ok so i've been flying for about 14 months, mostly practice laps in empty fields and some casual flying with friends but this weekend is my first actual organized race with timing gates and proper heats and everything. im running a 5 inch on 4s, betaflight 4.4, nothing crazy. tunes pretty dialed in i think but i genuinely have no idea what to actually expect.

like do i just fly my normal lines or do i actually try to push since its timed? my buddy who races said dont chase faster pilots, just fly clean. but then another guy told me to push harder than i think i should. kind of contradictory advice and now im second guessing everything including my throttle curve which i havent touched in like 3 months and was fine until someone mentioned it yesterday

also not sure what to bring gear wise, like how many batteries should i actually pack for a one day event

your buddy is right, fly clean. seriously. your first race you're going to be more nervous than you expect and your hands wont do what your brain tells them to and if you're also trying to push beyond your normal pace its a recipe for crashing out every heat. the guys who podium their first event are usually the ones who just flew smooth and let everyone else crash around them. also dont mess with your throttle curve the night before oh my god do not do that

for batteries, depends on format but i'd bring at least 10-12 if you have them, you go through more than you think with heat racing plus practice, and have at least one or two charged and ready as spares because you will crash and need time to repair and you dont want to also be scrambling to charge

honestly just have fun with it. my first race i was so nervous i fumbled arming the quad on the line and everyone was staring lol. after the first heat it just feels like flying. bring a soldering iron and spare props minimum, ive seen people DNF heats over a broken prop arm they couldve fixed in 5 mins