It's a good idea to spend a lot of time on Time Trials imo, especially if you are a bit new to racing and need to get your SR up. Time Trials will give you plenty to focus about and will raise your consistency considerably, that and they add safety rating if you drive well! Just remember to not be at 100% pace constantly (not in Time Trials, and definitely not in Races unless you are trying to put pressure on a direct opponent) unless you're very familiar with the track and car - some offs will happen regardless though, unless you're a machine

Disaster-races will also happen, but you can try to minimize damage by being a consistently fast driver. Even if you can't get laps of 1.05, you can still drive a great race if you drive 1.06 consistently! Some people might 'ruin' it for you unintentionally, but the more consistent you can drive, the better you'll become at recognising and avoiding bad situations, it also comes with experience

Is the safety rating going up in time trials at the same speed as at races?

Quote from PLAYLIFE :

Is the safety rating going up in time trials at the same speed as at races?

Not quite. The exact factors were iirc 1.0 for a race, 0.5 for quali and 0.35 for tt and unofficial race/qualis (not enough people). Hmm, or was that for the ratings other than SR?

PLAYLIFE: Sad story, good reading though It's called experience and I am sure you won't have such an awful race anytime soon. I had a row of nice and enjoyable races and then yesterday out of blue a horrible race occured, T1 pileups and serious hi-speed incident on straight, got about 15 inc points. I was a bit stressed about it and hesitated to join races for a while but then finally signed up and with some luck managed to win clean and competitive race, quite a relief and confidence booster.

Just keep turning laps to feel more in control and comfortable with rules and rewarding races will start happening for you eventually as well. And yes both quali and TT will improve your SR considerably if you avoid mistakes (imo 3-4 inc points per session are quite normal and adds some +0.0x to your SR).

Good luck with SR and see you on the track.

P.S. I forgot to add in the post, my antivirus gave an "I need a restart" message that minimized the game. Hence, I got 4 points from that one and lost another lap as my car was totaled. And I'm not making this up, this was, without a doubt the worst race in my entire life of simracing (12 years or so..)

Thanks for the encouragements, guys I need 61 safety points by end of July. At 10 corners a point I need to do 3 clean laps for every 2 points, hence 93 clean laps. How I am ever gonna do this is beyond me, but I will do it by end of July.

Don't worry man. I've had plenty of those types of races. It's fairly well documented here... including my first race ever where I drove into the back of someone off the line, my 59 incident points in 4 sessions day, and my most recent... not realizing I was racing at Lime Rock when they switched the track over midday.

Drive safely, and drive a lot
93 clean laps might seem like a lot, but you might do 300 laps before the end of the month, and not all of them have to be clean!

Meanwhile, being a bit of a hypocrite, I've been slowly drowning my Safety Rating a bit, but I felt incredibly close to breaking into the 1.03's with the Rookie Solstice, and after some technique-revisions and a few heavy crashes (oops!) I finally managed a couple of 1.03.8x's!

Back to consistency and a positive spiral in my safety rating now

1:04.0 pb here. I thought I was quick till i saw Dale Jr. running 1:03.2's in the races...

Quote from srdsprinter :

1:04.0 pb here. I thought I was quick till i saw Dale Jr. running 1:03.2's in the races...

I know... the man knows how to drive, even in sims. I'm not quitting iRacing until I overtake one of those pro-drivers

Oh, and I've decided not to shave until I win another race; I hope for everyone I know that it'll happen soon

OK, forget everything I just said, I just did a race with 1 incident point. Let two guys easily past me cos right now I need an incident point like I need a third nipple.

Safety rating +0.16, 0.45 to go. Just 3 more races like this and I'm golden. Nine more races like this and I'm cruising in the Skippy

Quote from PLAYLIFE :

Thanks for the encouragements, guys I need 61 safety points by end of July. At 10 corners a point I need to do 3 clean laps for every 2 points, hence 93 clean laps. How I am ever gonna do this is beyond me, but I will do it by end of July.

I'm not sure if I understand your math there, but incidentally, my lap total right now is exactly 93 (that's 6 races). And my safety rating is at 3.83. So, two more races and my SR will be above 4.0, I reckon. If I can get there within one and a half weeks, 6 races and a few time trials thrown in, you should have no trouble getting above 3.0 by the end of july.

And, btw, I just had a race at LRP in the Rookie Solstice and out of the 12 drivers, 8 had 0 incidents, 1 had 2, 2 had 5 and one had 13. Apart from the 13, that's a very clean race, I'd say.

Edit: seems I had this window open for quite some time. either that or I fell asleep while posting. But: there you go, Playlife.

You should have seen the first corner we had. Absolutely everyone was taking it easy. It's a big diff if you get to race once every two hours and are punished with incident points and the race is long. I do mind a lot that everyone is slow off the line, though. Makes crashing into people very easy. I don't know what they are waiting for...

Quote from Linsen :

I'm not sure if I understand your math there, but incidentally, my lap total right now is exactly 93 (that's 6 races). And my safety rating is at 3.83. So, two more races and my SR will be above 4.0, I reckon. If I can get there within one and a half weeks, 6 races and a few time trials thrown in, you should have no trouble getting above 3.0 by the end of july.

You up your safety rating by 0,01 point for every 10 clean corners. You had 93*7=+0,65 safety rating. When you pass 3,00 you get instantly like 0,45 so you total is 0,45+0,65=+1,10 You start at 2,5 so 2,5+1,10=3,6. I dont know where you got the rest then... And six races is 120 laps if you finish them all on the lead lap.

Quote from Jertje :

Just remember to not be at 100% pace constantly (not in Time Trials, and definitely not in Races unless you are trying to put pressure on a direct opponent) unless you're very familiar with the track and car - some offs will happen regardless though, unless you're a machine

I think this is wrong. My advice would be to focus on your driving and try to get your consistency to go along with your fastest laps. Getting the SR up shouldn't be a problem for anyone, even if you really happen to have lots of bad luck it will even out eventually. To advance on the next lisence you need SR just above 3.0 anyway which is nothing more than few races and tt sessions.

If anything I'd recommend avoiding the SR "syndrome" as much as possible. If your main aim is just to get your SR higher you won't be having fun. To have fun is the aim of iracing just like it is with LFS. If you make your best to to maximise your speed on every lap you will have the most fun imho and the best races. And magically while doing so your SR will go up too. If you are struggling to keep the car on the track, just go do a time trial session and slowly increase your speed and watch your lines and braking markers. Or even do some practise sessions with no pressure from SR, if you are struggling to learn the track or car. On every lap you should go little bit faster, braking little bit later and getting on throttle little bit earlier all the time paying attention to you lines and analyzing it all. Focus on hitting the apexes and keeping on the line constantly. You will be in big trouble if you focus on doing "90%" laps because you will teach yourself all the wrong habbits that may be hard to learn off later on. The SR will always be there, wether you have rookie or pro A lisence.

The SR is imho not something to pay too much attention. Just try to do your best and have some fun. Worrying too much about the SR just means that you will worry about thing you can not do much about. Someone spins in front of you? Someone dive bombs into T1 and takes you out? Someone behind you misses his brake mark and rams into you? All of these are very hard to avoid and worrying about these before they happen is just counter productive. If you are really struggling to get your SR up even with lots of tt sessions there is something wrong with your driving. Getting the SR up should not be an issue to anyone.

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I just had my first race on LRP without doing any quali. I had a lot more racing than with a quali time I would have had. I think I started from 10th position and finished 4th. I went 110% all the time, had one spin and few tires off teh track. My SR went up a bit and going through the first corners 2 and 3 wide at times was just awesome. With a not-good starting position I had to push all the time so I artificially put some additional pressure on me too. If I had made a quali time I would have probably started 3rd or 4th and ended up cruising the whole race. I think I'm not doing qualis anymore, much more fun this way

Quote from PLAYLIFE :

You up your safety rating by 0,01 point for every 10 clean corners. You had 93*7=+0,65 safety rating. When you pass 3,00 you get instantly like 0,45 so you total is 0,45+0,65=+1,10 You start at 2,5 so 2,5+1,10=3,6. I dont know where you got the rest then... And six races is 120 laps if you finish them all on the lead lap.

Ah, I see, I didn't know it was that easy to calculate incident points. The boost you get above 3.0 and 4.0 I knew about.

And about my SR: Those 93 laps are races only, so no TT or qualifying. I did a few TTs and one qualifying on top of those six races. And 93 laps is correct, as races at Laguna Seca are only 11 laps. So, that's 60 at LRP and 33 at LS.

Sounds like you guys are having lots of fun, must be great

Can you tell i still havn't heard from them

Grrr...

Quote from Linsen :

Ah, I see, I didn't know it was that easy to calculate incident points. The boost you get above 3.0 and 4.0 I knew about.

And about my SR: Those 93 laps are races only, so no TT or qualifying. I did a few TTs and one qualifying on top of those six races. And 93 laps is correct, as races at Laguna Seca are only 11 laps. So, that's 60 at LRP and 33 at LS.

Yeah, well Laguna has a lot more turns so you get a higher safety rating per lap boost.

Did I say I love the game so far!? I don't' know what I'll feel after two months from now, though, but I'll probably buy it for a year. I mean rent it (A)

Quote from PLAYLIFE :

Yeah, well Laguna has a lot more turns so you get a higher safety rating per lap boost.

Theoretically, yes, but I'm finding it harder to stay on the black stuff at LS, so it evens out.

Btw, it seems once you're above 3.0 your SR goes up a little slower. I got 0.16 points for my first 0 incident race at LRP, and in my last race I only gained 0.11 for 0 incidents at LRP. Did the full 20 laps both times.

Edit: Hyperactive is right, actually. One shouldn't focus on SR too much. I do treat the races sort of like endurance races, though. You know, where you definitely don't want to risk your result by doing something stupid. Just get into the comfort zone and try to be smooth and consistent. For me, that's the safest way to drive and it turns out, I'm almost as fast as when I'm practicing without the pressure of the SR.

You should never try anything stupid

I don't know about comfort zones, all I can tell is that those 3 last corners at LRP have nothing to do with comfort zones. You know you are going fast if you are scared shitless when going into the corners and totally pale on the face when getting out of them . Especially the last corner of the LRP will slow you down quite a bit if you don't put your 110% into it

(just had another back-from-the-grid race and again it was great going through the first corners 2 and 3 wide, rest of the race trying to catch the driver in front of me, catching on one lap, losing that bit on the next. The gap was almost all the time about 1.8 secs, both making tiny mistakes and pushing quite a bit. I ws eventually being slowed down by few lapped cars and couldn't get passed fast enough but tbh. there was no chance of me actually catching up or passing unless the other driver had made a big mistake. Was still great chase and it could have really turned either way with the lapped cars. Getting the skippy with the tracks gets more and more tempting... Hmm. Not yet! )

how do you break through to the 103's with the rookie solstice (solskie? needs a shorter name) at lrp? It feels almost impossible

for turn 1 I brake at 3/2.5 and float it through in 3rd gear, double apex and get on the gas asap.

I don't use the brakes the rest of the course

I lift to get the car to turn in and then am back on the gas asap.

For the last 3 corners are you guys using 4th? I found it much more consistent and faster.

Is it possible to go through the last corner without lifting? I've almost done it a few times, but have to get the car turned first

Quote from spanks :

For the last 3 corners are you guys using 4th? I found it much more consistent and faster.

Is it possible to go through the last corner without lifting? I've almost done it a few times, but have to get the car turned first

1. I was using 4th for a while but now switched driving them on 3rd. Hitting rev limiter isn't really that big issue because I can carry so much more speed through Uphill and following righthander, car just doesn't have enough power to keep going on 4th.

2. You better lift just to get car pointed in right direction.

Btw, on Adv. Solstice you can measure your cornering speed quite easily on Uphill. If car doesn't jump off the ground, you're not fast enough

Personally I use 4th gear only for the last corner. As for others I only change to 4th on any straight if I hit the rev limiter. On the last corner it is crucial to hit the apex, even if you miss it by few inches it can sometimes cause you to run wide. Personally I dip the brakes lightly to get the car quickly to turn in and then get asap back on full throttle. It is possible to not use the brakes but you won't be able to go back on full throttle as soon as you will need to coast into the corner. I haven't tested which one is actually faster but I'm guessing not using the brakes is...

Quote from spanks :

how do you break through to the 103's with the rookie solstice (solskie? needs a shorter name) at lrp? It feels almost impossible

for turn 1 I brake at 3/2.5 and float it through in 3rd gear, double apex and get on the gas asap.

I don't use the brakes the rest of the course

I lift to get the car to turn in and then am back on the gas asap.

For the last 3 corners are you guys using 4th? I found it much more consistent and faster.

Is it possible to go through the last corner without lifting? I've almost done it a few times, but have to get the car turned first

That's interesting. I brake for every corner except for T4 and my PB is a 1:04.2. So far I thought I'd break into the 1:03s easily as soon as I get my timing right and don't have to brake anymore for all those fast right handers. Seems I'm not loosing that much time by dabbing the brakes after all.

Quote from Linsen :

That's interesting. I brake for every corner except for T4 and my PB is a 1:04.2. So far I thought I'd break into the 1:03s easily as soon as I get my timing right and don't have to brake anymore for all those fast right handers. Seems I'm not loosing that much time by dabbing the brakes after all.

Small tap on brakes feels better for T6 than just lifting off, for T5 it's just whatever you prefer.