SundayDriver

I went to MO this past weekend. It was my first time after the re-pave so I decided to do the comp school, both to get the track walk and the coaching. My objective for the weekend was to push myself into the new aero limits of my car with the new tunnels. There are a couple of significant changes in how you manage certain corners and I thought I would pass those along.

T1 - The apex is no longer critical. You can use the whole inside curb as the apex zone - instructors commented that they often drive along the inside curb. You can also use this inside curb in a soft car (I couldn't) and the outside curb is much friendlier (I used is occasionally with no big problems). T1 is certainly faster than the old days. In spite of the track being green (with lots of rain throughout the weekend to keep it that way), I did manage to work my way to taking T1 flat.

T11 - much wider and a very different feel and look. I did not experience the early sliding that the corner used to have. No matter how fast I went through there, it always seemed to have something left. I certainly need more work on that corner, but it is fundamentally the same, just a bit faster.

T13 - the roller coaster entry that I have described in older posts is gone. The entry/'braking' area is smooth and uphill. Turn in at the 100 marker and you do not have to worry about changes in the track uphill angle. The corner is faster and the apex point has moved a bit as the entry is a bit wider. Apex is the very beginning of the curb. Unfortunately, there is a pretty big dip in the dirt before the curb so it is wise to try to miss that apex by 6 inches or you may damage your car. Here too, I managed to get to flat in this corner.

Carousel - same corner but visually very different. I had to force myself to go far enough outside after the first apex (mid corner area). There are some visual references, but I could not see them from the low seating position of my car.

Hope this helps.

aeshultz

Mark;
Pretty much what the Mid-Ohio school instructors told us this spring - use the whole curb as an apex in #1, the jump is (almost) gone in #11.
Are you calling #13 the uphill left-hander before the carousel? For some reason the locals call that #12.

Alan

(edited for clarity)

John H

I don't think the jump is completely gone. My rears lose grip going over the hill. Maybe I need a shock adjustment.

I've run there 5 or 6 weekends this year and turn 1 still gives me fits. I am all over the place there. I guess my ***** are still neatly tucked away since my wreck coming out of turn 1 a couple years ago. Every time through I think, "Why am I over-braking, I could have gone faster".

Mark, I'll be up in the GTS Challenge compound all weekend. Stop up for a beer one evening.

924RACR

+1 to Mark's comments - I noticed the same in Turns 1 and 11, though it's been so long and I've gotten so much faster that my reaction was more like "gee, I really need to work on those corners, I just can't seem to find the right speed!"

SundayDriver

Jump is still there but if you take the old speed through T11, it is not felt as much. I am pretty sure if you use all the speed in T11, the jump is just the way it used to be.

13 (according to the Mid Ohio School map) is the left hander. I was a local for some years there, and everyone I knew used that numbering.

As far at T1 curb, that is true for production cars. My car is way too stiff to use many of the curbs as they upset the car.

SundayDriver

I would love to stop by but I will not be there.

aeshultz

Mark;
Kind of confused - if #11 is the right hand over-the-hill "not so much of a jump" (into Thunder Valley) and #13 is the left hand up the hill before the Carousel (out of Thunder Valley), where is #12?
Maybe that's why I'm so slow there - I'm missing a whole turn <G>.

Alan

SundayDriver

You should be really fast if you are skipping corners.
The school numbering has T12 as the little right hand kink in Thunder Valley.

aeshultz

That's what I thought. Never considered that a corner<G>.

SundayDriver

That was not even a corner in the rain on slicks!
(Yes, we got heavy rain half way through the race and it got real interesting.)

DaveM993

Is the kink on the back straight a "corner"?

SundayDriver

It is numbered (again school numbering) and you have to be careful through it in the wet.

DaveM993

Did Mid O in July for my first time. Am going back at the end of September. It is a MAGNIFICANT track!! I can see how one could spend a lifetime working on it. I was amazed at the flow, you cannot let your concentration slip for a nanosecond. If you miss one corner...you've missed four..not like WGI where if you miss a corner...you missed A corner.

I should have Madness figured out in about 8 years....ha.

RDL

Dave,
Alan and the others have mentioned the Mid-Ohio instructors and their advice. I will add to this recommendation. If you have an oportunity to walk the track with the M-O instructors you will be amazed at the amount of info they can provide. I picked up 3+ seconds per lap after doing a track walk. Maybe I was just slow to start, but they will teach a very different line through many of the corners than a "school" line. The statement was made that the proper line is the fast line and the safe line.
As to the track, thank heavens they shaved the curbs down since the repaving. Anyone who ran imediately after the paving can tell you about the 6"-8" high launching ramps called curbs. Boy did that make things interesting.
Madness is a blast once you learn the fast way thru. You can can either pull away or catch up to much faster cars if they are using the old school line.

cooz

RDL

please tell us how you improved by 3 seconds from your walk thru?

what were the valuable realizations?