Food Angel

Hey now!

Gary R.

I can only add what I did as a newbie and that was to hold my line (not "the line"). If I was coming over the uphill and was left and saw a Cup coming I stayed left through West bend and even down the hill (as Colin mentioned, we went 3 wide through the downhill with no issues). It was really only the first couple laps as I remember and then I had my own blockers to worry about. Your first race just learn and finish. This isn't rocket science, it will become fairly obvious to most as to what you are doing wrong that costs you positions and time and what is the courteous way to act out there. Blocking cars in a higher class isn't it.

fstockcarrera

+1

smlporsche

I want to thank the experienced racers who have contributed to this thread.

As someone who is slowly building up to take the plunge I have often thought about just these situations. I watched the DP cars @ VIR yesterday and even with that level of expertise I saw many different ways to execute a pass on the same corner. As someone said it depends on who you're comming up to (or in my case who's comming up on me ) and the exact situation of the corner entry.

I didn't know about giving point by's in racing. Great idea.

chrisp

We're on the same page. That's what I meant by "more can be done before the corner."

ltc

FWIW, when karting at the national level with some sanctioning bodies, a car about to be lapped will be shown the black flag and must report into the pits (or safely pull off onto a runoff area; usually a few on configurable kart tracks).
Failure to do so results in post race penalties/sanctions.

This prevents any lapped car from affecting the outcome of a race.

It works very well and is an excellent motivator for kids to NOT want to be lapped and have to report to the pits during a race.

Veloce Raptor

At my first ever pro race, I was overwhelmed by 80+ cars on the track at the same time, in 2 classes of vastly different speeds. I was definitely in the slowest 1/3 of all the drovers (new to sport, fear, new to car, new to that track, etc.) and I asked the advice of the MUCH more experienced guys on our team, like a certain B. Said, about how to stay out of the way of the guys racing for real points & money.

His response: be predictable. Drive your line. If you are getting caught on a straight, they will pass you. If you want to let leaders fight it out entering a corner, stay outside & do a point by for them to take all the inside. But he emphasized that this is NOT expected. What is expected is total predictability.

TD in DC

Any thoughts on this?

Veloce Raptor

I don't know Summit Point, but I agree with you.

93 FireHawk 968

The timing of this thread is perfect! Having been at LR for my first race it was one helluva of an experience racing similary powered cars while contending with much faster ones. I tried to yield before the turn or move slightly off line when seeing a much faster vehicle approaching. We were told in the school to stay our line and it's the passing racers job to find the right spot to pass. With that said, I did not want to become a moving chicane. You need to compromise, race your line to keep well earned spots in your class w/o screwing things up for the higher class vehicles. I did move slightly left in west bend to let a cup car go by and another E-class guy was right behind him and was able to take advantage of the lost momentum I experienced entering the downhill.

Thanks for all the insight on this one!

TD in DC

Thanks. In this video, my friend spins his 997 GT3 in T9 at summit.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UurFRDqu4to

Veloce Raptor

Oops. Early apex + dirty track + too much throttle at high RPM's?

Nader Fotouhi

TD,

Being passed at T9 is not a big deal. In my first race there, an experienced driver with a slightly less powerful car had an opening in T9 and took it. It easily happens if you pin yourself behind a slower car on the left coming off T8. Just hold wide and drift the passer up the hill. It is not too bad.

IMO, there are two situations. One is a racer (experienced or novice) that think everything on the track is fair game to race with. I do not think that there is anything to be done about this mentality. The other is the beginer that does not have the comfort level of a veteran racer.

My first race ever with NASA NE where there were a total of 25 cars in the race group, I remembe a re-start where I got to turn in for the bus stop and Roketman (before I knew he was the Rockeman) was closing in on me and it looked like he has not even slowed down. As a newbie, I was not sure whether there is enough room for us to go into bus stop side by side, so I just stayed out and gave him the apex and lost sight of him momentarily as I turned in. We both came out of there with me giving a point by. I was at the turn in first, but I had no intention of racing a fast car through the bus stop. He obviously had total control of his car, but I was driving my mirriors. I still think about that sequence and what if I am in a reverse of that situation. Still being a newbie, I likely slow down an follow through the bus stop.

So, what is the responsibility of the faster car lapping the slower car?

TD in DC

Yes, I have been passed in T9 and I have held wide specifically to let a faster car by precisely because I was held up by a slower car in front of me that I could not overtake.

I meant more when you were really on a good lap. When I am going through T9 as fast as I can, I don't want to be thinking about someone sliding by on the right. Also, I am really talking about that area right before the apex at T9. If I am cookin', I want the apex . . . period . . .and I don't want anyone denying that from me (the same is true for T10, but that is much easier to time so that you don't both arrive there at the same moment). So, I would just not go out all the way to the left so that I could be sure nobody would try to stick their nose in.

Nader Fotouhi

I have never seen anyone with slightly faster speed dive bombs on T9. If someone is a lot faster out of T8, they pull by you between T8 and T9 which means that you will not have the apex anyway. I do not think that anyone can make themselves too wide between T8 and T9 to block without slowing themselves down.