AI strategies?

[Stumps_GTI]

Varying AI strategies....how much "thinking" do they do?
I've been experimenting in some long distance races, using Daytona Oval because it's easy to set up and complete.
Having used and tried several Gr4 class cars, it does appear that any field with two or more of the same make/model included, their strategies do differ.
My setup is simple, I usually set the race as endurance with,
20 cars (mostly Gr4) as opponents.
Either 2 hour, or 65 - 70+ laps.
All time penalties enabled (wall collision, car collision set to low penalty)
Fuel and tyre wear set to 5, with a reasonably hi-flow fill rate.
Track settings on "real" with no boost.
With the opponents set as professional it usually yields a win prize of approx. 230,000+ credits.

1) Toyota 86 Gr4.
I've used and won with this car, even though there are several more in the field that "seem" to hold more power??
With all cars running hard race tyres, I can run consistent laps in the mid 55.2's - 55.4's.
There can be an 86 way out in front, no drafting that can set lap records in the high 51's - low 52's???
BoP is set, so should be no disparity??

2) Huracan Gr4.
Two or more of these (rare) in a race and they will have differing strategies on fuel. One will make 20-21 laps, the other might go to 23-24 laps before pitting. I find unless I'm running my fuel management on full power, I can't keep up, and these other guys are obviously running less power?

Anyone else do dumb stuff like this to pass the time?

 

[Meythia]

BoP is set, so should be no disparity??

Ideally yes, but in fact no.
BoP does not mean same top speed, acceleration, traction, whatsoever, but is a way of trying to fit a bunch of different cars into a single categorie of performance.
The result is that some cars still exceel in certian aspects of racing, and this in turn means some cars will still have and advantage if their strength is matching larger parts of a track.

The question about AI:
Usually the game will have a few AI cars that are picked to be lead group and all others will only be designated into a role of bigger grid.
The AI does not really have any kind of strategies, it only reacts to conditions of tyrewear, fuel, and weather (though this one very badly).
But the AI does not race the same way everytime, and depending on how much it needs to fight over positions or tries to follow, the more fuel it uses and the tyrewear it suffers, so it will have different pit stop windows.