Not long ago i was in the S-class hoppers in a race on Road America. It was one of the most chaotic races I’ve ever raced in, and that’s saying something! I had just joined that lobby and there was some bickering going on, there must have been some collisions in the previous race. Anyhow, this is not really about that. I was spun 2-3 times in the first 2 laps as cars flew everywhere. No biggie. Going onto the 3rd lap i had clear track in front of me, the guy ahead was over 3000ft ahead as i crossed the start/finish line for the final lap. Going into the last 3-4 corners i was on the bumper of the guy who had been 3000ft ahead at the start of the lap. He then proceeded to aggressively block me in a manner i would say is outside the rules of racing. I hit him on the last corner. I probably could have avoided the contact if i tried, but i didn’t try very hard because his swerving was too aggressive and unpredictable. Back in the lobby he starts with the verbal abuse. I’m not easily offended and gave it back. I also explained to him that within 3/4 of a lap i had closed 3000ft on him. He said he didn’t care and that he wasn’t just going to give me the position. I don’t have to win and I’ll always attempt to pass cleanly if people defend in a fair manner but i have to ask is there a point where a player is so much slower than another player they should give up the position without any defence? I believe there is. I don’t expect it in the hoppers because most people race like idiots, but i firmly believe it should happen. Right or wrong?
100% agree with you. There was a situation tonight on Infineon (I believe you were actually in that race), where I had started in last place. Through the first 2 laps every single car I tried to pass ended up trying to either ram me off the road when I got next to them or tried to ram me going into a turn after I passed them. People just seem to be such poor sports that they don’t want anyone to pass them. It’s like they know that they’re too slow and so they defend their position through being a jerk. Me, personally, if I’m in a lobby and there are a few guys that are clearly faster than me (aka blowing me away by 3 seconds a lap in every race), when I see them get behind me (within about 50 ft or so), I tend to take the outside in a corner and let them go by.
I guess when you’re running 20 seconds per lap behind everyone else there really is no competition for that person, and so they tend to over-agressively defend their position, otherwise they have nobody to race with. Still, being a slow driver does not mean you can be a jerk against people who are competitive.
So in short, I fully agree. If you’re a slower driver, pull over and let the faster guys pass. Unless you’re the worst of the worst, there are plenty of people to race with that will be competitive with you, and you want a competitive race just like the faster guys do. Blocking the faster guys just means that they can’t have a competitive race.
funnily enough 3 seconds per lap was the figure i had in my head. If you’re racing within 3 seconds a lap of me you’re entitled to defend your position because you obviously have some ability. More than 3 seconds and you need to get out of the way without holding me up.
i was in that race at Infineon. On the last lap i had my 32 in the bag all day with the ZO6 but took the 2nd to last corner shamefully and ended up with a 33.1. If you’re racing within 3 seconds here you’re in the 35s range which is respectable and obviously have ability therefore would fully expect defensive driving. As it happens, toward the end of the 1st lap i was all over the guy who was in 1st. He did block me like crazy but i passed him cleanly on the outside on the last turn. He ended up in 9th running a best lap of 41. I hate random grid starts 
Hence why I don’t race in public lobbies. You can usually find better racing in the CPL’s, but in the regular hoppers, forget it. I joined my first league in Feb of 2010 and have hardly set a tire in a public lobby since. I simply have no tolerance for morons.
While it may be the courteous thing to do, I don’t believe a driver should automatically just give up a position to a faster driver. Everyone should be allowed to give it their best shot. Some drivers think they’re faster than they really are. A good driver who is actually faster will find his way around a much slower driver quite easily. That said, there’s a big difference between defending your position and blocking, and anyone who even half understands racing can tell the difference. A well timed nudge on the rear quarter will usually solve the blocking problem! 
Playing devils advocate… I can completely understand finding yourself the slower driver in the lobby and getting overtaken time and time again. I’m not the fastest guy on track, I know that. I do my best to stay out of the way and race clean, but I can see how emotion takes over, anger sets in and you feel hopeless so you do your absolute best to keep your position and some times… maybe… give a little swerve and snag the back end of the car passing you. I get it. It’s not right and unsportsman like, but I get it.
Now, of course I am NOT talking about the children (both actual children and grown men who act like them) who obviously use this tactic to remove everyone from the track so they can effortlessly win.
I can definitely understand where you’re coming from, but personally I try to avoid contact at all costs. The only time I’ll make contact is if someone is just being a straight up jerk. Then I’ll get behind them in a corner and gently tap their rear bumper to unsettle their car. Very, very rarely will I go all out and just take somone off the track or swerve into them as their passing… that’s just being rude and can really cause them to drop back in the field which is unfair.
I’ll give you my perspective. I’m newer at this so… I’m not nearly as fast as a lot of people in there. However, I do see guys that seem to have fast cars and they don’t know how to handle them. So… I’ll be slower than most, but then I might have a race where I’m staying on the track well enough. Well, you get this guys spinning out at every corner but somehow their cars are fast down the straights. They lose control, end up off the track. And then catch back up. All the time driving more wildly than I am, even though I’m the novice. And when they overtake me, they almost always just shove me off the track.
So far I’m just learning how to tune my tire pressure. I don’t use tunes on my suspension yet, so I’m going to be slower. I have started to at least finish some races sometimes, depending on how well I know the track and how good I have the tires matched up for the temp of that track. I don’t even know what the temp is at every track and by the time it shows you, it’s too late. So… I’m starting to remember.
Anyways… My point is, that as a newbie, there are times where I’m driving a little wildly because I’m still learning the track. However, almost every time I race online there are a few guys that are faster than me, but ALL over the place. I do my best to try not to contact others. And there have been a few times that I have on accident. But it’s nowhere near as bad as some guys I see, who seem to manage to be faster. I’m assuming some guys just buy a tuned car and try to go to town, before they really know how to drive well.
And then there are just some idiots who think this is a demolition derby. Yesterday, one guy actually stopped on the track and waited for me to catch up, and was harrassing me. He was clearly faster than I was, I think, but got behind me in front of me and then shoved me off the track. But then I think he either got bored or was booted because he wasn’t in the next race. I don’t believe I did anything to upset him earlier, because I was pretty much in last almost the whole time except for a few that got by early on.
Furthermore, almost every Turn 1 of every race is enough to make you not want to race in public lobbies at all. It’s amazing anybody ever survives those. Except it appears that the damage is not in simulation mode. I will say, there have been a few times where the guys in the race were all upstanding and we raced well and nobody got stupid. But that seems to be a rarity.