Have you ever been in a situation where you try to be careful when a race start, but you still end up being hit from behind and ending your race? In these cases, the easiest thing for us to do is to blame the other driver. I'm not saying that it's not their fault, but let's reflect on that.

Influencing Driver Behavior Through Racecraft

In Racecraft, although you can fully control other driver's behavior, you can still have an impact on what decisions they make. You can signal intentions or messages through your car positioning in race start and battles for position. You can induce a driver to be more aggressive against you, or induce a driver to be a little bit more cautious with you.

These signals can be subtle, like moving a tiny bit to the inside before a corner, just signal you will not make it too easy for them to attack you, for example.

The Concept of Assertiveness

The key word for this lesson is assertiveness. Assertiveness is somewhere in between cautiousness and aggressiveness, where you are clearly showing your intentions and being an active player on track.

The Problem with Being Passive

If you're passive, then that can come across as an invitation for them to just dive bomb you, as everyone can read your body language that you're just going to give up the spot for them. So it's inviting others to be overly aggressive with you.

What Assertive Driving Means

So assertive means focusing more on the space in front of you. There's a good opening, be prepared, and put your car there. Fundamentally, if you are moving forward in the pack, it's much less likely that you're going to have folks behind sending it on you.

Assertiveness in Defensive Driving

You can also be assertive in defensive driving. Make your defensive moves early and decisively. Leave zero doubt about the fact that you are going to defend your position and make it very difficult for someone to pass you.

All that being said, although there are still a lot of idiots out there, and you will get punted every once in a while, I think being more assertive actually can reduce the likelihood of that.

Characteristics of a Good Move

In the end, you have to remember that a good move is a move without contact, and a move that doesn't require the other driver to take too much of avoiding action. Meaning, a very fast and surgical pass that happens quickly is actually safer than a move with hesitation, where you spend a lot of time side by side, which will increase the chances of contact.

Understanding Aggressive vs. Safe Moves

Wait, so does that mean that an aggressive move is safer than a less aggressive move? Well, yeah, it depends a lot on what exactly you did. If you are in your right to do a fast pass without contact, then do it. Aggressiveness done right is just racing. Aggressiveness done wrong, that's the problem.