rec.autos.simulators

by **Haqsa** » Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:32:19

A former Karate instructor of mine used to have a saying, "practice doesn't
make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect". Correct repetition
makes you better. But you don't get correct repetitions by not practicing.
You have to practice, but you have to have the discipline to practice
correctly. If we were talking about golf or bowling or even real racing you
would be getting feedback from teachers or team mates or whatever on how you
are doing, where you messed up, and how to improve. In a computer game,
even multiplayer computer games, you don't get a lot of feedback and there
are no teachers. You have to be your own teacher. That means lots of
replay analysis followed by having the discipline to apply what you learned
from the replay analysis until you get it, and then repeating it until you
get it consistently. Then when you can do "perfect practice" you repeat it
until it becomes ingrained in your subconscious, and perfect performance no
longer requires conscious thought. That's the difference between a master
and a novice in any sport.

I am of course still a novice at this stuff. ;o)

by **Uwe hoover Schuerkam** » Sun, 02 Feb 2003 03:45:55

Well Eldred,

what really changed my "speed" where two things, I guess:

1) exchanging my old T2 for a TSW wheel (gotta love that ball
bearings ;-)

2) learning to balance the car on the throttle through the
corners. You were quite shocked in disbelief a while ago when I
mentioned that going from neutral to full throttle on corner
exit usually takes 2 to three seconds, when usually earlier I
just used to stomp on the throttle when I felt it was about
time ;-) Now, I can apply throttle earlier (even if it's only a
bit), which buys me higher exit speed and we all know what that
spells: Faster lap times. I'm by no means an alien (-27
handicap), but the big step from say -1 to nearly -30 were
achieved by the two (maybe even just 2) for you) above.

Cheers,

uwe

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by **Eldre** » Sun, 02 Feb 2003 10:09:02

>2) learning to balance the car on the throttle through the
>corners. You were quite shocked in disbelief a while ago when I
>mentioned that going from neutral to full throttle on corner
>exit usually takes 2 to three seconds, when usually earlier I
>just used to stomp on the throttle when I felt it was about
>time ;-) Now, I can apply throttle earlier (even if it's only a
>bit), which buys me higher exit speed and we all know what that
>spells: Faster lap times. I'm by no means an alien (-27
>handicap), but the big step from say -1 to nearly -30 were
>achieved by the two (maybe even just 2) for you) above.

Hmm...I thought my post got lost in the ether - I never saw it...
From my point of view, I can't get on the gas any sooner when I'm *already* on
the limit of traction. It may be strictly an issue of perception(either
visual(what I view on the screen) or mental(confidence)), but I don't know how
to change that.

Eldred
--
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPLRank:-0.381
N2002 Rank:+17.59

Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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by **Shis** » Sun, 02 Feb 2003 21:43:31

For what its worth, it sounds to me like a shift in focus is in order.
Could it be that you are concentrating too much on the track and not
enough on the car? Most of my friends do this; think plenty about how
to take this corner or that corner, but never really focus on *how*
they come off the brakes at the point of turn-in, or how they blend
the throttle in.
It has been my experience that the types of corners you find at Rouen
really emphasise any flaws in driving style.
Having said that, I did suddenly go a lot faster as soon as I upgraded
from an Athlon 800/GF2 GTS to an Athlon 1900/GF4.

> > Hey GPLers.....I have been getting back into this lately, since GTR2002 wont
> > run that great on my meager P3/700....anyway, what is the secret to these
> > (2) tracks?!! I CANNOT bust 2:00 at Rouen, and Kyalami is a serious weak
> > spot on my rank.

> Hi Greg,

> I think breaking 2:00 at Rouen was one of my longest standing
> challenges in GPL. The key to Rouen for me turned out to be two
> things:

> 1) be smooth.

> 2) Brake later for the penultimate right-hander after the long
> backstraight and taking it in third gear. This alone will
> probably gain you half a second.

> Also, I've ruined a great number of laps by overcooking it into
> the first right hander after S/F. Frustrating as hell ;-)

> uwe

by **Jan Verschuere** » Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:12:00

You do corner very well, from the perspective of using the maximum of your
car. Like I said before, in slow to medium speed corners you use almost all
that's there. If you were to start adding power sooner without making other
changes (setup/driving style), you're going to be catching al lot of slides.

IMO, the part of tens in your case is to combine that cornering ability with
maximum use of the road. The difference between a 1m28s lap at Zandvoort and
1m26s one is about a foot of track (normal to the direction of travel, that
is). Thing is, if you somehow force yourself to change your lines and you
keep cornering at the limit as you do, you're going to scare yourself even
if you only get it a little bit wrong. So, IMO, you will have to take a step
back in terms of speed in order to be able to advance.

To corroborate with my reply to Hal, you can't go as fast "thinking about
it" as you do when you do things automatically. So to practise perfection
you'll have to slow it down. Start from the back of the field against the
AI, don't worry about passing them (well, sometimes you will have to), just
concentrate on driving good lines and making it an automatism. Couple of
GP's like that and you might surprise yourself with what you can do when you
really let rip.

Jan.
=---

by **Jan Verschuere** » Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:12:00

Well said Hal,

I got a bit bogged down after getting negative on GPL and it was precisely
because I was thinking about the driving too much. It's easy to get into a
habit to conciously controlling your driving when trying too hard to drive
quickly and consistently. It also puts a real brake on your laptimes.

Malcomlm Edeson pointed this out to me just over a year ago. In the
beginning it was very hard to let go; to trust myself to do it right
eventhough I wasn't "thinking about it", but now I'm edging towards -15 on
GPLRank and winning the odd race here and there. Letting go truly releases
one's driving.

Jan.
=---
PS.: in case anyone's wondering: this really is a very late reply, it didn't
just pop out of some internet crack. :-)

by **Eldre** » Sat, 15 Feb 2003 01:01:13

If I run races against the AI, I always start from the back anyway. It's
quicker than running qual...<g>

Eldred
--
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPLRank:-0.381
MonsterRank: +339.873
N2002 Rank:+17.59

Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
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rec.autos.simulators

GPL ..Rouen & Kyalami

GPL ..Rouen & Kyalami

GPL ..Rouen & Kyalami

GPL ..Rouen & Kyalami

GPL ..Rouen & Kyalami

GPL ..Rouen & Kyalami

GPL ..Rouen & Kyalami

GPL ..Rouen & Kyalami