ok so background ? ive been flying for about 14 months, mostly freestyle and some practice laps in my backyard. got a 5 inch running f7 stack, xing2 2306 motors, running betaflight 4.4 with rates that i thought were pretty reasonable. decided to show up to a local MultiGP qualifier last weekend and i genuinely thought i was decent at flying until i watched the other pilots in practice.

i finished every heat, didnt crash out which i'm told is good for a first race, but my lap times were like 4-5 seconds off the leaders. i know thats a lot. my lines were all wrong, i was braking way too early into turns and my throttle was super choppy on the exits. also my goggles kept fogging which is a whole other thing i need to fix before next time.

anyone been through this and have tips for closing that gap? is it mostly just seat time or are there specific drills that actually help. also is there a rate setup that's more common in racing vs freestyle because mine might be fighting me

not crashing in your first race heats is genuinely more than a lot of people manage so don't undersell that. the 4-5 second gap is normal and honestly it closes faster than you'd think once you start doing proper practice with intent instead of just lapping around.

the throttle thing on exits is the biggest one to fix first imo. a lot of people coming from freestyle have this habit of smoothing everything out which works great for cinematic stuff but in racing you want to learn to crack throttle hard and early out of corners, even when it feels like you're not fully set up yet. simulator time with a specific focus on corner exit throttle helped me more than any rates change. speaking of rates ? most racers i know run lower center sensitivity than freestyle pilots and more expo, so the stick feels lighter at center and you're not overcorrecting in tight sections. worth experimenting.

the goggle fogging thing ? just get some cat crap anti fog or honestly even dish soap rubbed thin on the lens and wiped off works. sounds dumb but it works. dont let that be the thing that ruins your next race when its such an easy fix

also rates are probably not your problem right now, lines are. you can have perfect rates and still be slow if youre apexing wrong. watch your dvr footage and compare it to faster pilots dvr if you can get it. painful to watch yourself but its the fastest way to see where youre losing time