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Post by Wade "Blind Spot" Hays on Mar 21, 2017 10:57:23 GMT -5
Last night I watched the replay of my stint from the DGFX race at Suzuka. I was watching to see where I lost time, and if there was anything I could have done differently. What I found was that other than one inadvertent (maybe subconscious) block out of spoon, and maybe a bit too much aggressiveness with GermanSimRacing.de #255 in the chicane; I ran what I would call a clean hard fought stint.
Where I lost time to the leaders, and ultimately cost me two positions was being too passive with the faster classes. In fact one of the spots that I lost because a HPD got under me in the middle of the esses, and the Torque Freak Racing Raidillon car followed him through. At other times I had built a gap behind me only to lose that gap getting passed by a HPD or GT3.
I know multiclass is all about give and take, but am left with the feeling that I have been doing too much giving compared to the competition. Does it just take more time/experience, or do you have any tips/tricks to know how hard to push in a multiclass event.
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Tommy Vandergucht
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"Gotta work on the nut behind the wheel before you start fixing bolts on the car".
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Post by Tommy Vandergucht on Mar 21, 2017 13:50:17 GMT -5
Wade "Blind Spot" Hays It's something really difficult and it's always better to be safe than sorry. It's not only the multiclass experience you have, but also on that particular track. If you have not so much experience on a specific track, you'll find that you will lose more time. One thing you have to keep in mind is that no matter what, you will always lose time in a multiclass field. So don't feel down about it, your goal is to be efficient and lose as less time as possible. A lot comes down to luck, if you catch cars at the wrong place you will lose more time, nothing you can do. It might be a good experience to do some practice in the faster class, to see what it is like and how they overtake the slower cars. When I drive the DP I come up pretty agggressive to the slower classes, I am not really aggressive, but I like to show them that I want to have the inside of the next turn, even if it is a bit too far away. I made my choice by now, I showed him I want to get by him, I don't want to wait. It's now his decision what to do with it, he has several options. Option 1 is to tap the brakes, go off the throttle and let me by before the turn. Option 2 is he doesn't brake and drives his line and to make sure he won't let me bye he can go a tiny bit defensive, I am too far away, it's his line. I don't expect him to give me the turn, but when I come up aggressive like this, 50% of the drivers will let me go and 50% will not let me go. So even if it wasn't my turn because I was too far, I still got through and that made me loose less time, the slower car however, lost more time because of this. Now when I approach him aggressive like this, I am not expecting him to give me the turn, so I am already prepared to brake early. I'm just poking him, maybe he does give me the turn. For the slower classes I suggest either really letting them go before he apex, by braking a bit earlier (use this to your advantage, lift and coast, save fuel) and nailing your apex. Or by making sure you don't want them to pass if they are too far away and I do think a slight defensive move like a meter towards the middle of the track can be in place, just to tell him you don't want to give him the turn, he has to wait. Worst option is going side by side past the apex, you are now both losing time. This is just an example, there are a million different types of situations, it's a very dynamic playfield and that's what makes it fun imo. I always go out with an aggressive, but cautious approach, both when being in the faster or slower class, although when you are the slower class it's better to be a bit more cautious. Don't know if it helps, but I think the aggressive (state your intentions early by placing your car early) but cautious (expect him to f*ck up and/or divebomb you no matter what) approach is the way to go. But practice first!!! Hope this helps.
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Post by Travis "Zombie" Mihm on Mar 21, 2017 14:37:44 GMT -5
Everything Tommy said. Running the slower class in multiclass racing is all about efficiency. Where to let them go and how you modify your line through the corner after the fact is a big key to maintaining your pace. Like Tommy said, you can't fight them through the corner. Not only is it slower through the corner, it's slower after the corner. However if you give up more time into the corner and late-apexing you'll end up with a run AND a draft onto the next straight, or at least in good position for the following corner. And when a faster class car comes up behind you and looks like they may try a pass somewhere that will cost you both time, make your intention known that you're not a fan lol. When they show that nose from way back, move over a half a car length before they get there, and then come back onto the racing line for the turn in. Doing this in advance will let the driver behind (if they're smart!) know that you're not intending on giving them the corner and it's to their advantage to wait for the next one if they're going to have to fight you to make the pass. -Travis
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Tommy Vandergucht
Global Moderator
"Gotta work on the nut behind the wheel before you start fixing bolts on the car".
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Tommy Vandergucht on Mar 23, 2017 13:51:26 GMT -5
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Tommy Vandergucht
Global Moderator
"Gotta work on the nut behind the wheel before you start fixing bolts on the car".
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Tommy Vandergucht on Mar 23, 2017 14:09:11 GMT -5
This one is probably more interesting as he is driving the slower GTD class in IMSA:
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Post by Marc Torres on Mar 23, 2017 14:24:36 GMT -5
Wade, I have the exact same feeling coming out of Suzuka (and pretty much all my other races in mutliclass). I watched my replay and I was keeping pace with the GT3 leaders until traffic came through. I noticed that most of the leaders were more aggressive than me like you said. I feel like my mindset is always, "how soon can I let this guy by" vs "I need make sure I lose as little time as possible when I let this guy by." Over the long haul it's not a terrible way to deal with traffic since due to the more aggressive guys driving that way we ended up getting 3rd, or possibly even 2nd since 2nd place is being investigated for contact on the last lap. But I do usually walk away feeling like I could still maintain my safety but be a little more concerned about my race when faster cars are approaching. Same goes for me when passing slower cars...the tips Tommy/Travis gave are something I will work on. I admit I don't communicate to other cars much about what I want to happen. If I do it's almost always me communicating that they can pass asap. I'm also going to speak with Mattias about this so he can help me, as my spotter, make more efficient decisions in traffic. So maybe while we learn this technique it'd be good to have your spotter talking to you about faster cars approaching and to start thinking about where you want to let them by etc. Let me know what you learn along the way so I can steal your ideas
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Tommy Vandergucht
Global Moderator
"Gotta work on the nut behind the wheel before you start fixing bolts on the car".
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Tommy Vandergucht on Mar 23, 2017 14:56:12 GMT -5
Yes good point Marc. (good) spotters can be a huge help in guiding you through traffic as they can better judge what the faster cars will do. Just ask your spotter to be much more active, to tell you who is coming, let your spotter predict what he will do, if he will come on your left, or right, if he is setting up to pass you on the exit, if he is holding behind you and let you have the turn or if he is aggressive and really wants to have the turn or if you have to be careful because he has a pink car (rule #1, pink painted cars are super dangerous, yes seriously!). If you have a good spotter ask him to coach you through traffic, it's a lot of fun as a spotter aswell because it really involves him in the race.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2017 0:50:57 GMT -5
When I drive the slower class cars I tend to be more on the aggressive side of things. I dont jump out of the way like some people, but I dont weave to block someone. If im getting close to a corner and I see a faster car thinking about a dive or showing the nose for a stupid/late move ill move the car over to the inside going into the corner and it usually works to keep me from losing alot of time. If the faster car can make the move around the outside they'll do it. I drive the faster class 95% of the time and ill never get mad at a lower class car moving over to defend themselves into a corner IF THEY DO IT EARLY ENOUGH. Thats the biggest thing. Do it early. My preference is 1s because the car behind knows whats going on and if they plow into you, they're incompetent. But like stated above its alot of luck of when the traffic comes. Itll help and hinder every driver out there. Its the fun of multiclass racing
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Post by Wade "Blind Spot" Hays on Mar 24, 2017 13:04:27 GMT -5
Good stuff!.. thanks guys
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