Data, Data and More data

So you wonder how much energy do you save when you draft versus sit on the front? At the ZOAR race on Sunday I compared 5 laps in a row over the same distance and location on the course. This was between the first climb and 2nd climbs. The first lap was of course with the full compliment of 33 riders and I was positioned in the middle taking great advantage of the break from the wind. I will present the average wattage from my Power Tap to illustrate the differences.
Lap1
10:09
186 watts

Lap2 some attacks were starting and also this is when Batke and Quinlan took off and we followed Grimm as he pulled us along quickly.
Lap2
9:27
214 watts

Lap3, 4 were just normal laps, but we were now down to 20 and then probably 15 or so guys (and gal). Speed didnt chnage much, but with less riders and having to cover more moves, the wattage is creeping up.
Lap3
10:07
175 watts
Lap4
10:19
205 watts

Lap5 I am off solo on this entire section and I am not going all out, but going between tempo and threshold wattage, push, recover, push recover.
Lap5
10:04
275 watts.

Now look at lap 3 and lap 5, almost identical times , but solo it took 100 more watts to cover the same distance.