FIA Gran Turismo Championship
2021 Nations Cup - Round 10 - Goodwood - '65 Mini Cooper S
2021 Nations and Manufacturer Exhibition Season 2 Final Rankings
I wake up yesterday and put in a little practice to hone my skills around Goodwood, admittedly not a favorite track of mine. I managed somehow to put myself in the Top 10 in NA. In the practice lobbies I was doing well all week, finishing 1st and 2nd in nearly every lobby I was in. I needed to beat 211 points to improve my final score, so that was the goal. And I was excited to give it a go.
The first slot I leave room behind a few guys in order to get a great slip for qualy and a load of people come racing in forcing themselves into the perfect gap I left. Mind you, this is top split slot 1, the best of the best. I'm like, have you folks qualified before? Just leave some space. NO luck, they were all over each others bumpers and making a mess. I start awkwardly into the last chicane and graze the wall. Behind me is Turismo Lester. I give him the signal and let him by. No need to ruin his lap and...well, now I get the slip of Turismo Lester, lol. As expected, first lap was not good, but the second lap was looking amazing. I'm not the best out front, but I have been able to follow even the fastest. As I am heading towards turn 3 someone went wide to the wall on the left and steers it back on track wildly, right in front of me, and I have nowhere to go. I hit him. Ubelievable. Q18. Battle froward to P12 to finish but fail to get better than 211 points. I have to go again.
Slot 2, same thing in qualy. Top split, people have no idea how to space themselves. Its really very easy, come out of pit, leave a 1.5 second or so gap, and just go. Everyone in the lobby is pretty quick, so its going to be ok. No need to race to the start line to pile up like a bunch of fools trying to set gap at the very last moment and get a good start in the chicane. Sigh. Two in front of me get penalties because they're driving like its their first FIA race. Unfortunately its too late for me to do anything so I have to go with it. The penalties cause havoc with the guy in front of me and there is side by side action through turn 3 slowing him down. I catch him way too early and both laps are ruined. Q12. Finish P11 after battling too much with a guy that is typically very fast. I needed p8, he needed p1. He wasn't getting p1, so I wish he would've just followed me forward. Instead, cost us both about 3 to 4 spots.
Slot 4, missed slot 3 to eat and in the 4th slot, top split is thinning out. Again, try to leave a nice gap this time to VQS drifter, #1 time in NA. But, the others would have none of it, flying off track, squeezing in, doing weird things, getting penalties. So, I lose Drifter in the mayhem and just find a gap and start my lap. Turn 2, again, someone goes off, comes on, hits the guy in front of me, qualy ruined again as I catch him by turn 3 lap 1 but bump draft because I'm not ruining his qualy because someone nearly killed him. Q12. I'm behind a guy I'm in chat with. He knows I'm faster and is way too nervous, he brakes in turn 3 (light lift at most in that turn) forcing me to avoid him and I go off track. Down to p18. Work back up to p11. Again, nowhere near 211 points. Go again.
Last slot of the 2021 FIAs. Top split, its now quite thin and the points show it. I need p5 to beat my 211 points. I come out of pit behind Applepop and I know he is fast. However, he slows down just a bit to let the rest of his team in behind him. All good, I let them in front of me, MORE than happy to be caboose. I FINALLY get a good qualy time in as this group wasn't going to kill each other in qualifying, since they're a team. Q3 to start. Lights go out and p2 false starts, I'm now in P2 right behind Applepop. I'm going to ride his bumper until lap 8 or 9 if I can. But, of course I can't because the Top driver in the Nation sent it down the inside of me in Turn 4 lap 1 and I get absolutely freight trained. Down to p6. Then I'm fuming and drop another 2 spots in the chicane because I lost concentration. I race hard and clean with p7 and then p6. Make a move up to p5 in the chicane as he went wide in the last turn and thrn I spend the last two laps catching up to p4 and the lead group. I finally get close but its too late. However, p4 dies in the chicane and I pick up one more sport and 221 points! LOL, all of that for 10 more points. Well, I'd say it was fun but it was actually quite frustrating. Pretty sure I exhausted my library of profanity in the 4 qualifications.
However, my final standings were pretty good. 20th in the USA and 28th in North America. Not too bad. Manu I managed to finish top 10 for BMW, which was pretty good considering all the folks that chose that Manu. Now, time to rest the tennis elbow I've developed from tugging on the wheel and be back for the next season...better, faster, stronger. XD
Happy New Year everyone!