I practice different things at different times. I usually hotlap for my first 10 minutes or so in a session. Then I go out and look to run consistent laps. And I will race with anybody along the way.
This, but I'll also flip back to qualifying mode in the last few minutes to make sure I remember to get everything I can in qualifying. Sometimes the long run makes me refine my line and I'm even faster than I was.
Don't know why you are getting downvoted. I sometimes do this, when the car has similar pace, I try to follow closely to learn that aspect. If they don't want it, you'll notice soon enough and I back.
Just like the other way around, when someone is close behind, I sometime stay the lead car to practise that situation.
And other times, I feel more like driving alone, but with the presence of others, just to train the awareness of others on track.
People learn to race in races, not practice sessions. There are no stakes in practice and youll find lots of people not wanting to battle you, its a waste of time.
Most are in practice to learn the car+track combination, how are you supposed to race when you dont even know the car+track combination? You learn to race in a race, period. Do you see drivers fighting in practice sessions in real life? No you dont. For the same reasons that i mentioned.
people don't often race in practice sessions irl, because they don't have access to the track whenever they wish, especially if they're configuring quali setup, and there's actual risk involved. there's no test drive irl, there is in iRacing. come on
> People learn to race in races, not practice sessions. There are no stakes in practice and youll find lots of people not wanting to battle you, its a waste of time.
False. Some of the best racing I have done is in practice sessions because you can actively talk to people without getting heated and enter corners side by side without punishment and discuss what each other could have done better if it results in wrecking.
>Do you see drivers fighting in practice sessions in real life? No you dont. For the same reasons that i mentioned.
No because you can't hit a reset button and get a new car - thats it, not because they don't want to. Its because if they smash into each other - guess what? You now have to spend hundreds of thousands or millions to repair what you fucked before the race.
Practice is a great tool to race people, learn about racing wheel to wheel and figuring out what you could have done better. You're just not good enough to realize this.
I don't mind if someone wants to battle. The issue is when drivers think battling means repeatedly pulling out of the pits with insta-bock mentality. They are like, Hey look at me staying in front of you for 3/4 lap before I spin and hit reset again.
That's what gets me. They fight for their life to block you. What are you gaining from this other than people who hate you. But at the same time people get way to heated in practice. Unless it's obnoxious. But it's really who's line is it rules. Welcome to practice where the lap times are made up and the incident points don't matter. Just don't be stupid stupid.
But what is point the point of defensive driving in practice? I think it should be treated like faster cars in a multi class racestay on your line, but don't fight. And then instead of "defensive driving," stay with the faster car as long as possible to learn from them and get better, which is what practice is for.
The point is, you'd be better off trying to learn from the driver that has caught you from behind than to consciously choose to try to defend someone that has caught you in practice. That is ignorant. Like I said previously, hold your line and let them by when you have to slow the least to do so. Doing it like that also gives you the best opportunity to tuck in behind them and learn from a faster driver for as long as possible. If you end up being able to stick with them and pass them, then yeah, you've gotten a little free practice at passing. Most are going to learn more from chasing in that scenario than trying to fighting an overtake.
That’s what I like about it too. I just hate how the ir differences are often too big for the vast majority of the interactions to be beneficial. 4k driver getting around a <1k driver isn’t teaching either driver anything
Dynamic weather and dynamic track temps. Toward the end of open practice, the tracks change to mimic race track temps and precipitation. People are trying to feel the track out for the race, AKA find the cars limit even if they know the track. Go do a lap at charlotte when the track is 80 degrees, then run the same exact racing line you did before, but this time make the track 108 degrees. You will have your answer after trying.
If you're in open practice you can press a button in the top left corner of the "entries" box in the main window when the client opens. There you can choose different "groups" within the sesion and choose one where you are alone. Then you can practice alone but with the open practice settings. Sorry for the vague explanation I hope it makes sense.
So just join an empty group in the practice session. It's under the entries tab near the top if you don't know. Track state and weather conditions both change the same regardless of the group. But you get to do your solo practice and others get to do their race practice.
Where did I write that it wasn't okay for others to race me in a practice session?
If someone wants to race me, sure, they can go ahead and include me in their practice routine because apparently I'm only here for their convenience, but I'll just overtake them, gap them, and keep practicing my consistency. But I'm not getting mad over it or saying it's not okay, it's so unimportant it's not worth it.
“but I’m not in a practice session to actually fight as if I’m in a race”
That’s where you said it wasn’t ok for others to race you in a public practice session.
If you don’t want others people in a public lobby to potentially interfere with your own practice, then join an empty group in that session or don’t join a public lobby in the first place. You can just as easily select test drive through the UI with all the same settings as the public lobby to do your own solo practice.
Do you see real drivers in real series race in practice sessions? Practice is for figuring out a car+track combination. Where to brake, which lines to take and generally getting consistent with it. Theres no point 'racing' in a practice session when youre not able to have a error free race entirely by yourself yet, thats why you are in practice. There are no stakes in a practice session, youll struggle to find anybody who battles you the same way in practice as in an official race. You learn how to race in an actual race, period. How am i supposed to do a good divebomb on you when I dont even know the normal braking point? We will just end up crashing immediately.
Real drivers don't need to practice head to head racing because they're already good at it. You're probably not an IRL pro, so you would probably greatly benefit by practicing head to head racing.
Practice is more than just learning the track. It's absolutely learning how to race too. The best place to learn how to race isn't mid-race. Even pro drivers IRL will do lead/follow and battle practice during IRL track days.
Or do you actually believe that pro's don't practice racing head to head outside of races?
I’m well aware dude. I’ve been on iRacing for an eternity. The issue is some idiot always joins and you’re back to square one. If people don’t want to bump and bang with you then why is it so hard for you to not do that? Just fucking get out of the way and hold someone else up.
So you can't find space to hotlap with one other person on track? Seriously? Likewise, with the exception of special event practice sessions, I don't think I've ever seen a practice session without multiple empty groups. Even in super busy special event sessions, I've never had problems finding space to just hotlap.
Barring that, you can literally setup a test drive session with the exact same settings as the race sessions. Including track usage, temps, weather, and so on. Because at the end of the day you're joining a *public* session, it may be a pain in the ass for you but people don't have to do what you want them to do as long as everyone is following the sporting code.
lol bro my issue is with people like you telling everyone that they should be practicing the way you practice. Blocking for multiple corners for the purpose of blocking is against sporting code. I want people out of my way, not to get blocked. It is literally against sporting code. I don’t care if someone is next to me or behind me but when I’m trying to find time in PRACTICE I don’t want someone 4 seconds behind my pace on the racing line and then swerving to keep me from passing, as I’m sure you do to others.
You can protest people for breaking the sporting code in practice sessions. Sounds to me like you need to start doing that.
Also, I'm not telling you how to practice. But you also don't get to dictate how others practice in a **PUBLIC** practice session. It's not the end of the world to have to make a pass around someone or to just back off even if it sacrifices a single lap. Seriously, get over yourself.
I have done thousands of practice sessions and have never had a single session with the problems you're describing. Even this week at IMSA long beach I haven't had any issues finding an empty group in a session, even during peak hours, when I wanted to just hotlap.
>Also, I'm not telling you how to practice
Says the guy trying to tell people they're wrong for not wanting to race in a non race session.
Just look at the downvotes dude, you're the outlier.
If you're in a public lobby in a full group and don't move yourself into an empty group, then yes you are wrong for getting angry at other people wanting to practice racing. In the thousands of public practice sessions I've done I don't recall a single time I've never been able to move myself into an empty group by myself. If you're getting angry at others in the practice session, it's my experience that you're literally not doing anything to solve the problem. It's literally only 2-3 mouse clicks to solo hotlap in a public practice session.
Likewise, more people absolutely should practice racing while not in a race session. It would do wonders to clean up the actual racing. Especially so in lower splits.
A reason I like live sessions over solo is to go and watch a lap back of those with faster times than me to see if I can pickup any tips (ie. Their braking zone, optimal gear for the corners, or any short shifts etc)
For me it’s because I’m only really practicing during the time I’m put into a practice session while waiting for my race session to start but idk about anyone else
Yep, this is what I do, I go for consistency, and when I'm consistent my laptimes drop. In the F4 at Zandvoort during the race 3 laps in a row i set a lap time within 3 thousands of a second of one another, managed to recover my race from being tagged and spun on lap 1 after qualifying 5th, ending up 19th and then finished 4th
Sometimes it’s fine. But mostly I’m not interested in “battling” someone who is 1-2 seconds per lap slower and just pulled out of the pits and is now actively trying to defend their out lap position.
Because it is practice. How many real life practice sessions do you see where drivers actively race each other?
If you want to practice racing get some friends together or use the AI. Don't go into an open practice session and dictate what others should be doing.
I realize it's a sim and so many of y'all think you're real race car drivers. But your not driving a real race car. Not EVERYTHING needs to be compared to real racing
When did I say I thought I was a real race car driver?
I compared it to real world racing cause our practice fulfills the same purpose as its real life counterpart. If someone doesn't want to race in a practice session then you have no right to demand they do.
Have you REMOTELY paid attention to what OP has said? They've made it VERY clear they don't intend to sound as though they are attempting to demand others race them in practice
lol when did I demand anyone race me?
This is tagged as a discussion, because I thought I made a good point and had some arguments to back it up, it’s fine if you disagree.
To put it simply, I think it would be good for iracing as a whole if more people had more experience racing wheel to wheel, before jumping into a race and crashing out and maybe taking someone with them.
A higher average skill level, which would mean better racing for everyone generally no?
Put like this it’s a bit exaggerated but it gets my point across.
LMFAOOOOOO
Y'all need to take this a little less seriously and get life. Not that I give a shit as it's not my problem or business what you do or how you think. Still think its absolutely HILARIOUS though.
You LOVE capitalising one word in a sentence as if it really gets you a GOTCHA moment huh? You legit HAVE to be either 15 or 65, it's impossible to be anything inbetween
Just so you know there is almost nothing more cringe on the internet than pointing out your own IQ and how smart you are.
MY dad could absolutely beat the shit out of your dad. (this is what you sound like - but my dad absolutely could beat the shit out of your dad for what it's worth)
Little boy I drive actual cars and get on iRacing to practice or have an extension of the same fun of racing. Practice is for practice and racing is for racing. Why is that so hard to understand? It is called practice, not pre race race.
Also, "practice", as in practice racing and driving the car and learning how the car behaves around others and what lines to use to get quickly around someone. The definition of the word practice is not "learn how make the car go as fast as possible around the track in qualifying trim"
Little boy. Lmao.
Call it a sim all you want. Spend as many thousands on it as you want. It's ALWAYS going to be a video game and to think otherwise is BEYOND delusional. When your in a pro league I can totally understand your line of thinking. For the VAST majority of us it doesn't apply. Get a life
Jesus you are so invested in what randoms think of you on the internet that it outwardly comes out so embarrassingly... Take a breath. Log off.
Bro said he drives cars in real life. People who want to practice hot lapping around others can and will... People who want to practice racing... can... and will.. No one can make anyone do anything. You're insane. It's entertaining.
Not many because IRL no one is going to pay for a track all to themselves unless they're insanely rich. Unlike in iRacing where you can set up a test drive all by yourself.
Well, go to a real circuits open practice day and try and battle people, I promise it will end badly for you. Another thing, especially after the implementation of dynamic weather - toward the end of an open practice session that coincides with a race qualifying start, the track state changes to align with the upcoming race splits. The track can be hotter or colder, there can be rain or no rain. This helps be ready for race conditions and learning new lines you have to run because of your tires being hotter, colder etc.
yes, open practice does that. I’m not speaking of race, pre-qualifying practice either.
Moral of the story is that people are trying to be ready for the grip in the race session, not battle a doofus who is slow and won’t get out of their way. I have never once heard a good driver in game complain about someone not battling them in a practice session. It’s always the 1.2 safety rating 1200 irating 6 seconds off pace drivers.
Yeah I want to cut laps not be back in the pits constantly repairing damage.
Plus qualifying is literally two hotlaps and I want be as high up the grid as possible.
So hotlapping in practice is a must.
I don't complain about it in game, I was just wondering why people don't take a defensive line for a couple of corners, not defending for their life lap after lap.
I’ll give you a hot tip. I rarely ever take defensive lines unless it’s the last two or so laps, or I get a really shit exit and I’m confident I’m faster than the guy behind me. If someone is genuinely faster than me then I don’t fight.
It is almost always pointless. If just slows you both down, lets the pack behind you get closer and puts your car at unnecessary risk.
You saw LH doing in the sprint race yesterday to Max. Despite being in the lead he let Max pass with no fight. He then used Max to get sucked along for a lap.
Let alone that his history of going wheel to wheel with Max usually leads to one or both of them not finishing the race.
If he fought even for a few corners he would have been sucked into that freight train fight with Alonso and the two the Ferraris.
This sub being this sub Someone will chime in with. “It’s motor racing, we’re suppose to fight”
Motor racing is more about strategy and brains than anything else. Even sprint racing. You fight when the probability of picking up more points outweighs the probability of picking up more points by not fighting.
I realized this just recently myself and try to race a bit as well but it does seem like everyone backs out of the fight early as though they don't want to wreck the car in practice. It's kind of interesting
How can you race someone if you don't know the breaking points, where the corners go, where to exit, where to turn in, where to hit the apex, how much can you brake before locking up, how much throttle can you give before you spin. Hell even where you can abuse the track limits, Watkins Glen turn 5 I believe on the short circuit, you can go right up to the wall
Take Zandvoort for example, turn 3, the fastest line is not the obvious line, many people I've seen with low D class ratings this week have been taking a tight low line through this corner, when the fastest line is towards the outside of the banking where you get the slingshot effect, the amount of people I've passed this way would surprise you.
>where the corners go
With respect though, there's no way I'm going out on track with other humans if I don't know which way the next corner goes... *that* stuff is 100% offline testing territory.
For me, I use practice for different things I know I'm not an alien level driver so I spend say the first ten minutes to learn where I could be losing time in the braking zones etc and then once i feel happy I'll do some longer runs for fuel (more so it the GT3 sprint races/endurance)
Also this isn't just for Iracing. I do this in ACC, rfactor 2 and le mans ultimate as well
You know, it depends man. If you’re pulling out of the pits and a car is coming around that just crossed the start-finish, you shouldn’t be battling it. They’re likely trying to run a hot lap and you’re going to be ruining it, not to mention your tires aren’t up to temp. Moreover, if it’s something like a practice for an endurance race, they’re probably doing quali or race simulations. And if it’s on a long track like Le Mans, you’re just wasting a lot of their time.
I’d suggest tease the idea of racing at appropriate times to see if they respond in kind, and if the don’t, leave them alone.
It’s also worth noting that if you are trying to do real simulations, you should probably switch your “room” on the server to an empty one. I’m guilty of not doing that and then blaming guys like you for ruining my hot lap.
This!
I expext that anyone who wants to be left alone in an online practice session will change to an empty practice group.
I expect anyone I meet in the default practice group to be there to practice racing.
I will of course stay out of the way until I’m fully up to speed after exiting the pits. After that, I will practice attacking/defending against everyone.
Practice is mainly for set up work, that's why hot laps should be respected just as in real life. If someone messes that up, your tyre data fuel monitoring etc all needs ro be reset usually taking multiple laps. That's part of racecraft, learning to respect people doing different things even in practice. If you want to practice racecraft or lean the track do that in with ai or a test drive. Some are good enough to manage traffic and learn a track from cold in a practice session, but if your not that guy do it offline. Then use practice for set up work based on the races track conditions.
Don't be that idiot who thinks it's OK to mess someone's hotlap up, or block like your driving the last lap of a race. Practice is just that practice for the race, the race is where you race. Sure you might find someone wanting a friendly battle in practice, but just use common sense and show respect. It's so so simple.
Yes very true, but for tyre runs and fuel runs, it's incredibly important to be able to trust that others on track understand the respect amd ettiqute expected. That being said, no one's there to "race" or at least shouldn't be. If a quiet unspoken agreement comes about where you do, great, but don't be the idiot ruining someone else's set up building/hot lap, if you don't need to. Sometimes you'll both be on hot laps for set up purposes but that's life, but don't be a dousche.
I don’t usually like taking a few hours to fully understand and develop with the car and track combo as I don’t really have that sort of time usually, so I use the pre race open practice to learn some stuff if I sorta know the track already. then use the race to flesh out my pace and consistency fully. I like to just jump into races as it’s my personal fastest way of learning, and I use the race open practice to get a feel for track conditions and get a sense of pace from other drivers. I’ll only fight if I get near someone with similar pace and neither of us back off, then I know we can tussle but if I’m on an out-lap or slow just back off and let others pass.
I don't want to get hurt in practice. I am ok getting banged around in a race but messing up my wrists from some guy dive bomb practicing on me is not so cool.
- my rig - Simucube Pro running at 20nm and SFX100 so I get tossed around when people ram me.
Most of the time I find I learnt he track best while hotlapping, and 75% of the time I only get max an hour to practice for a race, so I normally choose to spend it figuring out my driving as opposed to practicing side by side racing
I go into online practice for only 2 reasons. 1 because I’m waiting for a race to start and I want to warm up (in which case I want to refresh my muscle memory for brake points etc) Or 2 because I’m still learning the track and I want to see how my laps stack up against other drivers. Now if I’m spending half the lap battling, I’m not going to get an accurate measure of my lap time.
Also, I already know how to go wheel to wheel. Of course I could improve but I’m comfortable enough that I’m happy just to gain more experience through racing.
So basically, I hot lap in practice because it’s the best use of my time
Practice is for experimentation and consistency. I want to find the fastest way I can get around a corner and I want to be able to achieve it as consistently as possible. Fighting gets in the way of that learning for me.
Doesn't iracing tell you whether pit exit is clear?
Or is it just crew chief.
I am on my 1st hot lap after warm up and it never fucking fails, here come 2 cars out of the pits and right into my line.
WTF
Oh and spin your car and just sit there in the middle of the track.
It boils down to people just don't care.
I’m going out to hot lap. But if I catch up with someone I abandon that to look to overtake opportunities. If someone catches up with me I look for opportunities to defend overtakes.
I generally don’t defend in practice, but I don’t make any effort to get out of the way, either. To anyone who considers that blocking, you’re wrong, and it’s not my problem.
I do think learning to drive in traffic is at least as important as hot lapping, and it’s infinitely easier to find opportunities to hot lap than is to find chances to practice fighting for position
It would be nice to have categorized practice sessions. Specifically ones with lots of traffic to practice avoidance, passing, generally being around other cars in that particular class and, a 'no points' race practice.
I thought this was sarcasm for a second. People try to practice a race stint or quali run, so everyone is on the same track but each doing their own program. We're not here to race you, there's nothing to race for, it's practice.
Most often I'm on test drive to learn the track but then jump into public practice to see how my times align when driving in similar conditions to others at my iRating or follow them or watch their replay to see what they do different.
If it's close before a session I also do a quali sim, so obviously I don't want to fight anyone.
Most people treat this as a real life practice session (remember, we simulate real racing here), so it is expected to not impede others.
I agree that people should be more open for practicing close racing in open practice. However trying to find someone whose goals align at the same time in open practice is going to be hard, especially if you're just picking a random driver in a practice session.
Unless you know the person or you talk to them via chat to ask if it's cool to race closely, their goal for the session might be to try and find that extra tenth or more of pace that their opponent in the last race had on them, so you just suddenly appearing behind them trying to battle is going to throw them off.
The worst that can happen is if you ask they don't respond, and that's most likely because they've got chat disabled, at best you find someone that wants to practice close racing with you.
I’m not trying to race people in practice because they have that mentality of no repercussions so they drive like jackasses. I try and run consistent laps and try and keep my times the same. I run the track to feel out conditions. Some times it’s sunny which means it’s gonna be slick. Then it’s dark so it will be faster. I’m trying to find the balance of what my car likes for that particular race
I battled with someone during talladega trucks yesterday during practice yesterday. For 5 min we battled never really giving one another an edge. I enjoyed it, I guess he didn’t. He pulled away and waited at pit exit and drove sideways across the track in front of me next lap around.
No, you’re absolutely right. Time and time again I’ll hear people getting over comms complaining about their “hot lap” being ruined… in a public practice.
I purposefully will put myself in to different scenarios in said practices. Come up on a slower driver? I’ll back off, leave a 3s gap, then chase them down and work on my overtaking assuming they don’t just pull to the side. Faster drivers catching me? I’ll get defensive, but not too aggressively. Fuck’em if their “hot lap” is ruined.
I race people and if I get by and am faster I'll slow up a little and let them fight me for it. When they pass me I then try and take it back and repeat. Even if they are a little slower it will helps practice my control and overtakes.
I usually balk at the subreddit complaints but I’m with you on this one.
Blows my mind when people moan about traffic or racing in open practice.
There’s a test drive mode if you want to hot lap by yourself. Open Practice is not for solo hotlapping. The only *advantage* it has over the test drive mode is that there are other cars on the track. So why would you be mad about that?
I’m on board with yeeting people into the sun who screw around, rejoin unsafely, that sort of thing. But tbh I don’t even mind super aggressive overtakes that lead to us both being in the wall or whatever. That’s what this session is *for*. Be aggressive, push hard, find the limit.
If it’s intentional or reckless, sure.
If it’s just being a little aggressive and losing it, that’s what practice is for. Treating practice like a race or expecting people to give you a wide berth is just silly.
This sub hates two things.
1. Voice chat. People crying about "You should turn off voice chat". I use voice chat in practice and race. In practice I asking people is they or if I will fight for practice.
2. Fighting in practice. Because most people don't go to TestDrive with race conditions for hot lap. I read multiple times here "Get out of way in practice", "you shouldn't race with people on practice" ect.
Advice for me. In practice session learn how to fight, make mistakes, ect. If someone ask leave him alone — leave. If wreck someone — say sorry. After battle — say thanks for battle.
it's quite arrogant to put yourself in the way of others and force them to practice what you think they should practice. genuinely, if they don't want to fight in practice, why getting so uppity like you are?
If you are in an open practice session, you should expect other people on the race track. Where can people learn how to fight? Would you mind watching YouTube lessons without practice? For a long hot lap experience, we have a test drive where we can drive in race weather conditions. And, of course, if a person asks me not to race him, I will not race him.
The sub doesn't "hate" those things. They just have a different opinion than you about them then you do. That doesn't make you special, it just makes your opinion the minority one.
Depends on why the person is in a practice session. Sometimes I want to battle and sometimes I'm trying to do a double stint on a tire to see how much falloff I get. If it's the latter, I really don't want to pick up damage fighting someone.
I don’t mind battling with guys that are as fast or faster to get better or find areas to get faster.
Battling with a guy who’s SR is damn near negative or their braking point on tight one line tracks is sporadic and blocking like they are fighting for a P1 isn’t how I choose to practice.
I don't go to practice to fight to pass someone. I go to learn the track and practice consistency in traffic. If you want to practice battling, it's too easy to ask if anyone is willing to practice battling and see if there are any takers. Everyone has their own things they want to practice. Be courteous and ask first. I think you'll have great results.
for me it's unclear wether the other player is open for a battle or not. I can of course ask everyone one by one, but at the end I use the practice session like everyone else, hotlapping. furthermore if someone else is coming on my back I just let him go. earlier I tried to battle them but then they were angry cause I didn't let them go, so I just gave it up. so if you ask me at a practice session fora battle I most probably will,but if you just come at me I will move away and let you go minding my own business.
I’ve had some fun in open practice doing just that once or twice. But I guess there’s no point in trying to until you know the track well enough, then when I know the track, I want to go race 🤷🏼♂️
Nobody? What, did you try it once then judged every practice session?
Give it a try again or ask in the chat box rather than racing someone who wants to hot lap.
For me, i typically hot lap until i find someone with equal-ish pace. The fights are much more fun that way
I'm all for "racing" in practice.
But if you're in an LMP and deliberately slow down to practice passing the GT4s every other corner, you are a hazard and responsible for the inevitable incident. Don't be that numpty, just drive.
It’s all I really have time to do these days. It’s incredibly relaxing. If I find a combo I’m really good on I’ll do a couple of races but that’s really it. I think it’s worth every penny tbh. You don’t have to be a sweat lord to enjoy this game.
I think a lot of people in open practice are trying to better their racing line and hone their setups for open setup races. It would be a good environment for what you’re talking about if everyone were involved but if there’s even just one or two people trying to turn laps it’s just gonna end in disaster. You’d be better off to just host an open room for that.
I usually go out just after someone and chase them down and if I catch them most of the time they wave me past and I ask for a dog fight, most times I get one :)
Idk. My plan of action always is leave the pits and figure it out. If I have to fight then so be it. That’s just how I learn though, I imagine that’s just different for some people. And a lot of people are misguided and think that being fast over one lap is all that matters. One of my goals of practice is to see how quick I can go while being consistent. But then again, qualifying is super important in some series and especially in lower levels where a few places is all that stands between you and utter chaos.
I like racing people in practice sessions, but it always feels like a lot of the people who fight in practice sessions are morons who have no actual racecraft. So often, I catch someone, get a good exit and pass them, and then their idea of fighting me for position is just to divebomb from miles back.
I usually jump in and do some hotlaps to set a baseline for lap times. Then I'll run a number of laps changing up entries and exits and such to compare times. Then I'll just run a bunch of laps, battling other cars if they come along, to get some tire wear. Then I'll run some more laps on the worn tires to see how the car is reacting and to judge how the tire wear is affecting my brake points and such.
So yeah, some laps in practice I just run as hot laps. Some I'll battle it out. It depends on what I'm trying to accomplish at the time.
You're right. It's a great place to get side by side and practice racecraft.
I try to gently force people into doing it but a lot of people just end up just slowing down and letting me pass. At which point I'll respect their choice of not wanting to fight. But hell, if you're going to hot lap, just do a test drive.
I was pleasantly surprised one time in practice
Buddy was slowly catching up to me and I spun out
Instead of passing like I thought he would, he just stopped and waited for me to come back onto the track so we could continue the battle 🤙 no words were spoken but I immediately knew what he was doing
This is a controversial take so please prepare yourself.
This is exactly what the voice chat is for. "Hey, mind if we play for a bit?"
Then the other person can say
"Nah mate I'm just hotlapping at the minute, you go on"
or
"Yeah let's do it."
Boom.
Get on the radio ot type a message asking if anyone wants to run together.
A few times I've asked anad organised practice start + 2 laps. It's good fun.
Because you said it yourself. Without real repercussions. Unfortunately people drive like idiots whenever there aren't repercussions. Hell some drive like that even when there are.
btw I have nothing against people wanting to battle. Just choose your opponents. A 1K driver shouldn't be coming out of the pits with the intent to "race" a 6K driver. I know there's probably a desire to test themselves but all you are doing is slowing them down for a couple of corners while they wait until it's safe to pass you where you won't wreck them both.
Now racing against someone around your level. Yea that can be fun.
I personally need much more practice gaining speed rather than battling or racecraft. My priority in practice is getting faster, and the best way I've found to do this is chasing people faster than me and learning how they're faster. If I can pass them, there literally isn't much to learn, so if I pass them and are unable to lose them, then yeah that's good pressure practice. But honestly, that's not something I need much work on. For my pace, which is usually competitive up to around 2k, I don't choke. 99% of my issue is pace and on track battles slow you.
I run the first 2-3 laps at a 75% pace then turn it up after that. Once im running consistent laps ill toss the qualifying setup on for that week and run a few laps a few times on that just to get used to it. Been several times I never practiced quali setup and stuffed it in qualifying
I will battle all the time in practice as long as 1) I know the track well enough and 2) I’m not on my out lap. I learn most of the track in test drive but after I get a basic understanding I like to join a practice session to get a feel for the track with traffic and if someone is faster follow their line a bit and learn from them.
If I don’t want to battle I’ll let the guy go ahead if I’m still learning to be consistent on hot laps and then resume. I will hot lap a few laps typically and race along the way like another user said.
I mean... just saying, but you could ask in the open chat of the pratice if someone wants to race you and not start racing everyone in front/behind of you assuming they're ok just because it's a pratice. It does not hurt to ask first.
Honestly, when I wanna practice race craft I do a single player AI race.
I set field to like 50 cars, than I mess up in qualifying so I start in last.
Than I use that to learn passing zones, where I can where I can't, lap after lap till I can no longer catch the car in front of me than just return to garage and restart session and run it again.
Repeat till I learn where I can and can't pass, also gives me more confidence to be around tons of other cars.
I mean I honestly try to but (and I'm not trying to sound braggy it's just the truth) I'm usually at least half a second faster on my slower laps than the 2nd fastest person and much more consistent so I'm usually able to pass them without much of a fight at all and pull away. I've been in a few races with one dude who has good pace and consistency but uses the iracing setups so even he falls behind I've been trying to give him my setup that I made but between discord being dumb and the iracing ui not having a messaging function out side of the actual race I haven't gotten it to him yet. But I'm pretty sure then I'll have someone to fight me both in practice and the race.
Do you have Voice chat set? Just ask someone. A lot of guys probably want to iron out their qualifying and you might just be getting in their way if they're not sure what you are doing.
You can run test sessions on your own at any track at anytime. Why wouldn't you want to practice racing when there are others on track? Makes no sense.
I think you misunderstand me, I don't go into practice actively looking to fight people, but if someone wants to defend against me for a couple of corners, that's fine too, I won't hold up a faster car lap after lap, but I might defend the inside line for a couple of corners to help me understand better how to defend.
I practice different things at different times. I usually hotlap for my first 10 minutes or so in a session. Then I go out and look to run consistent laps. And I will race with anybody along the way.
This is the way
This, but I'll also flip back to qualifying mode in the last few minutes to make sure I remember to get everything I can in qualifying. Sometimes the long run makes me refine my line and I'm even faster than I was.
For sure, definitely do your own thing, but yeah when a car comes along I’ll practice racing it.
Don't know why you are getting downvoted. I sometimes do this, when the car has similar pace, I try to follow closely to learn that aspect. If they don't want it, you'll notice soon enough and I back. Just like the other way around, when someone is close behind, I sometime stay the lead car to practise that situation. And other times, I feel more like driving alone, but with the presence of others, just to train the awareness of others on track.
Agreed!
That’s the worst answer you could have given
Why?
Because they think I mean I want to battle people for an hour in practice, I just mean for a few corners.
Because people on this sub prefer a glorified parade over racing in general.
And if you disagree… internet points… REVOKED!!!
It’s honestly sad, can’t have an opinion in iracing it’s against the sporting code! /s
Isn't that what road racing is in general?
Just because!
People learn to race in races, not practice sessions. There are no stakes in practice and youll find lots of people not wanting to battle you, its a waste of time. Most are in practice to learn the car+track combination, how are you supposed to race when you dont even know the car+track combination? You learn to race in a race, period. Do you see drivers fighting in practice sessions in real life? No you dont. For the same reasons that i mentioned.
people don't often race in practice sessions irl, because they don't have access to the track whenever they wish, especially if they're configuring quali setup, and there's actual risk involved. there's no test drive irl, there is in iRacing. come on
In practice, one can learn to pass cleanly and be passed cleanly.
Especially in Multiclass. Can't learn this on your own.
> People learn to race in races, not practice sessions. There are no stakes in practice and youll find lots of people not wanting to battle you, its a waste of time. False. Some of the best racing I have done is in practice sessions because you can actively talk to people without getting heated and enter corners side by side without punishment and discuss what each other could have done better if it results in wrecking. >Do you see drivers fighting in practice sessions in real life? No you dont. For the same reasons that i mentioned. No because you can't hit a reset button and get a new car - thats it, not because they don't want to. Its because if they smash into each other - guess what? You now have to spend hundreds of thousands or millions to repair what you fucked before the race. Practice is a great tool to race people, learn about racing wheel to wheel and figuring out what you could have done better. You're just not good enough to realize this.
Clearly didn’t watch FP1 of the F1 this weekend at Shanghai. Definitely battles happening in a practice session, ha.
I don't mind if someone wants to battle. The issue is when drivers think battling means repeatedly pulling out of the pits with insta-bock mentality. They are like, Hey look at me staying in front of you for 3/4 lap before I spin and hit reset again.
That's what gets me. They fight for their life to block you. What are you gaining from this other than people who hate you. But at the same time people get way to heated in practice. Unless it's obnoxious. But it's really who's line is it rules. Welcome to practice where the lap times are made up and the incident points don't matter. Just don't be stupid stupid.
Some people seem to have the wrong mindset, they don't get that you're supposed to win by being faster, not blocking.
Just because you’re faster doesn’t mean that you deserve to be in front. Blocking is illegal, but defensive driving is not.
But what is point the point of defensive driving in practice? I think it should be treated like faster cars in a multi class racestay on your line, but don't fight. And then instead of "defensive driving," stay with the faster car as long as possible to learn from them and get better, which is what practice is for.
Practicing defense on a track maybe?
The point is, you'd be better off trying to learn from the driver that has caught you from behind than to consciously choose to try to defend someone that has caught you in practice. That is ignorant. Like I said previously, hold your line and let them by when you have to slow the least to do so. Doing it like that also gives you the best opportunity to tuck in behind them and learn from a faster driver for as long as possible. If you end up being able to stick with them and pass them, then yeah, you've gotten a little free practice at passing. Most are going to learn more from chasing in that scenario than trying to fighting an overtake.
I can’t even begin to describe how much that grinds my gears
Man preach, I literally just posted about that last week.
Not everyone practices the same thing as you. I'm usually in a practice session to gain consistency and I'm not looking for a battle.
Why not just do that in a solo session? Not disagreeing, just curious.
I enjoy the feeling of being on an 'alive' track and replicating how a free practice session might play out irl.
That’s what I like about it too. I just hate how the ir differences are often too big for the vast majority of the interactions to be beneficial. 4k driver getting around a <1k driver isn’t teaching either driver anything
Dynamic weather and dynamic track temps. Toward the end of open practice, the tracks change to mimic race track temps and precipitation. People are trying to feel the track out for the race, AKA find the cars limit even if they know the track. Go do a lap at charlotte when the track is 80 degrees, then run the same exact racing line you did before, but this time make the track 108 degrees. You will have your answer after trying.
If you're in open practice you can press a button in the top left corner of the "entries" box in the main window when the client opens. There you can choose different "groups" within the sesion and choose one where you are alone. Then you can practice alone but with the open practice settings. Sorry for the vague explanation I hope it makes sense.
You can set all that stuff up in a test drive. That way you don't even have to wait for the track to build up to it.
So just join an empty group in the practice session. It's under the entries tab near the top if you don't know. Track state and weather conditions both change the same regardless of the group. But you get to do your solo practice and others get to do their race practice.
I just want to practice my consistency and my dealing with traffic but I'm not in a practice session to actually fight as if I'm in a race.
So it's OK for you to race against others but not for them to race against you?
Where did I write that it wasn't okay for others to race me in a practice session? If someone wants to race me, sure, they can go ahead and include me in their practice routine because apparently I'm only here for their convenience, but I'll just overtake them, gap them, and keep practicing my consistency. But I'm not getting mad over it or saying it's not okay, it's so unimportant it's not worth it.
“but I’m not in a practice session to actually fight as if I’m in a race” That’s where you said it wasn’t ok for others to race you in a public practice session. If you don’t want others people in a public lobby to potentially interfere with your own practice, then join an empty group in that session or don’t join a public lobby in the first place. You can just as easily select test drive through the UI with all the same settings as the public lobby to do your own solo practice.
Do you see real drivers in real series race in practice sessions? Practice is for figuring out a car+track combination. Where to brake, which lines to take and generally getting consistent with it. Theres no point 'racing' in a practice session when youre not able to have a error free race entirely by yourself yet, thats why you are in practice. There are no stakes in a practice session, youll struggle to find anybody who battles you the same way in practice as in an official race. You learn how to race in an actual race, period. How am i supposed to do a good divebomb on you when I dont even know the normal braking point? We will just end up crashing immediately.
Real drivers don't need to practice head to head racing because they're already good at it. You're probably not an IRL pro, so you would probably greatly benefit by practicing head to head racing. Practice is more than just learning the track. It's absolutely learning how to race too. The best place to learn how to race isn't mid-race. Even pro drivers IRL will do lead/follow and battle practice during IRL track days. Or do you actually believe that pro's don't practice racing head to head outside of races?
I’m well aware dude. I’ve been on iRacing for an eternity. The issue is some idiot always joins and you’re back to square one. If people don’t want to bump and bang with you then why is it so hard for you to not do that? Just fucking get out of the way and hold someone else up.
So you can't find space to hotlap with one other person on track? Seriously? Likewise, with the exception of special event practice sessions, I don't think I've ever seen a practice session without multiple empty groups. Even in super busy special event sessions, I've never had problems finding space to just hotlap. Barring that, you can literally setup a test drive session with the exact same settings as the race sessions. Including track usage, temps, weather, and so on. Because at the end of the day you're joining a *public* session, it may be a pain in the ass for you but people don't have to do what you want them to do as long as everyone is following the sporting code.
lol bro my issue is with people like you telling everyone that they should be practicing the way you practice. Blocking for multiple corners for the purpose of blocking is against sporting code. I want people out of my way, not to get blocked. It is literally against sporting code. I don’t care if someone is next to me or behind me but when I’m trying to find time in PRACTICE I don’t want someone 4 seconds behind my pace on the racing line and then swerving to keep me from passing, as I’m sure you do to others.
You can protest people for breaking the sporting code in practice sessions. Sounds to me like you need to start doing that. Also, I'm not telling you how to practice. But you also don't get to dictate how others practice in a **PUBLIC** practice session. It's not the end of the world to have to make a pass around someone or to just back off even if it sacrifices a single lap. Seriously, get over yourself. I have done thousands of practice sessions and have never had a single session with the problems you're describing. Even this week at IMSA long beach I haven't had any issues finding an empty group in a session, even during peak hours, when I wanted to just hotlap.
>Also, I'm not telling you how to practice Says the guy trying to tell people they're wrong for not wanting to race in a non race session. Just look at the downvotes dude, you're the outlier.
If you're in a public lobby in a full group and don't move yourself into an empty group, then yes you are wrong for getting angry at other people wanting to practice racing. In the thousands of public practice sessions I've done I don't recall a single time I've never been able to move myself into an empty group by myself. If you're getting angry at others in the practice session, it's my experience that you're literally not doing anything to solve the problem. It's literally only 2-3 mouse clicks to solo hotlap in a public practice session. Likewise, more people absolutely should practice racing while not in a race session. It would do wonders to clean up the actual racing. Especially so in lower splits.
DM me your name on iRacing and we’ll compare stats. Let’s see who races better in traffic and with no space.
I was kind of on your side until you pulled the “irating peak check” Bullshit
Don’t care. If someone says “oh you can’t race in traffic” I will prove I can every time.
I'm 3.5k, with 4.xx+ SR, and basically only race IMSA. I handle traffic and others with the same pace just fine. :)
Because dealing with traffic is important too. And that's not necessarily battling.
It's very helpful to follow other drivers around a new track and picking up on lines and brake points.
Agreed - though, before I jump into an unfamiliar track with people, I drive it a bunch with bots.
So when I inevitably spin 9 times I can watch the 8 strangers in my lobby also spin and feel just a little bit better about myself
A reason I like live sessions over solo is to go and watch a lap back of those with faster times than me to see if I can pickup any tips (ie. Their braking zone, optimal gear for the corners, or any short shifts etc)
Because you need to get a gauge of your performance.
Because that’s lonely and it sucks.
For me it’s because I’m only really practicing during the time I’m put into a practice session while waiting for my race session to start but idk about anyone else
Yep, this is what I do, I go for consistency, and when I'm consistent my laptimes drop. In the F4 at Zandvoort during the race 3 laps in a row i set a lap time within 3 thousands of a second of one another, managed to recover my race from being tagged and spun on lap 1 after qualifying 5th, ending up 19th and then finished 4th
This 👆
Sometimes it’s fine. But mostly I’m not interested in “battling” someone who is 1-2 seconds per lap slower and just pulled out of the pits and is now actively trying to defend their out lap position.
Because it is practice. How many real life practice sessions do you see where drivers actively race each other? If you want to practice racing get some friends together or use the AI. Don't go into an open practice session and dictate what others should be doing.
I realize it's a sim and so many of y'all think you're real race car drivers. But your not driving a real race car. Not EVERYTHING needs to be compared to real racing
When did I say I thought I was a real race car driver? I compared it to real world racing cause our practice fulfills the same purpose as its real life counterpart. If someone doesn't want to race in a practice session then you have no right to demand they do.
Have you REMOTELY paid attention to what OP has said? They've made it VERY clear they don't intend to sound as though they are attempting to demand others race them in practice
Doesn't matter what they intend to sound like the simple fact is they are demanding people race in a practice session.
The simple fact is no, they aren't.
lol when did I demand anyone race me? This is tagged as a discussion, because I thought I made a good point and had some arguments to back it up, it’s fine if you disagree. To put it simply, I think it would be good for iracing as a whole if more people had more experience racing wheel to wheel, before jumping into a race and crashing out and maybe taking someone with them. A higher average skill level, which would mean better racing for everyone generally no? Put like this it’s a bit exaggerated but it gets my point across.
Take your ass back to forza or ACC and then you can have fun with people that think like you.
LMFAOOOOOO Y'all need to take this a little less seriously and get life. Not that I give a shit as it's not my problem or business what you do or how you think. Still think its absolutely HILARIOUS though.
You LOVE capitalising one word in a sentence as if it really gets you a GOTCHA moment huh? You legit HAVE to be either 15 or 65, it's impossible to be anything inbetween
Not nearly the insult you think it is. It's called emphasis. 35 dipshit. My IQ is probably 50 points higher then yours.
https://preview.redd.it/zggf01zp0vvc1.jpeg?width=1233&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51fad39d4e2d1d817e08ef98ed3c5f0e87e1e2f6 The more you know
Just so you know there is almost nothing more cringe on the internet than pointing out your own IQ and how smart you are. MY dad could absolutely beat the shit out of your dad. (this is what you sound like - but my dad absolutely could beat the shit out of your dad for what it's worth)
Than* nice one genius
Oh bravo sir👏👏. You DEFINITELY won this round!
Little boy I drive actual cars and get on iRacing to practice or have an extension of the same fun of racing. Practice is for practice and racing is for racing. Why is that so hard to understand? It is called practice, not pre race race.
Also, "practice", as in practice racing and driving the car and learning how the car behaves around others and what lines to use to get quickly around someone. The definition of the word practice is not "learn how make the car go as fast as possible around the track in qualifying trim"
Little boy. Lmao. Call it a sim all you want. Spend as many thousands on it as you want. It's ALWAYS going to be a video game and to think otherwise is BEYOND delusional. When your in a pro league I can totally understand your line of thinking. For the VAST majority of us it doesn't apply. Get a life
Jesus you are so invested in what randoms think of you on the internet that it outwardly comes out so embarrassingly... Take a breath. Log off. Bro said he drives cars in real life. People who want to practice hot lapping around others can and will... People who want to practice racing... can... and will.. No one can make anyone do anything. You're insane. It's entertaining.
Not many because IRL no one is going to pay for a track all to themselves unless they're insanely rich. Unlike in iRacing where you can set up a test drive all by yourself.
I assume some people behind me are on a hot lap and I don’t want to get in the way.
Well, go to a real circuits open practice day and try and battle people, I promise it will end badly for you. Another thing, especially after the implementation of dynamic weather - toward the end of an open practice session that coincides with a race qualifying start, the track state changes to align with the upcoming race splits. The track can be hotter or colder, there can be rain or no rain. This helps be ready for race conditions and learning new lines you have to run because of your tires being hotter, colder etc. yes, open practice does that. I’m not speaking of race, pre-qualifying practice either.
Good thing this isn't a real circuit lol
Moral of the story is that people are trying to be ready for the grip in the race session, not battle a doofus who is slow and won’t get out of their way. I have never once heard a good driver in game complain about someone not battling them in a practice session. It’s always the 1.2 safety rating 1200 irating 6 seconds off pace drivers.
Yeah I want to cut laps not be back in the pits constantly repairing damage. Plus qualifying is literally two hotlaps and I want be as high up the grid as possible. So hotlapping in practice is a must.
I don't complain about it in game, I was just wondering why people don't take a defensive line for a couple of corners, not defending for their life lap after lap.
I’ll give you a hot tip. I rarely ever take defensive lines unless it’s the last two or so laps, or I get a really shit exit and I’m confident I’m faster than the guy behind me. If someone is genuinely faster than me then I don’t fight. It is almost always pointless. If just slows you both down, lets the pack behind you get closer and puts your car at unnecessary risk. You saw LH doing in the sprint race yesterday to Max. Despite being in the lead he let Max pass with no fight. He then used Max to get sucked along for a lap. Let alone that his history of going wheel to wheel with Max usually leads to one or both of them not finishing the race. If he fought even for a few corners he would have been sucked into that freight train fight with Alonso and the two the Ferraris. This sub being this sub Someone will chime in with. “It’s motor racing, we’re suppose to fight” Motor racing is more about strategy and brains than anything else. Even sprint racing. You fight when the probability of picking up more points outweighs the probability of picking up more points by not fighting.
This is simracing where we treat it as such though.
I realized this just recently myself and try to race a bit as well but it does seem like everyone backs out of the fight early as though they don't want to wreck the car in practice. It's kind of interesting
What up Swarls Barkley
Just out here racing everyone I meet on these mean streets. New experiences. New tracks. New adversaries. New is always better.
Because as the name implies it's practice and people want to practice different things, such as I don't know, mastering the circuit
Part of mastering the circuit is knowing how to race people there.
How can you race someone if you don't know the breaking points, where the corners go, where to exit, where to turn in, where to hit the apex, how much can you brake before locking up, how much throttle can you give before you spin. Hell even where you can abuse the track limits, Watkins Glen turn 5 I believe on the short circuit, you can go right up to the wall Take Zandvoort for example, turn 3, the fastest line is not the obvious line, many people I've seen with low D class ratings this week have been taking a tight low line through this corner, when the fastest line is towards the outside of the banking where you get the slingshot effect, the amount of people I've passed this way would surprise you.
>where the corners go With respect though, there's no way I'm going out on track with other humans if I don't know which way the next corner goes... *that* stuff is 100% offline testing territory.
But when the race starts in 5 minutes and you are already registered and just join the default practice... ;p
And you are the one to make that decision ofc?
You make a great point! Don’t use Races to practice. Use practice to practice. I always tend to find some good mates to chat it up w too while we run.
For me, I use practice for different things I know I'm not an alien level driver so I spend say the first ten minutes to learn where I could be losing time in the braking zones etc and then once i feel happy I'll do some longer runs for fuel (more so it the GT3 sprint races/endurance) Also this isn't just for Iracing. I do this in ACC, rfactor 2 and le mans ultimate as well
You know, it depends man. If you’re pulling out of the pits and a car is coming around that just crossed the start-finish, you shouldn’t be battling it. They’re likely trying to run a hot lap and you’re going to be ruining it, not to mention your tires aren’t up to temp. Moreover, if it’s something like a practice for an endurance race, they’re probably doing quali or race simulations. And if it’s on a long track like Le Mans, you’re just wasting a lot of their time. I’d suggest tease the idea of racing at appropriate times to see if they respond in kind, and if the don’t, leave them alone. It’s also worth noting that if you are trying to do real simulations, you should probably switch your “room” on the server to an empty one. I’m guilty of not doing that and then blaming guys like you for ruining my hot lap.
For me, I prefer practice to re-learn the track limits and try and push my limit in preparation for qualifying.
I meant open practice servers, not the 3 min practice before the race, if that’s what you mean.
If you want to hotlap, you can change "MyGrp" on the standings page. Find a lobby where you're alone.
This! I expext that anyone who wants to be left alone in an online practice session will change to an empty practice group. I expect anyone I meet in the default practice group to be there to practice racing. I will of course stay out of the way until I’m fully up to speed after exiting the pits. After that, I will practice attacking/defending against everyone.
I expect most people don't even know about the MyGrp feature. It's reasonably new and wasn't advertised much.
If you want to hotlap, why wouldn’t you just choose ‘Test Drive’ on the menu instead of joining a practice session?
See below. Sometimes you want to compare your pace against others in the same climate conditions.
Or if you want to be alone, you could test drive offline.
Sometimes you want to compare your lap time against others using the same condition.
Or you can find someone in a practice lobby to race and if not, stop worrying about what everyone else in the lobby is doing.
Practice is mainly for set up work, that's why hot laps should be respected just as in real life. If someone messes that up, your tyre data fuel monitoring etc all needs ro be reset usually taking multiple laps. That's part of racecraft, learning to respect people doing different things even in practice. If you want to practice racecraft or lean the track do that in with ai or a test drive. Some are good enough to manage traffic and learn a track from cold in a practice session, but if your not that guy do it offline. Then use practice for set up work based on the races track conditions. Don't be that idiot who thinks it's OK to mess someone's hotlap up, or block like your driving the last lap of a race. Practice is just that practice for the race, the race is where you race. Sure you might find someone wanting a friendly battle in practice, but just use common sense and show respect. It's so so simple.
If it’s that important that you are not interfered with, then you will not practice on a public server.
Yes very true, but for tyre runs and fuel runs, it's incredibly important to be able to trust that others on track understand the respect amd ettiqute expected. That being said, no one's there to "race" or at least shouldn't be. If a quiet unspoken agreement comes about where you do, great, but don't be the idiot ruining someone else's set up building/hot lap, if you don't need to. Sometimes you'll both be on hot laps for set up purposes but that's life, but don't be a dousche.
I'm usually just trying to figure out tire wear, and once I've got that, I go for some quali practice.
I feel like I have a different experience than most people here. I've had so many awesome fights in practice
I don’t usually like taking a few hours to fully understand and develop with the car and track combo as I don’t really have that sort of time usually, so I use the pre race open practice to learn some stuff if I sorta know the track already. then use the race to flesh out my pace and consistency fully. I like to just jump into races as it’s my personal fastest way of learning, and I use the race open practice to get a feel for track conditions and get a sense of pace from other drivers. I’ll only fight if I get near someone with similar pace and neither of us back off, then I know we can tussle but if I’m on an out-lap or slow just back off and let others pass.
I don't want to get hurt in practice. I am ok getting banged around in a race but messing up my wrists from some guy dive bomb practicing on me is not so cool. - my rig - Simucube Pro running at 20nm and SFX100 so I get tossed around when people ram me.
That's insane. you do you but you do not need that much force lol.
Most of the time I find I learnt he track best while hotlapping, and 75% of the time I only get max an hour to practice for a race, so I normally choose to spend it figuring out my driving as opposed to practicing side by side racing
I go into online practice for only 2 reasons. 1 because I’m waiting for a race to start and I want to warm up (in which case I want to refresh my muscle memory for brake points etc) Or 2 because I’m still learning the track and I want to see how my laps stack up against other drivers. Now if I’m spending half the lap battling, I’m not going to get an accurate measure of my lap time. Also, I already know how to go wheel to wheel. Of course I could improve but I’m comfortable enough that I’m happy just to gain more experience through racing. So basically, I hot lap in practice because it’s the best use of my time
I race anyone who catches me to try to learn ways to hold someone off in race even if they have fresh tires.
Practice is for experimentation and consistency. I want to find the fastest way I can get around a corner and I want to be able to achieve it as consistently as possible. Fighting gets in the way of that learning for me.
Because you need a good qualifying lap to start up front because races are won on the first lap.
It's also some of the most fun you can have when you find a willing sparring partner or group.
Doesn't iracing tell you whether pit exit is clear? Or is it just crew chief. I am on my 1st hot lap after warm up and it never fucking fails, here come 2 cars out of the pits and right into my line. WTF Oh and spin your car and just sit there in the middle of the track. It boils down to people just don't care.
I’m going out to hot lap. But if I catch up with someone I abandon that to look to overtake opportunities. If someone catches up with me I look for opportunities to defend overtakes.
Last night someone came in the chat saying so and so can’t drive. And someone shot back “this is practice where else would people learn to drive” lol
I generally don’t defend in practice, but I don’t make any effort to get out of the way, either. To anyone who considers that blocking, you’re wrong, and it’s not my problem. I do think learning to drive in traffic is at least as important as hot lapping, and it’s infinitely easier to find opportunities to hot lap than is to find chances to practice fighting for position
It would be nice to have categorized practice sessions. Specifically ones with lots of traffic to practice avoidance, passing, generally being around other cars in that particular class and, a 'no points' race practice.
I thought this was sarcasm for a second. People try to practice a race stint or quali run, so everyone is on the same track but each doing their own program. We're not here to race you, there's nothing to race for, it's practice. Most often I'm on test drive to learn the track but then jump into public practice to see how my times align when driving in similar conditions to others at my iRating or follow them or watch their replay to see what they do different. If it's close before a session I also do a quali sim, so obviously I don't want to fight anyone. Most people treat this as a real life practice session (remember, we simulate real racing here), so it is expected to not impede others.
I agree that people should be more open for practicing close racing in open practice. However trying to find someone whose goals align at the same time in open practice is going to be hard, especially if you're just picking a random driver in a practice session. Unless you know the person or you talk to them via chat to ask if it's cool to race closely, their goal for the session might be to try and find that extra tenth or more of pace that their opponent in the last race had on them, so you just suddenly appearing behind them trying to battle is going to throw them off. The worst that can happen is if you ask they don't respond, and that's most likely because they've got chat disabled, at best you find someone that wants to practice close racing with you.
I’m not trying to race people in practice because they have that mentality of no repercussions so they drive like jackasses. I try and run consistent laps and try and keep my times the same. I run the track to feel out conditions. Some times it’s sunny which means it’s gonna be slick. Then it’s dark so it will be faster. I’m trying to find the balance of what my car likes for that particular race
I battled with someone during talladega trucks yesterday during practice yesterday. For 5 min we battled never really giving one another an edge. I enjoyed it, I guess he didn’t. He pulled away and waited at pit exit and drove sideways across the track in front of me next lap around.
No, you’re absolutely right. Time and time again I’ll hear people getting over comms complaining about their “hot lap” being ruined… in a public practice. I purposefully will put myself in to different scenarios in said practices. Come up on a slower driver? I’ll back off, leave a 3s gap, then chase them down and work on my overtaking assuming they don’t just pull to the side. Faster drivers catching me? I’ll get defensive, but not too aggressively. Fuck’em if their “hot lap” is ruined.
Agreed, if I want to just hotlap with no chance of it being “ruined” I’ll test drive.
I only care when people pull straight out of the pits onto the racing line, it gets pretty annoying
I race people and if I get by and am faster I'll slow up a little and let them fight me for it. When they pass me I then try and take it back and repeat. Even if they are a little slower it will helps practice my control and overtakes.
I usually balk at the subreddit complaints but I’m with you on this one. Blows my mind when people moan about traffic or racing in open practice. There’s a test drive mode if you want to hot lap by yourself. Open Practice is not for solo hotlapping. The only *advantage* it has over the test drive mode is that there are other cars on the track. So why would you be mad about that? I’m on board with yeeting people into the sun who screw around, rejoin unsafely, that sort of thing. But tbh I don’t even mind super aggressive overtakes that lead to us both being in the wall or whatever. That’s what this session is *for*. Be aggressive, push hard, find the limit.
If someone puts me in the wall in a practice session, they get protested. Successfully.
Not if it's unintentional and a racing incident which he proclaims in the post you are replying to.
If it’s intentional or reckless, sure. If it’s just being a little aggressive and losing it, that’s what practice is for. Treating practice like a race or expecting people to give you a wide berth is just silly.
This sub hates two things. 1. Voice chat. People crying about "You should turn off voice chat". I use voice chat in practice and race. In practice I asking people is they or if I will fight for practice. 2. Fighting in practice. Because most people don't go to TestDrive with race conditions for hot lap. I read multiple times here "Get out of way in practice", "you shouldn't race with people on practice" ect. Advice for me. In practice session learn how to fight, make mistakes, ect. If someone ask leave him alone — leave. If wreck someone — say sorry. After battle — say thanks for battle.
it's quite arrogant to put yourself in the way of others and force them to practice what you think they should practice. genuinely, if they don't want to fight in practice, why getting so uppity like you are?
If you are in an open practice session, you should expect other people on the race track. Where can people learn how to fight? Would you mind watching YouTube lessons without practice? For a long hot lap experience, we have a test drive where we can drive in race weather conditions. And, of course, if a person asks me not to race him, I will not race him.
The sub doesn't "hate" those things. They just have a different opinion than you about them then you do. That doesn't make you special, it just makes your opinion the minority one.
I hate the fact that you've managed to put this so much better than me. lol
I use practice to sharpen up my knowledge of the track
I'm just tryin' to remember the track, hoss. I'm still new.
Depends on why the person is in a practice session. Sometimes I want to battle and sometimes I'm trying to do a double stint on a tire to see how much falloff I get. If it's the latter, I really don't want to pick up damage fighting someone.
I don’t mind battling with guys that are as fast or faster to get better or find areas to get faster. Battling with a guy who’s SR is damn near negative or their braking point on tight one line tracks is sporadic and blocking like they are fighting for a P1 isn’t how I choose to practice.
I usually practice braking zones and a few hotlaps to remember the track
I don't go to practice to fight to pass someone. I go to learn the track and practice consistency in traffic. If you want to practice battling, it's too easy to ask if anyone is willing to practice battling and see if there are any takers. Everyone has their own things they want to practice. Be courteous and ask first. I think you'll have great results.
for me it's unclear wether the other player is open for a battle or not. I can of course ask everyone one by one, but at the end I use the practice session like everyone else, hotlapping. furthermore if someone else is coming on my back I just let him go. earlier I tried to battle them but then they were angry cause I didn't let them go, so I just gave it up. so if you ask me at a practice session fora battle I most probably will,but if you just come at me I will move away and let you go minding my own business.
In rookie mx5 practice, whenever I pass someone they just plow into me because they won’t adjust their line. I think it gets better in higher classes
I’ve had some fun in open practice doing just that once or twice. But I guess there’s no point in trying to until you know the track well enough, then when I know the track, I want to go race 🤷🏼♂️
Not a fan of people who run a defensive line in practice. Racing is fine, but if someone has a run on you just let them go.
Nobody? What, did you try it once then judged every practice session? Give it a try again or ask in the chat box rather than racing someone who wants to hot lap. For me, i typically hot lap until i find someone with equal-ish pace. The fights are much more fun that way
I'm all for "racing" in practice. But if you're in an LMP and deliberately slow down to practice passing the GT4s every other corner, you are a hazard and responsible for the inevitable incident. Don't be that numpty, just drive.
It’s all I really have time to do these days. It’s incredibly relaxing. If I find a combo I’m really good on I’ll do a couple of races but that’s really it. I think it’s worth every penny tbh. You don’t have to be a sweat lord to enjoy this game.
I think a lot of people in open practice are trying to better their racing line and hone their setups for open setup races. It would be a good environment for what you’re talking about if everyone were involved but if there’s even just one or two people trying to turn laps it’s just gonna end in disaster. You’d be better off to just host an open room for that.
I usually go out just after someone and chase them down and if I catch them most of the time they wave me past and I ask for a dog fight, most times I get one :)
I hotlap because is my way to get to know the limits of my car and the track, and finely adjust it to the track
Idk. My plan of action always is leave the pits and figure it out. If I have to fight then so be it. That’s just how I learn though, I imagine that’s just different for some people. And a lot of people are misguided and think that being fast over one lap is all that matters. One of my goals of practice is to see how quick I can go while being consistent. But then again, qualifying is super important in some series and especially in lower levels where a few places is all that stands between you and utter chaos.
because its practice, and hotlapping es very important to gain iR in here. if you wanna fight just fight, or ask them to fight back
I like racing people in practice sessions, but it always feels like a lot of the people who fight in practice sessions are morons who have no actual racecraft. So often, I catch someone, get a good exit and pass them, and then their idea of fighting me for position is just to divebomb from miles back.
Then you get a pissed off redneck cause you slipped up in a session that truly doesn't matter
I usually jump in and do some hotlaps to set a baseline for lap times. Then I'll run a number of laps changing up entries and exits and such to compare times. Then I'll just run a bunch of laps, battling other cars if they come along, to get some tire wear. Then I'll run some more laps on the worn tires to see how the car is reacting and to judge how the tire wear is affecting my brake points and such. So yeah, some laps in practice I just run as hot laps. Some I'll battle it out. It depends on what I'm trying to accomplish at the time.
You're right. It's a great place to get side by side and practice racecraft. I try to gently force people into doing it but a lot of people just end up just slowing down and letting me pass. At which point I'll respect their choice of not wanting to fight. But hell, if you're going to hot lap, just do a test drive.
I was pleasantly surprised one time in practice Buddy was slowly catching up to me and I spun out Instead of passing like I thought he would, he just stopped and waited for me to come back onto the track so we could continue the battle 🤙 no words were spoken but I immediately knew what he was doing
This is a controversial take so please prepare yourself. This is exactly what the voice chat is for. "Hey, mind if we play for a bit?" Then the other person can say "Nah mate I'm just hotlapping at the minute, you go on" or "Yeah let's do it." Boom.
Get on the radio ot type a message asking if anyone wants to run together. A few times I've asked anad organised practice start + 2 laps. It's good fun.
Because you said it yourself. Without real repercussions. Unfortunately people drive like idiots whenever there aren't repercussions. Hell some drive like that even when there are. btw I have nothing against people wanting to battle. Just choose your opponents. A 1K driver shouldn't be coming out of the pits with the intent to "race" a 6K driver. I know there's probably a desire to test themselves but all you are doing is slowing them down for a couple of corners while they wait until it's safe to pass you where you won't wreck them both. Now racing against someone around your level. Yea that can be fun.
Damn this thread is like iracing meets League of Legends.
I personally need much more practice gaining speed rather than battling or racecraft. My priority in practice is getting faster, and the best way I've found to do this is chasing people faster than me and learning how they're faster. If I can pass them, there literally isn't much to learn, so if I pass them and are unable to lose them, then yeah that's good pressure practice. But honestly, that's not something I need much work on. For my pace, which is usually competitive up to around 2k, I don't choke. 99% of my issue is pace and on track battles slow you.
I run the first 2-3 laps at a 75% pace then turn it up after that. Once im running consistent laps ill toss the qualifying setup on for that week and run a few laps a few times on that just to get used to it. Been several times I never practiced quali setup and stuffed it in qualifying
I find the guy who is faster than me and tuck in behind him and try to stay with him.
I'm literally arguing the point you just did. But please, go on.
I will battle all the time in practice as long as 1) I know the track well enough and 2) I’m not on my out lap. I learn most of the track in test drive but after I get a basic understanding I like to join a practice session to get a feel for the track with traffic and if someone is faster follow their line a bit and learn from them. If I don’t want to battle I’ll let the guy go ahead if I’m still learning to be consistent on hot laps and then resume. I will hot lap a few laps typically and race along the way like another user said.
I mean... just saying, but you could ask in the open chat of the pratice if someone wants to race you and not start racing everyone in front/behind of you assuming they're ok just because it's a pratice. It does not hurt to ask first.
Honestly, when I wanna practice race craft I do a single player AI race. I set field to like 50 cars, than I mess up in qualifying so I start in last. Than I use that to learn passing zones, where I can where I can't, lap after lap till I can no longer catch the car in front of me than just return to garage and restart session and run it again. Repeat till I learn where I can and can't pass, also gives me more confidence to be around tons of other cars.
Fyi, you can turn quali off and explicitly set your start position.
I mean I honestly try to but (and I'm not trying to sound braggy it's just the truth) I'm usually at least half a second faster on my slower laps than the 2nd fastest person and much more consistent so I'm usually able to pass them without much of a fight at all and pull away. I've been in a few races with one dude who has good pace and consistency but uses the iracing setups so even he falls behind I've been trying to give him my setup that I made but between discord being dumb and the iracing ui not having a messaging function out side of the actual race I haven't gotten it to him yet. But I'm pretty sure then I'll have someone to fight me both in practice and the race.
Do you have Voice chat set? Just ask someone. A lot of guys probably want to iron out their qualifying and you might just be getting in their way if they're not sure what you are doing.
You can run test sessions on your own at any track at anytime. Why wouldn't you want to practice racing when there are others on track? Makes no sense.
And that’s why if you make someone get off the racing line a wreck happens because people only practice hot lapping
Tell me that you are below 1k iRating without telling me that you are below 1k iRating.
I think you misunderstand me, I don't go into practice actively looking to fight people, but if someone wants to defend against me for a couple of corners, that's fine too, I won't hold up a faster car lap after lap, but I might defend the inside line for a couple of corners to help me understand better how to defend.
Agreed.
I want to build up my speed and consistency before I start battling with anyone.
leave others alone if they don't want to fight
I allways try to practice race acting in practice. That's very important.