2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

[xxPinkyKissxx]

Well once again i ruin my own race when running well. Keep doing it to myself. Qualified 6th and had got up into 4th. Lap 8, clip the dirt on final bend and spin myself into the pits Ok so not too bad but earlier than I wanted to as tires were in good shape. Was settled in 5th and had a huge gap behind me so was nice and calm. Lap 16, too wide on last bend and across the dirt I go. Got back onto the track with 2 seconds to spare before being DSQ! Crawled home in 12th🤦‍♀️

Going again.

 

[crusselz]

Slot 1

Lobby unveiled and I was totally out of my depth. First time seeing @Zorz out on track. But the tuning gave me a slight degree of confidence.

Door #18

Quali was alright, first lap I caught traffic. Second lap I bailed to the pits and had just enough time to get in a 3rd lap. Q.3 With a 1:08.7. But .4 down on the pole sitter and @Zorz.

Opted to start on the mediums, trying 11M/7S strategy and hoping to attack on the last 7 laps.

Start went well, P1 and P2 pulled away, but did a bit of battling which kept them about 3s up the road. Eventually fell back to P4, overtaken by an Italian in the Alfa.

Pole sitter pitted on lap 7 or 8. Based on how quickly he caught me, it was pretty obvious he was 2 stopping. Really wish I had put in a bit more of a fight, but my wearing mediums were no match for his fresh softs.

Settled in to P4 and took it to lap 11 as intended. Came out of the pits just behind the Alfa, credit to him, he kinda gave up the position realising i was on the better tyres.

Back up to P3, 5.8 seconds behind P2, with 7 laps to go. Slowly brought the gap down.

Unfortunately I think some back markers came in to play, as @Zorz went off track on the last corner, on L19. Managed to hold him off. Bringing it home in P2, 2.3s behind the winner.

+1300 DR.
209 points. (New all time record)

One and done.

 

[Zorz]

One and done after the first slot in EMEA, where I just had a head-to-head with @crusselz. As amusing as this tuning thing has been, I don't know if I'd want it as a regular occurrence. The disparity in qualifying and race pace it causes is a bit crazy.

Qualifying was a tense affair, as an Aston Martin and I were passing pole position back and forth, but ultimately I started P2 with a 1:08.377, less than a tenth off. @crusselz started behind me in P3 in the Mazda.

Starting that far forward I figured stick on the Softs and get the hell out of there. Sector 1 was a bit of a surprise - I'm normally the one being ultra-cautious at the start on cold tyres but apparently the Aston was even more cautious than I was. I slipped it up the inside of turn 2 and then spent most of lap 1 going side-by-side before the Aston got past me at The Sweeper.

The Aston's race pace was shredding mine... and then he/she went into the pits on lap 8 for a 2-stop. I continued on and went for a 10S/10M.

However... @crusselz had started on the Mediums and was rapidly reeling me back in on the Softs. I almost lost it a couple of times getting caught out by missing brake markers. I swear there were next to none left by the end of the race anywhere on the track, it was ridiculous. The chase ended on lap 19 when I went wide at turn 9. Nothing like the dirty air of two ghosted fighting backmarkers whilst trying to take a tough bend with your main visual cues removed! Thankfully I was able to get back onto the start/finish straight with only a few seconds lost so only minor damage. I don't think I'd have managed to hold you off anyway @crusselz, you really nailed the strategy there.

End result was P3 for... insert drum roll 200 points! And you can be damn sure I immediately checked to make sure it was counted this time.

 

[NekoPufferPPP]

Video of the race. Would've done much better if it weren't for a certain WRX... Not a clean driver by any means.

 

[xxPinkyKissxx]

Glad I went again!

In with @crusselz which was cool but he stopped me getting my first ever FIA pole by 0.069 seconds!! I didn’t care really, delighted with 2nd!

Knew he was gonna start in Mediums as there was a glitch at the start which had the M next to his name as if he was in the pits Started off and @crusselz kindly let me by on lap 2 so not to hold me up on my Softs. I pulled out a small gap but not big enough and the WRX behind caught up into my draft.WRX pit lap 9, I pitted lap 10 and came out just in front still. @crusselz on his fresh Softs flew past us both a bit later and eventually I couldn’t keep ahead of the WRX so settled for 3rd and just played it safe to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid like in the previous race!

Equalled my highest points record. Thanks @NekoPufferPPP for the screens shots of your tune to give me something to work with!

 

[Mercia]

Well.

I love this track, a real fave of mine to drive. To race, well, that's a slightly different story.

Won't lie, I rage quit the first two attempts, it's that last turn if you're in traffic, the track takes just enough of a slight right that if you're behind someone you can easily miss it and drop wheels on the outside and replicate my lovely trip to the wall above in practice

After qualifying 5th and dropping to last, safe to say I had to go and get a breath (and a jack daniels).

Returned for what I promised would be my third and final attempt, I had a pretty poor qualy and was starting in 12th. Due to various shenanigans I was back up in the top 5 fairly quickly and from there was a relatively clear drive. The winner was long gone, I suspect the only person who bothered tuning in the lobby, fair play, but I rose up to 3rd and would have been very happy with that. About 4 laps to go and I was caught by an Italian who may have been on the softs for the second run given their pace. I wouldn't have stopped them, as not to risk my own race, but they insisted on spinning me out at the entry to turn 2. Really annoying and they bounced from the lobby before I could ask why??! (why lord why have you done this to me?!?!).

I did recover quickly enough and finished 5th, annoyed but I will take it as anything could happen in the next race given the nature of this wonderful track and my brethren in the cursed DR B lobbies.

 

[OJBrit]

Fuming right now. Secured a brilliant 3rd on the grid in the most competitive lobby I've been in. Lap 1 I make a mistake going into the omega section but keep it pointed forwards. But it allows 2 cars past. A 3rd isn’t even alongside but decides to cut over the sand into the last corner complex. This knocks me wide and off towards Lancaster somewhere. I roll up the bank and back down. I am stuck beyond the sandbags and have to try and get out of there because the game is refusing to reset me. The car spins and sticks to the bank and I get disqualified because the game refuses to reset me. Bloody SR drop added too. Thanks, you stupid game. The fact the Pole who took me out also went for a trip is scant consolation.

 

[Seth_Logan]

Hermes taught me a lesson in humility today.

I must admit I was very confident before the start of the first race. I was so sure I was in for a DR feast today, that I had planned to do 2-3 races that were surely going to bring me closer to A rating and maybe even in it.

Slot 1.
Lobby comes up and I'm drooling after seeing the list. I'm door nr 19 so there was a strong field for sure an a lot of points to be had. So I start qualifying and that goes really well. Manage a P2 and decided to go softs to avoid the horrible problems I had driving in other people's draft (specifically in the rabbit's ear).
From there it all went south pretty fast... turn one and I know something is wrong. Didn't break hard enough, caught just the tiniest bit of air from P1 and slipped of the track... race over. I went down from P2 to P-very low, and after that even lower via spins in numerous places. It was horrible. So I did the only thing I could do: do a 2 stop and hope for the best. Went from P2 to P20 to finish in P13. lesson learned some 400 DR lost.

Slot 2.
This slot was a lot stronger than the previous one. Qualifying went worse this time so started P4 right behind some serious other fast drivers and separated from P3 by a good margin! This race was just begging for accidents as I was driving mid pack with my normal tyres to hope I could pull something off in the second soft stint.
It was murder. Some drove clean, some didn't but somehow I managed to go from P3 to P8 and back up again to P5... and then I got too reckless once more... tried to make a pass on a Porsche on his outside in the last turn. Off course I clipped and instead of waiting for a much easier pass on the straight I got into the dunes again and came out somewhere low...
From there I was able to recover some positions but it was mortifying to be lapped by P1.
By now I was humbled. Hermes had done what gods do and made sure I knew my standing in the world.
So I accepted the 700 or so DR loss from coming in P15 and hoped I could at least finish in what I call a Honorable Mention (P7-P10) for my third attempt. I was not going to try a podium anymore and not take any risks.

Slot 3
It was a wise choice to let the chips fall where they may. Qualifying was terrible again. In fact it was so bad that I finished P6 in a lobby where P1 was a second slower than my P2 from the first race. I really, really hate this qualifying system...
I went on the meds again like last round and just promised myself to stay behind the guy in fifth on the first stint and just keep a little distance so the dirty air wouldn't toss me of the track for a third time.
That worked and being able to build a gap between me and P7 It was looking okay. And somewhere along the race things started to go in my favour for once. At least 2 guys ahead of me binned their lap at some point by the time I was pitting (L11) I was looking good in P4.
After the pits I was able to make a clean pass (and smarter this time) on P3 and P2 didn't defend my overtake too much as he probably knew I was on softs and he was on meds and didn't want to take any chance. I did try to ring in P1 and got the gap down from just over 8 seconds to just under 4 at the finish line. But that's about as close as I got to championship finish.
So, humbled by the gods once more I'm just very happy with my second place... I still believe I could have done better, but the race was really telling me a different story.
I'm done for tonight. Now on to Interlagos in Gr4. Were I'm hoping to get a decent result in a much more stable car than this Gr3.
The tuning was a blast and the race an experience in perseverance.

 

[OJBrit]

Forget about my previous post. I was on fire for this one. Between races I somehow calmed myself in Daily C coming home with a 4th. However I unfortunately still lost SR due to a couple of bumps on lap 1. I was clinging to S SR. This meant I found myself with 4 A drivers and the remaining cream of B DR as I was rated 16th. Between races I discovered I was an idiot for braking into the last corner and coasting with a downshift was enough and gained about half a second. I initially set the qualy pace with pole on my first run. This stayed on the 2nd run though people got closer. Before I hit the line on lap 3 I was down to 3rd but I was on a better lap though pole was 1 second ahead so no chance there. I claimed 2nd and settled in to do a better race this time. (And maybe survive lap 1) Turn 1, lap 1 and the leader goes off. I seize the chance and just pull away from those behind as 2nd and 3rd squabble. By the time the pit stops roll around I have a lead of 8 seconds. However the initial leader has now made his way back to 2nd. My last 8 laps are spent trying not to make a mistake and not give too much laptime to the chasing 2nd place. They are clawing around 0.5 to 1 second each lap. But a couple of laps from the end they must have made a mistake as the 3.5 second lead jumps to 8 again. This left me comfortable for the last few laps as they would have been on me the last 2 laps. I come home for a comfortable win and Big Willow becomes the latest track I claim a win on.

Most FIA points ever. (Thanks A drivers.)
Now for a well earned drink.

 

[JoeDaSnow]

Entering the seventh round, I qualified in tenth place and finished in eighth, having scored 54 points. It took place in the second slot and my points total stood at 178.

 

[Raptor013]

Replay from my race last night.

As I mentioned earlier it was a race for 2nd given the pace of the pole winner. That said the GT-R had pace to spare over the rest of the field.

 

[adokeeffe]

Been a while since I raced in manufacturers, but I sure picked a good week for a return. Back in August there was a similar Gr.3 race at Big Willow, and I absolutely cleaned up in the Renault R.S.01. Still, with a lack of practice and driving on a controller this time around, I was not expecting to claim pole position - but I did. The race opening was tense, but the tension pushed me to another level - I set the fastest lap in the opening laps, and began to extend my lead over the field by nearly 3 seconds. But as I pressed on I began to lose concentration, just as the soft tires began to wear down. On lap 7 I hit the gas too hard out of Turn 3 which brought the back end out. I couldn't recover in time and flew off the tarmac at the Balcony.

Thankfully, unlike the other corners at Big Willow there isn't too much run off at the Balcony - I managed to get back on the track in 2nd place, but with my comfortable lead eviscerated. I pitted early for the switch to Mediums and was back out in 6th. But with everyone pitting the next lap, I was back in 2nd, and set my sites on closing the gap with the leading Aston, and the Beetle. Whilst the Aston proved too hard to catch, with just one lap to go the Beetle driver braked too late on the final bend, and understeered off into the dust. I cruised home for 2nd and a personal best of 111 points.

 

[NekoPufferPPP]

I'm in the top 100 in the region, tied with 96th. Awesome! Tied with 3rd by manufacturer. https://www.gran-turismo.com/gb/gtsport/sportmode/championship/3077/rankings

 

[Geauxgreddy]

2021 FIA Manu Exhibition Round 7
Big Willow - GR3 BMW M6 - Open Tuning
Slots 1 and 2, A+/S Lobby, Door 19 and Door 17

Slot 1 - Its my first top split race in the Manufacturer Series in over a year. And, I was Door 19. I was feeling a bit nervous but manage to put in a 107.9xx down in qualy and qualified in Q4, behind Turismo Lester. Ya...no pressure at all, especially when I pass him on lap 2. I was trying too hard to be smooth and save tires and just lost focus on the track (odd I know). Went off on lap 4. Fell back to p12. Raced clean and smart after that and managed a p10. What a complete bottle job. What an egg head! I had a p5 in Top split locked in. I blew it...just blew it.

Slot 2 - Again, top split and I'm door 17. Well, if you want to be the best, you gotta race the best. In my lobby was @Mistah_MCA !! Throw me somethin' Mistah! Anywho, had a paltry qualifying and put in a 108.1xx. Good for Q8, two spots behind MCA. This time I kept my head on straight, but the traffic was horrendous. The GT40 in front of MCA was pretty erratic and he was struggling on the cold mediums. This caused me to back off and letting the Porsche behind me back in the race. Then some weird sliding bumping craziness happened in turn one through 3 and I essentially lost two spots. Spent the rest of the race battling back for my two spots. Managed to get them and brought home p8 and 244 points. Great learning experience. Would race again but I just don't have the pace for the pointy end of top split......yet.

 

[Mistah_MCA]

The Little Z4 That Could

Don't let your memes be dreams. ❤️

 

[D_Dragline]

Dredge’s Alt Adventures; Episode 10.

Starting 17340/99 in an all B/S lobby and door 12.

Qualified pole and ran softs first stint. Took it conservatively into T1 and then watched in the rear view mirror as P2-p5 all tried to take it together. 2nd and 3rd survived, 4th and 5th did not.

Head down running around 1.5s per lap faster than P2 I spent the next 6 laps alone. On lap 8 I caught p17 and continued lapping cars until I pitted on lap 13. Back out 30 seconds in front of P2 I set my sights on staying near and seeing how much of the field I could catch. Crossed the line 44 seconds clear having lapped everyone but P2-5. It was clear only the first 3 cars had done any tuning.

88 points in the bank. Now at 18854/99.

 

[Trone_Colby]

Big Willow…

In slot 1, I had @mobilmasher. I qualified 5th with .648 off the leader.

The race was underway. As we get to Budweiser Balcony, a Supra went in too hot near the mound and spun. Nearly missed me. He ghosted in the nick of time:

As the race went on before lap 2, another car clipped the end of the final sweeper and spun it out in the desert. He nearly hit me coming back on.

P3 now after those. I overtook P2 in the small sweeper. P1 was good and ahead…until either he forgot to break or he forgot to turn. He fell off the track. I was now first and well the rest was history.

 

[Tigerhawk87]

Jaguar - 4th for 170 points.

Two good qualifying sessions in a row for the Manu season! Started in 4th and finished in 4th. Top 3 were just faster than me. Pitted end of lap 9 to shed the softs and came out in 5th. Reclaimed 4th when they pitted. Was gradually getting caught by the person behind until they binned it with 2 laps to go. Delighted with how dull the race was and very pleased with the points haul.

 

[mobilmasher]

In with @Trone_Colby, Congrats. Door #16, Q'd 15th. Had a good start getting up to 9th from other's mistakes. Spun by myself at the balcony and fell down to 12th. Pitted the following lap, earlier then planned because the tires didn't feel good. Only lost one position and made it back up to 10th for the checkered flag. I need to quit throwing my races away with these stupid mistakes, my goal was a top 10 which I achieved but could have been better.

 

[Stoobert]

Bit delayed writing up my experience yesterday.

So slot 1 in a Hyundai without the horrendous understeer that the stock setup has and went in confident that just keeping it on the track would be a great result. In the warmup I was following a Corvette who also had a good tune as I couldn't pull up to him. Anyway, qualy starts and I manage to get out second so I just boot it. I put in a decent banker of a high 1:08 with the intention of seeing what other times come in and taking it from there. Lap 2 I caught a stock setup car in Turn 2 which compromised that lap. I say it was stock because passing someone on the inside when they're struggling to keep it tight? Yeah...

Lap 3 was my best lap, which wasn't very good but still a mid 1:08 to put me on provisional pole, and that's how it stayed. The last time I got a pole in FIA was with the Alfa 4C group 4, and this tune had very similar characteristics that made it a joy to drive. The Chevvy I saw in warm up was second, less than a tenth behind.

Looking at the qualifying times it was pretty obvious that keeping it on the track would all but guarantee 4th place, but starting on Pole, I wanted more!

My convern for the race was the Corvette, who was obviously quick, and the BMW as seeing the top 10, a good tune can turn it in to a rocket ship. The race starts, and both myself and the Corvette pull out a nice T1 leaving 3rd and 4th well behind. I manage to clear the slipstream of P2 in T2 and joyfully went through the left-right-left sector 2 without any issue. This is where the Corvette decided his tyres were warm and absolutely screamed past me down the back straight in to the final turn, managing to carry that momentum and just pulled away on the pit straight. I think he had a bit of a mare in qualy (traffic?) because he was clearly quicker than me and unless his tyres were going to burn up, or they made a mistake, I was not going to catch them. The next 7 laps were uneventful, with P1 now 4 seconds in front, and P3 and P4 fighting 8 seconds behind. Nice, I can do my own thing. Then at the end of Lap 9, the BMW pitted to get the mediums off and on to the softs. Oh dear...

Lap 10 I pitted to get the mediums on. That 8 second deficit was being eaten in to at the pace of about 0.8 - 1.2s a lap and on Lap 18 he finally caught up to me. A 3 lap battle ensued where I had to be ultra defensive to keep him behind, but going up the hill at the start of sector 2 I ran very wide, giving him the opportunity to do a switchback on the downhill of the Budweiser Terrace. I stayed in his slipstream along the back straight and got a much better line through the final turn setting up a showdown to the finish line. Unfortunately it was not enough and I finished a car length's behind for a P3.

P3 and 165 points. I'll take that!

I am actually looking forward to the Gr.4 tuning race too as having a car that handled how I like (and expect) meant I was far, far more consistant than usual. Please Polyphony let there be a dedicated tuning series, or more tuning races in the future!

 

[TheWeapon874]

Well, that didn't go to plan. Due to work commitments, I only had one shot at it.... managed to beat my personal best lap in qualifying and put the Hyundai on pole with a 1.07.7. Nice easy start, well over a second ahead by turn 3, and I manage to lose the rear on the exit of the turn and end up stuck in the ditch. Back on track and 40 sec down by the end of lap 1 (and quit, horribly filthy at myself).

@Mistah_MCA I watched your youtube video this week......thanks for the tips! I really appreciate it! Love your work!

 

[Geauxgreddy]

I don't know what it is with GR.1, but I can never jump on and just pick up from where I left off. Seems like I always have to warm up for 30 minutes before I get a feel for these cars. Currently I'm using the Peugeot. But man, it leaves a lot to desire in the corners. When I tried the Porsche or Audi hybrids I could pull away from the competitors but they'd just catch back up in the straight. The Peugeot I seem to be able to break away.

Oh, and I'm only missing one car in this game, the 2011 Audi Gr1 with the LeMans "dirty" livery. Well, the 2011 appears on the wheel of disappointment yesterday and BOOM, I get it! Except, its the clean livery. What a tease!

 

[Zorz]

I don't know what it is with GR.1, but I can never jump on and just pick up from where I left off. Seems like I always have to warm up for 30 minutes before I get a feel for these cars. Currently I'm using the Peugeot. But man, it leaves a lot to desire in the corners. When I tried the Porsche or Audi hybrids I could pull away from the competitors but they'd just catch back up in the straight. The Peugeot I seem to be able to break away.

Oh, and I'm only missing one car in this game, the 2011 Audi Gr1 with the LeMans "dirty" livery. Well, the 2011 appears on the wheel of disappointment yesterday and BOOM, I get it! Except, its the clean livery. What a tease!

Have you tried the Alpine VGT? I know it's far from popular when Gr.1 races come up, but so far of all the cars I've tried it's easily the one I'm feeling most comfortable with at Le Mans.

I just did a practice lobby and found it's better off the line than the Peugeot and only marginally slower than it on the straights. Very smooth in the corners as well.

 

[xxPinkyKissxx]

One day i might enter a Nations race! Good luck tomorrow for those entering.

As for Manufacturers at Interlagos, it's a brutal fuel and tyre saver race. Well it is in the SLS anyway! Pit stop time loss is about an hour. Mega short shifting which doesn't help getting the SLS Tank round this track. Early congrats to all those driving frugal tyre loving cars

 

[D_Dragline]

One day i might enter a Nations race! Good luck tomorrow for those entering.

As for Manufacturers at Interlagos, it's a brutal fuel and tyre saver race. Well it is in the SLS anyway! Pit stop time loss is about an hour. Mega short shifting which doesn't help getting the SLS Tank round this track. Early congrats to all those driving frugal tyre loving cars

Music to the ears of a Cayman driver.

 

[Tigerhawk87]

Trying to get used to using a wheel while practicing for the Manu race. Think I'm about a second off where I want to be, but reluctant to switch back to the controller. Might give the race a go if the Jag is at all ok on tyres or fuel? Maybe my lack of pace won't be as much of a hindrance that way

 

[OJBrit]

One day i might enter a Nations race!

Maybe make it a GT7 thing. Some can be really fun.

 

[Dave_H_87]

I've found myself preferring the Nations races, I tend to do better and get better races when everyone is in similar machinery

 

[Seth_Logan]

Music to the ears of a Cayman driver.

Yeah... like they never have a track or conditions that suit them 🤣

 

[LVS_1986]

Hi! Im really optimistic about todays Nations, usually Im doing good in gr1 cars, on de La sarthe especially. Get my A rank first time on this track in these cars. Yesterday in practice lobby I finished just 4s behind @Zorz which happens... um never? So hopes are high... My only problem is which car should I use? I did 3.22.2xx in 908 in FP, I know I could do better in R18, but I cant manage hybrid to last for 6laps... On the other hand, hybrids has great start so Im gonna loose few positions on the start if I pick 908, can you imagine going 3wide in Dunlops? Question is what is more risky? 908 or R18? What you guys and girls think?
Maybe TS050?