I never know what to do, stop early, mid distance or go long? So normally I just end up taking the easy option and go for mid distance

Is there a strategy that you always use and think is better than all the rest?

Get it done early, I hope most people would say that they would have it later so that when they are pitting, you are lapping (well, trying) them!

It really depends. How long the tires will last and does the amount of fuel slow how much your laptimes. It also depends what is the car, in roadcars the fueling takes much longer so it might be better to run long as you can. There was once a longer Aston Historic race where I was in. Because I didnt do a mid race stop and runned far as I could with one full tank I gained many positions in when other guys were filling theirs, unfortunately got disconnet few laps before the finish line. In proper race cars it really depends how long the tires will last, usually. Tactics really depend from lots of things....we need rain to mix everything up completely

Disclaimer, post above is made thinking non-5-lapsprintsraces.

depends on length of race, how well your car stands up to a number of laps, any damage, are you going to add more than the minimum fuel, are you changing tyres etc etc etc.

quite often you find an 8 or 10 lap race on so city for fox and unless you damage car or are very hard on tyres, your not going to gain any speed after stop. in this case you can be flexible, er flexable (help) er you can use differing strategies. if your behind a group of slower cars after start it can be worth pitting on lap1, you get clear track when you come out and can run to the finish. if youve got clear track you can run to the second to last lap and do a stop then, hopefully the other cars won't notice you havent stoped and will throw themselves off track trying to catch you. if you catch cars up after 5 laps then it may be worth pitting if you can rejoin without being held up by another group.

if your like me it makes sod all difference because your the slower car that evryone else is trying to avoid.

the only thing you never do is pit on final lap as its all rather in the style of a certain german f1 driver at silverstone on year

Learn from the best : Ferrari

Always carry a lap more fuel, and try and use those tyres as long as possible..

If you're fighting for 1st and you're 2nd or 3rd, just pit a lap after the leader, and hope and pray your tyres dont give up

i voted for pit early (in LFS) because for most lfs races it semm to be the best to win (not for fun), BUT first thing is tires, if tires are an issue you'd better plan pit strategy based on them, if not you should see if your car+setup is very unstable or too slow with much fuel, if so MAYBE you should pit in the middle of race, not of the above, you should know who you are race against, if there aren't too slow racers you'dprefer pit early so you should have free road (unless others do the same), free road means you are not blocked or distracted from anyone in front of you, you can concentrate more and hopefully be more consistent and fast, but if you are one of the faster guys and start from pole you may prefer to pit toward the end of race.

that's my 2 cents

There are a few main aspects of a race that can affect the strategy that can be taken, and these are all inter-related. The first of these is the actual car and track combination that is used, for example a track like Aston Grand Prix with a car like the BF1 will use a lot more fuel than a combination like Aston Cadet in the MRT. As the tracks get longer, the races tend to increase in length with them, and so more pit stops are usually required.
The next aspect to think about is tyre wear. This ties in with the car and track combination, as a car such as the XFR will eat tyres for breakfast, and cars like the MRT and the GTR's seem to be lighter on the tyres. The compound of the tyre is also important, as a GTR on R4's will last well into the 30's lapwise, whereas R2's (yes I know I am going extreme here) will be mashed after 6 or 7 laps. Also, If you go for R4's be wary of what the temperature of your tyres tells you. The tyres undergo wear whatever temperature they are at, and whereas with R3's and below you can tell when a tyre is dead simply by looking at it's temperature, with R4's you can be perfectly inside the optimum temperature range, but your tyres can still be on the brink of bursting.
This also leads to another aspect involving tyre wear: the fuel load in the car. Higher fuel loads increase the weight of the car, and this in turn increases the forces on the tyres, increasing the wear that the tyre imposes, meaning that you have to pit more often for tyres. Add this to a car like the XFR, and you have a recipe for disaster.
All these aspects affect the strategy that can be taken, and so I am not going to answer the poll question, as there is no one answer.

Despite all those factors effecting strategy, the most important for me at least, is what's going on in the race. Early pit from mid-pack can raise you many positions, but early pit from top can cost you, when others still keep the fast pace with light cars.

Anyway, i'm more friend of an early pit than trying to push "just one more lap" with dead tires.

With blackwood for example if the race is under 50 laps I can do it on one set of tyres and fuel. I try to pit early so I have little to no damage on the car that will hold me up. 1 sec pit stops rule

Quote from garph :

I never know what to do, stop early, mid distance or go long? So normally I just end up taking the easy option and go for mid distance

Is there a strategy that you always use and think is better than all the rest?

I guess, I don't need to answer that.

Pit early and roll throught the field from behind.

For me it depends on where the rest of the drivers are. I try to stay out as long as possible if I have clear space to drive fast laps in, or if I have a slightly faster driver behind who's having a hard time getting past me. I'll pit early if I get stuck behind someone, or if there are a lot of backmarkers that need passing, or if it gets me into clear space when I come out of the pits (I time test pit stops so that I know how long in total it takes to get back on the track).

i pit early so i can get heat into my tyres put in some quick laps and hopefully make up some positions when the rest pit - also gets out into some clear space if you pit at the right moment!

In the GTR class I normally manage to do one pitstop less than other peeps (on patch P anyway), so I always pit differently to others.

i drive well(or slow) enough that my tyre temperature decreases.That means i can probably waste a whole tank of gas and have thesame tyres. So if your like my you should pit late. Otherwise i wouldtry to pit early.

in my Nascar game i always pit early so i could pass the others when they leave the pits. It worked!

Things are pretty much split even, if there is anything it's try and early or late stop. I know there are loads of variables I was just trying to see if there was a strategy that gave better results than the others.

The last 2 FOX league events I've done I've gone long and it's worked out really well so I'm sticking to that plan for now.

Quote from Rooble :

Learn from the best : Ferrari

Just be aware that they might not always have a complete set of tires ready for you when you need it. :rolleyes:

stay out as long as possible. Early pitting gets u into traffic.:spin:

I just did an enduro on westhill....only an hour race but was still brilliant fun!

I pitted just over half way and this cost me first, tyres and fuel against someone who pitted long and did a "1 second pit".

Hey you win some and you loose some.

Iv pitted right in the first few laps before and its worked brilliantly for me, only thing is dont make a mistake during the race that might require you to pit for damage...that will only destroy your race.

If theres clear road ahead just drive and pit late , if at the back of a pack pit early and create some space to drive pace laps , if you need to change tyres then pit mid-race to maximize tyre life, and of course theres the unplanned stop to repair that broken suspension! F11 is the golden key

SD.

Well, if it's one of those ridiculous 5-10lap races that REQUIRES a pit, i usually pit at the end of the first lap. If it's a longer race i pit halfway through.