Sport mode advice for average Joe

  • Thread starter Groundfish
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Groundfish

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I want to create a thread for experienced sport mode players to be able to offer help to players who have not yet reached alien status.
A lot of the content here that is sport mode related is quite advanced.
I think it can be somewhat intimidating for people reading when guys are hitting top ten laps or within 1-2 seconds of top ten.
It kinda makes you feel like sheesh...
Anyways hopefully folks who are just getting started or are intermediate and looking to advance can post questions or ask for opinions etc and get responses from many of the talented folks here about how to do better etiquette etc.
I’ll offer what I can but I’m only top 1-2 percent on NA server so I hope some other guys on here would also offer help for beginning and intermediate players.

I think my first reccomendation is use the driving line aids and brake indicators. That alone is huge.
 
Don't race on Monday. Personally, I don't race until Wednesday.

Take the first couple of days to practice/familiarise yourself with the track/car combo. Start off with as many visual aids as you want, and slowly turn them off. Don't rely on the driving line, as you'll start to drive that, rather than the track. Play with the brake balance, see what you're most comfortable with.

Use as little traction control as you're comfortable with. Don't just turn it off because that's what the aliens do. I mean, yeah, it's ultimately faster. But do you have the time/skill to really learn to get the best from the game with it off? I don't.

I tend to hover around the 1000-1500th fastest region, for what it's worth. Knocking on the door of A ranking. But, have zero confidence that I'll stay there, if I make it.
 
Although i am still learning myself, the things i have found to have helped me alot are, smooth inputs, gas/brake and sterring. wheel or controller be as smooth as you can. And try to always be on the gas or the brake, even in the slightest. Time coasting is almost always time you should have been on the gas.

But i dont really considermyself to know what i am talking about. Recently hit 40k dr and generally a top 100 time in the muricas.....

Great idea for a thread i think. This place has helped me imrove a ton, and i wish i had got involved in the conversations sooner, insted of just looking for info on "whats new" in the game.

:cheers::gtpflag:
 
Follow @Tidgney YouTube channel, especially his Driving School series.

Watch @TRL LIGHTNING Youtube live streams and how he drives.

Check out @Igor Fraga YouTube channel for some tips on fast laps and streams.

Follow @David Perel on YouTube for great advice on race craft and general racing tips.


If you do this and take in their advice and knowledge, you're bound to improve something. Lap times, race craft, strategies, etc.
 
I'm fairly new at this Sport mode thing, but I already found a couple of things:

- if you are desperate for wins, try to race very early in the morning, there's a good chance that even an average time will get you on pole (happened to me sometimes). Starting from pole is crucial for good results earlier on, since the lower ranked drivers and rookies tend to make things really hard if you happen to start at the back.

- brake ballance is very important, sepecially in the one make daily race. Earlier today, I got two seconds off of my best time just by playing with the setting, making the car more rear biased, which made it much more manageable under heavy breaking.

- manual transmission is also a good tip. It'll probably required some getting use to, specially if you play with the DS4, but I find pretty easy shift gears myself and more often than not I'm able to gain time against people on the AT, specially with clever use of gears on corner entry and specially on the exit.
 
Learn the tracks as well as you can before entering races. In the lower ranks, you'll automatically have an advantage over many of the players who just enter races with little to no practice.

After you learn the track and run a few races, spend some time qualifying again. It's pretty likely that you'll be able to improve your time after participating in the dynamic environment that is an actual race.

In the beginning of learning how to play the game, I found the ghost distracting. After awhile, it became a valuable resource for analyzing my own lines and habits and improving upon them.

Be patient in races. Being clean is more important than getting the pass. The passes will come with time and experience, but everybody should strive for little to no contact no matter the skill and experience level.

Before you increase your SR & DR to a level where most drivers around you are trustworthy...trust no one. Assume they will go for any gap you leave them, and either get out of their way or protect the inside like a madman.

Don't fret about using assists. If you need them to be clean, use them. You can still be fast while using assists. If you can be clean and consistent without them, go for it.

Be respectful of other drivers and the space they may need. Some people are more skilled than you, some are less. If you have a racing incident, it's not always intentional or malicious, it's often just other people trying like crazy to control their car and failing at it. Don't freak out in the post race chat. You want to make friends not enemies. Reserve judgment for the replay, and if you take issue with somebody's actions, message them directly and talk it out like adults if you can.
 
My personal opinion about this, before even trying to practise for a race there are three things which stands above of everything: Fun factor, motivation / will and patience.

For me personally i only play a game if i have fun while playing it and it doesn't matter if i look at it in a competitive way or not.
Motivation / will to improve your own skills and being faster.
Patience if you can't get success very quickly.
(The 4th most important point is maybe not trying to play that long as i hate playing for a very long time xD)

From now on i can tell you how i approach to practise for a (FIA) race for example. First of all i watch the lap of the #1 guy of the leaderboard to immediatly see the braking points, his driving line, gearing, etc. When i want to practice for a FIA race i mostly join a public FIA lobby where some of the top split lobby guys are to see how they are driving with the tyre wear and fuel consumption. After watching that i try to use that knowledge and match their lap times which i can get very quickly depending on the track (5 min at least). Also if you practise with faster guys you can learn from them, like their race craft etc.

I am not good at teaching to somebody, especially not in this but i hope i was able to help you a little bit.
 
Don’t jump into Sport Mode too early. It‘s neither fun for you nor for your competitors on the track if you are not yet able to handle the car properly.

Get the driving school, the missions and the course experiences done - in gold, yes, all of them. To achieve that you‘ll need to be at a level of understanding the game physics and the general race craft that will enable you to become consistent, clean and successful in Sport Mode.

Don‘t enter Daily Races or FIA without some practice. Chances are the parameters in those races are somewhat different from your usual lobby setup. Racing a medium tire with degradation compared to a super soft without chances your braking points, timing, racing line etc. There is no way to just push through that, not even for the most skilled out there (they actually practice the most - Mikail being the exception :lol:).

Join a team to enjoy leagues and events shared together and learn from the more experienced team members.

Don’t hesitate to take a break from competitions in order to focus on the basics if you feel you‘ve hit a glass ceiling. It is deceptive to think that you will improve by just racing more and more. Humans are complacent beings and tend to fall into routines. Chances are you can improve a lot in various areas but will just fall back to save procedures when racing again and again.

For the more ambitious type, get paid help from top players offering tutoring. It is one thing to watch a top guys‘ hotlap but another to being in a lobby with and getting talked through the important points and being corrected and guided in real time. It‘s a sport after all, so just like golf or tennis lessons, I think it is justified to pay for solid instruction. If you are so inclined.

Always have fun! You don’t feel like it - don’t drive! Don’t pressure yourself too hard „I HAVE to do those FIA races today...“ and loose the fun in the process. That could ultimately result in you dropping the game for good. Try to maintain a healthy balance between challenge, pressure and relaxation. Do fun stuff every now and then, jump into that road car you never drive, get into a lobby and give it a spin. You just might like it.
 
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Differentiate between qualifying pace and race pace.

Dont try to race like every lap is a qualifying lap. Race at a level where you are comfortable you wont make mistakes. In a 10 lap race spinning twice will cost you 15-20 seconds whereas lapping half second slower a lap will cost you 5 seconds.

Sometimes il go into qualifying and do a race sim. Il look at my best lap, say it's a 1.30.5, and tell myself I'm not entering a race until I do 5 laps in a row in the 1.31s. Just gets you dialed in
 
If your race turns into a bit of a nightmare, try and keep calm and work on some damage limitation with your race pace. Never seek revenge as there's a good chance that the contact was accidental and you'll only be wasting even more of your own race pace, but if you're really steaming, take a break till you've calmed down again. Don't drive angry.

Pick a time to race when you're feeling as fresh as possible as racing tired usually leads to a poor performance and frustration as a result. Keeping yourself hydrated will help keep your concentration levels up though.

Know your limit and drive up to it, not over it. Keeping your mistakes to the bare minimum will help you capitalise on those who push too hard and if someone loses control in front of you, don't get too excited at the free pass. Slow down more so you can steer well clear and never trust a ghosted car to stay ghosted. Steer past them.

Never give up in a race. A recovery drive is often good fun as you get to do a lot more passing than at the front.
 
Don’t jump into Sport Mode too early. It‘s neither fun for you nor for your competitors on the track if you are not yet able to handle the car properly.

Get the driving school, the missions and the course experiences done - in gold, yes, all of them. To achieve that you‘ll need to be at a level of understanding the game physics and the general race craft that will enable you to become consistent, clean and successful in Sport Mode.

Don‘t enter Daily Races or FIA without some practice. Chances are the parameters in those races are somewhat different from your usual lobby setup. Racing a medium tire with degradation compared to a super soft without chances your braking points, timing, racing line etc. There is no way to just push through that, not even for the most skilled out there (they actually practice the most - Mikhail being the exception :lol:).

Join a team to enjoy leagues and events shared together and learn from the more experienced team members.

Don’t hesitate to take a break from competitions in order to focus on the basics if you feel you‘ve hit a glass ceiling. It is deceptive to think that you will improve by just racing more and more. Humans are complacent beings and tent to fall into routines. Chances are you can improve a lot in various areas but will just fall back to save procedures when racing again and again.

For the more ambitious type, get paid help from top players offering tutoring. It is one thing to watch a top guys‘ hotlap but another to being in a lobby with and getting talked through the important points and being corrected and guided in real time. It‘s a sport after all, so just like golf or tennis lessons, I think it is justified to pay for solid instruction. If you are so inclined.

Always have fun! You don’t feel like it - don’t drive! Don’t pressure yourself too hard „I HAVE to do those FIA races today...“ and loose the fun in the process. That could ultimately result in you dropping the game for good. Try to maintain a healthy balance between challenge, pressure and relaxation. Do fun stuff every now and then, jump into that road car you never drive, get into a lobby and give it a spin. You just might like it.

It's still Mikail mate... ^^
 
Not really an advice, but sometimes it's good to get out of your comfort zone and try a different car every now and then. It makes the game much less stale and also makes it easier to adapt and learn different driving styles which can be really helpful
 
For the more ambitious type, get paid help from top players offering tutoring. It is one thing to watch a top guys‘ hotlap but another to being in a lobby with and getting talked through the important points and being corrected and guided in real time. It‘s a sport after all, so just like golf or tennis lessons, I think it is justified to pay for solid instruction. If you are so inclined.

Paid instruction/tutoring? I didn't even know this was a thing.
 
Differentiate between qualifying pace and race pace.

Dont try to race like every lap is a qualifying lap. Race at a level where you are comfortable you wont make mistakes. In a 10 lap race spinning twice will cost you 15-20 seconds whereas lapping half second slower a lap will cost you 5 seconds.

Sometimes il go into qualifying and do a race sim. Il look at my best lap, say it's a 1.30.5, and tell myself I'm not entering a race until I do 5 laps in a row in the 1.31s. Just gets you dialed in

This, so much this.

It's easy to approach it as a game, far from the real motorsports where race pace is different from qualifying pace. But just yesterday, I got my first win with the Clio + Goodwin combo just with this mentality. Because I'm still learning the track/combo, I entered the race just to practice more. Started the race in fifth, watched all the usual chaos in the first lap, got bumped into nineth, but was taking my time and "not going for gaps, that existed", turning 1min31 laps consistently, even knowing I could easily drop into mid 30s.

The main focus was: keep in touch with the leaders - I was never more than 2.5 seconds back - and sure enough people missed corners, spun, crashed onto each other and by the last lap I was in front, with no sweat nor drama just to take the win with 1.5 seconds to spare. Was extremely fun watching them drop like flies while I passed them and it's one of my finnest moments in the game so far. Saved the replay and saw that my laps were all between 1min31s0 and 1min31s300. That's some regularity right there, which makes me confident to run more races in this combo knowing I can turn good results.

My usual self would be going banzai all the time and I'm sure I wouldn't have won it if I did that.
 
Differentiate between qualifying pace and race pace.



Dont try to race like every lap is a qualifying lap. Race at a level where you are comfortable you wont make mistakes. In a 10 lap race spinning twice will cost you 15-20 seconds whereas lapping half second slower a lap will cost you 5 seconds.



Sometimes il go into qualifying and do a race sim. Il look at my best lap, say it's a 1.30.5, and tell myself I'm not entering a race until I do 5 laps in a row in the 1.31s. Just gets you dialed in



This, so much this.



It's easy to approach it as a game, far from the real motorsports where race pace is different from qualifying pace. But just yesterday, I got my first win with the Clio + Goodwin combo just with this mentality. Because I'm still learning the track/combo, I entered the race just to practice more. Started the race in fifth, watched all the usual chaos in the first lap, got bumped into nineth, but was taking my time and "not going for gaps, that existed", turning 1min31 laps consistently, even knowing I could easily drop into mid 30s.



The main focus was: keep in touch with the leaders - I was never more than 2.5 seconds back - and sure enough people missed corners, spun, crashed onto each other and by the last lap I was in front, with no sweat nor drama just to take the win with 1.5 seconds to spare. Was extremely fun watching them drop like flies while I passed them and it's one of my finnest moments in the game so far. Saved the replay and saw that my laps were all between 1min31s0 and 1min31s300. That's some regularity right there, which makes me confident to run more races in this combo knowing I can turn good results.



My usual self would be going banzai all the time and I'm sure I wouldn't have won it if I did that.

One of my races at la Sarthe was the epitome of this. Qualified a few tenths behind the pole sitter, starting second. Managed to out brake him into Mulsanne, and then drove at a pace where I could go faster if needed. Turns out it wasn't needed, so kept to a comfortable mid 3:28 lap times, the whole race.



Well, apart from lap 4. Someone who didn't set a Q time set the fastest lap of the race with a high 3:27 on lap 3. The whole "go faster if needed" thing kicked in, set a low 3:27, then backed off to another mid 3:28 for the final lap. Comfortable 7.5s win.



If you want a recommendation PM me.

I'll keep that in mind if I decide to start taking the game more seriously than I do.
 
First advice is to race and not bury yourself in qualifying too long.

Secondly, know the track inside out.

Third, find three brake markers for EVERY corner. One for pace and correct apex and one where you can still hit the apex but you come to a more definitive stop, so your passing marker. Third marker is your early one in case you are in a strong tow.

Get that right and you will avoid hitting people off.
 
I've not read everything here but if it's not been said the cones really are useful for learning tracks. The double cone 'brake marker' does not always show the best place to start braking but you can use them as a starting point to find your own brake markers on the track. It's also useful to watch your own laps using the replay function. It's easier to spot useful brake markers (a tree, martial point, curb etc.) while watching a replay rather than when actually driving when you have more things to think about.

Once you've figured out a track it is best to turn them off again as they are only useful when they are there. In a race they usually get knocked over and all your markers will be gone!

I still use them for some of my weaker tracks such as Brands Hatch and Fuji.
 
My personal opinion about this, before even trying to practise for a race there are three things which stands above of everything: Fun factor, motivation / will and patience.

For me personally i only play a game if i have fun while playing it and it doesn't matter if i look at it in a competitive way or not.
Motivation / will to improve your own skills and being faster.
Patience if you can't get success very quickly.
(The 4th most important point is maybe not trying to play that long as i hate playing for a very long time xD)

From now on i can tell you how i approach to practise for a (FIA) race for example. First of all i watch the lap of the #1 guy of the leaderboard to immediatly see the braking points, his driving line, gearing, etc. When i want to practice for a FIA race i mostly join a public FIA lobby where some of the top split lobby guys are to see how they are driving with the tyre wear and fuel consumption. After watching that i try to use that knowledge and match their lap times which i can get very quickly depending on the track (5 min at least). Also if you practise with faster guys you can learn from them, like their race craft etc.

I am not good at teaching to somebody, especially not in this but i hope i was able to help you a little bit.
Your speech sounds like it has been cut from some kind of shounen anime lmao
 
But seriously, focus on keeping your car on the track. I may not be fast, and I do make occasional mistakes, but I usually do a good job of not losing control. I see a lot of newer players that spin off course even with lower powered road cars.
 
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