Its only a disadvantage if you let it be. Think in terms of placing if you are outmanned. You don't have to win or necessarly race to win every race, just ignore all the "team tactics" going on around you and stay in good position. You know who the good guys are, stick with them and dont work.
Danno, I would only disagree with picking a winner ahead of time, In my experience this is setting your team up for disaster. I would consider a good team race to be 4 or 5 in the top ten, rather than everyone sacrifice themselves for one winner. Your odds of winning go up dramatically in this scenario. My experience is that teams playing the odds rather than trying to make a specific strategy work have more success. See "Coors Light" in the early to mid 90's for an example.