There’s an often-overlooked feature within EA SPORTS WRC that allows you to overlay your performance with that of your rivals. Here’s how to make the best use of Racenet.
During the many COVID-19 lockdowns, I participated in several virtual rallying clubs (such as the Jersey eRally) on DiRT Rally 2.0, before moving onto WRC Generations and now once again as the feature returns within EA SPORTS WRC.
However, upon completing a stage, you are missing some context. Sure, the stopwatch doesn’t lie, but unlike circuit racing the multiplayer here is asynchronous – meaning you don’t know why you were quicker, or slower, than your rivals.
I knew I had rolled, but where else did I lose time?
For the latest World Rally Championship game, however, you can use Racenet to overlay your performance with that of a fellow club competitor, finally adding texture to your tales of woe/tales of heroism (delete as appropriate).
More than just storytelling, however, you can also use it to compare your performance with the quickest drivers on the leaderboards. This allows for a more granular investigation than using the time trial ghost system.
From there you can select any stage that’s in the game from the drop-down menu alongside the car class and weather conditions.
If you have set a time via the time trial mode in-game, then your best attempt will load in. If not, click on the ‘edit’ icon and then ‘choose from global leaderboard’. Then, you guessed it, every time set in the world appears, selecting the ‘>’ icon under the ‘analyse’ collum loads that player’s run.
Then, under ‘select a comparison’, once again choose a driver. This will then load their run and overlay it over the first selected driver or, again if you have set a time, your personal quickest.
You can then hit the large ‘play’ button at the bottom left of the stage visualisation and watch how the two drivers compare. Clicking on any part of the timeline advances the footage to that area of the stage.
Hitting the ‘synch’ button will make the two cars level at any given moment, should they have become spaced out further down the route.
You can even go on-board by selecting from one of six different viewing angles. To do so, hit the ‘video camera’ icon at the bottom right of the playback window. This is hidden within the ‘cog’ icon when using the mobile app.
Each competitor is displayed as a generic on-screen car, with a coloured trace line to visualise the exact path taken. As the two competitors are overlayed, you can spot minute differences in driving style, and perhaps learn from the best.
Scrolling down on the page, below the stage video, are the following telemetry read-outs: delta time, speed, throttle percentage, brake percentage, handbrake and the gear selected.
These can be cross-referenced with the visualisation. In this example, the driver in blue used the handbrake briefly around hairpins, the yellow driver did not. The blue driver ended up having the quicker approach exiting the corner.
Sure, rambling Discord messages or WhatsApps from your friends explaining a dud tyre choice or a missed gearshift make up part of the fabric of competition within EA SPORTS WRC – but what if you could check to see what really happened?
Well, you can, simply visit the Racenet website or app, select ‘Clubs’ and then the specific group, hit the most recent event. Clicking on a time set by a rival in a club then brings up the same visual comparison tool detailed above for leaderboard use – only this time, you’re only looking at your fellow members.
In this example, fellow OverTake/RaceDepartment writer Yannik Haustein smashed my time by over 20 seconds in this stage. I knew that I’d had a costly roll, plus another off into the weeds.
I’m ahead…
But, at the very first braking zone I’d braked later, taken the lead for all over 0.5s, before running wide. Seeing that visualised helped me learn how I’d lost time by simply being too hasty in my approach.
…but won’t be for long
Rather encouragingly, in other sectors, when I wasn’t exploring the surrounding countryside, I was generally keeping pace. After comparing, I came away heartened that I don’t need to push harder to succeed, I need to be tidier.
Just bear in mind that if someone crashes into retirement – cough, Haustein, cough – even the part of the stage they successfully navigated will not be available for analysis.
Let us know if you have tried the Racenet feature yet, or if it’s something you’ll try in the comments below or on X, @OverTake_GG. Don’t forget, the version 1.4 update for the official WRC game is set to land on the 14th alongside new Central European Rally stages.
During the many COVID-19 lockdowns, I participated in several virtual rallying clubs (such as the Jersey eRally) on DiRT Rally 2.0, before moving onto WRC Generations and now once again as the feature returns within EA SPORTS WRC.
However, upon completing a stage, you are missing some context. Sure, the stopwatch doesn’t lie, but unlike circuit racing the multiplayer here is asynchronous – meaning you don’t know why you were quicker, or slower, than your rivals.
For the latest World Rally Championship game, however, you can use Racenet to overlay your performance with that of a fellow club competitor, finally adding texture to your tales of woe/tales of heroism (delete as appropriate).
More than just storytelling, however, you can also use it to compare your performance with the quickest drivers on the leaderboards. This allows for a more granular investigation than using the time trial ghost system.
What Is Racenet?
Racenet is Electronic Arts and Codemasters’ online tool for comparing times and performances, plus the management of community events or checking game statistics.
How Can I Access Racenet?
To access Racenet, simply visit Racenet.com via a web browser on a desktop, tablet or mobile. Alternatively, download the iOS or Android Racenet app. The service, website and app are all free.Which Games Use Racenet Analysis?
- EA SPORTS WRC
- EA SPORTS F1 23
- EA SPORTS F1 22
- F1 2021
How To Compare Times In EA SPORTS WRC With Racenet Analysis
- Visit Racenet website or app, selecting EA SPORTS WRC
- Visit the Analysis section
- Compare your best time trial run to that of anyone on the leaderboard
- Scroll through different camera angles, skip to any section, view telemetry
From there you can select any stage that’s in the game from the drop-down menu alongside the car class and weather conditions.
If you have set a time via the time trial mode in-game, then your best attempt will load in. If not, click on the ‘edit’ icon and then ‘choose from global leaderboard’. Then, you guessed it, every time set in the world appears, selecting the ‘>’ icon under the ‘analyse’ collum loads that player’s run.
Then, under ‘select a comparison’, once again choose a driver. This will then load their run and overlay it over the first selected driver or, again if you have set a time, your personal quickest.
You can then hit the large ‘play’ button at the bottom left of the stage visualisation and watch how the two drivers compare. Clicking on any part of the timeline advances the footage to that area of the stage.
Hitting the ‘synch’ button will make the two cars level at any given moment, should they have become spaced out further down the route.
You can even go on-board by selecting from one of six different viewing angles. To do so, hit the ‘video camera’ icon at the bottom right of the playback window. This is hidden within the ‘cog’ icon when using the mobile app.
Each competitor is displayed as a generic on-screen car, with a coloured trace line to visualise the exact path taken. As the two competitors are overlayed, you can spot minute differences in driving style, and perhaps learn from the best.
Scrolling down on the page, below the stage video, are the following telemetry read-outs: delta time, speed, throttle percentage, brake percentage, handbrake and the gear selected.
These can be cross-referenced with the visualisation. In this example, the driver in blue used the handbrake briefly around hairpins, the yellow driver did not. The blue driver ended up having the quicker approach exiting the corner.
How To Use Racenet For Club Storytelling
- Visit Racenet website or app, selecting EA SPORTS WRC
- Visit the ‘Clubs’ section
- Compare any stage runs by those within your club
- Scroll through different camera angles, skip to any section, view telemetry
Sure, rambling Discord messages or WhatsApps from your friends explaining a dud tyre choice or a missed gearshift make up part of the fabric of competition within EA SPORTS WRC – but what if you could check to see what really happened?
Well, you can, simply visit the Racenet website or app, select ‘Clubs’ and then the specific group, hit the most recent event. Clicking on a time set by a rival in a club then brings up the same visual comparison tool detailed above for leaderboard use – only this time, you’re only looking at your fellow members.
In this example, fellow OverTake/RaceDepartment writer Yannik Haustein smashed my time by over 20 seconds in this stage. I knew that I’d had a costly roll, plus another off into the weeds.
But, at the very first braking zone I’d braked later, taken the lead for all over 0.5s, before running wide. Seeing that visualised helped me learn how I’d lost time by simply being too hasty in my approach.
Rather encouragingly, in other sectors, when I wasn’t exploring the surrounding countryside, I was generally keeping pace. After comparing, I came away heartened that I don’t need to push harder to succeed, I need to be tidier.
Just bear in mind that if someone crashes into retirement – cough, Haustein, cough – even the part of the stage they successfully navigated will not be available for analysis.
Putting Learnings Into Practice
Hopefully, now, you have been able to see how the world’s best extract the most time from EA SPORTS WRC – or failing that, how your friend lost a 10-second lead by binning it into a tree, despite claiming they were in the ‘slower’ car…Let us know if you have tried the Racenet feature yet, or if it’s something you’ll try in the comments below or on X, @OverTake_GG. Don’t forget, the version 1.4 update for the official WRC game is set to land on the 14th alongside new Central European Rally stages.
