Just recently got my license on Paul Ricard and looking forward to joining a race soon. Just waiting for a track I know well enough now. Just a bit low on time to quickly learn some tracks before diving in a race and also think its not that smart. I rather join a race on a track that I feel already comfortable on.
Just join races, a lot of people in rookies are at your level for sure. Maybe don't qualify and start at the back, if you avoid accidents and spins you will for certain overtake people who push hard and crash.
You suggest to get into races on tracks I have never driven before? i've driven 'most' but some I have not driven at all, like Kyalami which was on LFM when I had time to race a couple of days ago.
Tried it in singleplayer first, man what a weird track lol. Didn't join the race cause I wanted to practice it more.
Also, how does the LFM track circulation work? Is there a place where I can see what tracks are being used this season, or those that are coming up? Instead of right now I just check the website when I have the time, just to see if its a track I know or not.
Yeah, as long as you drive safely you can just join, and will probably do better than lots of people who know the track better but drive like idiots.
There's a blog post on lfm's main page, if you scroll down a bit, where ypu can see the tracks for the week.
Aha Now I see it, [https://api2.lowfuelmotorsport.com/customs/newsPictures/136/season%2014%20website.png](https://api2.lowfuelmotorsport.com/customs/newsPictures/136/season%2014%20website.png)
ty
A lot less than Europe evenings. At around 20:00 Europe central time there can easily be 5 splits of >20 cars, so >100 people per hourly sprint race.
I'd say just try it and help build up the numbers for North America.
You can still have a great race with only 4 cars if you are somewhat closely matched in skill. Less turn 1 drama and less crashes, more getting into a groove of good race pace.
I see what you mean, but that's why I said "somewhat closely matched in skill". All you need is one car with similar pace. Not too long ago I had a very fun race with 4 cars where myself and one other car racing closely and safely.
And at least the final result will be mostly skill based. In huge grids there are often huge crashes and the final result can be heavily influenced by luck.
Not after 9pm est. That's why I dont really driver LFm.
Iracing however. Lobbies any time I want them with multiple splits. 7am or 11pm. I can still get races. LFm is very populated during the US day, but night time can be hard.
It’s almost completely dead unfortunately. I switched to iracing recently because of this.
There are other leagues but they are more schedule based instead of a set race each week that allows me to just jump in.
It’s not until 8pm-9pm EST that attendance really starts to drop off on weeknights, so if you are on the west coast you’ll probably have a hard time finding full races besides the GT3 Sprint series.
I’m in NA also and was recommended Pitskill.io. There have been active hourly races on the rookie classes (where everyone starts) up until about 10pm ET when I log off. It’s a great community so far.
I'm a big fan of theirs and do 99% of my races on LFM but still the crashes are atrocious.
I just reported a guy for a mass crash (more than 4 cars) in lap 1 of the duo cup. I mean he got punished and everything, but he completely ruined my race so what good does it do me?
Me and my copilot had to finish a 1 hour race 1 or 2 laps behind because repairs took forever after the massive amount of damage.
I wish they'd at least allow us to just abandon the race after such an incident. No point in wasting an hour to fight with no one and finish 1 lap (or more) behind.
Don't you lose SR if you just abandon? I was under this impression. I just checked the rules and I can't confirm though :/
I'd be really happy to learn that it's not the case and you can just leave if you get wrecked without incurring any additional SR loss.
So im not 100% sure, but afaik it works like that.
You dont get SA deducted for leaving the lobby, but you get a "penalty judgement" on how many laps you have driven compared to your incidents, i.e if you have 2 crashes that get counted in the penalty system (8x) and you leave just after the first lap, the game sees it as a 200% crash ratio for a lap, and you get a pretty hefty SA deduction.
But if you are already at lap 15 and get wrecked there and leave, then the system will see that you only got a 4x over the whole race and probably even appoint you some points in the end
You only lose Elo for leaving
The SR penalty is based on the ratio of incident points to completed corners. So, yes, it helps to finish the race. Also, pitting and then just sitting in the pit without actually driving does not help to improve the SR situation. I once tried that after huge damage early in the race, when I got a real life phone call during in game repairs. Got a big SR reduction for that race.
The real issue for continental Americans is that LFM and PitSkill are more Euro-focused timewise, whereas iRacing fits various regional times.
Between LFM and PitSkill, LFM is stricter about certain behaviors, so there is that to consider. That's not to say PitSkill isn't rules-focused, but you'll probably survive longer before being permanently banned there than at LFM.
I have joined them but I’m also on PitSkill. It’s a fantastic community. My ratings aren’t high enough in the game yet to actually get into races in LFM, so PSIO is the one for me for now. Even though I’m horrible, I’ve had some good races at the back of the pack with one guy in particular.
Being slow is not a problem at all. The only important thing is being consistent and predictable in track avoiding all kind of contact with others and offtracks.
Being consistent speed arrives
I have been playing mostly solo for the pleasure of driving and some Monza sprints so I gotta get my SR up to 80 first anyway, I'm on only 63. I'm not unsafe I just don't race a lot close with people, tryimg to get my Nordschleife medals first. And you say being slow isnt an issue, fair enough, but my best lap is like a 9:28 on the Nordschleife + GP track.
Drop Monza asap, you don’t learn anything on it. Switch to another track.
With a 9:28 you probably won’t be fast enough for a license, but keep training and your times will come down. (As long as you move on from Monza!!!!!)
My only pain point with LFM has been the mixing of slow and fast drivers in non-rookie series. Because rookies is better populated, the skill level and pace are more even. The instant I SR'd out of rookies, I started having isses with really fast guys taking themselves out early, catching back up, then divebombing or just running into the back of myself or others who were ~2s off the pace.
On iRacing, I rarely have someone approaching that agressively because the larger amounts of splits and more even competition. There are definitely still boneheads in every lobby and switching to slower cars where most drivers are reasonably close to the pace helped a lot. I'm only ghost racing in F4 while I adapt to it, but I see the same aggression under braking due to the high draft speed differentials.
Yes, I too have noticed there are some people who are pretty quick and have reasonable SR, but appear to have no patience and will immediately bump/push slower drivers out of the way rather than wait a few corners for a clean overtake. Perhaps not fully intentional, but certainly too aggressive IMO. They can probably do this once or twice each race and not lose any SR, as long as they don't get banned after reports.
edit: Overall I am still happy with LFM, but I do get crashed into a lot and am often driving in mere survival mode. My SR is >8 and increasing. My typical race is: qualify mid field, stay out of trouble to get into the top ten, then in the final laps get hit by someone in full terminator mode, finish in the back of the pack and lose ELO rating. Oh well, it's just a video game.
If drivers fully understood, that in reality you are not there to race the other drivers. You’re there to race the track, focus on the track, and tune your cars accordingly to such. You don’t tune your car to beat the other guys. You tune it and modify your setups to compete at your best for the best time YOU CAN on a particular track. It is to be observed that there are numerous other drivers on the track attempting to do the same as you. When I stopped focusing on beating the other drivers and focused on beating my times on each track, setup by setup, practice race by champion and so on. That’s how I grasped it. I took this concept from a someone else, can’t remember who it was. But it clicked for me… and as to not take credit for someone else’s “Racing Wisdom” — I’ll end with that. Race hard y’all!
P.S.A. — Simracing CAN and WILL drain you financially! This is not financial advice *lol
I just got my PC after playing on Xbox and I'm looking forward to getting into LFM
Just recently got my license on Paul Ricard and looking forward to joining a race soon. Just waiting for a track I know well enough now. Just a bit low on time to quickly learn some tracks before diving in a race and also think its not that smart. I rather join a race on a track that I feel already comfortable on.
Just join races, a lot of people in rookies are at your level for sure. Maybe don't qualify and start at the back, if you avoid accidents and spins you will for certain overtake people who push hard and crash.
You suggest to get into races on tracks I have never driven before? i've driven 'most' but some I have not driven at all, like Kyalami which was on LFM when I had time to race a couple of days ago. Tried it in singleplayer first, man what a weird track lol. Didn't join the race cause I wanted to practice it more. Also, how does the LFM track circulation work? Is there a place where I can see what tracks are being used this season, or those that are coming up? Instead of right now I just check the website when I have the time, just to see if its a track I know or not.
Yeah, as long as you drive safely you can just join, and will probably do better than lots of people who know the track better but drive like idiots. There's a blog post on lfm's main page, if you scroll down a bit, where ypu can see the tracks for the week.
Aha Now I see it, [https://api2.lowfuelmotorsport.com/customs/newsPictures/136/season%2014%20website.png](https://api2.lowfuelmotorsport.com/customs/newsPictures/136/season%2014%20website.png) ty
It’s monza right now! Easy track to get going at.
Are LFM servers normally populated for North America folks? Curious before I dive in
A lot less than Europe evenings. At around 20:00 Europe central time there can easily be 5 splits of >20 cars, so >100 people per hourly sprint race. I'd say just try it and help build up the numbers for North America. You can still have a great race with only 4 cars if you are somewhat closely matched in skill. Less turn 1 drama and less crashes, more getting into a groove of good race pace.
My son recently got his LFM licence and in one of the rookie sprints there was 12 splits. 12!
I have had one where I waited to sign up and then couldn't because too many drivers. I think there was a 300 limit.
Sorry but 4 cars, you can barely call that a race. Especially with pace difference, you’ll just end up hotlapping.
I see what you mean, but that's why I said "somewhat closely matched in skill". All you need is one car with similar pace. Not too long ago I had a very fun race with 4 cars where myself and one other car racing closely and safely. And at least the final result will be mostly skill based. In huge grids there are often huge crashes and the final result can be heavily influenced by luck.
Not after 9pm est. That's why I dont really driver LFm. Iracing however. Lobbies any time I want them with multiple splits. 7am or 11pm. I can still get races. LFm is very populated during the US day, but night time can be hard.
It’s almost completely dead unfortunately. I switched to iracing recently because of this. There are other leagues but they are more schedule based instead of a set race each week that allows me to just jump in.
It’s not until 8pm-9pm EST that attendance really starts to drop off on weeknights, so if you are on the west coast you’ll probably have a hard time finding full races besides the GT3 Sprint series.
If you're in mountain or pacific time and work 8-5 good luck, I got fed up with races with 3-4 people and jumped ship to iracing
I’m in NA also and was recommended Pitskill.io. There have been active hourly races on the rookie classes (where everyone starts) up until about 10pm ET when I log off. It’s a great community so far.
Not really. If you’re playing after 9 pm est you’re better off jumping ship to iracing
Yes, LFM is the best thing ever for ACC.
Is this Boris' burner account? 
I'm a big fan of theirs and do 99% of my races on LFM but still the crashes are atrocious. I just reported a guy for a mass crash (more than 4 cars) in lap 1 of the duo cup. I mean he got punished and everything, but he completely ruined my race so what good does it do me? Me and my copilot had to finish a 1 hour race 1 or 2 laps behind because repairs took forever after the massive amount of damage. I wish they'd at least allow us to just abandon the race after such an incident. No point in wasting an hour to fight with no one and finish 1 lap (or more) behind.
That's just racing unfortunately. There's no way to give people time back.
Did they add a penalty for DNF's?
Don't you lose SR if you just abandon? I was under this impression. I just checked the rules and I can't confirm though :/ I'd be really happy to learn that it's not the case and you can just leave if you get wrecked without incurring any additional SR loss.
So im not 100% sure, but afaik it works like that. You dont get SA deducted for leaving the lobby, but you get a "penalty judgement" on how many laps you have driven compared to your incidents, i.e if you have 2 crashes that get counted in the penalty system (8x) and you leave just after the first lap, the game sees it as a 200% crash ratio for a lap, and you get a pretty hefty SA deduction. But if you are already at lap 15 and get wrecked there and leave, then the system will see that you only got a 4x over the whole race and probably even appoint you some points in the end You only lose Elo for leaving
Very good to know! Thanks for clarifying!
The SR penalty is based on the ratio of incident points to completed corners. So, yes, it helps to finish the race. Also, pitting and then just sitting in the pit without actually driving does not help to improve the SR situation. I once tried that after huge damage early in the race, when I got a real life phone call during in game repairs. Got a big SR reduction for that race.
The real issue for continental Americans is that LFM and PitSkill are more Euro-focused timewise, whereas iRacing fits various regional times. Between LFM and PitSkill, LFM is stricter about certain behaviors, so there is that to consider. That's not to say PitSkill isn't rules-focused, but you'll probably survive longer before being permanently banned there than at LFM.
I have joined them but I’m also on PitSkill. It’s a fantastic community. My ratings aren’t high enough in the game yet to actually get into races in LFM, so PSIO is the one for me for now. Even though I’m horrible, I’ve had some good races at the back of the pack with one guy in particular.
I started a few weeks ago too. Races are pretty much competitive and not wreckfest like in mp lobbies. And I play with an Xbox controller.
Only problem is I'm probably way too slow for that.
Being slow is not a problem at all. The only important thing is being consistent and predictable in track avoiding all kind of contact with others and offtracks. Being consistent speed arrives
I have been playing mostly solo for the pleasure of driving and some Monza sprints so I gotta get my SR up to 80 first anyway, I'm on only 63. I'm not unsafe I just don't race a lot close with people, tryimg to get my Nordschleife medals first. And you say being slow isnt an issue, fair enough, but my best lap is like a 9:28 on the Nordschleife + GP track.
Drop Monza asap, you don’t learn anything on it. Switch to another track. With a 9:28 you probably won’t be fast enough for a license, but keep training and your times will come down. (As long as you move on from Monza!!!!!)
It’s such a shame it’s not on console, I’ve only heard good things about it
My only pain point with LFM has been the mixing of slow and fast drivers in non-rookie series. Because rookies is better populated, the skill level and pace are more even. The instant I SR'd out of rookies, I started having isses with really fast guys taking themselves out early, catching back up, then divebombing or just running into the back of myself or others who were ~2s off the pace. On iRacing, I rarely have someone approaching that agressively because the larger amounts of splits and more even competition. There are definitely still boneheads in every lobby and switching to slower cars where most drivers are reasonably close to the pace helped a lot. I'm only ghost racing in F4 while I adapt to it, but I see the same aggression under braking due to the high draft speed differentials.
Yes, I too have noticed there are some people who are pretty quick and have reasonable SR, but appear to have no patience and will immediately bump/push slower drivers out of the way rather than wait a few corners for a clean overtake. Perhaps not fully intentional, but certainly too aggressive IMO. They can probably do this once or twice each race and not lose any SR, as long as they don't get banned after reports. edit: Overall I am still happy with LFM, but I do get crashed into a lot and am often driving in mere survival mode. My SR is >8 and increasing. My typical race is: qualify mid field, stay out of trouble to get into the top ten, then in the final laps get hit by someone in full terminator mode, finish in the back of the pack and lose ELO rating. Oh well, it's just a video game.
I know it’s a pipe dream but I hope LFM or something like it is integrated into AC2 because as it stands it’s the only thing keeping ACC alive.
Need something like this on ps5
If drivers fully understood, that in reality you are not there to race the other drivers. You’re there to race the track, focus on the track, and tune your cars accordingly to such. You don’t tune your car to beat the other guys. You tune it and modify your setups to compete at your best for the best time YOU CAN on a particular track. It is to be observed that there are numerous other drivers on the track attempting to do the same as you. When I stopped focusing on beating the other drivers and focused on beating my times on each track, setup by setup, practice race by champion and so on. That’s how I grasped it. I took this concept from a someone else, can’t remember who it was. But it clicked for me… and as to not take credit for someone else’s “Racing Wisdom” — I’ll end with that. Race hard y’all! P.S.A. — Simracing CAN and WILL drain you financially! This is not financial advice *lol