Fair warning in advance, this one's going to be a bit of a rant. I've never done any online races at Watkins Glen before today, and after this round I don't want to go there again in a hurry.
I tried it twice on the 1st and 3rd GT1 slots. This is definitely right up there on my list of tracks that does not gel with me whatsoever. I seemed OK doing offline practice runs, but doing the real thing feels completely horrid. This was probably a bit of a perfect storm considering how Watkins Glen seems to be
everywhere right now, especially since Daily Race C is effectively a half distance version of the manufacturer round. (Which I have to admit, I'm not amused by. I know I've only got myself to blame for being completely uninterested in daily races, but talk about a handicap when plenty of others have been gaining actual race experience spamming a near-exact combo for the last few days!)
My biggest problem was a severe lack of confidence. I'd found doing private lobbies with
@Stoobert that it can be extremely difficult to see the number boards on the run to the chicane (Inner Loop?) if you're following someone closely in VR. Both races were also
very dirty in places.
I started P13 and was immediately under attack by the Jaguar in P14... because he was one of just three cars that started on Softs.
Just what I didn't need!
We catch an AMG on lap 2 after he served a penalty and gets involved in a bit of shoving with a Nissan,
who proceeds to ram him off at the last turn. Lovely.
Their fight let me move up into P12, but also set me up for some pain on lap 3. An(other) AMG lost the back end on the second-to-last turn and
turned into a sideways roadblock that I was too close to avoid. Just glad it didn't give me a penalty.
On lap 6, the Nissan has another major incident at the chicane when a Honda attempts an overtake and they fail going side-by-side on the exit. The Nissan comes off worst and I end up following the Honda pretty closely.
Things get even more dramatic on lap 7 as penalties come together to make a nice roadblock on the run down the Boot to the Heel. I picked up a 0.5s penalty for going wide at turn 1 and the Honda picked up a 1s penalty for cutting the chicane. When we come to serve the penalties,
this happens. Am I being dramatic or was that a bit of a shady move from the Honda? The Nissan then joined the fray by ramming the Honda deep into the runoff at Heel and from the replay, it definitely looked deliberate...
From there I (finally!) get to try settle in and find some rhythm before pitting at the end of lap 10 to swap to the Softs.
I catch up with the Jaguar from the start on lap 16 and he goes defensive, but I manage to get past at the left-hander after Heel. The Honda gets the run on me down to Inner Loop on lap 17, so back down to P10. I think I'm going to stay there, but an AMG on fresher tyres who had been gradually catching me went for a crazy divebomb at Heel on lap 20 to make a push-to-pass. I'm now very much not amused, and I finish P11.
The third slot, good grief. Qualifying went a bit better and I started P11, but once again just couldn't settle in. I'd spent time in between slots trying to figure out another landmark I could use to gauge braking for Inner Loop just in case, so I felt a bit more confident. However, my cautiousness at the start of races clearly doesn't cut it here at all. There was all sorts of mayhem through lap 1, but all the positions I gained were lost by the start of lap 2. Looking at my radar, the car behind seemed completely primed to make a move into turn 1 but then didn't, leading me into an awful line trying to avoid contact. That let that car AND the car behind through.
Things sort of settle down a bit as I'm following a group around, but then on lap 4 I compromise myself on the run down to turn 1 after putting my foot down too soon and clipping the wall. The Renault behind gets in front, then completely puts me off by doing one of my ultimate pet peeves. I've never liked it when people make an overtake and then immediately move over for the racing line even though you're literally almost touching bumpers and almost on top of the braking zone. I couldn't stand it on the TV and it's even
worse in VR. I almost binned it on the kerb from the awkward line I ended up taking in after having to suddenly move across to see.
Skipping on to lap 14, I end up fighting with a Nissan who I now have no respect for. I tried racing him clean when he caught me at Chute, and I take a defensive inside line into Toe. I fumble a little bit so he gets around the outside and ever so slightly ahead...
then moves under braking into Heel.
The Nissan manages to pull away before getting held up by a Chevrolet on dying tyres towards the end, allowing me to close right back up again. The Nissan picks up a 1s penalty for track limits at turn 1, lap 19 and when it comes to serving it, he decides he wants his position back and will go
full divebomb push-to-pass to get it at Heel. I'm completely raging now.
I get alongside on the run down to turn 1 as the Nissan tried going around the outside of the struggling Chevrolet on the final bend. I get alongside and try to box him in behind the Chevrolet, then feel a bump as he tried to shove me right. At this point I've absolutely had it with his nonsense so I forced him left onto the grass. He attempted to retaliate going into turn 1 but failed. I despise racing like that, I truly do, but I refuse to be treated that way.
The Nissan wasn't done either. After checking the replay, he rammed the Chevrolet off at the final turn. Absolute <insert expletive here>.
) fast and caught up quick. I wasn't going to bother defending but still made them work for it. They ran wide through the heel allowing me to get side by side and we raced clean as a whistle until the last corner where being on the outside didn't work and they ran away from me after that. So I came home P10 one spot off my lower target. 49 points. 1 off my lowest counted score.
