Formula Rookie, Donington Park - need help

[Niewinter]

Hi,
i have serious issues with the second race of Formula Rookie: Donington Park.
I cant get any good lap times, even in the qualifying (heavy cloud weather).
Best i did so far was a 1:21.600, which is a decisive last place vs the AI's 1:20 on AI difficulty 50-50.

I tried this course around 50 times by now, but cant get any better times. I tried to learn from other players ghosts aswell as from some YT videos like that one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-jjftMx7sk
but i always have grip issues, even after cloning his setup and after the tires are warm (lap 3+).
I spin out whenever i go above half throttle after any tight corner apex, like he does regularly in the video.
Are there any things that i may be not aware of?
I am a newbie to this game, but had no issues winning the first FR race, so this harsh increase in difficulty in the second race is baffling.

Thanks for any advice!

Edit: I use a Logi G29 Wheel with Pedals. Breaking and Steering Assistance are off, Driving Assists on Authentic. I try to stick with the driving lines.

[Mahjik]

IIRC, the Rookie has Slick, Sport and Wet tires. I seem to remember the Sport tires handling better so you might give those a try. The Wet tires will be a softer compound. Depending on how cold the track is, you can also get away with using Wet tires in the dry for those races as they aren't long races.

[cpcdem]

It's the default tires of the rookie that are the "fast" ones. The car is very tricky indeed to drive though, you need A LOT of practice with in to get fast with it. No point using the ghosts and setups of the very top drivers who are more than 5 seconds faster, their setups are extremely oversteery.. Instead, pick a ghost that is only 2-3 seconds faster than you and try to match them, and if you do, move to a faster one.

About winning a previous reason, unfortunately this does not necessarily mean much, the AI speed is very inconsistent between different tracks (and even between corners of the same track), so this is to be expected. Btw, the video shows driving in the rain, is your race in the rain as well? If yes, then this brings another level of inconsistency for the AI, which in some cases cannot handle wet racing and in others it is very fast, so be prepared that you need to be changing the AI level between races, to get a consistent experience.

[Niewinter]

Thanks a lot for the tips :-)
I tried different tyres, including the wet ones, to no avail.
Since i grew somewhat frustrated with the rookie, i switched to another driver in the Ginetta Junior class. This works way better for me right now, even when i come across the Donington Track.
The AI seems really weird performance-wise.
I will try the rookie again later with more driving experience.

[blinkngone]

http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showthread.php?62938-Sloppy-s-Fast-Stable-and-Fun-Career-Tunes-(G29)&p=1505162&viewfull=1#post1505162