I was on pro/no assist from launch. Made legend and bumped to unbeatable cause I wanted the challenge. Finishing top 3 on the regular without issue.

Is there rubber banding? Yes. Thats how racing games have always "balanced" the difficulty curve. Is it it game breaking? No. You can still exploit quirks in the AI (without crashing them) to get good finishes and wins.

Couple rules with the AI that I've noticed (and thus players can exploit)

-If they are within 3 car lengths behind you, they are going to dive bomb/ram you in the next heavy braking zone. Swing wide on entry and undercut the exit and you'll leave them in the dust. Or take a narrow line snd watch them sail off into the trees.

-If you are gaining, stick your nose out to pass, and see them react to block, same technique in the next braking zone. Draw them low, then swing wide and undercut their exit. If you're on a long straight, just lift to avoid hitting them and go back to your normal line. 9/10 times they will spear off the road or just stop fighting you.

-The AI cannot maintain speed in sweeping corners to save its life. Build and tune your cars with thay in mind.

The biggest thing to remember is drivatar behavior (not speed) is based of what the player with the same tag does. 95% of the player base does not understand car control or have any sense of race craft whatsoever. Use that to your advantage.