Alright folks, lemme tell ya about my “shake and bake racing” adventure. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!
So, it all started when I stumbled upon this cool-sounding concept – “shake and bake racing.” Basically, you’re prepping a racing setup super fast, skipping all the meticulous tuning and just… sending it. Sounded like my kind of chaos, to be honest.
First, I needed a rig. Dug out my old Thrustmaster wheel and pedals from the closet – hadn’t touched ’em in ages. Blew the dust off, plugged ’em in, and crossed my fingers. Surprisingly, everything fired up! Next, the game. Assetto Corsa, of course. Got it installed, ready to rumble.
The ‘shake’ part was easy. I just picked a car – a GT3 Porsche, looked mean enough – and a track – Monza, because why not go big? No practice laps, no qualifying. Just straight into the race.
Now, the ‘bake’ part… that’s where things got interesting. I’m talking about diving straight into the race without any setup adjustments. Default everything. Tyre pressures? Stock. Aero? Default. Brake bias? As is. You get the picture. Pure, unadulterated, off-the-shelf chaos.
The race started, and I immediately knew I was in trouble. The car was a handful. Understeer on entry, oversteer on exit. It felt like I was driving on ice. But hey, that’s the challenge, right?
I spent the first few laps just trying to keep the thing on the track. Lots of spins, near misses, and frantic counter-steering. I was all over the place. But slowly, I started to get a feel for it. Started to anticipate the slides, to manage the throttle a bit better.
Overtaking? Forget about it. I was happy just to be alive. But I was gaining on the backmarkers, little by little. The beauty of ‘shake and bake’ is you’re not aiming for perfection. You’re aiming for survival, for learning, for adapting.
By the end of the race, I was actually putting in some decent lap times. Still nowhere near the leaders, but I’d managed to drag myself up a few places. More importantly, I learned a TON about car control and dealing with unpredictable handling.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. It’s a fun way to spice things up and force yourself to adapt. It’s like a driving school from hell, but with more adrenaline. Give it a try sometime. Just be prepared for a wild ride!
