GPL Recommended Driver Behaviour

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Revision as of 13:37, 26 March 2009 by Bernd Nowak (Talk | contribs) (Grand Prix Legends' Blind Spots)

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Intro

The following driver behaviours are recommended to enhance the enjoyment for everyone. The explanations are given in the hope that a little knowledge and understanding may help avoid frustrations.

This article was originally written to help enhance the fun and enjoyment of the races held by the Australian Sim Racing Group Inc, and in particular for their Grand Prix Legends Australian Championship series. Either of those sites may have additional rules etc that might be helpful resources. Since it was written the below has been translated and reprinted with permission into various languages world wide and used by many other clubs and race series around the world, for GPL based competitions as well as for competitions based on other sim racing programs. If it helps then that's good to hear. Best of luck with your sim racing. Its great fun. by Phillip McNelley

Qualifying Sessions

Stay out of the way of drivers who are on flying laps when you're on an out lap, or any other non-useful qualifying lap for that matter. With a full field the track can get crowed. It can be hard find the space to complete a clean flying lap sometimes. Its all the worse if people who are on an out lap try to ‘race’ those who are trying to complete a clean flying lap. Be a sport. Let others complete their flying laps as cleanly as possible.

Also if you have spoiled the lap you’re on, ( by spinning, a really bad section, whatever ), then also consider staying out of the way of others for the remainder of your non-useful lap.

Exit the pits carefully. Many drivers announce their egress onto the circuit with a ‘PO’ ( Pit Out ) notice though the chat facility. This is recommended. However, such announcements alone are not a license to charge onto the track with gay abandonment. In addition, try to ease yourself onto the track so that you get a view in your mirrors of what’s coming up behind.

Some tracks are worse than others when it comes to a clean track entrance manoeuvre. I.e., you can leave the pits at Monza at full acceleration and drive adjacent to the main track for a few hundred yards before actually needing to move onto the track proper. This gives you lots of time to check your mirrors for approaching cars. On the other hand, the pit exit at Watkins Glen leads almost directly onto the racing line of a high speed sliding corner. There’ll you need to be very careful not to interfere with someone on a flying lap.

All Sessions

Get off the track and out of the way ASAP if your car is non functional. If you crash, spin out, run out of fuel, whatever, so that you’re on the track but not moving or moving very slowly for where you are, then move off the track as quickly as you can. If in a Pro race where a Sift-R isn't possible, retire ASAP if that's the fastest way to clear the road in a particular circumstance. Treat this as a matter of urgency, as if every fraction of a second counts, ( and it often does). Your race may be done but others are still trying to compete as best they can. Running into your stationary or slowly moving vehicle will not make their day. At the very least get away from the racing line, and do it with all haste.

Of course there may be some circumstance where a damaged car might still be capable of affording some benefit to its driver. E.g. Damage from a crash on the last corner on the last lap may still leave a car able to limp across the line for a beneficial result. An out of fuel car may still be able to roll a long way to cross the line. A damaged but still running car or engine may still be able to carry you to some points. Common sense has to prevail of course, and no one can expert you not to do everything reasonable to enhance your own result. But, if your current situation is not served by staying on the track, then please get off, and get off as fast as you can.

Show yourself in their mirrors. Grand Prix Legends, ( GPL ), has the biggest blind spots of many a racing sim, ( see below ). To state the obvious, if the driver in front of you can’t see you then don’t be surprised if they crash into you, or cut you off so you can’t avoid crashing into them. As much as you can, show yourself in the mirrors of the car in front.

Of course once you decide to overtake a car you have to drive into their blind spots. But even then, if they get a good view of what your movements are immediately prior to your disappearing, they’ll have a much better idea of your probable position and likely immediate actions, and what they need to do to try to avoid contact. This is not quite the same as real life perhaps, but real life enjoys a much better visual range.

Trying to stay away from an opponent’s mirrors may be a valid tactical ploy. I.e., trying to rattle them into an error by making them guess where you are. But in GPL this is asking for trouble. In my opinion GPLs' visual limitations requires us to play the gentleman here, if only for our own survival and enjoyment.

Never run into the back of someone in front of you. This is probably one of the silliest things one driver can do to another. There’s few excuses here. If you are behind then you have the responsibility to drive in a manner that will not lead to you running into a car ahead. It doesn't matter if you're faster, think you have the right to be let by, are more talented, or think that all slower drivers should not hold up faster drivers. If you're behind someone then that's your tough luck. You have to earn your pass the same as anyone. However frustrated you may be, or whatever, it is your responsibility not to run into the car in front of you. Even if their braking zones occur earlier than yours would normally, then tough luck. You have to anticipate these possibilities and drive accordingly.

If you've tried everything, braking, gearing down, changing line, etc., but can see you're still going to collide with a car ahead, then you should drive your own car off the track, crashing yourself out of the race if necessary, if that's what it takes to avoid such a contact.

The in-front driver must not do malicious braking of course. I.e. Deliberately slowing down inappropriately to rattle a following driver. They are required to drive with all haste and due propriety. But while doing so within their limits they are entitled not to have to worry about whether a following driver will run into them.

Being able to follow another driver without running into then is something you have to learn to do. It often takes keen judgment and many times is not easy. You want to be as close as possible, to snatch a pass if a chance comes along, but you need to be far enough away to respond to the ahead driver's manoeuvres, evasively sometimes. It does take practice and it is a skill. But its an essential skill for successful enjoyable online racing. You can practice with friends, in non-serious races, or with the AI cars offline. Offline, pick a car that's slower than you and try to hang on their tail for 10 laps or so without passing. You may surprise yourself at how much your skill in this area needs to be improved.

Avoid close racing when its not necessary. Not only does very close driving give you very little time to react if the need arises, it also increases very much the likelihood of a internet-lag-time caused collision. In GPL online there is always a risk of registering a collision in close driving even without any perceivable contact - due to internet lag. The closer you are to another car the more likely this will happen. The general rule for the careful and respectful driver would be, not to unnecessarily drive too close to another, especially whenever there is no point. E.g. In situations where there is no possibility of passing anyway. You're asking for trouble if you do, even if you don't actually do anything wrong.

So how close is too close ?

Crt f2s2r7b.gif
Crt f2s2r7a.gif

A view like the left from the cockpit equates to this close at the right. Probably a lot closer than you thought you were. Unfortunately GPL gives the impression you are further away than you actually are. In this case, from the cockpit, you may think you're a car length behind, but you're only inches away.


This close is way too close. You're begging for a lag collision if you drive like this - as in fact actually happened moments after this snapshot was taken.

Crt f2s2r7d.gif
Crt f2s2r7c.gif

A view like the left from the cockpit equates to this close at the right - about a car length. As close as you need be for most circumstances. You might think you're 2 or 3 car lengths away here, but you're only about 1 car length behind the other.


As a guide, drive so you can see some road between the top of your cowling and the bottom of the ahead driver's tyres. This is a much safer position while waiting for a valid passing opportunity. You're still close enough to make a move when and if an opportunity arises and there's at least some time to react. A lag collision is also much less likely with this amount of gap.

As I think you can see here, its a general problem with the perception in GPL that you look further away from the car ahead than you actually are. But once you understand this then its up to you to drive accordingly.

Use Clear Body Language. If someone is following you closely looking for a place to pass, and you kind of drift along with ambiguous movements about the track, or you sort of close the door but still leave the inside line half open, then you just might unintentionally lure the following car to try a pass that's only half on. Alternatively, if as soon as a following car gets anywhere near your rear quarter coming up to a corner, and while they are still in your mirrors, you make a firm and clear movement towards the inside line, and stick there, then they will know that your intentions are to close the door and drive the defensive inside line. Such a clear defensive move will leave them in no doubt not to try a risky inside pass.

This is just one case. There are others. The thing is ... Always try to convey a clear message by your driving style so that surrounding drivers get a very good idea about your intentions. Body language used well can be almost as clear as having indicators on your car.

Practice the Other Lines Before You Have to Use Them. If the first time you have ever tried driving around the outside of a certain corner is in a frantic race situation when you're racing toe to toe with someone, then you'll be in unfamiliar territory in the middle of a high stress precision driving situation. A bad place to be. Before a race comes up, just try doing a few laps of the circuit hugging the left-hand-side of the road all the way around and then do a few hugging the right-hand-side. At the very least do 1 or 2 laps against each side of the road. You'll be surprised at how much less likely you are to crash while trying to hold road position if you are at least a little familiar with how the outer and inner lines feel.

Overtaking

The Non Contested Pass

A non contested pass is simply a pass where you're happy, for whatever reason, to let an overtaking driver go past with the least hindrance to them as possible. Your reasons may be that you don't want to risk an incident due to an overtaking battle, the overtaking driver may be known to you as a notorious accident causer, or you may be being lapped - in which case race etiquette requires you to do what you can to expedite a clean quick safe pass for the lapping driver. Whatever the reason, there may be times when you want to let someone past.

To let someone past uncontested, drive against one side of the track and maintain that position until they’ve passed. You need to use clear body language here. Moving from side to side trying to stay off the racing line, for the sake of the passing car, is the worse thing you can do. What’s important is not weather you’re on the racing line or not, but whether you’re driving a predictable line. Pick a side of the road to move to, usually the one you’re nearest to at the time, then religiously stay against that side until the car has passed. You might even try slowing a little to expedite the pass, as sometimes a quick pass can benefit you as much as it does the passer. But don’t slow down too abruptly of course.

In GPL during the race, if you're being lapped by another car you'll be shown blue flags by the marshals. These are advisory flags to let you know your about to be lapped and you're expected to do the gentlemanly thing and move out of the way.

Flag blue 001.gif

In GPL, you may not always see all the cars behind you in your mirrors at a particular time. There may be several unseen cars close by around your tail. You may only ever see whichever one happens to be in your mirror's field of vision at the moment. This has special significance when you're being passed - with or without blue flags being waved.

If you're being lapped, perhaps with blue flags but whenever, be aware there could be any number of lapping cars right on your gearbox even though you don't see them. What can happen is this ... You see a car coming up in your mirrors, maybe you also see blue flags, you think " there's a car lapping me I'll move over to let him pass", you move to one side of the road and let him through, you then move back onto the racing line and BAM, you've hit someone. It turns out there was more than one car lapping you. When you moved over to let the first one through the others tried to go through too, as you'd expect. But while you were on the other side of the road, they were out of you mirrors, you simply never got to see them.

This can really take you by surprise, and them too. All you can do here is be as careful as possible, look around if you're able too, try to shy a glimpse, listen for more engine sounds, toggle the arcade view for a moment. They can help by trying to show themselves in your mirrors before going through. Be aware that just because you see one car go past that may not be the end of them. Whether after a blue flag or whenever, as the same limitations always apply.

The drivers doing the lapping / passing should also bear in mind these limitations. You ( passing drivers ) be aware that the car you're lapping may have absolutely no knowledge of your presence what-so-ever. Be careful. You should always try to show yourself in the mirrors of an ahead car before trying a pass.

The Contested Pass

The contested pass, or the pass done in anger, whatever you want to call it, is arguably one of the most difficult things to do cleanly without incident in GPL. Battling for position, passing and counter passing, wheel to wheel racing, is also the most fun thing to do.

The problem with close racing of any sort, contested passing included, is largely one of what each driver in the situation can see of the other. Most people I've raced with are fair and don't mean to cause accidents. Most aren't reckless. Its just that there's a lot of guessing going on about exactly where and how close you are to another driver. The GPL range of vision is much less than real life. There are huge blind spots to contend with. In fact the restricted visual range in GPL is so much a factor in close racing situations it warrants a detailed discussion in itself. The contested pass then is all about what you can and can't see.

Grand Prix Legends' Blind Spots

GPL has got very large blind spots. In my opinion the biggest of the popular hardcore racing sims. ( Sometimes bigger is not better ). Often, nearby cars are simply not visible to you. This is a pity to be sure, but I suppose its due to limitations the program writers themselves would love to improve on, if only current technology would allow.

In any case, although there's nothing we can do to improve the situation, if we understand it thoroughly then perhaps we can work with it to the best degree - by applying due caution and anticipation.

The extent of the blind spots are as follows ...

Rdb blind spot 004.jpg

You can see down a narrow field of view extending out directly behind you via your mirrors. Forward of this mirror area your blind spots begin, ( the shadowed area in the illustration). Your forward vision isn't 180 degrees as you might imagine but is also restricted to an angled area that extends out in front of the car.

Perhaps one of the most significant things of which to be aware, is that your blind spots extend out in front of your own car. I've seen several exchanges where one guy says something like, " What were you doing ? I was in front of you ! The corner was mine ! ", etc. Obviously unaware that you can be in front but still be unseen.

What's also noteworthy is how the blind spot areas can effectively hide many nearby car positions. The big problem of close racing in GPL.

Here we see the problem in a nutshell. How many of the near-by cars do you think the driver of the Lotus will see ? The answer is none. They are all in his blind spots.
Rdb blind spot 001.jpg

Even the two cars shown here well in front of the Lotus will not be in his range of vision.

To make maters worse, only the blue car, in this case, can see the Lotus. In fact, apart from the blue car, none of the other cars in this scenario can see one another. Not a pleasant prospect for wheel to wheel racing. A case of the blind racing against the blind.

The answer to the problem of driving very close to other cars you can't actually see is to drive with a lot of caution, care, and respect for your fellow drivers. You have to use your wits and anticipation. Most importantly, you must leave room for other cars whenever you have reason to believe they might be beside you. You can't wait to be sure they're beside you. By the time you're sure, i.e. you can see them, its too late. In my opinion, you need to leave room simply if you have reason to believe someone might be beside you.

Recdriv.jpg
  1. Here the Ferrari is coming up on the Lotus. Each can see the other. Neither is in the blind spot shadow of the other. The Ferrari has plain forward view of the Lotus and the Lotus can see the Ferrari in his mirrors. Note, If the Lotus wants to guard the inside line, as he's entitled to do, now is the time to close the door and move to the inside, while the Ferrari is still in his mirrors.
  2. The Ferrari here has moved up along the inside of the Lotus. Each are in the blind spot shadow of the other. Neither can see the other. But remember that the Lotus driver has just seen the Ferrari come forward from behind and then disappear while heading up his inside track. He has every reason to anticipate that the Ferrari might be beside him. Its too late for the Lotus to guard the inside line at this stage. He's missed his chance. What happens next will depend on whether the Lotus driver leaves room or not.
  3. Shown here is what happens all too often, as the Lotus driver moves towards the apex and squeezes out the Ferrari. The Lotus driver should have left room, at least a lane width, for the Ferrari to manoeuvre along the inside.