Presto GP Racing Guidelines2

[Nicolai Nicholson]

Something went wrong when I tried to move these three posts to this thread. Luckily I had pasted them into word before "moving" them So here they are, please feel free to add stuff that is missing, but please keep this thread as clean and to the point as possible. Highlight the key word(s) with bold red like in the other posts

The no pit speed limit was introduced in season 7 to make a 2 stop more competitive with 1 stop (in season 6 almost everybody were stopping once). In addition we incresed the race length with 7-10 minutes which we stole from the qualify session (which is now super-pole). The result was that almost everybody was on a 2 stopper... lol. The intentions were to make the two strategies more equal in general to see more variation in strategy, but we over did it.

Now the problem is that everybody likes the no pit speed limit challenge so much that we are stuck in 2-stop land unless we shorten the race slightly...

Anyhoo, back to the topic, this is how I execute my pit stops:
-I turn auto pit off (or, I leave it off, but it might be on in your game setup)
-The lap I want to pit I push a button to call my garage on the radio "pit this lap" they say, this means they will work immediatly on your car instead of waiting 2-3 seconds before starting.
-As I enter the pit lane the pit limiter will turn itself on, therefore I press the turn pit limiter on/off button almost the same moment I pass the line
-I can see the countdown in meters to my pit. Depending on my speed I usually need between 100-125 meters to make a complete stop, but this I practice in the practice session before the race (then you have the same pit as you will in the race).
-When your crew fuel your car, the engine will be shut off. If you manually ignite and start it when they are done fueling and change your tyres, you will be able to start driving the second they are done working. If you leave it to the "automatics" you will loose 2 sec or so.
One more thing, all cars are ghosts in the pit lane, you cannot crash into somebody, you might even share a spot with someone else
-Obviously, take car when leaving the pits, watch out for people behind you and on the track.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

The safety in lap 1 (and the rest of the race)...

Well, simply put, we need to remind drivers to be more careful, because the fact that this is a simulator makes us take bigger chances. Drive as it was real -> crashing is not an alternative throughout the race. The more skilled you get the closer the racing you can allow yourself.

If one apply the above guideline in lap 1 where there are a lot of cars in a very little space -> extreme traffic, one needs to be super careful to stay safe. If one feel one cannot be safe starting in the middle of the pack, start from the back instead.

There can also be a sync issue, especially if the driver is not located in Europe, so keep a buffer distance to these cars (0,5-1 meter)

PrestoGP works under the logic that every driver are responsible for themselves. Everybody are expected to drive by these standards as it maximises the collective pleasure You can imagine what it feels like if you have waited 2 weeks and spent many hours preparing, and then a co-racer crash you out in t1 :eek:

I think I speak for all when I say that my nerves are in the ceiling right before the start and during the long seconds it takes before the race "settles" (that I have slotted in, one in front, one behind and nobody on the sides, this usually takes a few turns). But even at this stage it is super dangerous, being part of a long chain, one need to stay super sharp, think safety and not gaining places.

Personally I have only caused one accident at the start of the race, and that is more than 3 years and more than 70 races ago. It was acctually the first race ever, in our beta season, and i rear ended Jim at Monza at the start. I say this not to brag, but to put safety into perspective.

If I am supressing my own mistakes now, and am more unsafe than I think myself, please feel free to refresh my mind. I know I crashed into jakob De Boer at the end of lap 1 in season 4 I think it was, he lost two places but received no injury. And I have also had some grey area situations

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

Practice starts:
After the practice session, but before the qualify, we do 3 practice starts. That means that we'll jump directly from practice to race, everybody will join the track with race setup withing 1 minute and we'll do the start and about a minute into the first lap before we jump to the start of the race again and to the same 2 more times.

The third time we'll keep it going to the end of the lap and everybody will pit (as to have a small test there as well).

The reason for the 3 practice starts is to improve safety. It is vital that everybody treat it seriously and try to stay clean. It is of mamuth importance that we manage to have a clean race start and also a clean race

After the third practice start we'll jump to qualify:

Qualify -> Super pole
The qualify session is 5 minutes long and the format is super pole. That means that you can only leave your garage once, and only your first timed lap (the one after the out lap) will count. So the mission is to deliver a decent lap time in one try, much like in real f1

Also, you will be alone on the track, no traffic issue.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

Being competitive:
I think as a rough guideline one should be no slower than within 0,5 second behind the second slowest driver to enter the race. If one are e.g. 1 second or more a lap slower, chances are you will not be able to "race" anybody and will mainly be a hazzard for the rest throughout the race.

Exceptions can be made if the driver shows progress (an accending learning curve) and/or show very high skills in the art of being lapped Or in general, the matter will be viewed upon individually. The important thing is to show that you want to improve.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

Originally written by Valerio:

hei Nico these are not 2 or 3 tips this is a Bible.

little mention about lapping, remember guys let the time at slowest drivers ( ) for yours overtaking, I run with map activated and usually look mirrors so when someone arrived I know but if Im in battle is not so easy let free the room need a bit more time.
GOOD SEASON 8 at ALL

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

Originally written by Peter:

One more "guideline" of some importance maybe?

One defensive move only per staightaway -> can move once accross the track once [leftside or rightside/ inside or outside] but not then back again.
i.e move to the inside [defend] before the corner and then must leave room on the outside [the optimal braking zone] for your opponent. No weaving to brake the "tow" of an oppoinent.

Post race incident reports and analysis are required writing and reading. hehe

....GOOD SEASON 8 at ALL