Drafting explained: What to do & not to do?

If you look at the picture below you will see a ‘box’ and this is the no draft area, so you do not want to be in this box OR it could lead to a drafting penalty. The dimensions of the Box differ for different events, but according to the IMSA 70.3 Information Guide it is 10 metres by 1.5 metres.

I have extracted the relevant points from the Info Guide and copied below, then explained & added a few additional points/comments:

17. Absolutely NO DRAFTING of another bike or any other vehicle is allowed. The 10-meter Draft Zone rule will apply. Athletes must ride single file on the far left side of the road except when passing another rider. All passing is to the right.

18. Athletes MUST move to the RIGHT (1.5 metre) before entering the 10-metre Draft Zone. In other words, no slipstreaming of the Athlete ahead is allowed when passing. Failing to move right when passing will result in a drafting violation. AR comment: You cannot approach somebodies wheel and then move out, you have to move out as soon as you are 10m away from the person in front of you. Even if you are riding abreast of somebody, you are gaining an advantage thus the reason for the 1.5m passing zone. NB: You cannot ride next to somebody even if 1.5m apart.

19. You have to ride directly behind the athlete in front of you (allowing for the 10m gap). You can only move out when you want to pass. If you stay out it is called “BLOCKING” and you will be penalised. You have 15 seconds to get your front wheel in front of the front wheel of the athlete who you are overtaking. He/she then has 15 seconds to get back 10 metres. AR comment: If you remain ‘out’ or next to somebody (1.5m apart), it blocks other participants from passing safely, hence you have to move out, pass and then move to the left, all within 15 seconds. 

AR Notes:

1. Overtaking a fellow competitor can get competitive, as some athletes don’t like to relinquish positions. So who has right of way? You are considered to have been ‘passed’ when another athlete’s front wheel is ahead of yours. At that point you must drop back out of the draft zone (10m) before attempting to recover your position.
2. The 10m zone is from the back edge of the rear wheel in front of you to the front edge of your front wheel.
3. You cannot enter the Draft Zone and linger there for 15 seconds, you have to be seen to be making an attempt to pass.
4. “Once you start to pass, you must complete it, you may not Yo-Yo”- courtesy of Damien Catherine.
5. Ironman 70.3 is an individual event and that is the reason for the no draft zone, so please don’t have the mentality that somebody else is drafting so I will follow suit. YOU want to earn your medal, so do it within the rules.
6. The Professionals and Top Age Groupers know the rules and will often park/ride their bike just beyond 10 meters behind a similar strength competitor in front of them. This may look like drafting, but it is a skill learnt and is called pacing off another competitor, which is allowed.

Wishing you all the very best for a Draft Free race!

Kyle learning from IM legend Chris Lieto on the Queen K