Hey,

I started thinking about my training for league and I started to ask myself if the way I train can be improved. I know that the pure amount of laps is an important factor - the more you know the combo the better you can handle the car and the more consistent you can drive.

But how do the faster guys train (not necessarily just in LFS, iRacers and so on are also welcome)? Is there a certain pattern you are using? A plan you are following?

I'm looking foreward to read your experiences!

>drive some alps to find out the racing line
>drive some laps to change the setup and maybe the driving line a little bit
>start trying to improve yout time by doing lots of laps

My Ceremony to train for leagues:

1.) Drive some laps on the combo
2.) Note Speed and Gears for corners
3.) Watch WR Replays and compare this with your driving style
4.) Try, try, try
5.) Hopefully drive good times

Quote from SiL3nT :

My Ceremony to train for leagues:

1.) Drive some laps on the combo
2.) Note Speed and Gears for corners
3.) Watch WR Replays and compare this with your driving style
4.) Try, try, try
5.) Hopefully drive good times

This with #3 first.

1) hotlap
2) hotlap
3) try to finish 1 stint before race
4) ???
5) profit

Hey Falke.

I wouldn't focus too much on hotlapping. In my previous experience, I drove about...200 hotlaps on BL1R+XRR and I managed to pull of a rather good time (+0.280 within WR) and I was happy about it, but my race pace was still..still far beyond from what I actually expected. With hotlapping you don't really teach yourself how to become consistent. Also, it was the GT1 challenge race where I managed to pre-qualify in top 3, but only finished 7th in the race just because I didn't pay too much attention to my consistency and my race pace was rather bad.

I think you should try to find your own ''secret formula''. I think that more or less some drivers have different ways how they approach racing with their driving style! I personally am that one kind who will drive too aggressive and burn his tires down in less than one lap.. BUT, I don't recommend to be aggressive when you drive - the key to speed more or less is being completely opposite to driving aggressive and that's being very smooth with your driving.

Also, I would like to mention that your skill can't be improved straight away - you have to work with yourself to become better! When I had the motivation to hotlap, I always excluded the thought of comparing myself to others...just forget about how other racers perform and focus on your own goals. Forget about other drives around you and just focus on your own race! As soon as you get in that mindset, you will notice that you are getting better. And also, when you are practicing, shut your brain off - literally! Just don't think about how you drive and let your senses do the job.
(From my personal experience, shutting your brain off can help a lot when hotlapping or doing a race. I have only managed to shut my brain off a few times and that was when I also had people speaking in background (TeamSpeak 3), yet doing a really fast PB didn't seem to be a problem.)

My personal suggestions that have helped me become faster on some certain combos and certain cars.

• DON'T overdo it! If it seems like you can't take that one turn without sliding or damaging your vehicle / tires, you are going too fast. Take a few steps back and do it slower till it feels comfortable to execute the turn itself.
  
  
• Always try to apply the (more or less) perfect racing line. It's important that you use the whole track to gain as much time and speed throughout every single turn...and again, DON'T overdo it! You clearly don't want to crash as it could make you feel frustrated.
  
  
• Don't stick to one car for a really long time. I would suggest to (from time to time) try some...rather fast vehicles! For example, BF1 or FO8. I used to drive these things to improve my sense for speed and eventually, after driving those things for a longer time, other cars felt a lot slower to drive and it will feel more natural going faster without feeling insecure or feeling like you are about to hit a tree.. :P
  
  
• Experiment with the setups you drive. Sometimes it can be the setup that holds you back. The way your setup can hold you back is the way that the setup allows you to drive. Some setups can help the car be very agile or lumpy (slight oversteer / understeer). That's why I would also suggest to try drive WR setups as some of them can be very hard to master, but obviously, there's a reason for it as that driver might have a different driving style / preference for setups.
  
  
• Have fun! Yes, it's that easy. Don't take racing too seriously and enjoy yourself, otherwise your progress will be slowed down. I guess you just have to have those things mentioned above in your subconsciousness and you will eventually get better, without having to think about them but more or less understanding them.
  

(disclaimer: not fast guy)

doing a lot of 20 lap races at fe2r/xfg trying to get under 30min total time raised my race pace a lot.

instead of focusing on slowing down (well yes, compared to hotlapping) it was instead a focus on pushing and pushing hard constantly over a half hour that led to more consistent lap times.

over a few weeks i went from thinking it was impossible to wondering how far under 30min that damn xfg would go

Personally I would over do it (although not when it can ruin the race for someone else obviously), but I find it important to know where the limits are, and know the consequences. This way you know that during the real races you won't ever out brake yourself when you try to out brake someone else, or if you get push into a worse position where the proper race line isn't possible you will be able to respond well to it or even put it to your advantage. Perhaps this is somewhat just personal preference though.
Otherwise just practice practice practice

(not fast)
Apart from usual driving laps: Watching others drive and chat about track can be helpful too.
Hotlapping does not seem to make me that much faster, so instead I try to get more experience by doing more races. That means when I have time to really practice I often still do not, and instead just join some different race: Any driving is practice I guess.
But I try to do at least one race distance, otherwise it does not feel comfortable. When there is a test-race (the day before or so) I also prefer to take part in that, rather than hotlapping.

Sometimes I try to "analyze" my driving a bit:
For example when I was unsure whether to drive RAC, LX6 or FZ5 on Kyoto, I made this:
http://abload.de/img/lx6fz5racky2speedzve5n.png
Or my driving line vs a faster lap: http://abload.de/img/gh_vswrh9dqv.png
Or side-by-side video with faster driver:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg3RjMhIAtk&list=UU1VVPoy57cgiw9cxIcfgG3g
(do not mind messed up sound, it was just video for myself)
There is also the hotlap analyzer on lfsworld, but it does not work for online laps.
So can not use it so often. (For "LFS Grand Prix" I looked at it a bit, because uploading a hotlap was required anyway)
Through that I discovered some interessting things, but overall it is more for fun.

Oh, and always test the pitlane!

Quote from CarlLefrancois :

(disclaimer: not fast guy)

doing a lot of 20 lap races at fe2r/xfg trying to get under 30min total time raised my race pace a lot.

Hm good idea. Going for good average times seems much better than aiming for new PBs. On LFSworld there is laptimes graph too, could be too to check steadiness etc.

Seems to me that most of the fast guys focus on hotlaps rather than race/stint simulations. I'm not entirely sure why, maybe it just gives them a better for the ultimate limit. On the surface it seems to be a counter-intuitive approach considering that qualifying is not so important on LFS comparing to other sims or reality(overtaking is not that hard or risky because of huge straights, big slipstreaming effect, forgiving damage model, etc), but hey, it works for them.

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

Seems to me that most of the fast guys focus on hotlaps rather than race/stint simulations. I'm not entirely sure why, maybe it just gives them a better for the ultimate limit. On the surface it seems to be a counter-intuitive approach considering that qualifying is not so important on LFS comparing to other sims or reality(overtaking is not that hard or risky because of huge straights, big slipstreaming effect, forgiving damage model, etc), but hey, it works for them.

I want to find my limits with hotlapping and it helps when driving end of the stint. I like to learn breaking points and lines with hotlapping and then just adjust them for race stint. It also works other way. If you can't find speed when hotlapping, it might be good idea to do one stint and learn the combo that way.

Quote from ImudilaSkyline :

1) hotlap
2) hotlap
3) try to finish 1 stint before race
4) ???
5) profit

I've done this too many times and not always with good results