BustaWrench › Answers › How do I get a good start in iRacing?
The short answer
Feed the throttle in as the clutch bites rather than flooring it — aim for 80–90% until you are rolling, then squeeze to full — and brake where the car directly ahead brakes, not where the track map says. On a rolling start, hold a steady gap and do not jump the green. Lap one is where races are lost, so lift early into the first corner and let the dive-bombers go.
When the lights go out, do not floor it. Feed the throttle in as the clutch bites. If you spin the rears you are not faster, you are just making smoke.
Aim for 80–90% throttle until you are rolling, then squeeze to full. Watch the brake lights of the car directly in front rather than the car three rows up — you brake where they brake.
A rolling start is a parade lap with a pulse. Keep your gap to the car ahead steady instead of surging and backing off. The leader controls the pace; you control your patience.
Do not jump the green. That is a penalty, and it is not worth it.
Half the field will dive-bomb in. Let them. Lift early, take the outside line, or slot in behind a slower car.
You lose two spots now and gain ten by lap five, when the people who went for it are in the pits. Every clean lap you finish is a lap you gain on someone who did not.
Start procedure and launch technique differ by car. If you are losing places off the line, ask a coach rather than experimenting mid-race.
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