Cold hard fact: you need to learn to drive with TCS at 0 to be competitive in mid/high B DR and above rooms. I tried to avoid this truth but it wasn't until I put in the time to get comfortable with the TCS off, that I was able to jump up from the 20k-ish range and be more competitive consistently.
This is after you already understand that any of the other driving aids must also be off, with the exception of the ABS (normal), and you use MT.
It's funny, after you get used to the TCS 0 in any of the cars, you can 'feel' where the car is slowing you down when you turn it back on.
This is true even for wet surfaces, perhaps even more so... you'd think it would be ok and that the TCS must be more capable than you at keeping it pointed straight, without speed penalty, but in fact it's the opposite... the TCS really slows you down in the rain. I was able to lap >1 sec a lap faster with the TCS off at Spa, compared to 1, in the recent FIA race on a wet track.
But as to the original question: just keep practicing! There is no substitute for track time. None. The only beginner tip that is worth repeating over and over: slow in / fast out... especially obvious when you drive the Fugu Z at Tokyo. Any time you give up on the entry to the turn is payed back 2x on the exit and following straight. Those runs off the corner are twice as important as the speed you carry into the corner. Watch your lap delta in the HUD get further and further into the blue, and that triangle stay pointed up, when you learn to ease off the entry earlier and earlier, and apply the throttle smoother and earlier on exit again and again. That car repays your confidence in that approach big time.
. I'm not so sure I'd have done that race after all! 
