- 2,047
- Bristol, UK
- OJBrit
No worries. I will probably still do the manu as they are fun races and do something slightly different to dailies. I just wish PD managed it better.
2021 FIA Series Race Discussion
- Thread starter GTPNewsWire
- 9,031 comments
- 1,684,284 views
- 2,047
- Bristol, UK
- OJBrit
Yup, the only time I've been ahead of her I made the inevitable mistake and it didn't last long.
- 435
- London
Haha great pic! That was a fun race!
- 2,438
- The failed experiment entitled “California”.
Anyone else running test lobbies for this Wednesday’s manu? I’m curious to hear what you guys are finding out strategy-wise.
I’m liking the prospect of all the viable strategies for this race and the necessity to call audibles as needed. Even with the new stringent SR DOWN system, I still see this being a very messy first few laps with the lack of penalties. Staying out of the melee for the first few laps I think will make or break your race.
Even though the 2 stop isn’t the “winning” strategy. The more I think about it, it’s a viable “points-getting” strategy. Especially if you’re in a lobby that’s above your weight class and coming from the back. You’ll pretty much be in clean air the entire race - making all your positions back as people go into the pits or wreck
I think you would want to limit your RS stint to no more than 11 laps tho. I just see running the RS’s for any longer than that is not maximizing your pace on the mediums in clean air. Plus, you’ll be fighting worn tires at the end of the race like everyone else.
The most fun strategy (if you don’t care where you finish), would be start from the front of the pack on hards. Drive a nice conservative, wide car for 2 laps….just enough to bunch EVERYONE up. And then duck into the pits just as everybody starts getting restless and takes one another out and/or slows each other down fighting. Pit for your mediums, go for 6-7 laps. The rest on softs.
At any rate, I think the multipliers and length are just right for this to be a real fun race
I’m liking the prospect of all the viable strategies for this race and the necessity to call audibles as needed. Even with the new stringent SR DOWN system, I still see this being a very messy first few laps with the lack of penalties. Staying out of the melee for the first few laps I think will make or break your race.
Even though the 2 stop isn’t the “winning” strategy. The more I think about it, it’s a viable “points-getting” strategy. Especially if you’re in a lobby that’s above your weight class and coming from the back. You’ll pretty much be in clean air the entire race - making all your positions back as people go into the pits or wreck
I think you would want to limit your RS stint to no more than 11 laps tho. I just see running the RS’s for any longer than that is not maximizing your pace on the mediums in clean air. Plus, you’ll be fighting worn tires at the end of the race like everyone else.
The most fun strategy (if you don’t care where you finish), would be start from the front of the pack on hards. Drive a nice conservative, wide car for 2 laps….just enough to bunch EVERYONE up. And then duck into the pits just as everybody starts getting restless and takes one another out and/or slows each other down fighting. Pit for your mediums, go for 6-7 laps. The rest on softs.
At any rate, I think the multipliers and length are just right for this to be a real fun race
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- 1,495
- United States
- equus_ferrum
- 126
- United Kingdom
And getting round turn ten before the start on cold hards is a major gamble if you're starting towards the back!
- 727
- Rotterdam
- mcl-1974-2
- 6
- Italy
the same goes for me, my best time in qualifying is about 1.28.6xx and I'm just above half B dr, and above all do not mess up during the Qual...I guess anything could happen😱I am just not sure which half of the grid i turn out to be....
I am a bit afraid of being parked among the other drivers
I would prefer a consistent race rather than "elbowing" for 13-14 laps
with the bet to use hard from the start I have good confidence to do the second stint facing a few opponents at a time
(of course those that I will be able to recover)
(in my head) I think I can handle both corners with cold Hard
(reality) Spinning after countdown and 2 sec pen at first corner - track limit and wall - 😨😰😭 "goodbye and thanks for all the fish"
- 2,438
- The failed experiment entitled “California”.
On the first lap, I think I’m gonna go full AI on the competition and hug the inside line and just slam on the brakes no matter what, right at the apex. That way, when I get slammed into…I only get shoved wide instead of sent flying. Matter fact, I’ll have to do that for the first 3 turns on the first lap.
If I can survive that first lap without ending up in the sandbox…I’m home free!
If I can survive that first lap without ending up in the sandbox…I’m home free!
- 1,230
- Michigan
- KosmoKazi
I like the way you think. If I can ever see a strategy to assure me of a strong top-10 finish, I'll take it. I do not have hopes of winning any races, at my current DR... so I'm not interested in the absolute fastest min time to finish a race. A strategy that puts me in clean air and may provide a 5th or 6th place or so is plenty viable for me. And what I recall about Gr3 at RBR... the fact that everyone is on cold tires, M or H, at the start, means it's not all that hard to protect your position for a lap or so, even on the H's.
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Protip: You can usually use the runoff and avoid a track limit pen provided you lift a certain amount the game finds acceptable. What that is, I don't know. I do this during the dailies at RBR and it works more often than not. I'm not suggesting this as a 'cheat' or to gain advantage, because you won't. But it can be useful to avoid getting caught up in incidents.
- 46
- Australia
In with @pennanton and @RX8 Racer.
Qualified 5th and survived first few corners to settle down and had got into 3rd behind @pennanton. Briefly took the lead on lap 6 only for a GTR to dive up the inside of T2 from 3rd to push past in front. @pennanton pitted running on Hards so had done brilliant to stay at the front so knew he would take the win in the end
Pitted lap 14 for Hards and was out of the pits undercutting the GTR that was leading. However a Lambo that was behind managed to get out in front of me so took 3rd.Was planning on a 1H, 6M and the rest S but then went over a tenth faster than my practice times in qualifying and ended up 2nd behind a guy in a corvette who said he got a pretty good tow on his lap.
Figured it would be hard to match the Vette on outright pace in the Lexus so settled in on the mediums trying to fuel save and hang on to push when the tyres were wearing down at the end of the stint. Lap 7 happened and I received a lovely spin courtesy of the kerb of death after I had run basically the same line all through practice, qualifying and the first 6 laps. Managed to recover and hold onto 3rd, overtaking the guy that received 2nd from me on lap 11. Unfortunately I went from 3ish seconds behind 1st to 15ish and burnes some fuel fighting with the guy that passed me.
Pitted on lap 17 for hards and cruised home 12s behind the winner who seemed to be cruising under no pressure. Will take my 217 points and run, getting pretty good at banking solid points on the first try in the manufacturer series, would have loved to make a race of it for the win but oh well.
Figured it would be hard to match the Vette on outright pace in the Lexus so settled in on the mediums trying to fuel save and hang on to push when the tyres were wearing down at the end of the stint. Lap 7 happened and I received a lovely spin courtesy of the kerb of death after I had run basically the same line all through practice, qualifying and the first 6 laps. Managed to recover and hold onto 3rd, overtaking the guy that received 2nd from me on lap 11. Unfortunately I went from 3ish seconds behind 1st to 15ish and burnes some fuel fighting with the guy that passed me.
Pitted on lap 17 for hards and cruised home 12s behind the winner who seemed to be cruising under no pressure. Will take my 217 points and run, getting pretty good at banking solid points on the first try in the manufacturer series, would have loved to make a race of it for the win but oh well.
- 1,725
- Australia
In with @manion in first slot. After a recent DR bump, this lobby was waaaay stronger than I’m used to. Compounded by the fact that I was Door 18. Ran an ok qualy lap but had to run without slipstream. Crazy tight qualy times midfield. Q17 and only 0.05 behind q10. @manion Q2
I start on hards and immediately run wide through the final turn. I also get loose at T1 and am p19 by T2. I run on the end of the train for a few laps and decide to pit for mediums and clean air at the end of lap 3. This will require some fuel saving to get to the finish, but it should be more than made up for by getting out of traffic. Returning in p19 I then run 11 laps of more or less uneventful racing. Consistent, but not super quick. Working with a friendly to keep up our pace while saving fuel.
The runners who started on mediums start pitting from around lap 12 and I start to pick up a few places. The majority of cars pitted in laps 14 and 15 and when the dust settles I’m up to p14. A GTR behind is pushing hard but obviously on hards as he isn’t able to fully capitalize on my 13 lap old tyres. A Beetle and a Jag in front of me have some sort of incident at the penalty zone on lap 17 and suddenly I’m in p12 On lap 18 the GTR and the Jag that went off get a better run out of turn 1 so I move to the defensive line early to cover turn 3 as best I can. The Jag moves across to hold me narrow so there is half a car width between me and the inside of the track and ales than an inch between me and the Jag. Unbelievably the GTR proceeds to pull up the inside and starts trying to push me across. Eventually the Jag pulls wide and I’m stuck between the 2 as we enter T3. I brake early to avoid pushing the Jag wide and try and set up a cut back on the GTR. It works and we exit T3 in tact with the Jag in front of me and the GTR behind.
I then defend for the last lap and a half and manage to hold off the GTR to finish p13.
This is a much better result than I expected in such a strong lobby. I’m stoked to have been competitive when I had expected to be fighting for DFL.
One and done.
I start on hards and immediately run wide through the final turn. I also get loose at T1 and am p19 by T2. I run on the end of the train for a few laps and decide to pit for mediums and clean air at the end of lap 3. This will require some fuel saving to get to the finish, but it should be more than made up for by getting out of traffic. Returning in p19 I then run 11 laps of more or less uneventful racing. Consistent, but not super quick. Working with a friendly to keep up our pace while saving fuel.
The runners who started on mediums start pitting from around lap 12 and I start to pick up a few places. The majority of cars pitted in laps 14 and 15 and when the dust settles I’m up to p14. A GTR behind is pushing hard but obviously on hards as he isn’t able to fully capitalize on my 13 lap old tyres. A Beetle and a Jag in front of me have some sort of incident at the penalty zone on lap 17 and suddenly I’m in p12 On lap 18 the GTR and the Jag that went off get a better run out of turn 1 so I move to the defensive line early to cover turn 3 as best I can. The Jag moves across to hold me narrow so there is half a car width between me and the inside of the track and ales than an inch between me and the Jag. Unbelievably the GTR proceeds to pull up the inside and starts trying to push me across. Eventually the Jag pulls wide and I’m stuck between the 2 as we enter T3. I brake early to avoid pushing the Jag wide and try and set up a cut back on the GTR. It works and we exit T3 in tact with the Jag in front of me and the GTR behind.
I then defend for the last lap and a half and manage to hold off the GTR to finish p13.
This is a much better result than I expected in such a strong lobby. I’m stoked to have been competitive when I had expected to be fighting for DFL.
One and done.
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@D_Dragline good to see you in my FIA race earlier looks like the effort with finding speed at Le Mans last week might be helping you find some time in other cars/tracks. That lobby was pretty tight in qualifying. Didn't see many if any trying a 2 stopper.
- 1,725
- Australia
I was very nervous about the race once I saw the lobby. I think last week might have been a bit of a breakout week for me. You guys at the front are still too fast for me, but finishing better than my door number was awesome.
I think there was only one two-stop by the guy who finished last and put mediums back on at his first stop. I didn’t see anyone running softs, but I’ll have a look at the replay later.
The pace in the midfield was very tight in-race. It was brilliant to be in a race where the racing was clean and strategy was just as important as outright pace.
- 2,479
- United Kingdom
- Hasnain282
Think this'll be a close one
- 2,557
- Glasgow
- stpatty
Started 2 tenths off pole in 6th. Very annoying as my final sector was bad on my fast lap. Ended up finishing 6th after just having a really annoying race, the kind when you know you're faster than you're able to go as stuff's happening around you that you can't avoid. I'd go again if the times weren't so inconvenient for me. A shame, given how poor this schedule is for the Nissans.
- 2,479
- United Kingdom
- Hasnain282
Was in a lobby including @VulcanSpirit and @watto79 and 3 other Honda's
Messed up my quali session with a penalty at the end of the first lap. Had enough time for a 3rd lap but had a poor last sector and that put me P17.
Basically ran my own race for the most part pitting lap 5 and then waiting for the rest of the stops. I'm guessing the pace of the midpack wasn't the best as I gained more than I thought. Had a small battle with Watto and then benefitted from an incident up ahead which put me P9 in the end which was a lot better than what I was expecting after quali. Was also top Honda in the race in the end though that was pretty lucky.
Messed up my quali session with a penalty at the end of the first lap. Had enough time for a 3rd lap but had a poor last sector and that put me P17.
Basically ran my own race for the most part pitting lap 5 and then waiting for the rest of the stops. I'm guessing the pace of the midpack wasn't the best as I gained more than I thought. Had a small battle with Watto and then benefitted from an incident up ahead which put me P9 in the end which was a lot better than what I was expecting after quali. Was also top Honda in the race in the end though that was pretty lucky.
- 2,940
- Derby, UK
- TPC_Abarber95
Well that was fun, in a lobby with @kungtotte_ and @LVS_1986. Actually got a good qualifying lap in with a 1:28.869 to put me 4th after one flying lap.
The race itself was interesting, got into P3 fairly quickly but an unfortunate ping pong tap dropped me to 7th overall. Managed to keep my nose clean from then on. Good battle with an Italian in a Porsche for what would eventually become 3rd. I fuel saved and pitted on lap 16 getting the undercut on the Porsche. Got gifted 3rd as the Aston on 3rd took out the Jag in 2nd on the last lap gifting me the position. 146 points overall, one and done.
The race itself was interesting, got into P3 fairly quickly but an unfortunate ping pong tap dropped me to 7th overall. Managed to keep my nose clean from then on. Good battle with an Italian in a Porsche for what would eventually become 3rd. I fuel saved and pitted on lap 16 getting the undercut on the Porsche. Got gifted 3rd as the Aston on 3rd took out the Jag in 2nd on the last lap gifting me the position. 146 points overall, one and done.
Barra333
Premium
- 6,542
- London, ON
- barra333
I watched that while eating lunch - a rather lonely journey from 17th to 9th. You got lucky to not be collateral damage on the last lap there.
- 2,479
- United Kingdom
- Hasnain282
- 2,386
- UK
- TPC_Watto
That's very kind of you to call that a battle! As soon as you passed me I binned it on the exit of T4 and fell way down the order. I'd managed the fuel pretty well but I'm convinced going flat out would have served me better. As would have not spinning. Ah well.
- 435
- London
Very happy with 4th!
I knew I could get a decent result if I kept it tidy. Aimed to qualify top 8 to avoid the corner and qualified 8th! Actually starts you with your tires on the curb and I lost a bit of time trying to stop tires spinning. Time was a 1:28.6 which wasn’t brilliant and there were about 7 more cars behind me in the 28.6s!Was up into 3rd by end of lap 3 with 3 cars binning it and passing the other 2. Pulled out a 4 second gap over 4th but was 7 seconds behind 2nd and was on my own all the way until lap 15 when I pitted. Came out in 4th behind the pole sitter who had binned it at the start and kept it on the track to finish 4th.
I’m now also into the DR 40k bracket!! Can’t actually believe it! It feels like I’m not meant to be there! I still feel like an amateur
Thanks to you guys on here with the lobbies to practice and the hints and tips, including @Ashthebash for helping me rinse a 1:27.6 out my Vette in free practice!
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