I will try to incorporate that into my flying and see which times I can achieve. Budapest has been a weak spot for me, so I will try to improve it!
And for me, the addition of a Porto track would be very special, as it is the only track where I’ve seen RBAR IRL
@AnPetrovich777 In your videos, at the start, I listen to some RPM changes. Do you fly the track with a reduced RPM setting or it’s just to “reset” the power setting?
A brief throttle reduction before the start gate is just how I set up 199–200 kts right at race start.
From there on, it’s full power all the way - both the throttle and the RPM lever are always at maximum.
I had actually thought about a similar approach myself, but I never went as far as applying and validating it the way you did here. You explained it brilliantly in this fantastic analysis, really impressive work.
And congratulations on the new record as well, very well deserved!
Here we go, a new record inspired by @AnPetrovich777 analysis.
I believe there’s still a very small margin for improvement, but at this point we’re talking about fine-tuning in the order of mere decimals rather than tenths.
I think you will be able to do a better time by changing the second 180º turn trajectory for a one similar to the first, maybe a bit more flat. You approach it at around 200kts, so you have lots of energy to spend and promote a faster speed for the last part of the lap
The speed decayed to 186 kts because of the positioning turns.
Leaving the chicane, the speed was at 200kts and with a straight segment, it could perharps increase to 203, 204 kts I think, which appears to be more or less the optimal speed for vertical instead of flat turns
That’s a fair point about the speed, but what I mainly had in mind was the extreme angle at which the gate is being crossed. In the screenshot it looks as if almost half of the turn has already been completed at that point. With a vertical turn, the maneuver would only just be starting there…
Would be pretty similar I guess, the VTM would take more time but you would get to the pylon quicker and have a higher speed in the chicane and last 180º turn, where a higher minimum speed could be essential.
This result is absolutely insane: P1 and P2 with the exact same time on such a long track.
That really shows how tight the competition has become and how close we are!!
At this level, every tiny detail matters: line choice, energy management, and execution.
This is RBAR at its best.
If you have the video we can make a split screen comparison video.
@becaspr, I also tried flying a vertical turn at Gate 9. Maybe I just didn’t get enough practice with it, but for me it doesn’t seem to work as well as the flat turn. Please let us know if you manage to fly it faster than the flat one?
I’ve tried a couple of times and I’m a few seconds off the pace in Budapest. Perhaps I will start recording my runs and use some coaching from you guys
Regarding your Rio run, at least now I know that my trajectory is good! My biggest hurdle right now is the second gate after the start chicane…
Yeah, the second gate after the start chicane in Rio is tricky for many of us, so you’re definitely not alone there.
A good result in this RBAR format is really just a matter of repetition and getting comfortable with the rhythm of the track.
For me personally, it feels like I can’t extract much valuable information from time analysis in Budapest anymore. I mean, I see the delta time on charts - where time is lost and where it’s gained - but I no longer clearly understand why those differences happen just by watching and comparing videos. At this level of trajectory refinement, I’m starting to think it’s mostly a matter of seat time.
So, just keep going! With a bit more practice, it will start to click.
This is an outstanding time! I thought that around 49.200 was doable after seeing it in one of my failed attempts, and you proved it. You nailed it, well done!
I really have no clear explanation for what exactly makes the run faster or slower at this point. It’s just countless attempts, usually within +/- a couple of tenths, where I’d say only one out of five ends without penalties. That would be an unacceptable level of risk for a one-try event - not to mention real (non-virtual) flying. Honestly, I once hit a 49.06X - but with a “too high” penalty… so close! But never again…
So you’ve got a chance to top my time! I’ll probably take a short break for now - two evenings of flying were quite intense.
This run was made while chasing your excellent time.
During testing, I actually went faster on a first attempt, but that run was not penalized for a clearly too-high gate pass, so I discarded it for fairness and transparency.
The run posted here is a second attempt: cleaner, properly detected, and still faster.
Hopefully a future patch will improve gate-crossing detection (high/low passes), because accurate penalties are key for fair competition.
Great battle, great community, let’s keep pushing.
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With a vertical turn, the maneuver would only just be starting there…
Honestly, I once hit a 49.06X - but with a “too high” penalty… so close! 
But never again… 
I’ll probably take a short break for now - two evenings of flying were quite intense.