HOW TO DRIVE AN INDYCAR ON AN OVAL
Driving an Indycar on an Oval isn't quite as simple as it sounds. Yes, when perfectly set up you will be driving the four corners flat out, but over a race distance the car will change a lot and you need to know what to expect.
Car Customisation (I need to retry the server settings to make it default to this)
Select the
Indy 500 layout for Configuration. This gives you the correct Aero Kit and default setup to get you going.
For Wheelbase, I'd recommend
119-inch as that is the SuperSpeedway spec.
Make sure Track Specifications is set to
Oval too.
Front and Rear Geometry is a science hitherto unknown by all. The information about all the positions is shown in the .txt file attached.
Do not worry about this, it can be adjusted in the setup window.
Car Setup
The setup attached will get you driving around Indy competitively in no time. The Geometries have been set here. Unless you have a burning desire to change everything with the knowledge of why you are doing that, I recommend you only touch these few settings.
- Fuel Level - To adjust for qualifying and race stints.
- Engine Mixture - Reduces power and therefore fuel consumption. Only useful for race strategy and fuel saving.
- Front Wing & Rear Wing - Wing Level is the major thing to prepare for. In qualifying you will want both of these set around 4 clicks lower than the race. In the race you will encounter tyre wear and dirty air of the cars in front, you need more downforce to deal with this. Experiment this, I will also post here my race and quali aero levels when I have experimented more.
- Weight Jacker - If you are struggling with the way the car turns into corners, play around with this setting and see its effect.
5th and 6th Gear are very close together. You can change from 6th down to 5th while flat out without risking damage or much loss of time. Keep these close as it keep speed up, but may be pretty useful when it comes to racing other cars or dealing with less tyre grip.
In Race adjustments
While many setting can be changed on the Dallara IR18, for Oval Racing, one is far more important than any.
Rear Anti-Roll Bar.
Map two buttons on your Steering Wheel to
Stiffen Rear ARB and
Soften Rear ARB. You need to be able to adjust your ARB on track without much issue, as it's the kind of thing you could be doing a few times a lap in the race.
As the balance of the car changes through a stint and the track rubbers in, you might find the car gets "loose", where the rear goes light and oversteery. If this happens, Soften the RARB before the next corner and it should move the grip rearwards.
If the opposite happens, and you get more understeer, Stiffen the RARB to move the balance forwards and regain that grip.
When racing, you will also see that traffic requires drastic changes. If you get overtaken into T1 and suddenly find yourself in dirty air, the front of the car will wash wide as you understeer, losing you the chance to fight back on the next corners. If you can Stiffen the RARB when you know you're following, it may help. In the same way, if you make an overtake, you will have to Soften the RARB now you're in clean air, as the car will suddely be looser than you have been ready.
This is something you will just have to practice. On the server, try to go online when someone else is online, and see how adjusting the RARB through a stint and in traffic goes. The attached setup has space for you to adjust the RARB both ways, so see what it gets you.
Other
The Pitlane is to be exited along the pit road, which goes along the inside of Turns 1 and 2 and exits onto the back straight.
The Pitlane entry is on the exit of Turn 4. Don't worry about trying to go on the inside of Turns 3 and 4, it's just slower and it hasn't been used for a while. Just sweep left after Turn 4 and brake carefully for the speed limit line. Your car wants to turn left, so practice it and be prepared for this.
Info Regarding "Indy Settings" (rules), or rules for Safety Car.
- When the pitlane opens under Safety Car, it opens for all cars, not just "lead lap" as in NASCAR
- Field order before restart is not a thing in IndyCar. It is a single-file restart format where lap-down cars are left in position rather than being sent to the rear of the field. However, when there are 15 laps or fewer remaining in the race, lap down cars will be sent to the rear. WaveArounds are enabled, so cars between the leader and the pace car will always be waved around to the rear of the field at One to Go.
