as@a.

com 23 Oct 2016

[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Disclaimer

VIRTUAL RACE DRIVER

By Chris Newman

Copyright 2016

All rights reserved

Although the author and sim racers that provide advice in this guide
have made every effort to ensure that the information in this guide was
correct at release time, the author and sim racers do not assume and hereby
disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by
errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence,
accident, or any other cause. No part of this guide may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the author. The information provided within
this guide is for general informational purposes only. While we try to keep the
information up-to-date and correct, there are no representations or warranties,
express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or
availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related
graphics contained in this guide for any purpose. This guide or portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a
book review. Any unauthorized use, sharing, reproduction, stealing, or
distribution of this guide by any means is strictly prohibited. Copyright law

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Disclaimer

provides up to a 3 year imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine per incident for

illegally downloading and sharing copyrighted files. The author of this guide
regularly and actively searches out the internet for copyright violations. All
images of the sim racers are provided by the sim racers. Any images
representing GT Academy are credited to GT Academy.

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Book credits

Contents

Alien Sim Racers

Cover and social media design

www.vitessedesign.co.uk

3d cover design

www.Ic-graphics.be

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Introduction

Do you find yourself asking how do those alien sim racers go so fast? Well in
this guide you will find the secrets to how the alien sim racers achieve this
speed by the very sim racers themselves. Each sim racer gives their own unique
perspective on how to break through that performance barrier that most mortal
sim racers face. As well as giving their secrets to speed they also cover a range
of different sim racing performance advice from learning specific tracks, mental
performance advice, general driving techniques, topping time trials and more.

This guide aims to help every sim racer on the planet of all skill levels reach
their goals and ambitions in the sim racing world, from sim racers who are trying
to become pro sim racers competing in tournaments and competitions around
the world to the more casual sim racer who just want to knock a few seconds
from their lap times to compete against their friends.

With downloading this guide you will receive continuous updates of advice from
the current sim racers and new sim racers joining the guide. We will be aiming
to cover all aspects of sim racing, giving specific tips and advice on all sim
racing titles and aspects of simulated motorsports. This will include free
downloadable personal training videos from the sim racers themselves.

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Table of contents
by Sim Racer
(Click on name to view content)

Josh Martin.....8

Bruno Do Carmo.....13

Nick McMillen.....16

Aurelien Mallet.....19

Josh Muggleton.....21

Aday Coba Lopez.....29

Andrew Fayash.....31

Fabio Ramalhino....35.

Philipp Schallenberg.....42

Thiago Careca.....47

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Table of contents
by Sim Racer

Michael G. Conti.....52

Florian Woithe.....57

Glenn McGee.....67

Christian Szymczak.....69

Nikodem Wisniewski.....71

Des Foley.....74

Jorge Montanes.....77

Jimbo Garner.....80

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15x Championship
Winner sponsored
by Thrustmaster,
Global #7 Ranked
in Assetto Corsa,
10 + World
Records

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Josh Martin

Overtaking

100% of Drivers will overtake in their racing career, but only around 30% know
how to do it properly. When it comes to overtaking, set your move up as early as
possible, ideally on the corner before, get yourself into as strong a position as
possible with exit speed and hold your line. If youre going to be the last of the
late brakers, then be sure to focus on the gap and not the other driver otherwise
you will crash. Dont forget that a switchback can be just as powerful as out
braking, and it often saves your tyres from locking up as well.

Free practice is free laptime

Theres a saying that Stars are made when the stadium is empty and the
lights are out and this principle is the same in racing. When it comes to
a race weekend, make the most of free practice to build your pace up
for Race Day. Whilst the glamour of being on the podium is not
present, being comfortable with a track can give you seconds of
advantage over other drivers in the field especially if youve done
high fuel runs and know how the car will handle at its heaviest. Find a
limit, push beyond it, and then reign it in if you need to, this way you
can guarantee to be quicker than those who jump straight into qualifying.

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Josh Martin

How to be fast In the Simplest Terms

So youve decided you want to step into the racing seat with a Simulator? Good
choice! Now whilst there are 101 things that you need to do, its important that
you can grasp the core aspects of car physics before you start setting World
Records. Traction is the key aspect of racing, regardless of the weather, type of
car or even track surface. If you can perfect this, you will be fast.

Acceleration

Left turn Right turn

Deceleration

Tires are very kind to us racers, in that they will give us grip as long as we
remain within the circle of traction, whereby the outline = 100% grip usage, X

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Josh Martin

axis = Lateral Grip, Y = Longitudinal Grip. Take the diagram on the page before
and put a copy near your rig, so that when you are learning to maximise grip you
can understand where your driving style may be costing you time. Remember:
The more usage of one grip aspect, the less you can do with another, hence why
you cant go through all corners at 100mph or why going through all corners at
10mph wont allow your tyres to grip perfectly.

Cornering Oversteer and Understeer

When it comes to cornering, you want to ensure that the balance of the car is
equal between the front and rear of the car. Whilst it may be fun going into a
corner sideways, youre throwing away valuable lap time, and likewise on exit.
In Short, the corner can be broken down into 3 factors; Entry, Mid-Point, and
Exit, with the latter being the most important. In order to combat over and
understeer, its important to understand what these are.
Oversteer: This is where the back end of the car breaks adhesion and
traction, wanting it to put the back end ahead of the front end. The majority of
race cars are setup to have over as opposed to understeer, however to the
novice this can cause many spins. To fix oversteer, you will need to add more
weight towards the back end of the car, whether that be through ballast, or
through increasing the rear wing angle to cause more aerodynamic downforce.
Losing 0.1s on a straight may be worth a 0.5s increase in corners, so its up to
you to decide where the car is at its best. If you are in a fixed setup series,
then look to moving your brake balance forward or running on a harder

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Josh Martin

compound to prevent loss of grip.

Understeer: The majority of road cars and fwd/4wd cars will exhibit
understeer. The reason for this is because once down to the correct speed, the
car will retain the grip used during the decelerating phase. The problem with
racing a car with Understeer is that you will have to brake earlier and have
significantly longer. To solve Understeer look to stiffening the springs and roll
bars to cause the car to roll more through the corner. Couple this with moving
the rear back on the car and it should loosen up the front end. If you are in a
fixed series, then look to braking in a straight line and then turn once at
corner speed.

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Fastest
Sim Racer in
Brazil with
10 championship
titles in
iRacing
and RFactor

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Bruno Do Carmo

Focus on details

Mika hakkinen once said that the difference with ayrton senna, was that he
focused on details, more than any other driver. I try to do the same thing in sim
racing. There are countless elements that can make you faster and better, and
you need to work hard to find and enjoy 100% of these elements. This is where
you can have an advantage over your opponents. Maybe it is an early or late
gear shift, a different line, a minimal angle change on the wing, even your
steering wheel configuration. Being as comfortable as possible when driving,
this can bring you a few tenths advantage. No matter if the wattage is minimal,
and you prefer something more secure. To get out of mediocrity, you need to do
your best.

Practice correctly, based on the best

Many virtual drivers ask me for help, because after they run 100 - 200 laps they
are still 1-2 seconds slower than the fastest sim racers, excluding setup
element. It is pure driving, if you can not get better after 20-30 laps you need to
find out where you are going wrong, and where you can improve. Throughout
my experience in sim racing, i developed a great capacity for observing onboard
laps, where i notice the smallest difference, which can hide precious tenths. This
tip i always give to all sim racers that come to me. Every time i went slower than
any other sim racer, i watched their on board lap ( it is a feature that most
simulators have ) tirelessly, to fully understand their fastest lap. Analysing

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Bruno Do Carmo

their braking, racing line, corner entry and exit, weight transfer, car balance, as
much as possible, and try to do the same back on track. Once you understand
what to do it is easy to see what you are doing wrong, and improvement comes
naturally.

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Works racing
driver
for Nissan,
2013 US GT
Academy
champion

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Nick McMillen

Focus on consistency

No matter if it's a 20 minute sprint race or the 24 hours of lemans, consistency

almost always wins the race. A format that i've come to enjoy to help
consistency is taking an hour long session and splitting it into 3 parts. First is a
20 minute session for timed practice laps to learn the car, track, braking points
and more. Then take 10 minutes to run a faster session where you can find a
quick and consistent pace. From your ten minute session take your fastest lap
and apply it to your final 30 minute session. The final session will be a total of
30 minutes with a focus purely on consistency, more of a race simulation. For
the 30 minute session take your fastest lap from the second session and try to
be within half of a second of the fastest lap EVERY LAP. this will help you to
focus on consistency and force you to learn to drive a pace that is manageable
for an entire race without taking any major risks. In the end you will learn how
to find a good pace for each session you enter and will continue to get quicker
and more comfortable with driving at the limit consistently.

Join a racing League

In my personal experience, i gained the most skill and enjoyment from joining
an online racing league. There are many different leagues you can find with

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Nick McMillen

each racing sim from iracing to gran turismo. Many of these racing leagues have
weekly practice sessions and races which generally bring out better drivers and
competition. You will learn much faster competing with other drivers who are
focused on having fun, competitive, and clean races. Most of the time you are
racing with similar cars and / or classes where learning race craft and
consistency is essential to making it to the top step of the podium.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Aurelien Mallet
AKA, CAR Laige,
7x French Forza
motorsports
champion, 2016
Formula E race
off Pro series
champion, 2016
Forza RC
champion.

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Aurelien Mallet

Self-control

First you have to learn the game, to know exactly your strength and weakness,
and practice on your weakness to eliminate them. Then you have to determinate
your goal, this will be your main motivation. Stick with it until you achieve your
goal. But it can takes years to do it, so don't be in too much of a hurry. Train
hard, there's no secret you can't be at the top without training. According to me
I prefer training offline and then online when I have a good feeling with the car.
You have to be confident, and keep calm to avoid mistakes while you are
competing. If you are getting angry, you'll lose your concentration and then do
mistakes that where possible to avoid. Last thing is managing the pressure and
turning it into a strength. There is only one way to make this possible, with
experience: the more you compete at the highest level, the more you will be
able to manage the pressure and use it as a strength against your competitors.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

2014 Australian
GT Academy
champion, world
time attack
challenger and
production race car
driver.

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Josh Muggleton

Getting started

Before thinking about being truly competitive in a sim/game, you need to work
out how that particular sim/game operates. By that i mean you need to learn
how the psychics behave, what you can and cannot do with the car to make or
lose time. Pick your favorite car in game and go to your favorite track ( the one
you feel most comfortable with ), keep turning laps until you are consistent
enough to be within 1 or 2 tenths of each lap.

Make a plan

When preparing for a race, make sure you have practiced enough to cover all
scenarios, when will you pit? How much fuel do you need? Will you need to take
tyres?, having a plan before the race will make driving the race easier.

Setups

Learn how to make setups. This is key to becoming truly fast. Learn how setups
work and learn what you want from a car to suit your driving style. It's all well
and good to jump on a forum and grab someone else's setup and go fast but 9
out of 10 times that setup will not be suited to your driving style. Look at other
peoples setups and see what they are doing to get some idea, but build your
own or change theirs to make the car do what you want it to do. You want the

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Josh Muggleton

driving process to be as natural as possible. By this i mean you want a setup that
is adapted to your authentic driving style, not adapting your driving style to suit
someone else's setup. If you nail the first point you will always be quicker than
the second point.

Walk away

We all get to that point where our improvement either flatlines or falls
away. That is the time to stop, leave it for the night, leave it for a few days, you
will be thinking about it during that break and all of a sudden an idea will come
into your head what if i try this? what if i change this setting?, that's when
you need to go back to the sim and try again.

Keep it fun

Sometimes it's just not your day. There will be days when you just want to get
on the sim and drive but for some reason you are not driving well and keep
making mistakes. That's ok this is the time to realise that nothing good is going
to come from pushing on as you will get frustrated and angry. Use this time to
have fun, to work on a setup option or try driving a different car. We all do this
because we want to have fun, don't forget that. Make some time to enjoy sim
racing and forget about being competitive for a day.

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Josh Muggleton

Braking

Braking in race conditions is one of the trickiest things to get right, which is also
why it is one of the areas that can give you the greatest advantage in lap time.
Depending on the vehicle if it has ABS and also the setup of the car, can require
a different approach car to car, and also turn to turn. Generally, braking into a
turn should be in a straight line for maximum efficiency and see your first
application of the brake be the hardest, slowly bleeding off pressure into the
apex of the corner. This is the ideal scenario, however this is subject to change
depending on track surface wet or dry, dusty or clean, bumps or undulation in
the braking zone, or radius of the corner. These conditions could see lower
brake pressure carried for longer to not induce locking or instability ( typical for
wet conditions ), constantly changing brake pressure to avoid locking of wheels (
to counteract bumps and dips under braking ), or carrying a lower brake pressure
to begin with if the wheels are not straight before applying more brake pressure
as the road straighten. As you can see, it is a fine art to get right, but practice
and experimenting with different techniques will see improvements in lap time
and consistency.

Acceleration

Applying the throttle correctly is critical to getting a good exit out of a corner ,
tyre life, and also lap time. Generally The rule is, don't touch the throttle

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Josh Muggleton

until you know you do not have to get back off it. Depending on the car's power
level, and also its grip level ( whether from AWD, slick tyres or wet conditions ),
the application of the throttle will vary, however a smooth, linear push of the
pedal as you unwind steering lock is ideal. This means that the more steering
lock you have on, the less throttle pressure should be applied, but as you
unwind steering lock, you can apply more throttle. Again this is an ideal
situation which process may be quicker or slower depending on the car and grip
levels. Minimising wheelspin is the key factor here, because if the wheels are
spinning, you are losing forward momentum which means you are losing time.
To master this skill you need to be smooth on the throttle and also with your
steering inputs to not upset the car and maximise the tyres grip on the road.

Mental attitude
As with any sport, mental attitude plays a big part in your performance on track.
Being focused on the job and not Distracted by your surroundings will see an
improvement in your performance and also more consistency in your driving.
Train for this by practicing with distractions. Have some music playing really
loud in the background, drive with the game sound turned off and in silence,
drive in a pitch black room, drive with your dog in the room playing with his
toys, drive with as many distractions as you can to train your brain to focus on
the driving and not what is going on around you. This will help with being

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Josh Muggleton

focused for big races, or for when something out of your control happens. You
will be able to ignore the distractions and focus on the task at hand.

Finding the best racing line

The best racing line is the one which enables you to carry the most speed
possible in the key areas of the track to get the best lap time. This may mean
that you need to sacrifice a certain corner in order to maximise the next corner
which may lead onto a long straight, or one to protect yourself from a passing
zone into the next corner. Generally there is only one fast line around a track,
however this may vary from driver to driver according to their driving style.
Experiment with different lines around a track which suit you, and then compare
lap times and corner speeds to determine the fastest way for you to get around
the track.

Smoothness
As touched on briefly in the acceleration tip, smoothness in your driving comes
from practice and proper technique, but it also helps to imagine that your
steering wheel is connected to your throttle and brake pedals by a piece of
string. In an ideal situation, the application of either pedal is directly connected
to the amount of steering percentage you are using. How they are connected,
again this is in an ideal situation, is that when you have 100% brake

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Josh Muggleton

applied, your steering angle should be 0%, and when you have 100% throttle
applied, you should have 0% steering angle. Now this is affected by a number of
thing such as tyre grip etc, but ideally this is what you should be aiming for, and
if you follow this principle, your driving will become much smoother. So for
the braking side, coming into the braking zone you should have maximum
braking force applied in a straight line ( 0% steering angle ), as you trail brake
into a corner you would release the brake at the same rate that you apply
steering lock in the manner that once you have full steering lock on required for
the corner, your brake percentage should be at zero and you are thinking about
applying throttle. As discussed earlier, once applying throttle percentage, your
steering should unwind at the same rate as the throttle is applied until you are
at 100% throttle and 0% steering angle.

Vision - where to look

Vision is key to driving fast, and also to knowing what is happening, and what is
going to happen around you. While you need to look at what is happening
directly in front of you, you need to learn to ignore the cars around you to some
degree and focus on your point of reference such as braking markers and turn in
point. This may mean looking past or through the car ahead. Attacking a corner
requires your vision to focus on many areas one after the other in quick
succession. Firstly you need to look for your braking marker, while you are doing
this you may need to check your mirrors for the car behind to see if they are
going to attempt a pass on you which could require you to move your braking

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Josh Muggleton

marker forward or back. Once you have processed that information and decided
how you are going to take the corner, you need to look for your turn in point
and apex, immediately after you have sighted these and started to turn, you
need to be looking all the way through the corner for your exit apex (where
you want the car to end up after the corner). And finally once you headed
towards your exit point you start to look at the tacho or shift lights for when to
change up and then straight away for your next braking marker. Keeping in
mind that all of these steps happen in a matter of seconds, you can appreciate
how vital vision and quick decision making is to your driving and race craft. Your
vision must continually shift from point to point and never stay fixed on one
thing for too long. Looking at your braking marker for too long can result in you
missing your turn in point and the apex, looking in your mirror too long can
result in you missing your turn in point and the apex, looking in your
mirror too long can result in missing your braking marker and running wide,
looking at the apex too long can result in you choking up the corner and not
using all the track on exit which will hurt your lap time and also your terminal
speed down the next straight. It is something that only comes with practice, and
something which changes dramatically when you are on track by yourself, or
surrounded by cars.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

16x iRacing
championship
winner

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Aday Coba Lopez

Braking, the key

We all know brake hard and late, but really the hard part is only just enough
stop, and take advantage of the inertia of the car to go faster on the turn. Once
you get to control this, you are going to be very fast.

Winning championships

Championships are usually long, everyone knows who wins the most races, but
few drivers realize the importance of being regularly. Focus on rate every race
without taking unnecessary risks, only fight with rivals that can win the
championship, it is not necessary to win every race, obviously the more you
win the easier it will be to become champion. But keep an open mind,
calculating all the possibilities of each race, and acting correctly. If you can
apply all these tips, you will be a strong candidate for the title. For my part I
have 16 titles in iRacing, and I have not always been the fastest.

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6 years in iRacings
NASCAR Peak
Antifreeze series, 5
years real life dirt
racing experience,
inaugural iRacing
Daytona 500 top
split winner

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Andrew Fayash

Oval racing. Picking your battles

One of the most important things in real and sim racing is knowing when to race
someone with all you have got, and when to concede a position without a fight.
Running side by side or battling for a spot is always slower than when you are
hitting your marks normally and being able to use the whole width of the track
to race, and it is also harder on your tires. If you don't think you can hold
someone off long enough to finish the race, or for their lap times to fall off
enough to where you can break away, you should let them go as soon as it is
convenient. You will give up less time overall and keep your tires cooler for
when you really need to push it. Also practice and optimise letting people go
without really giving up anymore time than the couple of car lengths difference.

Oval racing. Over the limit practice

If you are trying to get used to a vehicle you can not get comfortable with, or
if practice has reached the point where it begins to feel like a job rather than
fun, take a break from the norm and make it fun again. One giant advantage of
sim racing over real racing is in practice we can crash without concern, take
advantage of the lack of risk. Push your car to its absolute edge and go past it,
get the car out of shape, drift, make mistakes and focus on trying to make a

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Andrew Fayash

proper recovery. Get a teammate/friend or two and get them to join you, have
them race you overly aggressive, bump you at times, put you in tight situations,
and do your best to survive these situations or at least to minimise the damage
when it goes wrong. This is a great way to relieve the stress of normal practice
while still perfecting your abilities behind the wheel.

Oval racing. Situational awareness and wreck

avoidance
Knowing exactly where people are around you, there pace vs yours, and there
tire situation vs yours are some of the most important parts of racing. These
are things you should make a habit of being aware of, to the point you are
subconsciously are aware of them without having to constantly check your
mirrors or pay specific attention to. I've always taken a lot of pride in wreck
avoidance and staying out of trouble in racing it is one of the most overlooked
skills to have in racing and i can not stress how important it is. Always be
looking ahead, details are important here, especially with cars that have limited
visibility and/or are hard to see through when behind one. Knowing where your
exits are for situations, in oval racing especially you should have a lot of
options. Don't be afraid to dart to the apron if your clear low and slow the car
down so that it does not come right back up on track into the mess. When
in doubt focus on braking (but not locking up) and down shifting as if you

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Andrew Fayash

are just trying to pit; and if someone is behind you, stagger yourself out of their
lane before initial braking. This way even if they blindly follow you, they will
know something is going on. This will make them more aware and less likely to
rear end you as a lack of reaction time to your braking.

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2015 European GT
Academy finalist

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Fabio Ramalhinho

Getting started
First you need to find both a good steering wheel and pedals. It is very
important to have good equipment but remember there is no need to go all the
way to the top range. You can find very good material for a fraction of the price
of the ultra expensive brands and the best examples are the logitech g29 and
the thrustmaster t300. Second you need to find the right place to put the
equipment and if you want to save money you could make your own rig like i did
when i was training for GT academy. Third is about the training gear. I know you
are not risking your life on a simulator, but if you want to succeed in real racing
as well you need to get used to things like wearing racing gloves and racing
shoes. Don't worry i will not recommend you a racing suit or a HANS device.
My recommendation for wearing racing shoes has to do with the fact that with
shoes you get better levels of strength due to proper muscle activation on the
leg, which does not occur if you drive barefoot. Getting used to racing shoes
will also benefit muscle memory to a point that when you get the chance to
drive a real racing car you will not feel much difference. The purpose of
wearing gloves is mainly about maintaining the precision levels during long
runs. As time goes by the friction increases the temperature and this causes you
to sweat, so if you don't wear gloves the surface of the steering wheel will
become slippery. Now it is time for you to start looking for the software and
fortunately you have a lot to choose from. You could choose a simulator with
membership or paid content like iRacing or Race Room or you could go with

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Fabio Ramalhinho

a more commercial type of software like Gran Turismo Sport, Assetto Corsa or
project cars. After you have chosen your prefered simulator you need to start
working in order to get the best out of it. i recommend you start with a single 30
minute training session a day with your favourite car or a car you know well
and then slowly progress to an hour or even 2 hour training sessions. During
these longer sessions i encourage you to simulate pit stops or to actually pit to
add some fuel or to change tires. These pit stops are also an important aspect of
this training method as you have time to drink some water. If you are not
aware dehydration can impair your attention span, your memory and motor
skills. When you are heading to a familiar race track you already know where to
brake, the trajectory, the bumps, etc. but approaching a new track is a fun
challenge and you need to learn the race track like the palm of your hand. The
quicker the better. So to learn the track you can analyse the track map in
game, take some slow laps around the track and/or watch videos on YouTube
this is very useful to learn the trajectory or racing line but also to know your
braking points. On braking points: you need to learn some reference points and
these reference points can be a distance board, a tree, or even marks on
the asphalt. I say this because you need to be consistent on braking points
without hesitating and you achieve this by memorising a reference point that
will be perceived by your peripheral vision. But remember, like in real racing
reference points can change or disappear for various reasons (destroyed by
another car, shadows, sun, or even water marks on the asphalt) so you need to

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Fabio Ramalhinho

be alert to adapt at any time. Then you can start gradually increasing your
approach speed. To be fast you must keep your right foot on the throttle
until the last moment before you hit the brake pedal, doing this will reduce the
amount of time you spend coasting. Apply the necessary amount of brake
pressure to slow down the car without locking up the brakes and slowly
release the brake pressure so you can turn into the corner without missing the
apex. In order to not destabilize the car you need to be smooth with the steering
and keep a check on your foot. What i mean is you need to be gentle with your
throttle application because you do not want to spin the car or lose any traction
from over doing your throttle application during your fast lap. Advice: aim for
consistency. You need to maintain your lap times consistently within 0.5 - 0.6
seconds or even closer to your fastest lap. This is easier with fuel consumption
and tire degradation turned off but to get the real experience i recommend
turning them on. During your runs it is also kind of fun to simulate real life
behaviors like watching your mirrors and checking the temperatures and
pressures. Yes, current racing games are this accurate so take advantage of this.
When you realise you are consistent on lap times you can start pushing even
more and taking more risks to get that extra tenth without over driving
your car. You can apply this training method to all simulators but i recommend
you choose just one game because each has its own algorithm ( physics,
car behaviour, tire model, etc). And it will take you a lot more time to master
more than one. Basicly you would need to quit your dayjob and dedicate

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Fabio Ramalhinho

more than 8 hours a day to maintain a good level across all simulators. It is
important to accept that some sim racers adapt quicker in certain situations
than others and there is no magic formula to being fast. Something that helped
me while training for GT Academy was the online races, so you should join a
online racing league when you think you are ready. All i can say is practice
makes perfect.

Physical and mental preparation

In order to perform at your best level hour after hour in both Sim Racing and
real racing you need to be mentally and physically fit. On the simulator you are
not dealing with G-Forces but if you get the chance to drive a real race car you
will feel it and if your body can not sustain such acceleration and
deceleration you will lose your focus and eventually lose control of the car.
Current Sim Racing steering wheels have such strong force feedback that your
arms and shoulders can get sore and even your back as well. Recent
developments on the pedals have made them withstand great amounts of
pressure and if your muscles are not ready to do the job it will lead to
soreness. To cope with these situations you need to prepare your body and brain
to be tough and fast. If you do not do any physical activity already you should
think about starting. If you already play some sports Then you should focus on
training your brain specifically for racing. If you are not into sports but would

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Fabio Ramalhinho

like to take them up to improve your Sim and real racing performance then i can
mention a few things you could start doing. First though you need to know what
type of activity you like doing most. Running? Swimming? Triathlon? Once you
find your prefered activity you should start doing it on a regular basis.
remember , if you are new to any kind of physical exercise you must take it slow
with low intensity and volume workouts because you do not want to injure
yourself. These types of aerobic workouts will improve your cardiovascular
system, increase your oxygen levels and lowering your heart rate and blood
pressure. In other words your body will be much more efficient under stress. In
conjunction with aerobic exercises you should do some strength workouts as
well. I recommend doing exercises with your own body weight things like push
ups, crunches, planks, inverted rows, burpees, squats, prone back extensions,
and mountain climbers. It's ok if you already have joined a gym but pay
attention to the weights you are lifting because racing drivers are not seeking
hypertrophy. In order for you to improve your muscle resistance you need to
lower the weight to a point that you can endure a lot of repetitions per set.
Advice: keep yourself well hydrated before, during and after workouts because
it will help your muscles to recover between workouts and it will keep you
alert as i said on the previous topic. The mental preparation is one my
favourite topics. You are already training your brain aerobics and strength
training but here i will explain how you can train your brain separately. We
are living in the age of technology so you need to take advantage of all the

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Fabio Ramalhinho

gadgets at your disposal. You have a lot of different apps you can download into
your mobile phone that can help train your brain in different areas such as
calculation, visual memory, speech memorization and reaction. If you train your
brain like you train your body you will get massive improvements in processing
capacity and that will be translated into your driving. I also recommend
coordination and reaction exercises where you train both your brain and body to
be in perfect balance. A pro racing drivers favorite tool is the BATAK but
unfortunately most people can not afford one of these. One exercise i like to do
to train my reaction and coordination is to bounce a tennis ball off a wall at
close range with a table tennis racquet in each hand and not let the ball hit the
floor. Another exercise requires an assistant. This assistant stands behind you
both facing the wall and they throw a tennis ball towards the wall in different
directions and you have to try and catch it with one hand.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

2014 European GT
Academy finalist,
Nurburgring
specialist

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Philipp Schallenberg

Nurburgring
Because the nurburgring is a track of its own, it requires special attention when
getting to know it. If you want to master it, it requires months of track time,
including races and training sessions with different cars and weather
conditions., traffic, and prerequisites at the track. The most often races driven at
the nurburgring are driven as endurance races, so you should focus on your
psychology and traffic management instead of pure racing speed.

Nurburgring, Psychology
Try to broaden your view towards the end of the race and deal with pressure
from behind or an opportunity to overtake in a rational manner. Use a slower
person in front of you to save fuel and tyres, and always leave the option to
overtake at kesselchen or the dottinger hohe. The same applies to the other
case: if you are followed by a faster car, keep your racing line and drive your
pace, but let him through if they are too aggressive. Don't go to full speed in
the first laps and try to save up tyres and concentration for later moments in
your stint.

Nurburgring, Traffic management

Before joining a big endurance race you need to learn how to deal with traffic,
as only certain spots of the ring are made to overtake or let traffic through.

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Philipp Schallenberg

Nurburgring amateurs don't lose the time with their racing speed, but rather in
inefficient, nervous, and aggressive overtaking scenes. It is recommended to
drive races in a slower car and a faster car in order to comprehend and
anticipate other drivers behavior. During overtaking across different classes it is
important that the slower car stays on its line and only makes space where it is
not dangerous for the follower. Also the follower needs to set clear signs to
communicate not to overtake at a certain place. The driving and overtaking
aspect can not be copied from other tracks as it needs to be relearned.
Understanding the overtaking aspect can be enhanced by watching onboard film
from 24h races at the ring.

Nurburgring, General preparation

To get a first impression about the turns and breaking points I can recommend
you to watch onboard videos before joining the track, because the process of
driving a clean lap will be finished much faster. If you get into the process of
optimization, stay with one (slower) car and use trees, walls, signs and graffitis
as your reference points. You will rapidly learn that the track has a certain flow
and you can use your received knowledge in every car you are going to drive
there. Dont worry being more than 25 seconds off pace in your first 20 laps.

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Philipp Schallenberg

Nurburgring, top 6 crash spots

Get yourself a map of the ring and learn which turns require special attention!

Schwedenkreuz
This quick left hand corner contains a bump in the apex of the corner. I can
recommend you to never hit this corner in full speed and it is helpful to stabilize
the car with a quick step on the throttle after the bump. Typical accidents result
by understeering due to overspeeding or by inappropriate overtaking.

Ex-Mhle
This right hand corner is characterised by an outer curb which quickly
destabilizes the car and a bump before. Try to avoid hitting the curb, because
many drivers end up in the wall due to spinning.

Hohe Acht
Before arriving at the highest point of the circuit, you need to pass a quick
left-right chicane. Before this chicane you will pass a green carpet lying on the
right. If you it this carpet on this left-curved straight, the slippery state of the
carpet will pull your car into the wall.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Philipp Schallenberg

Pflanzgarten II
Also known as the second jump, this section is characterised by a destabilizing
left-hand curb and a compression following thereafter. Simple overshooting,
hitting the curb or not having a stable setup to handle the compression will
always cause a touch with the wall on the right-hand side.

Schwalbenschwanz
This long right-hand corner is a famous overtaking spot in multi class-races. It is
hugely important to indicate early that you are going to overtake at the right, so
also try to carry much speed through the Stefan-Bellof-S. Overshooting and
inappropriate braking points often result in understeering. A good braking point
is the curb on the left side before arriving in the corner.

Tiergarten
Never try to overtake a competitor after the compression, as the movement of
the track, the speed of the cars and inappropriate individual view never
guarantee a safe and fair overtaking manoeuvre.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

3 years as a
professional
formula/spec pilot
and one
of Brazil's fastest
Sim Racers

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Thiago Careca

Practice until you feel good with the car/track

combo

To get the training I need to define the main points of the combo. The amount
of downforce that i will use, if the proposal of the track has too much or too
little grip etc. Having done that I try to understand the definition of each turn. I
try to understand the best way to hit each apex of each turn. As I like to say, I try
to " bite the apex " as much as possible. The next step is to repeat the maximum
laps as I can in the most relaxed way possible so that I can get used to my
muscle memory (developing a more enhanced one).

Make your own setup

I believe it is mandatory that all pilots understand the "science" of the sport.
Even pilots who do not have prior knowledge about the aero / mechanical
behaviors begin to understand those concepts over time. The virtual racing
allows you to develop a car very easily.

Let it roll

" Let the car roll ." This is a phrase that more experienced pilots constantly

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Thiago Careca

repeat for the younger ones. It is not a completely clear concept to understand.
But the concept revolves around the maximum amount of inertia that your
weight can carry over a certain quotient of friction (grip). To find out what that
is the grip limit at every turn I need to repeat it several times . Just muscle
memory can teach me the fastest way to make certain turn. Sometimes to let
the car roll, or, to let the car carry more speed while making a turn, means to
brake earlier. Sometimes Let the car roll means don't do anything. It is a
complicated concept for new pilots but it is without doubt the biggest difference
of a fast driver to an extremely fast driver.

Braking points

Some people like to determine points on the track as your braking points.
I do not like to do that. The only way I can reach the limit of a turn is if I
left my eye already at the apex of the turn. I need to look to the apex before
entering the turn. And in case of blind turn or being very close to someone in
front I try to anticipate my muscle memory. Funny how I can not adjust my
muscle memory. Since I established it I can not change it anymore.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Thiago Careca

Only one car

There are people who like racing because of the sound , the smell , energy etc.
But other people are passionate about the sport. For what the sport provides.
The dispute. It is not a cooperative sport. So it takes dedication if you are
happier being competitive. Training in different cars end up confusing your
muscle memory. Some drivers can easily have good performances in different
cars within a short time period. But they probably do not have the best possible
performance that they could have.

Racing thoughts

After making sure all of my performance I go to a race. This usually happens

after about two or three days of training. During qualifying I try to do something
better than I did during training. I try to extrapolate my limits. I was taught that
the position at the beginning of the race is about 80 % of the race. At the
beginning of the race my focus is on trying to get rid of confusion. The next step
is try to nail my pace.

Configure your simulator

Try to find the best configuration to your PC / VGA / Wheel / Ingame configs.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Thiago Careca

Find your optimal braking configs

Not only bias, but your force factor as well. Try to fully understand the concept
of it.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Youngest NPAS pole

winner (14)
Youngest NPAS race
winner (15)
Finished 2nd in the
2012 NPAS points'
standings
Finished 4th in the
2013 NPAS points'
standings
Won the 2014 NPAS
championship
6-time race winner
in the NPAS

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Michael G. Conti

Dont Become a Jack-of-All-Trades, Do

Become a Master-of-One

Throughout my six years of competitive racing on the iRacing service, Ive seen
far too many aspiring sim-racing greats get lured into a trap-a trap that hinders
sim racers progress far and wide. Because of iRacings tiered license system,
racers seem to find it necessary to run every imaginable series during their time
in each respective class. While many feel that this broadens ones racing
knowledge, it does just the opposite. Think of it this way-in real life racing, an
up-and-coming driver usually runs one series at a time. On the oval side of
things, most modern day racers begin with Legend Cars, then move to Late
Models, which are then immediately preceded by K&N stock cars. This
one-vehicle tiered structure allows young racers to focus on one vehicle at a
time, while mastering each vehicle along the way before moving up to the
next. Well, at least thats how its supposed to go, but recently, weve seen
corporate dollars drive racers up the ladder, when sometimes they were
not quite ready to take that next step. Their results reflect that. However, I
digress. With iRacings wide array of cars, many of which are placed at the same
level as others, many racers run more than one car at a time, on a constant
basis. For example, someone who has just earned their C class license has the

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Michael G. Conti

option to run, speaking solely about the oval portion of the service, NASCAR
Camping World Trucks, Street Stocks, and Silver Crown cars. These three
vehicles, while all fun in their own right, are on three different ends of the
vehicle dynamics spectrum (Trucks, heavy, high horsepower; Street Socks,
heavy, low horsepower; Silver Crown cars, light, incredible power-to-weight
ratio). When racers devote their time to all of these vehicles while they race in
iRacings C class series, they are only allowing 1/3 of the amount of time
necessary to master each individual vehicle. This leads to frustration due to
lack of results, which more often than not, then spirals into dissatisfaction
with the service in general. Now, personally, I hate preaching to the choir, so to
speak. I think that everyone has their own way of learning, albeit mechanical,
situational, or instructional. With that said, there is only one best way to
progress up the iRacing ladder and make it into either the NASCAR PEAK
Antifreeze Series or the iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series-stick to
one and only one vehicle at a time, while keeping in mind that the big picture is
to either drive a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car or a Honda F1 vehicle.
Disclaimer: if you are reading this and have no aspirations to make it to the top
tier series of iRacing at some point in your sim racing career, then the following
might not pertain to you! As a NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series competitor,
six-time winner and 2014 series champion, Id like to share my path to the top:

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Michael G. Conti

Legend Cars: one season

Late Models: one season
NASCAR Trucks: three seasons
NASCAR Xfinity Cars: one season
NASCAR Sprint Cup Cars:
ongoing since 2011!

As you can see, I devoted at least one season to each individual vehicle, whilst
only racing one vehicle competitively at a time. Now, that isnt to say that I
didnt dabble in other vehicles along the way, but when I was focused on
mastering each vehicle, I did my best to only drive that vehicle. What might
stand out the most about my sim racing career path is my time spent racing
Trucks, which was three times that of any other series. Why, you may ask?
Because with the Trucks, I truly believed that, as the intro series into the
NASCAR Big 3, I needed to devote my greatest amount of time to learning
NASCAR race craft and vehicle dynamics in that series before moving up into
Xfinity or Cup Cars. I cannot stress how important it was that I spent so much
time in the Class C truck series. Without that added time, I would not
have gotten to where I am today. With all of that said, my biggest advice to you,

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Michael G. Conti

the aspiring sim racer, is to first and foremost always have fun! If you find that
iRacing is becoming more a job to you than a hobby that you thoroughly enjoy,
take some time off-itll only make you better when you return to the sim.
To reiterate, there are many ways to progress up the iRacing ladder, being that
there are many disciplines that one can race in. However, knowing the oval
portion of the service so well, the path that is laid out above is the best path to
make it to the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series. Spending an adequate amount
of time in each vehicle along the way, while learning the dynamics behind the
vehicles, i.e. experimenting with different setup parameters, will put you miles
ahead of the racer that becomes a jack of all cars, and a master of none. Do not
fall into the trap that thousands of sim racers have fallen into before you. Their
experience, coupled with mine, is why taking the lessons learned from this book
and following the advice given by the folks who have contributed to this
guide will give you an advantage over your sim racing competition. Good luck
and we will see you on the track!

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Racing for
Pure Racing team
in iRacing,
2013 German
GT Academy
finalist

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe

Getting started with a track

When you are just learning a new track open an offline server and get used to
the track. You do not want to be a threat to others as you do not know all of the
braking and acceleration points yet. When you find your marks on the track
keep lapping until you start setting consistent lap times. You should start this
process with full fuel and then as the fuel burns off you can lap faster and faster
and find your limits. When you are setting consistent laps you can start
playing with your gearing. Sometimes a higher gear can be faster than a lower
gear around corners because you are rolling faster since the engine braking is
not slowing you down. But be aware when you are going around a corner in a
higher gear you need to brake earlier for that corner.

Consistency and setup

My recommendations for setup is start with the base setup and when you start
lapping consistently start with the setup of the car. Consistency is the most
important thing you need to have before making any changes. When you can run
10-15 laps within a time of 0,5-0,7 seconds ( depending on the track ie
nordschleife about 1- 2 seconds ) you can start with the setup. If you start this
before being consistent then you will never know if you're Just improving your
driving or if the setup is working. You can find many guides on the internet that

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe

show you how to setup a car. So have a look around and find one. Making a
setup of a car presupposes some knowledge of vehicle dynamics but again you
can find this information in the many setup guides. When you have a better
knowledge of how a vehicle behaves you will know what to do when the car
understeers during acceleration or oversteers during braking. Some cars have
many options and you can change many things and get a similar result. Don't
change loads of things at the same time just change one thing go out and test it
then you will know if that change has worked. As soon as you have found your
setup go on track with other people and see how the setup works in
slipstreams. Then if needed you can make more changes to your setup for when
you are racing with other cars.

Sprint racing

For a sprint race it is very important to make a good qualifying setup. This setup
is different to your full fuel setup since the car is much lighter without fuel.
Depending on where the fuel tank is the car can be very understeering or
oversteering. Since you are consistent now you should try and find the limits in
a couple of laps. In qualifying you should make a slow outlap and heat the tires
up to the right temperature before the final corner of the out lap before
you go onto your timed lap. But do not push to hard as you can overheat
the tires to much. To get heat in the tires on the out lap wave your car from

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe

side to side. Then push the last corner to the limit on to your flying timed lap.
A sprint race is usually between 20 minute to an hour. If you have a pitstop
during the race make sure you know where the pit entrance is exactly so you do
not leave any time on the table during a pitstop. When racing you have to
fully concentrated because everybody is pushing to the limits during the race.
During a race because you're racing with other cars you can not always be on
the ideal racing line. When you are coming up to a corner you might be side
by side with another car so you should take the outside line or the inside line.
Your braking point will differ depending on your line.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe

Endurance racing

An endurance race is typically between 3-24 hours long. Usually you have driver
changes during such a race, this is because your concentration usually dips after
a stint. The mental preparation for such a race is very important. Sometimes you
should let people past you and follow in their slipstream to help you save fuel
during your stint. This will enable you to have a shorter pit stop because you
need less time in the pits to fuel up. Or even make less pit stops during the race.
You can also improve your fuel saving by short shifting and lift and coasting.
Short shifting: exiting a corner and changing up a gear earlier than normal, this
way you do not take the full rake of the engine power saving you fuel. ( Be
aware some sims do not calculate this correctly). Lift and coast: after a
straight you lift off the accelerator 50-150 meters earlier than normal, doing
this also enables you to brake later and still have the speed on corner entry. In
an endurance race you might be racing with different classes of car so you need
to learn how to overtake slower cars and to keep an eye on your mirror and let
faster cars pass. It is very helpful if you have spotters for such races. With
different classes you should learn how to find your way through traffic without
loosing too much time. For example if you reach a slower car on track you can
brake earlier for the next corner and drive instead of the ideal line ( outside -
inside - outside ). A different line ( inside-inside-inside ). Or brake later and
choose ( outside-outside-inside ). There are many ways to make such an
overtake you should practise this with some friends to find the fastest way to
pass. If you are the one who is about to get overtaken, you can show the car
behind that you intend to let him pass. For example on a straight by Leaving
the ideal line and tapping your brakes so they see your brake lights this will tell

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe

them that you are letting them past. If a faster car is trying to pass you when
you are in a corner keep on the ideal line so they can pass on the outside. If you
leave the ideal line then they might crash into the back of you or have to brake
very hard. This will irritate some drivers. I have added some pictures explaining
different lines for overtaking on the following pages.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe
Overtaking examples

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe
Overtaking examples

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe
Overtaking examples

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Florian Woithe
Overtaking examples

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Mazda factory
driver and iRacing
mazda world
champion

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Glenn McGee

Mental edge

I have always tried to maximise the iracing simulator as not only a learning tool,
but as a way to strengthen my mental toughness. Racing is probably the most
mental dependant sport in the world. One you have reached a certain level in
your driving, you should be focusing on developing the proper mental strength
and responses; the main goals are to program your mind to be calm in all
situations; so that you can execute at 100% of your ability whilst also taking
on any pressure, weather it is someone attacking from behind on the last lap to
win a world championship, or trying to put together a flyer without throwing it
off track. Another thing to help program your responses is that when you get in
a crash with other driver or something makes you angry ( in the sim or your
street car ) immediately!! Put it out of your head, forget it, try and have the
smallest and quickest response time possible. Your job is to focus on winning
races and performing at your best, and being angry is a distraction from this.
This will help program you to respond calmly in any scenario.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Competed in the
top ranks of GPL,
GTR2 and iRacing

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Christian Szymczak

Focus on execution

Take your focus away from the stopwatch. Calmly concentrate on correct
execution while ignoring your lap times. Good lap times will follow naturally
from correct technique.

High speed brake marker

For corners with heavy braking zones try to pick a brake marker that is on the
track surface itself. This will help you find a more accurate braking zone.

Brake release point

Most of the time gained on a road course will be in the braking zones and
corner entry. Braking at the right moment is important, but the brake release
point is equally important. Make sure your brake release point enables you to
roll maximum speed into the corner.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Racing for the

leading sim
racing team in
Poland, FEEDER
Sport Poland. GT
Academy Europe
2015 finalist

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Nikodem Wisniewski

Setups

First of all, the very first thing you need to do, and do it with best knowledge, is
setup. For me simracing is basically 50% setup, 30% practice, and only 20 %
skills. If you want be a pro driver, you need to learn how to do a perfect setup,
fitted for you. Of course, you can check setups from other drivers, but in that
way, you wouldnt do a big progress. After many hours in garage, try to do as
best lap as possible on that one concrete setup, and then, if you think you can
change something - change it and test it.

Reaching your limit

Somebody need to do 10 laps to achieve the same result, when you have to do
it twice more. But its normal thing, dont worry about it. For example, Im
reaching my limit ridiculously fast, but it doesnt mean that Im fastest in the
world. Truth is, that more practice means better times, better consistency,
better tire wear, everything. If you have enough, stop driving, and give a
rest. Another day can be a lot better for you.

Frustration

Frustration is one of the worst thing in sim racing, because you are asking

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Nikodem Wisniewski

yourself, how the hell somebody can be so much faster than you? Keep calm,
the best drivers are the best, because they practiced a lot, or figured out how to
set a car. If the series have aids on, try it. Maybe will be better, find what is the
best for you. Sim racing is really specific, almost everything depends on your
personality, individuality. Dont trust other drivers if something is better/faster.
Of course try it, but maybe completely opposite set is better for you?

Pure speed is not everything

The other thing is, that sim racing is not the pure pace. Its really more
complicated, especially when the new sims are made. Everything is so advanced,
from tyre wear, weather, grip level to immeasurable setups. So thats the same
thing as in real racing. Fastest drivers are not the best sometimes, much
depends on your team, your strategy, your knowledge about opponents.

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

2012 European GT
Academy runner up

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Des Foley

Take regular breaks

Practice regularly for appropriate amounts of time when you are getting up to
speed with a new car or track. Three 20 minute sessions with a ten minute break
between each session would be more beneficial than staying at it for 1 hour
straight. We are all guilty of this as it can become addictive chasing that one lap
but rarely are we rewarded. Giving your body and mind a chance to process
everything will do wonders for you. Sure there are times when you need to
play for an hour or two straight say if you are competing in an endurance event
you will need to practice stints that are quite long so you know your
concentration can hold up, but for initial learning stages take it one step at a
time.

Commit to one car

Sticking with a particular car rather than jumping between loads of different
models will help you as well. If you want to excel on a series like iracing you
can not compete with the best in your class if you keep driving different cars
and changing your style. Get into the mindset of committing to a car and
mastering it. Driving something with high downforce requires a completely
different style to that of a classic open wheeler that is over powered at the
rear. So until you know a car inside out i would advise against racing in multiple

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[email protected] 23 Oct 2016

Des Foley

series at once. That is of course if you are taking it very seriously and setting
definitive goals. If you are casual and just doing it for fun then playing around
with different cars is fine.

Learning a new car and track

When learning a new car and track combo for the first time start with a race
setup and high fuel. The first goal should be completing laps without incidents
and being consistent. It doesn't matter if you are 2 - 10 seconds off the ultimate
pace initially, being able to string the laps together without constantly making
mistakes will ultimately lead to big improvements in a short space of time.
Going out with a loose qualifying set up, chasing an amazing lap straightaway
will usually end in tears and is not the best way to learn. After doing a few
stints consistently then empty the tank and have a go at a flying lap or two.

Seat time
In the end seat time is what makes you faster. If you play for ten hours a week
you will have most definitely learned more than someone with the same skill
level who played for two hours. But most importantly as i've mentioned it is how
you use your time behind the wheel that is key. Staring at a screen for 2 hours
without a break constantly crashing is not going to help you improve as
you would by setting time limits and goals and sticking to them.

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iRacing World
Championship
Grand Prix Series
competitor

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Jorge Montanes

Aggressiveness level

Race with the correct amount of aggressiveness. In a long endurance race you
should be more cautious with the other cars and with the track limits than in
sprint races. A lot of things can happen if there is more than one hour to go.

Be patient in multi class racing (as faster class

car)

If you are in the faster class car, you may need to pass a slower car in the
braking point of a corner. But if you need to dive bomb on him losing your
braking point to manage the overtake, better not to do it. You will lose more
time in the corner than you'd lose behind him and a big accident can happen
too. Passing a slower class car side by side in a corner could also be slower than
waiting for the next straight. You have to evaluate the speed difference and
then make the correct choice.

Racing as slower class car, in multiclass racing

Keep the normal driving line when a faster car is approaching to you. You must
be predictable in any moment for them, and avoid confusion. You can lift in the
straight if you know he is going to pass you in the braking point, and this way

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Jorge Montanes

you don't have to do the corner side by side, so you'll earn some time by
lifting as you can use all the soon and the rest of the field didn't stop still. In
this case it is better to save tyres and stay out until most of the cars go pit.

Studying the car ahead

When we are behind another car we can be faster than it. In this case, try to see
in which part of the circuit you are faster than that car and try to overtake there.
If you are slower than the car ahead, you should try to learn from his driving line
and braking points, in order to be faster.

Tactic slow down

Sometimes it is impossible to overtake the car ahead of us. Driving very close to
it's rear end will let us try to pass it if that driver commits a minimal mistake. On
the other hand, that close driving action will overheat our tyres and engine. I
recommend to slow down a bit, and drop to around one second behind and take
some fresh air. Then we can try it again with fresher tyres and recovering the
gap quickly. That will create a negative feeling in your rival as he will see how
fast you are, so he may make more mistakes.

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2015 European GT
Academy finalist

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Jimbo Garner

Time trialing

Having come from an on-track background, being a regular track day goer and
experienced karter, I assumed when starting online time trials, I would be fast
straight away due to my real-life experience. This was not the case. First things
first, get yourself a sim racing wheel. Very few top level time trial drivers use a
controller. The finesse and smoothness of a wheel and pedal set is invaluable In
not just setting fast lap times, but enjoying your sim racing experience. Being a
top level time trial driver takes practice. In order to qualify for Gt Academy
2015, I drove online time trials for 2 hours per day, 5 6 days per week, for 11
months. I focused on one time trial for 2 weeks at a time, before moving on.
Generally, I would improve around 2 tenths per day during the first few days,
and 1 tenth per day for the next few days towards the end of the 2 week period,
some days I wouldnt improve at all. Staying mentally relaxed is essential for
grinding time trials. Its very easy to get frustrated! in order to be truly alien fast
in time trials, you need to learn how the game physics work, and then exploit
them. The techniques you will have to use to climb the world leader boards may
not necessarily be techniques you could get away with in real life. Whatever
works and makes you faster in the game, everyone else will do, so you must
learn to also. Some drivers will even tap the Handbrake (Or E Brake depending
on your region) to gain an advantage. This is generally frowned upon amongst
the best time trial drivers, but may be the difference between qualifying for a
competition like GT Academy, or missing out. Time trialing is not like online
racing. Many many restarts are required to achieve your ultimate lap time.
Consistency is not essential, but does help you to maintain a rhythm of fast lap

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Jimbo Garner

times when building up to an ultimate flying lap attempt. Brake markers are
more important than ever in time trials, because if you are to set a lap time near
the top of the leaderboards, the lap has to be absolutely inch perfect. After
many hours of grinding one time trial combination, you will know exactly how
to execute the fastest lap. Putting that lap together is very difficult. You will
crash, you will ruin hundreds of perfect laps (That you cannot repeat), and you
will not always fulfil your potential fastest lap time. Just remember, every lap is
a little bit more experience needed to make you a faster sim racer.

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Contacts and social media

Facebook Email

YouTube Blog

Twitter Google +

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Donating to the Sim Racers

If you have received advice from a particular sim racer that has made a
difference to your sim racing performance please think about donating a little
something to them (or their charity) as a thank you but also to motivate the sim
racer to continue to provide you with valuable advice. If the sim racers receive a
donation from time to time this will help with the continuity of the guide and
the quality of the information. It will help to create a more competitive nature
to the guide with each sim racer wanting to bring you more valuable
information on a more frequent basis and also help to ensure the highest calibre
of sim racer features in this guide. But above all else it repays the sim racers for
their time and knowledge that they have given for this guide.

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Personal note from the

Author

I would like to say a big thank you to you for downloading and reading this
guide, i hope you have taken a lot from it that you can use to improve your sim
racing skills. I will be working hard along with the sim racers that feature in this
guide to improve it as much as possible and bring you as much quality advice as
we can. If you have donated to the sim racers then i would like to say a big
thank you because without them this guide would not be possible. If you have
not donated but you still value this guide then you can still help us out by
sharing this download link Virtual Race Driver Guide where and whenever you
see fit as this will really help us be able to continue developing this free guide.
Please also join our Virtual Race Driver facebook group and leave us a positive
comment as this will go a long way also. You can also share any views or ideas
you may have about improving this guide if you would like. Thank you again and
look out for the next update. Kindest regards Chris Newman.

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