Libre Driver wrote:professional.dreamer wrote:Forget the lap timer. Every lap will incur various impediments that will cause every lap to be so different that it really won't matter.
You raise a good point. However one purpose of the lap timer is for team management. You see, this will enable us to identify the weakest link so that we can help him reach is full potential. Through ridicule.
Weakest link? So... what happens if your "best" driver gets stuck behind some lame driver (like me) one lap? Then, the next lap, he gets stuck behind some other lame driver (like me)? Does this make your "best" driver the weakest link?With 100+ cars on the track, no one will ever get a perfectly clear lap. Ain't gonna happen. No way. Impossible. If they're lucky, they may get a clear couple of corners or a combination with a straightaway. But a full lap? I'll bet a bowl of chili on it. And, if the planets align and somehow, somebody does look like they're having a great lap, I'll make sure to take an early apex at T5 and slow them down all the way to T11.
Personally, as a driver, once I'm in the car, I could care a rat's ass about my lap times. Consistency, timing and strategy are what I'm focusing on. I can feel when I'm consistent in my laps times by the cadence of the track and my own comfort level. I'm also studying the other cars and drivers, trying to match and memorize cars and helmet colors or identify other small idiosyncrasies that tell me I can trust certain drivers or warn me to stay clear of others. A lap timer would be a HUGE distraction to me.
The best you can look and hope for is consistency, especially in endurance races. A driver that -- lap after lap after lap -- maintains the same lap times (+/- 1 or 2 seconds) over a 1 or 2 hour stint will be your BEST driver, regardless of how fast or slow he/she is.
Well, okay -- there is a limit as to how slow someone can go, but if they're an impediment to others, they'll probably be Black Flagged and removed from the track pretty quickly (or punted off). What I'm talking about is driving at a solid, consistent 80%-85% throughout their stint/session.
This person will be pacing themselves and pacing the traffic, as well as maintaining the car. That kind of consistency also says that he/she is driving the same line, lap after lap after lap, which means that this person is being consistent with and to the other drivers... everyone will know what to expect from that driver going into or coming out of any corner.
In an endurance race, you couldn't ask for a better driver.
"Age only matters if you're a cheese." Helen Hayes