Huh? You go as fast as you can using every inch of paved real estate you have to use. Your saying you actually tried to race while hugging the right side of the road? lol
No wonder it proved difficult, its wrong and the slowest possible way to race around a track. You realize there isn't on coming traffic on the left side of the track, right?
Watch this lap of Massa around Monza in his F1 Ferrari from a couple of years ago to get a idea of what racing is about. Your not playing a driving simulation, your playing a racing simulation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcUGC_GoVnc