Defensive driving

[Keith Gregg]

I always see people talking about aggressive drivers...but where is the line considered to be in a gentlemans race between defending your position or just being a dick to the guy behind?
Again...sorry for the dopey questions...they just kinda pop into my head while I am practicing lol.
Thanks

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

As long as you defend by the rules you can defend as much as you can. You can move from your line once and then you need to stick to it. The attacking driver than has the opportunity to do his thing and try to overtake you.

Imo a good defend and attacking battle is the best thing that can happen during a race. Especially when it's going on lap after lap. That's racing.

 

[Brandon Wright]

I always see people talking about aggressive drivers...but where is the line considered to be in a gentlemans race between defending your position or just being a dick to the guy behind?
Again...sorry for the dopey questions...they just kinda pop into my head while I am practicing lol.
Thanks

Like Bram said, the lead driver gets to pick their line but they're only allowed to move once, so no swerving back and forth to block the trailing driver from making a move. What I do when someone is on my tail is when we exit the turn I immediately move to the inside line and stay there all the way to the next turn. I'll give the trailing driver all the room in the world to get around me but I'm going to make them do it on the outside which is the harder way around, and more times than not I come out of the turn with the position. Just gotta remember to adjust your entry because you will be entering the turn form the non-ideal line and if you're not careful you'll push wide into the driver trying to get around on the outside.

 

[Keith Gregg]

Thanks guys...this is all invaluable info for me to progress further in the correct manner in my hobby...thanks for being patient and answering my total n00b questions
Cheers

 

[Shadowoff]

I prefer waiting until the very last moment to decide which way I go. Its also about the car and kind of corner whether I choose the inside or outside line. When its a heavy braking corner you should move to the inside (for example Monza 2nd chicane) while I actually prefer on long and fast corner (for example Monza Parabolica). The side you choose should also match your and your enemies car. When youre fighting against a car which is quicker in the corner but slower on the straights than you, you should choose the inside to be head to head with him on the exist so that you can re-overtake on the the next straight. If your enemy is slower in the corners and quicker on the straight line I prefer to choose the outside as you could possibly overtake him around the outside in the corner. In the end you still need to decide by your own, so no comment will give you a 100& true advise for your situation

 

[Rupe Wilson]

I personally have no enemies when racing just race buddies,
Club racing is about having fun.

 

[Keith Gregg]

I noticed at his evenings rookie event that I was worrying more about what was going on behind me than I did about what was in front of me....in practice I was hit up the arse by a car right behind me when approaching the second chicane and shunted totally into the sand, so I became very nervous about the cars behind me from then on (mirror watching)...I'm convinced this was effecting my times.
Also on this subject...In the UK if you get hit from behind in a traffic/road accident then it is always considered to be the person who does the hitting's fault...does the same kind of logic apply in motor racing?
Cheers

 

[Psycho333]

usually the driver behind is at fault, except when the driver in front does something unusual like brake unreasonably early to throw the other driver off or tries to push the other guy off track by just moving to the side more and more, practically trying to shut the door on the other guy whilst he is already half way through. That is the biggest problem in open lobbies/ with new or just bad drivers i find.

I personally always deactivate virtual mirror when i am on a hotlap in Q or FP
when i am on the out or inlap i put it on of course
in the race i activate it at the start and when i see that i am not in a battle i just off it again
you just lose concentration and make so many more mistakes when always looking back
once you find yourself being more skilled in defending you will be way more chilled in the heat of the battle
just concentrate on your own line, if you take the corner perfectly there will be no way for the other guy behind to really try an overtake (except for drs on formula cars, but if the other guy plays it right you cant do sh** [rly, that's cencored?!] against that anyway), you only have to look back and see what the other guy is doing when you make a mistake at the corner-exit and you will make more of those when your eyes are glued to the mirrors instead of the road ahead.

i would also recommend the app "helicorsa"
it only appears when there is someone near you and if he is besides you it lights up in yellow or orange
so it doesnt distract you when you drive on your own but gives you a warning when somebody is near you or on your inside/ in a dead angle.

 

[Kek700]

You should not be worried about being punted from behind, I spent a couple of months on open servers before finding RD and I developed a real phobia about it,(with good reason they will aim at you from a 100 meters away); one I still find difficult to suppress.
RD are very good at controlling this type of behaviour.
You find that even after a couple of months racing
Online with RD you develope a trust for the guys you race against here.
To blab on a bit more, I always look at the situation I am in; a driver that is behind me because he had an off and is a couple of seconds faster than me and I still have 4 or 5 laps to go.
I will make it easy for an overtake or just let him past. If it is with just 1 to 2 laps I might have a go at defending, but as said before it really is a constantly moving variable based on the situation your in.
You will soon get a feel for it the more events you do, this I enjoy most of all ( the tactics ) and I still have a massive amount to learn from those I race against fast or slow ( just relative terms )

 

[Coffer]

until the very last moment

I hope that doesn't mean you're doing it under braking since, outside of F1 where stewarding has become needlessly lenient, that's really toeing the line OP mentioned.

 

[Shadowoff]

I hope that doesn't mean you're doing it under braking since, outside of F1 where stewarding has become needlessly lenient, that's really toeing the line OP mentioned.

With very last moment I mean when my enemy is really close behind me

 

[Rob Every]

Another aspect you have to consider in games like AC is that not everyone uses the same view of their racing.

I always use in car, and only have enough buttons to use for gears and look back, nothing else, so cannot look side to side.

And people with bonnet view or car view can have a better perspective.

Plus depending on your FOV settings, you might be able to see a little or a lot, I can usually see the top part of the wheel and spokes, that's it, no legs, no full wheel and rarely much out of the side window.

This all plays a part too