Race Starts in iRacing: How to Gain Places Without Risk

If there’s one part of a race that can make or break your result in seconds, it’s the start. In iRacing, race starts often feel chaotic with drivers weaving, late-braking, and taking unnecessary risks. For many beginners, this is where frustration sets in: either you lose positions by being too cautious, or you risk everything and end up in a wreck.

The good news is that you don’t need to gamble at the start to make progress. With the right approach, you can gain places safely while avoiding the chaos. I’m Marian Barbieru, and I’ve been coaching sim racers for over three years. Here’s the approach I teach my drivers to handle race starts and gain positions without unnecessary risk.

Focus on the Launch, Not the Dive

Many sim racers think the only way to gain positions is to send a desperate dive into Turn 1. Yes, you can gain some positions in T1, but how do you do it to minimize the risk of a contact? Here’s where the launch comes into place.

If you nail your throttle timing, avoid wheelspin, and hold a straight line, you’ll often find yourself ahead of drivers who light up the tires, swerve, or hesitate. More importantly, a strong launch positions you ahead of other cars as you approach Turn 1. This can actually give you an advantage in avoiding crashes, since many Turn 1 dive attempts end in contact—the attacking driver usually isn’t close enough to make the move stick.

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By keeping your focus on the green lights, clutch, throttle, and steering inputs, you maximize your chances of getting a clean start. And with that, turn 1 becomes far less stressful and much easier to manage.

It also helps to learn your car’s bite point and, if available, use a dual-clutch system for launching. These tools give you a more consistent and controlled getaway, reducing the chance of bogging down or spinning the wheels when the lights go out.

Expect Mistakes Ahead of You

At the start of a race, the biggest gains often come from staying disciplined.

Here are some key things I teach my drivers to focus on:

• Anticipate the concertina effect. If you’re starting further back, remember that every braking zone compresses the field like an accordion. This means you’ll need to brake much earlier than usual to avoid running into the back of someone. Don’t use your normal markers—be extra cautious until the pack spreads out.
• Look for open gaps. When the cars ahead all stick to the racing line, the inside often opens up. Because of the concertina effect, everyone on the racing line brakes earlier than they normally would. Taking the inside line at the right moment can get you several positions without any risk.
• Use your vision, not just reaction. Don’t lock your eyes on the car directly in front of you. Scan further ahead through the field—this gives you extra time to react if cars ahead spin, tangle, or brake suddenly. Looking further up the track is one of the easiest ways to avoid getting collected in Turn 1 pileups.
• Read driver behavior. Some drivers show erratic moves. Expect those drivers to make mistakes and avoid engaging with them early. Keeping a safe distance or choosing a different line around them is often the difference between surviving the start and being taken out.

Practice Race Starts with AI

One of the most effective but under-used tools in iRacing is the AI race feature. You can set up an AI race on the current week’s track with the exact same weather and track conditions as the official sessions. This gives you a safe environment to practice starts without the stress of losing iRating or Safety Rating.

Here’s why it works so well:

• Repetition of starts. You can grid up, run through the launch and first lap, then reset and repeat. This lets you quickly build confidence in your race starts.
• Learn the risky corners. By watching how the AI behaves, you’ll see where incidents are most likely to happen, which lines tend to work, and which moves are too risky.
• Side-by-side experience. Practicing wheel-to-wheel with AI gives you valuable racecraft experience, so when you’re next to a human competitor, it feels natural instead of overwhelming.
• Adapted braking markers. With cars around you, your usual braking boards are often hidden. AI races force you to find new references—an essential skill for surviving lap 1 in officials.
• Transferable confidence. When you head back into official races, you already know which corners are best for overtaking, where the pileups usually happen, and what to avoid. That level of preparation gives you a huge edge over competitors who are “winging it.”

AI races won’t make you perfect, but they’ll remove the doubt that causes so many mistakes in official starts. You’ll line up knowing what to expect—and that confidence makes a massive difference.

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Final Thoughts

Race starts in iRacing don’t have to be a gamble. By focusing on clean launches, understanding the concertina effect, reading the field, and practicing with AI, you can pick up positions while staying out of trouble. The drivers who improve fastest are the ones who treat every race as a learning opportunity and apply structure to their practice.

That’s the same approach I use in my coaching and courses at GITGUDRacing.com – breaking racing down into clear systems that you can apply in any situation. If you’ve ever felt like you’re just “winging it” on race day, having a framework like this can make a huge difference.

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