I was 2.46mins behind leader and I had 1 stop and go. and if thats not bad enough all the cars that were behind me DNF.
So im going pratice more and choose a race thats less demanding.
Sounds to me like you did fine Craske. The stop n go would have cost you over a minute total at Hock, if the cut warnings are always at the same corner, be more cautious there, you do not want a stop n go, it just wastes your race. While I'm sure that your proper pitstop would have taken a while longer then it will with more practice, as you decided what to do with your tyres/fuel/damage... that's more time lost against the AI.
The AI struggles to calculate fuel, when you do an 80 minute race using the fuel multiplier function, 50% of the cars never seem to complete the race because they don't get round to pitting... they've not quit out of disgust you're ahead of them
I remember my 1st few races, I was very nervous! I say turn up, drive sensibly, drive predictably (i.e. leave obvious space for lapping drivers)
& enjoy it.
You'll also get a chance to see other drivers & spot/hear what they're doing differently to get the extra pace. You'll find you'll probably set a PB in the race.
p.s. I'm doing 1:44's... but someone staying on the track & doing 1:45's will beat me if I have my usual "moment"
& go off at some point
p.p.s. There's bound to be a couple of Team Prodigy drivers at the back to beat