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Skip Barber, Caterhams etc - a little note on racecraft
#1
Hi guys,

here's a quick thought on something I noticed lately, especially with the Caterhams and Skips:

These slower and less aero dependent cars develop a lot of slipstream. You can fairly comfortablty keep up with a guy who on his own in .5secs/lap faster than you. However this opportunity is rarely every made the most of because people engage in pointless constant overtaking. 

That may be fun if you just race 1 vs 1, but if you're trying to get the best result in a race with more than 2 drivers the smart thing to do is: tuck into the slipstream, create separation, and then when you're 2 or 3 secs ahead of the next guy start attacking your travel companion.

Otherwise all you do is bunch up the field and have 8 slower guys on your tail at every braking point ... it rarley ends well.

It also means you can chase the guy(s) ahead. I have won races, and given away victories stupidly because of this: the guy in front pulls away at ease because the guys in 2nd and 3rd, even though faster than him, engage in constant overtaking and let him just drive away. Or the other way round: I've cruised to victory because the guys behind me couldn't sort it out. It really is silly.

Be smart, tuck in, do 2 or 3 laps in the slipstream, let the guy behind you lead a lap or 2 to see if he's faster and if you can tail him to pull away fromt he rest. Create separation or catch up, then start battling it out.

Apart from allowing you to finish higher up in the field we also avoid the constant crashfest first 4 laps we've been having over the last couple of weeks. It only takes a few corners of patience to get that safe .5 sec difference to the guy behind. But if you constantly attack, you'll never get that gap.

It really is basic racecraft not to engage in battles that are pointless and just cost you time. You can do that when you're in nomansland or far ahead of the pack. It's not smart when there still is a possibility or need to catch up or pull away.

Brains and brakes kids Smile

Cheers

Chris
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#2
Great advice!
  _________________________
An Old Dog Learning New Tricks
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#3
Thx Pete Smile

To further my point, i just found this, Skippy at Road America, in real life - and with some really smart and patient racing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHRNkoooDko

Well worth taking a look!

Cheers

Chris
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#4
Chris, you wrote it great, same as i see it, too big slipstream efect and then alone slower cars make problems, overtake by huge slipstream (from too far) and then slowing and sometimes cant keep car on tarmac and then you lost behind such a racer. in wors scenario this nice defender cause other cars catch us and another places lost, gaining bumps too, i think in real there is not such a big slipstream effect
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#5
(05-22-2019, 05:35 PM)Chris Herrmann Wrote:  Thx Pete Smile

To further my point, i just found this, Skippy at Road America, in real life - and with some really smart and patient racing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHRNkoooDko

Well worth taking a look!

Cheers

Chris

This was a captivating watch... and not just because it's last to first place, but also you get to hear all the wardens call 4 wheels off track and contacts and whatnot. Only thing missing was a rear view to watch him lose 2-3-4 towards the end. SPOILERS. Big Grin
Tutorial on how to use Autodesk Mudbox and Adobe Photoshop to make custom liveries! https://tinyurl.com/yaetz4qz
Grab my PDash Skins (an Assetto Corsa HUD app) here: https://tinyurl.com/y95ewubz
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#6
Wise advice Chris! But i think that you reflexion it's aplicable to ALL series, except some drivers here, the lack of patiente is a standard, from T1 the drivers try to pass the guy in front, even if that guy can pace 2 sec faster. There's no cold blood to let the field spread or just see if you really are faster that that guy, to wait for a clear pass or simply let the guy behind you pass to loose the less time posible and go on. Those are things i'm learning day by day, 20mins races are long enough, no need for the "sprint race" behave that we see everyday.
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#7
Quite a bit of impatience in the Skip race this morning as well. First turn, pole takes a couple of wheels of grass and loses the back end while 4th place goes inside but tries to take more room than I gave him (I was in 3rd). Both of these combined pretty much tanked the entire grid... all on in the first turn of the first lap.

This car is so fun to race with, but the first lap is always a coinflip currently. :|
Tutorial on how to use Autodesk Mudbox and Adobe Photoshop to make custom liveries! https://tinyurl.com/yaetz4qz
Grab my PDash Skins (an Assetto Corsa HUD app) here: https://tinyurl.com/y95ewubz
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#8
The least said about that race the better I think. The amount of times I got ping bonged around was nuts. At least I managed to get my fastest lap after pitting in and having lots of clear track Infront of me.
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#9
(05-23-2019, 03:52 PM)Russell Sobie Wrote:  Quite a bit of impatience in the Skip race this morning as well. First turn, pole takes a couple of wheels of grass and loses the back end while 4th place goes inside but tries to take more room than I gave him (I was in 3rd). Both of these combined pretty much tanked the entire grid... all on in the first turn of the first lap.

This car is so fun to race with, but the first lap is always a coinflip currently. :|

The long straight to T1 allows for so much drafting I sometimes wonder if you're better off qualifying 2nd Smile Once you get to T1 you have at least 3 other guys right on your tail ... and even though they know they're well off the pace the adrenalin kicks in and people seem to think t1 heroics will give them some sort of an advantage ... 15 years of racing online and this is the one constant .. human nature I guess Smile

This week I got 4 poles (mainly cos  I managed to avoid Simon Big Grin)  and just now managed to convert 1 into a 102 ... because I was lucky the the guy behind was fair and resisted nature's call to dive Smile

Thanks for the fair racing Leo!

Cheers

Chris
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#10
racing is tragical last week Sad

so many crashes, some totaly unnecesary, some looked like planed action (how i can explain when someone dont use brake or ease throthle when no room in front ?????)

and only 1 apology in this week after 10+ bumps which some end in big loose and damaged car
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