Lesson
Lesson
77
of
of
Racecraft 101
Lesson by
Connor Bell
Lesson by
Connor Bell
Mark as Finished
Now that we've worked on staying at the limit of the tires and structuring our corner correctly, we're going to shift our focus to RaceCraft and decision-making under pressure. By the end of the workshop, drivers should understand how to plan and predict side-by-side situations before they even happen and learn how to manage space, predict others' actions, and avoid panic reactions.
Why Focus on RaceCraft?
The most common issues observed during league races include:
The inside car missing the apex
Not following a predictable trajectory on exit when side by side, particularly in leading corners
Not making decisions early enough as situations unfold
Breaking too late when following other cars, also known as not managing momentum correctly
Fundamental Principles of Side-by-Side Racing
The only thing we can be 100% sure of when racing side by side is that our opponent wants what is best for him or her, which at the end of the day is to pass you, to beat you, to win. Whatever case you might be in, your opponent wants to be ahead of you, most of the time.
Our opponent will stay at the limit of the tires for as long as they can, and our opponent will choose a line that minimizes any extra track distance or excessive radius. Knowing this leads us to an important question: How does trusting that our opponent wants what is best for them affect the way that we predict their lines or trajectory?
Expected Behavior for Both Cars
Both cars are expected to maximize track usage in order to reduce how much rotation and track distance needs to be done throughout the corner. Maximizing the track usage for the green car is going to be all the way out to the white line, because it's going to allow for the green car to spread out the amount of rotation that needs to be done throughout the corner, and it's also going to smooth and stretch that arc out. You're going to be able to carry more minimum speed.
Inside Car (Yellow) Responsibilities
The yellow car is expected to make and hold the apex mid-corner because that is the fastest thing he or she can do
The yellow car wants to reduce track distance, along with stretching out that arc, making sure we're not having to concentrate all of our rotation in one spot
Yellow will select a throttle point that allows him to track out all the way, minus a car width and a quarter
Outside Car (Green) Responsibilities
The yellow car knows that green wants to maximize track usage, so the yellow car will try to take some of those advantages by coming all the way to the white line, minus a car width
Green will leave about a car width and a quarter to the edge of the track at the apex
Green is expected to choose a throttle point that allows him to stay at the limit and track out all the way on exit to the white line, to the rumble strip, whatever object is on that particular corner exit
Even if the green car on exit is a little bit under the limit, it is highly recommended that you track out all the way to the white line or to the rumble strip, whatever element is on that particular corner exit. We have to remember that yellow is expecting you to want to maximize the track, maximize your limit usage. If you don't track all the way out as the green car, it brings up the possibility of the yellow car coming into contact with you.
Adjusting Entry Based on Position
If yellow continues braking as he or she was during hot lapping, but is now entering the corner further to the inside, this needs to be considered. Thinking back to structuring our corners, if the green car's apex is now wider (a car width and a quarter away from the typical apex), what can he or she adjust on entry to ensure the tires remain at the limit coming into the apex?
Breaking Points Based on Position
Being on the inside versus outside affects your braking reference. Breaking at your usual reference may not allow you to get to the apex when being on the inside or outside. Key observations include:
Break later when you're on the outside and sooner when you're on the inside
Carry more speed on the inside because the radius is bigger
Inside: break a little earlier; outside: a little later
The reason why on the inside we have to break earlier is because we're having to force a lot of rotation mid-corner, obviously because we're taking a narrower entry. A lot of times, whether it be in league races or official races, people try to break super late on the inside, oftentimes past their usual reference with things like overspeed as well. It's super tempting to do so, but oftentimes it's not going to work because of the narrower entry and more rotation we have to do in a very concentrated area at the apex.
When you're hot lapping, you would have picked your current reference because it allows you to get to the apex only if you've stayed at the limit. Now if we're breaking to the inside with a narrower line, even if we stay at the limit and try to break at that same reference, we're probably not going to be able to get to the apex or at least hold the apex, which is rule number one: the most important rule for the inside car is to get to and hold the apex.
It's also harder to hit your breaking point because you're at a different part of the track, especially if it's a breaking marker. This kind of works out in your favor, because if you need to break earlier anyway when you're on the inside and you can't see your marker perfectly, you're not going to be at a massive disadvantage if you break a little bit earlier than your normal reference without being perfect.
Optimizing Side-by-Side Racing
Side-by-side racing, at least at the current level, is going to be more of a battle in terms of limit versus limit, whereas rarely it comes down to who pinches more aggressively. Limit versus limit simply means who can get closer to the limit and stay there for longer, unless you're at a really high level of racing where every driver is already perfectly at the limit. That's where the extra few inches of pinching will play a factor. But right now, it's more about just staying at the limit for longer.
This doesn't mean don't predict where the other driver is going. If you're the inside car on entry, you still want to leave that car width and a quarter, but don't try and pinch to the last millimeter as it's going to be more about staying at the limit for longer.
Key Goals for Side-by-Side Driving
Optimize the limit and structure your corner accordingly knowing that you now have a more narrow line on entry
Avoid the apex when necessary depending on your situation
Don't hit the other car
As the inside car, don't miss the apex
As the outside car, don't pinch too harshly
These are typically the biggest reasons why we might have contact.
Planning for the Worst-Case Scenario
While we hope that proper technique will limit mistakes from the inside car, it is inevitable that you will have a driver missing his or her apex at one point or another. We always hope the driver is clean, we always hope the inside car has good intention, but mistakes happen, and we need to learn how to try and avoid contact.
Tools for Avoiding Contact
As the outside car, we need to use our tools to detect when the inside car is going to miss the apex:
Virtual mirror (highly recommended to have on the maximum FOV)
Side monitors or the sides of your VR headset
Sound: if you hear the car locking up beside you, you know that they're going to carry way too much momentum
Decision Making for the Outside Car
The question you're looking to answer is: do we just need to open up and go wider if the driver to our inside is carrying excess momentum, or can we do an over under switchback?
If it's only a small amount of excess momentum that the inside car has, you can probably just open up the steering, take a little bit of a wider apex, maybe leave two or three car widths to the inside and get away with no contact
If the inside car has a ton of extra momentum, they're gaining a ton of speed, they're not slowing down enough, you can probably just extend your straight line breaking just a little bit and go for a late apex, slip under the car and do the classic switchback
As the outside car you're going to lose time and it's not right for the inside car to miss the apex, but we get to live to fight another day. It's a choice between losing a little bit of time or having potentially race ending contact.
Managing Momentum When Following
One of the key skills is lifting and timing your lift accordingly. The key really is lifting—that is absolutely one of the best methods, especially in these cars where you're almost guaranteed to have a ton of overspeed because of how powerful the draft is. We definitely have to lift and timer our lift accordingly to go from tons of overspeed and excess momentum compared to the car in front of us because of the draft, and lift to get us back down to the same speed as them. Then if we hit the brakes at the same time, we should be all good.
We can't fully trust that every driver has the exact same braking point as we do. There's always going to be a big variance in skill levels and how close people are to the limit under straight line braking. We can't trust that everyone's breaking at the same braking reference we are. What we can do is match their momentum coming into the corner and break at the same point. This is going to apply mostly to situations where you don't want to pass the car in front, where you're too far away to pass, where you're trying to work with them.
These are really important skills to have, especially in these cars, where you do have to work with people, especially on the bigger tracks because of the draft. Once you have the skill of managing momentum, ideally you should be able to manage momentum from three car lengths back to a quarter of a car length behind somebody. You could be as close as you want. If you are inches away, you're probably within the window to go for a pass. But sometimes you don't want to go for a pass.
Lap One Considerations
Managing momentum is extremely important, even more important on lap one of the race, where people are going to be breaking earlier than your normal reference. This is where people have been making mistakes on lap one—they still try and break at their normal reference. If you do lift before and then break when the car in front of you breaks, it's almost impossible to hit them unless you're severely under the limit under breaking.
Now that we've worked on staying at the limit of the tires and structuring our corner correctly, we're going to shift our focus to RaceCraft and decision-making under pressure. By the end of the workshop, drivers should understand how to plan and predict side-by-side situations before they even happen and learn how to manage space, predict others' actions, and avoid panic reactions.
Why Focus on RaceCraft?
The most common issues observed during league races include:
The inside car missing the apex
Not following a predictable trajectory on exit when side by side, particularly in leading corners
Not making decisions early enough as situations unfold
Breaking too late when following other cars, also known as not managing momentum correctly
Fundamental Principles of Side-by-Side Racing
The only thing we can be 100% sure of when racing side by side is that our opponent wants what is best for him or her, which at the end of the day is to pass you, to beat you, to win. Whatever case you might be in, your opponent wants to be ahead of you, most of the time.
Our opponent will stay at the limit of the tires for as long as they can, and our opponent will choose a line that minimizes any extra track distance or excessive radius. Knowing this leads us to an important question: How does trusting that our opponent wants what is best for them affect the way that we predict their lines or trajectory?
Expected Behavior for Both Cars
Both cars are expected to maximize track usage in order to reduce how much rotation and track distance needs to be done throughout the corner. Maximizing the track usage for the green car is going to be all the way out to the white line, because it's going to allow for the green car to spread out the amount of rotation that needs to be done throughout the corner, and it's also going to smooth and stretch that arc out. You're going to be able to carry more minimum speed.
Inside Car (Yellow) Responsibilities
The yellow car is expected to make and hold the apex mid-corner because that is the fastest thing he or she can do
The yellow car wants to reduce track distance, along with stretching out that arc, making sure we're not having to concentrate all of our rotation in one spot
Yellow will select a throttle point that allows him to track out all the way, minus a car width and a quarter
Outside Car (Green) Responsibilities
The yellow car knows that green wants to maximize track usage, so the yellow car will try to take some of those advantages by coming all the way to the white line, minus a car width
Green will leave about a car width and a quarter to the edge of the track at the apex
Green is expected to choose a throttle point that allows him to stay at the limit and track out all the way on exit to the white line, to the rumble strip, whatever object is on that particular corner exit
Even if the green car on exit is a little bit under the limit, it is highly recommended that you track out all the way to the white line or to the rumble strip, whatever element is on that particular corner exit. We have to remember that yellow is expecting you to want to maximize the track, maximize your limit usage. If you don't track all the way out as the green car, it brings up the possibility of the yellow car coming into contact with you.
Adjusting Entry Based on Position
If yellow continues braking as he or she was during hot lapping, but is now entering the corner further to the inside, this needs to be considered. Thinking back to structuring our corners, if the green car's apex is now wider (a car width and a quarter away from the typical apex), what can he or she adjust on entry to ensure the tires remain at the limit coming into the apex?
Breaking Points Based on Position
Being on the inside versus outside affects your braking reference. Breaking at your usual reference may not allow you to get to the apex when being on the inside or outside. Key observations include:
Break later when you're on the outside and sooner when you're on the inside
Carry more speed on the inside because the radius is bigger
Inside: break a little earlier; outside: a little later
The reason why on the inside we have to break earlier is because we're having to force a lot of rotation mid-corner, obviously because we're taking a narrower entry. A lot of times, whether it be in league races or official races, people try to break super late on the inside, oftentimes past their usual reference with things like overspeed as well. It's super tempting to do so, but oftentimes it's not going to work because of the narrower entry and more rotation we have to do in a very concentrated area at the apex.
When you're hot lapping, you would have picked your current reference because it allows you to get to the apex only if you've stayed at the limit. Now if we're breaking to the inside with a narrower line, even if we stay at the limit and try to break at that same reference, we're probably not going to be able to get to the apex or at least hold the apex, which is rule number one: the most important rule for the inside car is to get to and hold the apex.
It's also harder to hit your breaking point because you're at a different part of the track, especially if it's a breaking marker. This kind of works out in your favor, because if you need to break earlier anyway when you're on the inside and you can't see your marker perfectly, you're not going to be at a massive disadvantage if you break a little bit earlier than your normal reference without being perfect.
Optimizing Side-by-Side Racing
Side-by-side racing, at least at the current level, is going to be more of a battle in terms of limit versus limit, whereas rarely it comes down to who pinches more aggressively. Limit versus limit simply means who can get closer to the limit and stay there for longer, unless you're at a really high level of racing where every driver is already perfectly at the limit. That's where the extra few inches of pinching will play a factor. But right now, it's more about just staying at the limit for longer.
This doesn't mean don't predict where the other driver is going. If you're the inside car on entry, you still want to leave that car width and a quarter, but don't try and pinch to the last millimeter as it's going to be more about staying at the limit for longer.
Key Goals for Side-by-Side Driving
Optimize the limit and structure your corner accordingly knowing that you now have a more narrow line on entry
Avoid the apex when necessary depending on your situation
Don't hit the other car
As the inside car, don't miss the apex
As the outside car, don't pinch too harshly
These are typically the biggest reasons why we might have contact.
Planning for the Worst-Case Scenario
While we hope that proper technique will limit mistakes from the inside car, it is inevitable that you will have a driver missing his or her apex at one point or another. We always hope the driver is clean, we always hope the inside car has good intention, but mistakes happen, and we need to learn how to try and avoid contact.
Tools for Avoiding Contact
As the outside car, we need to use our tools to detect when the inside car is going to miss the apex:
Virtual mirror (highly recommended to have on the maximum FOV)
Side monitors or the sides of your VR headset
Sound: if you hear the car locking up beside you, you know that they're going to carry way too much momentum
Decision Making for the Outside Car
The question you're looking to answer is: do we just need to open up and go wider if the driver to our inside is carrying excess momentum, or can we do an over under switchback?
If it's only a small amount of excess momentum that the inside car has, you can probably just open up the steering, take a little bit of a wider apex, maybe leave two or three car widths to the inside and get away with no contact
If the inside car has a ton of extra momentum, they're gaining a ton of speed, they're not slowing down enough, you can probably just extend your straight line breaking just a little bit and go for a late apex, slip under the car and do the classic switchback
As the outside car you're going to lose time and it's not right for the inside car to miss the apex, but we get to live to fight another day. It's a choice between losing a little bit of time or having potentially race ending contact.
Managing Momentum When Following
One of the key skills is lifting and timing your lift accordingly. The key really is lifting—that is absolutely one of the best methods, especially in these cars where you're almost guaranteed to have a ton of overspeed because of how powerful the draft is. We definitely have to lift and timer our lift accordingly to go from tons of overspeed and excess momentum compared to the car in front of us because of the draft, and lift to get us back down to the same speed as them. Then if we hit the brakes at the same time, we should be all good.
We can't fully trust that every driver has the exact same braking point as we do. There's always going to be a big variance in skill levels and how close people are to the limit under straight line braking. We can't trust that everyone's breaking at the same braking reference we are. What we can do is match their momentum coming into the corner and break at the same point. This is going to apply mostly to situations where you don't want to pass the car in front, where you're too far away to pass, where you're trying to work with them.
These are really important skills to have, especially in these cars, where you do have to work with people, especially on the bigger tracks because of the draft. Once you have the skill of managing momentum, ideally you should be able to manage momentum from three car lengths back to a quarter of a car length behind somebody. You could be as close as you want. If you are inches away, you're probably within the window to go for a pass. But sometimes you don't want to go for a pass.
Lap One Considerations
Managing momentum is extremely important, even more important on lap one of the race, where people are going to be breaking earlier than your normal reference. This is where people have been making mistakes on lap one—they still try and break at their normal reference. If you do lift before and then break when the car in front of you breaks, it's almost impossible to hit them unless you're severely under the limit under breaking.
Now that we've worked on staying at the limit of the tires and structuring our corner correctly, we're going to shift our focus to RaceCraft and decision-making under pressure. By the end of the workshop, drivers should understand how to plan and predict side-by-side situations before they even happen and learn how to manage space, predict others' actions, and avoid panic reactions.
Why Focus on RaceCraft?
The most common issues observed during league races include:
The inside car missing the apex
Not following a predictable trajectory on exit when side by side, particularly in leading corners
Not making decisions early enough as situations unfold
Breaking too late when following other cars, also known as not managing momentum correctly
Fundamental Principles of Side-by-Side Racing
The only thing we can be 100% sure of when racing side by side is that our opponent wants what is best for him or her, which at the end of the day is to pass you, to beat you, to win. Whatever case you might be in, your opponent wants to be ahead of you, most of the time.
Our opponent will stay at the limit of the tires for as long as they can, and our opponent will choose a line that minimizes any extra track distance or excessive radius. Knowing this leads us to an important question: How does trusting that our opponent wants what is best for them affect the way that we predict their lines or trajectory?
Expected Behavior for Both Cars
Both cars are expected to maximize track usage in order to reduce how much rotation and track distance needs to be done throughout the corner. Maximizing the track usage for the green car is going to be all the way out to the white line, because it's going to allow for the green car to spread out the amount of rotation that needs to be done throughout the corner, and it's also going to smooth and stretch that arc out. You're going to be able to carry more minimum speed.
Inside Car (Yellow) Responsibilities
The yellow car is expected to make and hold the apex mid-corner because that is the fastest thing he or she can do
The yellow car wants to reduce track distance, along with stretching out that arc, making sure we're not having to concentrate all of our rotation in one spot
Yellow will select a throttle point that allows him to track out all the way, minus a car width and a quarter
Outside Car (Green) Responsibilities
The yellow car knows that green wants to maximize track usage, so the yellow car will try to take some of those advantages by coming all the way to the white line, minus a car width
Green will leave about a car width and a quarter to the edge of the track at the apex
Green is expected to choose a throttle point that allows him to stay at the limit and track out all the way on exit to the white line, to the rumble strip, whatever object is on that particular corner exit
Even if the green car on exit is a little bit under the limit, it is highly recommended that you track out all the way to the white line or to the rumble strip, whatever element is on that particular corner exit. We have to remember that yellow is expecting you to want to maximize the track, maximize your limit usage. If you don't track all the way out as the green car, it brings up the possibility of the yellow car coming into contact with you.
Adjusting Entry Based on Position
If yellow continues braking as he or she was during hot lapping, but is now entering the corner further to the inside, this needs to be considered. Thinking back to structuring our corners, if the green car's apex is now wider (a car width and a quarter away from the typical apex), what can he or she adjust on entry to ensure the tires remain at the limit coming into the apex?
Breaking Points Based on Position
Being on the inside versus outside affects your braking reference. Breaking at your usual reference may not allow you to get to the apex when being on the inside or outside. Key observations include:
Break later when you're on the outside and sooner when you're on the inside
Carry more speed on the inside because the radius is bigger
Inside: break a little earlier; outside: a little later
The reason why on the inside we have to break earlier is because we're having to force a lot of rotation mid-corner, obviously because we're taking a narrower entry. A lot of times, whether it be in league races or official races, people try to break super late on the inside, oftentimes past their usual reference with things like overspeed as well. It's super tempting to do so, but oftentimes it's not going to work because of the narrower entry and more rotation we have to do in a very concentrated area at the apex.
When you're hot lapping, you would have picked your current reference because it allows you to get to the apex only if you've stayed at the limit. Now if we're breaking to the inside with a narrower line, even if we stay at the limit and try to break at that same reference, we're probably not going to be able to get to the apex or at least hold the apex, which is rule number one: the most important rule for the inside car is to get to and hold the apex.
It's also harder to hit your breaking point because you're at a different part of the track, especially if it's a breaking marker. This kind of works out in your favor, because if you need to break earlier anyway when you're on the inside and you can't see your marker perfectly, you're not going to be at a massive disadvantage if you break a little bit earlier than your normal reference without being perfect.
Optimizing Side-by-Side Racing
Side-by-side racing, at least at the current level, is going to be more of a battle in terms of limit versus limit, whereas rarely it comes down to who pinches more aggressively. Limit versus limit simply means who can get closer to the limit and stay there for longer, unless you're at a really high level of racing where every driver is already perfectly at the limit. That's where the extra few inches of pinching will play a factor. But right now, it's more about just staying at the limit for longer.
This doesn't mean don't predict where the other driver is going. If you're the inside car on entry, you still want to leave that car width and a quarter, but don't try and pinch to the last millimeter as it's going to be more about staying at the limit for longer.
Key Goals for Side-by-Side Driving
Optimize the limit and structure your corner accordingly knowing that you now have a more narrow line on entry
Avoid the apex when necessary depending on your situation
Don't hit the other car
As the inside car, don't miss the apex
As the outside car, don't pinch too harshly
These are typically the biggest reasons why we might have contact.
Planning for the Worst-Case Scenario
While we hope that proper technique will limit mistakes from the inside car, it is inevitable that you will have a driver missing his or her apex at one point or another. We always hope the driver is clean, we always hope the inside car has good intention, but mistakes happen, and we need to learn how to try and avoid contact.
Tools for Avoiding Contact
As the outside car, we need to use our tools to detect when the inside car is going to miss the apex:
Virtual mirror (highly recommended to have on the maximum FOV)
Side monitors or the sides of your VR headset
Sound: if you hear the car locking up beside you, you know that they're going to carry way too much momentum
Decision Making for the Outside Car
The question you're looking to answer is: do we just need to open up and go wider if the driver to our inside is carrying excess momentum, or can we do an over under switchback?
If it's only a small amount of excess momentum that the inside car has, you can probably just open up the steering, take a little bit of a wider apex, maybe leave two or three car widths to the inside and get away with no contact
If the inside car has a ton of extra momentum, they're gaining a ton of speed, they're not slowing down enough, you can probably just extend your straight line breaking just a little bit and go for a late apex, slip under the car and do the classic switchback
As the outside car you're going to lose time and it's not right for the inside car to miss the apex, but we get to live to fight another day. It's a choice between losing a little bit of time or having potentially race ending contact.
Managing Momentum When Following
One of the key skills is lifting and timing your lift accordingly. The key really is lifting—that is absolutely one of the best methods, especially in these cars where you're almost guaranteed to have a ton of overspeed because of how powerful the draft is. We definitely have to lift and timer our lift accordingly to go from tons of overspeed and excess momentum compared to the car in front of us because of the draft, and lift to get us back down to the same speed as them. Then if we hit the brakes at the same time, we should be all good.
We can't fully trust that every driver has the exact same braking point as we do. There's always going to be a big variance in skill levels and how close people are to the limit under straight line braking. We can't trust that everyone's breaking at the same braking reference we are. What we can do is match their momentum coming into the corner and break at the same point. This is going to apply mostly to situations where you don't want to pass the car in front, where you're too far away to pass, where you're trying to work with them.
These are really important skills to have, especially in these cars, where you do have to work with people, especially on the bigger tracks because of the draft. Once you have the skill of managing momentum, ideally you should be able to manage momentum from three car lengths back to a quarter of a car length behind somebody. You could be as close as you want. If you are inches away, you're probably within the window to go for a pass. But sometimes you don't want to go for a pass.
Lap One Considerations
Managing momentum is extremely important, even more important on lap one of the race, where people are going to be breaking earlier than your normal reference. This is where people have been making mistakes on lap one—they still try and break at their normal reference. If you do lift before and then break when the car in front of you breaks, it's almost impossible to hit them unless you're severely under the limit under breaking.
Now that we've worked on staying at the limit of the tires and structuring our corner correctly, we're going to shift our focus to RaceCraft and decision-making under pressure. By the end of the workshop, drivers should understand how to plan and predict side-by-side situations before they even happen and learn how to manage space, predict others' actions, and avoid panic reactions.
Why Focus on RaceCraft?
The most common issues observed during league races include:
The inside car missing the apex
Not following a predictable trajectory on exit when side by side, particularly in leading corners
Not making decisions early enough as situations unfold
Breaking too late when following other cars, also known as not managing momentum correctly
Fundamental Principles of Side-by-Side Racing
The only thing we can be 100% sure of when racing side by side is that our opponent wants what is best for him or her, which at the end of the day is to pass you, to beat you, to win. Whatever case you might be in, your opponent wants to be ahead of you, most of the time.
Our opponent will stay at the limit of the tires for as long as they can, and our opponent will choose a line that minimizes any extra track distance or excessive radius. Knowing this leads us to an important question: How does trusting that our opponent wants what is best for them affect the way that we predict their lines or trajectory?
Expected Behavior for Both Cars
Both cars are expected to maximize track usage in order to reduce how much rotation and track distance needs to be done throughout the corner. Maximizing the track usage for the green car is going to be all the way out to the white line, because it's going to allow for the green car to spread out the amount of rotation that needs to be done throughout the corner, and it's also going to smooth and stretch that arc out. You're going to be able to carry more minimum speed.
Inside Car (Yellow) Responsibilities
The yellow car is expected to make and hold the apex mid-corner because that is the fastest thing he or she can do
The yellow car wants to reduce track distance, along with stretching out that arc, making sure we're not having to concentrate all of our rotation in one spot
Yellow will select a throttle point that allows him to track out all the way, minus a car width and a quarter
Outside Car (Green) Responsibilities
The yellow car knows that green wants to maximize track usage, so the yellow car will try to take some of those advantages by coming all the way to the white line, minus a car width
Green will leave about a car width and a quarter to the edge of the track at the apex
Green is expected to choose a throttle point that allows him to stay at the limit and track out all the way on exit to the white line, to the rumble strip, whatever object is on that particular corner exit
Even if the green car on exit is a little bit under the limit, it is highly recommended that you track out all the way to the white line or to the rumble strip, whatever element is on that particular corner exit. We have to remember that yellow is expecting you to want to maximize the track, maximize your limit usage. If you don't track all the way out as the green car, it brings up the possibility of the yellow car coming into contact with you.
Adjusting Entry Based on Position
If yellow continues braking as he or she was during hot lapping, but is now entering the corner further to the inside, this needs to be considered. Thinking back to structuring our corners, if the green car's apex is now wider (a car width and a quarter away from the typical apex), what can he or she adjust on entry to ensure the tires remain at the limit coming into the apex?
Breaking Points Based on Position
Being on the inside versus outside affects your braking reference. Breaking at your usual reference may not allow you to get to the apex when being on the inside or outside. Key observations include:
Break later when you're on the outside and sooner when you're on the inside
Carry more speed on the inside because the radius is bigger
Inside: break a little earlier; outside: a little later
The reason why on the inside we have to break earlier is because we're having to force a lot of rotation mid-corner, obviously because we're taking a narrower entry. A lot of times, whether it be in league races or official races, people try to break super late on the inside, oftentimes past their usual reference with things like overspeed as well. It's super tempting to do so, but oftentimes it's not going to work because of the narrower entry and more rotation we have to do in a very concentrated area at the apex.
When you're hot lapping, you would have picked your current reference because it allows you to get to the apex only if you've stayed at the limit. Now if we're breaking to the inside with a narrower line, even if we stay at the limit and try to break at that same reference, we're probably not going to be able to get to the apex or at least hold the apex, which is rule number one: the most important rule for the inside car is to get to and hold the apex.
It's also harder to hit your breaking point because you're at a different part of the track, especially if it's a breaking marker. This kind of works out in your favor, because if you need to break earlier anyway when you're on the inside and you can't see your marker perfectly, you're not going to be at a massive disadvantage if you break a little bit earlier than your normal reference without being perfect.
Optimizing Side-by-Side Racing
Side-by-side racing, at least at the current level, is going to be more of a battle in terms of limit versus limit, whereas rarely it comes down to who pinches more aggressively. Limit versus limit simply means who can get closer to the limit and stay there for longer, unless you're at a really high level of racing where every driver is already perfectly at the limit. That's where the extra few inches of pinching will play a factor. But right now, it's more about just staying at the limit for longer.
This doesn't mean don't predict where the other driver is going. If you're the inside car on entry, you still want to leave that car width and a quarter, but don't try and pinch to the last millimeter as it's going to be more about staying at the limit for longer.
Key Goals for Side-by-Side Driving
Optimize the limit and structure your corner accordingly knowing that you now have a more narrow line on entry
Avoid the apex when necessary depending on your situation
Don't hit the other car
As the inside car, don't miss the apex
As the outside car, don't pinch too harshly
These are typically the biggest reasons why we might have contact.
Planning for the Worst-Case Scenario
While we hope that proper technique will limit mistakes from the inside car, it is inevitable that you will have a driver missing his or her apex at one point or another. We always hope the driver is clean, we always hope the inside car has good intention, but mistakes happen, and we need to learn how to try and avoid contact.
Tools for Avoiding Contact
As the outside car, we need to use our tools to detect when the inside car is going to miss the apex:
Virtual mirror (highly recommended to have on the maximum FOV)
Side monitors or the sides of your VR headset
Sound: if you hear the car locking up beside you, you know that they're going to carry way too much momentum
Decision Making for the Outside Car
The question you're looking to answer is: do we just need to open up and go wider if the driver to our inside is carrying excess momentum, or can we do an over under switchback?
If it's only a small amount of excess momentum that the inside car has, you can probably just open up the steering, take a little bit of a wider apex, maybe leave two or three car widths to the inside and get away with no contact
If the inside car has a ton of extra momentum, they're gaining a ton of speed, they're not slowing down enough, you can probably just extend your straight line breaking just a little bit and go for a late apex, slip under the car and do the classic switchback
As the outside car you're going to lose time and it's not right for the inside car to miss the apex, but we get to live to fight another day. It's a choice between losing a little bit of time or having potentially race ending contact.
Managing Momentum When Following
One of the key skills is lifting and timing your lift accordingly. The key really is lifting—that is absolutely one of the best methods, especially in these cars where you're almost guaranteed to have a ton of overspeed because of how powerful the draft is. We definitely have to lift and timer our lift accordingly to go from tons of overspeed and excess momentum compared to the car in front of us because of the draft, and lift to get us back down to the same speed as them. Then if we hit the brakes at the same time, we should be all good.
We can't fully trust that every driver has the exact same braking point as we do. There's always going to be a big variance in skill levels and how close people are to the limit under straight line braking. We can't trust that everyone's breaking at the same braking reference we are. What we can do is match their momentum coming into the corner and break at the same point. This is going to apply mostly to situations where you don't want to pass the car in front, where you're too far away to pass, where you're trying to work with them.
These are really important skills to have, especially in these cars, where you do have to work with people, especially on the bigger tracks because of the draft. Once you have the skill of managing momentum, ideally you should be able to manage momentum from three car lengths back to a quarter of a car length behind somebody. You could be as close as you want. If you are inches away, you're probably within the window to go for a pass. But sometimes you don't want to go for a pass.
Lap One Considerations
Managing momentum is extremely important, even more important on lap one of the race, where people are going to be breaking earlier than your normal reference. This is where people have been making mistakes on lap one—they still try and break at their normal reference. If you do lift before and then break when the car in front of you breaks, it's almost impossible to hit them unless you're severely under the limit under breaking.
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