2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

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After getting multiple track penalties in all my practice races and now watching Tidgney's stream, this is what I think about today's race:

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That was a great race, I qualified 4th in the Scirocco, started on Softs, managed to get into 1st after the first couple of laps but by lap 8 was losing time, came in and took on Mediums, doing a 1 lap stint early on meant I only spent a single lap in traffic and when the tyres were cold and M anyway there's less to lose. Came back in and went for the 2nd of three pairs of softs, and began to get some good clean overtakes but got held up by a couple of cars, can be hard to pass cleanly with constant turns but I only got one 0.5 second track limit penalty and one 2 second penalty for a barely noticeable tap.

Eventually finished 3rd after tyre penalties were taken into account. Improved placing by 1 and got on the (imaginary) podium, a very enjoyable first race back, even had fastest lap for the first half of the race.
 
my worst raceday in months.

first attempt; qualified 8th, crashed in the first lap, crawled back to 10th, crashed again and quit when 18th.

Second attempt; qualifying went well and started 5th. Was 3rd after a few laps but the cars behind me caught up and from that moment i felt like a moving chicane: car 1 and 2 drove away and a hungry pack was allover me. I could not find the speed.....
I went into the pits on lap 9, put on mediums and had a long fight over 7th place with a very aggresive driver, who was moving under braking, punting me and pushing me off track whenever i got next to him. This allowed the pack behind us to catch up and felt like that moving chicane again.

One of those cars shoved my aggresive nemesis into the wall (perhaps something I should have done?) but everybody was all over me by then and i made a mistake in the last lap and dropped to 12. To make matters worse for my frail ego the driver in first was an absolute alien in a BMW M4, who lapped the whole field except for the first six drivers. first time ever i got lapped:bowdown:

Opened a can of beer for comfort......
 
Running the Mazda is quite the contrast from FFs I ran over the last few seasons, lol. Although I'm approaching this season more for fun and decided to try a manufacturer and car I've seldom used.

I no-stopped which suited me, I like pushing a car to its limits. I tried hanging onto whatever positions I could (I'll take what I can get in this thing) but stoppers and FFs caught up pretty quick and track limits as already mentioned elsewhere, pretty severe. Around 3 secs penalties overall. My tyres weren't in bad shape by the end (front-left a little over half worn) but I felt my car lock up several times before turning at Castrol Edge and a loss of grip at Rindt that caused me to run wide and pick up penalties.

A quiet race overall apart from a Corvette causing mayhem on the last lap where some people seem to lose their minds. He really fighted for that elusive 12th spot and punted the guy ahead of me at RBM. I passed him in the penalty zone, checked behind before crossing the finish line and he somehow got another 5.5 sec worth of penalties. Finished 13th. I probably would had gone a second time with an alternate strategy but only had time for the last slot.
 
Ugh... not a good start. 19th and moved to 18th. Decently clean race from my vantage point. Either I just simply cannot get a hand on what speed can be made at the Red Bull Ring-Short, or I'm useless. But 6 FIA wins shows I can at least kinda wheel the car.

Don't want to just jump in every race, so probably will adopt a bit of a testing program. Try to get at least 50 laps for each round. I have won at the 30-35K level of competition, and it's always been when I put even a small bit of testing. As this qualifying in the back and finishing in the back is not fun. Really thought when I had a bit of a slide in turn 1 and lost all the positions I gained from no-stopping about rage quitting.

But, was awesome to see @KosmoKazi again trying to make the Porsche work.
 
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Good evening FIA friends.
I entered NA slot one on alt. Still building points up a bit after some antics led to a reset.
I ran the Silver and Black M4. The race was a little dicey early. 2 TT qualified first and second, I was 3rd followed by a Viper then a Rarri. I had already decided start soft and play it by ear. I didn’t practice...
Over the first five laps the lead Audi got out a bit in first and I was getting held up by the Audi in second and a Viper was all over me. I stayed calm and ran defensively. The Audi ran wide turn 1 which allowed me to slip by inside at turn two. Sitting second. The Viper was right behind. He got impatient lap six turn two trying to come alongside on my outside...Uhhh ok.
His impatience cost him dearly because the Rarri filled that gap ticking in on the inside right behind me. They fought boom I was off to chase the lead Audi...
I caught around lap nine or ten and the Audi pitted. I stayed out until lap 15, then pitted for med tires.
I came out just behind the Audi and made a move I think lap 18? I slipped by his inside cleanly in the downhill right at the end of the back straight but then he pitted...
I went on to win by 11 seconds and take 120 points.
What I noticed is that the people were all running a huge out to in instead of keeping to the yellow line. This was causing their tires to shred quickly.
I stayed in the groove with the yellow line.
Tires were no issue.
Running the giant out to in doesn’t make sense to me. In race the yellow line is way better. My pace was high 52 to low mid 53.
You didn’t need more in that lobby.
Early the race was fun. I wasn’t going to enter but I saw how easy it would be to defend there, so I said what the heck.
It was a fun clean race, time of day was great! All good :)
The new livery worked!

This track would be fun with n cars methinks.
The regular RBR is horrid but this version is kinda fun
 
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Despite folks throwing it up the inside like it was a drop down menu option, I ended up finishing 9th. One and done for Lexus this evening. After driving in cockpit only for over a year, I’m gonna run this season in bumper cam to see how it goes. I think I’m going to lose an immersion point, but gain a point when it comes to close quarters battles.
 
2020/21 Exhibition Series - Season 2 - Round 1
Manufacturers Series
Race #1 - Gr4 / Red Bull Ring Short Track

After a bit of a break (I don't think I ran a single lap after the last race in the 1st Exhibition Season until practice tonight) I shook off the dust from the driver's suit and jumped in my familiar Porsche for the first round of Season 2 at the RBR. I was rusty for sure, and the Porsche probably wasn't suited for pace at this track, so I just wanted to get in a clean race and break in the seat of a fresh new Cayman Clubsport.

Qualified 16th after a penalty on my first hot lap (track limits were insanely tight this race...) and then getting blocked on my next hot lap by a TT on his outlap (who was already P2 from his first timed lap... what a jerk).

Ran a straight 13M/10S no-fuel strategy, working up to 11th in the pit cycle but eventually battling for 14th place in the end, against a very clean driver in a Hyundai (we had a great battle most of the race, even after being bottled up by some others who were not racing smart or fast, in front of us... I would love to race this guy again- PUNISHER73_, it was as respectful and competitive racing as I've had in a while... hat tip to him, though he ducked the lobby quickly after the race ended). I eventually got the better of him and was able to pull away after he went wide for a penalty behind me, I think. I had to avoid contact on the last two turns by a Citroen that was overdriving it a bit, discretion being the better part of valor but I deserved at least one more spot, which I didn't claim to avoid contact, or worse if he took it over the limit.

Anyway, a decent re-entry after a sabbatical due to some other priorities. I liked the sprint format, and with the 5 minute qualifying session, made for a nice quick refresher to start this season. Nice to see @HaydenFan69 out there! Not sure, but it looked like he was trying to make a no-stopper work... good luck to him and everyone else here on GTP this season!

Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport '16
Qualified: 16th
Race Finish: 14th (72 pts)
Door #13 (-600 DR)
 
Has anyone had a problem where the game doesn't load on FIA races? I get into warm-up, the sound, HUD shows up over a black screen... I even have rumble in my controller.

Do any of you know what that is?

Also good luck to Americas FIA runners!
If you exit into the options menu and re-join it, you should get the screen back. Has happened to me a couple of times, but was able to recover.
 
The first race in the Toyota was pretty good overall, I went for the no stop on mediums. Qualified P15 and was just trying to stay out of trouble, and in the draft. Unfortunately a guy in a McLaren had decided he was going to play defence right from the get go, and held up everyone behind him for a good chunk of the race, which also let the pack get away really early too. But it made for an interesting race trying to avoid all the cars battling around me, as I tried to save my tires and let them pit. On pace alone, I could have maybe snuck into the top 10 if not for the defender. Oh well, it was still a fun race, and a good start to the new season. :)

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2020/21 Exhibition Series - Season 2 - Round 1
Manufacturers Series
Race #1 - Gr4 / Red Bull Ring Short Track

Yup, no stops. And pushed a bit too hard to try and catch the group you were running in, which bit me hard as I had to back off in the last few laps as I had no fuel to push the car. But had to try something as like you, there simply was no pace in the McLaren.
 
I had a weird race in the 8:20 NA slot. Qualified 4th with Ferrari, that was good. At the start of the race my pedals seemed to lose half their power. I had to switch to controller and finish the race. I checked and my pedals were not unplugged or springs broken. After the race I went into practice and they worked fine. I did notice during qualifying the interval numbers were all weird, like measuring in hours instead of seconds. And when my speed failed I still stayed ahead of some cars that might have a similar problem. I have a T150 with upgraded T3PA pedals. I'll check the firmware/drivers but it's an old wheel.

Anyone else in NA race 2 have weird things happen?
 
I also signed with Toyota.

I was pretty nervous tonight because I gained about 6000 DR from the end of last season until now. I entered the lobby door #15, and a top 10 finish was my goal. Win was 212 points.

I was hoping to qualify in the 51s and barely did so for a P8 start. The entire field was within a half second pretty much, and a tenth separated P7-P14.

I went with a no stop strategy. I think the concept might’ve netted me a top 5 finish. I ran a 52.7 on mediums on the second lap and then ran a bunch of 54s as some folks in front of me were struggling at T1. I think if I could’ve lapped high 52s and low 53s for most of the race without getting pinched at T1. I think that’s the limitation of the 86. Corner speed and momentum are key, and these guys were catching and pulling me if I didn’t get a great exit.

Anyways, was P5 after the pit stops, and then slowly bled spots as the tires died. I ended up finishing P8 for 150 pts. I’m pretty happy with that, since I had wins last season that were less than that.

Maybe time to learn how to drive the Supra, now.
 
Three attempts and unfortunately, I just couldn't get a decent result out of today's round. And this track was just annoying to race on with how easy it is to get a penalty. The silver lining though is that everyone I raced with was fairly clean and there was no turn 1 carnage in any slot. Shout outs to @CurbHog who I was in the second race with.

full
 
Good start for Hyundai. Qualifying was terrible, started 16th. I considered starting on mediums but stuck with my original planned strategy of going 12 laps on softs and then 11 on mediums. It worked out well as I got up to 7th by the pit stop, actually worked up to 5th at one point, but ended up 7th in the end.

The Genesis felt really smooth. I struggled with the Lexus Gr4 last season, so it is great to get off to a good start with the Hyundai.

Replay is saved in game if anyone interested in watching low Dr B / Sr S race. Search #peppers and #genesis.


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Three attempts and unfortunately, I just couldn't get a decent result out of today's round. And this track was just annoying to race on with how easy it is to get a penalty. The silver lining though is that everyone I raced with was fairly clean and there was no turn 1 carnage in any slot. Shout outs to @CurbHog who I was in the second race with.

full
Great livery! An all-timer!
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3 Slots tonight:

Slot 1: Qualified 9th, just in front of @Jwptexas. Finished 10th after getting literally every track limits penalty possible.

Slot 2: Qualified 8th, finished 14th after losing 4 spots due to a contact penalty and getting caught in traffic, then dropping even further back during pit stop cycling.

Slot 3: Adjusted brake bias from +3 to +2 in an attempt to find more consistency. Qualified p6, but could've had pole in this race if I could've set a lap comparable to my qualifying times in the first 2 slots. I only had 1 0.5s penalty for using too much curbing in the esses. In the end I finished 4th for 205 points, with the brake bias adjustment helping me avoid track limits penalties since I could steer more consistently and confidently. About halfway through my stints I would set the bias back to +3 to counteract understeer as the tires wore. I had several clean battles with the cars around me, and none of us tried any stupid moves out of desperation. The people I was racing with were really good about knowing when to give up and minimize time lost to other cars.

In all of my races I started on Mediums and switched to Softs around Lap 13. I wanted a slightly better result to try to have a good shot at making the Top 16 race at BMB, but I'll probably need to have a better result at Monza in order to make that happen.
 
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Welcome to the first race back!

I've stayed with Ferrari and went into this race full of confidence, entered the 8pm (4th) slot alongside @Lost Sheltie

Qualifying started off a mess, came out behind a Viper, didn't really want a tow, did want a tow, I don't want your tow... give me a tow... rubbish, quicker second lap. Quit, new tyres and popped in a solid lap on my second run which ended up enough for 6th

Starting the race with a no stop in mind, I was quickly put under pressure by a Lexus that after going through into T5 in the early laps promptly got himself a penalty, allowing me to repass a lap later and begin to hunt down a Toyota in 5th whose pace suggested he was also on mediums. A failed attempt to pass into T1 cost us both time, lining him up for another attempt a lap later into T5 he yielded the position, clearly playing the longer game. From there quickly closed up on a Brit in a Viper who was struggling on tyres, pulled out down the S/F straight and he eased off to let me go without losing time. Forgot to thank him after the race (took me two hours to remember how I got into 4th!), so Scottiesnr, thank you!

By now the race had spread, the leader had cleared off and there was a 6s gap between me and the fight for 2nd place. Knowing from the pace though that the top three all had to pit I was confident of improving my position and picking up a good result

They pitted, I was promoted to 2nd and kept a gap of around 1.5s to the no stopping Toyota behind me until my race started to get a little messy on L19/20. Picking up a penalty for a final corner track limit transgression I knew I was going to come under pressure, but the Toyota was overtaken by the Porsche that had pitted from 2nd and now I had a car on fresher tyres chasing me down. I got all crossed up through T3 and T4, he got a run, took the place, I picked up another 0.5s penalty to serve on L22, 0.7s ahead of that Toyota, but he and the car behind had also picked up penalties! And I drove a clean final lap to finish 3rd, 0.3s ahead of the fast finishing 86 and just a couple of scrappy laps off a 2nd placed finish in all reality

A nice solid start to the season in a tight race, I don't see Monza being a strong circuit for me though!

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Welcome to the first race back!

I've stayed with Ferrari and went into this race full of confidence, entered the 8pm (4th) slot alongside @Lost Sheltie

Qualifying started off a mess, came out behind a Viper, didn't really want a tow, did want a tow, I don't want your tow... give me a tow... rubbish, quicker second lap. Quit, new tyres and popped in a solid lap on my second run which ended up enough for 6th

Starting the race with a no stop in mind, I was quickly put under pressure by a Lexus that after going through into T5 in the early laps promptly got himself a penalty, allowing me to repass a lap later and begin to hunt down a Toyota in 5th whose pace suggested he was also on mediums. A failed attempt to pass into T1 cost us both time, lining him up for another attempt a lap later into T5 he yielded the position, clearly playing the longer game. From there quickly closed up on a Brit in a Viper who was struggling on tyres, pulled out down the S/F straight and he eased off to let me go without losing time. Forgot to thank him after the race (took me two hours to remember how I got into 4th!), so Scottiesnr, thank you!

By now the race had spread, the leader had cleared off and there was a 6s gap between me and the fight for 2nd place. Knowing from the pace though that the top three all had to pit I was confident of improving my position and picking up a good result

They pitted, I was promoted to 2nd and kept a gap of around 1.5s to the no stopping Toyota behind me until my race started to get a little messy on L19/20. Picking up a penalty for a final corner track limit transgression I knew I was going to come under pressure, but the Toyota was overtaken by the Porsche that had pitted from 2nd and now I had a car on fresher tyres chasing me down. I got all crossed up through T3 and T4, he got a run, took the place, I picked up another 0.5s penalty to serve on L22, 0.7s ahead of that Toyota, but he and the car behind had also picked up penalties! And I drove a clean final lap to finish 3rd, 0.3s ahead of the fast finishing 86 and just a couple of scrappy laps off a 2nd placed finish in all reality

A nice solid start to the season in a tight race, I don't see Monza being a strong circuit for me though!

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Yeah I tried to do that race but I struggled both times, so glad other people managed to figure it out. I couldn't get a slipstream in qualifying either time, and with the times so close that probably cost me 5-10 places. Then in the races I was trying to no stop because the Toyota can't overtake anything, but that relies on me not making any silly mistakes and people not barging past on the straights and then holding me up as their tyres go off.

Unfortunately I made a silly mistake in both races (spun coming out of corner 1 in the first race, and lost the rear end at turn 3 in the 2nd race), and that just dropped me into the melee so that was that. Managed to get over 200 points so I suppose that is ok considering the terrible job I did. C'est la vie.
 
Yeah I tried to do that race but I struggled both times, so glad other people managed to figure it out. I couldn't get a slipstream in qualifying either time, and with the times so close that probably cost me 5-10 places. Then in the races I was trying to no stop because the Toyota can't overtake anything, but that relies on me not making any silly mistakes and people not barging past on the straights and then holding me up as their tyres go off.

Unfortunately I made a silly mistake in both races (spun coming out of corner 1 in the first race, and lost the rear end at turn 3 in the 2nd race), and that just dropped me into the melee so that was that. Managed to get over 200 points so I suppose that is ok considering the terrible job I did. C'est la vie.
Only place I've had a successful slipstream qualy is SSRX!

I think the key was looking after the tyres for the first few laps but to be fair that Toyota is a strange one. It's brilliant if you're time trialling 23 laps of RBR Short but pretty easy for some high powered cars to hold you up and completely ruin your race, almost a lottery as to what you get and how your race goes as a result
 
The Red Bull small Ring is a fun little bullring to run around one you've got the rhythem, too basd that the penalties are real....stringent
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Qualified P11 w/ the #19 on my door. Since it was a late night, guess I wasn't the most cognitive during my runs, but a decent one nonetheless. Gong into T1 was one I'm hopeful I've made it out of, and set on a course to march up the feild
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Then I saw this....yea, it was that kinda race

Pitted Lap 13 to softs, and had what i thought was a battle with a Mazda went to this..
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Ended P5 on the road from trying to manage tyre wear...not that bad considering the heavy nose in this cat.
 
Morning! So start of the new season went very well for me. Qualified 10th, wasnt happy about that 'cause I know I could do better, was slower 0.3s than in simulations I did... Who cares... Started on softs 'cause I think there was no reason starting on meds, on this layout overtaking is really hard if not impossible... Race started, suprisingly everybody survived t1:) first 2-3 laps were boring, I just follow the car in front not trying any risky moves, on lap 4 car in front got track limit pen, so +1P for me.. Next two laps I just follow the pack trying to not make any mistake or get penalty.. On lap 7 RCZ in front started to struggle with his tyres so I overtake him easily(go FF yourself;)) Again I just follow cars in front, pitted lap 10 for meds... Now I started to push little harder, put a pressure on Atenza, he(she) gone wide t1 and got pen... +1P, I was 7th with comfortable gap of 1,8s to 8th.. from this time I just keep my pace... On lap 20 two cars in front pitted so finally ended 5th for 130pts:) very happy about this result
 
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