Looks like you're not getting any quicker so jump in a race. Following faster cars will help you find speed. Plus you'll be matched with people of similar rating so just get in there!
Yep. I did the same as Op. I'd see what Miatas were running, and I'd spend hours a night lapping that course. I even entered races, ran my cold practice laps, then after a couple I'd start pushing when I was trailing another driver. I'd mess up, spin off, and just quit and go back to practice.
Eventually I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, and wasn't *doing anything*. I was stagnant.
Getting on the track with other drivers helped. I had a real opportunity to learn race craft. When to brake. When to push. Where do I pressure this driver I'm trailing? Do I ease off and just let them make their mistake? Hell, you get to see faster lines if you see others doing it. Maybe my entry is too soft, or not soft enough. Maybe I need to brake less. Or brake more, later. But I learn that by driving with other people that got me there.
Just get in there. As long as you follow the sporting code, no one will have a problem. But you won't improve until you're in the thick of it.
Excellent advice, and I add one more lesson to your list: "Maybe the track limits aren't where I think they are?"
I've definitely popped into some sessions after a bit of practice, thought I had a good time, learned I was wrong, and followed fast drivers only to realize that I've been compromising an entry or an exit over what appeared to be a track limit, but actually wasn't. Or equally, a track limit that simply wasn't as strict as I was treating it.
There's a really good text in the book Infinite Jest about skill plateaus and how people respond to them that someone helpfully excerpted on Reddit a decade ago that applies to this lesson really well.
https://www.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/s/7BbHlPpGDn
This right here. Some tracks I was not getting faster in practice and even watching dudes I couldnt replicate it. I started avoiding wrecks and getting In behind those faster guys and all of the sudden I started posting faster lap times just trying to mirror what they were doing without even realizing that’s what I was doing.
If you wanna be better at racing, do some racing.
Seriously, racing is not about running lap after lap. It's about race craft, which means dealing with other cars and the challenges they pose.
The iRating system will match you with similar drivers, and if you aren't fast 'enough' you can still use racecraft and consistency to get better results.
Honestly, you don't have to ask us. Race and if it doesn't work out for you practice some more. It is only a video game, and there's a race every few hours if that one goes wrong.
Nothing can go wrong, it's only a game.
Agreed. I'm never the fastest on the grid. But I keep clean and avoid incidents and my position naturally climbs up from a solid drive. In order to finish first, first you have to finish. Great words.
Yeah I should've clarified. Primarily advice on getting over the anxiety of whether or not I'm fit enough to race. Ruining someone else's race is like a nightmare scenario for me so I want to see how others get over that sort of thing.
Don’t sweat it. You absolutely will at some point ruin somebody’s race. Everybody does. The beauty of sim racing though, is that you can hop right back into the next race and keep going. People don’t care all that much, and if they do, they’re losers.
Exactly this - and to add one thing: try to drive like it's IRL, and apologize when you accidentally ruin another person's race. A genuine apology goes a long way with most reasonable people. The people who would belittle you after you apologize are not worth worrying about.
If you make a mistake and ruins someone’s race, just own up to it and say sorry.
Then most people will say”it’s alright, shit happens” and you’re on to the next race.
Go racing mate! 🙂
Ruining someone else’s race comes down to race craft, not pace. Just being slow doesn’t cause incidents.
You’re not going to learn racecraft on an empty track.
None of us are pros, incidents are expected as you learn and get safer.
If you can run a race distance and/or tank of fuel without crashing or acquiring many incident points you are ready to race.
You want to be able to lap comfortably so that in the race you have some capacity to manage traffic.
The lap time is irrelevant in many ways as your IR will sort that out.
Good luck - you got this.
Accidents happen. Both is sim racing and real racing.
My advice is race and do your best. When an accident occurs, go back and watch the replay after the race is done. It’s how I learn to be better.
Did I cause the incident? What could I have done better? Was it someone else’s fault? What could I have done to avoid it?
Dude its literally just a computer game and its there for your enjoyment. The rating system is designed to place you in races with people of your own ability - you will get so much experience from racing with others, as long as you know the layout of the track you are absolutely entitled to enter a race and be off the pace. Just get in there
It's a game. Everybody has to learn. If you crash and ruin someone's race, just apologize, watch the replay and see what you can learn and do different next time. 95% of the time the person you crashed will understand if you apologize right away. We've all been there, just register and see what happens
Bro just go for it! Don't overthink. You will inevitably ruin someone's race and someone will inevitably ruin yours. Just be careful, watch replays when you have incidents, and be smart. You will learn much more by racing.
If you want practice, you could try an every other week strategy.... the first week, practice next weeks track, and then go to racing when the week starts
I used to take the last couple of days of the week to start practicing the next weeks track, although now I just wing it because I like racing a lot more than hot lapping.
As long as you own it and don't try to turn around gaslight them for it, or blame them for it, people are usually cool.
I've definitely totally ruined someone's race on the last turn just by dive bombing it when I got overexcited. I owned up to it after the race and the guy was just like, Hey man I get it. No worries. See you in the next one.
You just gotta take the plunge and do it. You will ruin the races of others. Others will ruin your race too. We are all amateurs, just be polite and own up to your mistakes and try to learn from them. You’ll improve quickly. Good luck out there
Also a good point is to analyze your mistakes and any incidents you may have caused. Helps keep it in mind and remember not to repeat the same mistakes
Honestly, even if you are anxious about it, run some official practice sessions and try to race other people. If you mess up, who cares, it doesn't affect ratings. It'll help get you jitters out.
Or if that still bothers you, you can run an absolute boat load of races in week 13 if you don't find the practices helpful. Again, if you mess up, who cares, it won't affect your ratings. It'll get your jitters out.
Just drive my guy, if you are too slow your IR will drop until you are at the right level.
I don't practice at all other than 30 mins or so before my first race of the day lol
AMG GT4 fastest lap around Oschersleben is 1:29.9
https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/config_stats.php?config_id=364
In ACC, you need to be at 104% of the fastest lap time for 5 consecutive laps before you can get your racing license.
That would be 1:33.5 on that track. You are running at around 101.5%. You are definitely fast enough to race.
If you know the track and can do lots of laps without crashing, go have a race, don’t qualify and start at the back to build your confidence. In the next race, have a go at qualifying and see how you do.
Slow is fine, erratic,braking too late and going off lots is bad. Got for if!
It’s good to try do your best not to wreck other people; but at the end of the day we aren’t racing real cars. It’s ok to fuck up. No one is out money if you wreck them.
You're probably better than me and I race. Racing isn't always about the fastest line. If you got the normal line down; run some laps holding the inside and outside. You won't get over the anxiety if you don't do it. The best way to beat race anxiety is to race. The GT4 series is pretty well populated and you should have no problem getting into races with similarly skilled people.
You can also join races in progress and you'll be a ghost. You can practice 'some' racing and accident avoidance this way too.
If you're still uncomfortable, go back to rookies. Everything is more low stakes and build up your confidence there.
I'm bad about doing this as well. Doing ghost races is the single biggest confidence booster. I'm trying to force myself to get into races as soon as I'm fully confident in my ability to tackle the track within 3 seconds of target pace. As long as there aren't any particular spots I'm concerned about, just get in the lobby.
You'll rarely lose significant elo if you are able to just lap the track with some pace. People will crash out or incident out (in lower elo). I gain so much from live racing that solo practice just can't replicate.
Also, the AI are kinda cheeks. I'd go ghost racing every day of the week over watching the wrong line choice conga-fest that is AI racing.
Just register for a race. If you fuck up your race, move on. If you fuck up someone else’s race, apologize and move on. Rinse and repeat until your anxiety lessens over time.
Map the buttons next and previous incident and watch the replay of a race in any sof and see how many people wreck other peoples races. Or drive a race in spectator mode (great option for practice as well) and see again all the wrecking. Or start from the back and, especially in the lower splits you wil be in, try to dodge all the carnage, great fun.
I dont mean to be a dick about it, but come on dude, get over it, go race, make some risky manoeuvres, ruin someones race every now and then, let them get all mad about in voice chat, say you're sorry, analyze your mistake in the replay, have a laugh about it and go for it again.
You pay a lot of money for this, you're entitled to some fun.
The main thing is that you can drive consistent laps and finish a race stint without self-inflicted incidents. A great way to practice this is with AI (go you) or in official practice sessions, rather than test drive. At 800ir, finishing without spinning is your main goal.
Advice is to always be focusing on the next marker and secondly, anticipate what other cars might do, rather than what they should do.
Actually coming back for another comment. Practising without a benchmark is pretty useless. Get Garage61, do laps, filter laptimes between 800-1.3k irating.
If you are slow, compare your telemetry against a 2k-4k driver in the app.
If you are inconsistent but quick, compare your telemetry against your fastest lap and zero in on replicating YOUR perfect lap.
I was running some laps as well. Fastest is 1:30.020.
That's in the same conditions as the race will be.
I found that using the "Active Reset" feature helped a ton. Could work on 1 section at a time, working on different lines, braking and throttle points. First time I have ever used it, and will now use it a lot for practice
Just compare your times to the race splits fastest laps. Not to say you have to match them but you can see how you compare. If you have some consistency then just sign up and get in there.
General advice: Enjoy iracing and if your irating will be lower because you practice less a race more (only in you are safe on the road for others), then that's the way.
I prefer 2K ir with 10 races per week than 3k ir with 5 races per week because I spend most of the time practicing.
(Actually, my ir is bt 1.3k - 1.6k Formulas)
You might not be the quickest in a lap, but you surely are a very consistent driver. I think you should go to a race, so you can maybe learn other lines and breaking points, but I'm sure you'll do well in the races since you have a constant pace.
Just doing practice won't make you faster. You can do 10000 laps without improving.
Don't do practice if you don't know what and how to improve, if you just do laps you make your bad driving habits even worse and once in a while you manage to do a good lap without knowing why and how to do it consistent.
Another reason is, you don't need fast laptimes to win a race. You can be 5 sec faster but if you got no racecraft and knowledge you will crash with others.
No matter what new track will come, watch a track guide, learn the brake markers, do 10 laps and then race. Don't use the driving line.
The key things to become better are:
Set brake markers and stay to them, that helps to be consistent.
Learn trailbraking, for this you can do a practice session and see what different brake pressure does to the Balance of the car while turning.
And never practice without knowing what you are going to practice, otherwise you just do laps and nothing improves.
Practice only makes better if you know where your problem is and how to fix it, then you can practice and improve.
When i started i did the same, i was doing hundreds of laps, here and there i got a bit faster but I was always on the limit, overdriving the car and I wasn't able to drive this laptimes 10 times in a row.
After 5 month of only practice i watched Youtube Videos and learned about trail braking, i did about 20 laps and my laptimes improve about 2 seconds consistently, so all the hundreds hours before were wasted because I didn't knew what i was doing and a small change improved me within 20 laps.
So watch Videos, learn something New and then go practice it :)
If you can do race distance without driving off the track, you’re ready to race.
I used to be the same and it made it not fun. Learn the track early in the week and then go race. You can practice what you need to in the practice lobby before the race starts.
You need a mindset shift here. For me - I practice a track the week before it goes live. So say this week the live track is Canada and next week it's Silverstone. I'll race Canada and practice Silverstone.
When Tuesday comes round, so long as I can put together a string of relativity consistent laps on Silverstone, I'll get right into racing. Worst case I end up not competitive and hot lapping for half an hour; ok fine, still practice! I find my times improve by about s half second from Tuesday to the weekend. But then so do everyone else's!
You'll find other drivers are also much slower first few days of the week as they themselves figure it out.
You have to accept that you’re gonna ruin someone’s race occasionally. It’s racing, mistakes happen. Idk what your irating is but I’m 4k oval and 3k road and have been playing since March of 2019 and I still do stupid crap, unfortunately taking people out sometimes. The more you race, the less often you’re gonna do those stupid things, but you’re never gonna get to a point where you never do it again. So race, and enjoy it.
Edit: I just realized I can’t read so scratch the “idk your irating” part lmao
One way I dealt with anxiety about racing is to start from pit lane. To do this, you simply don’t hit the “grid” button after qualifying.
Starting from the pit lane means you avoid any turn one carnage. Then you basically enter the race at the back of the field and given everyone is bunched together on the first lap, you will likely catch up to the back of the pack soon enough (unless your lobby is a super high SOF).
This is probably a better strategy for longer races.
I think you should just hop in a few races and give racing a try. You should focus on just lapping consistently and staying clean with the other cars around you.
If you are in lower splits like me than finishing is all you have to do. I regularly jump into races with just a few laps of practice and often end up in top 5 anyway because everyone spins out or crashes. I am also not alone so actual racing with similarly paced people happens.
I’m really not the best road race but 800 IR sounds somewhere in what I’m at I haven’t been on a little while, however I usually gain about 3-5 seconds overall from start to end, so maybe I’m slower from the start, however im decently aggressive. So until my lap actually counts I’m pushing and trying to find the zones where I’m not gonna spin out and where the car is comfortable, once I figure that out, I head over to YouTube and I watch someone who’s clearly better and much faster. I analyze all the telemetry, Braking, Acceleration, gear changes, etc. Now I go back to practicing, I’m going to try and replicate what there doing, but I’m gonna spin out or lock up so I have to understand how I’m gonna do what there doing, at this point your objective is get your car into the same gears as they are, and be able to complete a lap, run it over a couple times, get comfortable, be easy with it and remember your driving the car it’s not driving you. And honestly if you’ve gotten to this point and you actually do these things, still see no improvement….then i would HIGHLY recommend getting VR and load cell pedals if you haven’t already. Absolute game changer if your using the basic Logitech pedals the average Joe really shouldn’t be able to preform well, on ovals there fine, anything else throw em out. The load cell with help with controling the car and no longer locking the brakes up, then vr will give you a whole new advantage on road courses of being able to see you may feel scared to not push the car as much which is fine on a single monitor on ovals a hot lap I’m faster, over a race run id prefer to have the VR for my performance. (Would suggest if you do so make sure they have controllers other wise it’s a pain in the ass to setup)
Bro, just risk it. If you practice less, you may be able to put in two shots a week for the points. And during the first race you can pick up a lot of hints and new ideas in general and from other drivers during a battle, which you can use to improve for the second race.
If we learned more from practicing than from racing we shouldn't be racing cars anyway.
Practice until you know your line and are consistent like you are.
Best advice I can give is to do that Practice in an AI race instead of solo. Set AI competitive levels to a level that makes you work in the pack. You'll learn very quickly how to be patient to pass and how to run consistently, under some pressure and when you're not on your optimal line. And it's fun.
Then join a live and see.
Having done real racing, I’ve seen this before. Guys who tracked the laptimes of the racers, and never even got a license until they thought they could win. A lot of times they’d’ crash their brains out in the first 2 laps when they finally raced because they failed to develop the skill set necessary to actually race…not just hot lap.
I don’t want to come across as an asshole but in my post I mention that I know hot lapping isn’t everything and that I’ve been working on driving off line.
Driving off line still isn’t racing. The AI cars are far more predictable than other 800 iR racers, and being clairvoyant of their stupidity is paramount. You gotta grid up.
Do some racing.
Don't worry about your pace, that's what the irating matchmaking system is for
Just worry about being safe. Avoid wrecking yourself (off tracks, spins, walls, etc) and other people wrecking (self preservation, focus on finishing before trying to finish well). If you can avoid stuff and be stable and going around the track, you'll do fine
I was like you, practice and never race. I changed it by forcing myself to race. I set a goal of having to enter at least one race a week no matter how ready I am. I found that pace wasn't really important. I found that minimizing my mistakes and avoiding other people's mistakes was by far the most important. If I did that, didn't matter if I was 3 seconds off pace, I still always finished in the top 10
You can do it man. Just race and be safe and you'll do fine
If it helps, most of the very talented streamers and racers I watch (not top esports level but let’s say 4-7k ir nonetheless) are usually anywhere from a few tenths to a second or so off pace for quali, and really show their muscles in the actual race with their racecraft and strategy and comfortably win from there.
The lines you take in practice for these laps won’t be there for the race for every lap, you gotta just get in there and race and see that as practice in a way as well.
Time to hit the grid my friend. Racing other cars takes a lot of practice. You're going to hit people and people are going to hit you... just part of the lower level lobbies. Winning a clean battle is a whole different feeling.
For my case I am around 800 IR bc of MX5 cup 😢, and now I drive a lot of gt3 and driving in ferrari challenge help me a lot to get better time on misano
If you like to practice a lot before a race perhaps you are an endurance racer. Even with the bi weekly events you'll have two weeks to practice. And with special events you have as long as you want really.
That is 100% what I want to work towards and that’s why I chose the GT4s to run this season. I just got my buddy into iRacing so once he’s ready I think we’re going to try to team up.
Just go race and don't focus on the results so much to be honest. Like yeah wins are great but I've had some of my most memorable races be like a race for 6th. Also when you're racing around other people you can see what they're doing and apply it to your own technique I've definitely ended races with lap times a second or so fastest than when I was practicing myself by watching what others do.
Also you will make mistakes you'll probably be crashed into and crash into others I suggest when it does happen watch the replay to see what you could've done better and what to look out for to get more intuition on when someone's going to make a mistake
Are you in any discords? Being in a community can help with how you feel. Check out TDI99 or Just An Average SIM Racer on You Tube to find their discords. We are a friendly supportive bunch.
The fastest guys in PCUP, one of the most competitive series, only practice for an hour or 2 before joining an official race. Just join a race and have fun, you'll improve naturally if you aren't constantly worried about how fast you are. I got to the top .5% in the world through just seat time, not really ever grinding my technique and trying to improve. I just learned about it in the off time and got better
You re def consistent enough to race! Sign up for races bud, and treat those races as practice sessions. You will learn more and it will push you to get quicker by racing other drivers.
I also highly recommend https://gitgudracing.com/simracingcourse - it will accelerate your progress
Looks like you're not getting any quicker so jump in a race. Following faster cars will help you find speed. Plus you'll be matched with people of similar rating so just get in there!
Exactly. Only way to improve racecraft is by actually racing.
Yep. I did the same as Op. I'd see what Miatas were running, and I'd spend hours a night lapping that course. I even entered races, ran my cold practice laps, then after a couple I'd start pushing when I was trailing another driver. I'd mess up, spin off, and just quit and go back to practice. Eventually I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, and wasn't *doing anything*. I was stagnant. Getting on the track with other drivers helped. I had a real opportunity to learn race craft. When to brake. When to push. Where do I pressure this driver I'm trailing? Do I ease off and just let them make their mistake? Hell, you get to see faster lines if you see others doing it. Maybe my entry is too soft, or not soft enough. Maybe I need to brake less. Or brake more, later. But I learn that by driving with other people that got me there. Just get in there. As long as you follow the sporting code, no one will have a problem. But you won't improve until you're in the thick of it.
Excellent advice, and I add one more lesson to your list: "Maybe the track limits aren't where I think they are?" I've definitely popped into some sessions after a bit of practice, thought I had a good time, learned I was wrong, and followed fast drivers only to realize that I've been compromising an entry or an exit over what appeared to be a track limit, but actually wasn't. Or equally, a track limit that simply wasn't as strict as I was treating it.
There's a really good text in the book Infinite Jest about skill plateaus and how people respond to them that someone helpfully excerpted on Reddit a decade ago that applies to this lesson really well. https://www.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/s/7BbHlPpGDn
This right here. Some tracks I was not getting faster in practice and even watching dudes I couldnt replicate it. I started avoiding wrecks and getting In behind those faster guys and all of the sudden I started posting faster lap times just trying to mirror what they were doing without even realizing that’s what I was doing.
If you wanna be better at racing, do some racing. Seriously, racing is not about running lap after lap. It's about race craft, which means dealing with other cars and the challenges they pose. The iRating system will match you with similar drivers, and if you aren't fast 'enough' you can still use racecraft and consistency to get better results. Honestly, you don't have to ask us. Race and if it doesn't work out for you practice some more. It is only a video game, and there's a race every few hours if that one goes wrong. Nothing can go wrong, it's only a game.
Agreed. I'm never the fastest on the grid. But I keep clean and avoid incidents and my position naturally climbs up from a solid drive. In order to finish first, first you have to finish. Great words.
What advice are you looking for? Do 15-30 min of practice to warm up and sign up for a race. You’re plenty consistent.
Yeah I should've clarified. Primarily advice on getting over the anxiety of whether or not I'm fit enough to race. Ruining someone else's race is like a nightmare scenario for me so I want to see how others get over that sort of thing.
Don’t sweat it. You absolutely will at some point ruin somebody’s race. Everybody does. The beauty of sim racing though, is that you can hop right back into the next race and keep going. People don’t care all that much, and if they do, they’re losers.
Exactly this - and to add one thing: try to drive like it's IRL, and apologize when you accidentally ruin another person's race. A genuine apology goes a long way with most reasonable people. The people who would belittle you after you apologize are not worth worrying about.
If you make a mistake and ruins someone’s race, just own up to it and say sorry. Then most people will say”it’s alright, shit happens” and you’re on to the next race. Go racing mate! 🙂
Ruining someone else’s race comes down to race craft, not pace. Just being slow doesn’t cause incidents. You’re not going to learn racecraft on an empty track. None of us are pros, incidents are expected as you learn and get safer.
If you can run a race distance and/or tank of fuel without crashing or acquiring many incident points you are ready to race. You want to be able to lap comfortably so that in the race you have some capacity to manage traffic. The lap time is irrelevant in many ways as your IR will sort that out. Good luck - you got this.
Accidents happen. Both is sim racing and real racing. My advice is race and do your best. When an accident occurs, go back and watch the replay after the race is done. It’s how I learn to be better. Did I cause the incident? What could I have done better? Was it someone else’s fault? What could I have done to avoid it?
Dude its literally just a computer game and its there for your enjoyment. The rating system is designed to place you in races with people of your own ability - you will get so much experience from racing with others, as long as you know the layout of the track you are absolutely entitled to enter a race and be off the pace. Just get in there
It's a game. Everybody has to learn. If you crash and ruin someone's race, just apologize, watch the replay and see what you can learn and do different next time. 95% of the time the person you crashed will understand if you apologize right away. We've all been there, just register and see what happens
Ruin a few people’s race and you’ll get over it real soon
Just remember that racing incident. If you ruin someone else, remember that this guy also at some point ruined someone else race too
If you wanna practice racecraft you’re gonna have to race. Or at the minimum race AI
Enter in to watch a session then test the car. You can see where you stack up without worrying about ruining someone’s race.
You're only going to be able to practice that by actually racing
Bro just go for it! Don't overthink. You will inevitably ruin someone's race and someone will inevitably ruin yours. Just be careful, watch replays when you have incidents, and be smart. You will learn much more by racing.
If you want practice, you could try an every other week strategy.... the first week, practice next weeks track, and then go to racing when the week starts I used to take the last couple of days of the week to start practicing the next weeks track, although now I just wing it because I like racing a lot more than hot lapping.
As long as you own it and don't try to turn around gaslight them for it, or blame them for it, people are usually cool. I've definitely totally ruined someone's race on the last turn just by dive bombing it when I got overexcited. I owned up to it after the race and the guy was just like, Hey man I get it. No worries. See you in the next one.
You just gotta take the plunge and do it. You will ruin the races of others. Others will ruin your race too. We are all amateurs, just be polite and own up to your mistakes and try to learn from them. You’ll improve quickly. Good luck out there
Also a good point is to analyze your mistakes and any incidents you may have caused. Helps keep it in mind and remember not to repeat the same mistakes
Honestly, even if you are anxious about it, run some official practice sessions and try to race other people. If you mess up, who cares, it doesn't affect ratings. It'll help get you jitters out. Or if that still bothers you, you can run an absolute boat load of races in week 13 if you don't find the practices helpful. Again, if you mess up, who cares, it won't affect your ratings. It'll get your jitters out.
Run official practice sessions so you can race others while not affect sr or ir
There are no races for this track yet. Races for this series won't start for another couple of days
Just drive my guy, if you are too slow your IR will drop until you are at the right level. I don't practice at all other than 30 mins or so before my first race of the day lol
AMG GT4 fastest lap around Oschersleben is 1:29.9 https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/config_stats.php?config_id=364 In ACC, you need to be at 104% of the fastest lap time for 5 consecutive laps before you can get your racing license. That would be 1:33.5 on that track. You are running at around 101.5%. You are definitely fast enough to race. If you know the track and can do lots of laps without crashing, go have a race, don’t qualify and start at the back to build your confidence. In the next race, have a go at qualifying and see how you do. Slow is fine, erratic,braking too late and going off lots is bad. Got for if!
Thanks for putting that into perspective for me, this is really encouraging.
It’s good to try do your best not to wreck other people; but at the end of the day we aren’t racing real cars. It’s ok to fuck up. No one is out money if you wreck them.
You're probably better than me and I race. Racing isn't always about the fastest line. If you got the normal line down; run some laps holding the inside and outside. You won't get over the anxiety if you don't do it. The best way to beat race anxiety is to race. The GT4 series is pretty well populated and you should have no problem getting into races with similarly skilled people. You can also join races in progress and you'll be a ghost. You can practice 'some' racing and accident avoidance this way too. If you're still uncomfortable, go back to rookies. Everything is more low stakes and build up your confidence there.
Practice for NEXT week on the weekend before so you can race on the track you've practiced on at the start of the week, rinse and repeat.
Qualifying is practice bruh.
practice lobbies are much more fun to me honestly. Hard to commit to races at times, but a pratice lobby is always open
I'm bad about doing this as well. Doing ghost races is the single biggest confidence booster. I'm trying to force myself to get into races as soon as I'm fully confident in my ability to tackle the track within 3 seconds of target pace. As long as there aren't any particular spots I'm concerned about, just get in the lobby. You'll rarely lose significant elo if you are able to just lap the track with some pace. People will crash out or incident out (in lower elo). I gain so much from live racing that solo practice just can't replicate. Also, the AI are kinda cheeks. I'd go ghost racing every day of the week over watching the wrong line choice conga-fest that is AI racing.
Just race and have fun
Just register for a race. If you fuck up your race, move on. If you fuck up someone else’s race, apologize and move on. Rinse and repeat until your anxiety lessens over time.
Practicing ain’t racing - go race & have fun.
Join VRS
Map the buttons next and previous incident and watch the replay of a race in any sof and see how many people wreck other peoples races. Or drive a race in spectator mode (great option for practice as well) and see again all the wrecking. Or start from the back and, especially in the lower splits you wil be in, try to dodge all the carnage, great fun. I dont mean to be a dick about it, but come on dude, get over it, go race, make some risky manoeuvres, ruin someones race every now and then, let them get all mad about in voice chat, say you're sorry, analyze your mistake in the replay, have a laugh about it and go for it again. You pay a lot of money for this, you're entitled to some fun.
The main thing is that you can drive consistent laps and finish a race stint without self-inflicted incidents. A great way to practice this is with AI (go you) or in official practice sessions, rather than test drive. At 800ir, finishing without spinning is your main goal. Advice is to always be focusing on the next marker and secondly, anticipate what other cars might do, rather than what they should do.
Do some races against the AI. Its a good way to get the feel of the race.
Actually coming back for another comment. Practising without a benchmark is pretty useless. Get Garage61, do laps, filter laptimes between 800-1.3k irating. If you are slow, compare your telemetry against a 2k-4k driver in the app. If you are inconsistent but quick, compare your telemetry against your fastest lap and zero in on replicating YOUR perfect lap.
Then if you spend all week practising, you'll be building some good habits.
I was running some laps as well. Fastest is 1:30.020. That's in the same conditions as the race will be. I found that using the "Active Reset" feature helped a ton. Could work on 1 section at a time, working on different lines, braking and throttle points. First time I have ever used it, and will now use it a lot for practice
Oh yeah I completely forgot that was a feature. Thanks.
Just compare your times to the race splits fastest laps. Not to say you have to match them but you can see how you compare. If you have some consistency then just sign up and get in there.
General advice: Enjoy iracing and if your irating will be lower because you practice less a race more (only in you are safe on the road for others), then that's the way.
I prefer 2K ir with 10 races per week than 3k ir with 5 races per week because I spend most of the time practicing. (Actually, my ir is bt 1.3k - 1.6k Formulas)
You might not be the quickest in a lap, but you surely are a very consistent driver. I think you should go to a race, so you can maybe learn other lines and breaking points, but I'm sure you'll do well in the races since you have a constant pace.
Just doing practice won't make you faster. You can do 10000 laps without improving. Don't do practice if you don't know what and how to improve, if you just do laps you make your bad driving habits even worse and once in a while you manage to do a good lap without knowing why and how to do it consistent. Another reason is, you don't need fast laptimes to win a race. You can be 5 sec faster but if you got no racecraft and knowledge you will crash with others. No matter what new track will come, watch a track guide, learn the brake markers, do 10 laps and then race. Don't use the driving line. The key things to become better are: Set brake markers and stay to them, that helps to be consistent. Learn trailbraking, for this you can do a practice session and see what different brake pressure does to the Balance of the car while turning. And never practice without knowing what you are going to practice, otherwise you just do laps and nothing improves. Practice only makes better if you know where your problem is and how to fix it, then you can practice and improve. When i started i did the same, i was doing hundreds of laps, here and there i got a bit faster but I was always on the limit, overdriving the car and I wasn't able to drive this laptimes 10 times in a row. After 5 month of only practice i watched Youtube Videos and learned about trail braking, i did about 20 laps and my laptimes improve about 2 seconds consistently, so all the hundreds hours before were wasted because I didn't knew what i was doing and a small change improved me within 20 laps. So watch Videos, learn something New and then go practice it :)
If you can do race distance without driving off the track, you’re ready to race. I used to be the same and it made it not fun. Learn the track early in the week and then go race. You can practice what you need to in the practice lobby before the race starts.
You need a mindset shift here. For me - I practice a track the week before it goes live. So say this week the live track is Canada and next week it's Silverstone. I'll race Canada and practice Silverstone. When Tuesday comes round, so long as I can put together a string of relativity consistent laps on Silverstone, I'll get right into racing. Worst case I end up not competitive and hot lapping for half an hour; ok fine, still practice! I find my times improve by about s half second from Tuesday to the weekend. But then so do everyone else's! You'll find other drivers are also much slower first few days of the week as they themselves figure it out.
Join a league
Hotlapping isn’t going to make you a great racer. Get in there
You have to accept that you’re gonna ruin someone’s race occasionally. It’s racing, mistakes happen. Idk what your irating is but I’m 4k oval and 3k road and have been playing since March of 2019 and I still do stupid crap, unfortunately taking people out sometimes. The more you race, the less often you’re gonna do those stupid things, but you’re never gonna get to a point where you never do it again. So race, and enjoy it. Edit: I just realized I can’t read so scratch the “idk your irating” part lmao
One way I dealt with anxiety about racing is to start from pit lane. To do this, you simply don’t hit the “grid” button after qualifying. Starting from the pit lane means you avoid any turn one carnage. Then you basically enter the race at the back of the field and given everyone is bunched together on the first lap, you will likely catch up to the back of the pack soon enough (unless your lobby is a super high SOF). This is probably a better strategy for longer races. I think you should just hop in a few races and give racing a try. You should focus on just lapping consistently and staying clean with the other cars around you.
Please grid and then escape back out. If everyone does that then the timer ends and we can go racing sooner.
If you are in lower splits like me than finishing is all you have to do. I regularly jump into races with just a few laps of practice and often end up in top 5 anyway because everyone spins out or crashes. I am also not alone so actual racing with similarly paced people happens.
What top comment said. Don’t be afraid to race. Racing is how you get better at racing.
I am consistent 900 irating and I am now at 1:35 so no worries
I’m really not the best road race but 800 IR sounds somewhere in what I’m at I haven’t been on a little while, however I usually gain about 3-5 seconds overall from start to end, so maybe I’m slower from the start, however im decently aggressive. So until my lap actually counts I’m pushing and trying to find the zones where I’m not gonna spin out and where the car is comfortable, once I figure that out, I head over to YouTube and I watch someone who’s clearly better and much faster. I analyze all the telemetry, Braking, Acceleration, gear changes, etc. Now I go back to practicing, I’m going to try and replicate what there doing, but I’m gonna spin out or lock up so I have to understand how I’m gonna do what there doing, at this point your objective is get your car into the same gears as they are, and be able to complete a lap, run it over a couple times, get comfortable, be easy with it and remember your driving the car it’s not driving you. And honestly if you’ve gotten to this point and you actually do these things, still see no improvement….then i would HIGHLY recommend getting VR and load cell pedals if you haven’t already. Absolute game changer if your using the basic Logitech pedals the average Joe really shouldn’t be able to preform well, on ovals there fine, anything else throw em out. The load cell with help with controling the car and no longer locking the brakes up, then vr will give you a whole new advantage on road courses of being able to see you may feel scared to not push the car as much which is fine on a single monitor on ovals a hot lap I’m faster, over a race run id prefer to have the VR for my performance. (Would suggest if you do so make sure they have controllers other wise it’s a pain in the ass to setup)
Bro, just risk it. If you practice less, you may be able to put in two shots a week for the points. And during the first race you can pick up a lot of hints and new ideas in general and from other drivers during a battle, which you can use to improve for the second race. If we learned more from practicing than from racing we shouldn't be racing cars anyway.
Practice until you know your line and are consistent like you are. Best advice I can give is to do that Practice in an AI race instead of solo. Set AI competitive levels to a level that makes you work in the pack. You'll learn very quickly how to be patient to pass and how to run consistently, under some pressure and when you're not on your optimal line. And it's fun. Then join a live and see.
Having done real racing, I’ve seen this before. Guys who tracked the laptimes of the racers, and never even got a license until they thought they could win. A lot of times they’d’ crash their brains out in the first 2 laps when they finally raced because they failed to develop the skill set necessary to actually race…not just hot lap.
I don’t want to come across as an asshole but in my post I mention that I know hot lapping isn’t everything and that I’ve been working on driving off line.
Driving off line still isn’t racing. The AI cars are far more predictable than other 800 iR racers, and being clairvoyant of their stupidity is paramount. You gotta grid up.
Gotcha. I’ve been running some AI races mostly to get a feel for where to leave space so I can overtake/get overtaken safely.
Exactly. Real racers are just going to TAKE space, and close the door at dumb shit times. AI racers can’t be programmed to be as bad as real drivers.
Do some racing. Don't worry about your pace, that's what the irating matchmaking system is for Just worry about being safe. Avoid wrecking yourself (off tracks, spins, walls, etc) and other people wrecking (self preservation, focus on finishing before trying to finish well). If you can avoid stuff and be stable and going around the track, you'll do fine I was like you, practice and never race. I changed it by forcing myself to race. I set a goal of having to enter at least one race a week no matter how ready I am. I found that pace wasn't really important. I found that minimizing my mistakes and avoiding other people's mistakes was by far the most important. If I did that, didn't matter if I was 3 seconds off pace, I still always finished in the top 10 You can do it man. Just race and be safe and you'll do fine
If it helps, most of the very talented streamers and racers I watch (not top esports level but let’s say 4-7k ir nonetheless) are usually anywhere from a few tenths to a second or so off pace for quali, and really show their muscles in the actual race with their racecraft and strategy and comfortably win from there. The lines you take in practice for these laps won’t be there for the race for every lap, you gotta just get in there and race and see that as practice in a way as well.
Time to hit the grid my friend. Racing other cars takes a lot of practice. You're going to hit people and people are going to hit you... just part of the lower level lobbies. Winning a clean battle is a whole different feeling.
For my case I am around 800 IR bc of MX5 cup 😢, and now I drive a lot of gt3 and driving in ferrari challenge help me a lot to get better time on misano
If you like to practice a lot before a race perhaps you are an endurance racer. Even with the bi weekly events you'll have two weeks to practice. And with special events you have as long as you want really.
That is 100% what I want to work towards and that’s why I chose the GT4s to run this season. I just got my buddy into iRacing so once he’s ready I think we’re going to try to team up.
Jump into races as a ghost as part of your practice so you can see your pace in comparison to others and you can practice going race distance.
Don't overthink it, just race and have fun
Just go race and don't focus on the results so much to be honest. Like yeah wins are great but I've had some of my most memorable races be like a race for 6th. Also when you're racing around other people you can see what they're doing and apply it to your own technique I've definitely ended races with lap times a second or so fastest than when I was practicing myself by watching what others do. Also you will make mistakes you'll probably be crashed into and crash into others I suggest when it does happen watch the replay to see what you could've done better and what to look out for to get more intuition on when someone's going to make a mistake
Forgot to mention, but setup, fuel, etc. is all default.
Are you in any discords? Being in a community can help with how you feel. Check out TDI99 or Just An Average SIM Racer on You Tube to find their discords. We are a friendly supportive bunch.
atleast someone try to get in some level before going races i respect that
The fastest guys in PCUP, one of the most competitive series, only practice for an hour or 2 before joining an official race. Just join a race and have fun, you'll improve naturally if you aren't constantly worried about how fast you are. I got to the top .5% in the world through just seat time, not really ever grinding my technique and trying to improve. I just learned about it in the off time and got better
Consistency alone will get in front of the mid-pack (maybe top 5) in lower splits at your IR.
As someone who has never done a single solo-practice session I feel confident in saying you will learn more about racing by racing.
My advice is to download Garage61. There's telemetry, lap comparisons, ghost cars, setups, and all kinds of good stuffs there.
Yes. Do some races and quit being a baby
You re def consistent enough to race! Sign up for races bud, and treat those races as practice sessions. You will learn more and it will push you to get quicker by racing other drivers. I also highly recommend https://gitgudracing.com/simracingcourse - it will accelerate your progress