Part 8: How to become a 'not terrible' sim rally driver

Last week I was due to take the wheel of a V8 mustang and experience its brutal power around Hampton Downs. But as my old man says: ‘life has a funny habit of getting in the way of your plans...’

Phase two of Rally Quest 2020 was, like everything else, put on indefinite hold due to... you know what.

So, in the meantime I have, like everyone else, been finding ways to cope with lockdown and battle with boredom. Thankfully my hobby, sim racing*, is almost tailor-made for an isolation scenario. It’s an entertaining way to spend long hours by yourself indoors. There’s always more to learn, more time to gain and you can always sense your progression, no matter how glacially slow it can be. Your competitors take it seriously enough that it feels like it means something when you do well. It can be fun, frustrating and often genuinely exhilarating.

*Sim racing, is the emerging esport of simulated motoracing. Most F1 teams now also have a dedicated sim racing team and during this lockdown many F1 drivers have even been sim racing on Sky Sports.

They say it takes 10,000 hours to master something. Well I think I’ve probably spent at least a few thousand hours racing in video games over my lifetime, and I can safely say that I’m no longer 'very terrible'. I’m probably at the ‘mediocre’ level now. But if you’ve never played a sim before, the chances are I’m probably better than you (no offence). I’ve learned a lot the past couple of years, most of it the hard way. So if you have any interest in taking a step up from Mario Kart and into sim racing, here are my sim racing tips, tailored for sim rallying (specifically Dirt 2.0):

The best way to go fast is to go slow.

It sounds counterintuitive, but when you first start racing, the reason your times will be so far off the others is because you are going too fast, not too slow. Whether it’s the very obvious moment you wrap yourself around a tree, or the sensation of never really being in control, the fact is you are going too fast. Remember watching Star in a Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear? It was always the neatest, quietest, most boring laps that were actually the fastest. The slower you go, the better you can follow the optimal racing line, get power down and avoid accidents. Hammer the throttle too much and brake too little and not only will you’ll waste time and energy flailing all over the track, you inevitably wrap yourself around a tree.

Hello my old friend

The best way to win is not to win at all costs.

You don’t need to win every split, every stage or even every rally. Do your best and don’t pay attention to your competitor’s times. If you fixate on winning everything you’ll become a sloppy, frustrated driver. Sometimes you will just not be able to win. That’s OK. Sometimes you’ll make mistakes. Learn from them. Sometimes you’ll want to give up. But never give up. It’s a marathon not the 100m final. Work on consistency and finishing in one piece and eventually you’ll come out on top more often than not.

Use all of the road

A key to good racing is about finding and sticking to the racing line – the optimal path. In most instances, the racing line uses the entire width of the track to lengthen the radius of the turn. Enter the corner at the outside edge, touch the apex (a point on the inside edge) then exit to the outside edge. Unless you hear ‘don’t cut’ attack the apex. Try to cut into as much as you can. Imagine there’s a cone on each apex and try to knock it over. Then use the full width of the track as you accelerate away. There are few instances where you should be cruising along the middle of the road.

The racing line

Follow in their footsteps

Following on from the previous point – you see those well cut tracks, or rubber marks in the road? Those are racing lines that have been created by dozens of drivers, all of who are better than you. Stick to their tracks at all costs. In fact, go as slow as you need to to stick to them, especially around corners or through windy sections. The better you get, the less you’ll need to rely on tracing them, you’ll just do it naturally. Watch sim racers and rally drivers on YouTube, study how they do it. Actively learn from people who are better than you, but know you won’t be able to match them just yet. Where did they start their turn, where’s their apex, how much throttle, how much brake?

Follow their tracks

Look ahead

Target fixation is a strange phenomenon. You see a large rock on the exit of a corner. You shudder as you remember hitting that rock at least a dozen times before. You tell yourself - ok ok it’s coming up around the next corner, there it is, don’t hit it, don’t hit it, don’t h… You hit it. You were staring at the rock and not focusing on keeping to the racing line. Ignore the rock, if you stick to the racing line the rock doesn’t exist. Look as far ahead as you can to help you stay on the racing line. Don’t worry about where your car is now or what’s around this corner as it’s too late to do anything about that – worry about where you will be next.

Feather your inputs

Your throttle and brakes are not controlled with an on/off switch. When a pro drives, their feet deftly dance over their pedals, delicately feathering them at just the right time. When coming out of a corner it can take them, depending on the car and surface, a second or more of gradually increasing throttle input before reaching maximum. You eventually get a feel for it, but it’s all about getting the optimal amount of power down. Apply too much power too soon and you lose traction and your wheels slip. It might look and sound cool, but all you’re doing is creating a cloud of dust or tyre smoke. Same goes for your brake. Too much heavy braking too late and you’ll lose control.

Overcooking it a bit

And there’s more...

• Set your view to in-car or bonnet view. Chase cam is great for swooning at your car’s rear end, but it’s not the best for racing.
• Gradually turn off driver aides as you progress if you really want to increase your understanding of how it works.
• Learn the fundamentals in slower cars, then work up when you’re ready. This will help with all of the other lessons.
• Seriously – listen to your co-driver when he says don’t cut – DON’T CUT.
• For hairpin turns, the mantra is ‘slow in, fast out’. Slow right down, hold the handbrake until you’re round, then you can speed away. 
• Learn your car and learn the surface. Each location and car combination is a different challenge. Take some time to get used to your next combination before competing.
• The top online players in Dirt 2.0 are so good that they might actually be aliens. Unless you plan to buy a top end sim rig and literally dedicate your life to sim racing, you won’t have a chance to get anywhere near them – so don’t even worry about them. In my opinion, a realistic but still ambitious aim for a hobbyist is to get into the top 10% in online events.

Most importantly – remember to have fun, it’s just a hobby.

See you online