What Telemetry Baselines Actually Tell You in Sim Racing
Updated: Aug 20
A telemetry baseline is one of the most powerful references a sim racer can have---and one of the easiest to misuse. The baseline is not a set of pedal percentages that must be copied. It is a recorded example of a successful lap that lets you ask better questions about your own driving.
Used correctly, a baseline shows timing, sequence and tradeoffs. It can reveal where a faster driver begins braking, how the brake is released, where the car rotates, when throttle begins and how quickly the steering unwinds on exit.
Think reference, not recipe
Two drivers can produce similar lap times with different styles. Setup, fuel, tires and conditions can also change the exact input required. That is why "copy 80 percent brake" is weaker advice than "the reference finishes the heavy braking earlier and carries a light release into rotation."
The second observation describes the structure of the corner. Structure is transferable. Exact percentages are much more dependent on context.
A baseline expands the comparison beyond your own history
Your PB tells you what you have already achieved. A baseline can show a solution you have never executed. That makes it valuable when your own laps repeat the same mistake and your PB contains the same limitation, just slightly less severely.
A strong external reference can expose a different way to connect entry and exit. The goal is to understand why the reference works, then test whether that principle improves your own lap.
Compare timing first
Begin with the large timing markers: brake start, brake release, turn-in, minimum speed, throttle pickup and full throttle. These reveal the rhythm of the corner before you become distracted by exact amplitudes.
If the reference is on throttle earlier, look backward. Did it rotate earlier? Did it release the brake differently? Did it use a different apex? The earliest meaningful difference is usually more useful than the final visible advantage.
Use speed to understand the trade
A baseline may enter a corner slower and still be much faster by the exit. Another corner may reward carrying more entry speed. The speed trace shows where the reference chooses to spend grip.
Do not automatically chase the highest minimum speed or latest brake point. Ask which execution produces the best time through the entire corner and onto the next straight.
Steering reveals whether the car is working efficiently
If your lap uses more steering than the baseline through the same phase, the difference may indicate entry overspeed, missed rotation, a tighter radius or front-tire scrub. Combine steering with speed and pedal traces before deciding which explanation is correct.
A baseline with earlier steering unwind and earlier throttle is often showing you that the exit was prepared before the apex, not simply that the reference driver was more aggressive on power.
Personal baselines and team baselines solve different problems
A personal baseline is useful for tracking your own progress and preserving a known-good execution. A team baseline can reveal how another driver approaches the same track and car, which is especially valuable when teammates have complementary strengths.
The same rule applies to both: use the reference to generate a testable hypothesis. The baseline should make your next practice lap more purposeful, not make you imitate inputs without understanding them.
Conditions matter
Reference laps are strongest when the underlying context is reasonably similar. Tire state, fuel load, track evolution and weather can change the speed and input profile. A baseline recorded under different conditions can still teach technique, but small numerical differences should not be treated as absolute targets.
The more different the context, the more you should focus on sequence and shape rather than raw speed or exact pedal percentages.
A baseline becomes more useful as your analysis improves
Beginners may first use a baseline to find obvious differences in brake points and speed. More advanced drivers can study release shape, steering efficiency, throttle progression and how one corner affects the next.
The reference does not become less valuable as you get faster. The questions simply become more precise.
Using baselines inside Valor
Valor's Baselines system connects reference laps to the rest of the coaching ecosystem so the comparison is not isolated from the corner and telemetry context. Film Room provides the deeper post-session view when you want to inspect the traces directly.
If you want to see how Valor turns a corner comparison into a coaching target, open the Turn Demo. To use baselines with your own iRacing sessions, download Valor and start by comparing clean, representative laps rather than every lap in the session.
Drive with the reference, not under it
Valor baselines are designed to give telemetry comparison context while leaving room for driving style, setup and conditions. Use the reference to expose timing and sequence differences, then test whether the change improves your own lap instead of treating the baseline as a script.
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