2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

[Yard_Sale]

Preamble:

"As a real life amateur dirt bike racer for 11 years, and a virtual race car driver for 36 months...... I have developed the (almost) precognitive ability to develop excuses and 'alternate facts' to justify my poor performance"

- Yard_Sale
May 29, 2021


To quote Gran Turismo Sport's biggest youtube star, SuperGT.....

"If your a race car driver and don't have a bunch of excuses............. like, what are you even doing?"






This weekend's FIA extravaganza took us to Tokyo. A track that I have always avoided like the plague because it inevitably devolves into a dive-bomb and barge-fest.... as fast qualifiers quickly learn to take advantage of the narrow circuit and drive a very wide car to keep fellow competitors off the race line....

.....and impatient pursuers lose their patience (and inhibitions from walls on all sides), and will do whatever it takes to earn a spot. Combine this with the fact that this is my least favorite track anyways, means that all roads lead to hell for me.

HOWEVER.... I'm a huge fan of races like this that require strategy. And I'm an even bigger fan of races that have multiple winning strategies!!


I planned on doing about an hour of hot-lapping to get acquainted with this long avoided circuit last night. And then I was going to do 2 or 3 practice races today to iron out my strategy. But alas, I was notified by the misses last night that our 7 year old nephew was coming over for a sleep over, and mom wasn't going to pick him up until noon the next day (today). That left me about an hour and a half to run approximately 2.5 practice races to try out strategies while learning the circuit. I tried 3 different strategies:

1.) leave the turbo on and just short shift my car with intentions of babying it to lap 8...... and then "gentling" it to the finish
2.) Go to map 2 and short shift it to lap 8 normal style...... and then hopefully have enough coal in the hopper to turn the heat up the last lap or 2.
3.) Toggle between map 3-4-5 (depending on track sector and wether I had a draft or not) to make it as far as I could. And then I would get a near-full tank of petrol at my pit....... and give the "Yard_Sale Express" all the cowbell she could handle to the checkers.

I learned a few things:
- First, my Ferrari 488 has the power spread of a shifter cart, and doesn't really make a whole lot of power off the pipe.
- Staying in map 1 and really concentrating on short shifting, along with concentrating on an unfamiliar circuit led to inconsistent lap times
- Map 2 and kind of concentrating on short shifting, along with concentrating on an unfamiliar circuit led to somewhat consistent lap times
- Toggling between map 3-4-5 along with concentrating on an unfamiliar circuit, was just as mentally taxing as Uber-short-shifting map 1.
- reading the comments on here, I gathered that in a high B/S lobby, a lot of people would do a 2-stop, the rest would fuel save to lap 8....and fuel save to the finish
- I surmised that if I could get my rig to lap 9....and then pit. That was going to be my personal best strategy.

Strategy option #3 FTW!!!


With 2 laps to go in my 3rd practice race, I realized I had 5 minutes until signups closed for the last slot of the NA region....... and I had yet to do any full out practice qualifying laps yet!!!

Crap! I quickly exited.....breezed through signups.....and got about 2 laps of qually practice that resulted in:

- (3) blown hairpin corners
- (1) second worth of track limit penalties
- (2.5) seconds worth of wall-ramming penalties

this is not good

Approximately a minute and a half later, I was out on the tarmac attempting to at least put a clean lap in. Spoiler alert..... it didn't go well. I missed my braking point by a mile and found myself in the wall at the hairpin by the pits. And then I promptly brushed the wall out of the last left hander before the finish for good measure. Result: 2 seconds off the poll, and 1.5 seconds off what I would realistically been able to do.

qualified 15/20 - ouch
....fwiw, if I hadn't barney-ed my qually lap, I would have landed in P5-7.



So there I was waaaaaaay in the back. While we were warming up our tires before the green flag flew, I contemplating going all out for 6-7 laps in an attempt to do an @Tidgney patented "undercut" to try to make up some positions. But I quickly thought better of it when I remembered how hard this track is to pass on. HOWEVER, I did decide I would go hard for maybe a half-lap to see if I could take advantage of anyone in my immediate vicinity that was going to start really fuel-saving right away. Within a 1/4 mile I figured out that this audible would indeed work (as I caught up to the tail pipes of P-11-14 super quick........ but alas, my efforts would be futile as there would be no clean way through the congestion. I then quickly fell back to P-17 and basically stayed there for 5 laps as I let the derelicts behind me either wreck themselves or blew their wad and have to pit for fuel soon.


About 12 minutes later, I watched 4 people pit at lap 6.

2.5 minutes after that, 4 more people pit at lap 7.

2.5 minutes after that, EVERYBODY besides myself and one other dude pitted at lap 8.

At lap 9, I pitted for fuel with 0.1 laps to spare. As my pit crew sprang into action, I watched patently while my "can man" with his quick-fill jug poured some high test into my tank. I waved him off with a couple gallons till top-off. (sorry all you commies across the pond....we use gallons in 'Merica )



With 7 laps of fuel in my tank, and 6 laps to go..... I looked over my shoulder to my fireman and told him I needed all the steam he could give me..... we got a race to win!!!!!

I then radioed' to my crew chief Harry, that I was dropping the hammer!! And I started to slice and dice my "Mello Yello" sponsored Chevy Lumina (Ferrari 488) through the pack of fuel savers and tire-shredders!....... sort of.


I had entered the pits in 7th place. But quickly was shuffled back to 14-15th by exit. I had some work to do......A lot of work to do, actually.

My first few places gained came easily as the people who had to pit at lap 6 were probably ******** bricks and in a super lean map to try to get it to the finish. The next few spots came super easily when the other early pit stopers went in for their second stop at lap 11. The next few spots came almost as easily when I started coming up on the guys who pit at lap 8 but were CLEARLY fuel saving to get it to the checkers in 4 laps. After that it was more of the same. Drivers would try to put up a fight but had nothing for me as I had my Chevy Lumina bouncing off the rev limiter out of every corner.


IT WAS THEN.....WITH 1 LAP TO GO.......AND 5TH PLACE IN SIGHT, when I got the dreaded phone ring from my fireman (me), notifying the chief-engineer (also me), that the "Yard_Sale Express" was running low on coal. We had to go into fuel-save mode. Upon this dreaded phone ring, I quickly tried to fumble my switches to fuel map 4 right before the first hairpin (not the one by the pits). I quickly found myself in the wall and gave 6th and 7th away right there . I then went into "strategy #3 protocol" and babied my car to the checkers with 0.0 laps left in the tank..... 5th, 6th and 7th one second ahead of me . Got 70 points, 7 positions gained, and an SR-up for my efforts. I'll take it.



Just wish I would have put some time......any time...... over the course of 2.5 years I've been playing this game, into this track.


.....or just stayed in the pits for 1 second longer to get the extra bit of fuel from my can man.




Either way... I had a friggin' blast out there this evening!!!!

 

[Benay79]

Enjoyed this combo, started on pole and got the win. Saved fuel by letting a Genesis pass who was obviously not fuel saving and using their draft. Pitted lap 9. Everyone except me and 2nd place 2 stopped and you can see the time difference on the results screen!

 

[Roman_GT23]

At this point I was 18th and last of the cars still in the race. I got by one of them before the hairpin, passed another on the inside at the hairpin (but unfortunately understeered into them on the exit), but couldn't catch 15th to at least get back to where I started, so I handed back 16th place to the car I accidentally squeezed on the exit of the hairpin by throwing my car at the wall before the finish and picking up a 2s penalty, dropping me back down to 17th (sorry @Roman_GT23!)

You're fine dude. Partially my fault because I didn't have my radar on to see I was so busy just trying to make it. You hit a very dead beaten horse at that point anyways. I was just so pissed off at a certain group of drivers from a specific country that I will not repeat what I said in the post race chat on here I will definitely get ban hammered. Let's just say I'm very tempted to make a burner account just to punt them in dailies and FIA Manus.


Can we please PLEASE go back to NA and Latin America Manu lobbies only!?!?! Please!!!!!

 

[OJBrit]

Just out of interest talking about the HUD/MFDs, does anyone actually use the Track Map? Completely pointless for me, never used it once and even worse, its the default display so have to scroll to the radar every time.

I use it in FIA qualy. I like to run by myself so it's useful to see if anyone is close so I don't ruin their lap and they don't ruin mine.

sorry all you commies across the pond....

Ironic.

Had a busy day yesterday so was glad I was able to squeeze in the third slot.
I wasn't happy with my first qualy lap. Second lap I was up in sector 1 but lost some time in sector 2. Then I hit the barrier through the esses so backed out. Was good enough for Q7 but I had more in me. My FM plan for the race was FM1 for the start of the straights and then FM3 for everywhere else. Of course this meant I dropped positions early one. Not helped by concentrating on the gaggle of cars just ahead into the Docks lap 2. I looked up to suddenly see myself passing the 100m board. I missed everyone and sailed into the barrier. 1.5 seconds for me. After this is was in the battle for 16th for the rest of the laps and picked up a further penalty for clipping the the barrier on the final turn. However I was into the top 10 as everyone else pitted. I went in lap 8. I overtook 2 drivers ahead as they went on the long wide entry to the pits and I just went straight. 'Just fuel please team.' Went to the next tick after the diamond and left. Came out around 12th. I left it in FM2 everywhere to get enough to go FM1 at the end. Others seemed to pit a few laps from the end and I was up to 7th and closing in on a Jag and Merc. Last lap and I am right behind them. We both pass the Merc coming out of turn 1. The Jag is obviously saving and I line up into the braking zone into the docks. I slightly run wide and the Merc slips back beneath us both with me coming out behind them both. However there was some small contact and the Merc now has a 2 second penalty. He then starts to defend heavily from us both. I realise now I can get to the end on full wick. I pass the Jag as he is being blocked before the tunnel. It looked risky going 2 wide through the tunnel so I hold back but he is obviously saving and holding me up. I get alongside towards the last kink. He tries to wall me and bounces off with no effect on me. I haven't checked but he may have hit the wall himself. I pull from the Jag and come home 5th! New highest points of the season sees me gain another 20 odd points on my leaderboard. The Merc looks to have ran out of fuel as he finishes DFL in 19th. If only he raced a bit more clever.

 

[barak181]

I was just so pissed off at a certain group of drivers from a specific country that I will not repeat what I said in the post race chat on here I will definitely get ban hammered. Let's just say I'm very tempted to make a burner account just to punt them in dailies and FIA Manus.

It all sounds like the reason that I ended up with a second alt acct...

 

[Ashthebash]

Brief Manufacturers update

I'm not good around this place, lose quarter of a second through the final sector religiously and my last race here was a disaster so I wasn't expecting a great deal despite being in a strong race car

Got on for first slot, just the five Caymans and three VW skyrockets in the lobby and plenty of names that I know are very quick in those cars including @Lost Sheltie . Did my usual of a botched qualifying, and qualified 14th. I wasn't too concerned though, it was a long race, fuel was obviously going to be the issue and I felt some would concentrate too much on saving fuel rather than getting on with the race. So I put my special overtaking pants on, the plan was to progress through the field and if I had to pit L8 rather than L9 then so be it.

As it was, very heavy saving in the first couple of laps before starting to move through the field worked a treat. I was just able to stretch the fuel to L9 (bonus as about five cars ahead of me all pitted on L8 and it would have been a mess of an entrance), and think after the stops I was 5th. Sheltie came storming up in the Scirocco, I eased off into the docks - he wasn't my fight - but a Russian in an NSX rudely stuck his nose in, a bit of side by side meant we'd lost Sheltie's tow as soon as we'd found it. Early stint fuel management saw me drop back down to 8th but then being able to push hard for the final few laps I was able to retake 7th, and going into the docks on the final lap the Russian defending the inside outbraked himself, I nipped underneath and just had to hold off a Cayman (I think on fresher tyres) into the final hairpin to bring it home in a very satisfying 6th place

 

[MCL1974]

I loved it!

Impressed with how quick you picked up fuel saving. And it does get to be fun when you learned something new and have succes with it. Seems you had a nice result on Saturday!

After my disaster in attempting fuel saving in your practice lobby I decided to finally try manual, after only using automatic since the first game!
Unfortunately had no time to practice due to a lot of extra shifts at work this week, (sick colleagues again) so did not participate in the races yesterday but this afternoon when i got home from work i finally did some laps in Tokyo using manual gear. After a bit of practice I managed low 2.07 while doing enough of fuel saving to have done a one-stopper so feel sad for not being able to do yesterdays race, I think I would have done relatively well with a little bit more practice.

Thanks for setting up these practice lobbys though!
Will try to join some if you do more, after the Nurburgring round that is....

 

[Seth_Logan]

Follow the leader, leader (the soca Boys)

I felt worried going in. Among the 20 cars that started there were:

• 2 Scirocco’s and a RCZ,
• 4 Porsches,
• 2 BMW’s and
• 1 Ferrari

Who in – practice – all have better papers than my Jaaag… if they read the 1 stop rulebook. Sadly for them only 2 (out of 10) did.

75% of the field had no clue about the one stopper being king. It is mind boggling to see how casual most players apparently take these races (even guys like Tidgney and Ollie had to “ask chat” what kind of race this would be.) But I’ll take it.

To me it’s also telling that most people actually remain clueless when in the race they find it’s so easy to pass others but at no point stop and think “there must be some reason this is happening to me”. I suppose a pass is a pass and they were too busy fighting with the next guy behind (or in front) to take note of the – really fast ahum – top five qualifying drivers they would overtake with such ease…

I was lucky. Started P5 after a disappointing qualy (why I don’t do what I promise myself to do – drive alone – is beyond me) and was passed by several drivers, but not to harsh. So I survived and dropped as low as P10.

I decided to let anyone pass who felt the urge to do so and use the slip to maximize fuel save. And I did. I have never saved so much fuel as I did in this race. A side effect of all the passing and fighting was the general slow pace of the race, a thing that had me worried ‘cause the race leader could exploit that and get away. We were driving 2:10-2:12 for the first couple of laps and I was ready to accept any end result as long at it was a P-Steve (P6) at least. Because I just did not want to get involved in all this fighting.

Come lap 6-7 all of the most dangerous competitors start pitting. All FF’s, most Porsches and the Beamers (the latter I never saw again). Me and a Merc stayed out for a couple of laps more. I think I bump drafted the guy so much, any more would have caused inappropriate behaviour.

By then I had figured out there were only 4-5 people doing a one stop and I had pitted one round later than the Merc, who I felt was my biggest competition. So I made the tactical choice to over fill a little but not full to overcut him. It worked wonderfully and I got my 5 second gap he would never overcome. It would also become my greatest regret.

Leaving the pits I was P7 following a bunch of two stoppers, who allowed me to follow them, fuel saving even more (more inappropriate behaviour followed) and in laps 13-14 one by one pitted again. I was in second place just behind the race leader. I had closed the gap from 9 to 1.5 seconds! I never realised this (leaving the pits) since you only see the top 3 and everyone who’s two spaces in front of you and he was 4th!

The race was on! I closed and closed, but here is where my fuel tactic failed me. In the end I had just enough for a finish, but not enough for an extra push and overtake. There was one chance at the final hairpin but I couldn’t take it.

P2. A far better result than I had hoped for but well deserved after all the practice we had put in.

As for the race speed: this one was at least 20 some seconds slower than the slowest of races we had done in the lobby, just to illustrate how much fighting can cost everyone… Mind boggling indeed.

 

[Trone_Colby]

Aight so I did Slot one in the Manufacturer Series. I qualified P11.

We had the infamous rolling start glitch. P2 had a terrible connection but was still there. P1 had an 8 second lead so he pretty much won the race.

As the race went on, there were a bunch of incidents in the crowd. A car turned into me, forced me to P.I.T. him and I get tagged.

Later at P11, I was trying to help someone go faster by bump drafting him. I wasn’t going to fight him just yet. I did end up making moves though. Both times he turned into me. I gave him plenty of space and calculated his moves. After the second time, he took it upon himself to smash me into the wall, no penalty for him. The final turn, he hit the wall and ricochet in front of me, the game gave me a penalty...sigh.

I finished P12.

My second race (4th slot), I had a infamous dirty player in the lobby. I also had @williams_v_r in the race.

I started P12. The race went smoothly for me. I avoided all drama and even saw the dirty driver spinning like a top later in the race. If you wanna find out who, I posted a video on my channel.

I finished the race at P5. Happy with that result.

 

[Winnie847]

Really annoyed by the hot mess that is slipstream qualy in GT Sport.

I mean, I get it, it's how it is and we have to deal with it. But act accordingly please. There are other people on track with you and some of them don't want to draft you or be drafted if they can help it.

If you are sitting on the racing line approaching the final turn of your out lap, getting ready to start a flying lap, and you are ghosted because you are going so slow as you wait for somebody, anybody to go in front of you and take the lead so you can get their slipstream.....then you are doing it wrong. You should have your drafting partner sorted out before you get to the entry of the final turn, and if you don't have one by then....guess what, you should get the **** out of people's way and run it solo or simply abort the lap.

Tired of people bunching up on the outlaps because everyone is so scared to fly solo that they'd rather ruin other people's laps instead.

Also, if you're going to complain about a sloppy qualy session in the chat, but you were one of the people causing that mess to build up on the final corner and ended up with people alongside of you on the front straight of your flying lap that you end up aborting....this post might be about you.

 

[GTWolverine]

Really annoyed by the hot mess that is slipstream qualy in GT Sport.

I mean, I get it, it's how it is and we have to deal with it. But act accordingly please. There are other people on track with you and some of them don't want to draft you or be drafted if they can help it.

If you are sitting on the racing line approaching the final turn of your out lap, getting ready to start a flying lap, and you are ghosted because you are going so slow as you wait for somebody, anybody to go in front of you and take the lead so you can get their slipstream.....then you are doing it wrong. You should have your drafting partner sorted out before you get to the entry of the final turn, and if you don't have one by then....guess what, you should get the **** out of people's way and run it solo or simply abort the lap.

Tired of people bunching up on the outlaps because everyone is so scared to fly solo that they'd rather ruin other people's laps instead.

Also, if you're going to complain about a sloppy qualy session in the chat, but you were one of the people causing that mess to build up on the final corner and ended up with people alongside of you on the front straight of your flying lap that you end up aborting....this post might be about you.

That's why I just skip the slipstream at every race except ovals obviously and things like the Mini race at Miyabi. I was still able to qualify in the Top 5 twice last night on solo laps. Granted I was one split lower than you, but with these combined regions it's a pretty small difference in pace. It seems like every time I try to slipstream someone I catch them too quickly and any gap I make up on one straight, I lose having to brake early for the corner, then don't gain much on any of the other straights because I'm too close to them.

 

[Winnie847]

That's why I just skip the slipstream at every race except ovals obviously and things like the Mini race at Miyabi. I was still able to qualify in the Top 5 twice last night on solo laps. Granted I was one split lower than you, but with these combined regions it's a pretty small difference in pace. It seems like every time I try to slipstream someone I catch them too quickly and any gap I make up on one straight, I lose having to brake early for the corner, then don't gain much on any of the other straights because I'm too close to them.

I don't mind going solo. The359 and I did try slipstream qualy a couple times, but it's such a mess on the final corner of Tokyo South that even though we had it figured out long before we got there, a ton of people were in the way and running into each other causing penalties and damage and all kinds of chaos. Even the times that I did go ahead and decide to run solo....it's like there was a small party on the entry to the final corner every time. And as I approach, it's hard to tell what they are doing and what I should do. Are they about to start their lap and are just waiting for the right gap ahead...which means I'd slow down and let them start? Or are they just crawling along waiting for someone like me to come along and get in front? It's just garbage, and people have no regard for anyone else out there. There are some guys coming around on their flying lap only to run into an accordion of traffic because these children can't make a decision to just drive or abort.

 

[Seth_Logan]

Impressed with how quick you picked up fuel saving. And it does get to be fun when you learned something new and have succes with it. Seems you had a nice result on Saturday!

After my disaster in attempting fuel saving in your practice lobby I decided to finally try manual, after only using automatic since the first game!
Unfortunately had no time to practice due to a lot of extra shifts at work this week, (sick colleagues again) so did not participate in the races yesterday but this afternoon when i got home from work i finally did some laps in Tokyo using manual gear. After a bit of practice I managed low 2.07 while doing enough of fuel saving to have done a one-stopper so feel sad for not being able to do yesterdays race, I think I would have done relatively well with a little bit more practice.

Thanks for setting up these practice lobbys though!
Will try to join some if you do more, after the Nurburgring round that is....

Thank you! Well... if you've got zero to go on, anything is an improvement. It's good to try manual. Did you happen to see Tidge's video on the subject? He found out that automatic is actually not that bad, but suffers in fuel saving mode, which is what you found out.

I'm skipping the Nurnburg ring AND thanks to my findings at Sardegna - C I'm also skipping on Laguna Seca. It too will be a race on Hards, and after trying for 15 minutes on that track with that compound I felt like Sar-C all over again including the qualifying/race disconnect. So no thanks

I'm also finished driving Nations since it's moving to wednesdays. Going to do Brands Hatch instead. It will probably be one of next seasons races, perhaps with a minimal twist (Gr 3, mandatory tyre chance something like that).

All of this means I'm only going to set up races/trails for next friday, but the plan is to do it right, so minimum 2 trails/races both SPA (Gr. 4) and Sardegna - A Gr. 3. If anyone would care to join. You're welcome!

 

[SpeedStarGTS]

Our First FIAGTC Manu Race of the season, First time slot and we got it done. not just done, we have inserted FF Dominance and it was...Glorious!! MUAHAHAH!! ........sry -_-

On serious Note my feet were shaking thought out this race lol. That was a great start to FIAGTC Manu.



Nürburgring Next

 

[watto79]

Really annoyed by the hot mess that is slipstream qualy in GT Sport.

I mean, I get it, it's how it is and we have to deal with it. But act accordingly please. There are other people on track with you and some of them don't want to draft you or be drafted if they can help it.

If you are sitting on the racing line approaching the final turn of your out lap, getting ready to start a flying lap, and you are ghosted because you are going so slow as you wait for somebody, anybody to go in front of you and take the lead so you can get their slipstream.....then you are doing it wrong. You should have your drafting partner sorted out before you get to the entry of the final turn, and if you don't have one by then....guess what, you should get the **** out of people's way and run it solo or simply abort the lap.

Tired of people bunching up on the outlaps because everyone is so scared to fly solo that they'd rather ruin other people's laps instead.

Also, if you're going to complain about a sloppy qualy session in the chat, but you were one of the people causing that mess to build up on the final corner and ended up with people alongside of you on the front straight of your flying lap that you end up aborting....this post might be about you.

I very very rarely go for a slipstream quali anymore. Its nearly always better to go it alone and not have to deal with the inevitable mess. If time allows it I'll do a lap on my own and then MAYBE look for a slipstream lap afterwards. If I luck into one then great, if not it doesn't really matter.

I'll never get a pole (although did get Q2 at Autopolis Short) but the main benefit is its a lot less stressful

 

[Winnie847]

I very very rarely go for a slipstream quali anymore. Its nearly always better to go it alone and not have to deal with the inevitable mess. If time allows it I'll do a lap on my own and then MAYBE look for a slipstream lap afterwards. If I luck into one then great, if not it doesn't really matter.

I'll never get a pole (although did get Q2 at Autopolis Short) but the main benefit is its a lot less stressful

Yeah I agree on the solo qualy for the most part, but the spirit of my post is that even if you want to go solo, it gets ruined by these guys sitting on the racing line. Tokyo South Inner is especially bad for it because of the short out lap. That doesn’t excuse them though. I just wanted to toss a healthy dose of shame their way.

Also...solo Q is safer, but in the top couple splits it’s almost a guarantee you’ll be starting in the back half. And in a heavy fuel saving race there aren’t a lot of passing opportunities without sacrificing your strategy. Still possible to qualify well if you’re really good, but some of these top guys were putting up 2:02’s. Best I could manage solo was a 2:03.7. Best lap while drafting was a 2:03.5 but should’ve been 2-3 tenths better if people would just get out of the way.

 

[watto79]

Yeah I agree on the solo qualy for the most part, but the spirit of my post is that even if you want to go solo, it gets ruined by these guys sitting on the racing line.

Yeah I hear that. We need a qualifying etiquette video for us all to watch once and then forget about

Seems like there are 2 types of qualifier. One that gets people are doing flying laps so are spatially aware and keep out of the way, and those that don't seem to realise there are other people on the track....

Had a qualifying lap ruined as soon as it started once by someone exiting the pits and veering straight over to the racing line.

 

[MCL1974]

Thank you! Well... if you've got zero to go on, anything is an improvement. It's good to try manual. Did you happen to see Tidge's video on the subject? He found out that automatic is actually not that bad, but suffers in fuel saving mode, which is what you found out.

I'm skipping the Nurnburg ring AND thanks to my findings at Sardegna - C I'm also skipping on Laguna Seca. It too will be a race on Hards, and after trying for 15 minutes on that track with that compound I felt like Sar-C all over again including the qualifying/race disconnect. So no thanks

I'm also finished driving Nations since it's moving to wednesdays. Going to do Brands Hatch instead. It will probably be one of next seasons races, perhaps with a minimal twist (Gr 3, mandatory tyre chance something like that).

All of this means I'm only going to set up races/trails for next friday, but the plan is to do it right, so minimum 2 trails/races both SPA (Gr. 4) and Sardegna - A Gr. 3. If anyone would care to join. You're welcome!

That is why I am going to continue to practice manual, but will take some time to finetune.
But for Laguna Sega I will likely go automatic. I am pretty sure I can run the whole race on mediums though...
Nurburgring race is a no go for me. I tried, but the Citroen is horrible to control on this track. It was fine on Fuji and Barfcelona but I can not do a proper lap on the Nordschleiffe track. about 10 seconds slower then in a AMG, Peugeot or Jaguar, which i also tried for comparison.
Sardegna will also be a good race for the Gr3 Citroen, i think....

See you on track soon!

 

[NekoPufferPPP]

Well, happy to say I'm still in the top 25 Mercedes drivers in the Manufacturer Series after yesterday's race. https://www.gran-turismo.com/gb/gtsport/sportmode/championship/2837/rankings

Next up is N24. Offline practice is made impossible due to the game's limitations on tire and fuel wear multipliers on that track...very, very bizarre. Popped into a practice lobby, where the multipliers work correctly, and spent the majority of my time on fuel map 3-4 without pitting. The fuel saving races certainly spice things up but they always make me nervous about cars behind me...I wish the radar had its own separate space on the HUD.

Fingers crossed T1 doesn't take too many casualties. Cold hard tires are the worst.

 

[OutlawQuadrnt]

Yeah I agree on the solo qualy for the most part, but the spirit of my post is that even if you want to go solo, it gets ruined by these guys sitting on the racing line. Tokyo South Inner is especially bad for it because of the short out lap. That doesn’t excuse them though. I just wanted to toss a healthy dose of shame their way.

Also...solo Q is safer, but in the top couple splits it’s almost a guarantee you’ll be starting in the back half. And in a heavy fuel saving race there aren’t a lot of passing opportunities without sacrificing your strategy. Still possible to qualify well if you’re really good, but some of these top guys were putting up 2:02’s. Best I could manage solo was a 2:03.7. Best lap while drafting was a 2:03.5 but should’ve been 2-3 tenths better if people would just get out of the way.

Slipstream qualifying is one of the worst things about GT Sport but in fairness, this is only a major issue for the top split rooms. I'd say by the time you're in splits where it's A ranked drivers or below, the driver pool is either not fast enough or too inconsistent to attempt it, especially when you only have five minutes to qualify.

That said, there was enough time with Tokyo to get in a quick banker and then try to find slip. While I wasn't able to get a slip lap, my banker still placed me in the top half of the field rather than last like a few others. Grant you, this only worked because I was in the second split but I could tell by the drivers in the lobby that I needed to play it safe.

 

[Winnie847]

Slipstream qualifying is one of the worst things about GT Sport but in fairness, this is only a major issue for the top split rooms. I'd say by the time you're in splits where it's A ranked drivers or below, the driver pool is either not fast enough or too inconsistent to attempt it, especially when you only have five minutes to qualify.

That said, there was enough time with Tokyo to get in a quick banker and then try to find slip. While I wasn't able to get a slip lap, my banker still placed me in the top half of the field rather than last like a few others. Grant you, this only worked because I was in the second split but I could tell by the drivers in the lobby that I needed to play it safe.

also in all fairness...you're one of those few guys who can get a competitive qualy lap without slip (especially in that rocketship GTR!). the skill gaps near the top are larger than they are anywhere else. But you're very right, the "I MUST DRAFT AT ALL COSTS" attitude is way more prevalent up there.

However, one thing you do have to worry about qualifying in lower lobbies is just overall awareness and etiquette. You might think you're giving yourself enough space on track to set a good lap, then some guy who is 10 seconds ahead of you on track will bin it, rejoin right in front of you and act like nothing happened, continuing his lap rather than exiting the track and trying again and ruining yours. I've made a few alt accounts in my time and had some pretty big LOLz at the stuff I've seen. Just more evidence that we need to be on track alone for qualy.

 

[Geauxgreddy]

but in the top couple splits it’s almost a guarantee you’ll be starting in the back half. And in a heavy fuel saving race there aren’t a lot of passing opportunities without sacrificing your strategy. Still possible to qualify well if you’re really good, but some of these top guys were putting up 2:02’s. Best I could manage solo was a 2:03.7. Best lap while drafting was a 2:03.5 but should’ve been 2-3 tenths better if people would just get out of the way.

Ya. This was a rude awakening for me the 1st time I reached A+ 2nd split.

The old fuel burn lap was nice because people could sort their order....now its mayhem.

Its not bad in the lower lobbies because you dont get the stacked last corner. Everyone just hauls ass out because if you hit your lap right you can still make top 5 without slip. Heck I was pole unassisted.

 

[Photodave219]

I very very rarely go for a slipstream quali anymore. Its nearly always better to go it alone and not have to deal with the inevitable mess. If time allows it I'll do a lap on my own and then MAYBE look for a slipstream lap afterwards. If I luck into one then great, if not it doesn't really matter.

I'll never get a pole (although did get Q2 at Autopolis Short) but the main benefit is its a lot less stressful

Yeah I agree on the solo qualy for the most part, but the spirit of my post is that even if you want to go solo, it gets ruined by these guys sitting on the racing line. Tokyo South Inner is especially bad for it because of the short out lap. That doesn’t excuse them though. I just wanted to toss a healthy dose of shame their way.

Also...solo Q is safer, but in the top couple splits it’s almost a guarantee you’ll be starting in the back half. And in a heavy fuel saving race there aren’t a lot of passing opportunities without sacrificing your strategy. Still possible to qualify well if you’re really good, but some of these top guys were putting up 2:02’s. Best I could manage solo was a 2:03.7. Best lap while drafting was a 2:03.5 but should’ve been 2-3 tenths better if people would just get out of the way.

Slipstream qualifying is one of the worst things about GT Sport but in fairness, this is only a major issue for the top split rooms. I'd say by the time you're in splits where it's A ranked drivers or below, the driver pool is either not fast enough or too inconsistent to attempt it, especially when you only have five minutes to qualify.

That said, there was enough time with Tokyo to get in a quick banker and then try to find slip. While I wasn't able to get a slip lap, my banker still placed me in the top half of the field rather than last like a few others. Grant you, this only worked because I was in the second split but I could tell by the drivers in the lobby that I needed to play it safe.

Ya. This was a rude awakening for me the 1st time I reached A+ 2nd split.

The old fuel burn lap was nice because people could sort their order....now its mayhem.

Its not bad in the lower lobbies because you dont get the stacked last corner. Everyone just hauls ass out because if you hit your lap right you can still make top 5 without slip. Heck I was pole unassisted.

I don't even try to slipstream during qualifying. Its total chaos in the lower lobbies... and if you guys say thats good by comparison? Yikes.

I prefer to qualify by myself. No one around to screw things up for me.

 

[Barra333]

So after all of my practice (22 laps) I didn't even enter - was all set to do the 9pm slot, then got invited to my neighbour's for a beer.

 

[D_Dragline]

Anyone practicing for Nations this week? It seems like Big Willow has a magical pit which has avoided the 20 second nerf. I was originally thinking a no stop would be the best idea, but I now think the one stop is the only viable strategy. (Or maybe a 2 stop could work?)

I am also loving the way the car will simply randomly decide to enter a powerslide on the medium tyres. Really looking like being a nightmare round.

 

[Mistah_MCA]

Anyone practicing for Nations this week? It seems like Big Willow has a magical pit which has avoided the 20 second nerf. I was originally thinking a no stop would be the best idea, but I now think the one stop is the only viable strategy. (Or maybe a 2 stop could work?)

I am also loving the way the car will simply randomly decide to enter a powerslide on the medium tyres. Really looking like being a nightmare round.

No stop on Sports Mediums is masochism. One stop is much better.
I did think about two stop as well, but when you switch to the Medium tires, you've used up lots of fuel, helping you get faster lap times. My [uninterrupted] Medium lap times were 0.4 to 0.7 seconds per lap slower than my fastest Soft lap. It won't be enough to cover the pit loss from the second stop, even though pit loss is a short 9-10 seconds.

 

[Photodave219]

No stop on Sports Mediums is masochism. One stop is much better.
I did think about two stop as well, but when you switch to the Medium tires, you've used up lots of fuel, helping you get faster lap times. My [uninterrupted] Medium lap times were 0.4 to 0.7 seconds per lap slower than my fastest Soft lap. It won't be enough to cover the pit loss from the second stop, even though pit loss is a short 9-10 seconds.

...... so Did your car ever land?

 

[Redneckchef]

Anyone practicing for Nations this week? It seems like Big Willow has a magical pit which has avoided the 20 second nerf. I was originally thinking a no stop would be the best idea, but I now think the one stop is the only viable strategy. (Or maybe a 2 stop could work?)

I am also loving the way the car will simply randomly decide to enter a powerslide on the medium tyres. Really looking like being a nightmare round.

Whaddaya mean randomly try a power slide? It ALWAYS wants to power slide on these tires. I'm absolutely keen on entering just for whatever replays of total carnage come out of my race. Fully prepared for it to be a savage disastrous race of attrition.

 

[D_Dragline]

Whaddaya mean randomly try a power slide? It ALWAYS wants to power slide on these tires. I'm absolutely keen on entering just for whatever replays of total carnage come out of my race. Fully prepared for it to be a savage disastrous race of attrition.

Try BB -5 if you're not already. I can avoid all powerslides on softs and approx. 90% of the time on mediums* and the tyres only wear slightly quicker on the back.

*- Unless I give it too much steering input. Or too much throttle. Or glance at a brake marker. Or attempt to overtake. Or fail to say the correct incantation at the correct time in the correct ancient tongue.

 

[Mistah_MCA]

...... so Did your car ever land?

Nope.

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