The lap
Oulton Park · International
8 corners, 5 of which decide the lap. What each one asks of the car, and what you do about it.
Pit straight
Old Hall
Cascades
Island Bend
Shell Oils
Britten's
Knickerbrook
Druids
Lodge
StraightFast cornerMedium cornerSlow corner
The lapNarrow, hilly and unforgiving, with barriers close enough to matter. There is no long straight to recover on, so the circuit rewards a car you trust downhill more than one that is quick in a straight line.
Set up forA rear you can trust downhill — Old Hall, Cascades and Lodge all fall away — then traction out of Shell Oils and patience through Druids.
Classic mistakeSetting the car up to rotate. Three of the corners that decide this lap are downhill and off-camber, and a car that rotates easily will bite where there is a barrier rather than a run-off.
Works hardestRears at Old Hall, Lodge and out of Shell Oils; fronts through Druids
Length4.31 km · road course · GB
Corner by corner
Every corner on this layout
A • marks the corners that decide the lap.
T1 Old Hall •
Fast right · downhill exit
Quick, committed, and the road falls away on the way out with a wall waiting.
- Technique
- Turn in earlier than feels right and let it run wide on exit. The drop unloads the rear just as you open the throttle.
- Demands
- High speed — aero is live · Rear grip limited · Wants a settled rear · Exit-phase limited
T2 Cascades •
Fast left · downhill
Downhill, blind on entry, and it loads the car hard at the bottom.
- Technique
- Brake before the road drops, not on it. Braking into the descent is how people find the gravel here.
- Demands
- High speed — aero is live · Compression or crest loading · Aero platform sensitive · Wants a settled rear
T3 Island Bend
Fast right · flowing
Fast and open alongside the lake, building speed into the hairpin braking zone.
- Technique
- Carry everything. A lift here costs you the whole run to Shell Oils.
- Demands
- High speed — aero is live · Sustained mid-corner load · Front grip limited
T4 Shell Oils Corner •
Slow right · hairpin
The heaviest braking of the lap into a tight hairpin, with a long climb out.
- Technique
- All exit. The climb away means wheelspin here costs more than it would anywhere else on the circuit.
- Demands
- Braking-limited · Low speed — aero does little · Wants yaw on entry · Traction-limited · Exit-phase limited
T5–6 Britten's
Medium left-right · uphill
An uphill flick that has to be taken cleanly to keep the run going.
- Technique
- Use the kerb and keep it tidy. The climb punishes any lost momentum immediately.
- Demands
- Transient, not steady-state · Kerbs are part of the line · Exit-phase limited
T8 Knickerbrook
Slow right · downhill braking
Downhill braking into a tight right, over a surface that moves under the car.
- Technique
- Get the braking done early. The road is falling away and the car will not take a late stop.
- Demands
- Braking-limited · Low speed — aero does little · Wants yaw on entry · Bumpy surface
T9–10 Druids •
Medium · double apex right
A long, climbing, tightening right with two apexes and no obvious reference.
- Technique
- Be patient for the second apex. Everyone runs wide at the first one and pays for it on exit.
- Demands
- Sustained mid-corner load · Front grip limited · Wants yaw on entry · Exit-phase limited
T12 Lodge •
Medium right · downhill · off-camber
Downhill, off-camber and onto the pit straight — the last corner and the easiest one to lose.
- Technique
- The camber works against you the whole way through. Be early and be smooth; a tidy exit here is the lap.
- Demands
- Braking-limited · Rear grip limited · Wants yaw on entry · Exit-phase limited · Traction-limited
Corner names and numbering follow common usage; some circuits number differently between layouts.
Sideways
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