How do sports cars navigate traffic management?
- Sharifah Zaqreeztrina
- 9 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Written by Sharifah Zaqreeztrina, Edited by Pranav Sharma
Nothing says sportscar racing like nearly 60 cars of varying speeds and specifications competing at the same track simultaneously for hours.
While speed, precision and reliability are crucial in getting ahead of the field, navigating traffic is equally a key ingredient for on-track success.
It can also make or break one’s race.
There are several aspects drivers and teams take into account when dealing with traffic.
Strategic passing - reward vs risk
Being ahead of the competition takes more than just having the most reliable and fastest car over lengthy periods. Traffic greatly influences racing strategy.
As every car fights for a leading position, there are times when they have to battle with their own patience and aggression. As either can reward or risk them the most. This puts their driving skills to the test.
There has to be some sort of balanced approach to this. While overtaking and claiming the gap at the front of the car seems like an enticing move, drivers have to be strategic with speed and timing.
If too slow, they may cost more time per lap due to low speed. If too extreme, they may lose more time through potential penalties or damage.
The same applies to drivers defending their own positions and maintaining a certain momentum while letting a faster car pass.
Perseverance seemed to pay off for No.10 Acura driver Filipe Albuquerque, as that led to him and teammate Ricky Taylor winning qualifying in the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona.
Albuquerque said: “I was waiting for traffic, because I think at the end of the day, this is what makes this race so interesting. It’s exactly the traffic because it gives us opportunities to overtake. That was what had happened to me. I mean, I managed to go up to P2 just managing traffic. I just loved it.”
Teams use data analysis, especially live timing data, and pass the feedback gathered from the data to the driver from time to time. This gives time for drivers to re-evaluate their strategies in real time.
The mentality of the driver is important as well. Getting ahead of the traffic while ensuring a clean race requires immense levels of concentration, precision and a sense of situational awareness.
Although at the end of the day, they’re human. The pressure of avoiding contact, changing weather conditions and constant traffic over long periods may cause them mental fatigue and eventually lapses in judgement.
Hence, relevant racing bodies placed a time limit on how long a driver can race. It differs across categories and class rankings, but generally it can be up to four hours (for instance, Le Mans and the Rolex 24).
Coloured flags and regulations
Communication involving traffic doesn't just go among their own teams. It extends to the whole field.
Implementing the ruleset around traffic usually involves coloured flags as signals for different scenarios. Yellow and blue flags are frequently used in this case.
Marshals wave blue flags to let the drivers know that a faster car is about to overtake them. It is more of a cautionary flag, so this is to ensure the car can be more predictable and plan its route without losing much time.
Yellow flags signal cars to slow down in some portions of a track, known as slow zone sections. It is normally due to dangerous track conditions, such as debris or extreme weather.
The most notable example of this is in the recent 2026 24 Hours of Daytona, where the entire field raced under Full Course Yellow (FCY) for six and a half hours.
The yellow flag was waved throughout the period, known as the caution period, setting a record for the longest caution period in the event’s history.
At that time, all cars were neutralised and bunched up, and overtakes were prohibited. A safety car navigated the pace of the field while ahead, prioritising the ‘safety-first’ element of traffic management over strategy.
Difference in class rankings
Driver rankings and how they interact on track play a role, too. In IMSA, the GTD Pro and GTD reflect the experience of a driver. Professionals and seasoned drivers (Gold/Platinum) race under the former category, while GTD needs at least one amateur (Silver/Bronze) driver in a single lineup for the latter.
While the features of the car, essentially those of prototype and touring cars, make all the difference, colour-specific LED panels are also really useful to classify them.
This feature makes identifying cars easier during spotting. In IMSA, for example, GTD cars are marked in green panels, while GTD Pro cars are equipped with red.
This is crucial, especially during low visibility (e.g. nighttime), as it allows drivers to identify and strategically pass the cars due to speed and performance differentials of these machines.
No.7 Porsche driver Felipe Nasr has emphasised the importance of experience during preparation for the previous year's edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Nasr said, “Experience makes all the difference in such situations. Drivers who’ve raced at Daytona often know exactly when and where it’s wise to back off. It’s not always about a full attack.”
“It gets hectic there, even if it doesn’t seem so from the outside. Overtaking traffic requires split-second decisions – almost every second. With over 60 cars on track, there’s always something happening.”
Track layout
Handling traffic management also depends on the characteristics of the track, as different tracks provide more versatility in traffic-related challenges.
For example, No.10 Corvette driver Charlie Eastwood commented back in 2024 how Imola could be trickier for the GT3 cars to handle traffic compared to the Hypercars due to the tight and twisty sections of the Italian circuit.
Eastwood said: “As we know, Imola has the characteristics of one of the more old-school European tracks.
“With that, it makes passing between LMGT3 and Hypercars very difficult. We might find that some Hypercars may be stuck behind GT3s for half a lap or maybe a third of a lap, which is a significant laptime loss for those guys.
“During testing, we found that the delta of lap time between GT3 and Hypercar was significantly smaller than at most circuits. The main reason for this is that at Imola, in the GT3 cars, you can take a lot of kerbs.
“There has been a completely new profile of the kerbing around most of the circuit so that the GT3s can get right on top of the kerbs, which the Corvette was handling very well at the test, but the Hypercars cannot - they have to drive around them.
"They are going to struggle to pass the GT cars very easily and likely see a lot of aggression in braking zones.’’
As Daytona features rovals, faster cars would frequently race in the outside lane. It was otherwise for the slower ones. As ovals are designed to be shorter, the on-track action is faster and constant.
The possibility of being more crowded is more likely here, and drivers need to be more predictable and quick with their decision-making.
Overall, managing traffic has proven over time that it is possible to win and set records even when safety and speed are in harmony. This makes the dynamic of the race much more enthralling.
