I should clarify.... I rarely use
my own ghost. To me it's nothing but frustration. If I get a little behind, the temptation is too high to quit the lap and start over, which is usually what I'll do. Which then leads to not learning the 2nd half of the track as good as the first. And if I'm ahead of my ghost, I can start to feel my muscles tighten up with anxiety and I usually end up fucking up the lap somehow.
If I do turn on a ghost, I'll use a
slightly faster ghost than my own. I seem to do ok if I'm chasing a faster ghost. I pretend like I'm racing him and focus solely on the ghost and nothing else. I find it helps me focus less on braking points, entry points, throttle, braking, etc. and basically just drive on instinct. I also find that I'll finish a lap, because if I fall behind, I know I'm slower anyway so who cares... keep going and see what happens.
I do agree though that the use of ghosts is highly subjective.
In the end, it may not even matter. I think once we're close to our limits, ghost or no ghost probably doesn't make much difference.
I really wish we could easily pick a ghost of any racer and chase it.
I think there'd be more value in chasing a ghost of someone around 1-2 seconds faster than me and then once beating that, picking one of the very top leaders'.
I remember being bummed about this last year so this year I got smart. Right at the beginning of the competition I made sure to download some of the top guys ghosts back when they were in the high 17's / low 18's. Right now I'm chasing a ghost I saved on day 2 of 2:18.380. I can hang with it until Maggotts/Becketts, then he pulls away.
I wish we could export/import ghosts.
