What exactly is a racing line?

I was just kicked from an oval server for not keeping it. It was an oval track with the BF1. I was at the end of one of the turns, when somoneone started giving the signs that he was going to pass. I moved a few feet to the right, and he turned into my rear left tire. I didn't spin out, but he did.

Seconds later, a message appeared " Kevb0, keep your racing line. Bye."

I'm no newb at LFS, but I wouldn't consider myself an expert racer. I don't have many crashes, and I always try my best.

So, did I do something wrong, or was this a case of an abusive admin?

Doh. This would be better in the begginner forums. Maybe a mod can move it?

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like a similar incident that happened to me, I moved off the racing line to let a faster driver past, who in turn decided he would go around me, needless to say we had a tangle.

Sometimes it best to stay on the racing line through a corner, and wait till a straight to pass, the same goes for the passing driver too, not just the driver being past.

Dan,

There is no one right thing to do when being overtaken or lapped...

Some poeple will expect you to get out of their way "They are faster so they own the track!"

Some drivers expect slower drivers to be less aware and simply not move so drive around the slower car...

The only time I know what to do is in a league race when all drivers are told what to do under the blue flag situation....

Some people will be expecting you to move, some won't, as simple as that!

If an admin is having a bad day, not much you can do unfortuneately!

In normal racing situation you where in the lead (unless you saw a blue flag but then you should not keep the racing line, but give him the inside line trough the turn), so you where aloud to make blocking move, as long as hey wasn't next to you.. It is his responsiblity to pass you with out harm.
But as stated before most people on an oval server have a short temper and they might start spamming "SHIFT+S" etc at the slightst racing incident illepall

Ofcourse everyone is entitled to their own fun

Normal rule of thumb:
If you are ahead, you own the corner, if you are side by side keep your line, meaning inside or outside line. THATS not racing line!
The racing line is the normal line you would drive in a hotlap, so the guy was wrong.
If you are lapped let the faster guy do the work, he has to take actions and also has to take care of things. He also has to take the responsiblity if theres a crash.
Use good "body" language, what i mean is start to take an line and stick with it early, the better you do that the less there will be tangles.
Dont move over in the last possible moment, do that when the other guy is still a good margin away.
If you want to let someone past while beeing lapped the easyest way is when you take the outside line, let the guy pass inside and wait and turn in after him and maybe catch his slipstream.
If you drive an oval is generally a good idea to take either the inside line and keep low, or the outside line and stay away from the inside line. The normal racing line is only possible when your not side by side.
Dont weave on straights, thats generally not good racing, you can do one move in race situations, that means one change of lines, if you are ahead.

Dont worry, just appologise if a crash happens and have fun in the next race. Even when you race alot in ovals and know the people around you mistakes happen, especially with the fast cars.

'Giving sign to pass' -- what does this mean ? If you had just stayed on line and not moved, this would not have happened. Leave room to dive inside, is expected, I guess, but changing line is not. Defensive lines ( Low-lining ) I only consider legal on last lap ( on Oval ).

Quote :

keep your racing line

The keyword here is YOUR. When you moved you suprised the other driver and caused the accident, at least from his point of view anyway - I wont judge as I wasnt there.

This might have been fair comment, if you move at the last moment you may have done so after the other vehicle had already elected to make a move, your last minute change of line would then have put you on a collision course.

That to me, is what the other driver seems to have been moaning about.

Oval racing is different from circuit racing and i'm not wildly experienced at it, so I wont go as far as suggesting what you should do ... well, except maybe look up Laguna Seca and find out what a race track is ...

Quote from Astro [ BJRL ] :

Defensive lines ( Low-lining ) I only consider legal on last lap ( on Oval ).

well i wouldnt say so, defensive line is not exactly nice on an oval and will cost both drivers involved time, but its allowed.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

0v4L/\/\4$70r: STAY RIGHT I AM PASSGIN!
0v4L/\/\4$70r: STAY RIGHT I AM PASSGIN!
0v4L/\/\4$70r: STAY RIGHT I AM PASSGIN!
0v4L/\/\4$70r: STAY RIGHT I AM PASSGIN!

LOL Kev

just a one tip.. stay faaaaar away from oval it will damage your brains

On ovals with cars with exactly the same power, drafting is key. An overtaking car will draft you, then pop out to pass. If you then change your line to let them by, chances are, you just changed your line right into their line.

Defending the lower line is perfectly acceptable, if your are fighting for position, otherwise keep clear. The faster car is going to want to take the apex or the lower line through the corner if possible. This is one time when you do change your line, but only because the other car has already come up beside you in the corner.

The oval can be fun for a while. It is a different style of racing and not all road racing rules are relevant. It is not my favorite form of racing so I don't spend much time there.

Quote from Astro [ BJRL ] :

'. Defensive lines ( Low-lining ) I only consider legal on last lap ( on Oval ).

thats stupid

whats the point of racing if you cant take a fair defensive line?

Quote from gishuk :

thats stupid

whats the point of racing if you cant take a fair defensive line?

For the most part, I agree with you. And in reality, drivers definitely do hug the low line to defend in most of the oval racing that I see.

Part of the problem here is the KY Oval is a "Super Speedway". You don't have to lift the loud pedal for any of the corners in any of the cars. This puts the race down to drafting. Drafting races are a completely different turkey as compared to smaller ovals. If somebody gets a draft on you, they are going to pass, there is nothing you can do about it. If you try to block, you will cause an accident.

Quote from gishuk :

thats stupid

whats the point of racing if you cant take a fair defensive line?

Oval racing is very different to other forms of racing. Just watch a bit of NASCAR to see what I mean.

Cars are almost always near flatout and the racing is bumper to bumper and side to side at times. To be able to race at these speeds and this close you have to drive in a different way.

When you have cars very close you should hold your line through a corner. The car behind is the one trying to pass. It is their responsibility not to hit you BUT it is also your responsibility not to do something unexpected, like change line. When the cars are always as close to the edge at this speed you have to drive in a different way. This is why NASCAR has spotters that tell the driver where people are in relation to them on the track.

Oval is about drafting, team plans. Do you bet on a yellow flag and wait for it to pit or do you really need to pit which will cost you more laps while sat in the pit lane.

oval racing is different from regular racing. When on the oval if ur in front of a fast pack u should stay high until they all pass.

Quote :

When on the oval if ur in front of a fast pack u should stay high until they all pass

And give up a win? Never.

A blue flag is one thing, but to give a position up is to violate the sacred hormone of racing drivers... !

Quote from Woz :

Oval racing is very different to other forms of racing. Just watch a bit of NASCAR to see what I mean.

Cars are almost always near flatout and the racing is bumper to bumper and side to side at times. To be able to race at these speeds and this close you have to drive in a different way.

When you have cars very close you should hold your line through a corner. The car behind is the one trying to pass. It is their responsibility not to hit you BUT it is also your responsibility not to do something unexpected, like change line. When the cars are always as close to the edge at this speed you have to drive in a different way. This is why NASCAR has spotters that tell the driver where people are in relation to them on the track.

Oval is about drafting, team plans. Do you bet on a yellow flag and wait for it to pit or do you really need to pit which will cost you more laps while sat in the pit lane.

Hmmm, not really. Maybe the races you see are all the restrictor plate races on the super speedways? On the short tracks like Martinsville or Bristol, they are only on full throttle for a short period. They use the brakes heavily and actually do trail brake into the corners. There really is no drafting involved. It is all about mechanical grip and track position. Of course 43 cars on a mile long track is pretty insane, but that is NASCAR. The rest of your comments are spot on

Quote from thisnameistaken :

You were on the oval. Oval racers aren't like normal racers.

OVALND!

(Meh that was a cheap, guilty as charged)

I don't race on the oval, but I've heard you can't pass on the outside of corners. What's the purpose of that?

Yeah, it is a superspeedway. It's kind of like daytona. We need a track simmilar to Bristol, or Richmond.

Quote from 96 GTS :

I don't race on the oval, but I've heard you can't pass on the outside of corners. What's the purpose of that?

In NASCAR 2 wide through a corner is normal and you also see 3 wide coming into corners on some tracks, although 3 through a corner is too risky on most tracks.

So yes, you can pass in a corner just hold your line while you do so.

Oval racing, like all other forms of motor sport, is about trust.

The best kind of race on KY oval is when you and another racer pair and become "draft buddies"; depending on how many times you exchange drafts, it can be down to the wire at the finish line!

Sadly, most dont see this type of racing as competitive.

Quote from 96 GTS :

I don't race on the oval, but I've heard you can't pass on the outside of corners. What's the purpose of that?

True, and that's one of the reasons I don't race the oval in LFS that much... It defies the point of oval racing... Generally, people in LFS that enjoy the oval just wanna go fast and don't care about the racing so much. But it's just an FM server rule, steer clear of them and find yourself one that does care about racing ovals.

And yes, I DO know how to race on an oval, and I did so extensively. Yes, there were wrecks, and yes there was bumpdrafting in NR2003S. And yes, I've won my share of races. LFS is nothing like that, and I prefer NR2003S for ovals any day.

Quote from TagForce :

True, and that's one of the reasons I don't race the oval in LFS that much... It defies the point of oval racing... Generally, people in LFS that enjoy the oval just wanna go fast and don't care about the racing so much. But it's just an FM server rule, steer clear of them and find yourself one that does care about racing ovals.

And yes, I DO know how to race on an oval, and I did so extensively. Yes, there were wrecks, and yes there was bumpdrafting in NR2003S. And yes, I've won my share of races. LFS is nothing like that, and I prefer NR2003S for ovals any day.

So if the racer in first defends the lower line, there's no chance anyone can win? I always thought side by side racing was the holy grail of motorsport illepall

I'd really like to hear FM's reason for this.

Quote from 96 GTS :

So if the racer in first defends the lower line, there's no chance anyone can win? I always thought side by side racing was the holy grail of motorsport illepall

I'd really like to hear FM's reason for this.

Yeah, but doing that is considered unsportsmanlike conduct... It's the same server that you'll get kicked out of when you don't press shift-s within 2 seconds of spinning...

They say "it's dangerous"...

In my opinion being succesful at oval racing you need to have a few qualities:
Being able to stay focussed and calm. Being able to look far ahead and react to crashes in time. Outwit your opponent by faking moves, and dodging his blocks... The last 2 are useless on an FM oval server, which is a shame.

It's very difficult to pass on the outside on the KY Oval, though it can be done if you've got a drafting buddy.

LFS could really use a shorter (0.5-1.5mi, non-high-banked) oval. I'd love to try some of these cars out on an oval that requires actual driving skill rather than FPS twitch reactions.