In this mode there should be no AI opponents, but players should be able to compete against their own best lap ghost or a ghost downloaded from the leaderboard. This will greatly help players learn to drive faster and enjoy it.
The leaderboard should include filters for:
Automatic / manual transmission
Input device: keyboard, gamepad, steering wheel
These are the most important factors that significantly affect lap times. For example, right now it is almost impossible to break into the top 100 using a keyboard with automatic transmission. With proper filters, players could compete within their own league.
It would also be great to have the ability to quickly tune the car for parameters optimized for a fast lap (especially considering that setup options may be expanded in the future). You could store car configurations from players in the top 500 and add an option to automatically select the most commonly used setup for each car.