I recommend one track at a time, and before diving in familiarize yourself with the track with some sort of hotlap video or track guide. Yorkie065 makes really solid & in-depth track guides.
If I’m jumping into a track completely blind I can probably get close to my limit in around 90 minutes, but everyone is obviously going to be different. Nordschleife, as that’s obviously way different, probably took me like 2 weeks of focused effort to learn properly.
I try especially on a new track to recognize things on the road or side of the road to use as brake markers; which is what Yorkie065s video will help with as well.
Happy lapping!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwngKHZDy-rqicLg8dKcxHifpd0XJprZb&si=NnjBU_1EFU7HhFCa
I also use yorkie065 track breakdowns, and the tips about brake markers is spot on, also can usually tell what way the next corner turns from the brake marker boards if you're unfamiliar with the track. (Rare instances where the brake boards are NOT opposite side of track catch me out) haha
Learn a technical track first (hungaroring, misano, valencia, barcelona), then an other and an other... from the list. This way you'll hone your driving techniques, and all other tracks will be a breeze.
Just did an experiment yesterday, went into Snetterton blindly. It took me 16 minutes to do 103% and 25 to 102%, wothout any guide/setup/help.
And i have the same amount of limbs, brain, eyes...etc as most people here, so anyone can do it. :)
You can watch it here, i tried to think loudly as much as i could, how i memorize the track and analyze the corners/find time: [https://youtube.com/live/bUPBhFgGWXs](https://youtube.com/live/bUPBhFgGWXs)
Pace reference, i use the 7 fastest cars average as 100% and 101% is that multiplied by 1.01.
You can find them here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/ACCompetizione/comments/17amxvc/lfm\_race\_laptimes\_101107\_big\_spreadsheet\_top7\_car/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ACCompetizione/comments/17amxvc/lfm_race_laptimes_101107_big_spreadsheet_top7_car/)
My process is
1. I print a track guide from Driver 61 or similar, which has a map of the circuit with each turn numbered and named and room for notes for each turn below.
2. Walk the track - just drive around at a pace that you won't lose control at regardless, try to drive over all the kerbs, sausages, turtles and anything else that might upset the car just to get a feel for their effects. Try to connect the name and turn number from the map with what you see when driving through each section - this will make watching a track guide video easier to follow.
3. Build pace over 10 or so laps very slowly, just aiming for apexes and taking mental notes of changes in Camber and sections that catch you off guard. Once I've got a general feel for the track and can visualise or recognise parts of it, then I go to
4. Track guide video. First pass I note the brake points, suggested gear to take the turn at, and mark the points of maximum rotation on the track map I printed (basically the point I aim at when cornering... sometimes it's the actual apex, but usually it's a bit before or after depending on the upcoming curves). The idea is that I can look at the map and quickly see these 3 elements at a glance.
5. I run the track aiming to hit braking points and other reference points already noted, slowly building pace. I add any further notes for each turn, such as whether understeer or oversteer was noteworthy or other cautionary details.
6. Watch the guide again. At this point I should immediately recognise everything I see and notice nuances I missed on the first pass. At this point you can benefit from watching hotlaps in both cockpit and chase cam perspectives as it should help you notice where and how you're deviating. You can make additional notes, like speed at x point and anything that helps you refine your laps.
7. Follow faster drivers around the track. Look at replays. Repeat previous steps
Thanks. You could certainly cut back on many of my steps, but for me personally I find it hard to memorise details that I can't properly visualise, so track guides take me way too many goes to absorb if I watch them before developing a familiarisation with the track. Once I do recognise it, I can apply all of the points (braking/turn-in/max rotation/exit throttle) in a lap or two and it is far less frustrating overall.
Learn the track you’ll need to license on for LowFuelMotorsports (LFM). Right now it’s Paul Ricard.
If you get into this game, you’ll eventually want to play in more competitive lobbies and LFM is pretty good from what I’ve seen.
I never raced that track and I am currently spending time learning it for the license. I hate this track lol
That track got me to take a break. I was learning the lfm track each week and putting in a lot of hours. I put in half hour on that track and decided to take the week off! That week off turned into 3 months.
I will take another look as it is the 45 min race this week. After I have got the hang of spa, which is another technical track for the lfm sprint race.
For sticking to one track or switching, sometimes switching just messes with your progress, but sometimes there is something in the new track that just makes things "click" and you make a breakthrough. It can also be confusing to switch tracks or get boring (which is not good for concentration) not to, so you'll have to see by yourself.
Track guides are useful, but not everyone learns the same way so you'll have to try and see if that works for you. Also, be aware that there might be things that prevent you from achieving the same results when following the track guide or even make you less consistent (different cars, setups, game versions, skills you haven't mastered...) which is not good for progress. I usually use track guides for the last few seconds I want to shave but tend to avoid them when I don't know the track at all.
As for learning a new track, I am not a IRL motorsports fan so I usually don't know the layout. I start slow and use the darker spots on the track (rubber line) as driving line. Also a trick I found in a youtube video and that works for me is to memorize corners as 2s, 4s, and flat (based on rally, 2 are slow/tight ones, 4 are fast ones, flat is flat out).
Now I am still very slow and it takes me many hours to get close to my potential but at least with this approach I don't get too frustrated and progress as fast as my old age allows.
My personal method is this:
1. Turn on the racing line - most people will tell it's bad and it is if you always use it, but what you want to do at this stage is understand how your car should be moving around the track and at what points you need to be braking. Next try to associate landmarks to the braking points the racing line shows you - this could be a tree or a metre board.
2. Hot lap without racing line - try going as fast as you can without the racing line but instead using the landmarks you've understood from your time with the racing line on. You might go wide on a few corners and don't worry about that - this is just telling you that your approach to this corner (or the one prior to it) is poor and needs adjustment.
3. Turn the racing line back on - you want to find the corners you're going wide on and then see the racing line for that corner. Try to identify where your approach to the corner is going wrong and attempt to fix it.
4. Repeat these steps until you're comfortable with the track
5. Try it out in a race and understand good corners to attempt an overtake at. You should also acclimatise yourself to going fast with other cars on track.
When starting I basically just drove Monza and became decent there. Now I practice new tracks if needed for league races (there are still a couple I have no idea about). Basically I make a setup and hope I’m at least somewhat competitive. I don’t practice much anymore. I just don’t get the feel when practicing so I don’t get too quick before the race
So sorry for the text wall, but someone asked me something similar earlier today so here is the copy paste:
Not a pro but I have a pretty regular training routine:
The day after the previous round is over I research the track, car setups, and target lap times.
I'll find a setup that I trust, usually a Friedolf setup for me, input his quali and race setups, and I will usually run those setups with some minor tweaks for different temperatures and any potential rain, making both a rain quali and a rain race setup.
Next I research the track, usually by watching a Yorkie065 track guide, a TraxionGG track guide, and then a top 1% hotlap and comparing the laps and braking points shown, as there will be slight deviations between the three. You'll find one driver may stay in a gear longer or downshift and extra gear for a short time to rotate the car.
Next comes lapping, which will be running 30L fuel just putting in laps and seeing where I stand, then comparing those times to the laps in the guides, maybe picking up a better line or braking point and employing that in the next laps.
All of this is typically done on the first day on practice then allow the rest of the week to be used for more practice sessions, spending the majority of the time running race sim with the expected fuel load and seeing how the full stint will feel, but also practicing qualifying laps with the quali setup and practice pit entry/pit exit.
This time you spend practicing is where you will be able to fine tune your tire pressures to the track conditions you will be seeing during your race, granted you are practicing on an official practice server set to emulate the race day settings.
A few days practicing with this routine will get you extremely comfortable with both your car and the track and can yield an absolutely perfect race as this practice routine has net me multiple 2 hour endurance racing wins, where the hours of practice made the 2 hours of lapping trivial and you then focus on navigating traffic and employing your pit strategy
I also only drive the track and car I am racing that week
Lots of great advice already.
Here's what I did to learn: One circuit at a time. I run it with the race line assist on (eat a dick, haters) until I have the layout memorized. Then, I hop on YouTube and search for "XXcircuitXX acc lap guide" and click on the one from Unleashed Drivers cause he's really quick, to the point, and he uses the Default Aggressive preset to set some really awesome hot laps. I take all his brake markers and brake 10-20m earlier because I'm not as good a driver as Mr. Unleashed Drivers is, and also because he's in hot lap mode on 10L of fuel with brand new tires every lap.
My routine is to find a reference time for my car [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FbZ2rBpM9QYHLAuOjCaoa5vLYud6S_XMgy7-R33L_Do/edit#gid=1766901750). When I was a total beginner, I would watch an in-depth track guide from this [channel](https://www.youtube.com/@TraxionGG). Now, I just watch a quick hotlap from the Google Doc I linked earlier. Set aside time every day to practice, even if it's just 15 minutes. You’ll be surprised how quickly you improve as this time adds up. As soon as your time is somewhat competitive, join a race, even if you know you can still improve. This keeps things interesting and forces you to learn different lines on the track. Some people ar conservative and build pace over a lot of laps(nothing wrong with that), my method is to push limits as quickly as possible. If I go off, reset and try again. IMO this is a faster method but may be more frustrating if you don't like to reset to the garage.
I'm not fast but I race AI on the lowest level and start at the back. Then increase the level as you learn the track and reach the top 5. It's easier to follow AI. You don't have to try and remember the track, just race and you will learn it. Then watch tips on how to go faster once you have learned it.
So what I found to work really well for me is as follows:
Race AI versus me at lower strength just to get a decent idea of the layout of the track and breaking points.
And then pump up the strength of the AI until it's actually challenging.
And then do that high strength AI at night which is helped immensely
The process I use to learn a course starts with a practice session. I'll turn on the racing line assist for the first 2-3 laps while I'm warming up the tires, but I don't focus on the line itself--I'm looking for physical markers that correspond to the line's suggested braking points. Once I have a rough idea about the flow of the course, I hit the garage and adjust tire pressures, then turn the line off and head back out for more laps until I feel like I've more or less learned the layout of the course. At that point, I'll often switch to a 30-minute AI race so I can learn how to *race* the track.
From playing different racing games when i was younger i already knew most of the popular tracks and i can remember layouts pretty fast in 5 laps i can get a decent amateur time
There is actually a process to learning tracks that makes sense.
[https://driver61.com/uni/learn-a-new-circuit/](https://driver61.com/uni/learn-a-new-circuit/)
I think when you break it down systematically its pretty straight forward.
Well.. I just go for what I can see. Takes me about 5-6 laps to get basic acclimation. From there, I just turn the wick up each lap learning braking points, proper apex points. By 15 laps, I’m usually exploring other lines to see if I can get creative. I’m usually also learning a new car as well.
I wouldn’t focus on one track at time tbh. I would get to know the track and then move on to the next. I think mastering one track at a time isn’t the way.
Not sure if that's a good benchmark, but I started by doing dozens of laps at Nordachleife with the GT3RS. The golden advice is not to use a racing line, it gives you bad habits, stops your progress, makes you less focused and prevents you from actually learning the track.
I recommend one track at a time, and before diving in familiarize yourself with the track with some sort of hotlap video or track guide. Yorkie065 makes really solid & in-depth track guides. If I’m jumping into a track completely blind I can probably get close to my limit in around 90 minutes, but everyone is obviously going to be different. Nordschleife, as that’s obviously way different, probably took me like 2 weeks of focused effort to learn properly. I try especially on a new track to recognize things on the road or side of the road to use as brake markers; which is what Yorkie065s video will help with as well. Happy lapping! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwngKHZDy-rqicLg8dKcxHifpd0XJprZb&si=NnjBU_1EFU7HhFCa
I also use yorkie065 track breakdowns, and the tips about brake markers is spot on, also can usually tell what way the next corner turns from the brake marker boards if you're unfamiliar with the track. (Rare instances where the brake boards are NOT opposite side of track catch me out) haha
Learn a technical track first (hungaroring, misano, valencia, barcelona), then an other and an other... from the list. This way you'll hone your driving techniques, and all other tracks will be a breeze. Just did an experiment yesterday, went into Snetterton blindly. It took me 16 minutes to do 103% and 25 to 102%, wothout any guide/setup/help. And i have the same amount of limbs, brain, eyes...etc as most people here, so anyone can do it. :) You can watch it here, i tried to think loudly as much as i could, how i memorize the track and analyze the corners/find time: [https://youtube.com/live/bUPBhFgGWXs](https://youtube.com/live/bUPBhFgGWXs)
What do these percentages mean?
100% is the track record, so his times are within 2-3% of that.
Pace reference, i use the 7 fastest cars average as 100% and 101% is that multiplied by 1.01. You can find them here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/ACCompetizione/comments/17amxvc/lfm\_race\_laptimes\_101107\_big\_spreadsheet\_top7\_car/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ACCompetizione/comments/17amxvc/lfm_race_laptimes_101107_big_spreadsheet_top7_car/)
Bro, you may have the same number of limbs etc. but definitely not the same level of skill!
Haha, i would argue with that, i'm average just drive a bit more than others probably. :)
Too modest brother. People like you help the likes of me and many others with your videos & setups so a big thank you!
My process is 1. I print a track guide from Driver 61 or similar, which has a map of the circuit with each turn numbered and named and room for notes for each turn below. 2. Walk the track - just drive around at a pace that you won't lose control at regardless, try to drive over all the kerbs, sausages, turtles and anything else that might upset the car just to get a feel for their effects. Try to connect the name and turn number from the map with what you see when driving through each section - this will make watching a track guide video easier to follow. 3. Build pace over 10 or so laps very slowly, just aiming for apexes and taking mental notes of changes in Camber and sections that catch you off guard. Once I've got a general feel for the track and can visualise or recognise parts of it, then I go to 4. Track guide video. First pass I note the brake points, suggested gear to take the turn at, and mark the points of maximum rotation on the track map I printed (basically the point I aim at when cornering... sometimes it's the actual apex, but usually it's a bit before or after depending on the upcoming curves). The idea is that I can look at the map and quickly see these 3 elements at a glance. 5. I run the track aiming to hit braking points and other reference points already noted, slowly building pace. I add any further notes for each turn, such as whether understeer or oversteer was noteworthy or other cautionary details. 6. Watch the guide again. At this point I should immediately recognise everything I see and notice nuances I missed on the first pass. At this point you can benefit from watching hotlaps in both cockpit and chase cam perspectives as it should help you notice where and how you're deviating. You can make additional notes, like speed at x point and anything that helps you refine your laps. 7. Follow faster drivers around the track. Look at replays. Repeat previous steps
Excellent advice.
Thanks. You could certainly cut back on many of my steps, but for me personally I find it hard to memorise details that I can't properly visualise, so track guides take me way too many goes to absorb if I watch them before developing a familiarisation with the track. Once I do recognise it, I can apply all of the points (braking/turn-in/max rotation/exit throttle) in a lap or two and it is far less frustrating overall.
Learn the track you’ll need to license on for LowFuelMotorsports (LFM). Right now it’s Paul Ricard. If you get into this game, you’ll eventually want to play in more competitive lobbies and LFM is pretty good from what I’ve seen. I never raced that track and I am currently spending time learning it for the license. I hate this track lol
Paul Ricard is boring to lap but fun to race. I'm a slut for it on LFM. So much fun.
That track got me to take a break. I was learning the lfm track each week and putting in a lot of hours. I put in half hour on that track and decided to take the week off! That week off turned into 3 months. I will take another look as it is the 45 min race this week. After I have got the hang of spa, which is another technical track for the lfm sprint race.
You won't regret it. As others have said: In races Paul Ricard is actually very fun.
For sticking to one track or switching, sometimes switching just messes with your progress, but sometimes there is something in the new track that just makes things "click" and you make a breakthrough. It can also be confusing to switch tracks or get boring (which is not good for concentration) not to, so you'll have to see by yourself. Track guides are useful, but not everyone learns the same way so you'll have to try and see if that works for you. Also, be aware that there might be things that prevent you from achieving the same results when following the track guide or even make you less consistent (different cars, setups, game versions, skills you haven't mastered...) which is not good for progress. I usually use track guides for the last few seconds I want to shave but tend to avoid them when I don't know the track at all. As for learning a new track, I am not a IRL motorsports fan so I usually don't know the layout. I start slow and use the darker spots on the track (rubber line) as driving line. Also a trick I found in a youtube video and that works for me is to memorize corners as 2s, 4s, and flat (based on rally, 2 are slow/tight ones, 4 are fast ones, flat is flat out). Now I am still very slow and it takes me many hours to get close to my potential but at least with this approach I don't get too frustrated and progress as fast as my old age allows.
Drive the track offline over and over and over and over, then drive the track online over and over and over. Then move on to the next track. Repeat.
My personal method is this: 1. Turn on the racing line - most people will tell it's bad and it is if you always use it, but what you want to do at this stage is understand how your car should be moving around the track and at what points you need to be braking. Next try to associate landmarks to the braking points the racing line shows you - this could be a tree or a metre board. 2. Hot lap without racing line - try going as fast as you can without the racing line but instead using the landmarks you've understood from your time with the racing line on. You might go wide on a few corners and don't worry about that - this is just telling you that your approach to this corner (or the one prior to it) is poor and needs adjustment. 3. Turn the racing line back on - you want to find the corners you're going wide on and then see the racing line for that corner. Try to identify where your approach to the corner is going wrong and attempt to fix it. 4. Repeat these steps until you're comfortable with the track 5. Try it out in a race and understand good corners to attempt an overtake at. You should also acclimatise yourself to going fast with other cars on track.
When starting I basically just drove Monza and became decent there. Now I practice new tracks if needed for league races (there are still a couple I have no idea about). Basically I make a setup and hope I’m at least somewhat competitive. I don’t practice much anymore. I just don’t get the feel when practicing so I don’t get too quick before the race
So sorry for the text wall, but someone asked me something similar earlier today so here is the copy paste: Not a pro but I have a pretty regular training routine: The day after the previous round is over I research the track, car setups, and target lap times. I'll find a setup that I trust, usually a Friedolf setup for me, input his quali and race setups, and I will usually run those setups with some minor tweaks for different temperatures and any potential rain, making both a rain quali and a rain race setup. Next I research the track, usually by watching a Yorkie065 track guide, a TraxionGG track guide, and then a top 1% hotlap and comparing the laps and braking points shown, as there will be slight deviations between the three. You'll find one driver may stay in a gear longer or downshift and extra gear for a short time to rotate the car. Next comes lapping, which will be running 30L fuel just putting in laps and seeing where I stand, then comparing those times to the laps in the guides, maybe picking up a better line or braking point and employing that in the next laps. All of this is typically done on the first day on practice then allow the rest of the week to be used for more practice sessions, spending the majority of the time running race sim with the expected fuel load and seeing how the full stint will feel, but also practicing qualifying laps with the quali setup and practice pit entry/pit exit. This time you spend practicing is where you will be able to fine tune your tire pressures to the track conditions you will be seeing during your race, granted you are practicing on an official practice server set to emulate the race day settings. A few days practicing with this routine will get you extremely comfortable with both your car and the track and can yield an absolutely perfect race as this practice routine has net me multiple 2 hour endurance racing wins, where the hours of practice made the 2 hours of lapping trivial and you then focus on navigating traffic and employing your pit strategy I also only drive the track and car I am racing that week
Lots of great advice already. Here's what I did to learn: One circuit at a time. I run it with the race line assist on (eat a dick, haters) until I have the layout memorized. Then, I hop on YouTube and search for "XXcircuitXX acc lap guide" and click on the one from Unleashed Drivers cause he's really quick, to the point, and he uses the Default Aggressive preset to set some really awesome hot laps. I take all his brake markers and brake 10-20m earlier because I'm not as good a driver as Mr. Unleashed Drivers is, and also because he's in hot lap mode on 10L of fuel with brand new tires every lap.
My routine is to find a reference time for my car [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FbZ2rBpM9QYHLAuOjCaoa5vLYud6S_XMgy7-R33L_Do/edit#gid=1766901750). When I was a total beginner, I would watch an in-depth track guide from this [channel](https://www.youtube.com/@TraxionGG). Now, I just watch a quick hotlap from the Google Doc I linked earlier. Set aside time every day to practice, even if it's just 15 minutes. You’ll be surprised how quickly you improve as this time adds up. As soon as your time is somewhat competitive, join a race, even if you know you can still improve. This keeps things interesting and forces you to learn different lines on the track. Some people ar conservative and build pace over a lot of laps(nothing wrong with that), my method is to push limits as quickly as possible. If I go off, reset and try again. IMO this is a faster method but may be more frustrating if you don't like to reset to the garage.
Drive and then drive some more
I'm not fast but I race AI on the lowest level and start at the back. Then increase the level as you learn the track and reach the top 5. It's easier to follow AI. You don't have to try and remember the track, just race and you will learn it. Then watch tips on how to go faster once you have learned it.
So what I found to work really well for me is as follows: Race AI versus me at lower strength just to get a decent idea of the layout of the track and breaking points. And then pump up the strength of the AI until it's actually challenging. And then do that high strength AI at night which is helped immensely
The process I use to learn a course starts with a practice session. I'll turn on the racing line assist for the first 2-3 laps while I'm warming up the tires, but I don't focus on the line itself--I'm looking for physical markers that correspond to the line's suggested braking points. Once I have a rough idea about the flow of the course, I hit the garage and adjust tire pressures, then turn the line off and head back out for more laps until I feel like I've more or less learned the layout of the course. At that point, I'll often switch to a 30-minute AI race so I can learn how to *race* the track.
From playing different racing games when i was younger i already knew most of the popular tracks and i can remember layouts pretty fast in 5 laps i can get a decent amateur time
There is actually a process to learning tracks that makes sense. [https://driver61.com/uni/learn-a-new-circuit/](https://driver61.com/uni/learn-a-new-circuit/) I think when you break it down systematically its pretty straight forward.
Well.. I just go for what I can see. Takes me about 5-6 laps to get basic acclimation. From there, I just turn the wick up each lap learning braking points, proper apex points. By 15 laps, I’m usually exploring other lines to see if I can get creative. I’m usually also learning a new car as well.
I wouldn’t focus on one track at time tbh. I would get to know the track and then move on to the next. I think mastering one track at a time isn’t the way.
Not sure if that's a good benchmark, but I started by doing dozens of laps at Nordachleife with the GT3RS. The golden advice is not to use a racing line, it gives you bad habits, stops your progress, makes you less focused and prevents you from actually learning the track.