This coming week, I am not going to be heading to Mid-Ohio! In fact, I’m excited to have my first trip up to Road America for the season. But all that time I got to spend at Mid-Ohio over the last few weeks got me thinking about some of the finer points that really make a successful lap around that challenging little circuit.
Mid-Ohio can certainly be one of the trickier circuits to drive, as it has so many blind crests and undulating corners that lead one into the next. That not only makes it extremely difficult to pass at that track, but it’s also difficult to consistently get it right from lap to lap.
There are several important sections that make up a lap at Mid-Ohio, and here are a couple of insights that I found really made the difference for my clients over the past few weeks.
As you’re working through the lap, the first corner—which is unique to the circuit, as it’s a high-speed, limited-visibility left-hander—really requires a different methodology than the rest of the track, where hustling entry speed and keeping your momentum is critical. Turn one also sets you up for an important uphill exit that carries you to Keyhole, which is one of the prime places to pass.
Keyhole is the first great passing opportunity on the circuit, and getting a great exit from it is a must. The road rises on entry into the very compressed braking zone, and it’s critical to get the car pointed appropriately to optimize the exit, since it leads onto the longest straightaway on the track. The best passing opportunity is at the end of that straightaway, and it all begins with the right approach to Keyhole.
I found that there are several ways that drivers take this section, but ultimately, deep braking to optimize your entry speed and being wide enough in the middle of the corner, where the road drops away, allows you to rotate the car and get back to full throttle as soon as possible.
The next series of corners, affectionately known as Madness, has those blind, undulating crests I mentioned, as well as each corner leading into the next. You won’t see a lot of passing in Madness, but it’s certainly an area where you can lose a lot of time if not driven correctly. The key to this whole section of track is to try to make short straightaways out of these complexes of corners.
By making late apexes and squaring up the exits, you’re prepared to have a straighter run through the next series of corners. So, ultimately, you have fuller throttle through the next section of corners. This will allow you to have areas of Madness where you can actually gain time over your competitors.
The uniquely shaped Carousel, which is a corner that seems to go on forever, has its own set of nuances. It’s driven similarly to Keyhole: carrying in the right amount of entry speed as the road drops away allows the driver to trail brake, keeping the weight over the front of the car. That way, the timing of the rotation in the middle of the corner helps point the car at the exit. Getting this right propels you out of the exit and onto the front straight faster.
These key sections of Mid-Ohio really make a difference in driving a successful lap, and it will take plenty of practice to get it all right, so patience is key, as well as having those eyes up and out, scanning the horizon for what’s coming next!