@FreakRanger In my experience keeping the sparrow nose down helps, and obviously as other suggested speed helps.

You are not the only one, I am really unstable, easilly pushed off course by other riders and clumps of grass/rocks, and exit portals in a different direction than I entered them, turbine blades shudder and stop at times causing me crashes. I get hooked back by riders and seemingly invisible things stop me steering through gates, I cross the line and lose a place on the final leader board. I have found some methods to combat this: Use the left stick only when needed and not when other players are nearby on the straight - this causes instability for me, I can still be barged but not quite as much. Save your boosters for cornering correction it's more important that skewing all over the place to get one gate, but use it if slightly out on a gate then use side boost and trick to get the boost back on the next jump, wear the boots and gloves with boost perks. As for the helmet with the pitch I don't use that perk personally I don't like it and it adds another variable into such a poor rendering of a racing game for me !!!

Also learn shortcuts on the maps. Sometimes taking a ramp shortcut (Mars map after first hard left there is a rock formation ramp that will cut off a second or two) or cutting the corner (& skipping a gate) in certain areas gives you advantage. It takes a while to get the hang of it.

Ty for that. I will try that layout....

Hit gates to maintain speed but choose which one carefully to handle turns better and time it early for the fan section