you probably can't imagine what an enourmous task it is for A WHOLE LOT of people to navigate an AG craft around a narrow course, even at flower speed. As a fact, I know quite a few people who are really into games, even driving games, love the look of wipEout, and are put off by the fact they can't handle it's controls. It's bizarre, but that's how it is. I think SL should try what they can to appeal to the masses without changing the spirit and essence of wipEout, in order to make the game more popular and guarantee a budget for the next one. I think, pilot assist is a good choice to do so.
actually, now that I think about it, one of my friends totally owns me on Forza, GT, PGR, and pretty much every other (car) racing game, and I'm quite good at those, too. He is an absolute driving crack, but when we played wipEout Pure a year ago, he was absolutely lost, he couldn't get around the track clean for the life of him. We, who play wipEout a lot, don't notice anymore that wipEout is actually a LOT different than everything else out there, but for someone new to the series, it can seem impossible at first.