So you're all set up to drive a perfect little be for the corner and there he is on the inside of you. It's obvious he's going to block your line and wind up ahead of you.
What you do is brake hard and try to get under him. He's delayed his braking to put him in this position so his speed will carry him wide and he still has to get around the corner.
Fall behind him, let him go wide, and your facing up the track while he's still trying to turn.
You got him.
Start jumpers.
First know your power curve. Ease off to delay the green flag as long as possible. A full field behind you and a crowded schedule chances are the green will drop at some point.
But if you're at the lower point where You're making power and he's at or near his redline hopefully he'll delay shifting getting deeper and deeper in to the downward portion of his power curve.
As a new racer that just started this year, thanks for posting these. I've learned how to turn pretty quick laps but actual racecraft is a mystery to me. Look forward to seeing where this thread goes.
Starters can't see if your left foot braking...not to slow the car down of course, but to force the revs higher to hold speed. Then brake and launch once the green is thrown. The lights also tend to throw those trailing off. I've done this two or three times when knowing that an extreme start jumper is behind me. It's the only time that I've utilized said practice and doing so once did result in a start being waved off.
Start Jumpers use to be those that could not actually pull off consistent good lap times. I let them go and would usually pass them in a lap or three. If I did not catch back up to them they probably should have been gridded in front of me and just had a bad qualifying. Either way It never really bothered me.
In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :
In 1986 myself ( Black Jack Spl ) Moss (Aston Martin DBR2 ) and Kline (Corvette Echidna ) were 12&3 on the grid at Bahama's speed week . Kline jumped Moss and I went right behind him. When we got to the first Corner Kline had too much speed on and when Moss looked back behind to do the underneath pass he saw me. So no go.
For a little bit I was #1 followed by Kline and Moss. By the third straight I was tail end Charlie. And finished that way. The next race clean start but I finished 2nd to Moss
The final race of the weekend Moss and I were tied for 1st place. Now Moss ( Sir Sterling Moss ) had been paid really serious money to Race for Aston Martin because they were trying to sell themselves to Ford ( who was there in person).
On the Pace Lap before the last corner Moss jumped the start and pulled in front of Kline. Since the race was on I pulled along side of Moss and about that time the starter dropped the green.
By wildly overdriving my car I remained in 2nd and a lap later Waved Kline by on the straight.
Oops! He busted his rear end and finished the race with one wheel drive.
Moss had to get back to London. Be he had announced, When the amateurs drive like pros. The pros have to drive like professionals.
Thank you Sir Sterling Moss.
Racing is very much like playing 3 dimension Chess game. You have to think strategy ahead with each move.
At my first vintage race I found that I could enter turn 12 (BIR) at full tilt boogey if I just slightly breathed the throttle at the top of the radius. That gave me a massive advantage and I could tuck in behind massively faster cars to help being drawn down the straight.
I tucked that in my pocket and got ready to race. I was in group 1 pre-war cars and MG T types. We were fully 1/4 of the field. My main competition was a much modified MGTC with a supercharger. My TD had the stock 54 horsepower and weighed about 2000 pounds.
At the pre race meeting the Group 1 cars agreed that the first 11 laps of the 12 for the race. We would dice it up. Let the slower cars lead a bit and stay together. We Did for all 11 laps but when the TC went I was tucked in behind him tight. While he probably had 75hp to my 54 and was 2-300 pounds lighter I had folded my windshield down and put on my tonneau covering the passenger seat.
In Addition the TD has better brakes and handling than the TC. But I hadnt shown any of that except my willingness to tuck in his draft.
The straight, turn one and turn 2 can be taken flat out in almost any car. By the time you get to turn 3 1/2 of the lap is over. I think the TC was surprised when I delayed braking into 3 until I'd passed him and led out of the turn. Holding my position until turn 11 there is a 1/4 mile straight after 11 and yes he pulled up inside me and had a slight edge on me going into 12 but I had the outside line and he actually had to down shift to third due to the tight corner.
I did my breathing trick and exited close to my top speed tucking in behind a Austin Healey who punched a hole in the air for me. At the finish I'd held off the TC by maybe 2 inches?
ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:
As a new racer that just started this year, thanks for posting these. I've learned how to turn pretty quick laps but actual racecraft is a mystery to me. Look forward to seeing where this thread goes.
It's even worse when you're doing online Racing. Some of the race craft techniques work, sometimes there is E36 M3 that defies the laws of physics
In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
I posted recently about people not practicing driving off line / passing lines.
If you are going to pass someone under braking you need to practice that.
If you plan to drive around the outside of someone in a big sweeper you need to practice that as well.
Same thing for the over and under repass.
The one that is really tough is the classic slide job; I've posted this before but it requires that you have the ability to chuck the car into the corner and catch the car. It also has to be well timed. 75% of amateurs will never posses the skill to get this done, which is why it's so controversial.
The final aspect is learn to drive fast on cold tires; you can get past a lot of cars becuase the drivers are a bit cautious on cold tires. Even if they are not in your class if you can put a couple of cars between you and the competition it's worth it.
If you are finishing behind someone you feel you should beat start changing things and see what gains.
Back in the 70's there weren't a lot of choices with regard Vintage tires. Basically street or really old Goodyear Blue streaks. Like a decade old or more. But they had been stored properly.
Yet both had me slower.
At a dirt oval I noticed Hoosier Dirt Stockers. They had the required profile and tread but a tire for the dirt on a road race?
I had felt the greasy street and old tires so I figured I had little to lose. A few laps in practice . Every cornering felt I left something but I didn't want to overheat them So I quit early. In the race they were even better. I'd found my advantage.
Don't just grind around turning laps. Change something and find out if it's better. If not put it back and change something else.
Learn to be honest with yourself. If you are blocked a bit, don't count that lap. If you get a tow down the straight, don't count the lap.
Not just mechanical stuff. Try different lines, trade speed for smoothness, then try speed again. Break sections out and see if you can get those faster. Don't just go out there without a plan.
Think about your upcoming race. Look at those slightly faster than you and plan on how to capitalize on their weakness. The easy one is is you have either a faster top speed or better acceleration. But you also have braking and cornering speed to wok with. Remember you probably can't do it in one shot. You might need to put sections together. Be careful not to show your move too early. Experienced racers will see it and plan their blocking moves. With regard cornering. Watch him carefully. He may be faster if he has his line and not to much if he's off line. He may corner one way great but another more tentative. Or real high speed corners spook him.
Finally some drivers are very tentative making a pass of a slower car and that gives you the opening you seek.
In any case once past make sure you have a strategy to keep him behind you. Don't be an unpredictable azz and swerve back and forth but if you're in the line he likes or just a little in that line, chances are he won't figure out a point to pass you.
Remember the basic rule. No Contact.
Do the same for those behind you. Try to figure out where they will be coming for you. Just be in their way. You don't need to block but it's his responsibility to make a safe pass.
If He's using you to draft off of. Remember two things two cars together are faster than one car alone. Let him pull up and now go hunting for the faster guys. When he pulls out to pAss two cars he'll slow down, as long as you don't give him the opportunity. He can gain a side draft but not if you mover over to him. That will force him out of the Bow wake slowing him down.
