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

[Eggstor]

My 7 pm CDT GT3 room was all-D/S, with 18 points for the win and me wearing door #8 of 15 (the 16th departed before warm-ups ended) on my Mercedes. The room was mostly Toyotas, with another pair of Mercedes, a BMW, and a 2016 Nissan thrown in for grins. As usual, I didn't take a qualifying time, while another thought about qualifying on intermediates and realized too late they were on, and another 3 not taking a time.

I could have been a contender for the pole, as the fast time (in a Toyota) was only 3:47 flat, with the faster Mercedes 2.5 seconds behind pole, and the Nissan 4.5 seconds behind pole. That sent me out 11th of 14 as another dropped out before the start.

The first couple laps were rather ugly as I let the other non-qualifiers by before Dunlop to try to ensure I wasn't part of carnage, so I was the first pit road (a stop-and-go) on lap 2. I picked up a pit-lane violation (I thought I not only entered pit lane on line, but also didn't cut the chicane that's just before the auto-drive start, but apparently the stewards disagreed), but as another of the backmarkers who had a lot of trouble early on also pitted then, I came out 13th. The cycle of pit stops got me up into the podium mix. While I didn't think I made any contact with one of the Toyotas in the Ford Chicane as he, another Toyota and I battled for 2nd-4th, I waited up for him after he spun, which allowed one of the other Mercedes to get on by both of us and dropped me down to 5th. That Toyota spun on his own a bit later to give me 4th. My well-worn tires didn't allow me to quite hold off the Mercedes going into the 2nd Mulsanne chicane after nosing ahead in the middle section of the Mulsanne straight on lap 9 or harass him into a mistake on the last lap. Still, I'll take 4th, though I forgot to check how many points that was worth.

 

[Spider-Racer]

An exciting and very tense race!
I'm going to do the season on the Canadian account to be placed in more balanced splits. In this first round, I managed a pretty decent qualifying (6th) and moved up two positions in the race, to cross the finish line in 4th and put 310 points in the bank! No penalties and a clean race, in a very competitive lobby!

 

[Canucks_9419]

That was just mehh, and kind of boring to be honest.

First Slot NA GT1 - Low A/S Split, all Toyotas

A slight lag spike cost me a few tenths in an otherwise clean quali lap, putting me in 10th with a 3:42.xxx. pretty clean start avoiding a couple spinners had me up into a battle for 5th. Unfortunately had a spin on my in-lap on Lap 6 giving me minor front aero damage. Didn't end up taking tires but I probably should have as the pace lost on worn tires was more than changing would have cost me. Finish P10, 100 Pts.

Missing Round 2, but looking forward to the Pre-Tuned cars race next week, as I haven't done one of those in GTWS yet.

 

[SPL170db]

Came back for slot 2. Definitely a lower lobby, only 192 pts for first vs 240 in the last one . Made pole pretty easy but ran wide in Arnage hitting the outside barrier giving me damage in the race and got passed for the lead on the 4th lap. Undercut the pit to fix the aero damage and just tried to keep it clean from there on and just brought home the 2nd. Good enough for me I guess.

 

[kowalski__1]

Well,my GR2 race went good,qual 5th,the only one with the CLK,no tires, a splash of gas and finished 2nd for a nice 104 points,seen alot of Red SR behind me,must have been some rough stuff going on,lol,glad i missed it

 

[GTWolverine]

Slot 1: Qualified 5th in 3rd Split, got disconnected from 5th on Lap 8...

Slot 2: Was "door" #1 again like I was for Slot 1, only this time the win was worth 20 fewer points at 296, so I was worried I'd missed out on a chunk of points. I messed up my first out lap by cutting the corner before Indianapolis and getting a penalty too close to the penalty zone to have it register on my out lap, meaning it would've been applied to my flying lap (or invalidated it - I forget which), so I had to quickly bail and try again before I ran out of time to set a lap. I managed to start my flying lap with 20s left, and somehow put it on pole with a 3:37.8, which I'm pretty sure is my first championship pole in GT7! And at a track I'm actually not that fond of!

Me and the 2nd place qualifier broke away from the rest of the field, with him bump-drafting me whenever he got close enough. P2 pitted on Lap 4 while I carried on for another lap, and after I pitted, we met at T1 where he had the high ground I had to concede the lead. From then on he slowly walked away from me to a gap of over 3s before he took it super easy in the final sector and crossed the line almost exactly 2s ahead of me. I always hate finishing worse than I start, but this is a place I usually struggle for pace, even in cars I enjoy, so I'm still happy with this result. It ties my best ever position at Le Mans, and my 284 points is my higest-ever points total here too. Had I actually finished Slot 1, I would've been a distant P5 for only 263 points, so getting disconnected worked in my favor I guess (except for the lost DR...).

 

[bduddy]

NA, full A+ lobbies now. My Fanatec is still out for "repair", they generated a shipping label yesterday and then immediately cancelled it. I just hope they send it back before they declare bankruptcy...

Slot 1, picked up a penalty at the final chicanes, hence started last. Why are we starting behind the chicane again???? I did manage to hang on to the draft though, and through mostly others' mistakes ended up P6. Could have been better, but ended up with way too many of my own penalties.

Slot 2, clean quali lap this time, started P3. Weird lag at the beginning - it seemed like I had gotten past the guy who started 2nd, only for both him and the Q4 starter to jump ahead of me?? The guy in 2nd lagged a bit more and eventually dropped out (edit: watched the replay, we had some contact after going off the track together and only he got damage somehow. Lucky break for me! Possibly lag-related?). I had a great fight with a guy behind, but I gradually built pace throughout the race and ended up forcing a pass at Indianapolis on lap 9 - thanks for backing out!! P3 gets me a new high score of 240 points which I'm going to stand on, and my DR up to 54k. Not bad for controller!

 

[jrbabbitt]

All I'm seeing is the "Great GT-one show"

My 7 pm CDT GT3 room was all-D/S, with 18 points for the win and me wearing door #8 of 15 (the 16th departed before warm-ups ended) on my Mercedes. The room was mostly Toyotas, with another pair of Mercedes, a BMW, and a 2016 Nissan thrown in for grins. As usual, I didn't take a qualifying time, while another thought about qualifying on intermediates and realized too late they were on, and another 3 not taking a time.

I could have been a contender for the pole, as the fast time (in a Toyota) was only 3:47 flat, with the faster Mercedes 2.5 seconds behind pole, and the Nissan 4.5 seconds behind pole. That sent me out 11th of 14 as another dropped out before the start.

The first couple laps were rather ugly as I let the other non-qualifiers by before Dunlop to try to ensure I wasn't part of carnage, so I was the first pit road (a stop-and-go) on lap 2. I picked up a pit-lane violation (I thought I not only entered pit lane on line, but also didn't cut the chicane that's just before the auto-drive start, but apparently the stewards disagreed), but as another of the backmarkers who had a lot of trouble early on also pitted then, I came out 13th. The cycle of pit stops got me up into the podium mix. While I didn't think I made any contact with one of the Toyotas in the Ford Chicane as he, another Toyota and I battled for 2nd-4th, I waited up for him after he spun, which allowed one of the other Mercedes to get on by both of us and dropped me down to 5th. That Toyota spun on his own a bit later to give me 4th. My well-worn tires didn't allow me to quite hold off the Mercedes going into the 2nd Mulsanne chicane after nosing ahead in the middle section of the Mulsanne straight on lap 9 or harass him into a mistake on the last lap. Still, I'll take 4th, though I forgot to check how many points that was worth.

Saw you, said hello in the 9pm race in US, had to drop out, wife needed help... trying on last 11pm race....

 

[SPL170db]

NA, full A+ lobbies now. My Fanatec is still out for "repair", they generated a shipping label yesterday and then immediately cancelled it. I just hope they send it back before they declare bankruptcy...

Slot 1, picked up a penalty at the final chicanes, hence started last. Why are we starting behind the chicane again???? I did manage to hang on to the draft though, and through mostly others' mistakes ended up P6. Could have been better, but ended up with way too many of my own penalties.

Slot 2, clean quali lap this time, started P3. Weird lag at the beginning - it seemed like I had gotten past the guy who started 2nd, only for both him and the Q4 starter to jump ahead of me?? The guy in 2nd lagged a bit more and eventually dropped out. I had a great fight with a guy behind, but I gradually built pace throughout the race and ended up forcing a pass at Indianapolis on lap 9 - thanks for backing out!! P3 gets me a new high score of 240 points which I'm going to stand on, and my DR up to 54k. Not bad for controller!

Kudosprime is telling me...~46,600 pts +/- 100 (A @ 83%)


What's the threshold for A+? 50K

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Well, I qualified 6th with the number 2 plate on and went from there. By the end of the first lap I was in second as the other sqwabbled and knocked themselves back. Was running between 2nd and fourth as two faster drivers caught up. On lap 7 (after pitting) another driver decided they didn't like me in their slipstream so when I went to make a pass they slammed me into the side of the Mulsanne. They ended up spinning out and getting a massive penalty for it. From there I decided to not pit and nurse myself to the finish. Lost 2 places in the process with 7th less than a second from me at the end. Gutted to say the least because I was on for a podium..

Some peoples kids I tell ya...

 

[bduddy]

Kudosprime is telling me...~46,600 pts +/- 100 (A @ 83%)


What's the threshold for A+? 50K


View attachment 1347578

GranTracker which is what I'm using says that is the threshold, yes. You're pretty close!

 

[Dep Fishtail]

Didn’t get a time in qualifying so started near the back. Got rear ended on lap one so I pitted and then ran my race. Up to p2 for quite a while and finally lost it on lap 9 but still hung on to p3.

 

[Wannablackbee]

What a disaster that was! Ran the 7PM EDT GT1 slot in North America. All A/S lobby. 160 points up for grabs. Door 14. Driving the GT-One.

Qualifying was about the only thing that went well. I started Q4 with a time of 3:40.638.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I got a good exit out of Tertre Rouge on Lap 1 and picked up a position to P3, which I held until I went into the sand on the Mulsanne Corner on the same lap.

It was all downhill from there. If I wasn't going into the sand, I was collecting track limit penalties -- all unforced, stupid mistakes. Dropped as low as P14 at one point.

I pitted on lap 4 to get out of traffic. I took new tires so I'd have at least some hope of salvaging some kind of pace toward back half of the race.

And it worked, I guess. I managed to work my way up to a P9 finish and 106 points. Still, I'm feeling rather disappointed with myself on this one.

Not going to try another, though. Too late in the day for that.

That's it for Nations Cup for me for a while. I'll be away for most of the rest of the rounds. Back for the final one. See you at Spa in the X2019s!

I was there with you. At the moment, I felt sorry for you and also did not understand how you went off track. You had such a good qualification time. Anyway, maybe we will be in the same lobby for the x2019 at spa.

 

[ElectricNaz]

What do you MEAN there's 5 more rounds to go???

end it now!!! 😂😂


Also, quick question, "local ranking" for Hampshire (Main Area) has a couple of C ranked and a D ranked driver in it (I'm in GT2 as a B ranked driver) - is that because the local rankings aren't further broken down by leagues? I thought C and below would be in GT3 class? Not a complaint, just unusual to see

 

[MetalApe]

Okay, I was a bit naughty, after getting disconnected from my lunchtime race I slipped in a 3pm race during my working afternoon. I'll make up for it this morning with an early start.

Championship wise my re-run was a waste of time before qualifying even begun, I screen shotted the points tables from both races. You can see the massive difference available depending on the lobby your in. The DR hit from my previous disconnect put me into a lobby with way lower points. A win in this race would net me less points than 8th in my disconnected lobby. So even a win here is almost certainly going to be a dropped score at seasons end.

But it's not all bad, I still had a cracking race. Qualified 2nd, the pole man was 1.3s ahead, so I was expecting him to walk off into the distance. We got off to a clean start up front, but a not so great lap from the pole man, with a 1s penalty meant I could jump up to lead the first lap. It wasn't to last he soon found a bit better pace and was back ahead.

Unbeknown to me at the time, Q3 had a poor first lap dropping to 5th, but he was quickly recovering and by lap 4 caught and passed me for 2nd. Then lap 5 it got fun, P1 messed up the Dunlop Chicane, ended up side by side with P2 for the lead. As they slowed each down I was on their tails, and a brilliant three way slipstreaming battle ensued to the end of the lap, with me briefly leading the way again.

It wasn't to last, Q3 pitted, the original leader got past again and pull little gap before pitting, I stayed out and pitted the end of lap 7, changing tyres, which may have been a mistake. I came out third, where I stayed to the finish, just over 1s behind P2.

Overall a great race, with a fair result that I think reflected our paces. A deserved win with a great recovery drive for Q3 (The Brawn colours), P2 for the original poleman, and me bringing my Bentley home in 3rd.

P.S. I've picked my theme for championships, for the manufactures I'm going to pick a British team and run British Racing Green, so I've started the theme a little early here with my chosen colour scheme.

 

[dazdilly75]

Well, that was a waste of time. I don't think I've experienced such a bad race in a while. I pride myself in being able to sense trouble, which is why I've
Managed to consistently gain DR and keep my nose clean, in over a year of racing. I was in an A+ Lobby, with 310pts for first place, and the last slot of the evening. I managed to get my TT time down to a 3:36.2xx. In the race quali, I was on course for a high 37 but messed up the final turn and ended up with a 38.2xx starting me in 9th place. This would prove to be detrimental to my race. I'm not a great qualifier but I know I can make up places with my race pace. Lap 1 in this race is a slip stream fest, with the front guys trying to get away. I managed to gain 2 places by the time I hit Tertre Rouge and after the first chicane, I was feeling good
(only 4 seconds behind the leader), in the braking zone to the 2nd chicane, I was unaware of a French and Spanish guy fighting for my slip stream. As I brake, the French guy shunts right into the back of me, because he's trying to outbrake the Spanish guy he's battling with. He kills my rear aero and gives himself front damage. For the next 4 laps I'm driving around
4-5 seconds a lap slower than my normal race pace. Game over and good night! 13th place finish and 155 pts. A weeks worth of practice completely ruined by a moment of madness from the guy behind me. Yes I know its racing, but it's so demoralising. The heavy damage needs to penalise the guys punting and not the recipients (imo) World Tour drivers don't even have to worry about heavy damage at the live events, but for some reason, us mere mortals have to deal with it. Such is life. Hope you all had a better experience than I did in Round 1 of the official season.

 

[Fezzik]

Stupidly I had another go at Le Mans, in the GT-One this time. Terrible qualifying (3.5 secs slower than CLK) left me starting 10th. Incredibly dirty and sloppy driving back there, including by me. The road rage started, got in a fight with a Russian (happens quite a lot - I usually just punt them on sight now) and quit, so no points for this round.

Not sure about racing Saturday. Not very fast in the Honda and just 5 laps seems a bit pointless.

I wish they'd hurry up and launch the Manufacturers season before I completely destroy my SR.

 

[Moose78]

I was there with you. At the moment, I felt sorry for you and also did not understand how you went off track. You had such a good qualification time. Anyway, maybe we will be in the same lobby for the x2019 at spa.

I thought I recognized the name, but I wasn't sure. It was good racing with you! We even got to race a little with each other between a couple of my trips to the sand. Good stuff!

Thinking back -- forgot to save the replay, another blunder to add to the list -- I might have picked up dirt on my tires going through the Michelin Chicane. On both of the first two laps I got that chicane all wrong needlessly trying to leave room for somebody to go side-by-side. When I got to Mulsanne, I braked at my usual spot but the car just kept on going.

Also, quick question, "local ranking" for Hampshire (Main Area) has a couple of C ranked and a D ranked driver in it (I'm in GT2 as a B ranked driver) - is that because the local rankings aren't further broken down by leagues? I thought C and below would be in GT3 class? Not a complaint, just unusual to see

The GT2 and GT3 results are kept separate. The DR C and D drivers must have dropped from B after signing up for the season. A drop from B to D in the span of a week is quite an impressive feat, though. Maybe it was an SR reset.

 

[Norbsthebald]

Not sure about racing Saturday. Not very fast in the Honda and just 5 laps seems a bit pointless.

Actually, just what is going on with the round 2 settings? Did a couple of mock races yesterday to try it out and most races will be over in less than 10 minutes, making the race shorter than the 10-minute qualifying session!

Come to think of it, could someone have got the qualifying minutes and race laps mixed up? 5-minute qualifying and 10-lap race sounds much more sensible.

Sorry for lack of race reports recently, life (family and work) has seriously got in the way of late, so even though I got the Norbsthebald account into A I can't use it most of the time as I can't do the GT1 sessions. Even if I could I have only a fraction of the practice time that I would need to give a good account of myself in GT1. So I started a new account which is now in mid-B to race GT2.

My race was an all- Toyota affair worth 92pts to the winner. I qualified 7th, made up a place from a spinner on lap 1, had a battle with a German which ended when they spun after trying to switcheroo me at Mulsanne corner, stayed out until lap 9 to enjoy clear track and finished P6. Not bad considering fast cars on fast tracks are a weak spot for me. I think this was @RobertHammer 's first race in their post earlier, as they were right behind me (RaggyRussell) at one point.

 

[MIE1992]

Looks like this season has started off with a bang for me!

 

[DK]

I got 84 points for 12th in the final GT1 race yesterday. Once I fell out of the draft it was over, and I didn't help matters by taking aero damage twice, once on my rear before my stop on lap 4, and then on my front after my stop.

 

[Fezzik]

Actually, just what is going on with the round 2 settings? Did a couple of mock races yesterday to try it out and most races will be over in less than 10 minutes, making the race shorter than the 10-minute qualifying session!

Come to think of it, could someone have got the qualifying minutes and race laps mixed up? 5-minute qualifying and 10-lap race sounds much more sensible.

It's a straight copy of the race from the live final last year. That was only 5 laps.

 

[Talon16]

We all give PD a lot of **** and they deserve most of it, but I will say it's cool they're actually making the LCD cars required for these Nations races available to buy before the race. Took them a couple of years to figure that out but now there's less chance of a bunch of cookie-cutter painted cars out on the track at once.

 

[tankuroded]

Grapevine says the reason for point 3 is because the driver in question got caught multi-accounting/smurfing.

 

[jimihemmy]

I did 3 races last night. All had fairly good race craft in them. But was it just me or was everyone ghosting at the Mulsanne corner?

In my first race, I just thought people were pausing to make the corner but it happened in all 3 of my races.

I also saw it at the first chicane at times.

 

[jrbabbitt]

This car is a beast! I was in the 9pm race (had to exit mid- race) and was in the final 11pm race and started in almost last place and was passing other cars with ease, the only cars I had to deal with were the other TS020s and a few had made errors in their races which I gladly made advantage of.
Looking at my tyres and fuel I can see that I can do the whole race without a pitstop so at lap 8 I jump in the pits for a stop and go, no tyre, no fuel, I had but one car in front ahead but could not catch in time.
Happy with P2 Podium😃

Here is just the first lap....

 

[Zorz]

We all give PD a lot of **** and they deserve most of it, but I will say it's cool they're actually making the LCD cars required for these Nations races available to buy before the race. Took them a couple of years to figure that out but now there's less chance of a bunch of cookie-cutter painted cars out on the track at once.

Eh, would never have guessed considering how many stock GT-Ones I saw in all 3 of my races yesterday!

Grapevine says the reason for point 3 is because the driver in question got caught multi-accounting/smurfing.

Any hints as to who that was, or at least where to look to try find out? I saw what seemed like a parody of a GTWS driver in my third race last night, doing what was seemingly an attempt at a last to first challenge and making it to the podium. He set the fastest lap by a fair margin, but his overall pace wasn't what I would expect from a world finalist. Got me wondering if it actually was the person in question smurfing with a pad or the like for a laugh now!


Speaking of my third attempt, it went better. Stressed me the hell out like Le Mans always does, but it was at least a proper race without me making any stupid mistakes. My qualifying lap was poor, over a second slower than I had been in the first couple of races and I started P10. That mid-chicane start is painful. I did see the eventual polesitter recreate my first race mistake and exit stage left on the chicane heading towards Tertre Rouge on the outlap though, so that did make me feel better.

A Brit had a laggy collision with a German and a Spaniard at the Dunlop chicane off the start, and then another Spaniard seemed to go through what I experienced on my first attempt where the car just wouldn't stop. Shuffling through that moved me up to P8, right behind the German and one of the Spaniards down the Mulsanne. The German picked up a penalty for cutting Tertre Rouge and we all caught a Brit who overshot the Mulsanne onto the gravel.

I get the slingshot past them on the run down to Indianapolis but struggle to get it stopped after a bumpdraft I wasn't aware had happened and miss the apex. The Maltese polesitter had binned it here too.

With the German serving the penalty and my mistake compromising me, I was P6 heading into the last sector, but then one of the Spaniards recreated my second race mistake and got murdered by the kerb at the last chicane, so P5 at the start of lap 2. P4 almost lost control coming out of the second Mulsanne chicane so I moved up to P4 and started to pull a gap.

I came out right behind P3 after the pit stops which surprised me as he was a fair bit ahead. He must have either been slow selecting tyres or taken on a lot of fuel to make that happen I guess? I couldn't really keep pace though, with only penalties bringing him back to me, but not enough for me to get past.

The "smurf" eventually caught us and got past, so I finished P5 and with a clean race bonus. Considering how weak Le Mans always is for me, that's a very good result and I'm not complaining.

I did end up cursing anyway though after the race finished. I thought I'd livestreamed it in VR like I usually do, only to discover I hadn't hit the button.

So yeah, recording of a replay instead. Haven't had to do this for a while!

 

[Eggstor]

All I'm seeing is the "Great GT-one show"


Saw you, said hello in the 9pm race in US, had to drop out, wife needed help... trying on last 11pm race....

I was wondering where you went. That was rather bold going with the BMW.

 

[AdxRE]

After having 2 great exhibition seasons at the beginning of the year, the reality came crushing down last night.

This race actually felt like a combination of 2 recent TT's, the Veyron Gr.4 at Lemans and the Toyota GT-One at Fuji. Having done both TT actually helped me to a 3:36.9 practice time within an hour of practice for this round.


EMEA GT1 Race #1 - 259 points lobby
Q6 with 3:38.5, 0.9s behind pole. 2 track limit penalties in Lap 1 dropped me to 7th. Came Lap 3, from my PoV the guy in 6th made heavy contact with me going into dunlop bridge and I flew off track. Then I managed to half spin due to dirty tyres and collected anpother guy (Sorry!) though he recovered fairly quickly. Got damage on all 4 corners and called it quit. Didn't even get to see which door number I had.

The guy in 6th actually PM me (Greatly appreciate that really) after the race explaining there was no contact in his PoV after reviewing his replay so we figured it may be down to lag. We shaked hands (virtually) and moved on.


EMEA GT1 Race #2 - 257 points lobby
Leant that everyone only got one hot lap, waited til around 05:30 mark to leave the pit to make the most of the track space. Had a pretty bad sector 1 so ended up 3:38.4 and only 9th on the grid. Despit the lower points this seems to be a much faster lobby.

Barely cleared the chiance at the rolling start (PD, please fix this) but got bumped slightly wide in 1st chicane when the other car suddenly unghosted (Why do we have such an aggressitve ghosting in A+ lobby?). Nothing else happened all race with me losing the slipstream from the group in front in Pits and quicker than the guys behind in raw pace. Finished 7th and bagged 192 points. No one made any major mistake in the upper half of the field for the whole race which was impressive, but prety bad for my points haul.

Hoping for a better round 2!

 

[Talon16]

Eh, would never have guessed considering how many stock GT-Ones I saw in all 3 of my races yesterday!

Yea, some people don't want to spend the credits or just don't care but at least it's an option for those who do.