How much do you practice before feeling comfortable racing?

[AbbyTheFoxx]

Wondering because I tried to do a sprint race with 30 minutes of practice at Brands Hatch (I ran the endurance race there last season though), and decided I wanted to do a race which was a big mistake. I self spun, got t boned while spinning, got 4 off tracks, self spun again, then self spun trying to re enter track causing me to hit a wall. At that point I just went back to pits and rage quit. So obviously 30 minutes wasn't enough for me this week even though practice seemed mostly consistent, but I don't want to do what I usually do and just practice all week and race once or twice towards the end of the week.

So back to what the post is about, how long does it take for you to feel comfortable enough for an official race?

 

[Steve7Plays]

depends on track, car and track + car combo.
Mostly I only need 30mins to 1hr. If its a car like the GT1 or the C7 which I dont drive regularly but are pretty much always on a challanging track then it could happen that I need up to a week worth of practice

 

[Shilka]

I used to need at least 5 evenings of practice, and still ended up racing with my buttocks squeezed together. It's the main reason I don't play this game anymore, eventhough I really like the game. I just don't have the talent for it, only endless repetition could get me somewhere, and it just takes up too much time. Got very skilled in letting other people pass me safely though!

 

[Daunt]

Ken's answer: 1000 hours of practice.

For me, it totally depends on the car and track. Personally I hate driving more than 1-2 cars in a season, so I always try to stick to the same car.

The track is the bigger factor. There are just some tracks that are a lot easier and suit my driving style more, or they're just plain easier. Daytona road is pretty easy.

Ultimately I'd put the time around 1-2 hours if it's a track I'm pretty familiar with, assuming it's a car I drive a lot.

 

[Noodleguitar]

It usually takes me around 2 hours to get used to the track and up to speed if I haven't driven it the last month. If we practice in Practice Pals it takes me longer because while that is good for practicing race craft, I find it hard to find the fastest line in that environment.

Generally whenever my answer to "How did that spin/crash happen?" is "oops" instead of "what the hell just happened?" I feel comfortable enough to race. I also try to be at the pace that others around my iRating are doing but that can vary a lot from track to track.

I usually start out by taking a setup and editing it based on assumptions. Then I drive a couple of laps and make some changes based on possibly tips from the forums and of course the handling of the car.

When there were still qualifying sessions throughout the week I used to spend maybe 80% of practice driving around with qualifying fuel but these days I don't really practice qualifying that much.

Lastly, I try to get 15 minutes of warm-up before every race.

 

[Kenadian]

The answers to a question like this are going to vary a lot depending on the Driver, his experience and level of skill.

You've got guys like Noel and Justin who seem to have a natural affinity to racing (at least iRacing) who do quite well with little to no practice. 2 hours is to be considered little to no practice.

Then you've got guys like Kyle and Davey who can pick up new tracks and the racing line faster than the average person. If I remember correctly, Wapwap was also very good at this. These guys can find the line quickly but are willing to put in extra practice to pick up pace and consistency.

Then you've got guys like me who simply fear for the fellow Driver far more than fearing for themselves. I will not grid until I can run a full fuel load (or 2 laps beyond total) without a spin, sizable offtrack or owl.

In serious races where iR and SR are counted I won't grid with any less. For me this equates to a minimum of about 8 hours practice. There have been instances where it's easily doubled that.

This is one of the reasons I rarely race as I just don't have the confidence level I need to grid.

Having said that, there are a few tracks that I have a natural affinity toward such as Watkins, Mid-Ohio, VIR, Summit Point and LRP. These tracks I can race with less practice but will still observe my full run minimum before gridding.

 

[Jes_971]

It's been taking me about 50-100 laps before I'm confident to race. This is with absolutely no knowledge of the tracks previously, learning them from scratch. I'll usually start by just driving slow and memorizing the layout. Then running some TT to practice the track and practice cautioning myself. Lastly I'll run in an open practice but there are sometimes when I will skip the open practice and just jump into the official race. When I skip the open practices and go to the race. I usually will run the qualifying laps but make sure they don't count (purposeful dip of the tires off the track for a 1x) to ensure I grid at the back of the pack. I've never seen a reason to start from the pits unless its because you honestly missed the start. Using this method and giving plenty of room on the first lap whilst staying somewhat close to the back of the pack is easy. I've never had an accident that I couldn't avoid. Exceptions being those arses that insist they have right-of-way after they've spun-out and are re-entering the track.

 

[Jerad]

It sort of depends on how well I know the car. In the skippy, on a new track I might have to put down anywhere between 25-50 honest clean laps to get the feel for the track. But in another car like GT3 or L79 I can drop 100-200 laps and still feel so-so in it. I also find that I'll get more confident and learn more out of a race than I will just lapping in free practice even when starting from the pits.

As for car+track combos I am familiar with (assuming I like the track) I can spend as little as 5-10 laps before feeling ready to hop in a race (Skippys at Phillip Island every time).

 

[Fromthenavy]

Depends on the car for me when I started racing V8's with these guys I would have to learn tracks in a few days while still learning the car and road racing in general because oval.

Usually takes me a few hours of practice unless I'm feeling more comfortable with my times and the track. Some tracks take more time than others to get down other times it's a familiar track and vise versa. And then the times where I do a race at the nurburgring in the Louts 79 with not a single lap of practice in.

My advice practice enough until you're comfortable and in the first few races of the week know your place among your competitors. If there's someone beating down my backdoor trying to get by I usually let them by faster then you're average 3 name competitors because I fear they're going to wreck me / dive bomb in a bad spot or whatever.

And then there's most tracks where I don't even attempt official racing for that week (most of them but getting better).

So I guess in a nutshell too much practice isn't going to hurt except when you find yourself making more mistakes then when you started, take a break and come back to it later. It's not worth frustrating yourself over because in reality it's just a game. (sim ;p)

 

[Fromthenavy]

There's my serious post of the week time to get back to trolling

 

[Jerad]

So I guess in a nutshell too much practice isn't going to hurt except when you find yourself making more mistakes then when you started, take a break and come back to it later. It's not worth frustrating yourself over because in reality it's just a game. (sim ;p)

I find I do this way too often. Start trying to improve lap-times and constantly screwing up without improving at all.

 

[Slider]

150-200 laps of practice in a week before the race, minimum. Then, few laps here and there in various conditions.

 

[Jeeve79]

15 years + 10 minutes

Let me explain:

Question for me is, how long does it take to setup the car to be competitive and feel happy with it to race hard and clean?
Jumping in with zero practise on back of the grid is one of the most fun things u can do in simracing. Off coarse, after 15 years, i do know the tracks and i feel how much grip is available after 10 minutes.
If u take it really serious and want pole position and win the race, u can never stop practising.

PS: Hotlapping is not racing. Learn your racecraft and to do this, u need to be in traffic, and try to be clean all of the time, no matter what happens.

 

[Slider]

You must be an oval driver

 

[Jeeve79]

sja right, never seen an oval in my life.
I live near Spa and Zolder btw. yes Belgium is that small.

 

[Slider]

I'm from Croatia, my fart makes it across 2 countries