Every sim racer probably knows that unpleasant feeling that sets in when things go wrong early in a racer: A collision in turn one, an unforced error just a few laps in or a backmarker not paying attention getting lapped result in a damaged car and wondering whether continuing is worth it. Our answer: It almost always is.
A damaged car means losing time, most of the time both on the track while limping back to the pits, and then for repairs during the stop itself. It would be easy to think about retiring if it happens early on - there is a big gap you will have to claw back, after all, and what are the chances that you actually do? Sometimes it would be tough to get back all the lost time, considering the pace of the competition. Sim racers then tend to calculate with the thought of "if it all stays like that" when it comes to the rest of the field.
In very short sprint races, this might not necessarily apply, but any event of about an hour or longer is so unpredictable that a good finishing position is still within grasp even if throwbacks happen repeatedly. With this in mind, adopting a state of mind that focuses on the "never give up" mantra could end up netting you more positive results than you might expect.
Managing your frustration is extremely important in these cases so the damaged car gets to the pits without further incidents, but also to continue without trying to overdrive the car or still being angry after getting repaired. While this might seem difficult, trying to simply focus on the task ahead instead of what just happened goes a long way - even better if you have teammates that can encourage you and create a positive atmosphere.
Early in the race, we got collected in an incident between two BMWs an then hit another who had spun just in front of us at Hohenrain on the way to the pits, result in over 13 minutes of repairs after just the first lap. It was not the last incident that led to very long pit stops during our race, but we kept going and eventually even finished in the top 15 - in 14th, to be exact. On our way there, we regularly passed other cars that were stranded in the pits for an eternity.
A damaged car means losing time, most of the time both on the track while limping back to the pits, and then for repairs during the stop itself. It would be easy to think about retiring if it happens early on - there is a big gap you will have to claw back, after all, and what are the chances that you actually do? Sometimes it would be tough to get back all the lost time, considering the pace of the competition. Sim racers then tend to calculate with the thought of "if it all stays like that" when it comes to the rest of the field.
What If...?
The key word is "if": Rarely do things ever keep going consistently for absolutely everyone in a race, and this means that there usually will be opportunities to make up for lost time - simply because everyone else is likely going to make mistakes as well. Remember: If it could happen to you, it can happen to anyone else as well.In very short sprint races, this might not necessarily apply, but any event of about an hour or longer is so unpredictable that a good finishing position is still within grasp even if throwbacks happen repeatedly. With this in mind, adopting a state of mind that focuses on the "never give up" mantra could end up netting you more positive results than you might expect.
Managing your frustration is extremely important in these cases so the damaged car gets to the pits without further incidents, but also to continue without trying to overdrive the car or still being angry after getting repaired. While this might seem difficult, trying to simply focus on the task ahead instead of what just happened goes a long way - even better if you have teammates that can encourage you and create a positive atmosphere.
Editor's Take
The perfect example for this mentality at work is the Nürburgring 24 Hours Special Event in iRacing that recently took place. I took part in a GT3 Porsche with three teammates who had little endurance experience in iRacing, and our goal was to simply finish the race. After problems in qualifying, we started all the way down in 42nd overall.Early in the race, we got collected in an incident between two BMWs an then hit another who had spun just in front of us at Hohenrain on the way to the pits, result in over 13 minutes of repairs after just the first lap. It was not the last incident that led to very long pit stops during our race, but we kept going and eventually even finished in the top 15 - in 14th, to be exact. On our way there, we regularly passed other cars that were stranded in the pits for an eternity.
