Time Trial Discussion

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That is HUGE improvement!!

Worst thing about reading this thread during work is the insane desire to fire it up to play! There is 0-chance I'm not going to grind this until the bitter end or until I get that GOLD!

I'm going to master you Tetre Rouge and I'm going to slap your sister Arnage next!
I know what you mean. I work night shift, so it was the first thing I did when I got home this morning.
 
Just ordered the Logitech g pro pedals as they are back in stock on the EU website. Watch out aliens...I'm coming for you 😂

I really hope that they improve my trail braking - something I only started to do "correctly" this year - I say correctly - because I am fairly certain I think I am beginning to grasp the concept and may actually learn how to do it some day.
The LC makes a huuuuge difference!
At first it'll feel weird, and you'll think how is this immovable object supposed to help, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to trail brake much more accurately.

As was said in Almeidas video, lift your heel when braking and use your whole whole leg to control the pressure on the pedal.

Once you get your pedals, try to set the braking force at least on 50% of the maximum power. It'll feel heavy but it makes a difference on the long run.
 
Had a 1:08.380 earlier today then got on a long session (screenshot below) a few minutes ago which was pretty infuriating as I was very close to a new PB.

Edit.
Here's a few thoughts on this TT:

The key here is braking technique not so much throttle control as you'll be mostly blasting out of the corners with a full throttle.

Follow the record holders ghost. Try to mimic his braking line and movements.
It's easy to spot when to get on throttle as the ghost cars weight shifts.

Don't be afraid of the water if it means you have a chance for a better line. The time loss from traction (when exiting a corner) is fairly neglible unless you are aiming for the top time.

This is spot on advice. A ghost (around .400 seconds) is pretty helpful. I'm actually back on the stick for this one and I find all the quick braking adjustments easier than the wheel for this particular TT.
 

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Any chance you'd be willing to tack on a halfway update for the other TT like you used to? I found that really helpful in determining whether or not I'll have a shot at a decent time during weeks when I'm kind of strapped for time. Even just a little highlight blurb on gold time vs average or a comparison to ones of similar difficulty would be really helpful.
Can do. I've been meaning to start doing it so will sort it from this Thursday.
 
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Good session today, achieving personal best in both tt
Lemans best has moved from 29.1 to 27.4 with C9
Great lesson learned here: stay disciplined, don't overdo, anticipate to allow the car to get grip. I found the time when I was focused to execute what I was looking for, disregarding the sector times
Tsukuba is another confirmation that road cars dress me better. The gold it's not gonna stay, but it took me less than 100km to get there


Very happy 😊
 
Back at Le Mans after analysing my silver lap from yesterday (3:25.702), I managed a gold lap.

I focused today mainly on out pacing my ghost from that lap. I knew that if I was ahead entering Mulsanne straight, that I'd have a good shot of at least besting that lap. My old lap wasn't too bad, but I missed the apex exiting Mulsanne straight and the right turn before the Porsche curves. Porsche curves also being a pretty slow sector, especially the left before the Ford chicanes.

So, maybe 10 to 15 restarts to get a good jump on my ghost and not incur a track limits penalty. I'd say I smashed my old PB.

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I'll work on trying to upload the video ...
Here's the video, uploaded though my linked YouTube account. Seems like potato quality at the moment.

 
Welp thought gold was going to be quite challenging for the Le Mans TT, but apparently not. Mazda 787B was the answer for me, good initial turn in and being able to quickly shift up to 3rd for better traction got me into 3.24.5's. I reckon 3.24.2-3.24.3 is doable in this car, just gotta focus on the tricky last chicane a bit more, and on this lap I went slightly wide into Indianapolis. And not sure, maybe making some small controller (Logitech G29) adjustments could help, going more sensitive helped a tad.

But still a very solid lap, I pushed the track limits so hard on this lap. I know many are faster, but still gonna post my lap to hopefully help others struggling with gold. Also I recommend giving 787B a go, you can go quicker on the power compared to the Sauber-Merc C9.

That'll do for now, tomorrow (technically already Saturday) and Sunday gonna be long days with watching Le Mans, Champions League and possibly NHL finals too lol. Gonna give a few other group c cars a go next week, R92CP and XJR-9 I have yet to try.

 
How I would like to resurrect my old steering wheel (DFGT) to go through Porsche Curves... I'm too slow with the DS4 on them...

LeMans.png


Below, a clean version to highlight the Mazda's beauty - the car I did the hot lap.
But I ran with the original livery because it was Le Mans. ;)

Pista dos boxes_.jpeg
 
Here's the video, uploaded though my linked YouTube account. Seems like potato quality at the moment.


Pretty smooth looking lap ya got there. I would recommend taking a wider line entering turn 1 to set yourself up better for the Dunlop Chicane. You are in the middle of the track when you start into the left hander. Being more to the right will help the entry there.

With that said, your overall time through Mulsanne Corner is pretty close to what I've been running. The rest of the lap I gain about a second, though. I think what hurt most on this lap was the Porsche Curves like you said. The straight after Arnage, I upshift to 4th and rev the crap out of it (staying out of 5th), then I downshift into 3rd for the first right hander, up into 4th for the first lefty, and back down to 3rd for the final right and left handers. I think dropping into 3rd on the first corner helps a bit with rotation and doesn't bog the car down as much upon acceleration. You also got a little wide on the final right hander in Porsche which made for difficulty in that final left.

Still, not a bad lap at all. You're already making big gains. I don't see why you won't make more before the end of the TT. :)
 
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I found a 1:21.7xx replay in the C9. The driver was taking much more narrow angles and braking SOO LATE. When I tried replicating it was a disaster! I simply can't wrap my brain around how that's accomplished because when I re-watched and braked at the same spot 100% pressure, I just kept on going right past the apex lol.
In replays the brake pedal input (shown on the brake bar of the HUD) is filtered making it seem like the ghost brakes later than it actually does. I've posted examples with telemetry here and here.

I believe observing the ghost's brake lights in chase-cam gives a better picture of its true brake point.
 
I love Le Mans, it's my favourite race event of the year, so I've spent hours upon hours of my sad withdrawn life lapping the damn thing in various Le Mans racers in various sims throughout the years. Even better is that the meta car is my favourite of Group C, the Sauber C9! However I still don't think I'm particularly fast there, my preferred driving style is a bit too loose for these type cars. It took quite awhile and my optimums were well into the 3:23s but my actual laps were around 3:24.9 which I just wasn't confident it would hold in the gold. But finally I got a 3:23.833 and I'm chuffed and (currently) sitting 956th (take that, Porsche!)
 
You know how sometimes you might hear how you’ll be coughing up your lungs? I feel like they’ll fly out of me through my exhaling/sighing after Tertre Rouge track limit penalties.

Chicane Dunlop, no issue there, cut like a maniac. All fine. Oh yeah. But Tertre Rouge, millimetres wrong and you’re done.
 
Another late night (dawn?) session...

Firstly I bounced off Mazda 787B, it felt like I couldn't turn it properly and this twitchiness...
Then tried Porsche 962C - in my hands it doesn't have the speed.
To round the classic circle I went for Sauber C9 and spent a fair amount of time with it. Really good car, very solid in turns, feels planted and only one capable of a lap without need of turning TCS on, but the straight line speed is not enough. Whenever I was catching my Nissan ghost around turns, it then disapeared in the distance when on straight part of tarmac. Not enough turns on this track to make it useful.
Considered going back to the rocket of Nissan R92CP, but watched some laptime guide with the Mazda and decided to give it another go. It finally clicked when I decided to give up pride of making TCS=0 lap and turned it on permanently. Also letting go of early acceleration out of turns helped to make that corners doable.
First nice lap and 27.9 - not bad. It can be bettered, but not sure of gold potential here.
SartheTT-almost2.jpg


Fun fact, this lap is better than four entries of this year's Hypercar qualifying session - not that I feel comparable to real world racers. Just nice that video game physics and fantasy car availability lets me experience something like that.
 
You know how sometimes you might hear how you’ll be coughing up your lungs? I feel like they’ll fly out of me through my exhaling/sighing after Tertre Rouge track limit penalties.

Chicane Dunlop, no issue there, cut like a maniac. All fine. Oh yeah. But Tertre Rouge, millimetres wrong and you’re done.
I find it amazing how it's more forgiving for blowing over the apex of the turn than if you run a few millimeters too far on the exit kerb. Like, it penalties you for missing the apex, taking a worse line and being too wide out of the turn and losing time. But cutting the actual turn is mostly fine, it couldn't care less. It's the same thing on the chicanes, you can cut each apex a heck of a lot judging by the aliens but it seems if you blow in too quick and end up too wide on exit of the middle turn of the chicane (which loses you heaps of time because it ruins your exit speed) you get a penalty. Great stuff :P
 
First attempt at Tsukuba, and I'm on the struggle bus. 1:08.867. Yes, it's a gold. But it's frustrating because there was one corner on my fast lap that I couldn't come close to matching again...just like Willow. That second to last one is pain! I tried all sorts of lines, but I would lose time on corner exit every time. That, and I don't know where to pick up the throttle on the final turn. Sometimes I would gain there, others I would lose time.

I think I may go back to LeMans for a bit before returning to this one.
 
Well I tried a few Gr 1 cars. The Mazda 787B gave me a time of 3'32.983, it does not handle every corner well so I guess the Sauber is the only fast car here as most top drivers chose it. The Porsche 919 did not give me good results, so did the Tomahawk. So I eliminated those cars.

I know where most of the sure-fire penalties would occur so I try to avoid them. Wish me luck, seven seconds from gold, the last two chicanes are major-bitches cause they sometimes mess up my good laps it seems like.
 
Well I tried a few Gr 1 cars. The Mazda 787B gave me a time of 3'32.983, it does not handle every corner well so I guess the Sauber is the only fast car here as most top drivers chose it. The Porsche 919 did not give me good results, so did the Tomahawk. So I eliminated those cars.

I know where most of the sure-fire penalties would occur so I try to avoid them. Wish me luck, seven seconds from gold, the last two chicanes are major-bitches cause they sometimes mess up my good laps it seems like.
I feel like 787B is almost as fast tbh, but it is tougher to drive, which is why you won't see many using it for a hotlap, tough one to be consistent with. I've only tried 919 Hybrid and 908, besides 787B and C9.
 
Pretty smooth looking lap ya got there. I would recommend taking a wider line entering turn 1 to set yourself up better for the Dunlop Chicane. You are in the middle of the track when you start into the left hander. Being more to the right will help the entry there.

With that said, your overall time through Mulsanne Corner is pretty close to what I've been running. The rest of the lap I gain about a second, though. I think what hurt most on this lap was the Porsche Curves like you said. The straight after Arnage, I upshift to 4th and rev the crap out of it (staying out of 5th), then I downshift into 3rd for the first right hander, up into 4th for the first lefty, and back down to 3rd for the final right and left handers. I think dropping into 3rd on the first corner helps a bit with rotation and doesn't bog the car down as much upon acceleration. You also got a little wide on the final right hander in Porsche which made for difficulty in that final left.

Still, not a bad lap at all. You're already making big gains. I don't see why you won't make more before the end of the TT. :)
Thank you for the tips. I'm sure I'll work my way around to improving my time before the end of this TT. But I might try other Group C cars just to try them out. These cars seemed unobtainable for me in previous titles, I think the only ones I managed to get were the Jaguar XJR-9 and the Toyota 88C-V.

The Porsche Curves I always had trouble with, even on the CE. I think I've been too timid through the sector just trying to maintain a good-enough pace. Messing up there on a good lap hurts my soul. I wish there was a way to just practice the back half of this course with these Group C cars.
 
Second morning session thru the puddles, altho it's a short track it's kind of difficult to nail every corner and.... there is always that one that was faster on you previous lap, for me first sector is make of break, and if you made it...... then you overshoot the last weird feint entry drift slide supadupa-corner ...
After two hours of being -200 after the first corner but stuffing it up later I gave up for today... 🤣

Session B 1:08.617 ... we will meet again ..
 

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