Video: A virtual lap of Mid-Ohio

A pair of highly technical road courses await the IZOD IndyCar Series this August. First up this weekend is Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a 13-turn, 2.26-mile circuit that keeps drivers busy with a wide variety of challenges – flowing corners, elevation changes, and a narrow track width among them.

Don’t expect oodles of passing at Mid-Ohio. Qualifying up front and having clean, quick pit stops on Race Day will be very important to keeping (or gaining) position here.

However, M-O does have at least one spot where ground can be made up on the track in its right-hand hairpin at Turn 2, a.k.a. “The Keyhole." A decent amount of action should take place here during the event, which has been stretched to 90 laps (up five from last year’s running) in an attempt to keep fuel saving from impacting the outcome.

As previously alluded to, drivers will have to face a course that really doesn’t give them a break. The esses at Turns 4, 5, and 6 can get rather tight, and considering that IndyCar always begins their Mid-Ohio races at the “kink" at Turn 3 (the finish is at the track’s traditional start/finish line), you’re liable to see multiple instances of contact on starts and restarts through the 4-5-6 complex.

Also, watch out for the right-hand Turn 9 – a blind, off-camber turn that throws in an up-and-down elevation change for good measure.