Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
I divide Road America into two parts: the upper, which contains the long straights, and the lower, which contains the technical part. I think the track is pretty straightforward gas-brake-turn through textbook 90-degree turns until turn 5. Then it becomes interesting. I hate turn 6, blind entry and off-camber, there never seems to be a lot of potential for lateral G's, but it's not a very important turn. But after that, driving the course right gives you a feeling of satisfaction. I never have gotten all the speed out of 7 that I think is possible. I really like the run through the Carousel, Kink, and the meandering straight to Canada corner. I seemed to do most of my closing on other cars going into Canada Corner. I never tried to maximize speed through the Kink. Floating through there at 110-115 mph under gentle acceleration was good enough for me.
Never go through the Kink on trailing throttle.
That's because turn 7 is kind of weird when it comes to the optimal line and throttle/brake application:
https://www.raceoptimal.com/RoadAmerica
(click play next to the Miata or Porsche text)
When I was taking Track Time schools at RA back in the 90's, the classroom instructor had us do an exercise, to draw the track from memory. I drew turn 7 as a right angle bend, and if you look at the actual map, it is not even close to that. But I was driving it using gas-brake-turn technique like in a 90. If I ever go back there, increasing speed in 7 would be my major goal. I think getting a clean exit out of 6, and just using a brush of the brake to set the front end for initial turn-in to 7 would be the way to build speed. Late entry of course, so I have plenty of track left on exit.