This came up in another thread, but I really think this is an interesting discussion, and hopefully by putting it here, we can keep whichever thread it was from getting hijacked. It's also been covered many times in flame wars over on the .net, but I think we can discuss it civilly. The general comment from a couple of folks was that they were primarily a hotlapper or primarily a racer, and did one better than the other. OK, fair enough. I get way more podiums online than I do high finishes in hotlap challenges, so I guess the evidence points to the fact that I'm one of these folks. However, I kind of have two views on this mentality.
On one hand, running 25 laps in free run to get one perfect lap is certainly different from running a 25-lap Enduro, even if tires/fuel and other options are set to mirror free run's feel. Personally, I'm more aggressive when hot lapping, partly because there are fewer implications if I screw up, and partly because the ghost I'm chasing brings out my competitive nature. I tend to over-drive cars when I hotlap, but I still post better laptimes than in career races. Why? It only takes getting it right once. This has been pointed out lots of other places, and more eloquently than I say it here.
Racing, however, is a different ballgame. (Not better, worse, or whatever, just different. And I think this is where the conflicts on .net usually start.) First, obviously, you're chasing a cumulative time for 25 laps, not a single top time. I've won many a race where the second- or third-place guy has a faster lap, sometimes by as much as a second. (In our B-class enduro a couple of weeks ago, the situation was reversed, and Snyder won the race by about 30 seconds or so, but my best lap was best in the room by a couple of tenths.) So if someone's a full second faster, how in the world did I win? Often, I (or the other guy, as appropriate) simply ran a better race as a whole, and all my laptimes were pretty close to my top time, where he got one "miracle lap" and three or four very average laps where he lost a line or even totally lost control trying to nail that one apex at 117 mph when you'll get it right far more often at 110 mph (or whatever, the latter obviously being an extreme case).
That being said, there's significant overlap. Being the faster driver is definitely an advantage in either pursuit. As one member pointed out on our boards, being able to put in those really great laptimes means being capable of driving a really fast lap, closer to the edge of the car's abilities. The original poster (Taleisin, I think? And apologies if I'm misspelling this, btw) put it a little more eloquently, but that's the long and short of it. I guess what I'm getting at is, even though hot lapping and racing reward different mindsets, they reward largely the same skillset. I've become a much better racer since joining up with the Muscle, inc. crowd. That's partly because I can find an online game that doesn't annoy me to the point of just giving up and running a career race, either through being punted in corners or through just asinine chat. Practicing putting together four good laps has made me better at putting together four good laps. Gee, what a shocker. I've also gotten better at racing in traffic, both in avoiding wrecks and in holding a racing line, which is sometimes different from a hotlapping line. However, I've also improved from the challenges, which are basically very controlled hotlap contests. I know they're not competitions, because there are no prizes and we want to foster cooperation, but honestly, I run them essentially the same. I try to put in the best laptimes I can. I'm not going to "win" in either case (see the current supercar challenge if you doubt this, lol), but I definitely enjoy it, and I'll improve my skillset while I'm at it. I'll also probably get a few good online races out of the deal, which is never a bad thing. Anyway, I guess I'm saying that a lot of people either see hotlapping as a complete judge of racing ability or a totally separate thing from actual racing. The truth, I think, is somewhere in between.
