I race on 2 tracks for Touring cars, one is a fixed layout track that is set up the same way every weekend, and the other is a track that every race weekend(2 races a month) is a different design, with no 2 being the same all year.
obviously the weekly track is easy to set up for, because it never changes, it is fairly fast, so lots of gear is fine, but the other track, because of the constantly changing layout is a little trickier.
What I like to do is figure out if I can carry lots of speed through corners, or if there is more acceleration involved. I know that the back straight is the same every week, for it is used for the pits, but the twisty bits can make or break you.
When the track is fairly fast, I can pass anyone, for I run a fast gear, but when the track has slower corners, I sacrifice straight away speed for acceleration, maybe someone will pass me on the straight by a car length, but I will gain a few on them in the twisty bits.
This was my first season of racing at this track, so the first race I went with what Losi suggested, but the following races I had to figure it out for myself.
I just like to figure out how the track itself is, and then go from there, I mean, i dont care if the straight is 200ft long, if its got a wicked infield, ill gear my car down so that im faster thru there, cause thats where you are gonna make your time.