practice programmes

[smudger1982 78]

Just wondering how others are using the practice programmes this year in career mode is there any tips on what programmes to do in each of p1 p2 an p3 apart from the obvious one which is to leave the qualy pace programme until p3... I remember in last years game someone on here posted a great tip on how to use the free practise sessions an it worked a treat thanks in advance guys

[sjsharp2010 225]

I tend to do them in this order.

FP1 Track Acclimitisation and tyre management as those you can pretty much just stick an old engine in and do.

FP2 Qualifying and race strategy. I tend t odo these in this session because that session takes place as the same time as the quali and race sessions so I feel that's really the time to do them.

FP3 I tend to just do the fuel saving one bhut if I fail any of the others in the earlier sessions then I may give them a second go in this one

[Fetal 8]

if you go out at the start of prac 1.. green track. if you go out near the end on same tyres and setup, you will be faster.
so logically the best time to do 'faster' related programs is toward the end of a session so the track is offering more grip.
personally i do prac 1 getting the car set right
prac 2 acclimatisation fuel and tyre management
prac 3 strat and qual tests.
(this is assuming a dry practice)

[TheVelvetone 0]

FP1: Track Acclimitisation & Fuel Saving

FP2: Tyre Management & Race Strategy

FP3: Qualification Program

[Worntoathread 865]

TheVelvetone said:

FP1: Track Acclimitisation & Fuel Saving

FP2: Tyre Management & Race Strategy

FP3: Qualification Program

Almost the same as what I do, though I tend to do the race strategy in FP3 on the softest compound as well, to get up to speed for doing the qualy sim.

[Fetal 8]

tip for making prac progs easier.

Tyre manage - drive like you would on normal mix for the race, but try be a little less aggressive going INTO the corner.
though this prog is a good indicator your cars setup is eating your tyres to much, so if you cant hit purple, it needs a bit more tweaking.

Fuel saving - its incredibly easy (even using orange engine parts). a corner where you normally use 3rd gear, use 4th instead. on straights, lift completely off the accelerator 50-100 meters before your NORMAL break point. also note that your break point doing this will be a little bit later now.
(minor cheat for this if ur short of hitting purple, get up to speed on straights and lift off accelerator for half a sec, plant it, lift off, plant it. and it will nudge it up)

Race strat - your car setup should be set by now, you want the coloured dotted line to be ABOVE the white dotted line for tyre use.
Drive the car how you would in race conditions, only lift and coast a little bit here and there.

Qual - this is the hard one if you have AI close to your skill level. do in prac 3. cheerleader chant *BE AGGRESSIVE... BE E AGGRESSIVE!*
(also remember parc ferme rules are no in effect in prac so you can cheese it)
if u are losing time on straights drop the rear aero a little, if your losing time in lots of consecutive corners bump the aero up.
however, this is also a sign your setup needs some love..

Also to save on engine wear, i use the yucky engines for prac 1 and 2. (at least until ur team has enough durability upgrades).
Qual prog is the only hard one, and you'll want your good bits on for that.

[Fetal 8]

Worntoathread said:

Almost the same as what I do, though I tend to do the race strategy in FP3 on the softest compound as well, to get up to speed for doing the qualy sim.

Yeah doing race strat twice on 2 dif tyres is very good to do. And since (at least for me) its often a part of the bonus program, its more res points as well as the difference between 1 over 2 stops, or 2 over 3 stops.

[smudger1982 78]

Great pointers from you all much appreciated will give them a go thankyou all.

[Nesjamag 3]

I do acclimatization and tire management in FP 1.
Fuel management and race strategy in FP 2.
Qualy pace in FP 3. Extra race management if team objective required it done on two compounds.

I do everything on standard revs except for qualy pace, to save the engine.
I also use worn engine parts for all free practice so I have fresher parts for qualifying and race.

[smudger1982 78]

After listening to various opinions ive opted for this layout on practice programmes.

fp1. Track acc (recommended tyre)/ fuel saving (recommended tyre) / Race strat (hardest tyre the one used for track acc usually)

fp2. Tyre management (recommended tyre) and race strat (softest tyre compound available)

fp3. Race strat (recommended tyre) and qualy programme (recommended tyre)

[TheVelvetone 0]

smudger1982 said:

After listening to various opinions ive opted for this layout on practice programmes.

fp1. Track acc (recommended tyre)/ fuel saving (recommended tyre) / Race strat (hardest tyre the one used for track acc usually)

fp2. Tyre management (recommended tyre) and race strat (softest tyre compound available)

fp3. Race strat (recommended tyre) and qualy programme (recommended tyre)

Yeah do whatever you like! Just keep in mind that you're going to do the race strategy 3 times and since you do a minimum of 3 laps per simulation, your engine parts and gearbox will wear out 3 times as fast as when you would do the simulation just once

[smudger1982 78]

;) ;) TheVelvetone said:

smudger1982 said:

After listening to various opinions ive opted for this layout on practice programmes.

fp1. Track acc (recommended tyre)/ fuel saving (recommended tyre) / Race strat (hardest tyre the one used for track acc usually)

fp2. Tyre management (recommended tyre) and race strat (softest tyre compound available)

fp3. Race strat (recommended tyre) and qualy programme (recommended tyre)

Yeah do whatever you like! Just keep in mind that you're going to do the race strategy 3 times and since you do a minimum of 3 laps per simulation, your engine parts and gearbox will wear out 3 times as fast as when you would do the simulation just once

I did have that in mind but as I also use old engine parts for fp 1 2 an 3 its only the gearbox i have got to keep an eye on really and the more upgrades I do for the gearbox will counter that problem in the future hopefully. I feel doing the race simulation on all compounds give me a better idea on the strategy for the race so is worth it. Maybe I should just do 2 race strat programmes on the tyres I know ill be using in that particular race. Thanks for the heads up anyways appreciated.

[TheVelvetone 0]

Sure no problem. When I join a team, I always start with upgrading the gearbox, then the ICE and then the other parts. I always want to make sure I have a solid and reliable car so I don't have to worry about mileage destroying my parts. If you're sure you will do sort of the same then go for it and have fun :)
Do keep in mind that if you do races of 25% distance or less, you will probably never use the hardest compound available. So doing a race simulation with that hardest compound would only be worth it if you race the 50% distance or more

[smudger1982 78]

I do 100% races and again many thanks for your advice.