I just finished my first ever online race

[OurManInTangier]

Did I say ever? Yes, ever.

Barthurst in the Ginetta with everyone on default settings. I qualified 9th and three laps later finished in 7th despite the chaos around me. Okay, so that was 38 seconds behind 1st place but I’m just happy not to have taken anyone out

What a brilliant experience....and a lesson in just how far off the pace I am against other players. I’ve only been playing sims - AC - for around a month and still haven’t got to grips with car set ups but I’m totally sold.

I just thought I’d drop in and share my joy and say thanks to anyone who may have been in the race, not that I can remember the server name. It was a huge laugh and something I’ll be doing a lot more of.

Hope to see you out there.....and yes, I do take notice of blue flags

 

[UMC 22]

What a brilliant experience....and a lesson in just how far off the pace I am against other players. I’ve only been playing sims - AC - for around a month and still haven’t got to grips with car set ups but I’m totally sold.

Mate, if you've only just started racing then setups are the last thing you should be even thinking about right now. Setups are not the magic wand which make the difference between being at the back of the grid and the front. They're the finishing touch which may decide the difference between pole position and 3rd or 4th on the grid.

What you should concentrate on is just driving the car. Learn all the techniques and race craft you can and then practice, practice, practice. Make it all second nature and you will be in the top ten in most online races without ever tweaking a single setting.

You need to understand what a car is doing and what you need it to do before you can start tweaking, and that comes with experience. So don't get too hung up on tweaking before you are even a good driver!

Anyway, congrats on your first online race and welcome to the world of sims! Hope to see you on track when our AMS 2 club starts in the very near future.

 

[OurManInTangier]

Well that’s good news I suppose. Less to worry about for quite a while at least! Although I can only hope enough practice will get me to understand what the car is doing and if need be counter it.

At the moment it’s intuition and luck

 

[passenger]

You picked a very tough track to compete, so you did well... a small error up the hill and
you're into the wall and done. Being slow at first while not risking much is the key and
pointing the car nicely to the vertex for turning in.

 

[UMC 22]

At the moment it’s intuition and luck

I've been sim-racing for well over 20 years and I still mostly rely on both of those.

It's definitely worth checking out RD's clubs for all the sims you own. Our online racing community are a friendly bunch, and if you jump on Discord voice chat during the practice session you can get lots of help and advice. Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question!

 

[OurManInTangier]

Thanks for the pointers regarding Discord and clubs @Goffik. I’ve just joined and linked on the RD Discord and will look into the clubs/Premium. I’m enjoying AI races but can definitely see the benefits of regularly racing other players.

I‘m assuming/hoping all-comers, by which I mean all experience levels, are welcome?

 

[UMC 22]

I‘m assuming/hoping all-comers, by which I mean all experience levels, are welcome?

Absolutely! Our clubs are about relaxed, friendly racing and everyone is more than welcome from total newbies to experienced veterans. No restrictions whatsoever, and the only expectation is that everyone respects each other and follows our club rules.

Racing real people with all the unpredictability that brings is definitely a step up from racing AI, no matter how good that AI may be.