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What to do when you are about to be lapped?

Tero Dahlberg

Tero Dahlberg

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The SimRacing.Club Academy Season 6 NOLA race prompted me to write about this topic but it's not specific to that race. So ahead of the next race I'm making this thread.

What to do when you are about to be lapped?

And to get it out of the way, this is not a "because I'm faster, you need to respect me more and get the hell out of my way!" kind of post. I race in a slower class car in VSGT and also raced in a GT4 among mostly GT3 cars here in the Bathurst 12 hour race. So I have experience in being lapped. And it's always better to have been on both sides of the situation as that gives you the best understanding of it!

There a saying that is often used in design - less is more. It also applies well to this topic. Because when being lapped you really don't have to do a lot. But lets step back for a moment. As I see it, the key things to incident-free racing are predictability and being seen. But being seen is not a problem when you're getting lapped so we can forget that now.

So lets talk about predictability. The best way to be predictable is to drive as you would usually. And that is to stay on the racing line and brake at your braking points. Not earlier and not too late. And you also want to take corners at the speed that you normally do. And also accelerate out of the corners as fast as you can, as you would usually do. You do all these things when the faster guy is behind you.

You let the faster car initiate the overtake and then, if you have to, you can help out a little bit. If he's faster out of a corner and moves over to start the overtake, you can lift off the throttle a little bit. But you don't have to if he can pass you in time for the next brake marker. But if it looks like he won't fully pass you by the next brake marker then you can also brake a bit earlier to give him more room but also give yourself more room when braking and turning into the corner.

Doing things this way also costs you the least amount of time. And you're also still racing your own race and that's as important as anyone else's!

Feel free to ask me on the topic :)
 
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I would also recommend driving with tripple virtual mirrors, it allows you to see much more meaning that you are less likely to have a car surprise you. This helps you avoid incidents meaning that you will finish higher. Last season I drove in the GT-AM class in VEC and using the extra mirrors helped me massively.
 
Also I may add having a good spotter plugin as well. I use crew chief vers 4.0 (updated to 4.5 now) If you don't see the cars in mirrors then the spotter will tell you if car is left or to right of you etc.
 
Cheers! I race in another multi-class series, so it's easier there to let the faster class by.

I got anxious on a couple of occasions at Suzuka, I was worried that I wouldn't get to an easy overtaking zone fast enough to let people on the lead lap who were battling for position by...which lead to me being too unpredictable.

I'll keep this post in mind though, for sure. :)
 
It would be so much better if we were all on the same team speak Chanel then we could advise the faster guy to maybe go left or go right etc. Like we do in other leagues
 
i fully agree, but in reality the people want you to get out of the raceline so they dont lose time , they think they posess it, and usually i got hit from behind for not apparting it. SO SAD. What i do, i get out of the raceline always i can. I have learnt after so many hits.....street lessons it is called! :D.

But in this championships i can addapt, i am all ears!
 
Nick Lawrence said:
It would be so much better if we were all on the same team speak Chanel then we could advise the faster guy to maybe go left or go right etc. Like we do in other leagues
Click to expand...
it is interesting the idea, but it will be unrealistic, in real life you dont shout the guy " i go to the left" :p. i think both drivers must show skills, skill to pass a slow driver, and skill to appart orrectly when possible.
 
While getting out of the way is what people tend to do - the way to do it is hold your line and make sure the overtaking car is the one who should go off the line to overtake you.
This is also explained in the rules ;)
 
Bump.

Do the same things, even in practicing.

The key word for me, as I have now discovered in multiclass racing is... predictability. Each party should know what is expected, and do what is expected.

Clean is more important than what a person may think of as faster. Racing at this level is a gentleman's sport.
 
A question regarding this:

Code: 
4.2 Being lapped (blue flag)
     4.2.1 If a driver is lapped or overtaken by the faster class he must not alter his line. He should stay on the racing line and should not alter his line right after the turn. The faster class has to find its way around the lapped car.
     4.2.2 If a driver is lapped by the same class that he is in he must obey the blue flag and let the faster car through within 4 corners.

Does it mean that when lapped by the same class the lapped driver must alter his line and give the racing line to the faster one?
 
Oliver Silva said:
A question regarding this:

Code: 
4.2 Being lapped (blue flag)
     4.2.1 If a driver is lapped or overtaken by the faster class he must not alter his line. He should stay on the racing line and should not alter his line right after the turn. The faster class has to find its way around the lapped car.
     4.2.2 If a driver is lapped by the same class that he is in he must obey the blue flag and let the faster car through within 4 corners.

Does it mean that when lapped by the same class the lapped driver must alter his line and give the racing line to the faster one?
Click to expand...
What I wrote in the original post applies to every situation - against a faster class car, against same class car that is lapping you. .Jimmi himself replied a few post before you :) Here it is quoted:
Jimmi Allison said:
While getting out of the way is what people tend to do - the way to do it is hold your line and make sure the overtaking car is the one who should go off the line to overtake you.
This is also explained in the rules ;)
Click to expand...
What section 4.2.2 means is that you're not allowed to impede their progress, and just make the overtake a bit easier for them :) But it doesn't mean you should pull off the racing line and hit the brakes on a straight or pull over on the grass to let them by! Still follow the original post and most of all be predictable :)
 
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