About to attempt online racing...

[SeeGeeAitch]

I had a look at this thread yesterday - posted there too but it doesn't seem to show in latest posts etc...

A good read and I agree with it all.

I'm relatively new to GTS (but played all previous GT games) and have finally completed the Driving School, Mission Challenges and Track Experiences 100% all gold.

Working through the GT Leagues now but intending on getting involved in online races soon.
It's an exciting prospect but I keep putting it off as I guess I'm a bit nervous about it.... I believe in racing cleanly and fairly but, due to my inexperience, joining an online race feels like a fairly daunting thing.... I don't want to do the wrong thing and don't want to get labelled a dive-bombing idiot but I know that I will likely make mistakes at first....

Any advice? I'm guessing that the best thing to do would be to not look for results at first but concentrate on finishing races with no incidents, gradually build up my confidence and (hopefully) speed over a few weeks....

 

[ViperV10]

We all start somewhere, just go for it. Firstly, you will start in lowest rank where are less experienced drivers, but also some dirty drivers as well. My advice would be to practise a certain track you are going to race on, so you can get decent lap times. In a race try to avoid contact at all cost, turn on radar. There might be some times when people behind you will overspeed the corners, brake too late and hit you. This happens pretty often in low ranked races. If you are using bumber cam, you can see behind you through mirror and just try to react quickly and move to other side. And if you are behind someone, always brake a bit earlier to not hit the car in front of you. And if there'll be someone dirty who is hitting you on purpose, just keep calm and let him pass, because more contact with him means more penalty and also some rank drops. First races will probably not be as enjoyable, but if you keep avoiding contact & maybe getting some good positions, you will race in higher ranks with cleaner and more experienced drivers.

Online racing is much more intense than racing against AI, definetely go for it..I hope I gave you at least some advice, because I'm not very good at it

 

[ARTAsean]

I don’t think your DR starts tracking until you finish 5 races. So if I were you I would pick a Daily Race and don’t qualify. Youll start in the back. This will let you get your feet wet and you can see what to expect. Also, you’re pretty much guaranteed to move up a few positions if you just keep it together.

 

[Famine]

I had a look at this thread yesterday - posted there too but it doesn't seem to show in latest posts etc...

It's in a different (and rapid-moving) forum:

 

[senzr]

Don’t jump into a Sport Mode race before you have some practice. (I do about 20 qualifying laps minimum, but that’s just me.)

Qualify as well as you can.

Remember that race pace is different from qualifying pace. Brake a touch earlier because the car will be slightly heavier with fuel load.

Brake earlier if you’re drafting behind someone. Dirty air will mess with your downforce and braking distances.

Switch on your radar and be aware of your surroundings.

Avoid contact at all cost to rank up your SR and get matched in cleaner lobbies.

Don’t rage quit if you’re having a bad race in Sport Mode. This will cause you to lose a bunch of DR points, and you’ll never be able to get to higher ranks and cleaner races. Stick with it all the way.

Check your stats on Kudosprime to see your progress.

Your first objective every race should be SURVIVE TURN 1.

Have fun!

 

[TT92]

You have some decisions to make. Do you want to race and have some fun, do want to be a top pro racer or are you chasing your platinum trophy? Three scenarios with different approaches.

1) Have fun: Just enter and go for it, you will end up settling at a rank where you should be and don't ever get angry.

2) Become a pro: Start another account and learn the race craft not caring about your rankings. Then when you are confident go back to your main account and with your already gained knowledge work up to the top.

3) Trophy chaser: It is advantages to stay in the lower ranks and get your poles, fastest laps and wins. So WHEN (not IF) you get get given undeserved penalties from idiots and get rank resets it actually helps your strategy. Also you get the satisfaction of hunting down dirty drivers and dispatching them ;-)

A couple of pointers (some already mentioned) drive with radar <ON> and use bumper cam so you have a nice big mirror to see what is about to hit you ;-) Stay cool, don't get enraged, there are a huge number of idiots, dirty drivers and and people on hand controllers that don't have a clue how to drive or race.

Finally, if any of these things put you off, then race in online lobbies instead and try and find some like minded people. Especially if you like driving Honda Civics on race soft tyres with all aids on ;-)

My $0.02

 

[SeeGeeAitch]

Thanks for all your input everyone - I actually feel a little less nervous about it now and looking forward to it

 

[breeminator]

You'd normally start with a race A or B, as Cs can be a bit more complex. However, this week's C is a simple no-stopper and isn't much different to an A or B, apart from being longer and having more drivers, and the type of car possibly makes it more accessible than A or B, which is unusual. So if you were to do your first race today, I'd actually suggest going for race C. If you do, be aware it's a grid start, and you need to keep the brake on till the lights go out, and you probably want to use traction control at the start.

Do qualifying first, and see where you are on your region's leaderboard here:
https://www.kudosprime.com/gts/events.php
If you aren't sure which race will suit you best, you can try qualifying for them all, and see where you are on each leaderboard. The above site tracks your qualifying performances, and gives you a "speed score" which is roughly the average % slower than the best time. So if you are on average 1% slower, you get a speed score of 90, if you're 2% slower, a speed score of 80, etc. So what I do is have another account to try qualifying on, and I only qualify on my main account if I know I'm going to do well at it, otherwise qualifying laps where you just tried it a few times will drag your speed score down. Of course, it's fine to not care about your speed score, it isn't something that exists inside the game, but it's just worth being aware that every time you complete a qualifying lap it goes onto your permanent record on that website.

If you qualify in the top 5000, say, then you will do very well in your first races. If you qualify in the top 1000 then your driver rating will keep going up for many races. Don't be put off if you're generally high up but sometimes encounter drivers who seem really good. You often get drivers in races who aren't at their true driver rating, so if someone with a 15k driver rating drives away from you, it doesn't mean you're not good enough for 15k, that driver can have been at 50k a few days earlier but had a reset down.

You can also look people up on the above site to see their rating history:
https://www.kudosprime.com/gts/stats.php?profile=search
If you have a bad experience with someone, and you look at their history, and their SR zigzags wildly up and down, you know they are the problem, not you. Or you can see if someone has in the past been at a much higher rating, if they seem unusually good for their current rating.

You'll soon get into it, and as people have said, they don't affect your DR for your first 5 races anyway, only your SR, so just get used to trying to race fast, but consistently, and clean. I was terrified of doing my first FIA race, they seemed very intimidating compared to the daily races, but then I did one and did fine. The main things to be careful of are if it's a race where you'll be doing a pit stop, know the pit lane entry, I smacked straight into the wall the first time I tried to pit at Autopolis. And if fuel or tyre wear come into it for a race, it can require practice beforehand to work out the best strategy. You can create a lobby to replicate the race settings, you can make it friends only if you don't want random people joining you.

 

[Yassi_99]

Just try it and give your best while remaining as clean as possible. Every racer makes mistakes (even world tour finalists) so learn and progress. Don't let yourself down because of a bad race. The most important rule: Have fun. Then, the good results will come by themselves

 

[Bloodytears]

Why not visit free lobbies here and there, that's how I have started. In Sport mode there not much of Racecraft if you ask me, where in lobbies you can not only meet gentlemen drivers, but also have fun with top stars without stress and too much pressure. Plus lobbies usually have less players, that is good for a starter, less people - more room to breath and for mistakes. Dunno, lobbies sometimes are more entertaining than Sport mode, and have more of a challenge.
After some races there with people, you'll get an overall feeling of actual races.

 

[SeeGeeAitch]

OK after last night, I am addicted!

Daily race C was so much fun. There were a few dive bombers here and there but the majority of my time was spent having close clean racing in the mid field. Was great fun!

Noticed that I'm about 2 secs off the leaders pace. Need to work out where I'm losing that time.... There are some who appear to brake so late - if I did that there's no way I'd make the corner....

 

[SeeGeeAitch]

Last nights experience in race C was a bit of a mess but have managed to bring my quali time down by a second...
My SR rating is now S and I was matched with all others with SR A or S. However the amount of deliberate punts from behind etc was incredible considering the high SR rating of these drivers!

I've also found I'm having trouble with grip... each lap feels completely different from the last.
I understand that tyre wear is increased which could well explain it but does the tyre wear graphic show correctly? I seem to only have a very small amount of red on the graphic yet have trouble each lap keeping the same speed through the corners as on the previous - especially 130R.

I got into the lead on one race on the second lap only to lose it on the next lap by spinning after going slightly wide at 130R when taking it exactly the same as the lap before

 

[breeminator]

Yes, tyre wear is noticeable lap after lap. Having said that, 130R can be taken flat out even on the last lap if you get your line and turn in right. You can watch replays of the top 10 qualifying times to see how they take each corner.

It's hard to comment on the punts from behind without seeing a video and knowing the rating history of the drivers. There can be different explanations, e.g. I once saw a driver deliberately cause carnage by simply not braking, and from their history it was clear they wanted to tank their SR to reset their DR down, with the ultimate goal being to rack up lots of wins against weaker drivers. At a low DR, incompetence will often be the explanation. I'm around 30k DR now, and people are a lot better at driving close but clean than at 15k, but not as good as the 60k+ drivers where it's amazing how close they can drive behind another car without hitting them. That is partly down to the car in front behaving predictably, as well as the skill of the driver behind.