All the situations we have looked at so far have involved the best way to get through a single corner. We assumed that there was a long straightaway before and after the corner. In the real world, however, many of the corners you will encounter will be followed immediately by another corner in the opposite direction. In these situations, the basic Line is actually NOT the best way through the corners.

Why Would I Not Want to Take a Normal Line Through a Corner?
The reason for this is that were you to take the best Line through the first corner, you would position yourself on the completely wrong side of the track to take the next corner. Say, for example, that you have a right turn followed immediately by a left turn. If you look at the first turn in isolation, you would enter it on the left side of the track, apex on the right side, and then track-out on the left side at the end of the corner. For the next corner, the opposite would apply. The problem is that the track out position of the first corner and the turn-in point of the second corner are the same, and you would have to be on the complete opposite side of the track for each.

The Solution
Physics says you can’t be in two different places at the same time, and physics cannot be compromised. The solution then is to compromise your line through the first corner to set yourself up for the second corner. To do this, you must late apex the first corner. The apex of the first corner will become the turn-in point for the second corner. To make this Line through the first corner, extend the turn-in point far into the corner and then carve a steady arc inwards, apexing at the end of the corner.

Which corner is best to compromise?
As you recall from The Line, Part 1: The Basics, the key to lowering lap times is to maximize your exit speed before every straightaway. You therefore want to maximize your exit speed at the end of the last corner before the straightaway.

What if There are Several Corners Back to Back?
If there are a series of corners immediately following each other, the same basic principle holds: maximize your exit speed out of the final corner. So, to find your line, simply compromise all of the corners immediately before it.