I believe that the Race grip is somewhere between practice and qualifying, actually closer to off-line practice mode. I don't think 1 hr Qualy practice before a race is a good idea really because people will get used to the higher grip and immediately start braking too late in the opening lap, and we know what problems that usually causes. The practice session before Qualy is designed to allow people to get settled, learn the track if needed, and take the time to get to know fellow racers.
For me personally, I usually try to have a brief private off-line practice run to get my setup sorted, then I don't usually do too many laps in on-line practice, rather just use it for a bit of social meeting (without disturbing others too much). I also don't do too many Qualy laps either, but concentrate on my race preparation. Of course, I don't enjoy hotlapping much anyway, so I don't put much importance on my starting position ( I'm a lousy starter anyway).
You may have noticed, I usually go better in the race than qualy. :rotfl: