Yeah, i guess i can appreciate that, but if someone has got along side me, whether its side by side or has any amount of they car level with mine and they're faster than me more often than not i'd conceed the position, and theres 2 reasons i do this.
Firstly for safety, if i think the person is going to have a reasonable chance of passing me (and 'reasonable' doesnt have to be more than 50% chance) then the safest option is to give it up and live to fight another day.
Secondly, which i think 90% of people are completely oblivious to, is the fact that defending the position usually costs you more than it gains you! People dont really seem to understand how much slower you become by forcing the situation into a dangerous line. Not only is it dangerous for both drivers to force the manuover off the racing line, but its considerably slower, and that only invites other people who are behind you to join in the stupidity.
I've always had an unusual approach to racing, and usually get critisism from people for it, usually teammates who just dont get it. Im of the opinion that you shouldnt bite off more than you can chew. Know your limits, know what your capable of, dont stretch yourself and stick to a plan, only deviating from it if your sure it'll pay off.
First time i got told it was all wrong was yonks ago, about 3 years ago, it was an mercury series (ie just (\/) members) and we were racing round FE Club in XFG/XRG, one of the few tracks im pretty good at, and the first race i'd managed to finish 2nd, was a decent result considering im easily the slowest driver in Mercury, always have been. The 2nd race was reversed grid, and i knew i'd managed to go through the field and take 2nd, so that was my plan again, so off the start i just moved right over and let the previous winner through, no messing about just lifted off the throttle and tucked in behind him for T1. I knew i couldnt beat him, and if i focused on beating the people i could beat then it made more sense than driving half a second slower trying to defend some stupid position like 8th just so that st0rm wouldnt pass me while the rest of those i was faster just pulled further away.
Most people will find that stupid, but i knew what i could do and what i couldnt, and i stuck to a gameplan, got rid of any distractions (st0rm) and got straight to it.
I know what i can do, i know what i cant do, and sometimes your stronger for giving up positions rather than delaying the obvious and have someone else gain on you and in the end lose 2 places because you were too stuborn to conceed one and get back to putting in clean laps.
Thats part of the reason i often wonder why people insist on clinging onto something they simply cant manage. Infact this goes beyond LFS, i've seen crap F1 drivers at the late end of the grid (14-20th) defending their position against top drivers who've started at the back for whatever reason and ive often wondered do they honestly think in 30+ laps time they're still going to have that same Ferrari/Renault/Mclaren behind them!?
Apparently my approach is defeatist, i'd call it knowing what your capable of and being stronger for it.