Leagues

What is this about?

LFS has a built-in server browser to find public servers. Nothing wrong racing on these servers, but this text is for people who want to try something new.

Besides these servers, there exist some groups of people who organize races at set times and championships. This guide is aimed at those LFS drivers who already have some experience in single player or public servers, and now want to join a league.

It explains how to find such servers and tries to answer some common questions.

Why organized racing?

Everyone has their own opinion on that. Some reasons can be:

• better driving standards (no crashers)
• championships
• longer races are more fun and challenging
• time to practice because the tracks are known in advance
• more similar to how real motorsport works

Finding a suitable league/event

There are different ways to find a league or event. There is of course the Leagues & Events subforum.

But over the years there are now so many sub-sub forums and threads, it is like finding a needle in a haystack.

The easiest way is probably the race calendar:

But be aware: The calendar is not always complete. Some league organizers forget to add their dates to the calendar, or just never do it because they organize them in teamspeak or via their own sites.

Displayed above the forum are also news headlines about upcoming (or finished) events and today’s events:

Some races are long or short, for new or experienced drivers, and so on. Describing all different leagues or events is impossible in this text. Just pick something that seems suited or looks interesting.

Before joining

• Basically all events need an S2 license.

• Most races are open for everybody. (Rarely there is pre-qualifying or a minium laptime)

• Visit the forum/site of the particular league and read around a bit.

• Mind the time zones!

Signing up

• Somes leagues require registration of some sort. That might be as simple as posting "Hello, I want to race" in the forum.

• Sometimes that post has to be more formal and include some information like driver name, car number, team etc. (Just follow the format that others use.)

• It might also be that you have to create an account on their site or forum.

Preparation before the race

• If it is your first race of this kind, sign up early enough so that you have time to practice.
• Speed does not matter – but rule of thumb make sure you can do at least half the distance without spinning.

• Do some long stints too, so that you know what tire temperatures to expect.

• Look (or ask) if the server is open for practice in days before the race, or if there is another place where people practice. Much more fun to practice together with others.

• Make sure you know how pit stops work: How to enter pit lane, speed limit, pit-menu (F12).

• Make sure you know how much fuel you need.

• Acquire a setup: Build one yourself, get one from one of the various setup sites or ask other drivers.

• If you have any questions, ask them as soon as possible, before lights go green. ;)

Racing

• First race in new environment: Better be careful and instead of winning, concentrate on getting familiar with rules and behaviour of other drivers.

• Take no risks and just try to finish the race – there will be more laps than on a public server. Later there will be plenty more races to push harder.

• If you are out, you are out:

No automatic restart or "second chance" when the race restarts in 10 minutes.

• Obey whatever racing rules there are – otherwise it might gain you a penality during or after race.

Usually following the rules of clean racing is enough.

After the race

• Wait a few days then check on the site/forum for official results.

Read the race report (if there is one) or the comments by other racers. Post your own comments, if you want.

• If you caused a crash it might be good idea to apologize.

Watch the replay and learn from mistakes.

• Prepare for the next race :) Repeat until champion.

Questions

Looks very hard. Am I good / fast enough?

If you have enough interest in LFS to be reading this, then you are probably fast enough.

There are leagues aimed at casual or beginner drivers. Often one can race in mid-field even with lap times some seconds of the world record.

But of course a minimum of car control is always required to finish the race.

Is this only for dedicated hardcore drivers?

I think it is for everyone: The tracks and dates of race are known in advance – so there is plenty of time to prepare. (When you join an open server there is usually no time to practice at all.)

I am scared of so many cars. What happens if I cause big accidents?

There are races with slower drivers or small grids, start in those.

After crash can always explain situation in chat (wait until race is over) or in forum. Usually it is solved after that. :)

What league is the best?

Depends on what you expect: Ask in LFS forum what league is suitable for your preferences and skills.