Getting poles in Daily Races

TheGeologist

TheGeologist

2,295
United States
Indiana
pie4july
As of this post, I am currently high Dr B with 24,442 Dr points (roughly 5500 pts away from Dr A. I've completed 272 races in sport mode and have been able to win nine races (although none in a few weeks as I've hit a slump). To break out of the slump, I have been trying now more than ever to win a pole in a daily race, but I just cannot.

In 272 sport mode races, I have only won a single pole which came in an FiA points race. I have never won a pole in a daily race. As a high Dr B driver I can usually set a time within 4 seconds of the top 10 times. If I get any closer (2-3) seconds, I just get matched with some of the top 10 and suffer horribly. This happened last week with the Gr1 Nations Race at Interlagos.

Interlagos is my best track in the game, so I practiced for over an hour trying to get the best lap possible. I was (I think) three seconds or less off the top times? I figured for sure, I would have to win the pole, right? I got matchmaked with ORMA_Snow and other drivers in the top 10, qualified dead last and was .3 off the car that qualified right in front of me. I wasn't even close to their times, and it went about as well as you can expect, I finished last...

Unfortunately, my Dr is on the rise (Kudosprime: http://www.kudosprime.com/gts/stats.php?profile=1499305) because unlike that one interlagos race, I typically finish better than I qualify. Twice yesterday, I qualified 17th at Blue Moon Infield B II and gained 10 spots in the race. (On average I gain around 4 spots from where I start). Since my Dr is on the rise, I keep getting put further back in the field and I am forced to try to work my way up. I'll finish a few spots better and the Dr will rise...

I've tried sandbagging in quals, racing early in the morning, and running endless qualifying laps to achieve my best time, but I still cannot get a pole in a daily race (Meanwhile, I have friends with similar DRs who run similar times to me, and have double digit pole numbers).

Don't get me wrong, I don't have to win a race to enjoy it, but it'd be nice to start up front once in a while and have a shot to win. Can anyone offer me any tips to winning poles in Daily Races?
 
If you are gaining DR and climbing so many positions in a race, you are not qualifying where you should be. I note that you say you spend hours qualifying but do you watch the top 10 replays and mimic braking points etc? As a high B, you should be able to get within about 1 or 2 seconds per minute of the bottom of the top 10 (so a 1 minute lap you should be 1.01 or 1.02, a 2 minute lap 2.02 or 2.04). Do you get many fastest laps in races? What assists do you use?

Edit: personally, I usually start with 10 or 15 laps of qualifying depending on the length of track (and if I know which car I want to use) to get a feel for the car and get to know the track. Then watch a top 10 replay, note braking points, throttle position etc. Then another 10-15 laps, then if completely comfortable and hitting pretty much the same time every lap I will enter a race, if not watch the top 10 again and another 10-15 laps.
 
Last edited:
You need to lower you SR to get poles. That way you don't get matched with DR.S and DR.A all the time. However with the current change in penalties there are now also plenty S/A, A/A and A/B drivers, so it might not work anymore...

I got knocked down to SR.B on Monza in the Sunday Vulcan carnage and that still got me some pole positions, however there were usually other DR.A and even DR.S drivers that were down to SR.B. It used to be that getting to low SR.S (80-90 range) would increase your chance on a pole position 10 fold. At max SR.S you'll always be grid filler for DR.S and DR.A drivers :/
 
Sven Jurgens
You need to lower you SR to get poles. That way you don't get matched with DR.S and DR.A all the time. However with the current change in penalties there are now also plenty S/A, A/A and A/B drivers, so it might not work anymore...

I got knocked down to SR.B on Monza in the Sunday Vulcan carnage and that still got me some pole positions, however there were usually other DR.A and even DR.S drivers that were down to SR.B. It used to be that getting to low SR.S (80-90 range) would increase your chance on a pole position 10 fold. At max SR.S you'll always be grid filler for DR.S and DR.A drivers :/
Click to expand...
I'm a (very) low A and still get mixed mostly with Bs....
 
I'm in about the same position, stat-wise (B/S). I qualify around two seconds off the top 10 and usually wind up placed in the middle of the pack for a race. I've qualified for pole six times out of 85 races.

I've always felt that getting pole comes down to the luck of the draw.
 
The only way to be sure to get poles... (without being in the top 10 fastest times - even then you may be getting paired with guys higher up the leaderboard.) ...is run a fast qualifier as Robben said, but tank your DR rating till you get pole, come last in the race, keep reentering the same race and keep getting pole but also keep coming last.

Edit - on your way down DR:B/DR:C/DR;D (whatever it takes for your lap to be pole), you will still be competing for the pole from other people who are trophy hunting or running on a sub account.
 
Setting a somewhat decent time should award you with poles in the middle of the night if you‘re lucky enough that no other player that set a faster lap is also constanly doing the same race.

Sandbagging and manipulation of SR and DR won‘t get you anywhere. I have a few poles on my CV but most of them were just luck with the matchmaking
 
daan
There are plenty of times I've done a qualifying lap and got 4th or 5th. Then improved that time and ended up 10th or 11th! You get a pole if PD decides you get a pole.
Click to expand...

Yeah this has happened to me too :lol: two poles on Maggiore Centre a couple of weeks ago, qualified again and bettered my time then got put 11th for next race. Bastards.
 
The luck of the PD draw is certainly a big factor, but your best way to improve your odds in the PD draw is to lower your DR but maintain your SR. If you lower SR and DR (ie quit race when you see you are not on pole)then you will meet all those other guys that are trying to get poles by quitting races nd going to the other race /a/b/c and quitting that race.
 
Robben
If you are gaining DR and climbing so many positions in a race, you are not qualifying where you should be. I note that you say you spend hours qualifying but do you watch the top 10 replays and mimic braking points etc? As a high B, you should be able to get within about 1 or 2 seconds per minute of the bottom of the top 10 (so a 1 minute lap you should be 1.01 or 1.02, a 2 minute lap 2.02 or 2.04). Do you get many fastest laps in races? What assists do you use?
Click to expand...

I don't typically spend hours qualifying. I spend maybe 30-45mins as a maximum. (I only spent more time on lagos bc I wanted to win there so bad).

My method for daily races tends to be as follows: Run a few qualifying laps, then enter a race (Helps me get in the zone to requalify), run more qualifying laps and do much better, and then race again, but usually with much faster drivers and still qualify mid-pack

And to answer your questions my friend, Fastest laps in races - 3, Assists - TC on 2 and ABS on default.

To those who have suggested to tank my Dr/Sr, I decline that option. I'm proud of where my Dr/Sr are and I have worked very hard to get them there. Tanking it simply makes those numbers and any wins/poles that come with it meaningless.

daan
There are plenty of times I've done a qualifying lap and got 4th or 5th. Then improved that time and ended up 10th or 11th! You get a pole if PD decides you get a pole.
Click to expand...
I agree, I am just frustrated that PD seems to make that decision far more often for other players than it does for me.

It's never decided to give me a pole for a daily... I only got that one pole in a FiA race when I stole it away at the last second. It was shortly after they added tire wear to qualifying, and I pit as a hail mary. No one else refreshed their tires in qualifying and I grabbed the pole with 10 seconds to spare.
 
^ Yep I was no way advocating to use the method I relayed, I've seen people doing it and read people using it.
I don't think I've had a pole since being above mid DR:B

Edit - but I only do 4 or 5 qualifying laps, as soon as I mess up a corner and get overtaken by my ghost - unless my ghost did a shoddy backend of the track, I will knock it on the head.
The last thing I want in a sport race is to be out of position in qualifying and getting in everyones way.
 
Last edited:
I agree with @Nuschel01 on this one. I mean, matchmaking pairs up D/S drivers with S/S drivers, so I don't think DR makes much of a difference
Don't play at peak time would be my best bet for you, since that's where the aliens also come to Earth. I only race if I qualify 2-5/10ths of a second away from Top 10, and even then I'll either be matched with someone in the Top 10, or a pair of people in the Top 10. Nothing in between :(
 
Alpha Cipher
I agree with @Nuschel01 on this one. I mean, matchmaking pairs up D/S drivers with S/S drivers, so I don't think DR makes much of a difference
Don't play at peak time would be my best bet for you, since that's where the aliens also come to Earth. I only race if I qualify 2-5/10ths of a second away from Top 10, and even then I'll either be matched with someone in the Top 10, or a pair of people in the Top 10. Nothing in between :(
Click to expand...

I've been trying that this week as I am on spring break. Instead of working on my thesis, I've been getting up early to race :lol::lol::lol:. When I have tried this, I found a couple of Dr S drivers including Turismo-lester... In my experience I have found that because I am somewhat close to the top 10 times that I typically am more likely to be matched with aliens in the morning than later in the day because there are so few drivers on.
 
TheGeologist
I don't typically spend hours qualifying. I spend maybe 30-45mins as a maximum. (I only spent more time on lagos bc I wanted to win there so bad).

My method for daily races tends to be as follows: Run a few qualifying laps, then enter a race (Helps me get in the zone to requalify), run more qualifying laps and do much better, and then race again
Click to expand...

Watch a top 10 replay and note the braking points etc. Sure you will notice that you can gain time this way. For example on Blue Moon last night, I noticed that after braking for T4 the top 10 guys were accelerating and then coasting through 5 and half way through 6 before going back on power. Whereas the natural move was to brake for 4, power through 5, then brake hard for 7 before back on power.

TheGeologist
And to answer your questions my friend, Fastest laps in races - 3, Assists - TC on 2 and ABS on default.
Click to expand...

👍
 
TheGeologist
As of this post, I am currently high Dr B with 24,442 Dr points (roughly 5500 pts away from Dr A. I've completed 272 races in sport mode and have been able to win nine races (although none in a few weeks as I've hit a slump). To break out of the slump, I have been trying now more than ever to win a pole in a daily race, but I just cannot.

In 272 sport mode races, I have only won a single pole which came in an FiA points race. I have never won a pole in a daily race. As a high Dr B driver I can usually set a time within 4 seconds of the top 10 times. If I get any closer (2-3) seconds, I just get matched with some of the top 10 and suffer horribly. This happened last week with the Gr1 Nations Race at Interlagos.

Interlagos is my best track in the game, so I practiced for over an hour trying to get the best lap possible. I was (I think) three seconds or less off the top times? I figured for sure, I would have to win the pole, right? I got matchmaked with ORMA_Snow and other drivers in the top 10, qualified dead last and was .3 off the car that qualified right in front of me. I wasn't even close to their times, and it went about as well as you can expect, I finished last...

Unfortunately, my Dr is on the rise (Kudosprime: http://www.kudosprime.com/gts/stats.php?profile=1499305) because unlike that one interlagos race, I typically finish better than I qualify. Twice yesterday, I qualified 17th at Blue Moon Infield B II and gained 10 spots in the race. (On average I gain around 4 spots from where I start). Since my Dr is on the rise, I keep getting put further back in the field and I am forced to try to work my way up. I'll finish a few spots better and the Dr will rise...

I've tried sandbagging in quals, racing early in the morning, and running endless qualifying laps to achieve my best time, but I still cannot get a pole in a daily race (Meanwhile, I have friends with similar DRs who run similar times to me, and have double digit pole numbers).

Don't get me wrong, I don't have to win a race to enjoy it, but it'd be nice to start up front once in a while and have a shot to win. Can anyone offer me any tips to winning poles in Daily Races?
Click to expand...

drive the car faster lol. truthfully, no matter your dr, theres generally someone online whos fast, spent a decent amount of time setting his best lap, and is either dr S or on his way there. so if you're not a very fast qualifier then youre at the mercy of luck

for what its worth i had something like 2 poles and maybe 3 wins by the time i reached dr S. since then i've improved and i'm pretty fast now but it doesn't really mean anything if you're not at the front of every race you enter
 
daan
I have 13 poles, 14 fastest laps and 11 wins (from 272 races.) I would obviously like them all to be higher, but the fact they're all roughly about the same level, indicate that that's the level I'm at.
Click to expand...

Good spot, that...

Mine are also similar:
Sport Mode Wins 25
Sport Mode Pole Position 21
Sport Mode Fastest Laps 24

474 races
 
Also - Drive the faster car

Edit -
Main Account -
Sport Mode Completed Races206
Sport Mode Wins6
Sport Mode Pole Position9
Sport Mode Fastest Laps6

Sub Account -
Sport Mode Completed Races43
Sport Mode Wins17
Sport Mode Pole Position18
Sport Mode Fastest Laps18

But I haven't had a pole on my sub account either since being mid DR:B
 
TheGeologist
I've been trying that this week as I am on spring break. Instead of working on my thesis, I've been getting up early to race :lol::lol::lol:. When I have tried this, I found a couple of Dr S drivers including Turismo-lester... In my experience I have found that because I am somewhat close to the top 10 times that I typically am more likely to be matched with aliens in the morning than later in the day because there are so few drivers on.
Click to expand...
Fair enough :lol:
But one last suggestion, how about doing it past midnight rather than really early in the morning? I don't really race during the morning (I wake up in the afternoon on weekends) so I can't really suggest during those "off-peak" hours, but once its 1-3AM you'll see fewer aliens ;) Don't push yourself though. Sleep if you're sleepy

Edit: 46 wins, 51 fastest laps, and 61 poles in 171 races. I need to work on consistency...
 
Alpha Cipher
Fair enough :lol:
But one last suggestion, how about doing it past midnight rather than really early in the morning? I don't really race during the morning (I wake up in the afternoon on weekends) so I can't really suggest during those "off-peak" hours, but once its 1-3AM you'll see fewer aliens ;) Don't push yourself though. Sleep if you're sleepy
Click to expand...

I think the races change in US about 1am so there are probably a certain percentage who would wait up for the new races.
 
A lot has been mentioned already in the posts above 👍 - what helped me getting poles was concentrating on races that REALLY ! suit me. You still need a bit of luck though, maybe pick the right time of day, and so on.
The fact that you're running in very mixed up fields all the time seems a bit strange, it's probably due to the smaller player base in the Americas.
The last race I did was the Alpine race on Suzuka East last weekend. I was about your DR then and I qualified about 4 tenths behind top 1 in Europe. Started on P2 for the first three races behind a guy being 2 / 1000 quicker, each grid was BS completely. Two hours later I did two more races there, two poles ( and wins :D ) with grids of SS, AS and BS drivers.
I think whatever you do there's no guarantee ... maybe you want to try to qualify even better than you did so far.
 
ROCKET JOE
Took me about 20 Q laps ... and yeah, I'm your nightmare, one of these nasty A point hunters :mischievous: !
Click to expand...
I couldn't believe it... you are way ahead of everyone else in the grid. I must have done 30 laps and couldn't get any better than 58.670 which is top 3% in the region... qualified 10th out of 12. Thanks very much!
 
PD matchmaking definitely has a big part to play in how many poles you're going to get. Luck of the draw plays a big part. I was 26th in region at the gr1 race at Interlagos last week, raced around 8 times but was never on pole.
 

Latest Posts

Back