So, as we've done 7 practice sessions and are a couple weeks away from qualifying, feels like good time to give some comments on what I've seen so far, in no particular order.
1. Patience I have seen a significant amount of impatience in some of the sessions. You must use a level head, and not make erratic/sudden moves just because "There's a hole now" etc. Use better judgement, use your mirrors/look buttons to see if you're clear inside or outside (wherever you are going). I cannot begin to count the number of incidents that have been caused since the 500 started that are solely down to a driver assuming that he's clear to go where he's going.
2. Driving Style: I've also seen so far quite a lot of drivers driving somewhat erratically, or making jerky movements. To be fast on the oval, you need to be as smooth as you can be. Make sweeping movements, not sudden, jerking movements.
3. Drafting: This can be a touchy subject here. There are some who will say you need to draft to get speed no matter what, there are some who don't agree with that. We take a middle ground. Use the draft as best you can for whatever situation you are in to maximize efficiency and break away from a large pack or catch the car(s) ahead. The draft will help you immensly when used right. You do need to practice it to learn how to maximize it. Do I expect you to use it to the maximum all race ? Surely not, I expect you to use it when its a) Safe to do so, b) safe to do so (there's a reason I put it twice), and c) There's a reason to do it.
4. Racing the Race: The race is 500 miles. It's not 5 miles. It's not 50. It is 270 laps (268 for the pedantic ones among us). It's not 2, it's not 8, it's not 100. To get to the final lap and then the checker flag, you must spend the first 267 racing laps keeping yourself in position to be first to the flag. This involves, but is not limited to:
Staying out of trouble: You cannot under any circumstance win the race before your LFS screen reads 270/270. You cannot win it on turn 1 of the first lap, or the 134th lap, or the 269th lap. You must work in a mode of self-preservation for most of the race, so you can finish the rest of it.
Lap 1 (actually through Lap 10): The first 10 laps of this race, if they are green, will be nothing short of scary, hairy, dodgy, shocking. Yes, we're obviously insane for making you start three abreast with 30 cars. But that won't change the fact that we're keeping it. The starts have actually, so far, been fairly good so far. Session 1 was bloody amazing how the first handful of laps were green, with a nearly full grid. You must resist the urge to snap up 8 places before turn 1 on the start. Stick in your row or into the row ahead if there's room. If you're inside, stay inside, if you're middle, stay in the middle, and if you're outside, well, the wall is your friend to stay outside. It should take, all told, about 5-10 laps for things to START to spread out if you can keep it green, the first 25 laps will be hairy until things really settle out. Do not take any unnecessary risks on Laps 1 through 269.
Strategy: It's tricky. It's caught out many drivers in the first two years, drivers that dominated on pace failed on strategy and ended up not on the lead lap, or worse, DNF. Practice with wind, with other cars, to see how far you can go on fuel and tyres. Learn to manage tyres if they get too hot.
5. A Driver's Guide: Jeff Garry (Skydiver173) wrote this prior to last year's running, and it holds true still. You'd all be well advised to read it.
On the whole, I've seen some promising things so far, and expect this to be a good show on Saturday, June 26th.
The Kyoto 500 is intended to showcase how exciting and fun oval racing can be, how we at New Dimension Racing can gather 30 of [what should be] the best oval racers in LFS.
Please, racers, do your part to help make the 2010 Kyoto 500 an amazing spectacle of racing. Show me that you can keep your wits about you in the race, show me how consistently fast you can go in qualifying, show me that oval racing is more than just turning left.
1. Patience I have seen a significant amount of impatience in some of the sessions. You must use a level head, and not make erratic/sudden moves just because "There's a hole now" etc. Use better judgement, use your mirrors/look buttons to see if you're clear inside or outside (wherever you are going). I cannot begin to count the number of incidents that have been caused since the 500 started that are solely down to a driver assuming that he's clear to go where he's going.
2. Driving Style: I've also seen so far quite a lot of drivers driving somewhat erratically, or making jerky movements. To be fast on the oval, you need to be as smooth as you can be. Make sweeping movements, not sudden, jerking movements.
3. Drafting: This can be a touchy subject here. There are some who will say you need to draft to get speed no matter what, there are some who don't agree with that. We take a middle ground. Use the draft as best you can for whatever situation you are in to maximize efficiency and break away from a large pack or catch the car(s) ahead. The draft will help you immensly when used right. You do need to practice it to learn how to maximize it. Do I expect you to use it to the maximum all race ? Surely not, I expect you to use it when its a) Safe to do so, b) safe to do so (there's a reason I put it twice), and c) There's a reason to do it.
4. Racing the Race: The race is 500 miles. It's not 5 miles. It's not 50. It is 270 laps (268 for the pedantic ones among us). It's not 2, it's not 8, it's not 100. To get to the final lap and then the checker flag, you must spend the first 267 racing laps keeping yourself in position to be first to the flag. This involves, but is not limited to:
Staying out of trouble: You cannot under any circumstance win the race before your LFS screen reads 270/270. You cannot win it on turn 1 of the first lap, or the 134th lap, or the 269th lap. You must work in a mode of self-preservation for most of the race, so you can finish the rest of it.
Lap 1 (actually through Lap 10): The first 10 laps of this race, if they are green, will be nothing short of scary, hairy, dodgy, shocking. Yes, we're obviously insane for making you start three abreast with 30 cars. But that won't change the fact that we're keeping it. The starts have actually, so far, been fairly good so far. Session 1 was bloody amazing how the first handful of laps were green, with a nearly full grid. You must resist the urge to snap up 8 places before turn 1 on the start. Stick in your row or into the row ahead if there's room. If you're inside, stay inside, if you're middle, stay in the middle, and if you're outside, well, the wall is your friend to stay outside. It should take, all told, about 5-10 laps for things to START to spread out if you can keep it green, the first 25 laps will be hairy until things really settle out. Do not take any unnecessary risks on Laps 1 through 269.
Strategy: It's tricky. It's caught out many drivers in the first two years, drivers that dominated on pace failed on strategy and ended up not on the lead lap, or worse, DNF. Practice with wind, with other cars, to see how far you can go on fuel and tyres. Learn to manage tyres if they get too hot.
5. A Driver's Guide: Jeff Garry (Skydiver173) wrote this prior to last year's running, and it holds true still. You'd all be well advised to read it.
On the whole, I've seen some promising things so far, and expect this to be a good show on Saturday, June 26th.
The Kyoto 500 is intended to showcase how exciting and fun oval racing can be, how we at New Dimension Racing can gather 30 of [what should be] the best oval racers in LFS.
Please, racers, do your part to help make the 2010 Kyoto 500 an amazing spectacle of racing. Show me that you can keep your wits about you in the race, show me how consistently fast you can go in qualifying, show me that oval racing is more than just turning left.
