Virtual Safety Car
This feature is part of the SmartRace Champions Club. This is a big package with cool extensions, which you can conveniently add in the form of a monthly or annual subscription in the app and of course cancel at any time. Learn more.
Settings
The VSC has some settings which can be changed using the settings dialog from the SmartRace main menu. The voice over messages can be enabled/disabled in Settings > Sounds, while everything else is located unter Settings > Driving. These settings can be changed:
- Duration
Using this settings, you can influence for how long the VSC should stay deployed. This setting will also be used if the VSC is extended manually (see below). - Speed and brake values
These values will be applied once the VSC begins.
Deploying the VSC
The VSC can be deployed anytime during a running race using the VSC button from the bottom right of the race screen (it’s not available outside of races). Once deployed, the speed and brake values will automatically be changed for all cars which are on track at this very moment.
During a VSC phase, the duration can be extended anytime by tapping the VSC button again. For this, again the duration from the settings will be used. Also, the VSC phase can be ended manually by tapping the VSC sign above the grid light. In this case, the timer will immediately go to 5 seconds.
When the VSC ends, the speed and brake values will be restored. For this, it’s important that you only change these values using the SmartRace user interface, not the CU, because otherwise SmartRace will now know about these values. If the weather feature is enabled for the race, the currently used tires will also be taken into account.
Important
Most probably the VSC will be used if a car crashes. Unfortunately speed and brake values can only be applied if a car is correctly placed on the track. If a car has crashed, it will not get the reduced values which would allow its driver to continue racing at regular speed. To avoid a situation like this, you might consider one of these variants:
- The crashed car is only being put back to the track *after* the VSC has ended.
- You put the crashed car back on track but press the button to re-apply the current car settings immediately after. For races with enabled weather, this button is located right next to the weather icon on top of the race screen, for other races it’s in the quick menu (“re-apply car settings”).
