2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

[VulcanSpirit]

Started my Gr.3 assault this evening in a lobby shared with @Hasnain282 and @watto79, which I didn't know what to expect from given my current DR level and my initial difficulty setting a representative FP time. Continuous practice lead to some promising results which in hindsight could easily translate to greater things going forward.

17:00 Manufacturers
Had a scare immediately before my first qualifying lap where the Jaguar driver in front took a much slower entry into Rindt than I had anticipated. As the sun was setting I did not notice that he had already slowed down to a crawl, and by the time I found the space to pass up the inside I was caught off guard by his ghosting F-Type turning towards the same direction. Backed out to let Hasnain pass and give myself plenty of clean air for the first - and best - flier which was a 1:28.008. Despite catching up to and getting stuck behind the Jag, the second and third laps were also within the same time range, with plenty of improvements gained in the first and second sectors. Optimum by the end of the session was a 1:27.732 (up there with my best laps from testing) on fairly worn Softs.

A bit miffed to lose out on a potential Top 10 or even Top 5 start (qualified 13th), but ready to switch my intended 17M-2H strategy around. Practice with short-shifting and fuel map techniques got me to the stage where I could complete the whole race distance in testing without refuelling. Decided against playing any silly games from the start, letting both of the Medium-shod Hondas go on Lap 1 while maximising my chances to save fuel in their slipstream. Upon pitting, I found myself having better pace than the French Honda who also started on Hards, and on Lap 4 had a good enough run to pass under braking for Remus. I'm especially thankful that the Frenchman had the courtesy to brake early and leave me plenty of racing room as he saw me commit to the inside.

Having also witnessed the demise of an Audi at Turn 8 the lap before, I began pulling away from the Honda while setting consistent 1:29s and gradually climbing back up the order via the pitstop cycles. Jumped plenty of Medium starters in the process though there were a few scrappy moments and a moment on Lap 18 where I thought I went too wide on the exit of Niki Lauda Kurve. Fortunately, I still had two wheels over the sausage kerb so was relieved to have got away without a penalty that time! Not the most eventful race other than that, but a good enough drive to secure 7th place overall, 11 seconds down on the winning Lamborghini. Reminds me of that other Gr.3 race I did at Brands a while back...

The most interesting and encouraging thing I discovered out of this was that my best total time in testing (a 28:51.016) wasn't far off the total time the Lambo had set when he crossed the line (28:51.123). In fact, it actually undercut his time by just over a tenth, which made me believe that I would've had genuine race-winning pace in the Scooby even if I still qualified behind him. While I would be fine with taking home another 200+ points finish to build up my strong early tally, I'm genuinely on the fence as to whether I should go out again tonight and hunt for a Top 5 spot...

... and you know what, let's do it!

Entering the 19:40 slot now...

 

[MCL1974]

The first 5 laps were annyoing, the rest was a tranquil event.

did a sort of dumb thing in qualifying; first lap was a banker lap, but in the second, the one that counted, i made a mistake. And being a gentleman i released the throttle and got out of the way of a French driver in a Ford. And then crossed the line a second too late for the final lap. so was only 9th and about 7 tenths slower then expected.

Shared a lobby with OJbrit, who qualified third. I decided to start on hards, expecting most of the drivers behind me to do the same. Bit of a mistake, as those behind me were on mediums and used me as a punching bag for the first 5 laps. The worst was a French driver in.. you guessed it; a Ford that was knocking my rear at every corner. If I only I had not done the right thing in qualy. But next time I will do the same, being a gentlemen racer... (or trying at least)

When I came out of the pits I was 18th, only a German fellow behind me, and i slowly got a few tenths more ahead each lap. OJbrit got behind me a few laps later when he came out of the pits (He got into the gravel in lap 1) but he was on hards so managed to pull a bit of a gap. Nothing much happened the rest of the race, after everybody pitted I was eight, and a fellow just in front of me crashed spectacularly in lap 17, so ended 7th for 77 points. Not bad but wish i had qualified better. Then again, seem to always be 8th or 9th after qualifying!?

Many thanks for my wife who distracted the evil cat who decided to play with the router cable during the race...very distracting to say the least!!!

 

[OJBrit]

Seems like we were all grouped together today.
My buddy was King Rat himself @MCL1974
Got a good qualy lap straight off for a provisional P3. My next lap felt slower, I made mistakes and my wheel did it's trademark change up 2 gears instead of 1 twice in the lap. However I still improved by 1 tenth to start 5th. Don't ask me how. That tenth may have made sure I kept 5th.
Got a good start and wasn't pressured from behind. However the 2 ahead got close into turn 1 giving me a run up the hill on them both. However scared of fireworks on cold tyres I stayed to the outside in the hopes they would take each other out. In the end they went a little deeper than me preventing me from turning and I lost a place as I came off the runoff. Down into 4 I was once again on the outside and expecting those to my inside to bin it. However the combination of tepid tyres with a bit of dirt thrown in meant I just skated off on my own accord. I kept it facing forward luckily and set about working my way through the field. I gained positions on those going off which and quickly caught up to the group containing MCL. He was nudged wide through Rindt and immediately pit. I managed to get past the AMG ahead after a couple of laps of pressure. He annoyed me in my slipstream thereafter until I was finally able to break the tow. However around lap 10 the tyres were beginning to cry. Going through the 2nd sector began to feel like ice on my back tyres. I decided to cut my stint short and pit lap 12. I come out just behind MCL but my cold hards take a while to warm and a VW catches me. They get close but I eventually settle and they make a mistake. Also the pitters begin to pick those behind off. However I cannot get the feel of the hards and the car struggles to turn randomly on certain laps. This allows my AMG friend to catch me up on the penultimate lap. However he must have had a penalty and he drops time on the straight after Remus. This allows me a gap to relax a bit to come home P8 just behind MCL. A good double GTP top 10.

I noticed the leader pitted first up on softs. Then I noticed he won the race. I was curious to see how he did that without a penalty I watched the replay. He executed a perfect 2 stop. He had the pace on the softs to build a good gap. He spent 2 laps on the hards and used meds to the end. He got lucky with those ahead pitting and grabbed the lead on lap 18. He was patient in his racing and is one of the cleanest drivers in his situation I have seen. Fully deserved his win.

 

[MCL1974]

Seems like we were all grouped together today.
My buddy was King Rat himself @MCL1974
Got a good qualy lap straight off for a provisional P3. My next lap felt slower, I made mistakes and my wheel did it's trademark change up 2 gears instead of 1 twice in the lap. However I still improved by 1 tenth to start 5th. Don't ask me how. That tenth may have made sure I kept 5th.
Got a good start and wasn't pressured from behind. However the 2 ahead got close into turn 1 giving me a run up the hill on them both. However scared of fireworks on cold tyres I stayed to the outside in the hopes they would take each other out. In the end they went a little deeper than me preventing me from turning and I lost a place as I came off the runoff. Down into 4 I was once again on the outside and expecting those to my inside to bin it. However the combination of tepid tyres with a bit of dirt thrown in meant I just skated off on my own accord. I kept it facing forward luckily and set about working my way through the field. I gained positions on those going off which and quickly caught up to the group containing MCL. He was nudged wide through Rindt and immediately pit. I managed to get past the AMG ahead after a couple of laps of pressure. He annoyed me in my slipstream thereafter until I was finally able to break the tow. However around lap 10 the tyres were beginning to cry. Going through the 2nd sector began to feel like ice on my back tyres. I decided to cut my stint short and pit lap 12. I come out just behind MCL but my cold hards take a while to warm and a VW catches me. They get close but I eventually settle and they make a mistake. Also the pitters begin to pick those behind off. However I cannot get the feel of the hards and the car struggles to turn randomly on certain laps. This allows my AMG friend to catch me up on the penultimate lap. However he must have had a penalty and he drops time on the straight after Remus. This allows me a gap to relax a bit to come home P8 just behind MCL. A good double GTP top 10.
View attachment 1070325
I noticed the leader pitted first up on softs. Then I noticed he won the race. I was curious to see how he did that without a penalty I watched the replay. He executed a perfect 2 stop. He had the pace on the softs to build a good gap. He spent 2 laps on the hards and used meds to the end. He got lucky with those ahead pitting and grabbed the lead on lap 18. He was patient in his racing and is one of the cleanest drivers in his situation I have seen. Fully deserved his win.

King Rat? I really need to change my avatar....

Was sorry to see you go into the gravel at lap 1, I am sure you would have had a podium if that had not happened!
Assume you are considering another run?

think starting with the hards was not a good strategy for me, I got nudged and bumped about every corner, especially by the French GT, the Norwegian Corvette and the Austrian in the AMG. It is really annoying that most drivers on a softer tyre seem to think they are entitled to barge through rather then have the patience to overtake cleanly.

 

[KosmoKazi]

Seems like we were all grouped together today.
My buddy was King Rat himself @MCL1974
Got a good qualy lap straight off for a provisional P3. My next lap felt slower, I made mistakes and my wheel did it's trademark change up 2 gears instead of 1 twice in the lap. However I still improved by 1 tenth to start 5th. Don't ask me how. That tenth may have made sure I kept 5th.
Got a good start and wasn't pressured from behind. However the 2 ahead got close into turn 1 giving me a run up the hill on them both. However scared of fireworks on cold tyres I stayed to the outside in the hopes they would take each other out. In the end they went a little deeper than me preventing me from turning and I lost a place as I came off the runoff. Down into 4 I was once again on the outside and expecting those to my inside to bin it. However the combination of tepid tyres with a bit of dirt thrown in meant I just skated off on my own accord. I kept it facing forward luckily and set about working my way through the field. I gained positions on those going off which and quickly caught up to the group containing MCL. He was nudged wide through Rindt and immediately pit. I managed to get past the AMG ahead after a couple of laps of pressure. He annoyed me in my slipstream thereafter until I was finally able to break the tow. However around lap 10 the tyres were beginning to cry. Going through the 2nd sector began to feel like ice on my back tyres. I decided to cut my stint short and pit lap 12. I come out just behind MCL but my cold hards take a while to warm and a VW catches me. They get close but I eventually settle and they make a mistake. Also the pitters begin to pick those behind off. However I cannot get the feel of the hards and the car struggles to turn randomly on certain laps. This allows my AMG friend to catch me up on the penultimate lap. However he must have had a penalty and he drops time on the straight after Remus. This allows me a gap to relax a bit to come home P8 just behind MCL. A good double GTP top 10.
View attachment 1070325
I noticed the leader pitted first up on softs. Then I noticed he won the race. I was curious to see how he did that without a penalty I watched the replay. He executed a perfect 2 stop. He had the pace on the softs to build a good gap. He spent 2 laps on the hards and used meds to the end. He got lucky with those ahead pitting and grabbed the lead on lap 18. He was patient in his racing and is one of the cleanest drivers in his situation I have seen. Fully deserved his win.

Huge info... thanks. So maybe in a low A / high B lobby, a two-stop with lots of laps on Softs IS a viable strategy, at least for a top-10 anyway. I'm on the fence with it, though as I think about it, I'm not as good at extracting the pace advantage out of Softs, but still, it's intriguing in part because of the potential to drive off-sequence of the messy stuff that can define races at RBR sometimes.

Good post!

...

think starting with the hards was not a good strategy for me, I got nudged and bumped about every corner, especially by the French GT, the Norwegian Corvette and the Austrian in the AMG. It is really annoying that most drivers on a softer tyre seem to think they are entitled to barge through rather then have the patience to overtake cleanly.

Agreed... it does seem like people feel entitled to be let around if they detect the tire difference... I mean, in a 6-hr or 12-hr WEC event, sure. But in a 20 lap sprint race online, no way, bud. Get around me clean, and I have a right to defend my position regardless.

 

[OJBrit]

King Rat? I really need to change my avatar....

Was sorry to see you go into the gravel at lap 1, I am sure you would have had a podium if that had not happened!
Assume you are considering another run?

think starting with the hards was not a good strategy for me, I got nudged and bumped about every corner, especially by the French GT, the Norwegian Corvette and the Austrian in the AMG. It is really annoying that most drivers on a softer tyre seem to think they are entitled to barge through rather then have the patience to overtake cleanly.

No offence caused.
King Rat is the principal villain in the pantomine 'Dick Whittington'. Even though he's a villain I wasn't calling you one, just referencing your avatar.
Top 5 deffo I think. But no I can only do 1 evening run at the moment and I'm happy with the points considering what would likely go wrong.

 

[MCL1974]

No offence caused.
King Rat is the principal villain in the pantomine 'Dick Whittington'. Even though he's a villain I wasn't calling you one, just referencing your avatar.
Top 5 deffo I think. But no I can only do 1 evening run at the moment and I'm happy with the points considering what would likely go wrong.

I think I would actually like being considered a villian. 😁Was actually thinking about this excellent novelle, been a while since reading it. Think i will visit the library this weekend to see if it is still available:

Agreed... it does seem like people feel entitled to be let around if they detect the tire difference... I mean, in a 6-hr or 12-hr WEC event, sure. But in a 20 lap sprint race online, no way, bud. Get around me clean, and I have a right to defend my position regardless.

Issue is that when you defend it will cost you time and you risk being knocked into the gravel. I have then tendency to let them pass on the straight to avoid wasting time fighting for position so early in the race. But often they incist in overtaking where there is no good oppertunity to pass clean. Good luck with your race later today!!!!!

 

[MidnightRun85]

Worst Manufacturers race I've had so far! Managed to get some really strong practice lap times and was consistently getting under 1:29s. Come to qualifying and I only just scrape under 1:30. Q10, door 14. Opening lap on RM tyres, get to T3 and see an Aston flying up the middle so run wide and underestimate the green stuff and spin it, putting me DFL. From there I spent the rest of the next 16 laps catching people up and slowly working my way to 4th. Then pit for RH tyres, exiting P10 and run wide into T3, and into the sand at T4! Ended P16. What a complete shambles! Going to bed in a grump....

 

[challenger001]

Oh my god, tonight was a slap in the face.

Not really played for the last week or even two weeks - lack of motivation, lack of friends to play with, so I was out of practice for the 9 o'clock race. Figured it was worth a go, did a lot of time trial before the event, and I'd run at least one test race so I sort of knew what to do with the fuel and tyres. Crucial point being 'sort of'.

Somehow, managed to stick myself 6th on the grid, and started on Mediums, planning on the one stop. One by one the competitors in front fall off and I end up in third, behind a silver DBR9 while the McLaren F1 in the lead has absolutely run away on the softs. Stops lap 7 and I think I have a genuine shot at the podium, but by lap 9 and 10 the tyres are going and I'm losing time to the Aston. Pit for Hards, come out 10th. I notice the fuel gauge and reckon 'oh, I can make that with a bit of short shifting'. At least I'm in a slipstream party right, can save well? Nope, what do I do at Turn 3, but spin it into the wall. Massive panic, but get it back on track and keep going... but I can't keep up with the soft runners. They just have me everywhere, and it feels like the extra pit stop really hasn't inconvenienced them at all. By the end of it I finish 14th after two penalties are applied. Feel pretty low about the whole thing, reckon I can do better.

The 10:20 race. Door number 18 instead of 1, so that might be a better sign. Qualifying doesn't go as well, I start 14th. Again, start on the mediums and plan to run the hards for 2 laps and go for softs.

The hard runners at the start who dive into the pits are soon chasing me down, and I can't do anything about them. I don't know what it is, they just blow past me... until I realise that I left the fuel map on 6 from the start for some reason. I spent 5 laps on FM6 at RBR. God damn it. It must have affected me because I started missing my braking points, just mentally out of order. I spin on my first lap on hards at Turn 3 and feel like I want to disconnect then and there. Crawl home by the end the last of the unlapped, more than 1m down on the leaders.

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing people who moan and whinge about races that went wrong for their own fault and lack of skill but damn if you don't want to vent about it. It's not even like I have the penalty system or other racers to play, I just had an absolute night of complete brain fade.

Anyone got a cure for that? Or suggestions how to bounce back after a godawful series of races?

 

[VulcanSpirit]

Made a second attempt at tonight's Manufacturers in an attempt to build on the promise shown in the first one. Was it worth it? Let's see...

19:40 Manufacturers
So, I was again matched with @PirovacBoy for this EMEA slot as well as a famous face from the wider sim-racing community. Qualifying was a mixed bag, and much like last time I was unable to break into the high-1:27s with any of my eligible laps. Again extracted up to 4.6 tenths' worth of improvements in the first two sectors, which despite a less than ideal third sector was enough to put me 12th on the grid with a 1:28.099. Went too hot into Niki Lauda Kurve at the start of my third which landed me a track limits penalty (not that my tyres would've been in a good enough state to sustain those earlier gains), and that was that.

Went into the race with the same 2H-17M tyre strategy as before, expecting another run-of-the-mill drive to the top half. Gained a good advantage over the #7 and #18 Porsches behind by shifting early and staying in a higher fuel map upon starting from the middle of the final corner, though the #7 (white and blue) was starting on Softs. Aware that he was on a softer compound, I was more than happy to take a wide entry into Remus and let him through, scarpering away from the #18 and a few others struggling for grip on Hards. Little did I realise that the #7 would be forced out wide at Rauch and spin out into my path. Would've been a disaster in real life, I said to myself, but since he was ghosted I didn't lose too much ground from trying to avoid the Porsche.

By Lap 2, I was already near the tail of a train running from 7th to 13th places, saving fuel while following around in the tow. Not wanting to compromise the famous sim-racer making gains in the Beetle (on Mediums, no less), I indicate to the right, lift off before Remus and pull into pit road alongside the #12 Porsche. Next couple of laps were spent resisting pressure from the #6 Martini Lancer Evo before he received a 1-second penalty and dropped behind the #12 Porsche. For those brief moments, it felt like the classic Subaru vs Mitsubishi battle had reignited on the circuit. Made a few more places through others making pitstops, along with a pass up the inside before Rindt on the #4 Audi, who had also started on Softs and was about to get rid of his set of Hards.

From that point on, it looked to be another quiet run, and the gap between pit cycles made the job of maintaining a 2+ second gap over the #12 Porsche all the more tiresome. Yet, the Scooby kept hammering in consistent low-to-mid, then mid-to-high 1:29s, in the same mechanised rhythm as before. On Lap 12, an off for the #10 Mercedes coming out of Remus was enough to get me into the Top 10. Then, as the pit cycles resumed, I kept climbing. 9th. 8th. The #5 Blue Aston lights the rears at Remus. 7th. 6th. And there's more to come...

Lap 17 had what was by far the most 'OMG' moment of the entire race for me. The #16 Supra pulls out of pit road. I have the run down to Remus and enough momentum to catch his tow. He stays right; I go left as I'm sure he's going to defend from the inside anyway. I get the overlap under braking and take the widest entry available, leaving the Supra with enough space while setting myself up for a better exit. It worked! The Scooby surges up to 5th and I have no idea I've even managed it!

My best Gr.3 result of this entire Manufacturers campaign is now in my grasp; just need to make it through the last stages without penalties and it'll be safe. The #11 Mercedes - another Softs starter, I believe, who worked his way up into the lead from the very back - pulls into the pits on the penultimate lap. Up to 4th place now, and the Viper and Lexus in front are not that further up the road, either. Still too far ahead for me to grab a podium, but we're comfortably in front of the Supra and the recovering Aston (who got demoted to 6th on the line with a 1-second penalty). Crossed the line with no penalties and 1% fuel...

Yes, I'm so glad I went out again. It felt agonising at the start of the second half when it seemed that I would only gain a few more places from where I was running, and at times my driving felt a little scrappier as the tiredness began to set in. Whatever happened I was sure to make the 19:40 my last attempt for the night. But by the finish, everything had worked out beautifully! 248 points, my second-highest score in the 2021 Manufacturers Series period and an all-time high DR rank of 60,491 points.

It's interesting for me to think back to that win I got at Red Bull Ring in the same machine, back when I was using the left analog stick for turning and the Gr.3 WRX (at least to me) felt incredibly nervous and twitchy on harder compounds. There were some similarities between that and both of tonight's runs, in that I still needed to adjust fuel maps to maintain traction through tighter corners, the car felt nice through the first and third sectors and I got some excellent exits out of Remus through being forced to take a wide line. But the differences in overall pace and the general confidence I have in making the best use of the car's capabilities are immeasurable.

Coupled with the fact that both results were obtained over a distance 7 laps longer, while using more than one compound (albeit with different settings for tyre/fuel multipliers), with motion steering, at a much higher DR level, and with the added pressure of sharing track space with some particularly famous and high-tier players from the wider GT Sport sphere...

...I feel like I've come a long way since I first started playing this game.

 

[barak181]

I was unsure of what to expect out of this race - I haven't had time to race much lately but my free practice time was really good for my DR. I did get a chance to run a couple practice races against the AI this past weekend and was seriously considering a 2-stopper as my lap time in the softs was almost 1.5 sec faster than the meds. Luckily, I got a real practice race in when I got home from work and that gap came down to 0.9 and I finally admitted to myself the 2-stop wouldn't be viable. (But I was still determined to run it if I qualy'd in the back. Just for funsies, you know?)

I jump out of the pits immediately hoping to get at least 2 flying laps in. I come out towards the front of the pack and run on ok lap but it's good enough for P2 when I cross the line. I concentrate on cleaning up my second flying lap, close the gap between myself and the car ahead of my considerably and cross the line in P1 - a full half second ahead of P2. By this time, I'm so close to the car ahead of me as we're about to go into T1 that I exit out and play the waiting game. The time holds up, more than 0.2 ahead of P2.

With all thoughts of a 2-stopper now out of my brain, I put on the RM, plan on 15M/4H and pray for the best. With the cold tires, I go a bit wide in both T1 and T3 the first lap but luckily everyone behind handles the tire temps even worse than I do. I manage to open up a 0.6 sec lead after the first lap. There must have been some serious door banging going on behind me because P2 starts to drop off in a hurry. By L10 I have more than a 9 sec lead going on. Then I biff it hard. I'm trying to channel my inner Max Verstappen and manage my tires while still maintaining the lead but get on the throttle too hard and oversteer myself into the grass coming out of T4. I do my best to reel it in and get the car back on track but my 9 sec lead becomes a 5 sec lead.

After that, it was fairly uneventful. I'm not able to open up a really big lead for the rest of the RM stint but it never drops below 4.9, either. I pit on L15 but P2 doesn't until L16, so I lose the lead for one lap. But after that, I have better pace on the RH on end up winning by 7+ sec. Yay, me! Unfortunately, I don't get fastest lap as at least a few people ran a 2-stopper and ran a stint on RS. But it's easily my best points haul in an FIA race and my DR is back above 20K.

 

[Ashthebash]

FIA Manufacturers Rd.3

I. Love. The Red Bull Thunderdome

Don't know why, just do. Ten (official) corners, only two of them (true corners) turn left, but it's just a riot. You can push the track limits so much, but get bitten if you go beyond and we all know where they are, and for that stellar lap? Total and absolute commitment required

Entered the 9pm slot along with @Lost Sheltie

On to qualifying

Got out first (woohoo!) and sole objective was to run three laps back to back hoping I could replicate the 27.2 I'd achieved pre-race. Didn't go so well! First lap T8, cut the corner too much giving me a penalty. After seeing @Hasnain282 's stream though I knew I could keep running, serve the penalty on L2 getting at least a time and have a clear run at L3, and my final lap produced a 1:27.5, enough for 6th and under 0.2 off pole, also handily starting in front of a friend in a fellow Ferrari

My initial practice sessions had told me 11M/8H would be a good split, this had gradually become longer, and I'd run a 2H/17M in practice just to see, but didn't like the car at the end. So on went the hards, and I was pitting L1. Thought process being, if anyone is undercutting anyone, it's me doing the undercutting, and I'll deal with the consequences later

Squirmed around the first lap on the hards and wasn't actually too troubled by other cars, it became apparent why at the end of L1 when the three cars behind me followed me into the pits. Out we came, and it was time to push. I hadn't refuelled, but it was key that I was ahead of anyone else that decided to pit early. We end L2 and go past someone exiting the pits, end L3 and get a Lambo coming out, I get ahead, move across to cover the inside line, the Ferrari following me goes to the outside, and almost in a pincer movement, we both get past into T3. From there in 7th place the hammer went down, pulling away from the group behind and just dragging the other Ferrari with me until L9 when I broke the tow which finally gave me the breathing space to start looking after the fuel levels and manage the pace. I could see from the gaps and track map ahead that I was on for a podium, on L18 the 2nd placed Evo exited the pits and I was close enough for a move into T3, but my tyres were so battered and the fuel levels were so low in comparison that I couldn't make a bold move, he (excellently) held it around the outside and from there I just looked after the car, made sure I didn't go off, and came home in 3rd for my best haul so far this season

 

[KosmoKazi]

I am awful at the Red Bull Ring. And I wish I wasn't... I've been there in person, it's an amazing venue and a fun track to race on. But I am usually just not on the pace, even when the choice of cars makes it even with the rest. In the Porsche here, though, with it's lack of power compared to the rest, I was planning to be punished badly for my worst habits. I almost skipped it.

But that's not my style, I ride and I live with the results.

It occurred to me that I hadn't practiced AT ALL on anything but the Softs... and I didn't practice a ton on those. Not setting myself up for success here.

Matched up in a lobby of what must have been very similar 35k-ish and higher DR drivers, many of which I hadn't seen before. I was kind of glad for that, I was not thrilled with the lobbies I'd been getting matched in. This break in the season schedule seems to have shaken up the DR rankings in the pool I am in. Bummed to not see any GTP or TPC friends, though.

I qualified... DFL. Yep, right on track.

I had considered the Softs/2-stop strategy. But I realized that I am really not good at extracting the full benefit of the softs, compared to the mediums. So I decided to run a strategy of start on Mediums, and run them til they were useless, and then pit for the other required (H) tires. Monitor the fuel to see if I could avoid refueling, which I was pretty sure I could, in the efficient RSR.

And what do you know!? I ran a CLEAN race, avoiding any potential trouble... defended myself a few times when I saw a divebomb coming, and rode my steady pace up to a podium spot, before pitting on the last lap for hards, only because I had to... the M's were still useful enough and I was hitting my marks without a lot of drama. Managed to short shift my way to plenty of fuel, too much, actually, as I am certain without having been hit off the track a little once, and if I was running at full revs a few more laps, I could have likely had 5th or 6th place...

But: at one of my WORST tracks and in a car that (at least in my hands) isn't the most competitive on pace, I earned a really solid Top-10, positive DR, and potentially useful FIA points... from a DFL starting position! Up ELEVEN spots, at a track that I stink at! I was as thrilled at that result as any I've had in a long time. The Porsche 911 RSR is SUCH a good RACE car.. so consistent, efficient, flexible, and easy on tires, especially when short shifting. I was consistently able to pull clear of people if I got around them.

May even stick with it for the Nations race, even if I'm faster in the Supra on one lap... but we'll see.

Posted the replay on GT Sport Community. Had a good scrap with a pesky (annoying) Beetle and Jag near the midway point, then another row with a Lexus and Ferrari in the second half. Replay - FIA Rd 3 at RBR

One weird note: I only earned 20 SR points, compared to 30 or more shown for some people... but I had no penalties and the only contact I had was when the Ferrari shoved ME off the track in the final turn... weird. I wonder why and what the issue was. I can only think of one thing that happened in qualifying, when I got shoved off the turn in T1 and then hit someone else as a result, and spun off. I did see and SR down on screen for that, but I am shocked if it was 10 pts... word to the wise.

(what scenery, right? I have to say, having spent quality time at the RBR... they nailed it. That's exactly what it looks like around there.)

Cheers, all.

 

[Yard_Sale]

Made a second attempt at tonight's Manufacturers in an attempt to build on the promise shown in the first one. Was it worth it? Let's see...

19:40 Manufacturers
So, I was again matched with @PirovacBoy for this EMEA slot as well as a famous face from the wider sim-racing community. Qualifying was a mixed bag, and much like last time I was unable to break into the high-1:27s with any of my eligible laps. Again extracted up to 4.6 tenths' worth of improvements in the first two sectors, which despite a less than ideal third sector was enough to put me 12th on the grid with a 1:28.099. Went too hot into Niki Lauda Kurve at the start of my third which landed me a track limits penalty (not that my tyres would've been in a good enough state to sustain those earlier gains), and that was that.

Went into the race with the same 2H-17M tyre strategy as before, expecting another run-of-the-mill drive to the top half. Gained a good advantage over the #7 and #18 Porsches behind by shifting early and staying in a higher fuel map upon starting from the middle of the final corner, though the #7 (white and blue) was starting on Softs. Aware that he was on a softer compound, I was more than happy to take a wide entry into Remus and let him through, scarpering away from the #18 and a few others struggling for grip on Hards. Little did I realise that the #7 would be forced out wide at Rauch and spin out into my path. Would've been a disaster in real life, I said to myself, but since he was ghosted I didn't lose too much ground from trying to avoid the Porsche.

By Lap 2, I was already near the tail of a train running from 7th to 13th places, saving fuel while following around in the tow. Not wanting to compromise the famous sim-racer making gains in the Beetle (on Mediums, no less), I indicate to the right, lift off before Remus and pull into pit road alongside the #12 Porsche. Next couple of laps were spent resisting pressure from the #6 Martini Lancer Evo before he received a 1-second penalty and dropped behind the #12 Porsche. For those brief moments, it felt like the classic Subaru vs Mitsubishi battle had reignited on the circuit. Made a few more places through others making pitstops, along with a pass up the inside before Rindt on the #4 Audi, who had also started on Softs and was about to get rid of his set of Hards.

From that point on, it looked to be another quiet run, and the gap between pit cycles made the job of maintaining a 2+ second gap over the #12 Porsche all the more tiresome. Yet, the Scooby kept hammering in consistent low-to-mid, then mid-to-high 1:29s, in the same mechanised rhythm as before. On Lap 12, an off for the #10 Mercedes coming out of Remus was enough to get me into the Top 10. Then, as the pit cycles resumed, I kept climbing. 9th. 8th. The #5 Blue Aston lights the rears at Remus. 7th. 6th. And there's more to come...

Lap 17 had what was by far the most 'OMG' moment of the entire race for me. The #16 Supra pulls out of pit road. I have the run down to Remus and enough momentum to catch his tow. He stays right; I go left as I'm sure he's going to defend from the inside anyway. I get the overlap under braking and take the widest entry available, leaving the Supra with enough space while setting myself up for a better exit. It worked! The Scooby surges up to 5th and I have no idea I've even managed it!

My best Gr.3 result of this entire Manufacturers campaign is now in my grasp; just need to make it through the last stages without penalties and it'll be safe. The #11 Mercedes - another Softs starter, I believe, who worked his way up into the lead from the very back - pulls into the pits on the penultimate lap. Up to 4th place now, and the Viper and Lexus in front are not that further up the road, either. Still too far ahead for me to grab a podium, but we're comfortably in front of the Supra and the recovering Aston (who got demoted to 6th on the line with a 1-second penalty). Crossed the line with no penalties and 1% fuel...

View attachment 1070341

Yes, I'm so glad I went out again. It felt agonising at the start of the second half when it seemed that I would only gain a few more places from where I was running, and at times my driving felt a little scrappier as the tiredness began to set in. Whatever happened I was sure to make the 19:40 my last attempt for the night. But by the finish, everything had worked out beautifully! 248 points, my second-highest score in the 2021 Manufacturers Series period and an all-time high DR rank of 60,491 points.

It's interesting for me to think back to that win I got at Red Bull Ring in the same machine, back when I was using the left analog stick for turning and the Gr.3 WRX (at least to me) felt incredibly nervous and twitchy on harder compounds. There were some similarities between that and both of tonight's runs, in that I still needed to adjust fuel maps to maintain traction through tighter corners, the car felt nice through the first and third sectors and I got some excellent exits out of Remus through being forced to take a wide line. But the differences in overall pace and the general confidence I have in making the best use of the car's capabilities are immeasurable.

Coupled with the fact that both results were obtained over a distance 7 laps longer, while using more than one compound (albeit with different settings for tyre/fuel multipliers), with motion steering, at a much higher DR level, and with the added pressure of sharing track space with some particularly famous and high-tier players from the wider GT Sport sphere...

...I feel like I've come a long way since I first started playing this game.

Good read as always.

I’ve literally never thought of adjusting fuel maps to maintain good traction. Good stuff

 

[GR33N]

Good read as always.

I’ve literally never thought of adjusting fuel maps to maintain good traction. Good stuff

I'm not sure I understand what @VulcanSpirit meant by that? Higher fuel map means less power so less wheelspin? Is that it?

As for me, I just can't find the time to race during summer but I enjoy watching others' streams when I can. I noticed yesterday watching @Hasnain282 in the 1st slot that door #1 had a lower DR than me at the moment, which is just ridiculous given that I'm waaaay less skilled than guys like him, Vulcan or Watto who were also in there.

I'd probably have ended in the same split as @Ashthebash which gives me a nervous laugh just thinking about it xD

See you soon!

 

[Hasnain282]

I'm not sure I understand what @VulcanSpirit meant by that? Higher fuel map means less power so less wheelspin? Is that it?

Yes basically, saves the rears slightly and also a bit of fuel also.
Personally I don't do it on this game cos I use the radar a lot and I'm on hold cam. I guess you could essentially achieve a similar result with some throttle control and/or short shifting but it's what you're most comfortable with at the end of the day

 

[OJBrit]

One weird note: I only earned 20 SR points, compared to 30 or more shown for some people... but I had no penalties and the only contact I had was when the Ferrari shoved ME off the track in the final turn... weird. I wonder why and what the issue was. I can only think of one thing that happened in qualifying, when I got shoved off the turn in T1 and then hit someone else as a result, and spun off. I did see and SR down on screen for that, but I am shocked if it was 10 pts... word to the wise.

Apart from my trip to the beach I only had one incident to warrant my smaller SR gain. A beetle was half spun in front of me and the game didn't ghost it. I therefore hit it. In fact I helped him point it in the right direction again so really my helpfulness should have been rewarded.
Sometimes these things are out of our hands.

 

[MidnightRun85]

As I've found out in the dailies, any track limits penalties that you would have received previously now seem to result in a loss of SR (or loss of SR gain) so that could explain it potentially.

 

[csmirnoff]

Round 3 of the Manufacturers Series at the Red Bull Ring with the Jag.

Americas Slot 1. Made a very frustrating and basic mistake, before the race even started. During qualifying, I accidentally ruined a guy's lap when I made a mistake (luckily, we both had a time set) and wrote him to apologize as soon as qualifying ended. Qualified P7 (with that guy ahead o me), but I just missed changing the tyre compound in time before the 10 sec countdown. 🤦‍♂️ So I was starting on softs and having to improvise a 2-stopper, knowing I had no chance for a good result even before Moon Over The Castle started to play... 😢

I still tried to enjoy the race and hope to get a top-10 to avoid losing DR. To be honest, the race was quite fun on that strategy, making my way up to the lead of the race and then pushing hard to try to build as big of a gap as possible to accommodate the extra stop. Did 15S/3M/1H (with refueling) to finish in a surprising 7th place. Honestly, 2-stops in a lobby worth over 200 points, I thought it would be much worse.

Americas Slot 2. Although I had scored decent points in the first race, I knew I could definitely score more. Unfortunately, this time I had my race ruined by a Brazilian (named like a famous Sinclair computer from the 80s), who first did a very late block under braking when I was overtaking him (had to take evasive action to avoid hitting him). And when he messed up T1 the following lap, I passed him and then he punt me on purpose into T2, he was like 4 or 5 tenths behind, I don't think he even braked at all. When I called him for that after the race, he gave me the usual "Thanks for the race! See you next time!" quick chats, so I guess its his MO and karma wasn't working yesterday, it seems. Finished P10.

Americas Slot 3, door #16 on a 212-point lobby. Didn't manage a good qualy lap, which left me P12 on the grid. Started on hards. I had a bad start (right in the last corner), was being overtaken into T1, so I couldn't do any weaving to heat up my tyres. Not sure if it was that (because it didn't happen in the previous slot), but I really really struggled for grip the first two laps, was sliding all over the place. Went wide touching the gravel out of T4, then again in the penultimate corner, picking up a 0.5s penalty for track limits, which dropped me to P14. From there, once I finally had some grip, I tried to do some fuel saving while in slipstream, and pushing when not in slipstream.

Pitted for mediums at the end of lap 5 and since the F-type can't really fuel save, I decided to refuel and give myself fuel to go to the end (almost) flat out. Pitting relatively late and refueling meant I exited the pits down in last place, but I knew I basically now had better tyres and more fuel than anyone else to the end the race. Again saved a little bit more fuel when in slipstream so I could then go absolutely flat out.

Race pace was pretty good, my fastest lap (29.4) on the mediums was half a tenth off the fastest of the race. Managed to make a few overtaking moves into T2 and gained many positions from drivers making mistakes and drivers who I jumped after they pitted. After all stops were done on the penultimate lap, I was up in P6, gaining P5 in the final corners as the guy ahead of me ran out of fuel. With the battle for P2 just a couple of seconds up the road, I would have been in that battle without the time lost in the first two laps, but from 12th on the grid, I'm still pretty happy with a P5 finish.

 

[MCL1974]

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing people who moan and whinge about races that went wrong for their own fault and lack of skill but damn if you don't want to vent about it. It's not even like I have the penalty system or other racers to play, I just had an absolute night of complete brain fade.

Anyone got a cure for that? Or suggestions how to bounce back after a godawful series of races?

Nope, never get sick of it. This forum is the place to nag about the penalty system, ones own mishaps, other drivers, rotten misfortune, stupid tyre wear, dive bombs etcetera. As long as someone is able to keep it civil and has the ability to also reflect on its own behavior one will have my attention. I am sure all here had many races they felt out of place and felt like the lacked skill compared to the other drivers. (I know I still do)

This is also the place to celebrate good racing, the enjoyment of achieving goals and sportsmanship. And do hope that soon you will experience that again and can share that with us. Guess there are two cures: One is to persevere. I had about 4 really bad races in a row. After that I had about 8 that were all good fun with good, intense racing and few nasty incidents. So I am sure that you will also enjoy some fine racing soon. And practice will help in getting better and have more faith in your own skills, i think.

The other cure to to stop racing. Sounds blunt, but a break can do you some good at times. do something else for a while, go for a walk, read a good book, whetever floats your boat. Or only do practice laps and avoid competition? After a few weeks you might miss the racing experience and once you get back into the FIA races you might find your enjoyment again?

 

[Barra333]

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing people who moan and whinge about races that went wrong for their own fault and lack of skill but damn if you don't want to vent about it. It's not even like I have the penalty system or other racers to play, I just had an absolute night of complete brain fade.

To be honest, some of the 'if only' reports are better reading than the 'Qualified pole, won the race' stories. Some people are better story tellers than others, but this is not a literature forum.

 

[Lewmatic]

Always tough running this car on this track with hard tires. Drivers were going off track a few times so had luck on my side to avoid some of the mess and finish in the top 10 starting from 15th.

 

[csmirnoff]

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing people who moan and whinge about races that went wrong for their own fault and lack of skill but damn if you don't want to vent about it. It's not even like I have the penalty system or other racers to play, I just had an absolute night of complete brain fade.

Anyone got a cure for that? Or suggestions how to bounce back after a godawful series of races?

If you feel stressed or burned down about that, a couple of weeks off might help as @MCL1974 said. Otherwise, just focus on getting a clean race without incidents or big mistakes, rather than pushing too hard. Usually, when a few races don't go well in a row, you can get frustrated, which doesn't help the driving and the bad races keep adding up. But I find that once you get a good clean race, it helps kind of "resettting" yourself and building your confidence for future races.

Also, race reports here on GTP are always fun to read!

 

[Roman_GT23]

Rises from the ashes..... I mean cave. Yeah let's go with cave. I've been MIA for the past few races due to...........life. Nothing bad just busy with other things and having to return to the office for work which kills my Monday/Tuesdays. With that being said, This was the first one I've picked up since being tossed like a rag doll and punted the past few FIA races. I was expecting sort of the same but to be honest I was surprised (and in a good way).

Slot 1: Had 0 practice. Not even a warmup. Literally just jumped in head first with minutes to go until sign-ups were cut off. As you can imagine my qualifying spoke for my lack of practice qualifying P18. Deciding to take it easy on the first lap, it paid off as people were sailing wide and either crashing or getting penalties. I believe I was as high as P10 at one point. Then had to pit. Had a good scrap with an Argentinian until I realized I wasn't going to make it on fuel at this pace, so I backed off and nursed it home........JUST. P13 but not bad for a warm up

Slot 2: Getting the feel for it now I set a flyer or a lap in qualy (free air) with a 27.6. Top 3 at the end was only separated by .100. Starting 3rd and being more aware of the fuel saving I was just sitting back behind one of the Vortex guys. Then he had a penalty. I was expecting a rough time going for the overtake but the awareness of the penalty was on point and didn't put up a fight. I then hit this weird phase that the fronts were just not biting as I wanted it too and was dealing with pronounced understeer. Two Brazilians caught back up to me. Realizing I need to fuel save just a little more I let them by with little fighting and was P4. Again for whatever reason the Aston was sneaking fuel shots underneath my watch. I had P5 barreling down but saved a P4 with 0.0 fuel at the line again 😁

Aston had the pace, but the fuel saving theme of the race nerfed any potential for a win. But with a good qualy effort and finishing P4 and 258 points that was good enough for me to be honest. More shocking than me with no practice and getting my act together by slot 2 was both races were very clean and no incidents or me having to turn into a mini Mopar . Good night overall.

 

[VulcanSpirit]

I'm not sure I understand what @VulcanSpirit meant by that? Higher fuel map means less power so less wheelspin? Is that it?

As for me, I just can't find the time to race during summer but I enjoy watching others' streams when I can. I noticed yesterday watching @Hasnain282 in the 1st slot that door #1 had a lower DR than me at the moment, which is just ridiculous given that I'm waaaay less skilled than guys like him, Vulcan or Watto who were also in there.

I'd probably have ended in the same split as @Ashthebash which gives me a nervous laugh just thinking about it xD

See you soon!

What I meant to say was that that in my experience, higher fuel maps also work incredibly well as a makeshift traction control system out of slower corners. Improves stability and reduces the chance of lighting up the driven wheels while turning or exiting.

Hope to see you on the track again soon!

 

[GTWolverine]

Based on my practice pace, I knew I could finish well at RBR, but was worried that my qualifying pace would leave me with a lot of work to do, since high 1:27s were needed in my split to even get into the Top 10, and previously I hadn't done anything better than a 1:28.1 in practice qualifying laps. Somehow I pulled an absolute flier out of nowhere though, and set a 1:27.898 for a 5th-place starting spot.

I immediately made it up to 4th after T1 when the car in front of me lost it on cold tires. I then fell down to 5th again a lap later when the Porsche behind got by me. I re-passed the Porsche a few laps later, but then caught the curb glitch at Wurth/Lauda and almost spun it and gave the spot back to the Porsche. After that point, I stayed in 5th until 3rd place caught another curb glitch between the final 2 corners and got spun into the pit wall, which promoted me to 4th, with the car behind me catching me every lap as they recovered from their near-spin in front of me on Lap 1. I also got a track-limits penalty at T1 even though I swore I kept my right side tires on the correct side of the sausage curb. The Porsche now in 3rd then started struggling on worn tires (surprisingly) and picked up a penalty of their own, allowing me to fight them for the spot again. It was Lap 14 and I couldn't get by them and was losing a ton of time battling, so I decided to pit for Hards a lap earlier than planned and hope I could undercut. It worked on the Porsche, but ultimately didn't matter because I was passed by one of the cars that started on Hards a lap later, and the car that nearly spun in front of me on the opening lap also got by me in the pit sequence (not helped by me getting a penalty from using too much of the red stuff on my entry into the pits), so I finished where I started in 5th after some heavy defending on the final lap. I was slightly disappointed as I thought I could get a podium with my race pace combined with an amazing qualifying lap, but I was a bit too sloppy and slid the car a bit too much under the pressure to keep my good position. Still, 243 points was better than my 2nd-best score last season, and I knew if I tried to go again I'd almost definitely qualify way worse, so I took my points and ran. This was also the first time I've done an FIA event at RBR that didn't require me to do multiple slots before I got a good result. Unfortunately several of the people who finished behind me did go again and scored more points than me...🤣.

 

[RX8 Racer]

Finally got around to writing my first three race reports:

Manufacturers - Interlagos Gr.4

Strategy: 9M-9S

After a horrible run in the GR Supra Interlagos race, I was not holding much hope for this race. Sure enough, I qualified 16th behind @05XR8, @D_Dragline and @SmellMyCheese. Not good, but I knew that the Citroen's good tyre wear would allow me to undercut a good number of drivers.

On lap 1, Dragline and a Nissan both went wide at turn 4 on cold tyres, leading to both coming together on exit and resulting in Dragline losing control. Dragline wound up punting the Nissan off trying to regain control, while an unlucky Cheese collected Dragline and spun into the wall as a result. Dragline got a 2 seconds penalty for hitting the GT-R while I jumped up to 13th from the carnage.

However, I would get a 2 second penalty myself when I tried passing the 86 in 12th. Getting the run on the 86 out of Juncao, I tried taking the inside to make the pass, only to realise too late that I was about to cut the pit entry's runoff and had to push the 86 to the outside to avoid hitting the pit wall.

What really ticked me off was that he nearly pushed me into the pit wall instead of letting me have the space. As a result, I saw red and blamed the 2 second penalty on him, perceiving that he blocked me down the home straight.

Dragline and I serve our penalties together, with Dragline overcooking his entry into turn 4 and unintentionally pushing off Cheese.

Now back down to 16th and still furious about the incident, I set about to clawing back the lost places and settling my score with the 86. With the 86 holding up the pack, I jumped two places on lap 3 diving up the inside on turn 1.

I prepared to repeat the exact same move on the Aston between me and my nemesis on lap 4, only to realise that he was doing the same to the 86. I moved even further inside to avoid hitting the Aston. To the Aston's credit, he saw me coming and let me through instead of turning in. I ended up hitting my nemesis wide by accident and snatching 12th off a very unhappy 86.

With my score settled, I pulled away from my nemesis and the pack and turned towards making up ground on the cars ahead.

The next couple of laps were spent catching up to the next pack ahead. Heading into lap 6, I passed a Chinese Lexus before passing a clearly struggling Spacedust in his FF Megane towards the end of Sector 2.

The next car ahead was a Japanese McLaren who turned out to have dubious driving standards. He held me up in the second half of lap 7, before moving under braking and turning into me despite me clearly signaling my intent to dive up the inside.

With the McLaren caught on the outside, the Lexus and I slipped through, with the Lexus overtaking me into turn 4. We both pulled away from the McLaren and as I was reaching the end of my stint, I stayed behind the Lexus on my in lap.

We caught up to an unwelcome sight: the Indonesian BMW that punted me off back at Autopolis Short. This time round, the BMW had punted the Lexus wide into turn 1 on lap 3, with the Lexus having his attempted revenge backfire the following lap. However, karma would claim the BMW as he understeered wide out of Mergulho on dead Softs and spun off into Juncao.

I boxed for Softs from 7th while the Lexus stayed out for one more lap. Coming out 15th with a clear track ahead, I got my head down to clock some fast laps.

The undercut worked perfectly, as I was back up to 8th after the round of stops and still had no traffic ahead. I would catch and pass two cars towards the end of the race: a Corvette grappling with worn Softs and multiple track penalties, and a VW whose Softs had gone straight off the cliff and down to Atlantis. The latter's poor exit out of Bico de Pato allowed me to steal the inside into Mergulho and hang him out to dry while I claimed 6th for a solid 136 points, finishing ahead of Spacedust, Dragline and Cheese despite starting behind all three. One and done.

Nations - GR 86 at Autopolis

The Asia server decided to completely wet the bed and send nearly half the lobby to the disco, leaving behind 11 survivors. I took full advantage of that by bottling the final two corners on my first flying lap and going into the gravel on the inside of the final corner, completely trashing my qualifying and going straight to the back.

But with all Rapture survivors guaranteed to get triple digit points, I was willing to hang back and hopefully make up places from fights ahead of me.

My plan didn't work.

Throughout the race, I only made up one place from a grey 86 running into the gravel at turn 12 on lap 2. I could see the pack ahead of me, but my slow pace and an ill-timed comeback from the grey 86 left me hopelessly adrift after I had dispatched my opponent for good. I reeled in the pack somewhat on the final lap, but it was not enough and I came home 10th for a lowly 113 points.

See that white car in the distance? That's how far behind I was on the final lap.

With the worst personal best lap of the entire lobby and the server meltdown, I decided to fold and call it a day.

Manufacturers - Sardegna B Gr.4

Race 1 was a dumpster fire, from a certain Doctor ruining my final flying lap by punting me off at the left turn before the Carousel to people not bothering to brake early for Sector 2's hairpin. I got punted into tapping a unlucky 86 into the gravel at the hairpin, before getting sent into the gravel myself on the penultimate lap. I got so mad I forgot to downshift for the double left kinks on the final lap and went off again, dropping from 12th to 17th.

Despite setting a lap half a second faster in Race 2's qualifying, I ended up starting 16th again. At least I could hope to make up places from the mayhem, if Race 1 was anything to go by.

The start was scruffy, as I braked a lot later than the Aston and 86 ahead, forcing me to try and thread the needle between them.

I ended up banging doors with the Aston, then the 86. Not a great start, but at least the three of us stayed on track and I got a place off the 86.

Then another Aston behind us drove into the 86 on exit, sending both spinning off into the wall. That probably explained why the 86 accepted my post-race apology so readily - he was mad at the other Aston.

I tucked in behind the green Aston for the rest of lap 1, before lining up a dive up the inside to take 14th. With 2 places in hand, I focused on chasing the pack ahead, taking 13th off a Jag that went off at the final two corners and was slow down the home straight.

Another two places were gained from a TT taking himself and the Mustang ahead off at Sector 2's hairpin. I think the Mustang was driven by @pennanton, but I'm not sure. He definitely did not have a good time in this race.

On lap 4, the polesitter Corvette hit the throttle too early out of the Carousel, running wide into the gravel and spinning. That promoted me to the top 10, albeit with the aforementioned Jag still hot on my tail.

On lap 5 at the hairpin, another Jag turned in on a Mazda and got a slow exit, allowing me to just get ahead by the double left kinks. Fortunately for me, the Jag backed out and conceded 9th.

On lap 6, I tried going round the outside of the Mazda at turn 1, but nearly got sent into the gravel on exit and had to back out. The Mazda pulled away from me, despite my efforts to try and close the gap. By this point, I had gotten away from both Jags and was promoted a place from the race leader getting sent to the disco.

By lap 10, the Mazda had gotten into a fight with a familiar GT-R from Interlagos, allowing me to reel both in as I spectated the 4WD duel ahead.

One lap later, the Mazda ran into the GT-R taking a middle line into the hairpin, sending the latter wide and handing me 7th, which was where I finished for 125 points.

I'm tired, so I'll save the Maggiore and Red Bull Ring reports for another day.

 

[KosmoKazi]

Rises from the ashes..... I mean cave. Yeah let's go with cave. I've been MIA for the past few races due to...........life. Nothing bad just busy with other things and having to return to the office for work which kills my Monday/Tuesdays. With that being said, This was the first one I've picked up since being tossed like a rag doll and punted the past few FIA races. I was expecting sort of the same but to be honest I was surprised (and in a good way).

Slot 1: Had 0 practice. Not even a warmup. Literally just jumped in head first with minutes to go until sign-ups were cut off. As you can imagine my qualifying spoke for my lack of practice qualifying P18. Deciding to take it easy on the first lap, it paid off as people were sailing wide and either crashing or getting penalties. I believe I was as high as P10 at one point. Then had to pit. Had a good scrap with an Argentinian until I realized I wasn't going to make it on fuel at this pace, so I backed off and nursed it home........JUST. P13 but not bad for a warm up

Slot 2: Getting the feel for it now I set a flyer or a lap in qualy (free air) with a 27.6. Top 3 at the end was only separated by .100. Starting 3rd and being more aware of the fuel saving I was just sitting back behind one of the Vortex guys. Then he had a penalty. I was expecting a rough time going for the overtake but the awareness of the penalty was on point and didn't put up a fight. I then hit this weird phase that the fronts were just not biting as I wanted it too and was dealing with pronounced understeer. Two Brazilians caught back up to me. Realizing I need to fuel save just a little more I let them by with little fighting and was P4. Again for whatever reason the Aston was sneaking fuel shots underneath my watch. I had P5 barreling down but saved a P4 with 0.0 fuel at the line again 😁

Aston had the pace, but the fuel saving theme of the race nerfed any potential for a win. But with a good qualy effort and finishing P4 and 258 points that was good enough for me to be honest. More shocking than me with no practice and getting my act together by slot 2 was both races were very clean and no incidents or me having to turn into a mini Mopar . Good night overall.

...It always looks SO MUCH easier when watching other people's streams! Nice race.

I am encouraged to see that even in the RSR, I was only about 0.5 sec off your race pace, for much of my run. Was getting faster throughout the race.

It's funny, I realized when the lobby was matching that I had not practiced this race on anything but Softs! So I was really worried that I'd struggle in the race on the M's and H's... but what happened, I think, is that I made sure not to over-drive it at all... which in turn I think led to faster overall race pace than I might have pushed for. And I was really easy on tires and fuel, having no trouble saving just with limited short-shifting, and keeping my tires in good condition for the first 18 laps.

Really happy with the turnaround in my performance the last couple of weeks. It's been up and down, but at a combo that I was dreading, to get a solid result in a tough lobby, feeling good. As noted in the Daily Races forum page- sometimes a break is very good idea. You can get burnt out or stuck in a rut if you're not careful. Taking a fresh look at the 'game' after some time off often helps.

 

[MCL1974]

To but this is not a literature forum.

May i remind you that just yesterday we discussed the King Rat novel. 😁

Finally got around to writing my first three race reports:

Manufacturers - Interlagos Gr.4

Strategy: 9M-9S

After a horrible run in the GR Supra Interlagos race, I was not holding much hope for this race. Sure enough, I qualified 16th behind @05XR8, @D_Dragline and @SmellMyCheese. Not good, but I knew that the Citroen's good tyre wear would allow me to undercut a good number of drivers.

On lap 1, Dragline and a Nissan both went wide at turn 4 on cold tyres, leading to both coming together on exit and resulting in Dragline losing control. Dragline wound up punting the Nissan off trying to regain control, while an unlucky Cheese collected Dragline and spun into the wall as a result. Dragline got a 2 seconds penalty for hitting the GT-R while I jumped up to 13th from the carnage.

However, I would get a 2 second penalty myself when I tried passing the 86 in 12th. Getting the run on the 86 out of Juncao, I tried taking the inside to make the pass, only to realise too late that I was about to cut the pit entry's runoff and had to push the 86 to the outside to avoid hitting the pit wall.

What really ticked me off was that he nearly pushed me into the pit wall instead of letting me have the space. As a result, I saw red and blamed the 2 second penalty on him, perceiving that he blocked me down the home straight.

Dragline and I serve our penalties together, with Dragline overcooking his entry into turn 4 and unintentionally pushing off Cheese.

Now back down to 16th and still furious about the incident, I set about to clawing back the lost places and settling my score with the 86. With the 86 holding up the pack, I jumped two places on lap 3 diving up the inside on turn 1.

I prepared to repeat the exact same move on the Aston between me and my nemesis on lap 4, only to realise that he was doing the same to the 86. I moved even further inside to avoid hitting the Aston. To the Aston's credit, he saw me coming and let me through instead of turning in. I ended up hitting my nemesis wide by accident and snatching 12th off a very unhappy 86.

With my score settled, I pulled away from my nemesis and the pack and turned towards making up ground on the cars ahead.

The next couple of laps were spent catching up to the next pack ahead. Heading into lap 6, I passed a Chinese Lexus before passing a clearly struggling Spacedust in his FF Megane towards the end of Sector 2.

The next car ahead was a Japanese McLaren who turned out to have dubious driving standards. He held me up in the second half of lap 7, before moving under braking and turning into me despite me clearly signaling my intent to dive up the inside.

With the McLaren caught on the outside, the Lexus and I slipped through, with the Lexus overtaking me into turn 4. We both pulled away from the McLaren and as I was reaching the end of my stint, I stayed behind the Lexus on my in lap.

We caught up to an unwelcome sight: the Indonesian BMW that punted me off back at Autopolis Short. This time round, the BMW had punted the Lexus wide into turn 1 on lap 3, with the Lexus having his attempted revenge backfire the following lap. However, karma would claim the BMW as he understeered wide out of Mergulho on dead Softs and spun off into Juncao.

I boxed for Softs from 7th while the Lexus stayed out for one more lap. Coming out 15th with a clear track ahead, I got my head down to clock some fast laps.

The undercut worked perfectly, as I was back up to 8th after the round of stops and still had no traffic ahead. I would catch and pass two cars towards the end of the race: a Corvette grappling with worn Softs and multiple track penalties, and a VW whose Softs had gone straight off the cliff and down to Atlantis. The latter's poor exit out of Bico de Pato allowed me to steal the inside into Mergulho and hang him out to dry while I claimed 6th for a solid 136 points, finishing ahead of Spacedust, Dragline and Cheese despite starting behind all three. One and done.

Nations - GR 86 at Autopolis

The Asia server decided to completely wet the bed and send nearly half the lobby to the disco, leaving behind 11 survivors. I took full advantage of that by bottling the final two corners on my first flying lap and going into the gravel on the inside of the final corner, completely trashing my qualifying and going straight to the back.

But with all Rapture survivors guaranteed to get triple digit points, I was willing to hang back and hopefully make up places from fights ahead of me.

My plan didn't work.

Throughout the race, I only made up one place from a grey 86 running into the gravel at turn 12 on lap 2. I could see the pack ahead of me, but my slow pace and an ill-timed comeback from the grey 86 left me hopelessly adrift after I had dispatched my opponent for good. I reeled in the pack somewhat on the final lap, but it was not enough and I came home 10th for a lowly 113 points.

See that white car in the distance? That's how far behind I was on the final lap.

With the worst personal best lap of the entire lobby and the server meltdown, I decided to fold and call it a day.

Manufacturers - Sardegna B Gr.4

Race 1 was a dumpster fire, from a certain Doctor ruining my final flying lap by punting me off at the left turn before the Carousel to people not bothering to brake early for Sector 2's hairpin. I got punted into tapping a unlucky 86 into the gravel at the hairpin, before getting sent into the gravel myself on the penultimate lap. I got so mad I forgot to downshift for the double left kinks on the final lap and went off again, dropping from 12th to 17th.

Despite setting a lap half a second faster in Race 2's qualifying, I ended up starting 16th again. At least I could hope to make up places from the mayhem, if Race 1 was anything to go by.

The start was scruffy, as I braked a lot later than the Aston and 86 ahead, forcing me to try and thread the needle between them.

I ended up banging doors with the Aston, then the 86. Not a great start, but at least the three of us stayed on track and I got a place off the 86.

Then another Aston behind us drove into the 86 on exit, sending both spinning off into the wall. That probably explained why the 86 accepted my post-race apology so readily - he was mad at the other Aston.

I tucked in behind the green Aston for the rest of lap 1, before lining up a dive up the inside to take 14th. With 2 places in hand, I focused on chasing the pack ahead, taking 13th off a Jag that went off at the final two corners and was slow down the home straight.

Another two places were gained from a TT taking himself and the Mustang ahead off at Sector 2's hairpin. I think the Mustang was driven by @pennanton, but I'm not sure. He definitely did not have a good time in this race.

On lap 4, the polesitter Corvette hit the throttle too early out of the Carousel, running wide into the gravel and spinning. That promoted me to the top 10, albeit with the aforementioned Jag still hot on my tail.

On lap 5 at the hairpin, another Jag turned in on a Mazda and got a slow exit, allowing me to just get ahead by the double left kinks. Fortunately for me, the Jag backed out and conceded 9th.

On lap 6, I tried going round the outside of the Mazda at turn 1, but nearly got sent into the gravel on exit and had to back out. The Mazda pulled away from me, despite my efforts to try and close the gap. By this point, I had gotten away from both Jags and was promoted a place from the race leader getting sent to the disco.

By lap 10, the Mazda had gotten into a fight with a familiar GT-R from Interlagos, allowing me to reel both in as I spectated the 4WD duel ahead.

One lap later, the Mazda ran into the GT-R taking a middle line into the hairpin, sending the latter wide and handing me 7th, which was where I finished for 125 points.

I'm tired, so I'll save the Maggiore and Red Bull Ring reports for another day.

Every time I am at awe when looking at your livery designs and photos!

 

[avgracer41]

I missed the first two rounds but I finally had time to take part on the third one. I wasn't expecting that much, since I didn't play that much over this week. It was a bittersweet race because I felt I had genuine pace to finish on top 5 but I did a couple of mistakes. First in the qualify, it wasn't the best lap but I managed to get a penalty on the final sector which ruined my next one. 16th. In the race, I almost spun off getting overconfident on those cold hard tyres. A couple of guys crashed ahead and I gained some positions, until I ended in the gravel, alone, in a stupid mistake. 18th after lap one, but not too far from the midpack, surprisingly. Started to gain some places, made my pit on lap 4th for mediums. In a battle with a Ford GT and a Porsche, I managed to double overtake then, but again, another mistake. Spun off alone at the exit of turn three. 20th at this point. Sad isn't? Well, I started to make some dense laps, close to the fastest lap of the race,, managed to overtook some guys which made two stops, made some overtakes on track and find myself in 8th in the last lap, without enough fuel to finish... I had to mega save fuel, hold two guys behind and kept my position. And I finished just 26 seconds off the race winner, despite losing about 20s on mistakes.

Overall I liked the race and I think we need more of these "survivor ones" in the calendar. Well, the next one in nations looks like to be one of these. But I really don't want to use supra.