Planning an accident - a shallow dive into race strategy
The lights go out and your heart’s beating at 180 bpm. It feels like the next beat will be out of our chest. For the next 8 laps, your brain capacity moves into cognitive reactionary mode, a fight for survival. Senses sharpen. You hear better, you see more depth and your reactions become quicker. Don’t get taken out. Avoid taking anyone else out. So it goes. Multiply that situation for 54 other drivers in the same situation you are, fighting for the same piece of circled tarmac, and you quickly realize that for the first few laps it’s a dynamic environment of chaos…a “grab what you can” situation. Back to the question at hand.
The Race Strategy.
Race strategies start the very split second you undo that harness at Parc Fermé at the end of your last race. If you’re not in deep thought around improvement, then what are you doing on a racetrack? That’s the thing. Most of the strategy involves what you do during the weeks leading up to the race. Much like an exam that you need to prepare for, only this time you’re dealing with real life and no mulligans. Sure, you may be some ace but if things aren’t right on your car then things are inevitably going to go poorly. So it goes for other factors too.
It’s a dynamic space of shifting circumstances that will affect your preparedness. The weather that week, track conditions on the day like whether you have a green track or if there have been a few races before you where it’s been rubbered up. It all plays a part and changes at the drop of an oil spill.
I broke strategy into two parts –
A) Leading up to the race – The unglorified parts that mostly consist of effort, stress, long hours and loads of cash, the things you don’t see on Instagram.
B) The Race itself and the strategy – For the race itself, I’ve included footage starting from the rolling start itself, onwards. I’ll pick out a few notable items that I’ll talk to.
PART A) Leading up to the Race…This usually takes shape during the four weeks between races.
The car
Things need to be race-ready, tire condition…brakes, suspension, electronics engine…the list continues. Are the wheels torqued sufficiently? How are your tire pressures? How comfortable are you in the car? Is everything fastened onto the car correctly? It sounds silly but during a race, a car is subjected to harsh conditions and things will rattle themselves loose. Naturally, going into each practice session leading up to the race, knowing that everything is secure will give you peace of mind in order to work on your driving and not worry about your car. Trust your instinct. If something doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t. Lean into that.
2. Mental Game
Mental readiness is key. How are you feeling? What’s your headspace like? Are you approaching the day with a clear mind? These are questions that need to be considered. A steady mind gives clarity. Clarity helps sharp decision making.
3. Physical preparedness
A beer or two before the night isn’t going to hurt you but a few pints will. It’ll take that edge off. You’ll feel tired. Get loads of sleep the night before…if you can. It will help if you can get some degree of fitness training and healthy lifestyle in during the weeks leading up so put down the burgers. Although this type of racing (Sprint racing) is not as demanding as endurance racing, a healthier lifestyle leading up to the day of the race does help proper performance.
4. Administration
It’s not always about the fun (Sorry). Have you made sure all your admin is in gear? Have you entered? Have you paid the relevant fees? Have you got the right national license to compete? It’s so easy to get porridge brain on the day so get that stuff sorted the day before or earlier. The last thing you want is a marshal stopping you before you go out to practice, checking to see if things are in order. Make sure before the time.
5. Practice
Seat time in the car is as important a part in race day strategy as the race itself. You don’t want to be experiencing things for the first time during a race. Like hitting an oil patch at 190km/h under you heaviest point of braking (Like I did). Granted I got away scot-free, it’s a harrowing experience nonetheless. More time practicing racing lines, hitting braking points and trying different lines is all part of the process too. The more mistakes you make in practice, the better. Know how the car behaves so when it comes around again, you’re ready.
PART B) The race strategy itself – disclaimer. Most of these points are more considerations than strategy and reason they’re noted is that responses and planning pivot around them. Some need to be planned and others need to happen more instinctively.
1. Qualifying
Qualifying especially where a championship objective is in mind and every point counts, is important but not quite as important getting through the first corner unscathed.
2. Grid position going into turn one…and two
Grid position going into the first turn is vital. What happens if things do go sour? What happens if there is an accident? There are likely 30 cars in front of you. The chances are high. Pre-empt it and know what to do before it arrives. My advice is that it’s cheaper to get onto the dirt and drive around than through an accident.
3. Staying out of trouble
Refer to point two above. There’s more than enough trouble in a race so don’t go out intentionally looking for it. Feel out what everyone else is doing quickly.
4. Understanding your position in the field
Knowing how fast you are in comparison to the rest of the field is key. If you don’t do this, you’ll find yourself overreaching and possibly falling off the side of the circuit.
5. Find Tarmac
Look for a piece of tarmac and go for it. Don’t sit back. Take calculated chances but be patient. Some passes take a lap or two to set up so be patient but if you see a gap, go for it. Also racing lines, sometimes, don’t exist.
6. Conditions
Understanding conditions on the day is a handy tool to have at your disposal. Figure out what happens if it rains and what the track’s going to be like. Have someone tell you what happened in the previous race before you. Perhaps there was an oil spill in the race preceeding yours that’s getting cleaned up. You want to be aware of that.
Naturally, everything happens at a much quicker pace and when it does, your responses should be instinctive. If you need to pause for a moment and think, racing a car isn’t for you.
Last and most importantly above above everything, is always build into your strategy that ‘fun’ needs to be had. Whether it be serious or lighthearted. If you’re not enjoying yourself through learning, growing and improving then stop and rather do something else like tennis or beach volleyball.
