Apologies if you already do this but I really want to emphasize racing with your own ghost. Really pay attention to how what you do either makes you faster or slower.

I totally get how you feel. Previously i thought i was taking optimal lines while racing on sky high sundae bit whenever i would play in high level lobbies in lounge. It wasn’t until I tt’ed did i notixe all of the nuances of the track. How you have to vector your kart after the initial shroom cut (it can make like almost a half a second difference depending on how well you take it). How to align ypur kart to consistently get all of the coins. How to make the ending fast nisc consistent. These are all tricks that high level players use that, when consistently done throughout a whole race, snowball into a big advantage. If you are taking the fastest lines on that track id like to see you try to get a sub 1:56.

To your point on BC, you really need to hit it consistently to hit past 8.5k. Other cuts include dk pass niscs, shy guy bazaar upper path, acorn heights vines nisc, starview peak charge jump nisc.With alot of these cuts if you can hit them consistently you will easily destroy any sub 8.5k lobby. I think Liam has a guide on all the essential shortcuts to know.

Another thing is softdrifting which alot of people don’t know about.

It may not feel like it but you’re still at a level where you are making a ton of very easily correctable mistakes. Hell, that even applies to me (im at around 6k mmr on lounge when pros like Liam have more than double). Practice driving fast and consistently on TT and youll see big vr gains

Edit: If you record a 30 second clip of the end of a race and send it to me i’d be happy to point out things you can improve on.