Help for online races

[Jordan Scott]

I’ve been racing a couple of months now, with a FFB wheel and can post good times on qualifying and time trials. However, I’m at a loss with online races. I always get pushed off the track (whether from behind or from the side) and end up losing at least 2 places. I often end up with the penalty and can never get back to where I started. My driver rating has gone right back down to the start of D because I’ve lost so many places or I have quit (I don’t know if that affects DR).
I practice the track and car before races. I have tried being conservative and aggressive during races with both ending up in the same result. My SR is S

I don’t want to quit but I’m just not having fun anymore. Any suggestions?

 

[rhcpeppers]

I am also new (and still DR D) so I'm certainly no expert, but I can share what has been most fun for me. I much prefer the longer races that require pit stops (Daily race C, and the FIA races) rather than the short races like Daily A and B. The longer races allow you time to recover from mistakes or from getting pushed off the track. Plus, the pit stops allow an element of strategy that can make the races more interesting and give you a chance even if you aren't one of the fastest on the track.

 

[8l23ub]

I'm pretty certain that quitting has a detrimental effect on your rating.
Cause you to lose DR to everyone who finishes the race.
You gain DR from everyone you are classified ahead of, so finishing ahead of one opponent is better than quitting.

 

[barak181]

I’ve been racing a couple of months now, with a FFB wheel and can post good times on qualifying and time trials. However, I’m at a loss with online races. I always get pushed off the track (whether from behind or from the side) and end up losing at least 2 places. I often end up with the penalty and can never get back to where I started. My driver rating has gone right back down to the start of D because I’ve lost so many places or I have quit (I don’t know if that affects DR).
I practice the track and car before races. I have tried being conservative and aggressive during races with both ending up in the same result. My SR is S

I don’t want to quit but I’m just not having fun anymore. Any suggestions?

Quitting a race is very detrimental to your DR, essentially you automatically finish in last place. So, as frustrating as it may be sometimes; if you want to maintain your DR, you should finish every race you start.

Dealing with being punted, rammed and otherwise run off the track is a bit of a different thing. There's entire threads dedicated to that topic. As well as being on the receiving end of a punt and getting a penalty for it. Trust me, a lot of discussion has happened and continues to happen around those facts.

It comes down to finding a driving style that adapts to those around you while still giving you results you are happy with. Some people are only happy if they finish as high up the grid as they possibly can. I can tell you from experience that driving style will result in lots of contact incidents for you but some people are okay with that. Other people have adopted a style of hyper-vigilance and have made avoiding contact at all costs their preferred style of racing. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle.

I'm not going to ramble on too much here but take some time to read the penalties thread, the daily race thread and the FIA thread. All of these things are discussed in great detail by people with more experience and racecraft than I. Also, there are numerous YouTubers that discuss these things as well. SuperGT is one of everyone's favorites. Personally, I learned a lot from watching EERIEISSSS when it comes to racecraft and thinking of the larger picture rather than the immediate situation in front of you. He channel goes by Rory Alexander now and mainly focuses on iRacing but his library is worth browsing, IMO. Tidgney has an amazing Driving School where he not only talks about driving skills but many of the situations you will encounter in racing, as well. There are many other excellent channels, as well.

I'm sorry, I don't think there's anything I can give you in a single post other than people share your frustrations and there's resources out there that can help you both in dealing with them and becoming a better driver.

 

[richroo]

Tidgney has an amazing Driving School where he not only talks about driving skills but many of the situations you will encounter in racing, as well

well worth the watch .. yes low rank dose put you in the bumper car category lol just let them by and try keep your position or better stay clean and you should see a difference.. pick you races longer tracks do help , also don't set practice / qualify time see if that helps .. good racing is when you and your opponent have fun not war

 

[Matrix243123]

I'm still fairly new to it but not bad as a BS rating. I'm seeing a theme in alot of races. One is longevity. There are alot of fast drivers, but seem to be few that can last a whole race without a mistake. I've qualified like 5th, went down to 14th because of a punt, and finished 4th in a 15 lap race. And that happens more times then not. Definitely don't quit. You can see my DR graph ramp up quick after having a terrible start.

As your rating goes up, they will put you in races where drivers are more interested in a clean race. Massive difference between a DS race and a BS race. There still will be guys punting whether from differences in braking points or the driver is just trying to get an unfair advantage. If you're really good, stay out of the driving line as long as possible on tight corners, and recover with the rest of the corners. Especially if you know you're near some aggressive drivers.

Edit: Also the penalties are really non issues unless its a GR1 race or you're with highly skilled drivers. A 1 second or 0.500 is nothing. Right now a punt is 1 second which is nothing when its a deliberate punt. That should eventually change to like 10 seconds, if they can determine whats deliberate. 1 second for accidental.