There's no other way of putting it, we absolutely love MotoGP 21! To find out exactly why, check out our full review. If you're new to Milestone's official MotoGP game series, be sure to read our beginner's guide for more tips and tricks.
For those that are used to racing on four wheels, cornering on a motorbike can be a very tricky thing to get used to. You have to use a completely different philosophy for rounding turns on bikes.
We'll have you racing like Mir, Marquez and co. in no time. Here's our ultimate guide to cornering in MotoGP 21!
The right difficulty
It's a cliche, but it's definitely true that you need to walk before you can run when it comes to bikes. Going all-out into Turn 1 without any practice will end with you flying through to gravel, not into P1.
In managerial mode, you can change your difficulty settings by pressing triangle on PS/ Y on Xbox. This brings you to the riding aids submenu.
Even though it's cornering you're focussing on, it's the brake settings that have to be right here. You can enable automatic braking, but we don't recommend you do this, it's a set of stabilisers you don't need. The assisted brake should be on high, as this will allow the bike to brake with more stability.
Joint brakes should also be enabled. Finally, the brake input modulation should also be turned on, this will help prevent lock-ups.
When out on track, you should also have the racing line enabled, as it will help you spot your braking points.
Finally, you shouldn't have cornering input modulation on. This will basically do all of the work for you and you won't learn how to properly corner with it enabled.
As you become more comfortable with cornering, you should peel away these assists one by one.
The correct setup
Alongside the difficulty settings, you can also change the bike's setup to help when cornering. There is no "one size fits all" setup in MotoGP 21, but a bike which is configured in a certain way will help cornering.
The vehicle geometry and suspension setups are you main port of call when it comes to aiding cornering. You should opt for a bike that corners smoothly, rather than overall turn-in. As you get more comfortable, you can change to a more oversteery ride, but at first, this will end with you flying over the handlebars more often than not.
In general, low pre-load, spring hardness and swingarm extension are good for stability. Additionally, high swingarm compression, trail, steering plate position, rear swingarm length and steering head inclitnation values also help.
Very slow in, fast out
MotoGP bikes are by no means slow, but they don't have anywhere near the aerodynamic grip of top end racing cars. They also lack the drag created by wider cars, so their brakes aren't as effective. This all adds up to incredibly fast, but also very hard to slow down rocket ships.
In general, you need to brake before the racing line turns yellow. To be on the safe side, you need to drop the anchors when you see the red zone in the distance. At first, you'll probably be slowing down way too quickly, so the next time around, brake a little later.
Keep repeating this process until you achieve what you believe to be a good cornering speed. Remember, you want to spend as little time possible coasting and as much time on either the throttle or the brakes as you can.
How to practice cornering
You can obviously practice cornering around any circuit in-game, as they all have turns. The best to start out with are the simplest tracks though, preferably with long straights in-between them. For this reason, we believe that Austria and Catalonia are two of the best circuits to opt for.
There are tutorials available via the main menu, which are also very handy in practicing how to ride.
When you feel comfortable driving these circuits, try your hand at a race in quick modes. Remember, to finish first, first you must finish, just focus on doing five laps without spinning off or colliding with another rider.