2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

[MetaBrain]

Stpifly hangover, so wike up in time for 3rd slot only

Door 16
Qlast (messed up royally .. my PB was 3 secs under the pole, so I should have got it)
P18

screw this... very very dirty drivers today... My pace was atrocious doing 1:34+s on the hards! Lost cause.


Slot4:
Door 6
Q5 (decent 1:28 time)
P6

Sandcastles , kept gettibg rammed, but most importsntly... I went to get water after Qualy and forgot to swap to Hs... Why can we not choose a tyre stratagy BEFORE THR RACE STARTS?!??

So I was on softs and had to pit at lap 11+ for the hards. Obviously that is 30+ seca lost but the slot I had ddcent pace (1:28 on softs, 1:30 in hards) Do managed to get P6.

It improved my FIA points by 20, so I will leave it at that today. Bono, my tires are ~gone~ soft.

 

[MetaBrain]

It starts in 30 minutes, 21:20 CEST.

My races tonight went to hell

So-so qual in the first race landing me a P9, made a mistake on lap 8 on the run up to the corkscrew which dropped me back to P13 and boy was it scruffy back there. Managed a P11 in the end, and decided to go for a second run.

Almost impossibly I managed an even *worse* quali and started P19, went to take a leak before the race started and came back to see that I had forgotten to change from softs to hards So commence project recovery! I drove like a maniac for 12 laps and pitted from P4 and came out P17 which was DFL at that point. Took two positions to finish P15. No worthwhile points and a fair amount of DR lost.

I knew I should've left it alone tonight

I had same issue but I was taking clothes out of wahing machine... How can we not pick ahead of tiem the tyres I will never know... auch an easy QoL improvement... PD pls

 

[Lost Sheltie]

Wasn't going to do this race, it looked pretty boring tbh, but the Christian Erikson thing happened so the football I was watching stopped. Hopped in, did a couple of practice laps and then ended up in top split

Figured I would be off the pace, and I was a bit, so qualified 11th and held position for 5 laps ahead of Antomix, slowly dropping back from Kie. Let him through at the corkscrew as I could see he had more pace. He drove off into the distance and I held position from then on, just making sure to not make mistakes and to try and save the Scirocco's tyres. Maybe could have gone again and got decent points, but not exactly a fun race and I don't like racing against the proper drivers when I haven't practiced.

Really need to make people use 2 tyre compounds and bring a bit of strategy into these races.

 

[MidnightRun85]

Well that was a complete waste of time. Shouldn't have bothered! Q19 after an absolute shocker getting stuck behind a Viper and a SLS who kept trying to fight and slowed us all down. Then finally got up to P13 and threw it away with some terrible driving on laps 13-16. Ended up P16, down over 900 DR, and a measly 37 pts. And this is on one of my favourite tracks........

 

[MCL1974]

Today I had a 12 hour shift, from 0600 to 1800 so one can imagine that I was bloody tired when i got home. So showered, had something to eat, started the race at 20.00 and qaylified 8th, and at lap 11, when in 5th i got disconnected. As said, I was gutted

Decided to join the last slot and this time qualified 6th. Could have been a bit better as my second lap was faster but in the final sector a few cars had an issue and a McLaren was very slow in the Corkscrew. Although the driver did all to get out of my way (thanks!) i lost a bit of time and could not imrprove. But not unhappy, you have to qualify 8th or better to not have the disadvantage of starting in the corner so 6th was fine.

Start went okay, an Audi TT overtook me and I had an idea he was on softs so let him go. (and he did indeed pitted after a few laps)
After a few laps I was fifth again as a few drivers got off track.
Full green bars so connection was excellent. Had a nice fight with an Italian Mustang who overtook me at the Corkscrew, coming down I overtook him again and we went side by side for a few corners and I got in front of him at the final straight. I knew this was a fair racer by then but also knew that the fight costed several seconds and an Audi TT behind was closing. So decided to let him overtake me s I figured he was a bit faster then me and I wanted to follow him and pull away from the cars behind.

That went fine for a few laps and after some cars pitted I was in third following the Italian Mustang. Then suddenly I only had two red bars left and the PS4 got very loud. Soon I was back to green bars but then yellow bars and then only one red bar. Oh no, not again!!!!!
My wife went to the rescue, turned on a fan in an effort to cool the PS4 as she thought the bad connection was because of overheating. Do not know of that was the issue but the remaining twelve laps I spent going from one red bard to full green bar every 20 seconds. Next to me a noisy fan so I could not hear my engine.

This all made it very hard to concentrate on my race, I managed to do steady laps anyhow but no way I could follow the Mustang in second and the TT behind me slowly got closer. These were 12 scary laps and every laps i was scared to get disconnected again but although I saw the red bar pop up almost every lap this time I did not disconnect and finished the race in 3rd position.

So gratefull to my wife for trying to cool down the PS4. And I love racing this track. Got three third places in FIA races here and a win on my alt account!!!! Citroen did well here, almost no tyre wear....now watch the end of the Indy car and get some much needed sleep. Tomorrow I get my first vaccination....

 

[Odiesback]

FIA Manufacturers Series - Laguna Seca

17:00 Slot - one and done!

Door: #19
Qualified: 6th
Finished: 4th

Strategy: Hard tires, no stop

I was hesitant to enter based on earlier reports of dirty driving but decided to go and try my luck.

Clean race since I manage to keep good separation. Tried to stay out of trouble as much as possible while keeping up with front pack and saving tires. Lost a position early but recovered it after 10 laps or so. Key to success here was to stay on track and no penalties! Both accomplished! I crossed in 5th but was promoted one position after car ahead of me got the 60s penalty for not using Hards. All in all good race and happy with the results! - good luck to all still racing tonight!

 

[barak181]

First race back after more than a week off. I was hesitant about running this round based on everyone's earlier reports but decided I wanted to race more than I cared about clean racing. But let me tell you, the earlier reports had it right, what a train wreck of a race! But I somehow managed to navigate it.

I got a mediocre qualy in and started P13. But as I was one of maybe two people burning fuel on the grid, I was hoping that not many people had an idea of what the strategy was this race. And I was right.

I start out ok, moving up two places L1 but then L2 is the first of many pushes I get into the gravel on T6. I try to keep it clean while defending my position but still end up on the receiving end of a lot of lunges and pushes off track until I'm al the way back in P17. I finally go full elbows out and gave zero 🤬 when I took the inside line going through the Rainey Curve, made contact with a McLaren that had already pushed me off track twice and he slides into the gravel. Then I start overtaking people binning it both from tire wear and the demolition derby they all seemed to be playing. I really start to make up places when one after another almost everyone starts pitting in for hard tires.

I'm running P7 when P6 gets all squirrely coming out of the Corkscrew into Rainey. I pull even with him going into the final turn. I'm on the outside, give him plenty of room and try to switchback on him. I pull ahead going into the braking zone of T1 and he punts me. I'm able to catch it and stay on track so I was thinking that maybe he just braked late but then he full on turns into me to make sure I go into the gravel on the exit of the turn.

From there it's just me trying to run away from the guy who was 6 sec behind me before this all started but is now closing in hard due to my latest forced visit to the gravel pit. I manage to stay ahead of him and then a bit later he's nice enough to bin it on his own and give me plenty of breathing room. Up until L15 or so when P2 pits in. He comes out something like 3 sec behind me (yes, I was that far back from the leaders. So much time in the gravel this race....) with fresh tires. I hold him off until the final sector of the final lap. I go full defensive on T10 and he still tries to divebomb me. I recover but he gets the inside line for T11. He swerves into me in the braking zone but my Jag is heavier than his TT and I'm already on the brakes. He sends himself flying into the gravel when he tries to make the turn and I calmly pass him by for P6.

The points mean nothing but I'm not doing this mess again. I'm glad I got a race back in and hopefully Spa will be much calmer next week. (I'm not sure why my livery didn't make it to the finish screen. Oh, well.)

Then suddenly I only had two red bars left and the PS4 got very loud. Soon I was back to green bars but then yellow bars and then only one red bar. Oh no, not again!!!!!
My wife went to the rescue, turned on a fan in an effort to cool the PS4 as she thought the bad connection was because of overheating.

Yeah, she's definitely a keeper.

 

[manion]

I only ran the one slot for Laguna last night, screwed up my q lap by taking to much curb in the corkscrew and received a penalty which meant I started p20. Lap was good for top 10.

Worked my way up the field and found a guy in 9th holding up 4-5 cars so sat in 15th looking after tyres for a lap or 2 just letting them all bash each other about and picked a few off when they took each other off the track. Saw an opportunity to pick off the guy in 11th who had made a mess of the first sector. So now I'm in the difficult position of being behind the blocker in I think the scirocco and a BMW who is all over the track trying to get past. Had a great run up the hill to the corkscrew and the VW blocks to the inside so I follow him and sneak past the BMW but find myself on the outside of the VW for the next left which I drove conservatively to stay on the road but at the exit the guy in the VW takes a full swerve at me and puts me in the dirt.

Luckily only the BMW gets back past but my race is pretty screwed because 8th is already about 10 seconds up the road with 8 laps left. The next lap the BMW finds a way past old mate in the VW and i manage to get him on the way up to the corkscrew as well. Then with 5 laps to go I get past the BMW but I'm stuck in 9th pulling about 1.5-2 seconds a lap back on 8th but the messy laps in the middle cost me any chance of catching him. Picked up 130 for 9th and decided that was good enough didn't really want to try the race again.

 

[csmirnoff]

After taking a break of over two weeks from GTS, coming to Laguna on a power car like the Jag with just a few laps practice, I didn't have great expectations.

Americas Slot 2. Poor first lap in qualy, thought I had just enough time to go out again on new tyres. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Missed starting a second lap by around 2 seconds, got the checkered and had to start from P14.

Had a careful start on cold hard tyres, remained P14 trying to use a bit of slipstream and save my front tyres, which were wearing quite a bit in the Jag. Luckily, I had a solid race, gaining many positions from other drivers making mistakes and a couple of guys who started on softs by mistake.

After overtaking a Corvette into the left hander at the start of S2, I was up to 7th, just behind a GT-R. Since the top 5 were a little too far away, I wanted to stay in the slipstream for a while, build a gap to the guys behind while saving tyres to be able to attack at the end.

The plan was going well, until I went wide in that tricky left hander before the Corkscrew. Managed to save it but lost a couple of seconds driving over the gravel. Luckily, the 4 second gap I had built to the cars behind meant I could rejoin without losing any positions, but lost touch with the GT-R ahead, who I got closer to towards the end.

P7 at the end, not too shabby from 14th on the grid. Enjoyable race, and only went forwards, never lost a position throughout the race. Points weren't good enough, but I'm not too confident of getting much better ones in the Jag here, so will keep this one (hopefully) as a banker result.

 

[vDIRTYJ3RZv]

Just finish my first FIA fir the day. Did get much time, but I think it feels good. I Q.15 finished 12th. Had another mustang but he was just driving like he was all alone bumping and grinding. He crashed.

2 other aggressive drivers were going at it.I let them just push there way tru. I followed behind and they wrecked.

I didnt see much up front, but I didnt see and arguing in the chat. So I think it was a decent race. I didnt expect much but to get practice. I had 2 seconds of penalties for a couple corners. Over all not bad. I'm going back in, if I do good I won't do last alot. If not I will.

Ok Next slot. I did worse in qualify. Q.19. Finished P.8... . I want to do the other slot, but working my way up 11 positions is something I can ride with.

Believe it or not I still had a couple laps or more left on the tires. Real fun 2nd race.

 

[Roman_GT23]

Today I knew it was going to be awful in the Aston. But I got talked to doing it anyways. Qualified an abysmal 18th. Only truly made one spot on merit (but it looked like @Winnie847 was having an absolute shocker too). Others were either DNF's or a pitstop. Finished 15th. Honestly I would have not been surprised if I jumped out of the cockpit and actually found out I was driving one of these around Laguna.....my god! No I did not stream it and yes I hate what they did to the GR4 Aston

 

[Barra333]

Here we go... In the BMW with about a dozen laps practice. How much do I have to look after my tires?

Edit: I can't have nice things. Qualified 3rd and had to quit to do something at home. Hopefully I get an hour to myself in the last slot.

 

[Ashthebash]

I hate Laguna Seca, it's slow, it's narrow, the straights aren't straight, you can't overtake and it isn't suitable for anything wider than a motorbike. So I'll give this race the write up it deserves while the end credits of Demon's Souls are rolling...

1st slot, 2nd split - Q15>P13

At least next week we're at a proper track, even if it is a sprint. Might have mentioned it before, I love Spa...

...I really do

(Have I written more words about next week's race than this week's?!)

 

[D_Dragline]

Some of the filth from my first slot last night. Notice that it is bookended by the dude in the Aston pulling the same filthy move at the same place. No question they were intentional pushes.



Guy in the Cayman was absolutely disgraceful. The Scirocco is ‘Mr Truce’ and in follow up, we exchanged a couple of friendly messages after our last slot and I think he’s genuinely reconsidered how he drives. So that’s some good news.

 

[MIE1992]

Had a clean Q10/P11 @ Laguna Seca. Very nice amount of points that will be sure to replace my lowest score when they start counting the best three rounds. I may’ve lost a position but the points I’ve scored from being in this lobby more than make up for it.

 

[05XR8]

Some of the filth from my first slot last night. Notice that it is bookended by the dude in the Aston pulling the same filthy move at the same place. No question they were intentional pushes.



Guy in the Cayman was absolutely disgraceful. The Scirocco is ‘Mr Truce’ and in follow up, we exchanged a couple of friendly messages after our last slot and I think he’s genuinely reconsidered how he drives. So that’s some good news.

I just would not be passing at those spots.

 

[praiano63]

Some of the filth from my first slot last night. Notice that it is bookended by the dude in the Aston pulling the same filthy move at the same place. No question they were intentional pushes.



Guy in the Cayman was absolutely disgraceful. The Scirocco is ‘Mr Truce’ and in follow up, we exchanged a couple of friendly messages after our last slot and I think he’s genuinely reconsidered how he drives. So that’s some good news.

No side penalty ... People entering the gap without any shame. Thanks uncompetant PD crew. They are capable to mess 2 problems , wanting to fix a single one. 🤬👎

 

[Redneckchef]

Some of the filth from my first slot last night. Notice that it is bookended by the dude in the Aston pulling the same filthy move at the same place. No question they were intentional pushes.



Guy in the Cayman was absolutely disgraceful. The Scirocco is ‘Mr Truce’ and in follow up, we exchanged a couple of friendly messages after our last slot and I think he’s genuinely reconsidered how he drives. So that’s some good news.

That's just sad as I saw several friendly names in the lobby, but that Cayman was absolutely disgusting. Aston was definitely a floater too. Others looked more messy than anything, but seems about similar to things in my race as well. Just no respect given.

 

[afc5150]

Ugh. What could have been.

Americas slot 1 - Manufacturer Cup

Door 12, A/S lobby worth 177 points, ~35.8K DR

A race of 2 halves, really. Surprised myself with Q8 only 4/10th down from pole. Didn't make a pass and still found myself up to 5th after lap 1 due to mistakes by others. By lap 3, I was in 4th and by lap 6 I was running a pretty comfortable 3rd place.

Looking good until lap 8, when a fellow Jag driver pushed me off at the left hander heading onto Rahal, and that was that. Dropped down to 8th, my hard tires seemed shot, and it was just a mad scramble from there to keep my composure and get the best from it.

Got back to 6th by the last lap, only to get overtaken at the last corner to come home 7th for 132 points, 4th best result of the season.

I don't think the other Jag deliberately pushed me off, it was clumsy and he WAS faster, just impatient as I was struggling a little.

Gained around 550 DR ~36.4K DR.

Lap 1 was great! Up 3 positions:

Mid-race battles were flying high:

Push to pass on lap 8, effectively ending my chance at a podium:

Getting passed on the very last corner:

 

[D_Dragline]

I just would not be passing at those spots.

Agreed. There is currently no patience being shown at all.

No side penalty ... People entering the gap without any shame. Thanks uncompetant PD crew. They are capable to mess 2 problems , wanting to fix a single one. 🤬👎

None of these resulted in a penalty. None. Shows how effective the current penalty system is.

That's just sad as I saw several friendly names in the lobby, but that Cayman was absolutely disgusting. Aston was definitely a floater too. Others looked more messy than anything, but seems about similar to things in my race as well. Just no respect given.

Yes, there were a few respectful side by side sections among those names, but it reaches a point where the red mist has descended on everybody and nobody feels safe.

 

[Photodave219]

View media item 74659
Race Report. 1920 Americas. C/S 43 Point Lobby Door 10.

Qualifying. Nothing to write home about, waited my usual 30 seconds to get a clear track for a hot lap but meh... didnt wait long enough. Caught some traffic immediately on my qualifying lap. Qualified 11th, 1.5S off my practice time.

View media item 74661
Race: Started in Q11, P9 binned it before the starting line and picked up a position right away. Nothing amazing. Went for the No-stop. Ducked under a guy at turn one, he wasn't happy about it - he braked late, I guess going for a late apex, i hugged the inside. Somehow I got a penalty. Gave the position up in the final hairpin because he was going to get by me at the passing zone AND to make sure he didnt punt me later.

View media item 74658
Ran as high as 5th and 8 seconds off the lead at one point. As usual, I loose focus midway through the race and oversteered in the corkscrew late in the race. Pushed to try and get back to P7 and on the final lap spun in the corkscrew.

View media item 74660
Song remains the same.

View media item 74657

Some of the filth from my first slot last night. Notice that it is bookended by the dude in the Aston pulling the same filthy move at the same place. No question they were intentional pushes.



Guy in the Cayman was absolutely disgraceful. The Scirocco is ‘Mr Truce’ and in follow up, we exchanged a couple of friendly messages after our last slot and I think he’s genuinely reconsidered how he drives. So that’s some good news.

well that was ..... ugly. Good that the Scirocco was a teachable moment. It looked to me like he was having a lot of trouble navigating the circuit as a whole. The Cayman was just downright awful. Not sure how you could have gotten by him cleanly.

That's just sad as I saw several friendly names in the lobby, but that Cayman was absolutely disgusting. Aston was definitely a floater too. Others looked more messy than anything, but seems about similar to things in my race as well. Just no respect given.

I think that’s a lot of the problem, a basic lack of respect for other racers because of a lack of consequences. For FIA races, there needs to be a penalty from PD about racers who behave like that. Suspend them for a week, DQ them from the rest of the season. At the very least, if you drop out of S category for Sportsmanship you need to serve a few weeks away from actual S racers before you can get it back. IMHO.

 

[Barra333]

Here we go... In the BMW with about a dozen laps practice. How much do I have to look after my tires?

Edit: I can't have nice things. Qualified 3rd and had to quit to do something at home. Hopefully I get an hour to myself in the last slot.

Got into the last slot for Americas. Botched the last corner of my first lap of quali, which also killed my 2nd lap. Fortunately I'd gone out early enough to fit in 3 laps - got pole with the 3rd. Got punted at turn 5 of lap 1, down to 7th. Works my way back up the 4th before the top 3 pitted (I think over half of the lobby did) to give me the lead. Held it until lap 17 when I got passed by the guy who started 19th, who is even further out of his true rating than I am. Oh well, 2nd place is still decent after being punted on lap 1.

 

[05XR8]

I think it was last week, I was clowing when I called the Gr.4 Atenza a diesel. Just then, selecting cars in my garage and heard the Gr.3 Road Car sounding like the XD on start up. Alrighty then.

 

[OutlawQuadrnt]

Made two attempts at Laguna. Forgot the switch to hards first time and was just bad second time. Called it a day until I noticed the race pace was really beginning to fall off. I gambled on the fourth slot and I figured that was a big mistake.

Like last week, it was anything but. I wish I could figure out how to make this turbo brick turn.

 

[RacingGrandpa]

I think it was last week, I was clowing when I called the Gr.4 Atenza a diesel. Just then, selecting cars in my garage and heard the Gr.3 Road Car sounding like the XD on start up. Alrighty then.

Just listen to the startup of the Corvette gr 3. It sounds like the Samba bus....

 

[MCL1974]

Yeah, she's definitely a keeper.

Indeed she is. And I am lucky to be with her for over 21 years. Still looking good, she has an awesome career and is a good and kind person.
Fortunate for me that she has hobbyies of her own like crochet, sowing and she is also a gamer. (nerdy Japanese RPG's)

So she is not only okay with me having hobbies, she is actually encouraging them.
And she doesn't mind halve the house clottered with my books, CD's, scale models and a big fishtank in the middle of the living room.

 

[gthelmi2398]

Hello from Germany,

I want to show you my last evening’s race with my Ford Mustang. I was very happy with the result and about my consistency again.

Hope you enjoy and now I start to improve myself on Spa.

 

[Erebus_9]

Some of the filth from my first slot last night. Notice that it is bookended by the dude in the Aston pulling the same filthy move at the same place. No question they were intentional pushes.



Guy in the Cayman was absolutely disgraceful. The Scirocco is ‘Mr Truce’ and in follow up, we exchanged a couple of friendly messages after our last slot and I think he’s genuinely reconsidered how he drives. So that’s some good news.

Laguna Seca always seems to bring out the worst of people in FIA, especially in Gr. 4 or slower. My races were mostly clean this time around, but in the past... yikes. I have a handful of replays of FIA races you'd think were "no rules" lobbies, and most of them are from Laguna Seca...

 

[gthelmi2398]

Laguna Seca always seems to bring out the worst of people in FIA, especially in Gr. 4 or slower. My races were mostly clean this time around, but in the past... yikes. I have a handful of replays of FIA races you'd think were "no rules" lobbies, and most of them are from Laguna Seca...

I really enjoy my races in Fia lobbys on Laguna. I like the track much and I know the importance of parking the bus and sure the qualifying. Fighting is dificult here, you will loose so much time within a battle and then you are inside the pack. If you want to overtake you should use your first attempt or drive behind him. Defending is easy around this track

 

[Barra333]

Defending against a clean driver is easy. Try that against the punt to pass crowd and you are going to have a bad time.