13 replies to this topic

[Rumblestrip]

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos recently trying to understand how to improve my sim racing, but wondered if there were any good books which might offer some good advice or maybe point out any obvious deficiencies in my technique.

 

I've been looking at buying one of these...

 

Professional Race Driving Techniques (Speed Secrets)

https://www.amazon.c...duct/0760305188

 

Going Faster: Mastering the Art of Race Driving

https://www.amazon.c...duct/0837602262

 

(I guess one key assumption I'm making is that "real" racing books are applicable to sim racing)

 

 

Does anyone have any recommendations?

[A3]

I haven't read any books on simracing, but I did watch a lot of videos. And in the end I gave up because I felt limited by my hardware. Looking back, it was probably talent and time as well. Started out sim racing about 21 years ago and was pretty good back then. But sim racing and it's hardware evolved and I got older. I doubt books would make me faster. I'm convinced though that real racing books apply to sim racing as well.

[Peat]

I have Michael Krumm's book is pretty good. (I would attach a link, but it's currently available on amazon at £320!!! -  What an investment!)

In particular, I found the braking techniques described transferred to iRacing really well. I can PM you a few images if there is something in particular you want to see. 

Over xmas, I signed up to VRS (Virtual Racing School) for a month to try and see where i was losing time at Daytona (Road Course). It's quite a good service, you can take the setup/conditions of the 'mentor'/team-mates and do a load of laps then overlay your telemetry with theirs and spot the difference in line and throttle/brake traces. That's for iRacing specifically. 



 

Edited by Peat, 11 January 2022 - 08:40.

[mmmcurry]

I think I once used a Stephen King book to pad out the clamp for my old wheel, maybe 20 years ago, not really what you're after though.

 

Steve.

[balage06]

If you are interested and want a more practical approach,

Coach Dave Academy offers coaching services and Williams eSports driver Jack Keithley does as well.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Going Faster and Drive to Win(Carroll Smith I think?) are both really good books that will expand your understanding of racing and being a racing driver in general, on top of being driving manuals.

 

They're a little 'old' in that they reference stuff from the 80s and 90s, particularly American road racing but in a way it's like being 'classically trained' and once you have the fundamentals you can apply it to anything. Going Faster is basically the manual of the Skip Barber Racing school, if you read the whole thing you've basically done a multi-day driving course. And if I remember it was fairly detailed, like it goes into the numbers of how a thing works at some point(I think brake pressure) but not in a really academic way.

 

Going Faster is aimed at the amateur, Drive to Win at the budding professional(it has stuff in it you'd never ever encounter in a sim and things you'd really only have to worry about if you were racing professionally). 

Edited by Ross Stonefeld, 11 January 2022 - 13:10.

[Alfisti]

Ghosting is a wonderful thing. On GT Sport, if i ghost the top 10 laps vs myself, they gap me with apex speed. I can brake at the same points, i can get the same exit (on fresh tyres anyways) but they carry more speed through the middle of the corner and still rotate the car and keep it balance, i will understeer off if i try to go faster. 

[Ross Stonefeld]

Yeah big fan of ghosting. That and a good live lap gain/loss like iRacing has really show you how you're losing time not just where. You charge into a corner and see how you gain a little on entry but then lose a ton by corner exit. Or how much a small tweak ups your momentum. Something you think is minor has a big and more importantly immediate impact on your laptime and being able to see that live and visually is a huge tool.

[Alfisti]

Some of it is really feathering the throttle, especially with turbo charged cars. Some guys are clearly (looking at the guages) braking but also keeping revs high enough so the turbo never loses spool. This helps immensely with exit, i will bog down and they are shot out of a cannon. It's subtle but it is there. Best example of this is the second right hander at the Red bull Ring, the uphill one. Lose boost and it's really hard not to light them up on exit even with TC engaged. 

Edited by Alfisti, 11 January 2022 - 16:47.

[MikeTekRacing]

From reading probably Speed Secrets was the best

A lot of videos and online stuff are really good - drivers like Jarno Opmeer or Marcel Kiefer from f1esports. Besides them, TRL Limitless has a ton of useful footage and I have learned a lot from him, Driver61 also explains a lot of things.

 

I run out of talent quickly, though. There is a lot of skill to do what some of them do, if you look at someone like Opmeer and his car control - he looks alien 

Edited by MikeTekRacing, 11 January 2022 - 18:31.

[Myrvold]

Over xmas, I signed up to VRS (Virtual Racing School) for a month to try and see where i was losing time at Daytona (Road Course). It's quite a good service, you can take the setup/conditions of the 'mentor'/team-mates and do a load of laps then overlay your telemetry with theirs and spot the difference in line and throttle/brake traces. That's for iRacing specifically. 

Coach Dave Academy offers coaching services and Williams eSports driver Jack Keithley does as well.

 

This is so weird to read. One at VRS is a good friend from childhood, while I've raced a lot with Jack over many years. Oh what could've been ;P

 

One tip I got when karting as a kid, that I've followed ever since is: If you fight the car, then you are losing time.

[mahelgel]

I read "Speed Secrets" ages ago, and i thought it was a pretty good book, but i read it with general driving in mind and not simracing but most of the tips should transfer pretty good to simracing. But i guess Virtual Racing School would be a more effective way of becomming a better simracer (or at least in iracing). 

[Rumblestrip]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Lots of good stuff there. 

 

I'm on a PS4 Pro at the moment but looking to move to a PC, which a lot of the school/academy imply you need to be able to see telemetry. I've played a bit of iRacing before and it appears that's the sim of choice for a more authentic experience so hopefully the books will apply well to that.

 

In the meantime I'll pick up Speed Secrets (used copy for a fiver) and see what it can offer.

Edited by Rumblestrip, 15 January 2022 - 12:36.

[ThrottleBlib]

"Four-Wheel Drift" was included (??) with GPL or it was recommended on the Forums at the time.. (Long time ago, can't remember).

 

https://www.amazon.c...r/dp/B001MCFD2A