So, I've posted three videos below. The first is of the ATS S2000 which ran in the 2011 24hr. of Nurburgring and placed first in class and 12th overall. There were some points of the race where it was raining and the track was definitely wet. The second is of a Mugen S2000 just running the 'ring and trying to get a fast lap. The third is of Maxrev who participates in the Super Lab Battle time attack events and drives his own s2000, evasive's, and a number of other tuner cars for time attack.

So, what I'm noticing in the first video vs. the second and third is that the car isn't being driven anywhere near as loose (at the limits?) as in the second and third videos. I'm guessing the first video is something like driving 7/10ths and the second and third is driving 9 to 10/10ths. Given that the track is wet in the first video, there's hardly any counter steering going on, where as the second two have lots of counter steering inputs.

Consistency and longevity vs. all out fastest lap without regard for consumables (tires) and driver stamina? Am I missing something or is that about right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E36SdutDTLM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWjMvrkUqX0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUMG-C_4RSo

 

Endurance race: fuel consumption and tire wear play big parts in the strategy. You don't necessarily want to run the ragged edge.

 

Strategy is hopefully left to the race co-ordinator / team manager who is watching not just your times but your fellow class members. Including estimated time to pit, number of tires changed, weather conditions, your telemetry and feedback plus your driver stats.

Basically at that level you are doing what someone else tells you to do.

If they say slip stream for 2 laps it may be for fuel or because they see traffic that could play favorably. For instance he may calculate that in corner 9 based on current race pace there will be a bottle neck from a slower class and rather than dump 2 laps worth of race pace to gain a couple of seconds that would then evaporate. He may instruct you to hold pace and gin the pit time or millions of combinations of it.

The yellow flag condition is the most obvious place for strategy, pit - stay on the lead lap gain fresh tires and fuel or calculate the remaining distance and your competitors and see it may be better to run more clean laps against a field on cold tires and several seconds behind you.

It's hard to know all of this from just watching in car

 

Something else to consider, Lots of times in Endurance racing the drivers are renters that aren't all that talented. The cars must be set up to allow those with less skill to still drive at a fair pace rather then spin into the wall every 3rd corner. For SCCA National races (45min race) I set mine up just as loose as I would a qualy lap. But can deal with it for the length of a race. I had a grand-am team once tell me that they could set the car up faster but some drivers wouldn't finish their stint in it.

 

Time Attack drivers only have to run one fast lap, with no traffic on course. Racers actually have to drive the car in traffic, make passes, manage tires and fuel, etc. etc. etc.

 

This.
TA drivers beat on cars way harder than most W2W/enduro racers. In order to win a race, you must finish the race. In TA, as long as you have a lap, you're set.

I envy/respect a lot of W2W/enduro drivers, takes a helluva lot more patience to NOT try to drive the car on the ragged edge and drive the car 8/10s in order to ensure in lasts.

 

Endurance racing is definitely more about consistency and reliability than all out speed. However, constantly sawing at the wheel is a bad habit and scrubs off speed. Many people over drive the car, so they are constantly correcting (makes for good video though ). This slows you down. At the limit, you will always be correcting, but it should be so minute that the correction is not visible. The necessity to make exaggerated corrections means you are over driving the car, or it is a poor handling car and the setup should be adjusted. Sawing at the wheel not only scrubs speed, it also prevents you from getting on the gas sooner. The quicker you can get pointed in the direction you want to go, the quicker you can get on the gas. Spend the most time at WOT as you can, and lap times will drop.

 

 

What about for a car that is not very aero assisted? E.g. in my car, the fastest way through turn 2 at WSIR is to let the rear steer the car around the corner, which equates to sawing at the steering. More aero assisted cars will have a more consistent constant steering angle through the corner. In all cases, the turn is taken WOT after initial turn-in. It is slightly banked (few degrees), and uphill. Cornering speed is ~90mph give or take a few mph.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=34.871479...m&z=16&vpsrc=6

I've developed a habit of mildly sawing at the steering in any situation where I'm unsure of the absolute grip of the car (waving back and forth maybe 10 degrees). I've noticed that rally drivers tend to do so (albeit with good reason). Charles Ng also is constantly sawing, but he's been quite successful racing.

 

^ You have valid points.

I think to say one way is better than another is impossible and is a generalization. Driving style depends on the car, the track and a whole lot of other variables. Some tracks require smooth inputs, other tracks, like WSIR require the driver to ATTACK and drive aggressively. Same goes for the car setup. The more aero, sure the smoother one can be because the car is not constantly moving around mid corner.