Like Don Keightley or not, he's right about one thing and that is:
If you get wrecked, don't complain on the forums about getting wrecked and how it's not your fault that you got rammed from behind etc etc; PROTEST it.
There are two reasons for this in my mind:
1. Before you send a protest you need to take a careful look at the incident in a replay from all angles before submitting it to Nim. (meaning you might get to see Shannon's golden rule in effect and change your mind, as it happens nearly 100% of the time)
2. If you really did get wrecked, then the person responsible is going to be warned, and if it continues to happen on his part, he'll get suspended. If the incident was severe enough, then so will the consequences.
In this case, #1 is ten times more important than #2. Contemplating a protest and having a critical review of the incident gives you a good insight into what went wrong. Not what the
offender did wrong, just what went wrong. It really does take 2 to have an incident.
You also shouldn't be afraid of contacting drivers after an incident and having a chat. It's everyone's responsibility to create a good clean racing environment, and if you two are on the same pace you
will meet again in the future. So if you look at the replay and see someone was impatient with you and didn't realize that your braking point is 10 meters sooner than his, send him a PM and explain to him that he needs to spend a lap to assess his competitor's speed instead of chasing without keeping distance.
If you continue to have incidents in T1 regularly, then assess your own driving first and make compromises if you have to. Also prepare yourself for the start of a race better: look at your direct competitors and if you've raced them before, add into the equation what you know about them and their driving styles. On some occasions I've let aggressive alien drivers go at the start to relieve pressure on myself and then tuck in behind him hoping he would force the faster driver ahead of us into a mistake better than I'd be able to with him on my tail.
I'm lucky to be in a situation within the Skippy series where I almost always know the guys starting around me (hopefully at the front
) and I can use that knowledge to anticipate how they go about starting the race. I know I'm very consistent during races with very few errors, but it takes me a lap or 8 to get into a fast rhythm unless I'm behind someone that gets into a rhythm right away, so I'm not too afraid of letting drivers go at the start and taking back the spot later.
Anyway, rant over.