**** RaceDepartment.com RDiR Indy 500 Driver Briefing****
To all registered drivers:
Introduction
Welcome to your Indy 500! The Indy 500 celebrates 100 years of challenging the finest drivers from around the world and this weekend you take on that challenge. This event is not only a test of your skill behind the wheel but also a test of your concentration levels as you reel off two hundred laps in this marathon race. Open practice this week had a very good turn out with drivers exchanging race set ups and comparing times. It was also important to get together and race in traffic to get a feel for how the cars will handle during the race.
The iRacing club at RaceDepartment.com welcomes drivers of all levels and some drivers will be racing their first Indy 500 this weekend. This race is a marathon and not a sprint, past winners of the real event and virtual ones have won even after being a lap or more down during the early and middle phases of the race. The first corner can be problematic at any circuit but with oval racing cars run very close with just a few tenths of a second splitting the field. During the first few laps it’s extremely important to be aware of the cars around you and give room to each other until the pack starts to thin out.
Expect to have caution periods, it’s hard to predict how many or when they will happen but it can be frustrating when you get into a rhythm and then have it broken by a caution being called. Keep those frustrations under control. If you cause a caution don't put yourself under pressure, yellow flags happen whether you bring out one, two or more - that’s oval racing and you have as much right to take part in this race as any of the other drivers. If you go high and into the wall try and keep it there until the yellow flag is waved and you know drivers are slowing down. The majority of the field will be running low lines through the turns so by staying high you are less likely to collect another driver. We have unlimited fast tows for this race so make use of them.
There has been a lot of discussion on the forums and during open practice sessions about lap times and what to expect. A fast qualifying lap doesn’t mean a driver will run that pace all through the race. If you feel you are not on the kind of pace shown in some the lap times we’ve seen discussed, relax and run your own race. Don’t try to over drive your car and crash out, go out and enjoy the race. If this is your first Indy 500, stay in the race and learn from it no matter where you are in the standings. You might be this year’s rookie but lessons learnt this year will make you next year’s pro.
Pitting
To try and reduce the risk of fast cars colliding with slower cars entering and leaving the pits for this race we will be using the pit lane entry and exit on the back straight. Exit the pits after turn two and re-join the track on the back straight and enter the pits from the back straight before turn three. The only exception to this rule will be under caution you may enter the pits after turn three and before turn 4.
Cautions
We will be using full course cautions for this race. We follow the general rules set for racing here at RaceDepartment.com but for contact between two cars it is not required to wait for the driver you hit to pass you before re-joining the race. This race will be using unlimited fast tows for the first time so please use them to remove your car from the track if it is badly damaged.
Voice Comms
We will be using the built in voice comms during the event. During free practice voice comms can be used freely. During qualifying please respect your other drivers and remain silent until qualifying is over. As the grid fills up for the race a member of the RD iRacing staff will brief the drivers. During the race please keep voice communication to an absolute minimum. Drivers will be expected to only use voice comms for communications such as warning other drivers if you are moving slowly back to the pit area with a damaged car, informing a car lapping you which side to pass or to make a brief 'sorry' for any contact made.
Lapping Cars
Please be aware it is the responsibility of the car putting another a lap down to make a clean pass, it is not the responsibility of the car being lapped to move out of the way or slow down. The 'F3' black box is an invaluable information display to help you understand who is a lap up, a lap down or on the same lap as you.
Let’s all have a great race, race hard, race fair and have fun!
![Luca [OT]](https://overtake-data.community.forum/avatars/s/3235/3235113.jpg?1697196734){kind=avatar}
