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I must have slowed down more than these guys did for the yellow flags. Either that or they really are a whole lot faster than me down the straights, because I've obviously lost some ground on them. | ||||
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Trying a bit too hard to regain the lost ground, I'm a little ragged through the left turn going into the left/right kink. | ||||
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But as we turn into the right hand portion of the S-bend, I'm at
pretty much the perfect distance from Hiroki to try another run at him.
Note that I've actually allowed the gap to increase a bit here, as I purposely slow down more than Hiroki to ensure I can hook onto the better traction available tight on the inside at the exit of this right turn. |
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Excellent. This is shaping up well!
Just from looking at this image, you can already see that I will carry more speed than Hiroki onto the straight following this upcoming left turn. I have a nice wide approach into the left turn from here, will clip the apex on the left, then accelerate in a wide arc all the way out to the far right snowbank on the exit. That has to be a faster line through this corner than what Hiroki is planning from his current location tight up against the left snowbank. |
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I'm running as straight a line as possible through this corner, whereas Hiroki again makes an exaggerated tight zig-zag out of it. First he crosses my line to the right, then makes almost a hairpin tight turn to the left, and now he's crossing back to exit the turn in the centre of the track. | ||||
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Just look at the way I've gobbled up the distance between us!
I'm way faster through this combination corner.
Because we started into the corner with a fairly large gap between us, Hiroki is still ahead of me for the moment. But more significantly, the gap permitted us both to safely cross paths on our chosen lines without ever actually intersecting and tripping over each other. I've already got a better head of steam on than he does, and I don't need to back off at all this time. I should be able to slingshot up the right side and hopefully pull far enough ahead to turn across his nose at the end of this straight, except... |
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...Nuts!
Watch the way that Festiva takes off like a jack rabbit once Hiroki finally has it straightened out and hooked up. That car has amazing straight line acceleration!!! This stinks big time. It's not going to matter what I do in this corner. I'll never have enough speed onto this straight to beat him in a drag race. Certainly not with me on the outside for the next left turn. If I can ever get this to work, it will have to be with me on the inside. |
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This is frustrating. | ||||
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I can close right up in the corners, but he just blasts aways from
me on the straights.
It's the same old problem. My rear-wheel-drive Chevette is clearly better in the corners, but Hiroki's (more powerful) front-wheel-drive Festiva has the advantage on the straights.
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