Yep. I get nervous while racing online; and I get butterflies when I'm in the lead near the end of the race. I love it.

Nervous wreck here. League races bring out the worst in me and I'm nervous not to take anyone out or be taken out in turn 1. If I make a mistake the next few laps will all have mistakes in them by the time I calm back down.

Pick up races not so much unless I'm struggling to keep a position or I'm in the lead which rarely happens lol

The only time I'm not nervous is when I'm comfortable with my speed on a certain combo and I'm chasing someone down. Once the chase is over and I'm being chased the nerves kick in again.

I tend to try and drive like a robot and push all emotions to the back of my mind, too much to focus on.

That said, when you are pushing something like the LX6 and the back steps at speed it can get the heart pounding

i used to when i started playing LFS, but since then not so much

i do however get extremely nervous driving when its cold outside or.. even when its not that cold, but just temper to where you have to have a jacket on, i dont get it, even when its hot outside sometimes i shake and tense up to the point where it hurts.. its bad.. i need gum, all i have now is mints which help, but the gum helped the most

when it comes to serious league races, im nervous like hell. i always mess my qualifications, cant decide wheter to shift down or up, cant make any differences between brake, throttle and stuff but when the lights go green, it becomes the easiest thing in the world. weird heh, but thats it

It actually depends what I'm doing before a league race. If I'm sitting around, waiting for the thing to get started, I get really worked up. If I've other things to do, leading right up to the start, or near the start, then I'm much better. I'm much more relaxed than I used to be, definitely.. and it probably shows in my driving too.

I still get it a bit but not much, but I honestly forget most things i'm thinking as my adrenaline is going but i'm not actually "nervous". Watching a replay of a league race I done, it's although I wasn't in it sometimes.

Nerves have got alot better the last few months though and I guess if you do some big races like MoE, the smaller races don't really compare.

Makes me think of my 1st race though.....I got S2 and was generally driving with the 400 guys and a couple of Mercury members, South city town in the FXO for the OLFS race. That race was a week after I got S2 so I practiced my but off and managed to scrape a low pool 1 qualifying (Should have been better but when I quit LFS after doing a much better lap minuits before the deadline, the pc crashed :P) So really my 1st league experience and I was nervous as hell, shaking and hands sweating!

There was a crash in t1 (I didn't cause this one ) So I was put back a bit after that but luckally I was such a noob that I didn't realise the guy I was holding off for about 5 laps was Sracer, had I known how good he was I would have got even more nervous and probarly choke, luckally I managed to put a car between us before he had to pit for some reason.

I don't think the nerves actually leave anyone, as seeing another car catch you is allways gunna be nerveracking, but how it affects you is totally differnt.

Quote from Hurts2bStock :

I think my heart rate is close to full blast if I'm inside and like one row back. I think my fear comes from not wanting to be "that guy" who takes out the whole field in turn one.....so I tend to loose a fair bit of ground in the first two turns until things spread out a bit.

Hey, that's me!!! Not only from my own crappy skills, but because I have horrible frames through the first half lap and I tend to lag that first lap if the server is full enough. With more than 14 or so racers, I tend just to spectate until the grid is set and I join at the back of the pack. I'm talking public here, so by the exit of T1, I can go from 16th to 3rd pretty easily shortshifting and braking real early and weaving through all the carnage.

Staying calm and focused is one of important things to win races, I might not be too fast, but I have learnt how to keep my head cool no matter what and quite often I climb many places just because I don't make big mistakes.

Problems come just when other driver is as stable and almost as fast, took 30 laps from me to overtake one car at Blackwood, we raced with XR GTs and same setups, but sure was fun.

Also as manager of small racer group (~30 members) I need to keep cool even there are situations which might get to nerves, it just would not be fair to others if I would go by feeling, take some power and get responsibility, that is how it goes

Hehe, under pressure, i used to crack easier then an egg (talking about big racing, not few drivers). But the sayin practice makes perfect is true i guess.. im not perfect no way!!! but i rarely crack under pressure or am ever nervous when im up the front leading or bumper to bumper in closing stages with others around you..

At the start im fine, i know the breaking points and i know to back off a bit earlier just incase someone slows down extra hard, ill be able to avoid hitting it.. i just dont like it when people ram me when i take the time to learn to not hit others!!!

Then again, its just a game..!!

i dont get nervous, but, i do sweat when i concentrate a lot!
i remember my 1st league a few years ago... i think it was OLFSL and i was a bit nervous then, but once i was racing i'm fine. i dont think i take it seriously enough to get nervous... it's just a bit of fun

Back in demo days and early weeks in S2 I used to get a bit nervous, but my first organized race, a test race for CRC Challenge Cup was really a turning point (can't find the right word, but you'll get it?). I was really, really tense when standing on the grid and waiting for the lights, but after we launched off and I noticed; "heck, I can really drive this thing", almost every second with LFS has been really fun and relaxing stuff.

(Ok, I got pissed off once, driving LX Eurocup @ AS North rev, I bet some of you remember it )

Of course there's moments when someone behaves badly and I feel abused, but the possible "revenge" in the next bend always takes place with a nice smile on my face.

EDIT: Sometimes i DO sweat a LOT, but that has very little to do with being nervous.

Lol i think my main turning point was when i was the only mouse/keyboard user in MNR championship in the LX6.. pretty crazy won in the city.. really painful (pressing fingers on keyboard really really really hard), but all laps were highly consistant, and at the top of the sheets.. after that really i could manange alot! =)

I find myself being nervous on the STCC Server at the 1st corner because im like allways scared of either hitting people off or being hit off and also when im tired i get all nervous of making stupid mistakes

~ S14

Im not a nervous type at the races, but at the STCC server when i got highranking im afraid of my internet that decides to drop downillepall or my mom with a vacuum cleaner

I'm getting nervous when a car is near...(very near)
[LJ]So, no I'm not nervous when racing...[/LJ]
So when I'm really close to an other racer, I always take extra caution, because if I spin someone out, I get really really nervous.

my heart is waaaay out of the mouth when the green light goes, rofl.

Same as you, BBT. I get nervous and sweat like a pig. My T-shirt after races is a thing of horror. God knows how bad I would get if I was in a league.

I always get sweaty hands, and when the race is near the end and I'm behind someone I really get pumped. Like yesterday, drove behind someone about 4-5 laps before I could pass, and after I passed him I was so relieved, that I started messing up because I lost my focus.

i panic like mad, spec when someone up my ass, i usualy end up off track, as i spend too much time looking in rear view mirror than on track LOL

I use to! Sweety hands etc Dont seem to anymore though, maybe my heart beats faster when im on quali or start of race!
I hate it when i am quali for a league and on a great lap, then i try to make it smooth and everything else and muck up

I usually get very nervous during the minutes leading up to the start of a big race. It was the same when I was racing karts, but once I actually got moving, everything was cool, as I was focused on the task at hand. That hasn't translated into LFS, unfortunately. Only until I get a few laps into the race and I settle into my immediate surroundings (cars ahead and behind) do I feel more comfortable.

I once had a LOTA Formula V8 Challenge race where before things started, I had turned on a portable heater next to me (my desk is in a cold place in my house). I forgot to turn the heater off (which was located about 2 meters from me) before the race started. About 1/3 through, I got into a heated battle and that made me sweat profusely, so much so that it was interfering with my vision. I made the decision to pit early so I could rectify the situation. Unfortunately, my pit strategy and no damage meant that I would only take on about 2-3 seconds of fuel. In one fluid motion (or it seemed so at the time), I got stopped for my pit, threw the headset off to the side, sprung up out of my chair, pulled the ceiling fan chain twice (for medium speed), and sat back down, all in the time it took to make my pitstop. I got my headset back on as I drove down pit lane. What a waste of electricity, because I had the fan running, and the heater was still on!

i get nervous only when i find my self in a big race with a never before driven combo. but i dont do leagues so nerves arent that big of a problem.

I used to be the whole time, now just starts and close racing...mostly due to my dial up, hate to lag into anyone

When i first got S2 and join the Road Summer Sport Cup During the FE gold race I was literally bricking it. Mainly because I had only just bought the game and didnt want my name spread around as a crasher and stuff and be banned from servers. I'm still not a fantastic driver but my confidence of knowing I'm not likely to hit someone has decreased.

In fact I think the only time i regot the feeling of nervousness lately was in the STCC new and Bronze server when I lost the back end of my XFG on WE1 and amp came into the back of me when i hit the tires and snapped back. From then on in that race I was sitting there just trying to focus on not losing it on that corner that i was over braking every corner and the times I can get of 1:14 went right down to 1:18s.

That carried on into the last race before I left too but I got it back to 1:16s on my last lap so I think i was getting over it.

The adrenaline pumping feeling usually I get is unbelievable . As Becky says when you're in the race you really stop getting that and let the adrenaline carry you to push yourself to your limits and you start forgetting it's a game.