How to Get Good on Any Track
Some tracks you really like, and others you hate… but I tend to think "hate" just means "don’t understand."
I hate Paul Ricard and Watkins Glen, but to be honest, I just don’t understand them.
I don’t shy away from these races on PitSkill, though. If you’ve been watching my streams, you know I keep showing up.
In this article, I want to jump into my practice routine and how I always find a few extra tenths over my absolute personal best.
On Wednesdays, I race on PitSkill with fast guys around me, and I feel real pressure to perform because these streams are about showing that I take racing seriously. There will always be faster guys, but that’s not the point.
1. Set a Time Limit for Practice
I don’t do this voluntarily. I do this because I have 45 other tasks in a day. My first practice session is 30-45 minutes:
Load up my preset
Tune the car a little (not a full setup overhaul)
Use my own setup (which you might have too)
Tweak bumpstop ranges & brake bias a bit
Then, I just go.
I need to re-learn the track to get into the juicy lap times, and in this first session, I make a lot of mistakes. After a few warm-up laps, I push the car, and because I’m pushing
I mess up.
These mistakes register in my brain as bad, and at some point, I even get annoyed at myself. I might tweak the setup, but the further I go away from my baseline setup, the worse it gets (true story).
BTW—if you’re on one of my setups, I really recommend trying this new damper preset I’m currently using on the McLaren in ACC: https://www.patreon.com/SimracingArnout/shop/acc-mclaren-720s-gt3-evo-15-setups-for-224194?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=productshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
Bump: 10%
Fast Bump: 10%
Rebound: 80%
Fast Rebound: 50%
Try them out—they feel more planted throughout the lap.
2. Watch the Aliens
When the session is over, I watch a boring track guide seeing what the aliens do. A lot of them make super detailed guides, and honestly, this is vital for someone at my level, who already understands racing but needs to know how to apply it to this track. If you don’t understand track guides or you want a short cut and follow me instead in hot lap mode to get the racing line fundamentals: https://www.patreon.com/SimracingArnout/shop/special-acc-ghost-pack-20-tracks-926735?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=productshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
3. The Next Practice Burst
I don’t race for a day or two, then I come back for another 30-minute burst.
Sometimes, I improve upon my last time.
Sometimes, I don’t.
Either way, I push my best lap and get annoyed when I don’t improve.
I watch hotlaps, try to figure out what went wrong.
I spin. I crash. A lot.
But why am I doing this?
Because I want to make all the mistakes that would kill me in the race.
Whenever I practice, I overpush the car. I suck up all the errors and then...
4. The Magic Happens
The last practice session before the event:
Fuel up the car with race fuel (60 liters in this case).
Focus on early braking.
Gentle brake inputs.
Maximizing throttle behavior out of corners.
Driving at 90% of my limit.
Focus on not losing time making mistakes!
The last point is interesting—because I’ve messed up so much in practice, my unconscious mind now knows what NOT to do.
To avoid mistakes, I drive at 90%. After a few laps, this 90% starts feeling like 85%, and I gently begin exploring:
Releasing the brakes earlier.
Touching the throttle earlier and earlier.
Until I feel I’m at 95% of my limit.
Proof That It Works
This system always allows me to improve my PB.
Last race on Watkins, it really showed. I was never this fast on that track, but when I connected my best sector times, we were almost at a 1:42.9—which is insane.
Comment if this is worth a video.
Cheers.