The Art of Slipstreaming in Motor Sports
I've been playing Gran Turismo 7 on PS5 all week after an over 8 year wait since Gran Turismo 6 on PS4. The graphics are unreal! It's an absolutely phenomenal game and credit must go to Polyphony Digital for the attention to detail on the masterpiece they have created. I haven't been hyped for a game like this in quite some time and so inspired by it, I will be writing about motor sports this week.
Today I will start my motorsport week be introducing to you the motor sport concept of slipstreaming, or drafting. The technique uses aerodynamics and takes advantage of a racing car by exploiting the drag, or air resistance of the car that is in front. In NASCAR racing as you can see in the below example, the slipstream tactic is an essential part of racing.
The field takes advantage of air resistance by driving directly behind the car infront, minimising their own friction which should allow them to gain fractionally greater speed which ideally would be just enough to create a passing opportunity. It can be the major difference between winning and losing.
NASCAR race cars typically take advantage of a slipstream which is evident in the formation above.
Source: Photo by Curtis Palmer shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.
You can see in the diagram below how the car infront is breaking through the resistance of air which creates the drag effect. The car directly behind can take advantage of this as the diffusing of air means less resistance, creating an opportunity for more speed and creating an opening to overtake. It's basically like trying to run in the wind, which requires greater exertion of energy, verses running with no wind at all. Take a think of just how much wind resistance there would be a for a Formula 1 car with a top speed of 231.4 mph, that's over 370 kmh.
The concept of a slipstream
Source: Photo by Race Week
et's take a look below at a textbook example of how a Formula 1 slipstream overtake should be executed. A slipstream is most effective at high speeds as you'l lsee. A long straight provides the best chance to overtake following a slipstream and a further opportunity under braking at the next corner.
The concept of slipstreaming is fundamentally important as a part of any racing strategy and it now extremely relevant. Gone are my younger Playstation days when I would put the game on easy and obliterate opponents. I'll now be racing "properly" on harder settings which will mean I will need to utilise the slipstream.
I hope you learned a little something about racing. Would love to hear if anybody else plays Gran Turismo 7. Back to the game for me! I'll be back tomorrow.
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Wolfgang Sport started in 2017 as a way to connect my passion for American and British sports. Today it's evolved into a blockchain sports blog pushing the boundaries into the crypto world and embracing Web3 technologies.
Interesting, I just learned something new - slipstreaming.
Tbh, drafting always looks scary to be especially when done with motorcycle drivers. It appears they'll fall off but many don't fall though. I guess they're experts.
Yep I don't know how motorbike racers do it. Death defying and they have no metal to protect them
I just hope the amateurs don't indulge in it because the slightest mistake would be an unpleasant scene.
Never could I have thought that there's a science behind a skill like this in car racing. Guess because I got bored with games like this easily and didn't get to play it much.
Come to think of with, what then does the guy in front do to remain ahead if the guy behind is trying to use him as a means to overtake him.?
Great question. A bit of defensive driving! I think that's what I'm going to have to post about shortly. Thanks!
Oh! Great. That'd be nice.
This is the first time that I encounter the term slipstreaming, I love how you discussed it here. Good evening!
The aspects of dynamics in the practical field of physics is what comes into play in these racing cars sports.Yes,exactly alongside slipstreaming, I can recall one thing I learned in the past, is the inclusion of the science of banking angle, that says by which trajectory the cars would go and how much deviation, maximally a car can make, making the estimated calculations in the brain and then applying that in the times of driving, thats how the process goes.
Thanks for sharing the science and the motor sports,its indeed special and attractive,.. :)
Banking angle, nice! It's so crazy the sciences behind motor sports. When I was young, I thought it was just pedal to the metal and that's it.
Hmm..
But there are lots of science in sports,and most of the time we forget that..