Do you ever find yourself face-to-face with how USELESS you are at this...?

I used to think I could get on the pace and stay there; not the fastest by any means, but not the slowest either. I even flattered myself that I had a little talent. This morning, however, I couldn't keep the dang car on the track, let alone lap fast, it's as though any knack I might have had has deserted me entirely and everything I've learned has been un-learned. I spent two hours trying to set a decent hotlap time in the Porsche 911R GT3 2016 st Spa and even when I wasn't spinning off from clumsy, stupid lift-off oversteer, I couldn't break 2:24.

I think I had better take up knitting.

 

Happens to me all the time. Which track did you drive the 2:24 on, though?

 

Whoops, thank you, I just corrected my first post. Spa.

 

Pretty much the same as you. I usually get around well enough, but not really on alien myself. There are those days where it just doesn´t work and doesn´t even feel right. Sometimes I keep at it until I manage a passable lap, but more often recently I give up and do something else. Next day I sometimes break my record on the second lap.

Might be due to concentration, distractions in your head you can´t switch off, being tired, etc. I think distractions is a major factor.

 

I dunno how the 2017 911 GT3 Cup compares to it, but, i was able to get down to a low 2:23 in a SRS race a few days ago. I think i even did a 2:22.9 or so. Nowhere near the fastest in that race though, who did a low 2:20. I did nothing on the setup though, except change the wing. The funny thing is, i didn't change the wing the day after that, and was able to do the same time... sometimes setup stuff is a real mystery to me.

Like you guys, i'm not the fastest, but, faster than the average. TBH, i rather have a good fight with people who drive the same pace as me, than being a hotlapper, who works 24/7 to get that last tenth out of the car, though. Too old for that stuff too. And, like you experienced, there are days where nothing works out, and the cars feel bad per default. I think it's pretty normal.

Edit: I just took a look. The guys in that SRS race did mid 2:20's, not low 2:20's. Well, that's at least a bit encouraging. Pretty sure i could get to a mid 2:22 to a low 2:22 with more practice.

 

Nice to read that i am not alone with this kind of problems^^...
Strange is also, that one only knows, if one a few meters is driven...
Because you can do nothing against it except to hope that tomorrow it is better ^ ^

 

That's what you're likely to get with the hotlap mindset, when each lap is meant to be the best ever - and ends up in distress. Sometimes you can overcome this by focusing on regularity rather than beating the clock.

 

This has got to stop LeSunTzu, I agree with you again! Consistency is king, not raw speed. I have watched a few people going through qualifying (I don't bother as I like to start as close to the back as possible). What I have noticed is that those that hit the road hard and fast make far more mistakes than those that feel their way around for the first few laps and build up speed gradually over multiple laps. Even watching professionals you notice that they really only push hard for five to seven laps at a time as it is difficult to concentrate at the highest level for an entire race and so it is split up into many sections not just for the race length.

 

I am consistently 2-3 seconds off the pace and would obviously like to be up the front fighting but so long as I can have a good clean race against drivers of a similar level I am happy battling it out for 19th and 20th

 

There are those times when you get "in the zone" and you start driving competently, and some other days you just can't get a decent lap in and quit in frustration. It's all about focus.

 

Very familiar with this. On the other hand if we had a league event when it happens, I can still force myself to be reasonably competitive but it doesn't come naturally and is kind of uncomfortable experience.

In general I think that this is very much the same thing that happens whatever you're doing. As an another hobby I'm a floorball (yeah, 99% of the people doesn't even know the sports ) goalkeeper and because of the small ball flying 150-180km/h towards your bare hands while making some kind of curve, it needs a similar kind of distraction free mindset like you need when controlling a Skip Barber car in rFactor 2. Edit: When you're not "in the zone" while goalkeeping, you feel like a complete amateur.

 

It's bad enough being multiple seconds off the pace all the time, but there are some days that I swear I mistakenly got out of bed on the 'can't drive a lick' side. As far as the OP question of "Do you ever find yourself face to face with how useless you are at this?"
Every time I turn on RSR to hotlap.

 

I just turn AI strength way down and pretend that I'm awesome.

 

To be fair, the GT3 R isn't the easiest of the GT3 cars to drive.

 

There's the thing... that switching cars mixes you easily. So many cars in AC.
I spend few days driving only F40, start to do well. Then I do some Porsche Cup races during next week or so. Back to F40. Spin, spin, spin, crash, spin

Like constantly unlearning and relearning some of it. You don't forget everything about a car, but some part. IRL most people drive same car for years

 

I avoid the downforce cars because of that. Tried the F2004 for the sounds but had a hard time not driving it like a GT at Valle Lunga.

 

All the time, man...

Especially at the servers I frequent I can be seconds off the polesitter at times.

I'm sure you can get faster, but it requires practise and practise requires time; something I always don't have a lot of.
I'm just struggling to accept the fact that as long I cant allocate time, I will probably not get faster either

I once conquered over several "faster" drivers in GPL, but this was over the course of an entire season with different tracks and where you were only allowed to drive any car a limited amount of races.
Then again, I had already driven GPL for years and that sim rewards consistency (i.e. staying on the bloody track).

 

yep sometimes when I just want to have a little bit of fun I do my best lap and then on the next day when I am really serious and messing with this and that I am 2 seconds slower and blame it on the rig lol

 

I'm not fast by any means I think, but ~10 years of simracing left me with some instinct at racecraft...I'm good at keeping out of trouble and fighting through T1 carnages. Logged into some almost full GT3 server last weekend, first time racing online in months, first time in that particular car/track combo, and finished two races at position 11 and 6

Offline I drive all sorts of things and combos, but mostly with my own projects, so i probably school myself in driving bad setups

But hotlapping? I'm probably some 10 seconds off on all tracks

 

I think it's worth remembering here that short 10 minute sprint races will always highlight those drivers that can post fast (but sometimes erratic) lap times. However, one hour league races (with pit stops) are an entirely different ball game. These races reward consistency and solid strategy rather than hot lap performance. I have not raced in a league since my Power & Glory 3 days, but this conversation is making me think about it again. Of course, it would have to be road cars or classic cars