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Motorsport Manager Online Beginner’s Guide: Tips, Cheats & Strategies for Winning More Races

The name Playsport is probably most familiar to fans of racing games, and if it isn’t, they happen to be the company behind the Motorsport Manager gaming franchise. The company’s latest title, Motorsport Manager Online, is now available for iOS and Android devices, and unlike its predecessors, this game is all about competing against other human team managers in 10-person/20-driver races. Just as usual, many of the features you may recognize from previous PvE versions of the game are still available, but now you can now choose a number of real-life drivers and motorsport brands in what marks a first for the popular game series!

As it is, Motorsport Manager is right up there in the learning curve as far as mobile racing games are concerned. Even without real-life drivers or teams, the realism is arguably unmatched when it comes to the aspect of managing a racing team (as opposed to controlling a virtual car across various tracks), and that remains as true as ever, even as Playsport has seemingly made the shift from PvE to PvP racing with this title.

But before you match wits with other “real players” from all over the world, we recommend starting out at the very bottom, which is where our first in a series of Motorsport Manager Online guides will come in handy. We shall focus on tips and pointers you should keep in mind when in the first two tiers or so, as we break you in easy and get you started with some nuggets of advice for newbie managers. So without further ado let’s get started with our Motorsport Manager Online beginner’s guide, as we are going to share with you tips, cheats and strategies to win more races!

1. It’s A Whole New Game With Many Familiar Features – Learning The Basics

If you’re familiar with the Motorsport Manager franchise, we have some good news and bad news. The good news is that many of the mechanics you may be familiar with from the classic PvE versions are still present. The bad news — though this won’t really be “bad” news once you get the hang of it — is that much has changed on the game’s multiplayer version. A lot of the changes revolve around the fact that Motorsport Manager Online is just that — it’s a MMO racing game, and that means competing against “real” players, as the popular marketing buzzword goes.

No longer can you sit back and exert little effort as you figure out each AI opponent’s predictable game plans and dominate the competition year after year after year. Instead, you will now be competing against other human managers and their teams, which means everyone has their own dynamic strategy — with varying human opponents comes varying challenges, and that doesn’t even take into account the fact that you will still need to deal with various racetracks and unpredictable weather!

motorsport manager online class

Basically, the race concept remains the same — each race features 20 drivers, meaning 10 teams with two drivers per team. Qualifying is a bit different, as all you’ll need to do here is to choose the type of tires you want to qualify and start the race with; after that, the entire process will take a few seconds before you’re taken to the starting grid. Once there, the race begins — races typically are 7 to 9 laps long, and you will then have the option to choose your approach in terms of driving style and power mode.

Typically, you should be fine if you keep everything right in the middle in both areas, but there are several variables that may influence your decision to turn things up or tone things down — your position on the grid, your fuel, your tire wear, you name it. But that’s why we have this guide, as we will be talking you through the best strategies you can utilize in this area, among other things.

Being that this is an MMO game, it will be inevitable that many of the same human players will choose the same two drivers, so don’t be surprised if you see multiple copies of the same driver in a race. Regardless, you will start out as usual with the two least-skilled drivers of the MM franchise, namely William Evans and Inez Santa Ana, and the game will immediately recommend that you drop Evans and replace him with someone else. Better drivers will become available as you rise from strength to strength, but you need not worry about a lack of fairly skilled drivers to choose from. Furthermore, it won’t matter that much once you’re in the lower leagues and up against weaker opposition.

Related: Motorsport Manager Online Advanced Guide: Tips & Strategies for Improving Your Car, Drivers and Team

Aside from that, the options remain for you to upgrade your parts (at least the ones your championship/class allows you to upgrade), change your engineers, hire more staff, and upgrade your headquarters. Again, the feel may be a bit different due to the fact that this is an MMO version that has been substantially redesigned with new features. But if you’re a veteran MM player, you shouldn’t have much trouble adjusting once you’ve played for a bit and gotten your feet wet by playing in the lower-level leagues.

2. Choose Your Championship, Score More Points, Get Promoted From League To League

Before getting a chance to race in Motorsport Manager Online, you will be asked to choose your preferred championship — you may choose open-wheel formula cars or sports cars, but regardless of your chosen championship, each of them will have their own set of rules. These rules will determine which parts you can upgrade and which ones will be stock parts, whether you can refuel your car or not, and whether everyone gets points (Points or All) regardless of classification or only the top-ranked drivers at the end of the race. Getting promoted to a new class — each tier beyond Tier 1 will feature more than one class — will unlock new drivers and new strategies, which means more opportunities for you to parade a better team, and more chances to switch things up in terms of your game plan per race.

how to get promoted in motorsport manager online

Each class/championship will require you to score a certain number of points in order to move on to the next one. In the early classes and tiers, you’ll normally need about three to four races on average to make it to the next class, but how are points scored in each race anyway? Once again, the first factor that comes into play is whether the class’ rules state that everyone gets points or only the top drivers in a race. For the former rule (Points for All), even the 20th-place driver will get one point, and for the latter, this usually means only the top 6 to 10 will be awarded with points, with everyone else getting a zero.

Naturally, you’ll want to rank as highly as possible if you want to get promoted quickly — in a Points for All setup, the maximum number of points you can score is 39, which happens when your drivers finish 1-2, thus getting 20 and 19 points respectively.

As you may expect, the races will get tougher as you move up in class and tier. This means you’ll constantly need to make improvements to your team — it may be upgrading your drivers by allotting the Driver Points you earn in each race, using cash and materials to develop better parts and create them for your drivers, and/or replacing weaker engineers with better ones. Always keep a close eye on the home menu, where you will be notified how good your Cars, Drivers, and Staff are — if you see any area that’s rated as Poor (or even Okay, if you can afford it), you’ll want to make some changes and make them fast!

For each race, you will be rewarded with materials, which will be used to build (or craft, if you really want to use typical gaming jargon) new parts, as well as cash, which is the game’s common currency. The higher your rank, the more resources you can earn. Getting promoted to a new class or a new tier, on the other hand, rewards you with more than just new drivers and strategies — aside from additional cash, you can earn Paddock Tokens, which are Motorsport Manager Online’s premium currency.

As a literal “bonus” tip, each race comes with a bonus objective that could earn you extra cash — at least one of your drivers will need to place higher than a certain position, so make sure you’re smartly choosing your strategies and pitting at the right time!

3. Adjusting Driving Style And Power Mode – Don’t Change Much In The Early Classes

In the very first few classes or tiers in Motorsport Manager Online, this is one aspect of driving strategy that you probably won’t need to bother with too much. In fact, we got along fine without changing Driving Style one bit — going for an aggressive strategy only accelerates tire wear and is not guaranteed to help you overtake more drivers, so we would suggest leaving this alone exclusively unless you’re trying to make your way from the back or middle of the grid.

motorsport manager online power mode

It would probably be safer to adjust Power Mode to High if you’re in such a situation, but you’ll also need to be careful that you don’t leave it at High for too long, especially in classes where refueling is not allowed under the rules! Typically, we wait until the number above your fuel gauge is at -0.10 (meaning you’re using 1/10ths more gallons of fuel than you should be using) before switching back to Normal mode — things will eventually settle down until you get back to a positive rating, but if you take it too far and stay at High power for too long, you run the risk of running out of fuel before the race is over!

4. Best Early Pit Strategies – Know Which Tire Type You Should Be Using

When it comes to pitting in Motorsport Manager Online, you should very easily get the hang of it in dry tracks where there’s not a drop of rain to throw you off. As long as you’ve got drivers and cars that are rated Good, you can confidently go through an entire race with Soft tires and finish on the podium or in the top five for both of your drivers. Typically, using Soft tires consistently works if your driver’s Qualifying Power (viewable in the Cars section) is yellow (Okay) or lower, but you can also do well with this strategy if your Qualifying Power is green (Good) or better.

Alternately, you can also look at the number of laps for the race and the maximum number of laps a certain type of tire will last — if you can survive on a one-stop strategy (say, a nine-lap race where Hard tires last up to five laps), you’ll also have a good chance of performing well and making the podium. In most cases, the time saved from going to the pits may offset the additional time it takes for you to complete a lap with Hard tires versus their Soft equivalents.

motorsport manager online standings

Again, this will largely depend on the number of laps per race, so make sure a one-stop strategy is absolutely plausible before choosing to employ one! Also be sure your car has a high Qualifying Power, because you might find it hard to fight your way through the grid if you end up in the middle and choose to go with Hard tires all the way.

Things get a bit trickier, however, when there’s a substantial chance of rain (say, 30 percent or greater) taking place. If there’s less than 10 percent rain at the time of qualifying, you will definitely want to opt for Soft tires. Otherwise, if the rain level is between 15 to 70 percent, you should start out with Intermediate tires, and if it’s 70 percent or greater, you’ll have no choice but to choose Wet tires while qualifying.

Related: Motorsport Manager Online Strategy Guide: Driver Traits, Dilemmas, Paddock Tokens and Car Maintenance Explained

As for the type of tires you should switch to — as well as which lap you should replace your tires once the race has started — you’ll need to keep an eye on the rain graph on the upper part of the race screen. Change your tires based on how much rain is expected in the laps following the one you’re currently on — for example, if you are on lap 3 and see rain levels escaping the green territory on the graph from laps 4 to 6, you should switch from Intermediate to Soft tires for your next (or presumably, your first) pit stop.

5. Keep Your Parts Regularly Upgraded

In order to have a car with a Performance rating that is at least comparable to the average car in your class, you’ll need to have the right parts equipped for both drivers. This is typically where most of your cash will go before you get to the point where you hire higher-rated drivers and replace the ones that served you well in the early tiers. Tap on the Parts icon on the main menu and you’ll be taken to a menu where you can upgrade the level of each available part you can manufacture depending on your class, as well as build new parts for both of your cars.

The first thing you’ll need to do before manufacturing the parts, however, is to upgrade — you cannot expect much, after all, if you’re creating new level 1 parts, which is what your cars will always start with. (It also wouldn’t be too practical either, even with the tradeoff for junking parts that you’re replacing!)

how to upgrade spare parts in motorsport manager online

Whenever you’re upgrading parts in Motorsport Mobile Manager, you’ll need to have enough of certain raw materials in order to level up a part to improve its impact on a car’s performance. The upgrade will take place instantly, though when it comes to actually building the part, you will have to wait a few minutes or more, with the option to cut the waiting time by half by spending a fixed amount of Paddock Tokens and/or by watching a video.

Obviously, the ad video is the more favorable option if you want to save time on building parts. You’ll also need to have enough cash on hand, as well as enough unoccupied staff members ready to do the work. Additionally, it’s important to note that one new part does not fit all! You’ll need to individually manufacture parts for both of your cars if you want to improve them both.

So what happens when you replace an old part with a new one? Fortunately for you, the “recycled” old part will be converted into manufacturing materials for new parts, which you can certainly add to the materials you normally earn by completing races. The game will also give you the option to swap parts between cars — ideally, we recommend making sure both cars are as similarly rated to each other as possible if you’re gunning for more points and a quick promotion, though you can also use the “swap” feature to configure one car as the clear-cut number one and the other as the number two vehicle, with the former car getting better parts than the latter.

6. Make Sure To Repair Your Parts After Each Race

Although it’s all well and good to score a ton of points in races and finish on the podium as often as possible for quick promotion, you should keep in mind that auto racing is far more strenuous on high-performance cars than ordinary, everyday driving is on the cars most of us own. That means there will be wear and tear on your cars’ parts after each race, regardless of their reliability rating or performance. This will manifest in a reduction to your car’s overall Performance score, and Motorsport Manager Online will give you the chance to fix these parts after the race results are in.

There is, however, one key catch to this feature, and that is the fact that you can only choose one part across both cars to fix! Your staff, after all, can only do so much at any given time, so you’ll need to choose carefully and preferably prioritize the car driven by your ace driver, or the one with better stats. You will also be asked to choose whether you want to give the part a boost in Performance or Reliability — this is something you’ll need to weigh carefully, because while a fast car is always well and good, you wouldn’t want to risk car trouble if a part’s reliability is bad to mediocre, say, below 60, or even below 70 percent.

You may also want to consider your lead Engineer’s stats — they are rated from 1 to 20 based on Performance and Reliability (also on average pit time, but that will be something for another guide), so if your Engineer has a 7 rating for Performance, fixing a part for Performance would result in a 7-point boost. Likewise, their 15 rating for Reliability, for instance, would boost a part’s Reliability rate by 15 percent.

7. Watch Videos For Free Cash And Paddock Tokens

Want a quick and easy way to earn cash and Paddock Tokens? Simply tap on the Store icon on the main menu and you’ll see a number of options that allow you to claim free currency, including one that allows you to watch an advertisement video for one free Paddock Token and 100,000 cash. In just 30 seconds, you will be able to add to your bank account and have more currency to spend on new parts, new drivers, and other goodies that could help you dominate your opponents as you move from tier to tier!

motorsport manager online rewards

You can also take advantage of the promotional offers per tier, where, for just $1 or its equivalent in local currency, you can get a ton of cash and Paddock Tokens (especially the latter)! It’s always worth a shot if you’re the type who’s willing to pay real money to get ahead in Motorsport Manager Online but doesn’t exactly want to break the bank.

This is where we end our Motorsport Manager Online beginner’s guide. Stay tuned, as we will be back with more tips and tricks for the game in the near future!

Harvey Tait

Tuesday 3rd of November 2020

None James, it a way of pushing you along the HQ upgrading path.

James

Sunday 12th of April 2020

Good article. Thanks.

What is the purpose of giving drivers staff? Giving a driver more staff helps in what way(s)?