To drive in the direction you've described, you're going too far off the nav path. This is essentially "not racing" (or not entirely racing) and if your gunner is shooting over to the action, it could be considered chasing kills or camping.
I'm sure it will keep you alive since no one is going that way, but driving backwards at the start of Death Island will also keep you alive. Doing circles in any base at map start will probably keep you alive. Hiding inside the base for 30 seconds after map start will keep you alive. They'd all be considered "not racing" to some extent and not really in the spirit of the game.
Always be heading directly toward the navs as quickly as possible -- that's the game, it wouldn't be Race any other way. And the bloody collision at the first nav at map start is part of it too. Taking the long way and avoiding contact hurts your team and will put them behind, just like being AFK and going anywhere that's not to the nav hurts the team.
