[FeiHoong91]

oooo the fight has BEGUN! now remember guys : stFU /../..an, i r teh r0xx0rz liek emin3m, u cna go tO EHLL OR ATLE4St help m3 wit hthIS!!111!!!!!!!1~~1!!``!! LOLLOLOLLOLOLlOoLLOlollLLl u n00b

please dont be a n00b

[Mikko Nassi]

I've split this convo from the RMC Rd5 thread and removed the profanities and insults that caught my eye. In the future any posts with profanities, insults, or unfounded accusations will just be deleted, with much less leeway for anonymous posts.

I didn't have my kart running that great last weekend (I was only about 8th or 9th fastest on laptime all weekend except for heat 1 ), but it was great to race and overtake and get overtaken by drivers that I'm comfortable racing with. It was also an eye-opening sight seeing some of the craziness that goes on in the midfield especially at the start and the first few laps!

Whenever you're overtaking you're taking a calculated (or not so calculated) risk. If you're going to outbrake the driver without first getting slightly alongside you're taking a much greater risk than if you're able to pull along side him first by setting up the move a corner or two earlier.

If you're going to turn in to a driver that is already alongside you you're taking a massive risk to defend your position (you're assuming he will see what you're doing, and then if he does see you that he'll lift off and give you the place). The better choice would be to give up the position but set yourself up to regain it immediately by leaving racing room but taking advantage of where you are.

Another thing to consider is loss of time when overtaking. You might be able to outbrake a driver that is say 1 tenth slower than you on the first lap you're behind him, but then that risky move might cost you half a second if you have to come from a fair way back to outbrake him - that's assuming you get past. If it doesn't work you may have lost .5sec and still have to do it again, or maybe the guy behind you got past you as well and you're -1 place from where you started. Don't forget the risk of crashing out .

If you stick behind him for 1 or two laps you might be able to only lose 1 tenth or 2 on your move, making your total loss of time smaller, and you'll be further away from those behind you, and closer to the next guy up the road.

A similar thought process should go to defending. If you're at the beginning of a final and in front of you there are a few drivers that you are similar on pace or maybe a bit faster - and behind you there is a guy you know is 2-3 tenths faster than you. Do you defend like crazy and lose more ground to those ahead of you, or would it improve your result if you make it easy for the fast guy and then use him to get past a few of the drivers in front? Where in the championship are the guys ahead of you, and how about the guy behind you (it should make a difference to how you approach the situation)?

The points system should also be taken into consideration, are you in a one-off round or in a race that is part of a championship?

First for the heats it's quite universal - If you set pole in qualifying and finished heat 1 in 1st, there is no need for you to win heat 2. Let the aggressive charger that qualified in 2nd and finished 2nd in heat 1 overtake you because you'll still be ahead of him at the start of the prefinal. Save your tyres and let him ruin his. Sometimes your starting position for the final won't change even whether or not you finish in 2nd or 5th. Know where you and other drivers finished heat 1 so you know what you need to do in heat 2.

Then take note of the championship points system - the Rotax points system heavily punishes even one DNF. Winning a championship with even one DNF in a final or prefinal is incredibly difficult. That makes extremely aggressive overtaking even less of a smart proposition.

From F1 take Alonso as an example - he's considered one of the aggressive drivers on the grid - and yet have a look at his championship years and how often he settled for less than what might have been possible if he pushed at 110% percent. Aggression when required, and risk minimization when it will pay off. If others think you're a pansy for being a smart driver let them, and keep gathering the championship points while they might win a race or two and then DNF from another.

[Ryan104]

well put mikko... very true.