Something i discovered a while ago but forgot to add here.

While in the manufacturer, team, or transmission screens, you can select the option next to the one you have highlighted without moving the selection (Which takes a little bit of time) by hitting both the d-pad and start on the exact same frame. Doing this selects the option next to the one highlighted without playing the short animation of moving the selection. This does also work on the save screen, but as far as i know, doesn't save any time, so it's safer select to not save normally.

This would probably be incredibly hard to pull off on a DualShock, or any similar controller because of the distance between the buttons, but on NeGcon it's fairly easy.

The way i found it to be the most consistant for me is to hold my index and middle finger fully locked in sort of a claw position, and use my wrist to tap on both d-pad right and start (on manufacturer/team select) and d-pad down and start on the transmission select with a steady rythm. Tapping too fast usually results in failing to hit both buttons on the same frame.

In total, doing this will save about a second or two in any% runs and failing is not a big deal as all the quick menus you will be doing are before the first race

Edit due to apparently not having a sense of directions