Overtaking - the duty of the one being passed

So, a fast car is behind and is going for a pass. What's my duty ? If I drive with my eyes shut, then to avoid contact, he has to be completely clear of me by the apex. What's the chance of that ?

So under what criteria is he "through" and I should leave space.

Same criteria as if it were for position.  If he is halfway up on you by the braking point, he has right-of-way to his lane.  Not necessarily a good line, but a clean lane.  Once he is halfway up, he has established position.

And just for clarity, every time we bring this up, I point out this is not the case for our league on T1 lap 1.  In that one case, at the braking point, order is set for the whole T1 complex by raw car position.  No halfways or side-by-side right of way lanes or anything.

And of course with the new brake lights, we'll have the opportunity to review the brake timing.

 The nature of sim racing means that some of the standards used in real life can't always be applied in the virtual world. We can't easily replicate the field of view of real driver has. Even in racing series where safety equipment keeps them from turning their head very much, they still have peripheral vision that we don't. The field of view from driver to driver in the sim world also varies depending on which camera is used.

I know the rule is half-way up by the braking point, but sometimes, with our limited visibility, we don't know when that happens. Just because I'm half-way up, I can't assume my opponent knows I'm there. And while I have an expectation that I have the right-of-way, I have to be prepared, just in case I don't get it. I'll have the satisfaction of knowing I'm in the right if an incident occurs, but that's cold comfort as I limp back to the pits to get a wing replaced.

To put it another way, her in Washington state, and in California (as well as in other places I'm sure...) pedestrians have the right of way, and cars have to yield to them. What aamazes me is the number of people that will simply step of the curb without looking. I'm sure the family of a dead pedestrian is comforted by the fact that their loved one had the right of way. Right-Of-Way isn't Right-To-Be-Stupid. If I'm a pedestrian, I wait on the curb until I see that car come to a stop and yield to me. 

Same sort of concept applies on track.

So, I can tell you how I do things, however, I've got a pretty high fault rating right now...I guess I haven't been a very good boy lately. That said, I'm pretty sure the majority of my faults are from misjudging braking distances and hitting folks from behind, not from side-by-side racing contact...so take this with a grain of salt if you need to.

First, no matter which view I use, I have the virtual mirrors turned on. Granted, they're not very true-to-life, but they're the best tool we have for giving us the sort of situational awareness a real driver has.

On using the mirrors: Develop a habit of doing a quick scan of your environment. If you're a pilot, you already know all about this. If you have a real driver's license and have a decent driving record, you may already do this and not even realize it. So the next time you take a drive somewhere, take note of what you do with your eyes...look ahead to scan for upcoming issues (traffic control devices, obstacles, small children, bikes, etc) and to check distance from the car in front of you, quick glance in the mirrors to check traffic behind and beside you, quick glance at the gauges to check speed and that there are no trouble indicators (warning lights, gauges reading outside normal ranges, etc)...lather, rinse, repeat. Learn to do this in-game as well. I make it a habit to do a complete scan after exiting a corner, or a corner complex if the straight between corners isn't long enough. I also do a quick mirror check just prior to my braking point (about 1-2 car lengths from it) if there's room. On really long straights, I start doing continuous scans until I have to stop to negotiate the next corner.

On being passed: If you're scanning your environment properly, you should rarely be surprised when someone attempts to pass. As soon as I see their nose disappear from my mirrors, I know the pass attempt is on. At this point I continue to drive the racing line. It's up to the overtaking driver to make sure he has enough room to perform the pass before my car "slams the door". Once the driver's helmet disappears from my mirrors, I know he's beside me, even if I can't see him on screen. At this point I make sure there's enough room for my opponent to negotiate the corner safely without contacting me. I don't necessarily yield position to him, and the room I leave is only enough to keep him from hitting me, but it may not be enough to keep him entirely safe. My feeling at this point, is that he has not yet completed his pass, and I still have right-of-way. But remember what I said? Right-of-way isn't Right-to-be-stupid. I still have the right-of-way, but I can't assume my opponent is going to yield. So he gets enough room to be keep from hitting me, and that's all. Once I can see his car on-screen without modifying my standard view, he's succeeded and I need to yield right-of-way to him.

On passing: Since I'm scanning my environment, I know unequivocally when I've passed someone. Their nose appears in my mirrors. Until then, I always assume they're right beside me and leave them more than enough room to safely negotiate the track. I may actually have right-of-way prior to this, but again, I can't assume my opponent will yield as he should, so I play it safe. Once I see that nose in my mirror, I know I'm clear and can take my proper place on the racing line

The key concept to take from this is to be aware of your immediate environment. use the tools we have available to us to enhance our situational awareness...turn your car's volume down and your opponent's volume up so you can hear other driver's approaching and enhance your auditory perception of your environment. Use the virtual mirrors to to enhance your visual perception of your environment. Develop a habit of systematically scanning the available sensory input to enhance your situational awareness.

One last thing to note, you will still get surprised on occasion. You will still get passed by someone and be left with the feeling of "where the hell did he come from?". Even in real life, even with good scanning habits you can get surprised...ever switch lanes on the highway and have someone honk their horn at you? Even after checking your mirrors and checking your blind spot, you still attempt to move to a spot already occupied by someone else. It happens. But if you have good habits, it happens infrequently. Same for on the track. Developing good habits will go  along way towards reducing the number of incidents.

Previously Dennis Loyer wrote:

 Once I can see his car on-screen without modifying my standard view, he's succeeded and I need to yield right-of-way to him.

As it turns out, that is technically our rule anyway:

OVERTAKING

In an overtaking maneuver, right of way through the corner is determined at the braking point. If the car attempting to overtake is visible from the lead car's cockpit view on a 4:3 screen at default FOV with gmwc camera, then the overtaking car has the right of way. Otherwise, the lead car has right of way.