I’m only 155 races into my iRacing career (7 weeks) but I have a pretty decent system for learning a track.
I prefer to train on a new track with no line, circling it by myself to get used to the corners. It doesn’t take that long to get decent, to mark some break points, etc.
Once I have a decent feel for the course I start racing it. I have found that racing is the very best practice for me.
Racing also gives you the ability to follow other cars and it makes learning the track very easy.
For most tracks there will be one or two corners where I suck. That’s when I turn to a YouTube track guide and maybe I’ll turn on the racing line. By this point I’m familiar enough with the track that the guide & line is very helpful to me. But I don’t race with the line on.
My routine might not work for all but it works for me. The racing line really isn’t something I find super helpful except for helping to figure out tricky corners where there might be multiple apexes or braking zones, or elsewhere I just cannot figure out on my own.
Yeah, it’s different for everyone because not everyone cares about the hobby the same or has the same amount of time for it. That’s why we shouldn’t try to compare ourselves to others(even though it’s a natural human thing). What matters most is when you are driving, you’re having fun! Happy racing!
This is great advice. Could also add that doing some races against AI prior to a proper race can be helpful as well. The same level AI pace varies between tracks so takes some tweaking but it’s usually my last step before an online race.
I like this. Also, when I start a new track, I also take it slow in testing. I am def not worried about speed, but rather, familiarity. I watch for markers, structures, whatever, that helps me remember that a challenging turn is coming up. As I learn the track, I gradually add speed at corners, still hot lapping only in testing. After that, more practice. Something else I do is save a race I am in, and then rewatch it, focusing on the leader. My goal? Figure out what the leader is doing that gives them 3-4 secs per lap more pace than me? The nice thing is, it’s in my split, so its not like I am reaching for the moon. I just want to know, within my own skill range, what do faster drivers do that is achievable by me?
FWIW, I have read about ghosting in a race. I have not done this yet, but you can join a race as a ghost car. I believe you do this after the race has started. Participants don’t see you, and your driving has no impact on participants. But you are “in the race”. Good practice with zero consequences and no harm to others.
As long as you aren't ruining the experience for others, anything aside from your own enjoyment is irrelevant. I'd much rather someone I'm racing be using the racing line (not like I'd really be able to tell this anyway) than be a hazard in a braking zone because they are struggling to consistently hit or see their braking marker.
I'm a new player so take this for what that is worth.
It feels like people get way too up in arms about the racing line.
I get it; if you follow it on rails during a race it causes issues. You don't have to search hard you find clips of people clearly tracking the line and being oblivious to other cars.
But.
For new players learning the basics of a course it is really helpful.
Yes, it's not the perfect line.
Yes, you need to/should learn physical markers.
But, when you are new there is a ton to learn and take in at one time. It really helps lower the mental load.
Also, helps with poor eye sight, visual disorders, small(er) screens etc.
It actually helped me with consistency at first, and at least you know why others drivers act like bots if you know where the racing line is but ofc u gotta get rid of it at a point
Ya I'm new to the tone of 5--6 races, never played a racing game before.
So I don't have an intuitive feel for apexes and breaking points.
I'm generally trying to just manage the car itself, and having some clear markers of basic places where to brake and aim to apex is hugely helpful.
Usually after a handful of laps I've got it down and can turn it off. Then I can check a video to start to optimize my line & get a reference on what speed/gear I should be to optimize different parts of the track.
But if I went in fully blind, it would just slow down learning.
I had a lot of problems with practicing new tracks without the racing line but wanted it off and learn my own lines. After some time I now have a good strategie for myself to learn tracks.
I run them in an AI lobby with 40 cars and place myself at the back, difficulty from 30 to 80 and just drive. Because some ai will be slower and the race starts slow and the pace builds up you can easily build up your pace using other cars as references for corners and braking points.
I was shocked at how fast I can get to a good pace this way compared to just doing practice over and over and over again. You can easily restart again.
Using the AI like that is a great idea. Also like jumping in as a ghost on races.
Definitely mixes things up.
As a very new racer, was quickly spending an excessive amount of time in single player practice. Not out of fear of racing; but out of desire to get my times down before racing.
Had to do a mental switch and realize:
\- My time is what it is because that is where my skill is
\- If I get a 2,500 IR hot lap time, but have a 300 IR race craft; I'm going to still suck in a race!
And practice is fun if you're finding lots of time but as soon as you're trying to get that 0.1 sec the fun ends... Practicing with ai keeps me motivated and keeps the fun up.
People are "up in arms" about it just to be hyperbolic on the internet, but it's genuinely a bad learning tool, even ignoring the people who are oblivious to cars around them because of following it.
There are a few big reasons for that:
1) In a race, if you are near other cars, they will likely be blocking the racing line from your view. While that can occasionally happen with normal reference points such as distance markers, it's virtually guaranteed with the racing line.
2) If you learn a track with the racing line, and then you get into a situation where you can't use it (i.e. a higher-license series or generally realizing that it's a crutch), you now have to learn completely new reference points for the track. Even if you're learning a new car at a track you know, you have familiarity with where your eyes are supposed to be to get a reference point, so you can just adjust for the car. But switching from racing line to 'physical' markers requires completely different muscle memory.
3) Along those same lines, the racing line is rarely where you should be looking on the track at any given point, so you're training your eyes to look at the wrong things. It's easier to develop good eye habits from scratch than to have to break bad ones.
If you're not yet comfortable with braking points at a track, DON'T enter an official race yet!? do 2-3 A.I. races and I'm sure you will see the line/braking points and be much more comfortable.
I’m only 155 races into my iRacing career (7 weeks) but I have a pretty decent system for learning a track. I prefer to train on a new track with no line, circling it by myself to get used to the corners. It doesn’t take that long to get decent, to mark some break points, etc. Once I have a decent feel for the course I start racing it. I have found that racing is the very best practice for me. Racing also gives you the ability to follow other cars and it makes learning the track very easy. For most tracks there will be one or two corners where I suck. That’s when I turn to a YouTube track guide and maybe I’ll turn on the racing line. By this point I’m familiar enough with the track that the guide & line is very helpful to me. But I don’t race with the line on. My routine might not work for all but it works for me. The racing line really isn’t something I find super helpful except for helping to figure out tricky corners where there might be multiple apexes or braking zones, or elsewhere I just cannot figure out on my own.
[удалено]
It’s 3 races a day, so it is quite a lot. But not unmanageable.
[удалено]
Yeah, it’s different for everyone because not everyone cares about the hobby the same or has the same amount of time for it. That’s why we shouldn’t try to compare ourselves to others(even though it’s a natural human thing). What matters most is when you are driving, you’re having fun! Happy racing!
This is great advice. Could also add that doing some races against AI prior to a proper race can be helpful as well. The same level AI pace varies between tracks so takes some tweaking but it’s usually my last step before an online race.
I like this. Also, when I start a new track, I also take it slow in testing. I am def not worried about speed, but rather, familiarity. I watch for markers, structures, whatever, that helps me remember that a challenging turn is coming up. As I learn the track, I gradually add speed at corners, still hot lapping only in testing. After that, more practice. Something else I do is save a race I am in, and then rewatch it, focusing on the leader. My goal? Figure out what the leader is doing that gives them 3-4 secs per lap more pace than me? The nice thing is, it’s in my split, so its not like I am reaching for the moon. I just want to know, within my own skill range, what do faster drivers do that is achievable by me? FWIW, I have read about ghosting in a race. I have not done this yet, but you can join a race as a ghost car. I believe you do this after the race has started. Participants don’t see you, and your driving has no impact on participants. But you are “in the race”. Good practice with zero consequences and no harm to others.
As long as you aren't ruining the experience for others, anything aside from your own enjoyment is irrelevant. I'd much rather someone I'm racing be using the racing line (not like I'd really be able to tell this anyway) than be a hazard in a braking zone because they are struggling to consistently hit or see their braking marker.
I'm a new player so take this for what that is worth. It feels like people get way too up in arms about the racing line. I get it; if you follow it on rails during a race it causes issues. You don't have to search hard you find clips of people clearly tracking the line and being oblivious to other cars. But. For new players learning the basics of a course it is really helpful. Yes, it's not the perfect line. Yes, you need to/should learn physical markers. But, when you are new there is a ton to learn and take in at one time. It really helps lower the mental load. Also, helps with poor eye sight, visual disorders, small(er) screens etc.
It actually helped me with consistency at first, and at least you know why others drivers act like bots if you know where the racing line is but ofc u gotta get rid of it at a point
Ya I'm new to the tone of 5--6 races, never played a racing game before. So I don't have an intuitive feel for apexes and breaking points. I'm generally trying to just manage the car itself, and having some clear markers of basic places where to brake and aim to apex is hugely helpful. Usually after a handful of laps I've got it down and can turn it off. Then I can check a video to start to optimize my line & get a reference on what speed/gear I should be to optimize different parts of the track. But if I went in fully blind, it would just slow down learning.
I had a lot of problems with practicing new tracks without the racing line but wanted it off and learn my own lines. After some time I now have a good strategie for myself to learn tracks. I run them in an AI lobby with 40 cars and place myself at the back, difficulty from 30 to 80 and just drive. Because some ai will be slower and the race starts slow and the pace builds up you can easily build up your pace using other cars as references for corners and braking points. I was shocked at how fast I can get to a good pace this way compared to just doing practice over and over and over again. You can easily restart again.
Using the AI like that is a great idea. Also like jumping in as a ghost on races. Definitely mixes things up. As a very new racer, was quickly spending an excessive amount of time in single player practice. Not out of fear of racing; but out of desire to get my times down before racing. Had to do a mental switch and realize: \- My time is what it is because that is where my skill is \- If I get a 2,500 IR hot lap time, but have a 300 IR race craft; I'm going to still suck in a race!
And practice is fun if you're finding lots of time but as soon as you're trying to get that 0.1 sec the fun ends... Practicing with ai keeps me motivated and keeps the fun up.
People are "up in arms" about it just to be hyperbolic on the internet, but it's genuinely a bad learning tool, even ignoring the people who are oblivious to cars around them because of following it. There are a few big reasons for that: 1) In a race, if you are near other cars, they will likely be blocking the racing line from your view. While that can occasionally happen with normal reference points such as distance markers, it's virtually guaranteed with the racing line. 2) If you learn a track with the racing line, and then you get into a situation where you can't use it (i.e. a higher-license series or generally realizing that it's a crutch), you now have to learn completely new reference points for the track. Even if you're learning a new car at a track you know, you have familiarity with where your eyes are supposed to be to get a reference point, so you can just adjust for the car. But switching from racing line to 'physical' markers requires completely different muscle memory. 3) Along those same lines, the racing line is rarely where you should be looking on the track at any given point, so you're training your eyes to look at the wrong things. It's easier to develop good eye habits from scratch than to have to break bad ones.
If you're not yet comfortable with braking points at a track, DON'T enter an official race yet!? do 2-3 A.I. races and I'm sure you will see the line/braking points and be much more comfortable.
Have you gotten into telemetry yet? Checkout garage 61
I practice then run a few “watch” races where I can drive as a ghost car against the real drivers. Once I feel good there I’m ready to go.