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I think sometimes people try to make Oak Tree harder than it is. I don't know if it's the mystique of it or what, but it's really not a hard corner. Start out by running the corner before Oak Tree wide. Don't apex it. Set your entry up to track left coming out of South Bend for 11a. Brake. Turn in, but don't try to make it to the apex. Run a little wide through the corner and track out all the way to drivers left. That will give you a little more straight section to brake for Oak Tree. Brake enough to get most of your turn done before the apex. Once you know you can reach the apex (but try to *just* miss the curb), BUT BEFORE YOU GET THERE, you can start feeding power. How much you can feed depends on how much you have. If you have a lot, well, feed it gently. If you have very little (like a Spec Miata), you can be full throttle before the apex. Track all the way out whether you "need" to or not.
If you got on the throttle "early" or "hard" enough, you'll track right to the curb. Ideally you have a well balanced car that has just a little slip angle such that the curb catches only your rear tire a hair and helps straighten you without you needing to adjust ANYTHING. If you went too early or too hard to the throttle, hopefully it was just a little bit. If so, you'll bump up (and perhaps over by a hair) on the curb and it may require a small counter steer, but you STILL won't have to lift and can just motor out. THIS IS CONTINGENT UPON HAVING FLAT DIRT OUTSIDE THE RUMBLE. Right now, it's flat out there, so it's smooth and will work. Sometimes the dirt gets eaten out and this is a worse maneuver as it will upset the car too much and you're playing catch (but I'm at VIR right now, and it's fine...they refill it occasionally).
If you don't give it enough throttle, you will notice the car didn't require you to go all the way to the curb. That's fine, but go ahead and unwind so that you get there anyway. A car with a lot of steering input is scrubbing speed, so no use doing that if you don't have to. Unwind and get as much out of the run as you can anyway.
The key, IMHO, to learning Oak Tree is the wide entry to 11a. If you don't do that, you have VERY LITTLE time to get the car setup right for Oak Tree. Once you're repeatedly doing Oak Tree good, you can start going closer and closer to the apex of 11a. I contend that it will NOT speed you up, but your instructor will like it better that you're apexing because, after all, that's what students are supposed to do. If I'm going for fast laps, I actually brake for 11a, turn in to about 2/3 of a car width off the apex, and go back to full throttle in the SM for a good pull before braking for Oak Tree. I believe that's faster because the pavement is a little grippier on the wider entry for some reason and I get a little bit longer throttle action between corners. I also get a better setup for Oak Tree, which makes it an easier corner to get right, which is good for any corner that's so critical.
Big problem with that approach is you're leaving a big door wide open when RACING. So if you plan to race, you have to learn to apex 11a for those times when someone is tearing down your back door. But once you master my way, I think it becomes easier to learn to start apexing 11a and still get Oak Tree right.
--Donnie
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