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Passing between classes
Originally this started out as part of my four-class post-race report for Denver, but as I started typing I thought it would be a better idea to use it to facilitate a general discussion about multi-class racing and passing. Of course being part of the mod team helps give some perspective on the capabilities of each of the cars and classes, but I also think that my competing at the two extremes of the four classes, in P1 in the four-class series and in GT2 of the GT series, helps more and gives me what I’d like to think is a very balanced perspective of the passing and interaction that takes place between the classes, especially since I’ve often occupied both seats of these types of scenarios.
First let me start by saying that if you’ve only driven a GT car in competition you’re really missing out because driving a prototype in competition gives you a much broader and I think better perspective of just how different the classes are. Sometimes it’s hard to make the jump from a P1 car into a GT car, but if you have the time you should find a moment to jump into an LMP car and drive it for 15-20 minutes then exit out and jump immediately into a GT car. What you’ll notice right off is that you are basically going to overdrive every single corner entry for a while. Such is the braking power of the LMP cars. The Porsche GT3 is good, very good, but every single LMP car is much better. In a prototype you can leave your braking for the absolute last second, downshift and get the car hauled down and then zip around the corner without even braking a sweat or ever really overdriving the car.
Assuming the prototype car has a decent setup, even a minimal one at that, when a prototype does get loose it’s usually only at the corner exit because of the torque and reduced weight. Nevertheless the fact is from a slow corner the GT1 cars will generally accelerate better and faster than any other car in the mod. Consequently at a track like Denver the most consistent opportunity for the prototypes to make a pass will be under braking. So it’s not so much that the prototype drivers are impatient as it is that given a particular track configuration as we had at Denver it was just the most natural place to pass. Though I can also understand how it would often feel like a last-second pass attempt, though admittedly there are times when the prototype drivers do cut it a bit too close.
Regardless of which two classes happen to be engaged in the passing attempt, I think the biggest challenge for any driver in the slower class of this type of scenario is to simply hold and maintain his or her line. Most everyone wants to be a good and conscientious driver, so it’s only natural to want to ‘help.’ But holding and maintaining your line is really the best way to help. It’s that simple, honest.
If there are any sort of proactive actions that a driver might want to take to help facilitate a pass the actions should really only take place in one of two manners. First, just take a wider line into the corner. As you approach a corner, don’t steer for the apex, but simply enter the corner as though you were going in side-by-side with another car and you are on the outside. The second possible action would be to make a shallower exit from the corner, though this isn’t as helpful as taking the wider line into the corner or as helpful as just simply holding your line.
Above all else moving to left or right at the last moment to try and ‘help’ with the pass is always a bad idea because by the time you see the approaching car and think about what move to make the fast approaching prototype driver has already decided long before that moment where he or she is going to make the pass. This is just something they have to do because of the increased closure rate. Plus when you think about it, their forward view will always be much better than your rear view, so they are going to see you long before you ever see them
Personally the only times I’ve ever had any problems passing a car in a slower class is when the driver I’m passing thinks that they need to move over to let me pass. These problems happen because they are essentially making a 50/50 guess as to where I’m going. Yes, there are time’s when it’s a fairly logical assumption where the driver will go, but too often I’ve either witnessed or been involved in an incident where I came up behind another driver who was on the racing line and just as I was about to move to the inside to make the pass the driver moved off the racing line in an attempt to surrender the racing line and wound up moving directly into the path where I was planning to make the pass. And then there’s the classic “which way do I go dance.” I start to go left and the driver in front moves left, then they move right once they see me going left just as I move right because their having moved left.
The other scenario that happens frequently, especially with these cars, is that a GT1 car will start heading down a long straight and will actually pass a prototype. Like I said before, depending on the track the GT1 cars will generally out accelerate just about any other car in the mod. Fully trimmed out with little or no fuel the all of the GT1 cars will exceed 200 mph, which puts them at just about the same top speed as the P1 cars without boost. The difference of course is in the cornering speeds, that and of course their ability to slow down from 200+ mph.
Anyway what typically happens is the GT1 driver gets excited about making the pass and completely forgets about making the pass stick come the next corner or even in the braking zone. For the most part the GT1 driver will have to hit the brakes about a full second before the prototype and the fact is they’ll never be able make the car stick as well as the prototype through the corner, so they get to the end of the straight and suddenly they have no where to go. Or they find themselves on the inside and more often than not, not quite far enough ahead to move over and reacquired the racing line. As a result they try to brake hard and brake late and either end up overshooting the corner entry and out-braking themselves into the kitty litter or screwing up their corner exit because of their shallower approach into the corner.
It’s hard to say exactly what the right thing to do is in this particular situation, but whatever you decide you need to include a thought as to what’s going to happen once you get to the other end of the straight. If your car has the chops to pull clear of the prototype and reacquire the racing line, great, but unless you can put a lot of distance between yourself and the prototype car you’ll need o be prepared for the inevitable re-pass under braking.
Ultimately the bottom line is that whenever you find yourself about to be passed by a car in a faster class just hold your line and let the passing car worry about it. If you really want to help facilitate the pass of a car in a faster class, and naturally assuming you're not driving a damaged car, you should try to keep any intentional moves to the corner entries or the corner exits. Either go wide on the way in or keep it shallow on the way out, but if you're on a straight just hold your line. Do not move over or try to anticipate what the passing driver is going to do. Hold your line and let the passing driver worry about making the pass. These three things are the fastest and easiest actions you can take to facilitate the pass of a car in a faster-class.
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Originally Posted by Mike Tyler
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