>"EldredP" wrote...
>> > <snip>
>> Plan? *What* plan? Stay out of trouble, survive to the
>> finish. That's about IT.
>Those aren't plans, those are ideas/goals. Plans are what you are going to
>do to acchieve the above.
>> I've never planned anything else - yellow flags usually
>> mean that fuel strategy is moot. I'm not fast enough to
>> actually contend for the lead. So yeah, I just race the
>> guys around me. I'd be curious to know what you think I
>> *should* be doing...
>Fuel and tyre strategy are not mute. You need to know what your fuel and
>tyre windows are. Knowing when you're in your window can make all the
>difference if there's a late green stint in the race (as there often is).
>It's also important to know how your tyres wear: in stages, gradually or
>quickly at the beginning an less afterwards and how hard you can push and
>still get reasonable mileage out of them.
>Even if there's a caution every 5 laps at some point in a race, you can use
>the above knowledge to your advantage. For example: you have a tendency to
>qualify lower than you can actually run in the race. If you're at a track
>where, after the initial stick is gone, the tyres stay reasonably constant
>you can use a caution for track position. By the time the top 6 have gone
>around you the other's tyres will have lost their edge and you're where you
>need to be in the race. In a succession of cautions you can also skip
>pitting at one one to have a clear pit at the next, etc...
>The bottom line is you have to be thinking about what you need to do to be
>where you need to be at the end of the race all the time. If you
>indescriminately race those around you, you end up hurting your own effort.
>You have to continually evaluate whether taking or defending the position
>_now_ is worth it in de grander scheme of the race.
Then I guess we just call it different things. I don't think of it as a
"plan". I consider a plan something you work out beforehand. I've delayed
pitstops during a yellow for two reasons. One, to get a clear pit as you
mentioned. Two, to try to lead *a* lap. My knowledge of my own lack of speed
means that I'm not really concerned with track position. I usually come into
the pits on *every* yellow flag. I don't think I've ever had a situation where
I needed a pitstop that never came(as in too many green flag laps). I've also
made a pitstop(during yellow) for the sole purpose of dropping back in the
field. That way I don't have to keep from being run over as the fast guys pass
me again(which I know they will).
I've also made decisions on whether to let another driver pass depending on the
situation. Near the beginning of the race, or if he's MUCH faster, I'll roll
over without a fight. If it's late in the race, or he's *marginally* faster,
I'll usually make him work harder for the spot. I've also had times where I
was stuck behind a slower car, but couldn't get a run to make a move. In
situations like that I've let a following driver pass in the hopes that a) I
can sneak by when he moves on the other car b)they take each other out.
So it appears that I *do* plan(using your terminology). But since those
decisions are made 'on the fly', I disagree that it's a PLAN. Semantics, I
guess...
Eldred
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