Blue flag etiquette

So I was racing last night and had a bit of a situation that I haven’t been in before. I was racing with a guy behind me when we pulled up to a guy that was a lap ahead but also slower than I was in corners. (Had an accident so had to pit).

Anyways I wanted to respect his position however the guy behind me was catching up and I didn’t want to lose my position. I eventually battled the driver that was ahead of me with the blue flag and as we went around a corner I took the inside line and he bumped me, on accident I’m sure.

My question is because I was faster, was it appropriate to pass him even though I had the blue flag? Does the blue flag really only apply when the driver is approaching from behind?

 

You are always allowed to unlap yourself, but only if you can overtake safely and not hinder the other car in any way. Normally if a lapped car comes to me and he is way faster, I would let him pass, because there is no point on racing him... unless of course its a long race and he is a lap behind due to different pitstop strategy.

 

Would be good penalty for drivers who do not respect the blue flag. A throug drive would be perfect. Also affect the safaty rank.

 

But this doesn’t really answer my question....which is why I am asking...

 

So I’m glad but this is my other concern. I had the inside line and was side by side on the last corner of Monza and he turned into me trying to go from outside in where I guess he didn’t realize I was on the inside... luckily he bounced off and continued to go straight but I stayed ahead after that point ... So in a normal situation I believe I had every right to take the inside but because of the blue flag I am questioning myself...

 

https://www.assettocorsa.net/forum/index.php?threads/understand-flags-fia-regulation.56314/

thread dedicated to flag rules straight off the FIA regulations

d) Light blue flag
This should normally be waved, as an indication to a driver that he is about to be overtaken. It has different meanings during practice and the race.
At all times:
- A stationary flag should be displayed to a driver leaving the pits if traffic is approaching on the track.
During practice:
- A faster car is close behind you and is about to overtake you.
During the race:
- The flag should normally be shown to a car about to be lapped, if the driver does not seem to be making full use of his rear-view mirrors. When shown, the driver concerned must allow the following car to pass at the earliest opportunity.

Edit: To answer your question.. you can un lap yourself but if you have pace... that`s what i would do. If i am faster un lap and leave that car behind. But if i don`t have pace to follow i would just leave it be and follow him closely and get some slipstream

 

It's not like F1 where lapped cars need to let cars that are a lap up pass.
In Blancpain you don't need to let lead cars pass if they're going to lap you. But you can't take defensive lines against them either.
So you can just stick to your racing line and if they can't pass you that way you're not doing anything wrong.

 

You are allowed, but it depends. Let's say you join mid race with fresher tyres and the guy is fighting for position with someone ahead, in that case I'd stay behind because I wouldn't really be fighting for anything. Usually on shorter races on public servers I just leave it alone, unless the guy in front is an absolute snail.
So like I said, you are allowed to pass, but analyze the situation first to see if it's worth it.

 

Yea...if you have two cars fighting for positions and you are lap down..please do never intervene XD
Or this will happen
https://media.giphy.com/media/H3As43Cudu9hyDRPoN/giphy.gif

 

I wonder how many times stuff like this would happen on public servers

 

Great, thanks all for the info.

 

I think the key point is that he had damage, and was expected to pit.
So regardless blue flags, I'd think that it just makes sense that he would not want to impede your race (within reason). I think that is what I would do, if I was damaged and knew I needed to pit. Let the guys around me go through cleanly.

 

You have every right to unlap, but it should to be done in the safest possible way. But independently of that, if a car has a crash and is heavily damaged it seems stupid for him to dispute a track position with a faster lapped car, because he risks another crash and while he is trying to keep the track position he is loosing time with his real rivals in the race because his lines and braking points are optimized to keep track position instead of maximizing laptimes.