333pg333

Might you not be decreasing the life of your tyres with the big wing / extra downforce?

jakermc

+1

Those of us at the pointy end of the field get there early and position ourselves in close proximity to where we think we will finish the quali session. So I might get there first but grid in the #2 or #3 spot. We all give each other room on track so we can all get a flyer in without traffic or bothering each other. I use the faster car in front of me as a rabbit and draft if I can.

In our group, I think without exception the guys up front are off track within 4 laps. I try and get mine on my first or second flyer and have a Traqmate in car to confirm I did. I only stay out longer if I screwed up. If we don't get it done in 4 laps more likely than not we are going to be catching the back of the field by that time, and then game over.

For those running lots and lots of laps in quali, seems like you'd be putting a lot of unnecessary wear on your best tires and carrying way too much fuel to put down your best times at the beginning of a session.

I will say though, at least for me, the ability to knock off a flyer right out of shoot did not happen overnight. My first couple of seasons I often got my fast lap near the end of quali. As a rookie you might plan on giving yourself more time on track. Learning how to qualify well is not something you learn in DEs, so its a new skill you have to pick up.

One thing I did to help me learn to qualify better is when I practice, I go pretty hard on my cold tires on my out lap. It helped me get comfortable with cold tires which in turn allows me to gap the field on the out lap of quali (to create space) and be quick on the first couple of fliers.

Lemming

if you run with NASA, TT is a great way to learn how to qualify as every session is in essence qualifying!