i invested quite a lot of hours in theory and in driving a somewhat varianceless track (constant laptimes driveable) in order to somewhat prove my theories.
i cant remember for sure, but i probably even included variables, such as %accidents/crashs (influenced by warps in addition), pit mistakes, traffic, disconnections, which all might influence a little bit, if it comes to determing the optimal pit strategy.
i was able to calculate somewhat exact differences in pitting too early or too late, simulating possible traffic outcomes.
in the end, i could easily change some variables in some cells (excel) and see how much influence it took.
to keep people from wasting time, watching the replays in order to find out, i might as well tell it here:
my 2 stop strategy has been somewhat balanced to 8/9/12 for 29 lap races.
so, for a 33 lap race, it's easy to adjust, +1/+1/+2 = 9/10/14 stints.
else: round(8*laps/29), r(9*laps/29), r(12*laps/29).
for 1 stopper, i actually dont remember the exact percentage, but 40/60 has been somewhat close to it and is easy to remember and calculate.
according to a 33 lap race: 33/10*4=13.2, so: 13/20 stints.
alfonso pitted in lap 16. 3 laps of high damage + high fuel turtling around, where he lost to lanz 3 times over a second.
quite cruical! at some point the car feels like it starts to kinda exponentially slowing down in laptimes (instead of 0.05s/lap slower, laptimes increase by 0.1-0.15s/lap or so, for example).
next track, 47 laps, i already did 2 race simulations:
47/10*4=18.8, so 19/28 1 stopper and..
(8/9/12) * (47/29) =(13/15/19).
i accidently did a 14/15/18 though. whatsoever, both times i went under tijnys winning race total time from last season, both times i made mistakes of ~2.7seconds. but the 2 stopper was unfortunately 1.2s faster. unfortunately i say in this case, because a part of me hopes that people like stylus, alfonso and whip use 1 stoppers, in case lanz makes a 2 stopper, in order to hold him up a bit
;D..so he has to overtake them in last 3rd stint, by driving in av ~0.4s/lap faster. unfortunately it might be tough to not let him overtake, since in at least 1 part of the track it might be quite tough to defend.2 race sims arent necessarily enough testing yet though. so, i will do at least 2 more in order to find out whats best in nurburgring for me.
i have to say though, that ive done quite well in entering and leaving the pits, as well as slowing down to pits and leaving with 100% energy as soon as possible. so, people who arent so good in pitting and might lose a lot of time there sometimes, should definately consider the 1 stopper.
also, people who lose a lot of time in overtaking, might prefer to consider a 1 stopper.
as far as i remember, 2 stoppers have more traffic problems than 1 stoppers.
1 stoppers drive a slow and constant race, only 1 major speed change due to the pitstop = less mistakes. easy to remember, when to pit, less of a problem if stopping 1 lap too early or too late.
2 stoppers change the speed of the car twice, so the braking points get different more often = more mistakes. but they have more room for strategy in order to overtake people.
let's say you have a really bad qualification, for lanz in nurburgring not getting into top3 or 4 might be quite bad.
let's say he is stuck behind alfonso, stylus and or palo in front and has a better pace, but is too slow to overtake.
in order to not get hold up so many 0.x sec/lap till the car in front pits, he might as well certainly consider to pit quite early and go for a 2 stopper, 13/15/19, maybe even something like 12/15/20 or even 11/15/21 and might as well pit earlier in the 2nd stint as well in order to overtake another tough to overtake opponent.
well in fact i like that a lot, good for the competition! sadly that you missed 2 races in the beginning! on released tracks i`m definately a bit behind you but not that much! not sure how it would end with the same amount of training! don`t know how you were prepared for the other races cos yesterdays race was the first time you beated me on the track, apart from Show Event where i lost to Palo and for sure in the end to you as well!
this year i never had a master plan for a race, actually last year neither! i always check first how the race runs and i try to adapt later! like yesterday, after failing badly i didn`t decided to pit very early cos that can cost you a lot as well! pitting in lap 8 maybe gets you stucked in traffic, you just never know! but maybe you have free air and you put out some fast laps which isn`t easy either! you pass the guy in front you wanted to overtake with pitting early, still you have to defend on more worn tyres! i think i pitted in lap 10! but that what gave me the 2nd place in the end wasn`t the perfect strategy it was the speed i had! i think it`s more the feeling you develop over the years what gives you the right illumination in the right moment of what can help you the most or not! still it`s not bad to have a good plan ready, which in the end isn`t that hard in the PTM i think!
