Ineffective Practice is Ineffective, So Stop. (Sim Racing Tips) Empty Box

[Joe-dogs]

Watch video and learn what racing is. Very well explained what I want in a race with GTSport one day maybe.

 

[cleanLX]

yep, and, if you are really practicing, you will try totally different lines/brake points to be sure once traffic puts you in an odd spot, you know how to maintain control of your car.... much less stay on track.
i like to race my ghost.... not drive through him, but race him... that puts me in totally unpredictable locations/circumstances to train for the inevitable.

 

[MikeTheHockeyFan]

This is a really excellent video. I second the need to do a few installation laps around an unfamiliar track.

Look for the camber of turns, possible brake markers, just get situated mentally.

 

[Hallitrd]

Excellent video, and should be pinned at GTP forum.

 

[KingFrog]

He makes an assumption and then builds his argument around that : people who practice basically wreck until they do one fast lap and then call it quits. I never practice to race, I practice until I can get consistent lap times time and time again without wrecking. I go out and do to fast laps, never pushing my self, and then I go faster, and faster, and faster, and faster, and after 10-15 laps I finally push the car too hard, and spin out, at that point I do another lap and slow down around my wreck area, and then continue to do laps until I find another troubled spot and fix it, and I continue doing laps until I'm satisfied with my time. Wrecking=/= practice. Some people are just nervous drivers who chicken out around others, the only way to fix that is by doing more races.

 

[djdest]

Anyone can sit and do laps on a time trial until they get a fast time.
Putting them into a race while avoiding other cars is another thing altogether, and quickly becomes obvious in sport mode who is good at it!

 

[HydroSqueegee]

Yep! I can practice all day against myself, stay on track, get OK times. Toss me in a race and I'm all over the place. I'm an experienced drivers worst nightmare. Luckily for them, I tend to stay in the back and finish middle on a good day.

But I'm new to the online racing scene...

 

[EDK]

Anyone can sit and do laps on a time trial until they get a fast time.
Putting them into a race while avoiding other cars is another thing altogether, and quickly becomes obvious in sport mode who is good at it!

It's not really an either/or thing.

For me, Time Trialing or practicing builds a comfort level with the car and track, braking points, where the limit is, etc.

With that comfort level in hand, it's much easier to make adjustments as required in a race.

If you've not had the wheel to wheel experience, you can become frustrated with not getting to take "Your Line", accordion effect, etc.

But in general, I would rather have drivers on track who are comfortable with a combo and know it well, vs. guys who race a lot but are flying by the seat of their pants.

 

[spidermonkey]

I agree with most points made above however, I do practice gas/tire wear daly races to get a handle on what my pit strategy will be. This may be a different topic all together though.

 

[GT_Alex74]

You also have not to make your practice sessions too long when looking for lap times, otherwise you might build in some bad habits which will be difficult to get rid of. Generally, I struggle when making a 1h practice session, but if I do 30 minutes, do something else like go eating, I generally improve my pace quickly after I go back to it.

Long practice sessions are good if you're simulating a full race or a stint with consistency in mind.

 

[tofuhero]

One thing that's tripped me up before is doing a lot of time trial practice, then going into a FIA race or endurance race with fuel depletion on. Going from time trial where there's no fuel in the tank, to a car with a full tank can throw me off with the extra weight. It'd actually be nice if you could set an amount of fuel to add to the car in Time Trial.

 

[VFOURMAX1]

One thing that's tripped me up before is doing a lot of time trial practice, then going into a FIA race or endurance race with fuel depletion on. Going from time trial where there's no fuel in the tank, to a car with a full tank can throw me off with the extra weight. It'd actually be nice if you could set an amount of fuel to add to the car in Time Trial.

What I usually do if I am practicing to learn how tire wear and fuel usage will affect a cars performance differences over a full run is do a custom race.

If I do not want to fool with traffic I set the race to 2 cars and start on pole and the traffic will not be a problem and you can set the session to duplicate the race you are trying to gain information for.

 

[CHEN255]

Yep! I can practice all day against myself, stay on track, get OK times. Toss me in a race and I'm all over the place. I'm an experienced drivers worst nightmare. Luckily for them, I tend to stay in the back and finish middle on a good day.

But I'm new to the online racing scene...

Sounds just like me!