Race Strategy - Indy 500 compared to Rolex GT

The May 2011 issue of Racecar Engineering recently arrived in the mail. The cover promised that Andy Brown, Target Ganassi engineer, would reveal the secrets of Indy 500 race-winning strategy calls. I opened it right up and read the article with interest, having made race strategy calls in ALMS and Grand Am for the past 11 seasons.

Now, I’m not normally one for comparisons – my dog is meaner than yours, my car is faster than yours, and so on. And I don’t know if Andy told it all, or just the parts that he thought would be obvious enough that his competitors would have already figured them out. Also, I don’t have recent experience with the Indycar rules and race control procedures, so I’m assuming everything relevant from them is factored into Andy’s strategy calls.

But, I gotta tell you, it sure looks equally, if not more, challenging to call a GT class car in a Grand Am Rolex race than it does to call the Indy 500. Here’s why:


Number of sets of tires
Indy 500 – Limited number of tire sets
Rolex GT – Limited number of tire sets
Comparison – Neither series seriously cramps your style on race day, unless things get weird. Same for both.

Tire performance
Indy 500 – Tires wear out in slightly more than one stint. No performance falloff over the stint.
Rolex GT – Tires don’t wear out. Performance falls off considerably over the stint.
Comparison – The end result is similar.
There is a “drop dead” point in a fuel stint for either series, beyond which you must change tires. Rule of thumb applies for a relatively easy call during the race.

Race length
Indy 500 – 200 laps, and that’s that.
You know exactly how many laps remain, but the timing, number, and duration of caution periods will affect your strategy.
Rolex GT – All races by time, not by number of laps
You can calculate how many laps remain, IF the remainder of the race stays green. If there are yellows, the number of laps remaining reduces, since a pace car laps takes more time than a green race lap.
Comparison – Rolex is tougher
Yellow flag laps save fuel AND reduce the number of laps remaining. So, you have a moving target. If you wait until you are clearly in the window to the end of the race before pitting, you will likely give up track position to those who gambled and pitted prior to the window, counting on being saved by a yellow or two before the finish. But, how early is too early? And what if there isn’t a yellow to save you, and now you have to stop for a splash to make it to the end, giving up track position? No easy answers…

Green flag pit stops
Indy 500 – You lose a lap
So, it’s fairly straightforward. You try to avoid intentionally forcing yourself to pit under green.
Rolex GT – You may lose a lap. Then again, you may not.
It depends on how long a green flag lap takes, which in turn is depends on both track length and average speed. It also depends on how long the pit lane is and how fast the past car goes. And, it depends on whether you need a full fuel fill or partial, and whether you must change tires or not. So, it may be a sin to stop under green, or it may be an advantage, depending on the situation.
Comparison – Rolex is tougher
Any time you can set a “rule of thumb”, that’s one less thing to worry about during the race. And, even at little bullrings like Barber, there’s no sure rule of thumb for Rolex green flag stops.

Pace car waveby
Indy 500 – Leader restarts first. Cars between leader and pace car waved by. Pits closed.
You can forego a pit stop if circumstances lead you to expect a waveby. Useful to get back on the lead lap, if you don't lose it again with a green flag stop shortly afterward.
Rolex GT – DP leader restarts first. Cars between pace car and leader waved by. Pits open.
Here’s a critical distinction. The “GT” leader can indeed take the waveby, if in front of the DP leader, thereby gaining nearly a full lap on any GT cars that do not take the waveby. ALMS used to do this too, but they changed their rules a couple of seasons ago to avoid creating this situation. And, the pits are open, so you can also make a pit stop, if you think you can beat the pace car around, then pit and get out before the pack arrives. The waveby is on the final lap of caution, though, and there won’t be time to pit AND catch the field. Not to mention the increased risk if something goes wrong during the pit stop. High stakes, high rewards, quick decisions
Comparison – Rolex GT is tougher
Tougher than Indy, and tougher than DP, too. Whenever the race leader can get a waveby, the stakes are high.

Rain
Indy 500 - Park it
Rolex GT - Keep going
Comparison - You've got to decide when to switch to wet tires and when to switch to back to dry tires, and whether to do this under green or wait for the nearly inevitable caution. Then, there's the question of how thoroughly do you convert the setup to wet specs, and whether to make any of these changes during a pit stop. And finally, there's a lot of dependence on driver comments.


Reading what I've written, I'm afraid you'd conclude that I'm saying the lot of the Rolex GT race strategist is tougher than that of the Indy 500 strategist. I seriously doubt that is true, and that's not my intent, as I said at the start. They are competing against teams with deep specialized experience in a unique event. There is little margin for error, or even for good, but not optimum, strategy calls. Meanwhile, endurance road racing has a certain amount of fuzziness that can compensate for these same good, but not optimum calls. Apples and oranges...

Still, I think it's pretty clear that calling strategy for a GT car in a garden-variety Rolex race is at least as challenging a calling the 500. And that was a bit of a surprise to me when I read Andy's article.

Special thanks to Andy Brown for opening up on this subject, one that most race engineers, team managers, and other race strategists would rather not discuss.

Race Strategy, Part 2

Today, let's focus on a simple approach to race strategy. Or, how not to totally embarass yourself if you are new at it.

You need to do these things before the start of the race, whether you're a seasoned pro or calling your first race:

1-Establish your expected fuel economy under green and yellow flag conditions.
2-Calculate how many laps/minutes you can go on a tank of fuel.
3-For a car with a dash or telemetry fuel readout, confirm that readout vs. physical pump outs.
4-For sports car racing, work out a plan for when to change drivers. Account for the rules.
5-For IMSA/ACO races with tire changes after fueling, work out a plan for when to change tires.
6-Assess expected tire life. Develop a tire change strategy - which set to use when.
7-Take a solid educated guess at the number, timing, and frequency of expected caution flags.
8-Throw all the above into a pot, stir it, and work out a pit stop plan.
9-Pre-race meeting with driver(s), team manager, crew chief, etc. to discuss and firm the plan.
10-Pre-race meeting with the pit crew to brief them on the plan and contingencies.

OK, now you've got a plan and the green flag has dropped. Here are some good rules of thumb for dealing with what comes up in the race. Before I even list them, I'll say this - it's way more complicated than this simple list, and rules are indeed made to be broken. But, you've got to start somewhere. This simple approach got me through my first season without any major embarassments.

1-When in doubt, pit when the leaders pit. They have likely worked it out from both analytics and experience. Note that this is not a subsitute for working out your own strategy, but it will serve in a pinch when you are presented with a situation where you don't have a contingency.
2-Generally, you'd prefer to stop as few times as possible. Less time or positions lost in the pits, less opportunities for pit stop problems.
3-Keep close track of your actual fuel economy and adjust expected pit windows to fit.
4-Green flag pit stops are more risky. Any problem costs you more track position.
5-If your series allows pace car waveby, learn how to recognize if you are eligible and don't forfeit the opportunity by pitting, unless there's a compelling reason.
6-Use the radio to communicate your intentions (what's going to happen with fuel, tires, and driver changes) with the crew. It's loud out there, and yelling and hand-waving just raises the tension level.
7-Keep everyone, drivers and crew, aware of when the next expected pit stop will be.
8-Have the exiting driver report to you immediately after he/she leaves the car. Get a quick debrief and radio the new driver with any information he/she needs. Timeliness is critical.
9-After each pit stop, exhale and then take a minute to rethink your strategy for the remainder of the race. If nothing changes, great. If there's a difference, communicate with the crew.
10-Keep your radio persona calm. Everyone is counting on you to be cool under pressure.

That's it for this week. More to come on strategy.

Race Strategy, Part 1

Racecar Engineering magazine has had several well-written articles over the last few years covering race strategy. They are intriguing, but they focus on the Formula 1 challenge of how to run a specified race distance in the minimum amount of time. There's validity in this, but the US series for Indy cars, NASCAR, and sports car racing under Grand Am and ALMS offer full-course yellow flags with pace cars, rules on when the pits are closed and open, rules on when drivers must be changed, rules and practical decisions on tire life and fuel load, even "waveby" rules on being allowed to pass the pace car. And, in the sports car series, there is more than one class in the race. Clearly, there is more to a successful strategy than the quickest time to distance.

I'll be upfront here - I'm not telling what my strategies are, or even the processes that led to them. But, I will offer a few comments to kick off the brain cells.

• "Seat of the pants" calls made on pit lane, no matter what your experience level, are rarely as good as the calls made by someone who has thought through the possible scenarios and how to react to each possibility.
• The best race strategies may seem counterintuitive at first review. Not that I'm advocating contrarian thinking just for the sake of being different. That rarely works. You have to know WHY you want to be different, and not get so caught up in the uniqueness of your new strategy that you can't predict its potential weaknesses.
• The race will be unpredictable and your strategy will likely have to evolve. When a revised situation presents itself, do you already know how you will adapt to it? If not, you're back to seat of the pants.
• It helps to develop tools and methodology. 'Nuff said about that.

Here is a pop quiz question:
If the race is 250 miles or 2 Hr 45 Min (whichever comes first), how does your race strategy change for a time-limited race?