Where do you guys like to 'place' your car at the first turn, if you start near the back due to 'no time' or a bad time in quali? I like the outside of a left or right-hander, due to the guys who want to 'win' it all on the first lap. I don't mind dropping a few places at the start just to stay out of trouble and have a good race. They usually wind up cutting across and taking out half the field. I'm then free to pick up places. What's your strategy and why?
It depends largely on the track, but if there's a another corner following the first corner not too far way, I then want to position myself as as best as possible to get on the inside line there. I find it easier to defend on the inside than on the outside, but of course as you said, there's those winners who'll just take you out.
depends on the track depends on the actual first turn circumference (sp?) depends how much rubber is laid down depends on the car I'm driving depends really
Finding the gap that I can squeeze into with minimal risk of being blown away. Simple as that. There's no universal answer. Outside, inside, slow, fast, late, soon. It's all about split second decisions that you make. After many, many years of racing you can say that you've seen so many starts, incidents that you develop 6th sense of what you can expect from this decision or another. It's a fast paced battle between common sense and instinct. You won't always be right.. but you won't always be wrong. You need to trust your jugdment and... hope for the best. Sorry for not answering your question but there isn't one answer or even any answer at all.
Inside...if your worried about someone taking you out. Huge the inside line all the way around the corner and nobody outside of you will be able to plough into you should they try braking late or dive bombing, exactly because they will be on your outside.
Mostly I try to stay inside. I'd rather not get taken out by someone who over-cooks it and runs wide into me and forces me off the track.
Inside is the best bet isn't it, although you can still get punted off from behind or accidentally bump the guy in front when he brakes too early or too much, online racing is messy when you start out of position.
Again it depends, if you are really far back and the track has run off on the outside then that could be safe. I find defending the inside best if you are stuck in the pack. The bigger issues with starts I see is decisive direction changes just a step to late or your own reaction to an avoidance to a car in front or vice versa. The consatina effect and reacting to the person in fronts throttle input too soon can be more tempting than going for a gap for most and can be your undoing. It is also about awareness all around you, so sound and mirrors and screen setups can help your positional awareness. E.g. I have single screen and too much FPS drop with mirrors :-( but manage mostly. This is why sometimes seeing things develop can help, as said previously. Practice makes perfect and understanding how these crashes evolve can really help. Does AI aggression up and single player help to practice this element? Of course crashes do happen at starts a lot and this isn't helped by some of the crash physics. Despite noting improvements in this area, it still doesn't feel right for me with minor side impacts and or tyre physics in a crash scenario. I wish races did have an independent viewer who could make unbiased decisions based on replay footage and apply penalties. Which I guess is possible for admins anyway?
Back in GTR2 days I used to call it meteor shower. I came up with this term while racing on Monza. Many guys were braking very late and very hard to turn one seriously over reving their engines ( you remember these insane downshifts in GTR2? ). So it often happened that guys were blowing their engines even before L1T1. So, I just brake a bit early and set my eyes in the mirror, preparing for some evasive action... and here they come - "goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!"
A couple things that help- running a pace lap before the start is a big help IF you run that lap right. Warm up the brakes and tires so that you don't have a stone cold car into T1. When you do th pace lap, drag your brakes the entire lap and create a good method of swerving that actually gets heat in the tires. I have a certain way of serving and applying the brakes that gets heat in the tires and I don't lose control either. Practice it. Look far ahead, scan to immediately in front and mirrors. At the start you should have googly eyes! They should be nervously looking way up forward, mirrors, beside you, in front and all over. DO NOT ever in a race, fix your stare immediately ahead. Always scan way up ahead. At the start it is critical.
In public servers it's just one of the things that is going to happen. Something you can't fully predict either. Granted everyone should just pootle the first couple of corners and let everything even out. Worst thing I've seen is people actually getting proper mad in public races...yknow...as if they have to pay the repair bills or because of the DNF, their place within the team is starting to be questioned by the team manager, as their results have been subpar so far in the season...especially when their contract is up for renewal... Some people may misjudge their brake markers starting off the grid. Some people underestimate how fast they can be going when trying to get the holeshot. Ah well, hope they learn from it.
For me if there is runoff in T1 then I will go wide so I don't get plowed from behind. If there is no runoff then It depends but if driver group are crazy then I will still go outside. Unless I have some buffer behind. If group is REALLY insane, I will sometimes stay in the back and pick my way through inevitable carnage. Have to admit it is sometimes fun to pick through carnage as long as you ate expecting it and don't let it frustrate you.
In iRacing, I always tried to pass on the outside and always got taken out, it was more funny than tragic after a while. Haven't tried rF2 yet. PS: I really like Tony Kanaan.
This here, awareness is crucial i always watch ahead upfront because if that car 5 places above has to break or swerve you can bet your bottom dollar the car behind him will be making evasive moves too, and so on, like a chain reaction. But sometimes its frustrating as you've avoid that wreck only to be rear ended.
