This may seem a rather weird and strange question (though, judging by some of the posts on the forum, it may well not be). I want to get back racing, but don't feel confident. Is there a way I can feel more confident?
What are you afraid of? Being bad? Ruining others races? The only real way to gain confidence is to go out and race. Start from the pits and work on actually finishing races. Placement is irrelevant, just try to finish. That alone will usually place you somewhere midfield, which will show you how there are many many other people who are worse than you (yet they still race ).
On a general accident-avoidance note, if you happen to drive in a pack, start braking earlier than your usual brake point (a good 1-2 car lengths), but do so very gently. Just tap the brakes enough for your brake lights to go on, so the guy behind you has a chance to react. Then gradually increase the braking till full force so you don't slam into someone in front. This usually prevents you being rearended, as well as giving you a good buffer zone to evade pileups in front.
Look m8 NO ONE.... and i mean NO one puts there pants on in a special way, we ALL get nervous, we are all the same. What you are afraid of is the unknown, the only way to get used to the racing is race.. If you worry about the crashes or your afraid to crash someone out, your going to crash them out. All of your concentration will be applied to the fact that you dont want to crash. Relax, Chill out, and just race with only the thought of racing, youll do just fine i promise. If you want help with sets or just some encouragement then come search me (iceman31x) Good LUCK
Go and drive a few sessions in demo mode to get back into the swing of things - that's what I do when I've been out of the loop for a while. Once you start to get the feeling that it's everyone else who's a noob and not you (doesn't usually take long ), then its time for S2 again
Here's how I see it (in pick up races): who cares if you come last? Slowly push your limits every lap, you'll soon get faster. Ignore where you come in a race. Also, if you're not comfortable with racing next to someone then back off and give yourself some space. Try starting at the back of every race until you get the confidence to go into T1 and not wreck the whole field.
To summarise it, have your own race. Ignore where you're going to finish and your lap times will soon pick up. When you're fast enough start racing with a few friends, get into a good battle and you'll soon get the confidence to do that with complete strangers.
First things first, make sure you understand what the "blue flag" is and you understand how to get out of the other racer's way.
Second, if you don't know the track very well, and don't have the confidence to be on the servers, then I suggest running a bit off-line so you are not lost when the green flag waves. I have no problems with new folks coming online immediately as long as they are considerate of others. But this isn't an "OMG, go learn offline noob!" thread. You are coming here doubting your confidence, so I say run some offline so you have an idea of the track.
Join the server and pick out the "better" of the racers out on the track. Spectate him for a bit. Watch how he drives, where he brakes, etc. You can also spectate a group of racers who are having a close battle to see how they are doing it. Spectate them from inside the cockpit, or with whatever view you will use to race yourself.
This is important. With the following, you don't want to go all out at the start. Go easy and wait for the T1 mayheim to sort out before moving on with your first lapping. When you are ready to join the racing, sit in spectate and wait until the race is restarted. You will see "Restart in..." and a countdown. The screen will go blank for a moment, then the start grid will be set. Join the race at this time. This ensures you will be placed in the last or close to last starting position. This gives you plenty of time to follow the other racers learning the track even more and plenty of time before the leaders come up behind to lap you. After every race as soon as you cross the finish line, go to spectate and wait again before joining. You will be placed in final start position once again.
As confidence grows, then you can start to race with the folks in the back of the pack (or those who make it through T1 and T2 ). Before you know it, you are blasting past those in the back and working your way up through the middle.
Finally, your confidence will exceed your skill and you will just start in the position you finished the last race in, and thus, you will be a full fledged racer.
Ok, I missed some of the comments because I'm flight simming as well and have had this thread open for a while. This comment is so true. When on the track, you race the track. You have to pay attention to the other cars making sure not to hit them, crash them, push them, etc. But you still race the track and not the other cars. (crap, just missed my landing in the flight sim, LOL). Be back in a minute for more
Whew, pulled a 2.8G turn in a 777, LOL. Anyways, another tip for racing the track is always look up ahead of the track. Don't look at the current turn you are in, look at the straight up ahead. When on the straight, look up ahead at your turn-in point for the next corner. When turning into the corner, look out through the exit of the corner. Basically, look where you want to end up at and not where you are at. The concept is basically that you will guide your car where you are looking, so look far enough ahead, and that is where you will go.
I get 'race anxiety' when I first log in - paranoia that I've forgotten how to drive and will stuff everyone's race up at T1. I find joining one of the cruise servers and just driving about for 10 minutes or so with other people gives me all my confidence back, as there's no imperitive to race - you can just drive about in the presence of other online drivers.
Im a noob myself, and I use a less frustrating way of learning the tracks. I'll hop online, find a race with cars/tracks im interested in learning, and then watch the top 3 racers (just spectating) from their drivers seat.
It will give you a pretty good idea of where your braking points are, speed through corners, and how much of the track you can use, not too mention you learn the track quickly. Also pay particular attention to T1 at each start, as the braking points and traffic flow will be helpful when you do decide to race it online.
after about 15 minutes of spectating, I'll go offline and practice (It helps to have a decent setup). Usually I'll start out slow, braking earlier than needed to get the feel of the track... within a dozen laps or so you'll get close to race speed. The difficult part is trimming that speed down to match the leaders you watched earlier. That takes much longer.
But, for the most part, the s1 & s2 drivers have been pretty patient with us noobs, so long as we get off the line (where possible) to let them pass under the blue.
Demo servers/drivers can sometimes be frustrating, as you'll encounter wreckers and/or really inexperienced drivers often. Its a good tool to teach you defensive driving of sorts, but you'll build more 'side by side' confidence racing on the s1 & s2 servers.
I'v eobtained more PB's (so far) by racing online and chasing the racer in front of me, rather than racing offline practicing. I dont know why, or how.. perhaps I'm subconsciously picking up tips from their driving, but it seems to be working. After a while, you'll be more than confident enough.
I find if I am worried about screwing up a race in S2 (as I am still pertty shocking and very tempremental with how I perform) I head over to demo. That way I can have a little race and a battle and get confidence back and If for some reason you do cock it up. Theres not really much harm lost.
Although, I do find if you crashed by accident in Demo they shout at you and are generally more pissed off.
I think they know what theyre missing tbh :P
Good luck and just get out there. The cruise servers are good for getting a bit of practise with other people around you. Just remember, the other people aer going to be looking out for you aswell.
).
