I tried the Single Race option on the different tracks on PRO difficulty and it was too hard for me. So I started the Championship on Normal difficulty, and everything was fine until I made it to the PRO League which just demolishes me on the very first race.

So does the Difficulty option only affect Single Race mode, or is the PRO League on Normal difficulty as hard or harder than Single Race on PRO Difficulty?

Edit: Woohoo, somehow managed it!

Well, through restarting on the easiest difficulty I found out that the difficulty selection does not, in fact, have any effect on the Championship mode. I guess this means "Amateur League" is as far as I go. Maybe beating the PRO League would be possible if I drove manual, but then I need to learn manual....

Hi,

Yeah from playing it decades ago I remember I needed to use manual shifting to win because it allows you to drift/powerslide through the corners with high speeds.
I think the flaming Corvette car or something was the only one that was competitive, but it still was hairpullingly frustrating because you need to avoid all the opponents to win.

Actually I've now found this video where the player intentionally bumps into the opponents to win, while driving automatic. I tried it, but can't get it to work myself. I wonder if switching to keyboard for controls would work better, but I really don't want to.