Gran Turismo World Series (Manufacturers Cup Exhibition Season: Feb 5 - Feb 15)

[Talon16]

Decided last minute to pull a @Yard_Sale and have a race (or two) with the Aussies in the NSX GT500. Very little practice; qualified mid-pack, finished both races mid-pack. Had some good battles along the way and at least there was some strategy required. The NSX is so fun to drive. Is it competitive here against the CLK? LOL No. But it's all good.

 

[Moose78]

Did the Audi get a BoP change in the update or something? I'm surprised to see so many people considering it, I thought it (and the BMW) just weren't good in the class.

I can't speak for anybody else, but I'm driving it because it was the fastest for me of the Gr.2 cars I could buy and practice with outside of Free Practice. I found that if I switched between the Audi for offline practice and CLK for Free Practice, I wasn't driving either car very well. I decided to focus on getting good with the one car that I can use everywhere, and that's the Audi.

Edit: Last time I checked, there were a few Audis sprinkled in the top 200 lap times, so it seems like it should, in theory anyways, be capable of keeping up with the CLK.

 

[Finch2090]

Might give this race a miss. Just tried the 1pm slot on my 2nd account to warm up and the racing was an absolute disaster. Turn 1 off the start a lot of the soft starters got overzealous and 3 of outbraked themselves across the racing line and left like 7 cars in the gravel or spun out on the exit, me being one of them as I started on mediums hoping to get myself some clean air early on by pitting after lap 2 for the softs and undercutting.

My strategy was some what successful, I went from p16 to to p6 by lap 10 thanks to driving errors and me getting clean air but my lap times weren’t great and just got back into traffic towards the end of the race as I was too far back after pitting

Then my race unraveled again. I don’t know if this was a skill issue on my part, but I found myself extending the track as much as possible, opening each corner for myself like I was doing the practice laps, but I felt like that just created invitations for the drivers behind to just lunge me constantly into corners where going 2 wide is just a disaster for both drivers, especially the one on the outside - such as Turn 1, Sharp left hander onto the back straight etc. Can I get some thoughts on this? Because I was leaving my inside open alot and I do think it’s maybe poor race craft on my part, but it just resulted in getting run deep into the corner and the inside drivers out braking both of us and resulting in contact

So maybe it’s naive of me to think I can just follow my own racing line without defending too much. Maybe it’s also naive to expect the overtaking driver to get the move done cleanly.

Anyways, I may run it later on my 1st account, I expect the driving to be better in GT1 but I’ll have to massively improve my times to compete in that too!

Might have to practice some different lines or defensive lines for a couple of hours as the tow is quite strong in this race and leaving the door open like I have been is just an invitation to go for a move

Good luck to anyone participating! Difficult race for sure. Not sure on strategy yet. Early undercut might be viable if you feel like you’re the fastest on track but I certainly wasn’t in my race earlier. I did 2m12s for 14 laps and still had plenty of tire left at the end of my race! So 12 laps on softs should definitely be doable! Just watch those exits as the car is on ice for much longer out of corners

Edit: Also, increase braking distance by 10% for the mediums, for those who haven’t ran it on mediums yet 🤣 I got caught out a few times into big braking zones

 

[Bullwinkle]

I don't know about the race, but it is active in practice. I found it too distracting to be able to run laps any faster with it.

It’s always been available in race. Drag reduction system. Not NOS 🍻

Well, the reason I ask is because you activate the DRS using the NOS button, so I assumed they just disable that switch rather than try to distinguish between the two. Regardless, it is a pain to use.

I woke up not feeling like this is going to be my race today. Because I’m stuck with three evening slots two hours apart from each other, and I’ll miss the first one, I’m not inclined to give it much thought or effort to participate. It’s a bummer because I was looking forward to some longer races, but Saturday was such a joke that it pretty much took the wind out of my sails for the series.

 

[Interemptor]

Decided last minute to take the CLK and started on P2. Had a awesome race with the guys on P1 and P3. Lead changed multiple times and finished P3. The first 5 cars within 6seconds. Started on the softs and after lap 10 my times dropped by over 1s so I switched to medium but made some stupid mistakes and struggled hard with the medium tires.

Overall I'm extremly happy with the race even though my points did not improve. Most important thing was a fair and clean race and I had a blast. 😁

 

[Moose78]

Not sure on strategy yet. Early undercut might be viable if you feel like you’re the fastest on track but I certainly wasn’t in my race earlier. I did 2m12s for 14 laps and still had plenty of tire left at the end of my race! So 12 laps on softs should definitely be doable! Just watch those exits as the car is on ice for much longer out of corners

I don't expect to be anywhere near fastest on the track, but I'm thinking I'll go with a 1RM-13RS strategy anyways. I've done enough practice races now to feel comfortable driving the car (Audi) with worn tires at the end and I'm willing to deal with that if it means I get an extra lap or two of clean air after I pit.

 

[Akers]

Well, that went...Badly! Opted to jump on the EMEA 13:00hrs (UST) slot, over lunch. Didn't have enough time for more than 2 practice laps before quali, which was inevitably disastrous. Had one idiot drive bomb me at the last tight turn on the out lap, was hampered by people crashing ahead on what should've been the banker, then on lap 2 the driver ahead was slow down the back 'straight', but instead of letting me past early so we could both have plenty of time to setup for the hard left at the end, they opted to weave all the way along ruining both our laps.
As a result I stared 14th 3 seconds off pole, which was infuriatingly over a second slower than my best practice pace. The race itself was a disaster, lap one was anarchy at the back, and I made enough problems for myself in the first few laps out-braking due to fuel load. Finished 12th. Will have another crack this evening. Might try something other than the CLK, that's slower but I can drive more consistently.

 

[Famine]

Turd of a race. Thanks, Obama.

 

[CMB350]

I don't expect to be anywhere near fastest on the track, but I'm thinking I'll go with a 1RM-13RS strategy anyways. I've done enough practice races now to feel comfortable driving the car (Audi) with worn tires at the end and I'm willing to deal with that if it means I get an extra lap or two of clean air after I pit.

What brake balance are you using? I’m going to try your same strategy.

 

[Finch2090]

Just ran it again at 2pm. Maybe I just needed the warm up as I qualified pole position with a 1:32.8 which is faster than my best laps from free practice. A rare occasion where I peaked during a qualifying session but saying that I only did about 30-40 practice laps and my last proper run was Monday night!

Clean air is essential, I was 3 seconds ahead by turn 3 because they started fighting behind me and by the end of the lap I had cleared them by 6 seconds because I think it became dirty, as the places behind me on the leaderboard kept swapping every turn with names disappearing off my screen occasionally. Pitted for the mediums earlier than I planned as I had such a buffer to 2nd that I just wanted to relax to the finish and still came home with a 16 second lead. This was a high B lobby (just for reference)

So my strategy for qualifying was aiming to do 2 laps instead of pushing for 3. I waited in the pits for 20 seconds after the last guy left ahead of me which allowed me to put together two fast laps with time to spare for my second lap instead of rushing out to try get a third

Starting at the back of the grid on mediums is probably better time wise than being in midfield, as the mix of soft and medium compounds is just a mess into turn 1, as people will misjudge their braking here and no matter how cautiously you take it you’re still at the mercy of everyone else around you. If you’re at the back, pit after 1 lap as the tyres really do hold up throughout the entire race in GT2 and you will make up places due to fighting and slower race pace drivers

 

[Yard_Sale]

Did one slot on my oceanic account before I nodded off to bed. Ran the 08’ NSSEEEEEX and predictably got my arse handed to me. My pre-race FP times were consistent high 32’s. I butchered qualifying and ended up
12th on the grid. Got caught up in a turn 1-4 concertina effect and ended up with heavy front and rear damage. Decided to stay out and pitted at end of 6 for softs. Finished a very distant 11th after all was said and done.

Kind of a ‘meh’ race.


Really looking forward to Interlagos this weekend. Going to be testing Manu cars across all 3 of my accounts

 

[Moose78]

What brake balance are you using? I’m going to try your same strategy.

I just leave it at zero. In one of the the livestreams I was watching earlier there was some debate whether it should be forward or back and how much. I didn't get a feeling there was much agreement on what was best.

Edit: I do run with TC 1, which I feel really helps out toward of the end of the race when the rear tires are gone.

 

[CMB350]

I just leave it at zero. In one of the the livestreams I was watching earlier there was some debate whether it should be forward or back and how much. I didn't get a feeling there was much agreement on what was best.

Edit: I do run with TC 1, which I feel really helps out toward of the race when the rear tires are gone.

Sounds good. I had mixed results adjusting it. I thought it felt better at +4 or +5 but I couldn’t top my fastest practice laps at 0. I’ll probably just leave it at 0.

I run TC1 at all times in that car. It’s way too twitchy on corner exit at TC0, even on fresh tires.

 

[MIE1992]

So as a GT2 driver who plans to use the CLK-LM, you're saying I could just do two or three laps on mediums, then change to softs for the rest of the race? I'll definitely keep the TCS on 1, too.

 

[Interemptor]

Just ran the race on my alt account which is C ranked (Main is low B). Got pole and won the race by almost 20s. Hope to get it to B before the Manu Cup. No real point in such a race.

Weirdly this time the softs lasted until Lap 13. Could have done it without a stop. I drove exactly the same but got 3/4 laps more of them.

Tried playing a bit with the break balance but best and fastest for me was 0

 

[Bojador]

Just ran the race on my alt account which is C ranked (Main is low B). Got pole and won the race by almost 20s. Hope to get it to B before the Manu Cup. No real point in such a race.

Weirdly this time the softs lasted until Lap 13. Could have done it without a stop. I drove exactly the same but got 3/4 laps more of them.

Tried playing a bit with the break balance but best and fastest for me was 0

What were the quali times like?

 

[Interemptor]

What were the quali times like?

Mine was 1.34.3xx , second was .5s behind

 

[afc5150]

Q4 - P4 slot 1 in North America mostly B/S worth 145 points, door 10.

Stayed up front most of the race running in P2 for most of it. Went 11S-3M but got undercut huge by 2 guys who must have pitted early off mediums. Couldn't hold them off and brought it home in 4th in a 100% CLK one make race.

A little disappointed but will take the points and call it one and done.

 

[Bojador]

Mine was 1.34.3xx , second was .5s behind

Hopefully I can do a good quali. My best time was a high 1.33 but I doubt I can pull that off with traffic in a C rates lobby.

 

[Homestead]

So as a GT2 driver who plans to use the CLK-LM, you're saying I could just do two or three laps on mediums, then change to softs for the rest of the race? I'll definitely keep the TCS on 1, too.

I started on softs and pitted end of lap 11 for meds. Although I was P1 so didn't have to fight. Only about a second off on my fast last with worn RS.

NA slot 1 GT2 High B! driver Door 15
Q1 1:33.114
P1 11RS->3RM

Started out P1 on softs pushing to create a gap and minimize mistakes. Much easier than having to deal with traffic and ran my own race. Pitted for RM at end of lap 11 ~6 second lead. Brought it home in p1 for 145 pts. One and done for this round.

 

[Interemptor]

Hopefully I can do a good quali. My best time was a high 1.33 but I doubt I can pull that off with traffic in a C rates lobby.

My best lap in total is a 1.34.1xx on my main. Got a lot of learning to do before I get faster. Some of the times I saw left me speachless 😁

In the lobby on my alt account I waited and left the pit last. Passed 3 cars on my out lap that crashed into each other.

Sometimes people drive harder then in the race 🙈

 

[SPL170db]

Watching Kie's stream now. Looks like the front guys ran the first 13 laps on RS before switching over to RM.

What brake balance are you using? I’m going to try your same strategy.

Kie was running with the bias set 4 to the rear.

 

[Bojador]

BB on the rears imply greater tyre wear no?

 

[DK]

Got punted out of a probable 6th place at T1...twice. By the same oxygen thief. Why should I bother when I always fall victim to the meta.

 

[Fezzik]

Had a connection issue tonight. Either my powerline adaptors or ethernet bridge have stopped working, so I’m stuck on wifi. Not ideal, bad ping. I think I was a bit glitchy in the race.

Euro GT2, low B. #7, qualified 7th. Could’ve got 2nd row if I matched practice. Up to 4th on lap 1 but made an error through the fast kink and then overshot the tight left. Ended up in the wall.

Lost several seconds finding reverse and dropped to 14th. Stuck with the plan to pit lap 1 and put on the softs.

5 clear laps before I started meeting backmarkers and pitters. Solid pace but not enough for a win. Was running 5th towards the end a few secs behind the two ahead but the tyres faded badly and I lost a place on the last lap.

Finished 6th, 7 secs off the podium. A solid effort but I think a podium was on without that lap 1 error. No penalties, no contact (I think), couple of wall taps.

Mostly Mercs in my race. Couple of Hondas, an Audi and a Lexus.

 

[Finch2090]

Thankfully my race was over by the end of lap 3 so I didn’t have to endure the end of it

Started on the mediums and was sticking close to the pack in front when another driver decided to divebomb me from off the radar, giving both of us damage on lap 2, I pitted then for my softs and began catching up with drivers again because most of them were carrying damage. Then a driver with going slower ahead (obvious damage) and a 5 second penalty purposely brake checked me 400m out from the hairpin after attempting a late block as I was going around him, front bumper and wheel damage again which I decided to call quits on. I couldn’t get out of a single corner without spinning out and pitting again was just going to put me back 10 seconds from p15.

I shouldn’t quit but I genuinely wasn’t in the mood for racing again with these kind of drivers in Heavy Damage races. There own race is effectively over so they must collect casualties along with them.

Best of luck to the Americans who are participating in their own races now or later!

 

[AdxRE]

Only got time for 1 race tonight and entered Slot #2 in EU. GT1, A+ lobby.

I am never good at Gr.2 so did not expect much from the race. A CLK-GTR one-make lobby, surprised myself with 7th on the grid (1:32.9) and started on mediums. Actually managed to stay with the guys on softs in the first few laps as the slipstream is super strong. Pitted at the end of Lap 7 (probably went 1 lap too long) and came out on traffic so I got undercut and overcut at the same time. 🤨 After being pushed wide into the grass by a guy, he tried to do the same to the guy in front and I managed to clear both in 1 go. Finished 5th which is around 10 positions better than expected. Not too bad for my first GTWS race in A+!

 

[GlockPants]

Interesting two races today. Both very different with one constant - I'm very fast here in the CLK.

Practice paid off greatly and the CLK has been my weapon of choice for a very long time and I'm quite comfortable with its twitchiness.

Onto the races.

---

Spoiler: Race 1

GT2 - A/B Lobby with 139 points for P1.
I'm Door #8

Qualifying was not terrible, but I was nowhere close to my best FP lap of 1:31.739.

A 1:33.095 was good enough for Q3, only 7 hundredths off Q1. So I figured it would be a decent race.

Lap 1 was a disaster. Exiting Turn 5, P4 taps me and I go spinning, down to P15 by the time I rejoin the track.

I keep my head down, knowing my race is most likely ruined. But I remember, I'm fast and we still have the pit strategy to consider.

I know the Soft tires I started on will last nearly the entire race. But when to change to the required Mediums? I figure, just watch the lap times. On Lap 13 I'm still only off the FL by 0.091 seconds by start of Sector 3. I pit at the end of Lap 13 in P2. Exit P6 and that's where I'd finish. Not a bad recovery from at one point being dead last.

The result was worth 110 points. But I'm fast here ... I can do better.

---

Spoiler: Race 2

GT2 - A/B Lobby with 138 points for P1.
I'm Door #9

I shake off the fatigue of the previous race and hop into the next slot. Find my qualifying pace on practice and get to it.

I set a decent qualifying lap of 1:32.466 which is good for Pole Position. Q2 is 6 tenths off. I might have this one if I can avoid Lap 1 carnage.

I think I do a decent job of that.

I gap the field fast and have a mistake free race. Knowing I can make the Soft tires last nearly the entire race, I do the same as before and pit for Mediums at the end of Lap 13.

It was mostly a lonely race, but after the last one's action, I'll take it. Ended up finishing over 15 seconds to the Mercedes behind me.

P1 babyyyyyy!

 

[Moose78]

I ran the 12PM EST GT2 slot in the Americas. Door #9, in mostly DR B lobby, with a few DR As. There were 141 points on the table.

I needed a top 5 finish to better my score from Rd.1. Going in, that seemed unlikely. Then I qualified and removed all doubt. A Q13 with a time of 1:34.3.

I was driving the sole Audi in a sea of silver CLKs, starting on RMs.

The race began with a punt into the sand on T1. No matter. I was happy for some clean air on my drive to the pits for some RS tires at the end of lap 1.

From then on, I had plenty of room to drive my race. Of course, that didn't stop me from following another car off the track a few laps later for a second visit into the sand at T1.

Over the course of the rest of the race, I managed to pass a few cars while they were in the pits. Some of them caught back up and easily took the place back. I managed to stay ahead of a few them them.

Finished P10 for 89 points. I don't expect that trying again would significantly change the outcome, so I'll leave it at that.

Next up, Interlagos. Ugh.

 

[thumbbandit87]

2 A rated lobbies today in the EU section

All clk gtrs. No overly bad driving except for underestimating the slip stream in breaking.

2ns race had an entire field spread within 0.9 seconds! Started on mediums in P6, pitted lap 5 to go onto softs as psychologically prefer the hunt...

Ended up 2nd 1.1 off first ...so close. 218 points.

Shout out to the rtr drivers ...bilbo bagging and another leading to 4 Brits all finishing within 5 seconds or so. And mainly....all raced CLEAN and FAST whilst on opposing strats. Thank you for the fun race