Course
I used EDTS to compute the best course, after finding named stations near the installations given in the race instructions.
I queried it for the amount of jumps with every LY of jump range to find the break points. They were something around here
>33 = 10 jumps
>36 = 9 jumps
> 40.86 = 8 jumps
> 56 = 7 jumps
I only really cared about the 40.86 break point, because the extra jump (estimate 45 seconds per jump) seems long enough in this race to not be worth switching ships over. This might have been wrong, looking at the spread among the top 5 places, but I took it as a working principle.
Ship Selection
With 40.86 LY as the minimum jump range, I calculated 40.86/1.45 (roughly the max boost possible from engineering) and found that any ship with a max jump range under 28 LY without engineering was out.
Remaining Options: Anaconda, AspX, Hauler, DBX, iCourier AspS, T6 Adder, Python, DBS, Keelback, Cobra MkIII.
Since the bonus was determined by MLF, it also made sense to eliminate multiple ships with the same MLF, and take the faster or more manuverable of the two.
Hauler is alone as MLF 6
iCourier is faster than the Adder for MLF 7
DBS and Cobra MK III are the fastest and most maneuverable of MLF8
DBX (MLF10) probably is slightly less maneuverable and slower than the AspX (MLF11), and the T7 is right out. (sorry Holy Cow)
Python and Conda are both in a class of their own.
Remaining Options: Hauler, iCourier, DBS, Cobra3, AspX, Python, Anaconda
Cobra and DBS are both very close on the jump range, and might not have enough mass allotment left for decent thrusters, so I specced out my Hauler, iCourier, and AspX, and dragged them all to the starting line. Later I tried a Python, but I was pretty sure after I tried to squeeze my iCutter through the tunnels that the Conda wouldn’t work well either.
Remaining Options: Hauler, iCourier, AspX, Python.
Jumping
Since 2.2, race jumping has become more of a pain, since if one is jumping in a straight line, the next star in line will be opposite your arrival point. This especially becomes a problem if scooping is necessary, and it usually will be, since carrying less fuel increases jump range.
My general method was to pull away at a tangent from the star ASAP, then dive back in for some fuel once the FSD started charging. My heat would go as high as 150 sometimes, but the hull and module damage seemed to be minimal on a short race (as I think cookiehole has mentioned beforehand). This method required much more concentration than I was used to during jumping, since missing that initial turn away from the star could mean several seconds lost while trying to get the next star in line of sight. Netflix is dangerous.
Supercruise
I think this was largely where this race was won and lost, though I’ll have to do some video time comparisons to make sure.
The Izanagi Installation was very close to the planet, in a much lower orbit than most stations. After the standard cookiehole cruise approach, I tried to dive down into it , placing it directly between my ship and the planet core. Approaching from this angle also had the benefit of dropping in from a consistent angle, enabling me to find the same small tunnel for flipping in.
San Tu Installation was way above the planet, meaning that much higher approach speeds were possible, since it wasn’t as deep in the gravity well. Adjusting from the previous installation was always a bit confusing, but wound up ok. I’m glad this one didn’t have GCDs, since lining up a consistent drop was hard.
For quite some time I wasn’t using the complete cookiehole method on the last installation at LFT 1748, because I thought a different approach was called for due to the large gravitational well of that planet, but once I switched back to trust in cookehole, zooming past and pulling around, I dropped my time on that leg by a good 15 seconds.
Tunnels
I initially thought the time saved by doing tunnels wouldn’t be worth it, since I tested on a few of the longer tunnels, and was getting times around 10s per tunnel, which was barely worth the bonus, so my first 6 runs of the race I didn’t do multiple tunnels at all. Then I did some further testing with FAoff and boost, and found that I could consistently get the hauler through 4 tunnels in significantly under 30 seconds, making the bonus very worth it.
I eventually got the AspX through in 24 seconds, so seconds per tunnel. The best method I found was to search for some crossed tunnels which were generally found on the outer corners of the installations away from the round things, as these were very short.
I would start through the tunnel, and about halfway through, FAoff and begin flipping. Once I had turned 120 degrees, I’d switch FAon, and boost back into the tunnel, usually with throttle at 0%. My goal was to burn almost all my boost braking, which was by far the slowest part of the maneuver, and avoid building up too much speed. I heard from cookiehole later that the cargo scoop or landing gear would kill most of the excess boost thrust if you wanted to avoid building up speed, which is an excellent tip to keep in mind for later races. Another reason for figuring out the locations of those corner tunnels was that one of them was always free in LFT158, which meant I didn’t need to bring along or worry about guns, freeing up some weight for hull reinforcements.
I think that’s about it, other than practice practice practice. I always seem to underestimate the amount of times I run this, I’m going through my videos and I thought I had run the course maybe 10 times, but it turns out it was 30.
