So yes, not the smoothest start I could have asked for in the GT7 Manufacturers championships, but the Genesis X certainly has promise to do big things in the GT1 Gr.3 leagues. Got to the stage where I could consistently lap in the high-1:27s around Deep Forest, though I struggled more often in the infield and when trying to put the hammer down out of the new hairpin. Best FP time was still a 1:27.625, with an optimum of 1:27.363.
16:00 Manufacturers EMEA
Qualifying bug aside, this turned out to be a very good showing for the Hotel Bellevue team in the end. Two other Genesis Xs were also present on the grid, which ended up locking out the front row on account of being the first cars to leave the pit lane. By the time the bug had sorted itself out, there was only one minute on the clock, so I felt there was no point leaving my garage. With another player having quit beforehand, I was forced to contend with 19th and last on the grid - a matter I didn't fully realise until I got to the formation sequence and saw both my teammates locking out the front row.
Powered past the solitary Supra GT500 on the start-finish straight, though I came close to losing it on my own as I hadn't factored in the effects of cold Racing Hards. The Supra suffered worse by spinning out and dropping way back. Cold tyres are something the Genesis tends to struggle with as it squirms through the infield sections, but fortunately I was able to manage this well enough to gain five more places by the end of Lap 1. For an A+/S, the opening phase was quite chaotic, with several cars losing it or being punted out of a decent position. The scariest incident happened at the reprofiled high-speed complex, in which a tricolore Alfa pushed one of the Subarus out wide and caused him to fishtail out of control. An approaching Corvette gets collected; the Alfa also loses it himself and smacks the outer Armco before the final left-hander. Watching the entire thing unfold through the new dust/smoke effects, I was especially lucky to tuck in to the inside and howl past the recovering Corvette just before it unghosted.
The next group up ahead kept rubbing and bumping for 10th on the road. Despite some robust defence work from one of the two gold-striped Porsches, I was able to pull past him under slipstream to take 12th. On Lap 4, the Shell 911 runs wide at Turn 1, but my efforts to reel in the red RX-VISION up front are almost undone when the Genesis loses traction on the first S-bend past the road sign. Kept it together, but lost enough ground for the Shell car to catch up to my diffuser. The four cars up ahead - including the Mazda - still lost time fighting themselves on the final lap, which gave me another chance to enter the Top 10 by getting close to the red #3 Goodwrench Corvette. Didn't have to worry too much, however, as the other gold-striped Porsche picks up a 4-second penalty for his role in pushing the Cusco Subaru out wide at Turn 1.
10th place is all but secured, but can we go one further? The Corvette goes too deep, runs wide and has an awful exit coming out of the hairpin. I'm right on his bumper; got good enough draft through the final section to sling around the outside. Side-by-side down the straight! Do we have enough momentum?
Photo finish again! Pipped past the #3 to finish 9th on the road... or did I? The results screen showed that I had finished 10th, which was a bit confusing, but nothing I could help with the way GT7 sometimes processes dead heats like this. At first, I thought it was down to the sudden lag jump the Corvette experienced right after we crossed the line, but checking through the replay confirmed that I definitely had my splitter ahead well before that happened. The resulting photos above and below speak for themselves.
Still, can't complain too much with that, since I'm still working on my consistency and throttle management in the Genesis X and was reluctant to treat this as anything other than a shakedown run. The key thing is that I brought the car home for the Hotel Bellevue outfit, all while opening my GT1 test season account with 166 points. Seems like the Dailies I did leading up this didn't affect my points-scoring potential too much in the end. Would've easily entered another slot to see whether I could set a proper qualifying time for the X, but the current bugs made that a gamble I wasn't willing to risk. On its initial BoP setup, the GR3 Genesis feels good and the 1-2 finish brought home by my teammates further cements its potential as a genuine challenger in GT1 lobbies.
Next aim is to get up to speed with my sponsored G70 (though the option is also there to use my other G70 which I've reserved for tuning and single-player events). It feels
brilliant to drive around Bathurst (you'd barely believe it weighs nearly one-and-a-half tonnes in BoP trim) and was fairly kind on tyres in the one Autopolis Daily C I sampled later this evening. However, something tells me that it could already do with a power break to help keep up with its fellow 4WD contemporaries.
Also, an important reminder for all Manufacturers Cup participants - as far as I'm aware,
no Racing tyres other than Hard compounds are included with sponsored Gr.3/Gr.4 cars to begin with. If/when future rounds require them,
please be sure to buy the extra compounds you need (including Intermediate and Heavy Wet compounds) from the Tuning Shop as with all other vehicles in the game.
