Yesterday's Nations was so much fun. I love love love this combo. Admittedly, I am pretty strong here (not alien, but it's a good combo for me). I did four of them yesterday. I love this format so much and it really shows what GT can be: the pre-race quali (which needs a little work which I'll complain about later, but I won't go there now), starting in the day, going to night transition, finishing at dusk; strat required with a pit stop for new tires (but fuel management not an issue) where the tires would last 13 laps if you want to try and over/under-cut; all capped off with these monster GrC cars at the best track in the game. Virtually perfect! I wish this was Daily D.
The first one I did on my primary account and got a win! It wasn't a super strong lobby, but a handful of A+ and A drivers. Of course I used the 787B. Regardless, you still have to drive really well and not bin it for 24 laps. I think this is my first Nations/Manu win on my A+ account and it felt pretty damn good.
Then I did three races on my 2 account because I wanted to use the R92. Not that it matters now, but this car can absolutely compete. My best lap in the 787B was a 1:28.762 and my best lap in the R92 was 1:28.81X. I even hit a 1:28.9 in the race with no slip! I got two Wins and a P2 (got screwed in quali). Tire wear was about the same as the 787B, but it was a little more thirsty. However, fuel management was not an issue you'd just finish with less. I'd finish with between 1%-4% but running lean mix 1 the and revving the **** out of it, so good to go.
I mean, come on. Look at this! Beautiful.
I am so bummed this combo is gone but pretty stoked I got to do it four times when I didn't think even once would be possible. Thanks to some bad weather, evening plans got cancelled so it was a GT evening.
What prevents the Manu Series from being a one-make race? Nissan would be the obvious choice. Is there an incentive to choose something bizarre like the Citroën (my personal fave)?
Nothing. But, the cool thing about Manu is you need to pick something that is good at all the tracks with their respective cars. So you need to pick something where that Manu is strong at all of the races. On my primary account, I picked Jag; on my second account, I picked Ford. Last round I picked Mitsubishi as the Evo Gr3 and Gr4 car is pretty good. Admittedly, I am kinda tired of the GTR and I don't like the Gr4 GTR so I avoid Nissan (though I have picked them in the past).
That being said, Nissan is probably the overall best Manu in the game so there will likely be a lot of them. The GTR is strong at Nurb, Croix, and Fuji. The flip side of that is the Porsche is the best car at Nurb, but the Gr4 Cayman isn't very good so I bet we don't see too many Porsches at Nurb (unless someone just skips the Gr4 race which is highly probable, the point may be moot).
I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea what these races are about. I think participation may be low because a lot of people like me have no clue what’s going on, and PD doesn’t do much in the way of explaining the events for people who don’t already know. I think they are counting on familiarity with players who’ve been doing this for a while, but as a new GT player I have no sense of what the point is.
Many of you know me by now and know I love this game, so I don’t mean to say these events are pointless. I just have no grasp on what these events are. I checked them out last year very briefly as I was trying to get acclimated to the game. I couldn’t tell if they are different from the dailies or not, and why. And the multiple events over months aren’t really explained except for “here are the dates.” And then the World Series just happened and I still don’t have any idea if that’s related to these events or not. Seriously. I’m not trying to be obtuse, and I tried to figure it out through the game’s links, but there isn’t a general overview or explanation that I could find.
I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I figure if I try to figure out what’s going on and I can’t even find an explanation, then it makes me feel like these events aren’t intended for me. It feels more like I stumbled into someone else’s private league and not a series of events open to the public.
Just a few observations from a newbie who wanted to participate but can’t figure it out. PD isn’t helping itself here.
I didn't know what they were about until somewhat recently either. But, these are the best races GT has to offer and if you're not doing them (or at least one) you're missing out. You are right that there could be more/better explanations... but just sign up and run with it. Not hard to get the gist by literally doing one. Honestly, I think you need to go the other way and dive head first!
Basically - and anyone out there correct me if I am wrong on any of this - they're kinda the same as a daily race. You're racing against other people online who are close in rating to you (I've found these races that everyone is... ie, no A+ to C rated drivers in the same race). You jump into a slot when you can. There is a free practice (if you get there in time), a pre-race quali before every race in which you have like 5 mins to set your best lap. Then, you race based on the criteria. The races are typically longer than even Daily C, there is often some strat involved, and sometimes dynamic weather as well (last Manu Spa had rain to dry and this Manu's Fuji is supposed to be wet as well). When the race is over you get X amount of points (DR and SR are typically effected as well).
I still don't really get the point of the points, but likely just bragging rights unless you're top tier alien they may help you join the GTWS or something? Your points are purely based on your rating and who you beat. Meaning, you can finish P1 in a race and earn, say, 200 points. Do the race again with stronger opponents, finish P3 and get 220 points. Where it gets kinda odd is if you do the same race three times, only you last point paying finish will count. That's why you'll see some streamers have a great race, get 350 points, and not want to do any more of that race. Then, only your top points of ALL THREE races is counted in the end. So if you earn 200, 175, and 210 points in the three races respectfully, you're total will be 210. If you're in a super high rank A+ lobby, high 300s low 400s points is possible for one race. B rank lobby, usually it's like 75-125 for a win.
If the points are important to you, you need to be strategic. If you don't care (like me) do the race as many times as you want and who cares if your points drop because of it.
I will say the racing in these Manu/Nations races is usually WAY cleaner than a random Daily. Jump in there man! The next one is Manu at Nurb which was just a daily so grab that Porsche and go for it. Even if that's the only Manu you do, at least you'll have a better idea. And, like I said, these races are so much fun! Do it
@Bullwinkle !
), but that means that I can be in races much more affordable to be protagonist, let's say 
Great race, it's a shame that I' didn't manage to convert the pole position into a victory, but the bus stop was my weak point and with two laps to go the dutch driver manage to pass me to take the win 
