Wrecks Happen
In stewarding, something we see a fair amount of is, after an incident, racers charge into it like nothing out of the ordinary is happening. They go into it with “thoughts and prayers”.
Once in a great while racers get through it unscathed which makes them feel invincible. But in fact, 9 times out of 10 they don’t, and then they ruin their race and potentially the race of others that did slow down. I’m guilty of this. But seeing the results over and over while reviewing video, I’m changing my actions.
In a recent race, I did it different…better I think. I got on the binders hard when I saw an accident in front of me. Pretty much as I would have in real life. I nearly stopped. When it settled a bit and it was clear I could make it through, I started up again. Took a few seconds. Doing that helped me finish 2nd with 0x. If I hadn’t braked hard and instead gone for a gap, I think it would have ended me.
The moral of this story is, if we think about our races in a more “real” manner, the better our races will be. I’ve had to slam on the brakes on track in real life many times. Why? Because I didn’t want to mess up my, or another person’s car. iRacing isn’t real life, but it’s not a bad simulation. The more real we make it, the better our races will be.
