Oh, no
Are you going to be on tonight to tell us what is going on?
Sorry. Yesterday was exhausting.
First of all, we've all been in practice the past few weeks. We know we're all pretty close to each other, and that "Manual,4" is netting us consistent full usage of our Hybrid Allotment and consistent lap times.
This is an endurance race where consistency is of utmost importance. We're less racing the other competitors, and more racing the track for 24 hours. "Manual,4" is going to be the easiest place to ride and log lap after lap after lap.
When traffic comes into play, you may find a point where boosting behind a slow GTE car **
MAY** be a waste, so having the "No Boost" button will come into play.
The issue that
@Nejtun and I ran into is when actually racing other LMP1 cars. The Hybrid system just doesn't adapt well to the nuances of actually racing another car. Sometimes you need to back off earlier, or hold the brakes a little longer. This results in a build up of additional boost.
"Additional boost is a good thing, no?" I hear you ask. More boost is always good, the problem is, the computer looks at that added boost and determines that, if more is there, it's going to use more. The result? You end up with extra punch out of the corner, which inevitably means only slightly more time on the straight, and runs you out of allotment way to fast. I kept hitting 95% or more exiting Arnage. That is not enough to get you out of the Ford Chicanes.
The answer, the best us feeble minded normies can figure out, is going back to "Manual,12", or as I'll be referring to it, "Manual", 98-99% of all battery usage will be determined by the driver.
The simplest, repeatable formula I've surmised so far is actually simpler than I was worried it would be;
Every time you exit a corner onto a major straight, wait until you grab a gear (usually 4th), and then boost all the way down to "
20". This includes Tetre Rouge, Forza, Michelin, Mulsanne, Arnage, and Ford.
Burn through another 10-15% once you shift into 6th gear on all the major straights between Tetre Rouge and Indianapolis.
Small little bumps to the button out of Dunlop and Maison Blanche/Corvette (one track map I look at shows the two corners in one order, but another track map shows them reversed. Anyways, the corner were you attempt to stay off the yellow rumbles on the outside...) to get you going.
This consitently netted me
95% or more of the
allotment.
Regardless of which Trim setting you're running, 4 or 12, you can spot check your Allotment throughout the lap to make sure you're still on schedule. ~55% entering Mulsanne corner, ~80% after Arnage, and always have ~10-12% for the exit of the Ford Chicane.
We don't
need to do this for 24 hours, but if you get comfortable with it, I won't tell you not to, either. Like I said earlier, "Manual,4" will probably be fine when the field stretches out. It just isn't going to work when racing other LMP-1's.