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

[SPL170db]

I was initially practicing with the '23 Z like everyone at the top. I just gave the '71 a try and shaved 1/2 a second off. I'm wondering if the soft tires will make the difference in race conditions worthwhile enough?


EDIT: scratch that....a bit more practice and I just squashed that previous best time in the '23 Z by nearly a full second, I just realized the first time I did a run on the '23 Z I was using Hard instead of Med tires lol.

 

[D_Dragline]

Whatever system PD use to “balance” cars doesn’t work. They need to just acknowledge it and stop pretending there’s several viable cars. It is impossible to be competitive in anything other than the 23 in this race. I ran the 71 3 times and every time I simply got mobbed after turn 1 and then blocked everywhere I was faster. No fun.

And the Oceania slots are absolutely hideous. 5pm top split was me (A+), 2 A’s and 2 B’s. That was it. 5 cars. I mean, why even bother? There are simply not enough players for 10 different slots and the points are abysmal. 195 for a top split win. Pathetic.

 

[Cabelmania]

Whatever system PD use to “balance” cars doesn’t work. They need to just acknowledge it and stop pretending there’s several viable cars. It is impossible to be competitive in anything other than the 23 in this race. I ran the 71 3 times and every time I simply got mobbed after turn 1 and then blocked everywhere I was faster. No fun.

And the Oceania slots are absolutely hideous. 5pm top split was me (A+), 2 A’s and 2 B’s. That was it. 5 cars. I mean, why even bother? There are simply not enough players for 10 different slots and the points are abysmal. 195 for a top split win. Pathetic.

I saw you in that race in someone else stream, that was ridiculous indeed

Let's see if the Z32 can do a decent job in about 45 minutes

 

[Zorz]

I'll be bucking the trend and taking the Z33 '07 when I go later as that's the one I've been fastest and most consistent with by far.

I'm going to get bullied out of existence by the swarm of Z Performance '23s, aren't I? 😅

 

[D_Dragline]

I saw you in that race in someone else stream, that was ridiculous indeed

Let's see if the Z32 can do a decent job in about 45 minutes

Oh great, there was a stream of me binning it horribly. How humiliating.

I'll be bucking the trend and taking the Z33 '07 when I go later as that's the one I've been fastest and most consistent with by far.

I'm going to get bullied out of existence by the swarm of Z Performance '23s, aren't I? 😅

Yes.

 

[true_kiat]

It works for me. Z32 and pretty even competitive races so far.

 

[Cabelmania]

Let's see if the Z32 can do a decent job in about 45 minutes

AND THE ANSWER IS.........................

Not really

it can match the speed of the '23 Z, but in the corner it has not the edge against it

And yes, I was the only non '23 Z in the lobby

I'm gonna say however...........this is still a good concept from PD It just need a little tuning of its own

 

[Nebuc72]

It's impressive that PD had to balance a new group of cars for one track and somehow still made it comically unbalanced. Did they do like, 1 lap of testing for each car?

 

[samppa_944]

Only doing Nations cup this exhibition season, missed the first round, but gave this Z fest at Fuji a go. Pretty good qualifying lap of 1.55.8, but in a lobby with a few probably low A+ drivers only enough for a P7. Nothing to worry about though, since matching that would give me 177 pts, more than I have gotten recently.

The race then, well I expected more chaos on first lap, but wasn't too bad. Driver behind me got a slightly better start and passed me, down to P8. Then someone passed me on the long straight, down to P9 at the start of lap 2, not good, struggled to get up to pace quickly.

But then the chaos kicked off ahead, started at the long right hander just after T1, when apparently someone decided to try force another driver off on the outside, and then they started bumping each other and it ended up being a bit of a free for all, with all of a sudden 6-7 cars being inside a few tenths during the last sector. So much went on, but me, a Hungarian and a British A+ driver managed to escape from the chaos, thankfully. I was in P5, ahead of them both. Sadly got bump passed to P6 start of lap 3 by the Hungarian (who to be fair was quicker than me in the end anyways) with the A+ driver right behind me.

And we had a very good battle, me and the A+ driver, switching places a few times. He looked to be a tiny bit faster, but then made a crucial mistake at the last corner on lap 5, so I just passed him even without the slip into T1, start of lap 6. And then managed to keep myself ahead start of lap 7, and also looked like he got some small bumps from behind after T1. After that just drove a solid lap 7 home for 187 pts, best score of the year so far and I think first over 170 & 180 pt score this year, been struggling a bit. I really liked the combo and probably had like TOP3 pace if I had a lobby full of similar DR drivers.

A full lobby of the new Z performance, yeah PD could have done a better job with the car balancing. But A for effort 🤪

 

[OJBrit]

Not sure I can go an hour in the rain without crashing any of the Ford GTs. May have to revert back to the reliable old Mustang.

Traditionally on GT the MR cars are better in the wet.

 

[Snake55wildcat]

Decent result for me today, was better than I expected!

 

[Zorz]

My race (which I just realised had @Nebuc72 in, hi!) actually went better than expected. I didn't finish last! It wouldn't have mattered if I was in the Z Performance '23 though, this combo just has not clicked for me at all. There was no way I was ever going to keep any kind of competitive pace regardless of which car I was in.

I started dead last on the grid of 14 with a 1:56.744, more than 2 seconds off pole. My personal best would have only seen me taking P12/P13 at most.

As a positive, at least it meant I got to sit back and watch the turn 1 brawl unfold from safety. I moved up a tiny bit from the fray but was quickly back down in P14 by the middle of sector 2, constantly losing out having to go side-by-side through the sector where the Z33 actually has pace. All I could do was wave goodbye to everyone except a French driver who (and I have no idea how) widely veered right near the start of the main straight, going onto the grass and bashing into the wall. That allowed me to briefly move back up into P13. I say briefly because even after doing that, he overtook me going into turn 1. The balance of the cars here truly is comically bad.

From there I was just trundling along in last place until something caused a Brit to lose control after 100R on lap 4. My race then turned into a mad dash to keep it.

Props to the Italian in the other Z33 who somehow managed to claim P8. With how much the Z33 loses out to the '23 down the main straight I have absolutely no clue how he did that.

 

[Nebuc72]

My race (which I just realised had @Nebuc72 in, hi!) actually went better than expected. I didn't finish last! It wouldn't have mattered if I was in the Z Performance '23 though, this combo just has not clicked for me at all. There was no way I was ever going to keep any kind of competitive pace regardless of which car I was in.

I started dead last on the grid of 14 with a 1:56.744, more than 2 seconds off pole. My personal best would have only seen me taking P12/P13 at most.

As a positive, at least it meant I got to sit back and watch the turn 1 brawl unfold from safety. I moved up a tiny bit from the fray but was quickly back down in P14 by the middle of sector 2, constantly losing out having to go side-by-side through the sector where the Z33 actually has pace. All I could do was wave goodbye to everyone except a French driver who (and I have no idea how) widely veered right near the start of the main straight, going onto the grass and bashing into the wall. That allowed me to briefly move back up into P13. I say briefly because even after doing that, he overtook me going into turn 1. The balance of the cars here truly is comically bad.

From there I was just trundling along in last place until something caused a Brit to lose control after 100R on lap 4. My race then turned into a mad dash to keep it.

Props to the Italian in the other Z33 who somehow managed to claim P8. With how much the Z33 loses out to the '23 down the main straight I have absolutely no clue how he did that.

Hahahah hello, I'm glad my tragic attempts of driving the Z '23 for the first time were caught on camera. Such a weird car and setup, if you accelerate out in 3rd gear the rear just kicks out completely and you bleed off tons of time.

I would've loved to drive the '89 one but the fact that nothing else is competitive is a real bummer, everything I tested seemed balanced.. but all balanced at about 0.7s behind the '23. The guy pulling out 8th in the Z33 was mighty impressive, I think he kind of floated around towards the tail end of the pack until he capitalised on the last lap chaos.

 

[Pfei]

Jumped in to the first Americas slot this morning. Mix of A+ and A drivers.

I surprised myself with a 1:55.3 in qualy which had me starting 3rd.

Polesitter made a false start but someone got around me in turn one so I was still 3rd. Had a great battle with @Egghaus88 and he ended up getting past me and put a bit of distance between us. I came home 4th for 207 points. Very happy with this result.

Qualy

Race result

Points

 

[OJBrit]

A bit of a meh race this one. Qualified P10 and didn't expect much. I was in P8 out of TGR as chaos ensued. I was hit but thankfully stayed pointed into the right direction. It looked like the Spaniard from my Manu race was barging people out the way and I got a taste of that. He shoved me through Netz. But I held the car and only lost a place or two. They had a penalty and so we all said goodbye on the straight. From there I overtook a German who was struggling with TGR every lap and held off a Swede for P7.
My reward was the same amount of points as the last round so at least I'm consistent.

 

[Egghaus88]

Ran the first America's slot this morning, my first time being in a GTWS lobby with A+ drivers. For once I beat my FP time in qualifying with a 1:55.4, good enough for P5 in this stacked field. A false start ahead gave me P4 immediately and caused a stack up leaving me with no pressure from behind. I had a great 3 lap battle with @Pfei for P3, it was cool to know I was battling another VR user. My P3 finish gave me 217 points, first time I've scored over 200 in a GTWS race. The '23 Z is pretty fun here and I'd like to run again but don't want to spoil this result.

Side note, IMO VR is a boon at this track, those last two corners are uphill and nearly blind and I' ve always struggled with them. VR makes it easy to see the apexes.

 

[GTWolverine]

Jumped in to the first Americas slot this morning. Mix of A+ and A drivers.

I surprised myself with a 1:55.3 in qualy which had me starting 3rd.

Polesitter made a false start but someone got around me in turn one so I was still 3rd. Had a great battle with @Egghaus88 and he ended up getting past me and put a bit of distance between us. I came home 4th for 207 points. Very happy with this result.

Qualy
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Race result
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Points
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Glad to see some GTP members I don't normally race against! (I'm equus_ferrum).

 

[Bullwinkle]

Well, the usual T1 garbage pretty much ruined my race. Went from P7 to P13 and never got any better than that. Even worse, I got binned by one of @Tidgney 's team members who never bothered to wait and only apologized afterwards. I can't even get a break from the reputable clean guys!

I sure wish there was more than one viable car in this race. My overall review of this race: I give it three "mehs" and that's me being optimistic.

 

[Pfei]

Glad to see some GTP members I don't normally race against! (I'm equus_ferrum).

Congratulations on the win!

 

[icycls]

I surprised myself and enjoyed this race in the first lobbies. I've never figured out those ascending esses at fuji and I'm not particularly good with these cars. I had a weak QT but made some positions and had a fun battle over a few laps with another driver, some really clean driving. Still only finished P9 but that was only 11secs off P1.

 

[benjoi84]

I don't understand why multi class racing exists IRL, but there's plenty of people in GT world asking for it to be added to the game. Maybe today's Nations round is intended to test for such a feature?

 

[Egghaus88]

Glad to see some GTP members I don't normally race against! (I'm equus_ferrum).

Feels good to finish only 8.3s behind you!

 

[afc5150]

Enjoyed Fuji in my GT1, slot 1 race this morning. I don't really care for the track, yet statistically, it's one of my better tracks. Managed a P5 from my Q9 starting spot, but judging from the post race chatter, some carnage ahead contributed to my relative success in this one. Will probably run again this evening on my GT2 alt, but one and done on the main.

 

[SPL170db]

Jumped in to the first Americas slot this morning. Mix of A+ and A drivers.

I surprised myself with a 1:55.3 in qualy which had me starting 3rd.

Polesitter made a false start but someone got around me in turn one so I was still 3rd. Had a great battle with @Egghaus88 and he ended up getting past me and put a bit of distance between us. I came home 4th for 207 points. Very happy with this result.

Qualy
View attachment 1236542


Race result
View attachment 1236543


Points
View attachment 1236544

That's me coming in a few seconds behind you. I Q'd in 10th and things got a bit cozy going into the first couple of turns but stayed reasonably clean. I managed to thread a couple of needles and come through the Hairpin (T6 I believe) battling for 5th. Coming onto the front straight to finish the first lap I saw Carlitos on my tail and a decent gap behind him, so I guess 7th and downward started getting spicy. As I crossed the start finish line I looked back and saw someone back in that pack get bumped off on the main straight and collided with Barry Arrrr. At that point me and Carlitos just tried to keep it clean for the rest of the race. A couple of switcheroos and me playing defense I managed to hold onto 5th for 197 pts as we crossed the finish line less than a car length apart....definitely a fun ride. I like being able to get one and done in that first slot and not have to grind for the afternoon for a good finish lol.

 

[GTWolverine]

Slot 1: I wasn't expecting the race to be populated this early, and sure enough it was populated by people I don't normally race against (though it was good to see some GTP different members on track - @Egghaus88 and @Pfei), and it was worth only 237 points for the win even though it was Top Split. I qualified P2, but led lights to flag because the polesitter jumped the start.

Slot 2: Qualified on pole in a 230-point race, led until the end of Lap 5 when I nearly spun myself at the exit of the final corner and lost 2 spots. Then I lost another spot at the hairpin at the end of Sector 2. Since I'd thrown away the win, and the points weren't what I wanted, I threw it into the wall at the chicane, then tried to park in the pits, but crashed there too and the game reset me on the track. DFL and DNF.

Slot 3: This one was only worth 225 for the win, so I didn't even bother qualifying and decided to race from the back. There were only 14 in this race, so I started 14th and finished 9th.

Slot 4: Race was worth 233 for the win, so I skipped qualifying again and started P16 and again finished P9.

Slot 5: Finally had a slot worth over 250 points, with 253 for the win. Once again I qualified P2, and once again the polesitter jumped the start, so once again I led from lights to flag, and even set FL this time. The polesitter was breathing down my neck for most of the race, forcing me to defend the inside down the front straight at the start of Lap 3, but he was never able to go for a move. He then got a penalty for cutting too much of the Sector 2 hairpin on Lap 5, finally dropping him out of my slipstream and letting me cruise to a win by roughly 2s.

Might do the evening slots, but it depends on how much participation there is, but not sure.

 

[SnakeEyes427]

I can't get to my GT right now. Can a kind soul post a screen shot of the race information? I want to gave though to my plan till I can get on.
Thank you

 

[Pfei]

I can't get to my GT right now. Can a kind soul post a screen shot of the race information? I want to gave though to my plan till I can get on.
Thank you

I'm not at my console, either, but this should help. Tires are sport medium. No pit.

 

[GTWolverine]

Slot 1: I wasn't expecting the race to be populated this early, and sure enough it was populated by people I don't normally race against (though it was good to see some GTP different members on track - @Egghaus88 and @Pfei), and it was worth only 237 points for the win even though it was Top Split. I qualified P2, but led lights to flag because the polesitter jumped the start.

Slot 2: Qualified on pole in a 230-point race, led until the end of Lap 5 when I nearly spun myself at the exit of the final corner and lost 2 spots. Then I lost another spot at the hairpin at the end of Sector 2. Since I'd thrown away the win, and the points weren't what I wanted, I threw it into the wall at the chicane, then tried to park in the pits, but crashed there too and the game reset me on the track. DFL and DNF.

Slot 3: This one was only worth 225 for the win, so I didn't even bother qualifying and decided to race from the back. There were only 14 in this race, so I started 14th and finished 9th.

Slot 4: Race was worth 233 for the win, so I skipped qualifying again and started P16 and again finished P9.

Slot 5: Finally had a slot worth over 250 points, with 253 for the win. Once again I qualified P2, and once again the polesitter jumped the start, so once again I led from lights to flag, and even set FL this time. The polesitter was breathing down my neck for most of the race, forcing me to defend the inside down the front straight at the start of Lap 3, but he was never able to go for a move. He then got a penalty for cutting too much of the Sector 2 hairpin on Lap 5, finally dropping him out of my slipstream and letting me cruise to a win by roughly 2s.

Might do the evening slots, but it depends on how much participation there is, but not sure.

Slot 6: Finally got a proper Top Split race with a win worth 306 points. Qualified 6th and finished 5th for 255 points. That's probably where I'm gonna leave it.

 

[Egghaus88]

Slot 6: Finally got a proper Top Split race with a win worth 306 points. Qualified 6th and finished 5th for 255 points. That's probably where I'm gonna leave it.

How do you define the Slot 1 and Slot 6 races as "Top Split"?

 

[MIE1992]

I kinda feel that in spite of my previous enthusiasm for today's round, I think I'll skip it, and the next round featuring Gr.B cars, too. It's just that this is only a mere Exhibition Series, and I also just wasn't feeling it today. That said, I still might tune in for that last round of the Exhibition Series with the Gr.2 cars at Sardegna, complete with adjustable downforce. We'll see how I stand after the next couple rounds. If I'm the best in the state, great. If not, I can't say I'd truly care, since it's not the actual GTWS/FIAGTCs.

But I still really applaud this ruleset, and I hope we get more like it in the future. Maybe even with the ability to bring our own cars, as long as they're under a certain PP, or a power & weight metric.