Crumbling under pressure

[Koutch_Pro]

Does anyone have any stories about how they lost a race purely due to pressure?

I've not had many wins on Sport mode, but the moment I'm in the lead I'm usually driving much more tentatively! I remember at the Lake Magiorre circuit being on track for 3rd or 4th (out of 20) and feeling good, a little low on fuel so I decided to back off and take the last two laps easy. Coming out of the hairpin I completely spun the car and watched everyone go past. That was really gutting!

Sounds like you lost focus rather then spun out under pressure?

But, to answer the question. Yes I have crumbled (bigtime). The most shamefull thusfar was in the second race in this forum race series;
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...p-rev-tuesday-13th-feb-20-30gmt.372699/page-3

Race 1 went just fine, then... reverse grid on the second race, so I was placed a lot more in front. I allready knew that I was/am probably the slowest of the pack. After the start all went well until the last chicane (Dragon Trail) and I was doing the mantra don't .... up, don't .... up, don't .... ahhh. too late... went wide, hit the armco, spun and .... up big time taking out a few..

I knew the guys behind were quicker, and I wasn't driving to "clamp on" to the position, was driving to not get in their way too much. That was the reason I "crumbled".

In the first online races I did feel the rush, but now when someone is on the same pace, I don't mind that much, when they are faster I would rather think about some defencive strats.

 

[KK78]

Good point Cammiepop, a 180 it was!!

 

[Robben]

Sounds like you lost focus rather then spun out under pressure?

But, to answer the question. Yes I have crumbled (bigtime). The most shamefull thusfar was in the second race in this forum race series;
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...p-rev-tuesday-13th-feb-20-30gmt.372699/page-3

Race 1 went just fine, then... reverse grid on the second race, so I was placed a lot more in front. I allready knew that I was/am probably the slowest of the pack. After the start all went well until the last chicane (Dragon Trail) and I was doing the mantra don't .... up, don't .... up, don't .... ahhh. too late... went wide, hit the armco, spun and .... up big time taking out a few..

I knew the guys behind were quicker, and I wasn't driving to "clamp on" to the position, was driving to not get in their way too much. That was the reason I "crumbled".

In the first online races I did feel the rush, but now when someone is on the same pace, I don't mind that much, when they are faster I would rather think about some defencive strats.

I had the same on the Dragon Trail chicane the other evening... I practised in Qualifying so many times that I knew exactly when to lift off, where to turn in and when to get back on the throttle... could I do it in the race? No . I kept thinking "oh but what about tyre wear and fuel load. And that guy behind me... how close is he?" Nearly every pass of the 10 laps, I either clipped the barrier, hit the outside wall or even slowed too much because I braked (why when I practised so much without braking?!) stupid

 

[Cammiepop]

Sounds like you lost focus rather then spun out under pressure?

But, to answer the question. Yes I have crumbled (bigtime). The most shamefull thusfar was in the second race in this forum race series;
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...p-rev-tuesday-13th-feb-20-30gmt.372699/page-3

Race 1 went just fine, then... reverse grid on the second race, so I was placed a lot more in front. I allready knew that I was/am probably the slowest of the pack. After the start all went well until the last chicane (Dragon Trail) and I was doing the mantra don't .... up, don't .... up, don't .... ahhh. too late... went wide, hit the armco, spun and .... up big time taking out a few..

I knew the guys behind were quicker, and I wasn't driving to "clamp on" to the position, was driving to not get in their way too much. That was the reason I "crumbled".

In the first online races I did feel the rush, but now when someone is on the same pace, I don't mind that much, when they are faster I would rather think about some defencive strats.

That last chicane is a doozy.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

I'm actually surprised at how frequently people crack when you press them. The majority of the time I can get them to make an error or abandon their line by simply being there behind them.

I'm not free of mistakes myself but if I do make an error its usually on being too cautious as I try to compensate against the tension. Rarely though does the stress cause me to make an overaggressive error that throws me off of the course.

 

[Sean Renon]

I used to crumble a lot more - but recently I've switched to hood cam and that has helped a lot.
Something about not being able to easily see them in my rear view puts them out of mind for me mentally, which helps me focus on my race.

At the level I'm at, people are pretty consistent, and it is very hard to pass somebody when they don't make many mistakes.

 

[Veinz]

Only when I'm super paranoid about the car behind crashing into me.

 

[TheGeologist]

Does anyone have any stories about how they lost a race purely due to pressure?

I've not had many wins on Sport mode, but the moment I'm in the lead I'm usually driving much more tentatively! I remember at the Lake Magiorre circuit being on track for 3rd or 4th (out of 20) and feeling good, a little low on fuel so I decided to back off and take the last two laps easy. Coming out of the hairpin I completely spun the car and watched everyone go past. That was really gutting!

I currently have 9 wins in sport mode. I still feel nervous when I'm leading.

Unfortunately, I did have a massive upset when I was still a baby GT Sport driver. I qualified up front at Kyoto Yam. in a manufacturer race. I qualified third and lead the whole race except for the final lap.

On the 9th lap, I became incredibly nervous. Second and third got into it which allowed be to pull out a two second lead. However my nervousness caused me to slow down a little bit. On the final lap, second place put up the most incredible lap I have ever seen, and cleanly passed me with less than half a lap to go.

I couldn't even be mad about it at the time because I was raced fair and square all race. It was incredible, but I was very sad at the time.

 

[Satomiblood]

I haven't won a single race in nearly 300 tries. I've also never even held 1st place at any point during a race. Some of it is pressure, but a lot of it feels as if the game is rigged against me. I've had times when my starting grid position was 2nd or 3rd, only to have a bunch of cars blow by me a second later despite having the throttle all the way down. This has happened in all types of races, even one makes. There have even been occasions when I'm in 3rd place, and the 1st and 2nd place cars wreck, but they don't ghost and end up blocking my path to 1st. Like, seriously, what the hell is it going to take for me to just win one damn race - or even be in the lead for just a few seconds?

 

[Robben]

I haven't won a single race in nearly 300 tries. I've also never even held 1st place at any point during a race. Some of it is pressure, but a lot of it feels as if the game is rigged against me. I've had times when my starting grid position was 2nd or 3rd, only to have a bunch of cars blow by me a second later despite having the throttle all the way down. This has happened in all types of races, even one makes. There have even been occasions when I'm in 3rd place, and the 1st and 2nd cars wreck, but they don't ghost and end up blocking my path to 1st. Like, seriously, what the hell is it going to take for me to just win one damn race - or even be in the lead for just a few seconds?

Qualify more and qualify harder... keep pushing until you know you have made every corner and sector at your absolute limit.

 

[lombardo]

I haven't won a single race in nearly 300 tries.

Out of interest, what's your driving setup (controller or wheel?; TCS setting etc) and rankings (DR and SR)? As @Robben says, know the track - start slow and look to improve every lap until you're running consistent laps. Also compare your times to the Top10 guys - circa 3 secs down should put you in a good position.

 

[Satomiblood]

Qualify more and qualify harder... keep pushing until you know you have made every corner and sector at your absolute limit.

What makes you think I haven't been doing that? I've had high qualifying positions several times over. And even in my lowest positions, I've been able to make significant gains. I know what I'm capable of. I just keep drawing the short straw in certain situations.

Edit: My apologies for the tone of my post. Trust me when I say that any hostility you sense from it isn't actually directed at you. It's more or less my frustration with Sport mode showing through.

Out of interest, what's your driving setup (controller or wheel?; TCS setting etc) and rankings (DR and SR)? As @Robben says, know the track - start slow and look to improve every lap until you're running consistent laps. Also compare your times to the Top10 guys - circa 3 secs down should put you in a good position.

Controller, TCS varies depending on the vehicle (sometimes it's 0, other times it's 2), DR/SR has tanked considerably in recent weeks. I'm currently a D/D or D/E I believe (was D/S about a month ago). This is mostly a result from me trying to be less tentative, which means putting myself in the crosshairs of divebombers and griefers.

 

[zzz_pt]

I prefer being in front so I guess it's #2.

 

[Satomiblood]

Double post.

 

[Satomiblood]

Qualify more and qualify harder... keep pushing until you know you have made every corner and sector at your absolute limit.

By the way, please don't take the tone of my previous reply the wrong way. I'm not in any way implying that you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[BSDShoes]

Sometimes, it can throw your timing off when entering corners, sometimes it can cause me to brake late or overshoot a corner fearing that they'll ram my arse off and send myself off the track doing the other guy a favor.

 

[lombardo]

Controller, TCS varies depending on the vehicle (sometimes it's 0, other times it's 2), DR/SR has tanked considerably in recent weeks. I'm currently a D/D or D/E I believe (was D/S about a month ago). This is mostly a result from me trying to be less tentative, which means putting myself in the crosshairs of divebombers and griefers.

Get that SR up first and move from there. Having a higher SR will help (although not eliminate) the 'fear of the rear' enabling you to concentrate on what's in front of you and racing to your game. I've experienced a serious drop in SR recently too and having continued to pursue wins, I'm now concentrating on getting the SR back up, bringing about more confidence in those around me whilst racing

 

[MikeTheHockeyFan]

I think a great lesson that people learn over time is that a typical qualifying lap shouldn’t be your race pace.

If you’re out front and putting in qualifying style laps, eventually you’ll go off track and lose a lot of time.

iRacing and now GT Sport has taught me to race at around 85-90% of flatout.

 

[ChrisWAFC]

I wouldn't say the pressure gets to me its more the constantly looking in my mirror coming into corners that makes me make the mistake.

So many times I have been leading a race to get rammed towards then end by 2nd for them to gain a place and me to lose at least 3.

Think I have had 5 poles and never won from them, my 2 wins have one from 4th and 5th I think.

 

[BSDShoes]

I think a great lesson that people learn over time is that a typical qualifying lap shouldn’t be your race pace.

If you’re out front and putting in qualifying style laps, eventually you’ll go off track and lose a lot of time.

iRacing and now GT Sport has taught me to race at around 85-90% of flatout.

The other day when I got my win on Dragon Tail with the Genesis, I didn't push myself, drove rather conservatively yet fast. You're right about not going 100% but smooth and consistently. When I pitted (I think a lap earlier than most others) and came out at 10th I held my position and kept my distance between cars and waited until the pack pitted and I ended up back in 1st.

On the final lap there was a car behind me and he was pushing himself to reach me yet he made mistake after mistake and on the last corner he crashed off the hairpin.

 

[Satomiblood]

The Gr. 1 races have actually helped me mentally. Obviously, my SR has tanked, but I feel that if I can handle races where the carnage is high, pace myself, and anticipate what other drivers are going to do, I'll end up fairing pretty well. Much of my position gains happen during Gr. 1 because they're full of wrecks.

 

[Sean Renon]

I think a great lesson that people learn over time is that a typical qualifying lap shouldn’t be your race pace.

If you’re out front and putting in qualifying style laps, eventually you’ll go off track and lose a lot of time.

iRacing and now GT Sport has taught me to race at around 85-90% of flatout.

This is good advice for the most part. The more practice and time you put in the closer you can get to running "flat out" all the time.
A good example is on Dragons Trail - months ago, I'd actually tap the brakes going into the bus stop.
Now, when I'm qualifying I'm flat out (in gr.4 cars), and when I'm racing, I lift off the gas slightly for just a moment.
I hope to eventually be consistent enough that I can drive that bus stop flat out all the time.

Personally, when you're up front - it's so much easier to go fast, I need to spend some time practicing driving closely behind people as it stands right now I tend to lose a few tenths at heavy braking zones because I slow down too soon.

 

[TenderLoins]

Only time pressure gets to me is in GR4 when being followed by an overzealous driver in a FWD car because it’s one dive bomb after another.

 

[PirovacBoy]

I‘ve had a very intense race a few days ago. I was matched with a Guy who is known to race really dirty and using the small sneaky moves to get others out of his way. It’s already kind of a personal rivalry between us as i did let him know, messaging him on PSN, what i think about him as a person and driver. I honestly dislike him and have Zero respect for him.
So the first 4 or 5 races that day we were matched, I managed to keep him behind me and even pull off a gap by almost 5 seconds to the finish line. I was starting from Pole and he was 4th or 5th. In every race he managed to climb up to 2nd place by using his sneakiness. Afterwards he immediately left the room and people were puking about his behavior. But somehow he manages to stay in S/S I don’t get it how he does it, but anyway then in the 6th race he suddenly improved his Qualy time and started right behind me in 2nd place. Voila, the worst case scenario was born.
I said to myself ok, let’s fight it out fair despite knowing he would use his“skills „ to somehow beat me, and I should be proven that I was right.
Suddenly he was able to follow me bumper to bumper the whole race. I focused on my race and didn’t thought about him being behind me. He was flashing his lights on almost every Corner, trying his mental influence ****. I just didn’t care and was focused 100% on my own pace. With almost 1000 Sport Mode races in the back, I learnt to turn off the pressure and just focus on my race. So approaching the final chicane on the final lap, he pulled off his“move“. But I was anticipating his dive bomb attempt, but while avoiding it and hoping he would miss the apex he somehow managed to exit the corner in front of me and win the race.
It was one of my most intense races, I even saved the replay but sadly erased it a few days ago. Otherwise I would have uploaded it as it would have been the perfect example for this thread. Or the perfect example for the opposite

 

[kilesa4568]

I'm not too bad if the driver behind is patiently following and hoping for a mistake but when they start showing the nose or feinting to try and force me to defend, I start holding my breath. For someone with no lungs left, holding my breath is the worst thing I can do BUT I JUST CAN'T STOP MYSELF DOING IT!

 

[LennyB]

I like to let a hard presser pass, I try to calculate how and when to do it so that I don't really lose much position though. I'd rather press than be pressed.

 

[ceres2000]

I haven't won a single race in nearly 300 tries. I've also never even held 1st place at any point during a race. Some of it is pressure, but a lot of it feels as if the game is rigged against me. I've had times when my starting grid position was 2nd or 3rd, only to have a bunch of cars blow by me a second later despite having the throttle all the way down. This has happened in all types of races, even one makes. There have even been occasions when I'm in 3rd place, and the 1st and 2nd place cars wreck, but they don't ghost and end up blocking my path to 1st. Like, seriously, what the hell is it going to take for me to just win one damn race - or even be in the lead for just a few seconds?

Something in your post just jumped out at me. You said cars blow by you a second or two later, even though you were are full throttle. Something like this has happened to me when I used the controller where even max throttle would register as 50-75%. Have you checked the throttle bar in game to see if it's registering as full. Sometimes it may flicker as well. Might want to check that out if nothing else has worked.

 

[ASH32]

Something in your post just jumped out at me. You said cars blow by you a second or two later, even though you were are full throttle. Something like this has happened to me when I used the controller where even max throttle would register as 50-75%. Have you checked the throttle bar in game to see if it's registering as full. Sometimes it may flicker as well. Might want to check that out if nothing else has worked.

Yes the DS4 has real problems with it's triggers not fully working after a period of use, it's a pretty common issue, especially with R2.

Even wheels can get this when the pedals get full of rubbish too, pet hair being a main culprit here.

Always keep an eye on how your inputs register in the game.

 

[MikeTheHockeyFan]

I like to let a hard presser pass, I try to calculate how and when to do it so that I don't really lose much position though. I'd rather press than be pressed.

I deal with hard pressers by peacefully putting them in a position to fail and go off the course.

I do this completely cleanly, by choosing my approach line to a corner very early on the inside.

I see the opponent commit to the outside line in the mirror, brake early, they brake late on the outside, and a lot of the time they lock up and end up in a gravel trap.

If you commit to the inside line very early in a drag race to a corner, it’s rare you will get rear ended in a 1v1 battle because the other car looks for open track to attempt a pass.

 

[LennyB]

Now we are talking about actual racing.