1) brake early - way eraly. As correclty said above, you need more distance AND you lose efficiency. You also lose stability into the turn, so u have to be a bit slower than usual into the turn.
2) Don't sit right behinf him, move a little to either side to see where you are on track
3) get a clean line It's better to come out clean than fly in, skid out.
49 Usually if you're that close the guy in front will be defending a little, so he won't have the perfect line into the turn. Don't attack, back off a little, get the clean entry and on exit you will be faster than him - so prepare the move for the next turn/straight. If you're not quicker on exit repeat next turn ... etc ...
4) kow the track - good drivers can race closely because they can do the track blindly. They don't need to "see" where they are and where they're going - they know! If you can't do the next turn blindly, then back off.
5) use the skidmarks on track - both the black grooves which are there and the marks which get laid down during the race - they help me tremendously in finding a clean line. Always drive half a car width inside the black groove (in an turn), then you catch the apex cleanly.
6) be patient - if the guy in front is fast enough for you not to fly past him you will be quicker following and waiting for the right moment then battling every single turn. Fighting each other slows you both down.
7) just cos u sit on his back doesn't mean you have a way past - so again: patience and clean driving, not 3 attempts per lap. Aggressive driving has it's place in a race bitin general, the smoother patient guys are the fastest.
8) if you really have trouble on a new track, swallow you're pride, press "4" to show the racing line, it does help tremendously when you can't do it blindly yet
On a general note one of the most annoying things in LFS are racers who think that just cos they're close they can overtake. So wrong. You can be close and 2 secs/lap faster and still not get past if the guy in front drives celanly and defensive. It doesn't help you to have smoking tires and be all over the guy in front all the time. Diving into each turn andtrying to overtake is not a sign of a fast driver, it's a sign of an immature driver who does not have confidence in his skills.
Isn't it amazing that people who are 4 secs/lap slower than you think they have anything to gain by diving into t1? That's not raicng, that's brain damaged kids. All you have to do is wait til they crash and drive past - lol
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