[Michael Butler]

There is a fairly old video series done by a guy named Scott Hanley over on his youtube channel. The quality is not super, and his attempts at humor fall pretty flat just about every time... however, the points that he makes in his three part video series are extremely helpful. Not just to "rookies in iRacing" either... but to anyone that does sim racing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqsKm8ir...6GERqFUpng

If you can't stand to look at oval racing examples, here's my summary of the main points discussed in the videos and how they apply to SRS road racing:

1. Slow Down for Danger

When an incident ahead is likely or has already occurred, slow down to give yourself more time to negotiate the hazard. Don't attempt to drive through crashes at full throttle.
Slowing down does four things:

- Allows for the current situation to improve on its own.
- Gives you more time to assess the situation and make a good decision about what adjustments you need to make in your line to avoid contact.
- Any contact you DO make might be minimal if you aren't going full speed.
- Gives you more control over your own vehicle to make those adjustments.

2. Pay more attention to as far up the road as you can.

Don't just pay attention to the 20 feet directly in front of you. Looking far ahead on the circuit helps you see incidents that might cause you trouble. If you don't see the danger, you won't be able to slow down for it! Besides... you should be looking ahead at your next apex or corner exit anyway!

3. Anticipate danger before it happens.

Learn how to recognize danger before it is too late to react appropriately. 

- Smoke due to locked up brakes or offroading.
- Two or more drivers racing hard and close. 
- Drivers with bright red names (bad connections) warping up ahead. 
- Cars pointed the wrong way (about to spin/crash). 

These are just some of the warning signs that bad things are about to happen.

4. Don't race as hard and fast as possible around those that may not be professional race car drivers. Hint: You, nor anyone around you is a professional race car driver.

Trying to race as close and as aggressive as the guys on TV requires you to be as good as the guys on TV. It also requires everyone around you to be that good. They are not that good. Additionally, it's likely that those around you don't have perfect situational awareness. Most are likely on a single monitor and you are lucky if they have Helicorsa installed.

5. Review replays.

Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. Watch how things go badly from multiple car's cockpit perspective to see how everyone involved in an incident could have prevented it. Watching replays is also a great way to figure out how our resident aliens are beating your lap times by 3 seconds a lap.

Also. especially from the starting grid, anticipate another driver being beside you through Turn 1 and give him room, inside or out, don't swing wide and expect to take the turn on the inside...keep your line through all turns. go wide as possible to allow room on the inside if that driver has a nose inside you, don't cut him off, same with drivers on the inside, don't swing wide in front of the outside car, stay inside.