Comments on: Tips from a Human Sim-Racer

By: Dave Morrison

Dave Morrison — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:25:06 +0000

Good article Ryan, I have found that I get burnt out or something, my fastest laps usually occur on any new track within the first 50 laps of practice, then after that I slow down. My fast laps are quick mind you, usually in the top 3 or 5 overall, (I am a roundy round oval guy so this might not relate) I think it is my age, I used to drive real race cars for many years and so when I started iRacing this expeirience helped. Kind of backwards I guess, considering most people want iRacing to help them in the real world and I used my real world to help me with the sim.
But alas I am not as young as I used to be and so muscle memory does not develop as easily, I think at my age too much practice just causes me to learn some bad habits because I already may have found the fast way around but keep searching for more, and it is not there, causing me to try things that develop into bad habits, then I have to unlearn those things.
So I guess what I am saying is that you really have to learn about yourself through practice on the track when you get older, more than about the car, or your expeirience may be working against you.

By: satilik konteyner

satilik konteyner — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:16:40 +0000

great thanks \o/

By: Jeremy Gunterman

Jeremy Gunterman — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:33:55 +0000

This shouldâ€¦ So, why am I dedicating a whole article to ?

By: Anthony Ockman

Anthony Ockman — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 18:31:25 +0000

awesome listing you possess

By: Richard K.

Richard K. — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:16:39 +0000

Excellent article…

I add one extra requirement to my race build up regimen.. I aim to have at least one practice session and two testing sessions where I go an entire race distance incident free. This has been the deciding factor in every race I’ve run in every sim I’ve used. This echoes Ryans main point.. practice, muscle memory, consistency are true keys to success. In real life racing professional drivers don’t win every race.. but they ARE consistent.

By: Mark A Warmington

Mark A Warmington — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:35:20 +0000

Nice read Ryan,

I start practicing the week before so that I can give myself that extra weeks preparation throughout the season. I will load up the setup from a track I think is the most similar to the track I will be racing and then run a few laps to see how the car feels. If the car is way off I will switch to another setup and see if this baseline is a little closer to the mark. Once I have one that feels as though it is holding the road I will then start trying for lap times and tweak the setup.

But I aim for the first official race of the week not the last, as I should already have a week of practice behind me. If I get a decent result in race one I know I can start practicing for the track I’ll be racing next week, whilst everyone else is still aiming for the race that will be held on Saturday: thing about Saturday races is that some people have pinned all their hopes on that race and might be a little more aggressive.

If my prep is going well each week and I haven’t been able to pick up a good result in race one I have the option to jump into the Saturday race if I think I might be able to get a better result.

By: Elmar Erlekotte

Elmar Erlekotte — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:10:27 +0000

nice read, Ryan

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:04:22 +0000

Ryan is telling us exactly what all professional racers know; that nothing beats seat time!
Thanks for the reminder Ryan.

By: Dean

Dean — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:18:53 +0000

@Luis – I’m not 100% sure at what you’re saying here but if you can log in and drive at your sim racing computer, how is practicing offline any different than practicing online in the many practice servers (with other drivers to help)?

The practice servers are open 24 hours a day, I think Ryan is suggesting you go into a practice server every week day for as much time as you can spare but save your race sessions til the weekend when you have practiced enough to get your best results.

Then of course are the Private Practice sessions you have to drive alone any time you are logged in, any track or car. I can not understand a need to not be online when iRacing is always online to serve your needs.

Did I misunderstand?

By: Ryan Terpstra

Ryan Terpstra — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:15:50 +0000

Yeah I hear ya Steve. It all boils down to your goals. If you’re competing in the championship then figuring out what works best for you is going to be helpful. If you’re not racing for points then hopping in the server and having at it is certainly more fun.

One thing I strongly recommend though is qualifying. Do everything you can to position yourself in front of potential turn 1 incidents.

By: Steve Claeys

Steve Claeys — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:45:39 +0000

Nice read and I agree completly.
I often race without too much practise and it hurts too often.
But I simply want to RACE, not my bad that I am addicted.

By: Luis Babboni

Luis Babboni — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:59:51 +0000

Interesting comments Ryan!

But I want to comment my situation.
You said that you use the week to practice and the following weekend to race.
Sadly, my weeks are usually quite busy and then I must use the weekend to practice and the following Monday to race, before the week work let me on the nights too much near to sleep than to race.
But this order implies that I need to practice offline! Thats why I suggested more than once, in the corresponding forum, if theres not exist the posibility to add on line practices at least on the previous week end in the track that begun on the following Monday.

Cheers,

Luis.