Extra step of speed

What I'm gonna be talking about has happened several times to me during my F1 racing games but recently I was playing a non F1 racing game and it happened exactly the same so I thought it might be interesting to share it with you gamers.

 

The thing is, I always choose inferior cars to drive no matter which racing game I play because for me it feels better to overdrive a car and be able to match front runners and mix it up with faster cars. More often than not the pace is as fast or faster than the midfield and usually not enough to match front runners

 

But

 

Sometimes I would say there is an extra step that I seamlessly take while racing simulators (without being aware) which I reckon is completely different than usual. To describe it more efficiently, with that extra step I easily pull clear of the midfield and I become able to surpass front runners and it feels like getting extra dimensions of concentration that normally you don't have it while driving racing simulators.

 

Has this happened to you so far while playing racing simulators? or Am I the chosen one? 

A Senna Monaco '88 moment!! 

 

Yeah, there have been times where I've amazed myself with a laptime from nowhere or willing my way to the front. Most recently was playing Project CARS 2 at both Elkhart Lake and Watkins Glen, where I did a Schumacher and just nailed five quali laps one after the other mid race to vault up into the lead around the pitstops. I remember being quite pleased with myself. 

 

I suppose it's like anything really, whether you're in the middle of the 1998 Hungarian GP in real life, trying to nail the apexes on your local kart track or sitting on your sofa at home. Sometimes you manage to unlock a slightly better, more focused you, for a little while. 

A Senna Monaco '88 moment!! 

 

Yeah, there have been times where I've amazed myself with a laptime from nowhere or willing my way to the front. Most recently was playing Project CARS 2 at both Elkhart Lake and Watkins Glen, where I did a Schumacher and just nailed five quali laps one after the other mid race to vault up into the lead around the pitstops. I remember being quite pleased with myself. 

 

I suppose it's like anything really, whether you're in the middle of the 1998 Hungarian GP in real life, trying to nail the apexes on your local kart track or sitting on your sofa at home. Sometimes you manage to unlock a slightly better, more focused you, for a little while. 

That Exactly 

The Zone!

I think rally games are especially good for getting in ‘the zone’ as there’s so much to think about. When you get to the point where you’re flowing from corner to corner, pushing right on the limit, it feels amazing.

And “rewind” options are the absolute sworn enemy of it.

Oddly, when I used to race for real (for several years up to a decent enough level), I never once really felt “in the zone”. I don’t recall it anyway. Always thinking, thinking, thinking. Initially thinking about apexes, braking points, gears and so on, then after a lap or so thinking “f**king hell why are they getting away from me, I’m so crap” and beating myself up. Maybe that’s why I didn’t get so far.

Edited by messy, 03 January 2020 - 12:10.

Interesting. I also always choose the lesser car in any game or any mod. It just does not feel right to step directly into the Mercedes or the Williams FW14... except when I put a superstar in the other car where I can play kind of second fiddle too...but not really.

 

In other words: in racing games I like to be the underdog. And if I outlived that role, I usually change of game or mod. In GP4 I was either Damon Hill to Aerton Senna (94 mod) or in the original game I raced the Arrows... 

 

Regarding zoning: I've had that when I was just too fast for the AI or the other online players... Or, more frequently, way too slow. Which gives you a kind of calm also. You can just enjoy getting into the rhythm of driving. For the rest in sim racing I have the experience of messy: thinking, thinking, thinking...  Messy, messy, messy, in other words. 

Edited by Nemo1965, 11 February 2021 - 11:41.

I do the endurance stuff in iRacing. Best thing i've learned over the years is fuel saving. 

If you're finding that your driving really scrappily/over driving, practice fuel saving. Lift & coast etc. It just slows everything down, the process of entering a corner. You suddenly get to feel what the car is doing, what it wants to do without the noise of your normal inputs. I've often found I can go as fast/if not faster relatively quickly. Then, you can transfer that feeling back into the 'push' laps and go even faster again. 

I do the endurance stuff in iRacing. Best thing i've learned over the years is fuel saving. 

If you're finding that your driving really scrappily/over driving, practice fuel saving. Lift & coast etc. It just slows everything down, the process of entering a corner. You suddenly get to feel what the car is doing, what it wants to do without the noise of your normal inputs. I've often found I can go as fast/if not faster relatively quickly. Then, you can transfer that feeling back into the 'push' laps and go even faster again. 

 

Look at Max Verstappen driving... the first couple of months of his F1-career I was just watching him with my jaw on my chest... like Schumacher seemed to re-invent driving by taking masses of speed into the corner, Verstappen is a master of slowing down the car exactly the right amount and often WAY before you expect. Look at him at the hairpin in Shanghai, when he was still in the Toro Rosso. He seemed to brake earlier than others, but still glided past his opponents, almost, seemingly coasting to the apex... He has said himself in interviews than he also trail-brakes but it is sooo subtle... 

 

PS: I realised just after posting, I only GET this kind of driving after a year of thinking about it consciously and subconsciously. Forummember ardbeg once debated against excessive trail-braking. That was six years ago... and what he described how one SHOULD do it, matches Verstappen's style perfectly, IMHO. 

 

You do actually want to upset the car, you want a weight transition but you want one that works for your advantage. So you turn in with a wry smile on your face and with that you throw plenty of load on your outer front tyre. You give the tire that is most important for your turn an extra dose of grip just at turn in. Now, that extra grip allows you to have more speed all the way into the apex and since you are faster there, you will accelerate out quickly.

Edited by Nemo1965, 15 February 2021 - 09:02.

Yes, it has, that's partly the reason why I like racing games so much. It takes a while to get in the groove, but once you're in, it's those incremental improvements that elevate your driving to the next level. Feels damn good. That's also why I've been addicted to racing games for over 25 years. 

 

But for me, it usually happens when there is a car ahead of me to benchmark against. Going through that phase in F1 2020 currently! In an Alfa 2020, just beat Leclerc by 2 seconds to a thoroughly satisfying first podium at Silverstone. My lines were so perfect I didn't even know I was capable of driving so well in a racing game. 

Edited by BRK, 15 February 2021 - 10:37.