment yet apart from the one in GB. But from what I#ve seen the optimal ratio was 3-4/1 asc./desc.