Gran Turismo World Series 2024 Begins 17 April

[GTWolverine]

Slot 1: Once again in Top Split, and once again I had a terrible qualifying, but this time it wasn't due to having no pace like it was in every previous round so far this season. I probably had pace to start in the Top 5, but I outbraked myself into Arnage. That probably cost me 1s, but probably could've still started in the top half of the field. I then stupidly cut too much of the final right-hander in the Porsche Curves, which gave me a penalty too late in the lap to serve, so it invalidated my lap. Fortunately there were 4 others behind me who didn't set a time, so I started P12 instead of P16.

I picked up a spot almost immediately at the start when I outbraked someone into Dunlop; it wasn't even an intentional overtake - they just braked way earlier than necessary and I eased down the inside to take P11. I blew by a 919 on Mulsanne, then picked off 2 other Nissans after the 2nd chicane to move up to P8. P7 came shortly afterwards when I picked off an LM55 before Indianapolis, so I made up 5 spots before the end of the first lap. I slowly (very slowly) reeled in P6, but was unable to get to him before a faster car behind me overtook me and put me back to P8. I eventually caught the car I was chasing after he dropped his wheels of the track while braking in the esses, moving me back up to P7. Once again I set about chasing down the new P6, then sat in his slipstream for a few laps until he got a penalty. I then fell back to P7 again after another faster driver overcut me during the pit stops. One of the faster drivers had an issue that forced him to pit twice, which handed me P6 again, which is where I would finish for 263 points after finally having the actual pace for a good result instead of just getting lucky with other people having issues (even though I finished 81s behind the winner...).

 

[D_Dragline]

Jumped in the NA Alt for slot 2. Found myself in the same lobby as Turismo Lester. Not sure if that meant it was top split, or he was in a drop split.

Ran the Hyundai again. Everything else was an R92 or a 787B.

Disappointing qualy lap where I had a couple of ordinary sectors. Managed Q6.

Picked up 2 spots off the line but was too polite through the first sector and entered Mulsanne for the first time in p5. The race was then mostly uneventful with the only drama up front being a 787 in p3 that ran off in the Porsche curves handing me a free place. I repaid the favour a few laps later in the Ford chicane.

Ultimately I finished p5, 35 seconds behind first, 14 seconds behind 4th and 50 seconds in front of 6th.

251 points for my Canadian alter ego.

 

[bduddy]

1st slot: Went to a Pokemon TCG prerelease instead. 4-0 babyyyy

2nd slot: Since my Hyundai practice was clearly wasted, jumped in the Nissan and loaded up Mistah_MCA's medium downforce tune. Took a while to get used to it - Le Mans is not one of my favorite tracks, especially not with difficult cars like this. Regardless, jumped in with at least a passing familiarity with the track. Got a penalty and qualified 8th. In the race I got a decent start but at the chicane, the guy behind me broke at the 100 board instead of the 200 board yet tried to make the corner anyway (this is mid-A/S, really??) I think I was actually 4th coming out of the chicane, but the damage slowed me down and I got passed twice down to 6th. I stayed out since I only had rear damage, which was probably a wash either way, and the rest of the race was pretty uneventful. Last couple laps I was finally getting used to the car, though...

3rd slot: Somehow ended up in a lobby with Grove Street Racing - my first A+ opponent in a cup? (He was the only one...) Got one of many Tertre Rouge penalties in qualifying, but still ended up 5th. I made my way up to 2nd with 2 people in front of me crashing and a semi-unintentional divebomb at turn 2 (the Nissan is much better on brakes than the Mazda!). GroveStreet was about 8s ahead at that point and I didn't think there way any way I could catch him, but... somehow I was? It was clear he was on a very low downforce setup, and struggling to deal with it. The gap stayed about the same until I pit, staying out until lap 9 to avoid traffic and being overcut (fuel weight was more important than tires) and came out almost right behind him! I managed to stay pretty close, losing about 2 seconds on the straights but making it back in the corners, but eventually, we were both caught by F. Goulet, one of the drivers who crashed in the opening laps and had been making up time. Unfortunately, I felt the pressure and started making mistakes, getting enough penalties to drop a few seconds behind Goulet... At which point GroveStreet promptly crashed at the fast kink, promoting me to 2nd, where I finished. Beating an A+ driver and 222 points is my best ever result, although it could have been a win...

 

[LeGeNd-1]

The next SSRX race has the same car lineup as the Daily A we've had a few times already. The person setting these events really have no imagination.

If you want a oval/speedway race, we could have...

• Tomahawk X at SSRX on CH tyres
• Karts at Northern Isle
• 512BB at BB Raceway (get the pun? haha)
• Super Formula at Blue Moon (basically Indycar at Pocono)
• Mustang Gr Road Car or Plymouth Superbird at Daytona (imagine all the modern/classic NASCAR liveries)
• Swift Gr.4 or Copen VGT at Miyabi (not oval but close enough)
• Track Day Hypercars (e.g. FXXK, P1 GTR, Vulcan, Valkyrie, Zonda R) at High Speed Ring with weather (not oval but speedway-like track)

Even for Manu, how many times have we had Grand Valley in Gr.3 cars? Why not mix it up and go in reverse direction?

So many possibilities for interesting races, it's Exhibition season, they have nothing to lose. Instead they keep reusing the same old stale combos.

 

[RobertHammer]

Honestly i am glad we gotten Exhibition season , could be better? yes but you probably asking too much from PD

GT2/GT3 at least got Gr.4 at Grand Valley eh

 

[GTWolverine]

The next SSRX race has the same car lineup as the Daily A we've had a few times already. The person setting these events really have no imagination.

If you want a oval/speedway race, we could have...

• Tomahawk X at SSRX on CH tyres
• Karts at Northern Isle
• 512BB at BB Raceway (get the pun? haha)
• Super Formula at Blue Moon (basically Indycar at Pocono)
• Mustang Gr Road Car or Plymouth Superbird at Daytona (imagine all the modern/classic NASCAR liveries)
• Swift Gr.4 or Copen VGT at Miyabi (not oval but close enough)
• Track Day Hypercars (e.g. FXXK, P1 GTR, Vulcan, Valkyrie, Zonda R) at High Speed Ring with weather (not oval but speedway-like track)

Even for Manu, how many times have we had Grand Valley in Gr.3 cars? Why not mix it up and go in reverse direction?

So many possibilities for interesting races, it's Exhibition season, they have nothing to lose. Instead they keep reusing the same old stale combos.

SF at BMB would be just another boring flat-out race. Even with minimum downforce they still have more than enough grip to run the entire track without lifting. Your High Speed Ring suggestion sounds like fun, but apparently you're not allowed to actually use high speed cars at the High Speed Ring (there's never been a single Sport Mode racing event with anything faster than Gr.4 at High Speed Ring). The Only races PD has used HSR for are subcompact races in Daily Race A and 2 Gr.4 races in the Manufacturer's Championship.

 

[RobertHammer]

SF at BMB would be just another boring flat-out race. Even with minimum downforce they still have more than enough grip to run the entire track without lifting. Your High Speed Ring suggestion sounds like fun, but apparently you're not allowed to actually use high speed cars at the High Speed Ring (there's never been a single Sport Mode racing event with anything faster than Gr.4 at High Speed Ring). The Only races PD has used HSR for are subcompact races in Daily Race A and 2 Gr.4 races in the Manufacturer's Championship.

High Speed Ring and Tokyo races are missing - i don't get why maybe wall riding? but you got penalty system for that and damage so i dunno

plus there are plenty of other tracks that barely get used for some weird reason too

 

[GlockPants]

In VR, the classic car like the Sauber, it's bubble windshield, transmission and engine sound brings much more authenticity to what a lemans race is... Make me want to give it another try with it instead of the VGT...

Also from GlockPants replay, i can tell you the track limit were much more strict on my run with the Hyundai VGT. Maybe the width of the car is different? (Playing in VR too if that matter)

The cockpit is pretty cramped and small compared to how wide the car sticks out. But yes, there are a few places I thought for sure I was going to get a track limits violation but never did.

 

[Fezzik]

Thankfully PD have sorted the leaderboards for the next round of the Manufacturers, so GT2/3 just see the Gr4 times.

 

[tankuroded]

Thankfully PD have sorted the leaderboards for the next round of the Manufacturers, so GT2/3 just see the Gr4 times.

I wonder if this is an undocumented change that was added with the Sport Mode softlock bugfix...?

 

[PMK]

The next SSRX race has the same car lineup as the Daily A we've had a few times already. The person setting these events really have no imagination.

If you want a oval/speedway race, we could have...

• Tomahawk X at SSRX on CH tyres
• Karts at Northern Isle
• 512BB at BB Raceway (get the pun? haha)
• Super Formula at Blue Moon (basically Indycar at Pocono)
• Mustang Gr Road Car or Plymouth Superbird at Daytona (imagine all the modern/classic NASCAR liveries)
• Swift Gr.4 or Copen VGT at Miyabi (not oval but close enough)
• Track Day Hypercars (e.g. FXXK, P1 GTR, Vulcan, Valkyrie, Zonda R) at High Speed Ring with weather (not oval but speedway-like track)

Even for Manu, how many times have we had Grand Valley in Gr.3 cars? Why not mix it up and go in reverse direction?

So many possibilities for interesting races, it's Exhibition season, they have nothing to lose. Instead they keep reusing the same old stale combos.

PD copy paste machine go brrrrr.

 

[Met Entso]

I don't like this split between Gt1 and Gt2/3... fewer lobbies to train and not possible to play with higher level drivers and learn. Even if GT1 would have longer races and heavy damage, which it's good IMO and makes me want to reach A level, keep the same car so we can train together. Although maybe A+ and A drivers are happy to keep us from pestering their lobbies lol.

 

[Kamikatze]

I didn't really like the Le Mans race. I was fully expecting rain and tuned my Hyundai VGT accordingly. After reading about it staying dry and switched to @Mistah_MCA's superb mid-downforce tune for the Nissan R92CP. Only trained for 15 minutes so I was happy about Quali P6 with a 3:20.113 although a 3:18 would've been possible if I didn't run too deep in some corners.

In the race I felt that I didn't trained with the Group C monster as I did too many mistakes. I accumulated ~4 seconds of track limit penalties plus a stupid 3s pit lane penalty for crashing into the pit entry barrier. All that allowed a slower driver with a low-downforce tune to get ahead but I finally managed to get him. Another better driver must have had some damage as he pitted twice yet he still caught me and finished 5.5s ahead of me; without all my stupid penalties he would have stayed behind me.

In the end P4 which I gladly take for that boring 'sprint' race. Maybe I could've finished higher but I couldn't motivate myself to enter the second or third slot.

 

[Talon16]

Bring on Grand Valley!

 

[jimihemmy]

I did 3 of these yesterday. The absence was weather was welcome for me at least. I love these long and fast tracks!

Shout out to @Mistah_MCA for his medium downforce setup. I found it the best for me although I only used the downforce and brake balance. i kept getting oscillation on the Mulsanne with the suspension so I left those alone. I used this setup for all 3 of my races.

As for the races (all GT2):

Main account: I grabbed pole and promptly distracted myself on the Dunlops looking at the radar and picked up a .5 penalty and lost spots on the way to the Mulsanne and was 6th by then. I caught a few and was back to P3 until I lost it somehow at Arnage and took out P2 with me who ran into me turning into the penalty zone corner (he was hit into me-not revenge). By the time i recovered and got back up to speed after serving the penalty, I was now P15. This is all on lap 1. I ended up crawling back and finishing P7 which I think is great considering I was P15 at one point. I don't know if I could have won but I definitely had pace to podium.....

I wanted to go again but I still had 2 more to race and it was already my highest point total in Nations this season...

Main Alt: Not much to say.....Q1 and lights to flag with no drama except losing it at the Ford corners on the last lap possibly costing me my clean race bonus but I had pole and fastest lap.

Alt Alt: Again not much to say....Q2-P2 and I just couldn't catch P1. P1 was in sight the whole race until I screwed up towards the end trying to push too hard. I ended with a clean race here.

 

[DK]

There's nothing like getting punted off at the Ford Chicanes to remind you of the real meta of this game.

I picked the McLaren, thinking that it'd have better long run pace, but even considering the Group Cs' straightline advantage, my race was ruined anyway by getting punted at the very first corner. I held out until lap 5 to pit for repairs, as I could use that stop to top up, but it was all pointless as I got damage again thanks to that Ford Chicane punt I mentioned. What use is the radar when a rammer has locked onto your exhaust?

 

[Kamikatze]

Maybe a bit late to the party, but in this context I just have to rave about the Manufacturers Cup at the Nürburgring again! That was the best race I ever had in GT7! The intense race offered everything a racer's heart could desire: the technically demanding track, the changing weather with toe-tapping in the first laps on Inters and two subsequent sprint stints on soft tyres (4IM-3RS-3RS), other cars with different strategies, some duels and a very close finish with a gap of less than 1 second. I've never felt so exhausted after ~2 hours of racing.

The race was about who did the fewest mistakes as everyone landed in the barriers or spun at some point. I qualified P2 with a 8:07.458, 4.3s off pole position.



Everyone enjoyed a clean race start. The other Porsche in P3 must have had softer Inters because he managed to get in front and pulled off a ~25s gap within the first 3 laps Although there wasn't much grip I felt comfortable and came into a flow with about 80% pace and 20% error margin. I got P2 after an error by the polesetter.



On lap 4 the ideal line started to get a little less wet so I tried pushing but was immediatly punished by meeting the gravel at the Müllenbachschleife and fell back to P5.

At the end of lap 4 back to P3 and into the pits with +14 to P1 (stayed out) and +6 to P2 (also pitting). Now on softs there began the most intense part of the race: staying on the dry line and DON'T EVEN LOOK on all the damp parts off it. Maybe it was because of hours of practice from License S-10 (Porsche 917 beast in Spa-Francorchamps track) but I felt really comfortable with such focus and managed to cut 10s off the leader. He must've felt the pressure and decided to rather cut the pit lane exit line, stay on the dry line and receiving that 3s penalty than touching the wet part. Maybe time-wise it was clever, yet I still managed to sqeeze through and into P1! What an adrenaline kick!






Now it was about going flat out and extend the gap before the polesetter in his yellow AMG would catch me as he was obviously the faster player. Yet the gap stayed between 4-8 seconds before coming in for the last pit stop on lap 7 and again 17s behind the Porsche whom at this point I expected to having to pit again. The gap was reduced to 3s after a mistake by the leader and now it was game on!



At the end of lap 8 I was directly behind him but went wide at the last chicane. When he didn't come in for a pit stop, it dawned on me that he was actually trying a one-stop strategy and therefore had to save a little fuel. It's still a mystery to me how that was possible with RS tyres, because for me the tyres only ever lasted 3 laps.



Now, from the ninth lap onwards, the most exciting part of my race started, but the worst in terms of performance. I still have a lot to learn about racecraft here. Much too impatiently, I tried to overtake the clearly slower Porsche on the Nordschleife and what happened was inevitable: I flew off.



The AMG driver was much cleverer and just overtook him on the >2km Döttinger Höhe. Come on, I can do better than that! And this was despite the fact that I had fresh track experience with my bicycle (Rad am Ring), apparently 0.2 kW of sweat is not directly transferable

Everything was set up for the Grande Finale: One lap to go, a slower but clean driver in front of me and still no damage yet. Let's go! I guess the thought made me too excited and impatient and once again what had to happen happened. Completely unnecessarily, I wanted to start an overtaking manoeuvre at the Schwedenkreuz and promptly flew into the barrier, this time with damage to the right front.



Now with a lot of anger at myself in my stomach, I did everything I could to catch up with him by 1.5 seconds and snatch P2, knowing that our pace would be even thanks to his fuel saving mode and probably used up tyres and my damage. Sure enough, within 2 minutes I was back on his rear bumper when this time he braked too late at Bergwerk and I was able to slip through.



Up to Döttinger Höhe I was able to pull out just under 2 seconds, but with the damage I was a sitting duck and he overtook me in the left-hand bend. In the last chicane, I wanted to try one last time with all desperation, but had to realise that I had to admit defeat after the last contact; so much sportsmanship has to be there.



In the end P3 after 90 thrilling minutes. Please PD give us more of that! After one week I still have more vivid memories of the Nübrurgring than yesterday's meh Nations Cup at dry Le Mans.

 

[Moose78]

I've gotten a start on some tests for next week's Manufacturers Cup race at Grand Valley -- the 14-lap GT2/3 variation with Gr.4 cars.

I have to say, after last week, it feels good to have so many variables already settled: car (Peugeot RCZ), weather (dry), and tuning (limited to suspension and brake balance). All that's left really is to figure out a fuel/tire strategy.

I did some custom races to simulate the full race tire wear and fuel consumption. He's how things are looking for me so far:

Fuel saving strategy	Resulting tire strategy	Time
Full throttle	8S-6H	28:22.385
90% short shifting	10S-4H	28:27.335
75% short shifting	11S-3H	28:17.319
50% short shifting	12S-2H	28:17.435
25% short shifting	13S-1H	28.23.452
5% short shifting	14H	28:37.728

The 11S-3H strategy had the best time, but only by a hair. The 12S-2H strategy was a close second.

The 12S-2H was maybe longer than it should have been because I had some scuffles with the AI car on the first lap in my test race. Without that time loss, it might actually be faster than the 11S-3H strategy. I'll probably redo that test with a different AI level to avoid having to contend with the other car.

It's interesting to note that a no-stop strategy is possible, but right now it isn't looking very promising. I had a lot of interference from the AI car in that race, too, until it pitted on lap 10. I'll probably re-run this one, too just to be sure.

I did notice the soft tires starting to wear after lap 10. I might try a few of the longer fuel-saving stints on mediums instead of softs to see if they do any better, but I doubt they will.

I might do some suspension tuning. I'm not sure it is worth the effort, though. So far I've only tried the default settings and the ones that had for Dragon Trail. There was no significant difference between them in terms of lap time.

Otherwise, it seems all that's left is to get faster on the track. So far, I'm struggling to get a good pace out of the RCZ on this track. It could be the car, but I'm guessing the problem exists between the seat and the steering wheel. Gonna try to fix that.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

SF at BMB would be just another boring flat-out race. Even with minimum downforce they still have more than enough grip to run the entire track without lifting. Your High Speed Ring suggestion sounds like fun, but apparently you're not allowed to actually use high speed cars at the High Speed Ring (there's never been a single Sport Mode racing event with anything faster than Gr.4 at High Speed Ring). The Only races PD has used HSR for are subcompact races in Daily Race A and 2 Gr.4 races in the Manufacturer's Championship.

With slipstreaming tactics + tyre/fuel strat it won't be boring though. The rear tyres get hammered very quickly at BMB and trying to do T1 without lifting is going to be a pucker inducing moment. Then you have to time the final dash just right. Too early/waste too much fuel and you'll get passed before the line. Time it right and you look like a hero. Which is what oval racing is all about.

But I'm a bit biased because there was a similar race in GT Sport and it was the only time I was ever in contention for a win in top split Half a lap away from a win and still my biggest "what if" moment in simracing.


It's still oval racing and there's a lot of luck involved, but there's a bit more skill and thinking than just a typical SSRX race where you just stay in a train and then scramble in the final corner and hope no one sideswipes you.

 

[GTWolverine]

With slipstreaming tactics + tyre/fuel strat it won't be boring though. The rear tyres get hammered very quickly at BMB and trying to do T1 without lifting is going to be a pucker inducing moment. Then you have to time the final dash just right. Too early/waste too much fuel and you'll get passed before the line. Time it right and you look like a hero. Which is what oval racing is all about.

But I'm a bit biased because there was a similar race in GT Sport and it was the only time I was ever in contention for a win in top split Half a lap away from a win and still my biggest "what if" moment in simracing.


It's still oval racing and there's a lot of luck involved, but there's a bit more skill and thinking than just a typical SSRX race where you just stay in a train and then scramble in the final corner and hope no one sideswipes you.

I remember that race too. One of my favorites ever, but I think having to lift in T1 was just due to the RB Jr. naturally having no rear end grip rather than tire wear (because the tires didn't really wear anyway).

 

[SPL170db]

Was just having a look at the next Nations Cup round @ SSRX. It looks like everyone is so far is going for either the Merc or the Huayra....at least for practice. Not sure if either of these cars will be the go to for the actual race or not. I remember a while back in one of the Daily races everyone was doing their best solo timed laps with something but were all using something else in the actual race.

Anyway what I was curious about was that it in the race details is says "BoP/Tuning Prohibited - Off" and "Car Settings - Allowed", however when I pick a car and go into a free practice session there is no way to go in and play around with any car settings? Is this something that is going to be locked but only becomes available during the actual race so that people can't test setups beforehand???

The other annoying thing is that this is a 3-lap race in GT1. So basically spend 2 full laps doing a 250mph+ funeral procession trying to make sure you don't get bumped out of the draft or accidentally pit maneuvered on the banking......and then actually try to race for the last 1/4 or so of the 3rd lap. At least damage is turned off 😂 Fun fun fun

 

[Talon16]

The other annoying thing is that this is a 3-lap race in GT1. So basically spend 2 full laps doing a 250mph+ funeral procession trying to make sure you don't get bumped out of the draft or accidentally pit maneuvered on the banking......and then actually try to race for the last 1/4 or so of the 3rd lap. At least damage is turned off 😂 Fun fun fun

 

[D_Dragline]

Was just having a look at the next Nations Cup round @ SSRX. It looks like everyone is so far is going for either the Merc or the Huayra....at least for practice. Not sure if either of these cars will be the go to for the actual race or not. I remember a while back in one of the Daily races everyone was doing their best solo timed laps with something but were all using something else in the actual race.

Anyway what I was curious about was that it in the race details is says "BoP/Tuning Prohibited - Off" and "Car Settings - Allowed", however when I pick a car and go into a free practice session there is no way to go in and play around with any car settings? Is this something that is going to be locked but only becomes available during the actual race so that people can't test setups beforehand???

The other annoying thing is that this is a 3-lap race in GT1. So basically spend 2 full laps doing a 250mph+ funeral procession trying to make sure you don't get bumped out of the draft or accidentally pit maneuvered on the banking......and then actually try to race for the last 1/4 or so of the 3rd lap. At least damage is turned off 😂 Fun fun fun

Yeah, the qualy car will be different to the in-race META. It will boil down to what's quicker in slipstream and what's more stable. The AMG might struggle to keep up with slip, the Huayra is VERY vulnerable to contact.

BTW, practice is weird. The wind changes during the session and even when it's stable, the cars inexplicably alter their performance. How the same car, with the same entry speed and the same wind can be two tenths quicker than its own ghost between turns has me stumped.

Tyre temp maybe?

 

[jontikis]

In case they're using the exact same car settings as they did recently in Daily A, I think the best option for the Nations race should be the white Mazda RX-7. It is engine swapped with the 787B, meaning when it reaches top speed it hits the sweet spot on the power band so it doesn't drop behind when off the draft. It's very stable on the high banks as well.

 

[PMK]

Maybe a bit late to the party, but in this context I just have to rave about the Manufacturers Cup at the Nürburgring again! That was the best race I ever had in GT7! The intense race offered everything a racer's heart could desire: the technically demanding track, the changing weather with toe-tapping in the first laps on Inters and two subsequent sprint stints on soft tyres (4IM-3RS-3RS), other cars with different strategies, some duels and a very close finish with a gap of less than 1 second. I've never felt so exhausted after ~2 hours of racing.

The race was about who did the fewest mistakes as everyone landed in the barriers or spun at some point. I qualified P2 with a 8:07.458, 4.3s off pole position.

View attachment 1297166

Everyone enjoyed a clean race start. The other Porsche in P3 must have had softer Inters because he managed to get in front and pulled off a ~25s gap within the first 3 laps Although there wasn't much grip I felt comfortable and came into a flow with about 80% pace and 20% error margin. I got P2 after an error by the polesetter.

View attachment 1297170View attachment 1297171

On lap 4 the ideal line started to get a little less wet so I tried pushing but was immediatly punished by meeting the gravel at the Müllenbachschleife and fell back to P5.

At the end of lap 4 back to P3 and into the pits with +14 to P1 (stayed out) and +6 to P2 (also pitting). Now on softs there began the most intense part of the race: staying on the dry line and DON'T EVEN LOOK on all the damp parts off it. Maybe it was because of hours of practice from License S-10 (Porsche 917 beast in Spa-Francorchamps track) but I felt really comfortable with such focus and managed to cut 10s off the leader. He must've felt the pressure and decided to rather cut the pit lane exit line, stay on the dry line and receiving that 3s penalty than touching the wet part. Maybe time-wise it was clever, yet I still managed to sqeeze through and into P1! What an adrenaline kick!


View attachment 1297167View attachment 1297168View attachment 1297169



Now it was about going flat out and extend the gap before the polesetter in his yellow AMG would catch me as he was obviously the faster player. Yet the gap stayed between 4-8 seconds before coming in for the last pit stop on lap 7 and again 17s behind the Porsche whom at this point I expected to having to pit again. The gap was reduced to 3s after a mistake by the leader and now it was game on!

View attachment 1297173

At the end of lap 8 I was directly behind him but went wide at the last chicane. When he didn't come in for a pit stop, it dawned on me that he was actually trying a one-stop strategy and therefore had to save a little fuel. It's still a mystery to me how that was possible with RS tyres, because for me the tyres only ever lasted 3 laps.

View attachment 1297174

Now, from the ninth lap onwards, the most exciting part of my race started, but the worst in terms of performance. I still have a lot to learn about racecraft here. Much too impatiently, I tried to overtake the clearly slower Porsche on the Nordschleife and what happened was inevitable: I flew off.

View attachment 1297175View attachment 1297176

The AMG driver was much cleverer and just overtook him on the >2km Döttinger Höhe. Come on, I can do better than that! And this was despite the fact that I had fresh track experience with my bicycle (Rad am Ring), apparently 0.2 kW of sweat is not directly transferable

Everything was set up for the Grande Finale: One lap to go, a slower but clean driver in front of me and still no damage yet. Let's go! I guess the thought made me too excited and impatient and once again what had to happen happened. Completely unnecessarily, I wanted to start an overtaking manoeuvre at the Schwedenkreuz and promptly flew into the barrier, this time with damage to the right front.

View attachment 1297177

Now with a lot of anger at myself in my stomach, I did everything I could to catch up with him by 1.5 seconds and snatch P2, knowing that our pace would be even thanks to his fuel saving mode and probably used up tyres and my damage. Sure enough, within 2 minutes I was back on his rear bumper when this time he braked too late at Bergwerk and I was able to slip through.

View attachment 1297178

Up to Döttinger Höhe I was able to pull out just under 2 seconds, but with the damage I was a sitting duck and he overtook me in the left-hand bend. In the last chicane, I wanted to try one last time with all desperation, but had to realise that I had to admit defeat after the last contact; so much sportsmanship has to be there.

View attachment 1297179View attachment 1297180View attachment 1297181

In the end P3 after 90 thrilling minutes. Please PD give us more of that! After one week I still have more vivid memories of the Nübrurgring than yesterday's meh Nations Cup at dry Le Mans.

I'm with you, i absolutely loved the Nordschleife round and it's proof we need more of these races.

 

[Moose78]

BTW, practice is weird. The wind changes during the session and even when it's stable, the cars inexplicably alter their performance. How the same car, with the same entry speed and the same wind can be two tenths quicker than its own ghost between turns has me stumped.

Tyre temp maybe?

This has been the subject of much discussion on the Daily Race thread the other times these races at SSRX came up (initially noticed by @sturk0167, IIRC).

In short, it seems that every once in a while, apparently at random, you'll get a session where the car just magically performs better than usual.

@Tidgney discovered this quirk independently and reported it with some video evidence here:

 

[D_Dragline]

This has been the subject of much discussion on the Daily Race thread the other times these races at SSRX came up (initially noticed by @sturk0167, IIRC).

In short, it seems that every once in a while, apparently at random, you'll get a session where the car just magically performs better than usual.

@Tidgney discovered this quirk independently and reported it with some video evidence here:

Yes, I’ve seen those, but this is WITHIN a single session. It’s not from session to session.

 

[Mercia]

Yes, I’ve seen those, but this is WITHIN a single session. It’s not from session to session.

I mean the place does have Death Stranding vibes

 

[Nebuc72]

Yes, I’ve seen those, but this is WITHIN a single session. It’s not from session to session.

Yeah track and tyre temperatures are all simulated in the game (which is a good thing) and it has the effects it would do in real life. Unfortunately it's just not communicated in game anywhere, so you're left guessing as to what is causing difference performances unless you use a program that pulls the actual telemetry.

 

[Talon16]

The "good" news is, since this is a Nations event everyone will be qualifying in the same conditions. The irony is, of all the tracks SSRX is the one where quali probably matters the least.

Anyway, enough about the NASCAR stuff, who's putting times in for GV? As of now I should be able to make one of the EMEA GT1 slots (which are 10, 12, 14 for me). Definitely won't be able to make the GT1 US slots (thanks again, PD). Looking forward to this one, GV and Gr3 is a great combo; even the Gr4 cars are decent here. I'm convinced it's because of the RS tires... the cars just feel so much more natural.

Since I am lazy I am relying on one of you (or a streamer) to figure out the best strat for GT1. THanks in advance.