EA SPORTS™ WRC - CENTRAL EUROPEAN RALLY & ASPHALT DRIVING GUIDE
Learn how to master asphalt events and the Central European Rally location with these tips from pro rally driver Jon Armstrong
Central European Rally is the newest addition to the FIA World Rally Championship calendar, and from December 14 you can take on the ultra-fast Czech roads in EA SPORTS™ WRC as part of a free update.
Looking for some advice on how to master this tricky asphalt location? We recently sat down with our professional rally driver and EA SPORTS™ WRC game designer Jon Armstrong to share some of his secrets to success, and answer some questions you may have about asphalt rallying.
“How should I approach a asphalt rally in general, across all locations?”
“Compared to gravel you need to be a lot smoother with your inputs, and try not to be too aggressive with the steering wheel or controller.
A smooth racing line is important, similar to circuit racing, where you gradually open up the steering past the apex.
On the brakes you want a more progressive approach too. Start with a hard initial input due to the downforce and then trail the brake pressure off as you get closer to the corner and begin to turn.
Unlike on gravel you don’t want to slide the car too much around the corners, you want to almost treat asphalt like you would a racing circuit in F1® 23.
Not only does it cost you time but it also impacts your tyre wear, and when you take on a 30km stage you’ll feel the difference by the end if you were aggressive early on.
A smoother driver should have a better performance overall than one that pushes hard from the very beginning.”
“How does Central European Rally compare to the other locations?”
“Central European Rally is a very fast location, with a lot of flow and very wide roads.
The challenge is in finding the perfect racing line that allows you to keep the speed high through the corners.
You need to get into the mindset of being comfortable at high speed, pushing the car’s grip to its limit, while also being aware that a bump or a sharp hairpin or junction is not far away.
It’s a location that demands a lot of focus when you’re competing for the top times, due to the high speeds and heavy braking zones.”
“Are there any unique challenges to Central European Rally I should look out for?”
“The location has a lot of junctions compared to other asphalt locations, lots of square and hairpin corners.
You want to be aggressive with the steering into those tight corners without sliding the car about too much, as excess wheelspin will cost you time on asphalt.
Most junctions in EA SPORTS™ WRC feature two small yellow arrow signs about 100 metres before the apex on the sides of the road, and that’s normally a good starting point when figuring out where to brake.
There are also a couple of small bumps and jumps to watch out for, which you don’t see on the other asphalt rallies. You’ll need to be careful not to unsettle the car with too much steering before them or while you’re in mid-air.”
“The location features long uphill and downhill stretches, will that affect the car?”
“Yes, there are long periods of gradual uphill and downhill sections throughout Central European Rally.
When you’re going downhill you need to be especially careful, as the road is falling away from you and you don’t have as much grip as when you’re flat or uphill.
You may need to brake earlier for some turns than you would normally as it can be easy to lock up the tyres when going downhill.
On the uphill you can brake later into corners.”
“The road edges are quite open compared to other asphalt rallies, can I use that to my advantage?”
“There are opportunities to maximise your racing line by running slightly wide on entry and exit, and clipping the inside of corners at the apex.
You can’t really do that at Monte Carlo, Croatia, Japan and Iberia as much as you can here, so it’s a good opportunity to keep your average speed up.
You cannot go too far however as there are still obstacles to watch out for, and we also have several anti-cut blocks across the route that give you penalties for going beyond the limits.
There’s also opportunities to hook a tyre on the inside of a few corners, as there’s a bit of a dirt culvert in some sections where you can dip a wheel in and the road drags you through a turn at higher speed.”
“Is there anything I should try to focus on with my tuning setup?”
“In terms of setup you’d want to go with a lower, stiffer suspension.
You’ll also want to go with a higher gear ratio and final drive as it’s a very high speed location.
You don’t want to be hitting the rev limiter on the long straights when the car has more to give, so try to focus your gearing around a higher top speed, especially your 5th and 6th.
When it comes to the bumps you’ll want to have a slightly softer rebound on your dampers, so that the tyres maintain better contact with the ground.
The wheels will come back to the ground quicker, although if you have the dampers set too soft the car will oscillate, which is not good for performance here.
When it comes to tuning in general, a good approach is to identify which end of the car isn’t meeting expectations, and then adjust accordingly.
If you’re struggling with understeer, focus on the front, and with oversteer you can make minor adjustments to the rear.”
“What’s a good way to get started with Central European Rally?”
“One thing that would be worth trying out is to drive the location in a Regularity Rally first.
This lets you experience everything at a lower speed, and put some things in your mind in terms of what the tricky corners might be when you’re going flat-out.
The junctions in particular are ones you should watch out for, as some are blind and hidden away when you’re travelling at high speed.
Look out for the yellow markers before junctions as they’ll be your initial braking reference points, and try to remember them when you finally take on the rally in a timed run.”
The v1.4.0 update to EA SPORTS™ WRC releases on December 14, with Central European Rally available for free.
The EA SPORTS™ WRC Rally Pass Season 2 launches on December 19; purchase the VIP Rally Pass to unlock an additional 15 items.
For additional information and the latest news, check out the links below:
*Requires WRC (sold separately) and all game updates. Conditions and restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/games/ea-sports-wrc/wrc/disclaimers for details.
**CONDITIONS, LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY. SEE https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/eaplay/US/en/PC/ FOR DETAILS.