It makes a big difference when you know people TRUST you to do the right thing. If you drive like an ass then you will get treated like an ass. When you make contact and drive away on a nightly basis, you should expect retaliation. People will shut the door on you everywhere and do whatever they can to make your life miserable during the race...oftentimes just to force you into being a dumbass.
When you finally learn racecraft and to RESPECT ALL your fellow drivers as EQUALS, then demonstrate this on track, your racing experience will be much more enjoyable.
Other drivers will give you room when they know you have the speed or better lines in certain situations. They will be more likely to work WITH you rather than against you on the track. If you are battling for 2nd place with another driver, 1st place is driving off into the sunset. When you gain respect, you will find others working with you to catch that 1st place guy.
Last night @
racefan78 and I were 1st/2nd at Spa for almost the entire race. We have raced together for a long time in SNAIL. Instead of working against each other and slowing each other down, we worked together and pulled out a nice lead. He bobbled a couple of times...but attempting a pass in those spots would have been risky. I probably could have made it stick "legally" but I would not have felt good about it and there was a chance one of us could have gone off or made contact. So we continued to give each other room in those moments and I tucked in behind to help push when I could.
There are many people in SNAIL that I know I can trust not to put me in the weeds and vice versa. Due to mutual respect, friendship and camaraderie.
When I know a known a-hole is coming up behind me, I will make it my personal mission to make sure he comes out on the bottom...within the rules of course
Don't make people treat you like this.
Maybe try to make a list of all the people who you can drive with like that. If the list is short, then get out there and gain some respect...by giving it.
Slight edit to avoid "double post" trouble...
Try to think of all the people here that you KNOW are good and respected racers but have never driven with them before. How do you know they are good racers? Reputation gained by treating others with respect. I have moved from D2 to D1 to D2 to D3. Each time I looked at the driver's lineup before the season started and could already tell who I knew I could trust...many of them I had never driven against on the track. Try to be one of them.