FIA Gran Turismo Championship // Nations Cup
2021 Series - Season 2 - Round 4
Sardegna - Road Track - A - Red Bull X2019 Competition
Was happy to see teammates
@watto79 and
@C_Raccoon23 gridded with me.
@OGMowerman and some other familiar PSN were also matched in this room, which was about 38k DR on average. Was looking forward to this race, because I have really liked racing the X2019 in prior events.
Put in a solid QT on my banker lap, but then tried to push it a bit... on my third and final attempted lap, I had pole time all the way into the last (real) turn... and I SPUN THE TIRES! I was crushed... I had pole, it was a hella flyer of a lap... with no tow, but that's racing. I was just glad that for the first time ever, I think my QT was faster than anything I had run in FP... even without the slipstream.
Lined up 6th as it was, with Raccoon up ahead in 3rd, and Watto stuck way back there in 18th. Always cool to see the variety of liveries in these spec races... I was sort of bummed I had prepared a personal livery for it, instead of sharing the TPC livery with Raccoon.
I knew carnage could ensue on the grid start, so I was really careful to get a clean rollaway (and I did) and then protect myself into the first hairpin turn... as it was, I did get hit pretty hard from behind, but because I've learned to defend myself better, it really didn't hurt me, and in fact propelled me off the apex so that I could consolidate 5th when another guy (I think the pole sitter) binned it on exit.
Made my way up to 4th right after that, and was closing in on Raccoon for a short time. But he would soon start to pull away from me... I just couldn't keep up with him, even on the S's I started on. Proceeded to settle in and even though I lost a position once, after a slight mistake left me vulnerable to the draft later on the main straight, I was able to send into T1 (admittedly kind of unplanned, as I had gained more top speed on the draft myself and had to nail the braking... but I pulled it off!) and recover the spot, which I then was able to pull away and protect the rest of the first stint.
Pitted, short-filled just a little, knowing that it's easier to conserve a little fuel on the H's anyway, and then hoped I was still in the top 5 after the pit cycle. Watto came out right on my six, and from there he protected me and pushed me for the whole second half of the race, while we managed a larger gap behind him.
It was awesome to be part of the team earning 3 of the top 5 spots, and I am really happy that I have piled up better FIA points than ever in this season. Things have been working out really well and my pace has been good enough to hang when I've found myself in the front of the pack. Could change again for the worse, any time, but I'll ride this nice little wave out!
#8 / Q6 / R4 ...about 1000 DR, 163 FIA points... hella lotta fun (and one splitting headache from the sound and need to concentrate like that at the same time!)
As close to I got to
@C_Raccoon23 before he pulled away and went on to take the win... congrats!
Big thanks to
@watto79 for all the help second stint... we had the guys behind us covered.