How to Achieve Faster Lap Times in Sim Racing

LMU example

Your Goals:

• Faster lap times

• More consistency

• More confidence

Understanding the Learning Challenge

When you enter the sim racing world, regardless of which simulation you choose, there are millions of bits of information to process. The human mind can process about 100,000 bits of information subconsciously - imagine having a 5090 GPU running in the background processing everything. However, your conscious mind can only handle about 50 bits of information per second.

If you want to improve your lap time, consistency, and confidence in sim racing, you must recognize that you can only absorb so much at any given time.

The Problem with Most Training Approaches

If you search the internet or YouTube, you might find great tips about trail braking or track guides to replicate inputs. To your surprise, you can never perfectly replicate what track guide creators are doing. This is because you're essentially trying to imitate Tony Hawk doing a melon 360 in a halfpipe when you can't even stand on the skateboard.

That's why it's crucial to FOCUS on the right things at the beginning of your sim racing journey.

The Low-Resolution Approach

Think of yourself as a GPU where your strength represents your experience in the simulator. If you try to render in 4K resolution immediately, everything gets stuck and nothing works.

We need to start with a lower resolution - focusing on just a few "pixels" first - the sim racing fundamentals in your blank slate driving style.

Getting Faster: A Backwards Approach

A corner execution typically follows this sequence:

1. We position ourselves for the braking zone.

2. We hit the brakes fully at the perfect marker.

3. We bleed off brakes, and trail brake into the corner while applying steering input.

4. We keep bleeding the brakes and adjust steering to carry speed into the corner.

5. We reach the apex, cutting the corner as much as possible.

6. We gently apply throttle to exit the corner.

7. We never lift off the throttle to create the highest exit speed possible for the next section.

How to improve it?

I like to look at it backward because if you execute steps 1-4 incorrectly, you can't get steps 5-7 right. So let's create a habit of doing the exit correctly first:

1. Find a track guide from an expert driver (Unleashed Drivers, for example)

2. Focus on the EXIT positioning and throttle application

If you find yourself applying throttle too early, you'll understeer out of the corner, which means you'll need to lift and lose all momentum at the corner exit. If you catch yourself lifting through the exit, it generally means you need to be more patient with your initial input - wait longer on your next lap.

In the image above, the bottom car isn’t positioned correctly yet. You're applying full throttle too early, causing understeer out of the corner. To prevent this, the car needs to rotate more first before you floor it.

Why Exit Speed Matters

The first principle for a fast lap time is being on the throttle earlier and longer. This will increase your average speed throughout the lap. I guarantee you'll be faster as a result.

This image is two seconds later than the previous one. See how a proper exit improves your delta time? Not only are you faster this way, but it also makes driving easier.

How to Improve Exit Speed

At the beginning of your sim racing journey, focus on:

• 1 track

• 1 car

• 1 condition

• 1 skill to improve

This "low-resolution method" ensures you're not overwhelming yourself with 100,000 bits of information, but just focusing on something manageable.

Start with throttle exit behavior improvement. As Jackie Stewart said to James May in an old Top Gear episode (very important note): "As soon as you hit the throttle, you are not allowed to lift anymore." So if you press it 10% or 40%, you're not allowed to release it - only increase it!

This trains your brain to position the car in a way that lifting the throttle is not an option. Exit speed is king for lap time because most beginners overshoot corners. So:

• Brake early

• Hit the apex (follow the expert track guide)

• Focus on being full throttle out of the exit.

Even as you become more experienced, I still recommend breaking earlier than you think necessary to give yourself more TIME to execute correctly.

After 20-30 laps of practice, your subconscious will begin forming a habit for proper corner exit, and this driving technique will become more natural over time.

I suggest turning off the delta display because you only have 50 bits of conscious processing power - why waste it on outcome-related distractions when you need all your attention on corner exit and throttle behavior?

Mastering the Straights

We all take a breath on straights, but the straight line before a corner is vital for your positioning on the track. When you see a long wide straight, you should see only one narrow optimal line. Again, use a track guide to identify this line.

Practice another 20-30 laps to set perfect lines on the straights before moving to the next step.

Improving Mid-Corner Speed

When you feel comfortable with your line on the straights and have decent exit corner speed and throttle application, focus on getting your mid-apex speed right. You might be slow through this section currently.

Continue braking early, but now release the brakes earlier. This allows the car to carry more speed into the corner. If you reach a point where you can't go full throttle out of the corner, you've pushed too hard.

Brake bias is key here. A setting of 46/54% is considered pretty low brake bias. Increase the front number to get a more stable car under braking.

Setups are vital at this stage of your sim racing journey. Some cars behave unpredictably in these situations, and a different setup balance can make things more forgiving. With an easier-to-drive car, you can focus your limited attention on proper driving techniques instead of fighting the car. Skill level setups for LMU and ACC click here.

Or check out my free-level setups for the Le Mans Ultimate Mustang on my Patreon.

BTW, for those who bought skill-level setups for LMU: Be aware that game updates sometimes mess up setups for certain tracks. If you notice the car behaving strangely or the setup feeling off, let me know so I can check it out. LMU updates have been a bit weird for some car setups.

Summary

1. Brake super early to achieve full throttle on the corner exit, creating a higher average driving speed

2. Focus on positioning yourself correctly on straights using expert track guides.

3. Continue braking early but release brakes sooner to increase your mid-corner average speed.

Building Consistency and Confidence

By following this step-by-step "low-resolution" approach, you'll naturally develop consistency and confidence: Here's why:

• Consistency comes from habits: By practicing the same track with the same car 20-30 times while focusing on just one aspect, you're building muscle memory and unconscious competence. Your brain is forming reliable patterns that produce the same results lap after lap.

• Confidence is born from predictability: When you know exactly what the car will do because you've mastered exit speeds, straight-line positioning, and mid-corner techniques, you'll approach each section of the track with certainty rather than hope. This predictability eliminates hesitation and builds confidence based on skill, not luck.

Remember, sim racing isn't about being perfect on day one - it's about building a solid foundation through practice. The fastest drivers aren't necessarily the ones with the quickest reflexes, but those who have systematically mastered each component of driving.

Want More? Help me Create Part 2!

We've focused primarily on exit speed and mid-corner techniques in this newsletter, but we've only touched lightly on the critical skill of braking. Would you like a dedicated Part 2 covering advanced braking techniques? Let me know.

If you want to see a video that goes a mile deep into trail braking, corner execution, and how car setup and weight transfer are affected, check out this one.

Cheers,

Arnout