I just witnessed one of the best road races I've ever seen....anywhere, any
form of racing.
The Busch North race at Watkins was just televised on NBC......it ended just
a few minutes ago!
It was like watching a good quality N4 online race.....at Watkins. The lead
changed about as often as the drivers who were taking care of their tires.
Because of the cars they race in that series, the setups were allowing lots
of sliding......power driving the high-speed turns. Several drivers put
themselves in a position to dominate.....only to be knocked back by bad
luck, making the wrong choice in attempting to pass back-markers....or not
taking care of their tires after assuming the lead. With the level of
drivers in this series (they are not accustomed to road racing), I saw a lot
of the same mistakes I see rookie N4 drivers make at Watkins. This is a
testimony to online sim racing......its a lot more realistic than it is
often given credit for....especially in N4 online racing against real human
drivers!
I even saw the stupid......"move over" mistake made by a back marker being
passed by one of the leaders. Instead of holding his line....letting the
overtaking car choose when, where and how to pass.....he moved over to the
right....just as the overtaking care had committed to passing on the
right.....and the back marker got tagged in the rear....taking both cars
out! You don't see that mistake in real-world racing much anymore. I think
that's because by the time someone reaches the level in pro racing where
they are competing in a race that's being televised, they've long ago
learned not to make that stupid "moving over" mistake. You still see this
way too much in online racing on N4....particularly on the two road courses!
Without an online racing school.....or any kind of online race licensing
program....I guess this is to be expected? Even so, it still doesn't make
it any less irritating when somebody takes you out this way. It seems like
it should just be plain old "common sense"....but I guess it isn't. Its
also probably due a lot to the fact that in N4....with the difficulty level
of running it on the road courses......the leaders are the "experienced
drivers"......and they are not "back markers" very often...are they? Nope!
With two laps to go.......two drivers ran nose-to-tail for the lead. On the
white flag lap......the driver in the second position was all over the back
end of the lead car.....it was a classic application of the old "fill the
mirrors" trick! On the last lap, going into T-1.....the leader overcooked
it into the turn, ran off into the sand pit....and finished 13th! He'd
already been passed going into T-9 by overcooking that turn.......doing it
again going into T-1 (now chasing instead of leading) was clearly the result
of his frustration for having made that mistake going into T-9.
It was very interesting to watch real-world, professional race drivers
behave exactly like so many rookie road course drivers I've observed racing
N4 online. Too cool! I wish I would have taped this race, dang it.
Tom