Apologies again for the shunt at the hairpin (I was in the Alfa). I was following too close, and unaware you were adjusting to fresh damage.GT1 slot 1 in the Americas - 158 points up for grabs. I was driving for Dodge from Door #4. I needed a P7 finish to improve on my score in Rd.2.
I qualified Q7 with a time of 2:02.979, which is about as good as I could have hoped for.
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The dry stint was mostly uneventful. I picked up a position right off the start from a driver that went wide at turn 1 -- into P6. Held it there until the rain came.
A couple cars ahead pitted on lap 10, promoting me to P4. I pitted -- along with most of the rest of the field -- on lap 11. Staying out that extra lap proved to be a good choice, because I came out of the pits ahead of the two early pitters, still in P4. I soon gave those spots back when I got the Degnas all wrong. Back to P6.
The rain treated me well, though. I picked up a spot to P5 at the Casio Triangle on lap 14 from a driver who got it wrong. Then another spot at the same place the next lap from a driver who went too deep -- up to P4. On lap 18, I even managed to make a legitimate overtake at the Dunlop Curve, taking me up to P3.
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During the rain I was trying to stay off the racing line in the braking and acceleration zones to improve my traction. I think that might have confused the driver behind me a bit because going into Spoon on lap 19 they barreled into my rear, giving me rear aero damage. Luckily, I managed to keep it on the track. The other driver was not so lucky.
The damage didn't seem to be affecting my pace in rain. I did, however, lose a spot at the hairpin on lap 20 when I took it too deep -- back to P4.
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With the track drying, the P3 driver made what looked like a last-minute decision to pit at the end of lap 22. I tapped them slightly as they swerved ahead of me into the pits. I was now in again in P3, but the contact -- and damage I was already carrying -- meant another lost spot on front straight. Back down to P4.
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The car ahead pitted on lap 23, putting me back in P3. That didn't last long because I went into the sand at the Degnas, dropping a spot, back to P4.
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I decided to pit on lap 24. I went in P4, following all the other drivers ahead of me. I came out in P7, but quickly picked up a spot from one of the drivers ahead who spun it on the exit. Up to P6.
I was feeling pretty good about the race so far, but things were about to change. I knew I had to be careful about keeping the car on the dry line, but did I? No, I did not. On the out lap, I went wide at Dunlop Curve, then into the wall trying to catch it. Front damage and 2 spots lost. Down to P8.
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Maybe I was being too cautious after that because at the hairpin -- still on the out lap -- the driver behind hit me and I went into the sand. They were kind enough to wait up for me, but I still lost two more spots and had picked up rear damage now, too. Down to P10.
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Just to cement this lap as the worst in my history of GTWS racing, I went wide at Spoon into the sand, and fell back one more spot to P11, with only two cars behind.
From there, my race was pretty much over. With front and rear damage, I was a sitting duck.
On lap 26, I did happen to pick up a spot to P10 from a driver who had somehow put the car into the wall on the front straight. They quit soon after.
On lap 27, I was caught and easily overtaken to drop me back down to P11. There was a 40-second gap to the car behind, which steadily shrank to the end of the race, but not enough to be a threat. I drove out the remainder of the laps watching the rest of the field drive away, admiring the lovely sunset.
Finished P11 for 92 points. Oh, well. That's how it goes sometimes.
9 Aston M. +6.5
10 Ferrari +5
11 Honda +3.5
16 Genesis Partner
---------------
12 Lambo -3.5
13 Peugeot -11
14 Lexus -16
15 Alfa R. -18
No worries! It was obviously accidental. No grudges from my side. For my part, I'm sorry it happened. I'm sure it didn't help your race, either. IIRC, you had the fastest lap at that point in the race. I didn't see how you ended up so far back, but I can hardly blame you for feeling a little impatient being that far back while having that kind of pace. Race on, friend. Hope to meet you again!Apologies again for the shunt at the hairpin (I was in the Alfa). I was following too close, and unaware you were adjusting to fresh damage.
No worries! To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how I managed to sneak away with the Fastest Lap, as not only am I woefully inconsistent, but I also just generally dislike Suzuka. 😅No worries! It was obviously accidental. No grudges from my side. For my part, I'm sorry it happened. I'm sure it didn't help your race, either. IIRC, you had the fastest lap at that point in the race. I didn't see how you ended up so far back, but I can hardly blame you for feeling a little impatient being that far back while having that kind of pace. Race on, friend. Hope to meet you again!
And sorry for not recognizing your name. It's always great to see other GTPer's out there.![]()
Man that race was intense!! Messed up Qualifying just a tab bit.. putting me at P9… Made a grave mistake and caught dirt opening lap.. dropping me to last place… what saved me… I was a monster in the rain.. I caught a lot of people…me and another car stayed out during lap 12.. that helped me big time… just had to crawl around spoon…
Another crazy incident was coming out of the pits with the hard tires… 3 people got into a crazy accident I thought I was gone for sure… I guy spun and hit two other cars coming out of the pit… after that I just had to bring My Ferrari home… extremely stressful… These A+ rooms are just different on how good the guys are sheesh! 216 points I’ll take it!
Shot out the bro @Yard_Sale for bringing home P4! You are a great driver man.. I need some lesson from you for sure lol!
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If Gallo doesn't get a very good score for Fuji (probably better chance there then Daytona) Honda's not going to make the cut.Only one week (two races) left in the tank. The GT1 Manu standings currently look like this:
The battle for the cutline looks like this right now:
Code:9 Aston M. +6.5 10 Ferrari +5 11 Honda +3.5 16 Genesis Partner --------------- 12 Lambo -3.5 13 Peugeot -11 14 Lexus -16 15 Alfa R. -18
Fuji's settings are throwing up more rain flags for me... Or maybe it's just more copium to try to hope this isn't the most boring GTWS season ever.If Gallo doesn't get a very good score for Fuji (probably better chance there then Daytona) Honda's not going to make the cut.
Agreed. 10 laps, RH tires and 1x wear/fuel... they better be adding rain or something. But PD being PD wouldn't surprised me if it was a sprint race.Fuji's settings are throwing up more rain flags for me... Or maybe it's just more copium to try to hope this isn't the most boring GTWS season ever.
2022 Nation's Cup Gr.1 race at Fuji was 100% rain.Agreed. 10 laps, RH tires and 1x wear/fuel... they better be adding rain or something. But PD being PD wouldn't surprised me if it was a sprint race.
Would be kinda cool if it was just a rain race start to finish... not dry-to-wet or we-to-dry, but just pouring from start to finish. Don't think we've had one of those before.
I haven’t done a full 20 in FP, but did maybe 15 or so and showed no sign of getting dark that I could tell.Anyone done enough laps at Daytona to see if it gets dark or anything? I've only done five at a time.
I just tried 20 laps with the new wheel (fun!), and no, nothing interesting in the sky because we can't have nice things. My best in the AMG was 46.1; not really that far from my usual placement on the leaderboard. Mostly, I was pretty happy with consistency of 1:46,47 laps. Still a few too many laps facing the wrong direction to get into a live event. I prefer making and keeping friends, not enemies.
yeah, it is going better than expected. But as much as I love daytona, don't look for me on any grids this week! Although, I might try a daily (second account, my usual lobbies would smell blood in the water)Sounds like you’re adjusting quickly 👍
I tried it practice lobby this evening and I needed the live practice bc FP or custom.
I think a later pit might be beneficial. Tried the undercut but it didn’t get me where I wanted to be. Using the McLaren F1 tonight and I did lose to a 911and a 650. Need to decide if I’m going F1 or 650.
Maybe I’ll see you in a lobby tomorrow night :-)
9 Ferrari +8.5
10 Honda +7
11 Lambo +3.5
16 Genesis Partner
------------------
12 Aston M. -3.5
13 Peugeot -3.5
14 Alfa R. -8.5
15 Lexus -12.5