It's quoted as 2 miles, but as Rod correctly states it's nearer to 1.7 miles. Having said that there is generally some bollards (and occasionally parked cars) at the bottom further shortenning any runs. It's pot luck as to what you find when you go there.

The Porsche that crashed was the funky 9ff one and it went through the timing lights at 222mph (the same as the 9ff cabby) before crashing. I've seen the pics and it was a mess, although the cockpit and structure are all sound so it wasn't as massive a crash as the speed suggests.

Some people prefer to start their runs on the back straight and carry the speed round the corner, but I've found that it's quicker to start far back on the main straight purely because by the time you can get the hammer down (using the first method) you're already a fair way down the straight. Other mags have tested it too and found the same, so I'm not sure why VMAX do that as it adds an extra unneccessary element of danger into the mix!