Checking the times after every turn - healthy or unhealthy?

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Stringerbell

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United Arab Emirates
So I have an obsession with every time I take a turn i will check the time between me and the car in front and behind to see if it was a good turn or bad tuen and if I gained or lost time.

Now I'm new to racing so is this what people are normally doing or is this distracting and and wrong?
 
If you don't know which line to take I suppose it could be useful to evaluate which lines work best. But when you know which line is the fastest it's better to focus on that instead of getting distracted by the time difference.

The time difference could also be a bit misleading, depending on when you check it. For example, the fastest line through a single turn is to hug the inside. That line has the shortest time from corner entry to corner exit, so if you check that specific time difference you might be fooled to think that it's a good line to take. But that line requires a slower entry and exit speed, so although it's the fastest way through that one turn it makes your lap time worse.
 
I think it's healthy and normal to look at the time gaps, as long as you're not getting too distracted.

If you notice a corner when you lose time consistently, you can watch the replay after the race and find out what the faster drivers are doing. This is one of the best ways to improve.

Also, if you come out of a corner and the car behind is gaining fast you can position yourself defensively earlier. Nice clear moves mean less accidents.
 
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I agree, nothing wrong with keeping tabs on your opponents but make sure you know what information you're seeing.

It's also important to remember that the delta will only update the gap to you when the chasing car passes any given point on the track.
 
benjoi84
I agree, nothing wrong with keeping tabs on your opponents but make sure you know what information you're seeing.

It's also important to remember that the delta will only update the gap to you when the chasing car passes any given point on the track.
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This is a really important point 👍

I don't know what GT7 does, but in real life this is done with two-way transponders and track timing loops (say at a top grade FIA track) every 100m. So the difference is between your entry to loop A time vs previous/following car's loop A entry time and is updated when it has both sets of times, not every X second.

I'm pretty sure in time trails though, the delta time is "real time" and updates every 1 sec or something - so there two different methods used. In real life this would be similar to a GPS timer (AIM, VBOX, Alfano etc).
 
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The Gumball Rally (1976)

Franco: And now my friend, the first-a rule of Italian driving.

[Franco rips off his rear-view mirror and throws it out of the car]

Franco: What's-a behind me is not important.

...in other words, pay more attention to your driving line, apex points, braking points and don't worry about what is behind you.
 
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