This series of lessons uses the free FPV Freerider simulator to teach a complete beginner how to fly an FPV multirotor in acro (no autoleveling) mode. You can learn to fly a quadcopter at home in front of your computer for almost no money. You can learn to fly without any fear of crashing and breaking an expensive toy. And yes, the things you learn here WILL translate over to real life.
The first thing you need to learn in order to fly a racing drone is how to manage your altitude. This lesson will teach you to hover in place and gain and lose altitude. Quadcopter go up. Quadcopter go down. Quadcopter not crash.