GTPlanet Community Club Racing Series - The Thursday Sessions - Next Event Jan. 15thOpen

[OpticZero]

Greetings.

Welcome to the Thursday Sessions, home of the Thursday rounds of GTPlanet's Club Events. This is your one-stop shop for any and all information regarding the Club Events that take place each and every Thursday at 3:00 pm Eastern (20:00 GMT). This location will serve as a depot to find specifics for Thursday's Club Events called the Thursday Sessions. Also found here are particular race details including car choices, track settings, and every other option that you will need to begin racing here.

The Thursday Sessions will typically be based off of the Official GTPlanet Community Club Events that are not based off of the WRS races for that week as the Monday Sessions do, which can be found HERE. When there are no other Club Events listed other than the WRS based events, a fresh and exciting Special Event will be put into place. For suggestions and ideas regarding these events, or if you have any questions, please post them within this thread.

In the first few posts of this thread you will find all settings and options relating to the current Club Event, an Archive of previous Club Events, and other information that applies to the Thursday Sessions. All discussion within must relate to the Thursday Sessions only. Information regarding the general GTPlanet Community Club can be found HERE, for the Monday Sessions please go HERE, for the Community Club Registry please go HERE, and for GTPlanet's Official Weekly Race Series (WRS) please check us out HERE.

OTHER INSTRUCTIONS AND WISDOM

• The Thursday Sessions are ALWAYS CLEAN. All drivers must familiarize themselves with the OLR Guidelines found HERE. It is very important that these races are clean and fun for everyone. If the entire GTPlanet populace adheres to these rules, then the most possible enjoyment will be had by everybody on track.

• Races will usually begin with a Qualification round. This begins sharply at 3:00pm Eastern/20:00 GMT. To convert to your own time zone, please go HERE for assistance.

• There will be a one hour Official Practice Session before each race. These practice laps will be set to the exact specifications as the race so that everyone can get data regarding fuel consumption, tire wear, etc. This time will also be used to check for connection issues. All other practice time can begin by anyone at any time and this is highly encouraged. Just make sure to check the exact Club Event settings to make sure you can pull the proper data.

• This is also a great place to discuss the last race, talk about new and upcoming races, and to leave photos from past Thursday Session Events. Remember this is for the Thursday Sessions only. All other Community Event discussion shall be done in it's respective thread.

• There will be no registration of drivers. These are all open Club Events to everyone who is a member of the GTPlanet Community Club. This is meant to be an extremely easy way to get into organized racing. These Session Events are great places to compete in personalized custom events and to meet new people from around the planet. Occasionally, there may be a practice round open to all other users from across the general online lobbies, but the races will always be for GTPlanet Club members only.

Thank you and I hope to see you all on track next Thursday.

 

[OpticZero]

Current Club Event Information -- next race January 15th, 2015

Polyphony Digital Cup - Round 5 - Eiger Nordwand

Round 5 of the Polyphony Digital Cup is up next.

The Cars

• Any production car that is 511pp or less
  
• No tuning. Brake Balance and Power Limiter adjustments are allowed.
• Sports: Soft Tires
• No Nitrous Oxide (N20)
• Oil Change, Paint, and Wheels are always allowed.

The Track

• Eiger Nordwand - Short Track
  
• 20 Laps
• Time: N/A
• Time Progression: N/A
  
• Weather: None

Race Settings

• Tire Wear/Fuel Consumption: Very Fast
• Grip Reduction & Slipstream: Real
• Penalties and Boost: Off
• Mechanical Damage: Light
• Visible Damage: Off

Day & Times

• January 15th, 2015 Thursday; 3:00pm Eastern (20:00 GMT)
• Practice starts one hour early (2:00pm Eastern/19:00 GMT)
• Unofficial practice will be at random times throughout the week. Feel free to start your own.

General Guidelines

• Skid Recovery Force (SRF), Active Steering (AS), and the Driving Line are OFF.
• Active Stability Management (ASM), Traction Control (TC), and the Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) are ON (available).
• Rumble Strips are part of the track.
• No Passing or Shortcuts outside of the track limits.
• As always, these rules should be followed as best we can. Please go over them.

 

[OpticZero]

The Racing Archives -- Thursday Sessions from the Past

• Session -1 -- December 5, 2014 -- Weekly Race Series OE #45 -- CLICK for highlights
• Session 0 -- December 11, 2014 -- GT300 Special Event -- CLICK for highlights
• Session 1 -- December 18, 2014 -- Polyphony Digital Cup Round 3 -- CLICK for highlights
  
• Session 2 -- January 8, 2015 -- Polyphony Digital Cup Round 4
• Session 3 -- January 15, 2015 -- Polyphony Digital Cup Round 5

 

[OpticZero]

GTPlanet's Community Club Events are still being updated every Saturday. Check them out for sneak-peaks into what is coming for the next Session Event.

 

[OpticZero]

Due to the holidays (Christmas and the New Year), there will be a short winter break of the Thursday Sessions. Don't worry, this week's race is still a go and the Monday Sessions are scheduled with no interruptions.

As of now, here are the dates of the next few Thursday Session Events:

1. December 18, 2014 (PD Cup - Round 3) COMPLETED
   
2. January 8, 2014 (PD Cup - Round 4)
3. January 15, 2014 (PD Cup - Round 5)

Thank you for your participation in this new series. Make sure you all reset your batteries as we take time to spend with our friends & family. Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.



Again, please make sure you still check out the Monday Sessions. Those Events will be going on without hiatus.

 

[tarnheld]

As i use Monte Carlo Methods a lot at work, i am looking forward to the thursday race in the home town.

The Miura would be the perfect car for this fashionable city/country, so after testing today i was shocked that the GTO was significantly faster around this track. A real dilemma!

I also thought the X-Bow Street would be the secret weapon for this track, but it's too slow on the straights (at least for me).

What cars do you plan to use?

 

[OpticZero]

As of right now, I'm testing an Aston Martin and the KTM X-Bow R 15th Anniversary Edition. You got my gears turning about one of the classic Italian exotics, though.

Update: I'm going with the KTM.

 

[tarnheld]

 

[OpticZero]

Following the Thursday Sessions race this week, we will have an Official Practice Lounge for the new Christmas Special Event found HERE. So, please see which cars you will need if you plan on participating in this event so that you will be ready to get some track time in with a group of other drivers.

 

[OpticZero]

Round 3 of the Polyphony Digital Cup starts today!!! Qualifying begins at 3:00pm (20:00 GMT) with the room opening in Club Lobbies one hour early for practice. Get all of the details on this race HERE.

Just a reminder that following the race today we will have an Official Free Practice Session for the Christmas Special Event. Details can be found HERE.

See you on track!!!

 

[OpticZero]

Well, it was off to a great start. @lero won pole (what else is new ) with @tarnheld and myself holding on to the top three spots for most of the race. There were some lead changes during pit stops, but things sorted back out to how they were before we stopped for fuel and tires. I was hoping that I would come out ahead of Tarnheld's Lambo, because my KTM was pretty strong through the corners and maybe, just maybe, I would have held him off for a few laps. But that didn't really need to happen because servers decided to drop half of the drivers from the room with only a couple laps left in the race...so I ended up winning my first Session race. Not the way I wanted though.

A big shout out to everyone who has been participating in the Monday & Thursday Sessions. It is enjoyable to be able to put these events on, but it wouldn't be much without you guys. Thanks to all of the drivers who have made these so much fun.



Photos will be posted soon. (They Bee Posted)

RANT MODE: I've played a lot of online games, from World of Warcraft to many versions of Call of Duty; and Gran Turismo has to be the WORST of them all when it comes to online stability. I could see if I was one of the only ones, then I could just blame myself and be done with it, but it happens to everyone way to often. RANT OVER

 

[lero]

Well it might have just been the most enjoyable drive I've ever had in a game, before it all came to a sudden stop. A beautiful and legendary italian supercar around the streets of Monaco while being chased closely for the first 10 or so laps by an even more beautiful and legendary italian supercar. Had to constantly balance on the edge of tyre wear and pace. I almost didn't want to drive that fast for tyres's sake, but @tarnheld gave me no other option. Succeeding in that was simply incredibly rewarding. Shame it ended the way it did, but sure was fun while it lasted

PD really needs to take some proper action to fix the connection issues so many seem to suffer from

 

[tarnheld]

Whew what a race! Thrill, suspense, fast cars! In the first laps i could match the pace of @lero 's GTO but soon the tires faded... In lap 9 i was losing grip fast, was thinking "one more lap" as the pits flew past me... and at the next high speed corner found myself in the barriers! I really need to learn when to pit! After the battle with @OpticZero 's XBow i hoped to catch @lero, but no avail... And then the DC! Ok maybe PD isn't to blame as i was getting a phone call at the moment...

Thanks guys for this incredible race, i hope for more!

 

[OpticZero]

 

[lero]

And then the DC! Ok maybe PD isn't to blame as i was getting a phone call at the moment...

Well I got DC about half a lap later and there wasn't any reason for the fault on my end of the connection. Must have been just a bad moment for the server...

 

[tarnheld]

Well I got DC about half a lap later and there wasn't any reason for the fault on my end of the connection. Must have been just a bad moment for the server...

You are right, this should not happen. It did not happen in the many Quick Matches i attended. It should not happen in a race. A little lag is ok, but no DC.

 

[OpticZero]

January 8th & 15th will be Rounds 4 & 5 of the Polyphony Digital Cup. More information will be here this week.

Stay tuned...

 

[Malc01]

Hi all - possibly a noobie question

With the PP limit in the Polyphony Digital Cup & Power limiter allowed how far do people push the use of the Power Limiter? I tend to use a self imposed 85% min power level..

Thoughts?

 

[tarnheld]

Hi all - possibly a noobie question

With the PP limit in the Polyphony Digital Cup & Power limiter allowed how far do people push the use of the Power Limiter? I tend to use a self imposed 85% min power level..

Thoughts?

Good question, so far nobody has taken a car far out of the PP range, i just dust off the Miura and have a good time.
The Monaco session just cried "Italian Supercar"! Maybe we see more variety at the SSR5 race.
Just take your favorite car in the 490-550 PP range and have fun!

 

[OpticZero]

I usually try to take off as little as possible. If I go into the 80% range, I just get a feeling that I'm better off picking a different car for whichever purpose I'm using it for; but I have no data to back up my feeling, just my own preference. I've gone as low as it will go for some of the Seasonal Events, but never that low for any online races.

 

[tarnheld]

Just opened a practice room in the club lobby.

Closed Now.

I tried some cars:

The Cobra 427, nice speed, but unstable in the corners.
The BMW M4, good handling, a little understeery.
The Miura, love it, but a little unstable too.
The Ferrari GTO, lovely, best car overall for me.

More testing on SM:

Jaguar XKR Coupe, too heavy for me*
Audi R8 4.2, did not come to grips with this one*
Tuscan Speed 6 with oil change, nice car but cornering not too good*
Zonda C12, good top speed and great handling, good sound too!
X-BOW Street, this thing eats corners! That makes more than up for the slower top speed!

I love the sound of the cars in the tunnels, especially the GTO, this car is really angry.

I did low 1:30 in all cars except *, but i did not push them hard. Tires are gone pretty fast, might go with SM.

Do others have some experiences to share?

 

[OpticZero]

I'm going to be running late today. I would ask that folks showing up for the practice session before the race that if you see no room open, please start one by using the preset room settings in the Club Events that Famine has setup for us. If I am not there in time, do not wait for me and just go ahead with the race at it's regularly scheduled time. Sorry, but I have a couple things to do today. I was looking forward to the continuation of the PD Cup races and SSR tracks are some of my favorites. Oh well...such is life.

Good luck to all the drivers.

 

[tarnheld]

I'm going to be running late today.

I heard there are monkeys causing landslides living in your area...
Sorry to hear that, hope you will make it!

 

[tarnheld]

Room is now open in the club lobby!

Room closed, race withdrawn due to (apparently) monkeys causing landslides all over the planet.

Maybe we can do the race tomorrow?

 

[OpticZero]

The monkey is attacking tracks other than the Trial Mountain Circuit? Oh no!!!

 

[tarnheld]

No Race today, room closed.

 

[tarnheld]

Just to get you in the right mood for today's race at Eigernordwand Short...

See you there!

 

[OpticZero]

I hope I wasn't just inspired to buy that car, drive the entire race in cockpit mode, and start smoking cigarettes again.

 

[tarnheld]

You will need the sunglasses too!

EDIT: Watch out for caterpillars in the tunnel!

 

[tarnheld]

Slight technical problems with the room in the community club lobby, hang on... all good now.