Contact!

Driving race cars on the limit is a challenging activity. Add in variable track and weather conditions, plus other cars sharing the same piece of road, and it becomes a constantly changing and formidable task. Most of the time we get it right, and everyone is able to keep to their own piece of the track. Occasionally though, cars come in contact.

Contact between cars is obviously undesirable, and something that is not taken lightly by officials. There are some simple things to keep in mind though to help keep you out of strife, and ensure you're operating in the spirit of the Independent Race Series and maintaining harmony with your fellow competitors and respective their and your own investment.

Avoid contact in the first place

Seems pretty obvious, and the most effective way to do this is never to overtake anyone - obviously that is not a workable solution (nor one that we would encourage), so a better approach is needed.

Know your fellow competitors. You can start working on this before you even line up on the grid for a race. Other drivers racing line, braking points and on track demeanour will certainly be subtly different to your own. You can observe these things in practice and qualifying sessions, and you should work to build a mental database of what to expect from your competitors when you encounter them on track. Knowing what to expect from them will mean you are prepared if you see the other guy brake a little earlier, or turn in a little later. It will help you be ready for it, take advantage of it, and avoid contact.

Know the track. When you are practicing, as well as just learning the fastest way around a circuit, look for good, effective overtaking places. Generally you'll be looking for somewhere you can get a better run out of the preceding corner or a tow on the straight, to set yourself up in a favorable position approaching the braking zone. A long braking zone is good, and you'll also want a section where you can make the pass stick (where you can exit the corner firmly in the lead and pull a small gap on the next section). Sections like this are rare, so sometimes you need to look for the best compromise and file it away as one of your preferred overtaking places.

Know your car. The most important part of this is knowing your cars strengths relative to the competition. Is it lighter and nimbler? Or more powerful and stable? This will help you know where the best place to pass might be.

Know your limitations. If you consider all of the above, and know your own limitations: how late you can brake, how fast you can take each corner, how tight you can hold your line and so on, you should be able to successfully overtake without making contact.

Know when to back out. Sometimes you can line the perfect pass up, but the other guy doesn't see you, or is baulked by something out of your control - be on the lookout for this, and know when to play it safe and try the pass on the next lap, or on another corner.

If you make contact, apologise

The person you have made contact with may not always be in the most receptive mood, depending on the outcome (but hopefully you've applied most of the principles above, and the consequence of the contact was minor), but generally the sooner you can apologise, the more it means. If you gained an advantage on the circuit as a result of the contact, and you can redress the situation, do it as soon as you can - don't slam your brakes on in front of the other car, but blend out of the way and allow him back past (a good example of this can be seen here, where Daniel Flanagan inadvertently contacts Tony Grant and slows a couple of corners later to allow him back past).

If you have the chance to redress things during the race or not, you should always make the effort to apologise to the other driver in person.

Never make deliberate contact

Deliberate contact will not be tolerated in the Independent Race Series, you may receive anything from a warning to a complete ban from the series.

The role of the driver being overtaken

No racer likes to be overtaken, but there are a few things to keep in mind to minimize the likelihood of contact. Be aware of all the considerations mentioned above. Know what is going on around you - checking your mirrors will let you know if a car is gaining, the rate of closure should give you an idea if you should expect a move at the next corner. You're generally within your rights to defend your line, but you should not change your line once the other car has achieved an overlap. If you see another car going for a move that will clearly never work, sometimes it's best to just move aside for a moment and allow that car to go off on their own (rather than taking you with them).

Final thoughts

Racing is a tricky business. Racecars are expensive. Contact is something we should do our best to avoid, and if the worst does happen, apologise and endeavor to redress any advantage it may have gained you.

Most of all, remember these iRace principles:

We care about safety

We care about each other

Flagging Attention

Motor racing is dangerous. It's printed on every circuit admission ticket you've ever seen. But really, motor racing is for the most part a safe activity. Part of that safety is directly attributable to the communication and control of the Race Control team.

From time to time Race Control need to communicate directly with a driver or drivers. And the only way to do this is via flag signals. It's important that everyone knows exactly what each flag means, so the messages that are passed aren't misunderstood or ignored.

Below is a short refresher on what each flag means. This information can also be found in the iRace Series Rules & Regulations.

Black Flag

Driver Action:
Enter the pitlane on the next lap

Reason for Use:
Shown when there has been an infringement or other problem

Black and White Diagonal Flag

Driver Action:
Correct driving behaviour or standards

Reason for Use:
Warning flag shown when driver is behaving in an unsportsmanlike manner

Chequered Flag

Driver Action:
Cease racing and return to pits or paddock

Reason for Use:
Marks the completion of the race or session

Blue Flag

Driver Action:
Check mirrors and prepare to be overtaken

Reason for Use:
Usually waved when a faster car is approaching or attempting to overtake a lapped car

Green Flag

Driver Action:
Resume racing

Reason for Use:
All clear ahead (usually after an incident zone)

Black with Orange Disc Flag (Meatball)

Driver Action:
Stop at pit on the next lap

Reason for Use:
Vehicle has a mechanical problem which may cause a safety hazard

Red Flag

Driver Action:
Stop racing, return to the grid or pitlane (as directed), be prepared to stop at any point, NO OVERTAKING

Reason for Use:
The race or session must be stopped for safety reasons, usually an on-track incident

Red and Yellow Striped Flag

Driver Action:
Use caution the racing surface is degraded or slippery

Reason for Use:
The circuit is breaking up, or oil/coolant or debris on surface

White Flag

Driver Action:
Use caution, slow moving vehicle on the circuit

Reason for Use:
Slow moving racecar or service vehicle on the circuit

Yellow Flag

Driver Action:
Slow, use caution, be prepared to stop or take avoiding action, NO OVERTAKING

Reason for Use:
An incident or obstruction on the circuit. Waved if partial blockage of the track, double-waved if significant blockage

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Roll On: How an Anti Roll Bar Works

Most racecars are fitted with at least one anti roll bar. Anti roll bars are a simple and effective way to fine tune the handling characteristics of a racecar, and yet they are often poorly understood and sometimes used incorrectly. This article will attempt to explain the three things an anti roll bar does, and why you might want to do these three things. Finally, it will attempt to provide an explanation of what change to make to your anti roll bar to achieve the result you want.

There are some technical explanations missing from this article. This is deliberate. We want to keep things as simple as possible, focussing mostly on what anti roll bar change to make to achieve the right result. For more in depth coverage of this topic, you might like to refer to Allan Staniforth's excellent book: Competition Car Suspension.

What does an Anti Roll Bar do?

Resists Roll
The anti roll bar (as is implicit in the name), resists roll. As a racecar drives through a corner, the anti roll bar works to resist compression in the outside suspension, and also works to resist extension in the inside suspension.

Increases Spring Rate
The anti roll bar increases the effective spring rate in the outside suspension when the car is going through a corner.

Transfers Weight
In a cornering situation, the anti roll bar works to transfer weight from the inside tyre to the outside tyre. If anti roll bars are fitted front and rear, the relative strength of the anti roll bars at each end will also work to transfer weight from front to rear or vice versa.

What does all this mean?

Resisting roll is generally a good thing. It maintains the racecar in a relatively stable platform. For an aero sensitive car, it will also keep the wings working at or near their optimum. Most cars also experience some camber change as the suspension moves through it's travel. Any change in camber from optimum means less of the tyre is in contact with the track - this means less grip. The roll resistance provided by an anti roll bar can help reduce this by keeping the tyre closer to optimum camber.

Increasing spring rate leads us into how we use the anti roll bar to tune the suspension. The static spring rate at each end of the car is normally selected to keep the tyre in contact with the track surface as much as possible. Too soft, and the suspension will deflect to the point where the bodywork/floor contacts the ground, or the suspension reaches the end of its travel. Too hard, and the tyre will spend most of its time skipping across the surface. If we go to the extreme, to solid suspension, the tyre will quickly become overloaded and skate through every corner. So, if we assume that the spring rate is already at optimum, an increase will result in some reduction of grip.

Weight transfer means that more of the cars total weight is carried by one wheel than the other. If we imagine a car that, when parked, has equal weight on every corner (say 250kg), all tyres will provide the same amount of grip. As this imaginary car enters a left hand corner, some of the weight is transferred to the outside tyres (the exact amount will depend on roll centre heights and other things beyond the scope of this article). If the anti roll bars front and rear are the same, the weight transfer at the front and rear will be the same. We now have 300kg on the right hand tyres, and 200kg on the left hand tyres. If we were to simplify things, we would assume that this means we now have 20% of our grip coming from each inside tyre, and 30% from each outside tyre - this is not accurate, the relationship between tyre load and resultant grip is not linear. The actual figures may be something more like: 15% from each inside tyre, and 35% from each outside tyre. If we stiffen the front anti roll bar (but leave the rear the same, the result may be something like: LF 180kg, RF 320kg, LR 200kg, RR 300kg. Because the load/grip curve is not linear, the amount of grip at each tyre will be something like: LF 10%, RF 38%, LR 15%, RR 37%. If we then compare total front grip to total rear grip, we see there is 48% at the front, and 52% at the rear. Stiffening the front anti roll bar has given us a higher proportion of grip at the rear. The car is now more likely to understeer.

Putting it into practice

There are a number of ways to remember what effect an anti roll bar change will have.

You may like to think of it as putting a stiffer anti roll bar at one end of the car, will 'tie-down' the opposite end, ie; a stiffer bar in the front will yield more rear grip.

Or you may consider that the anti roll bar reduces compliance at the end it is used, and reduces grip at that end of the car.

Both of these explanations overly simplify what is actually happening, but they do help to remember which way to make changes when adjusting setup at the circuit.

Essentially, to reduce understeer, you may try using a stiffer rear anti roll bar (trade offs will be reduced rear grip, worse power down for RWD cars), or a softer front anti roll bar may be more appropriate.

To reduce oversteer, go for a stiffer front anti roll bar, or soften the rear anti roll bar.

Further Reading

• Competition Car Suspension by Allan Staniforth
• Drive to Win by Carroll Smith
• Tune to Win by Carroll Smith
• How to Make Your Car Handle by Fred Puhn
• Race Car Engineering & Mechanics by Paul Van Valkenburgh

Disclaimer:

Remember, you are responsible for the consequences of any changes you make, and any adverse outcomes. This article is provided for reference only. Neither iRace or the author offer any warranty or any liability for any damage or injury caused by tweaking any racecar.