Gran Turismo World Series (Nations Cup Exhibition Season: Jan 22 - Feb 1)

[afc5150]

Well, I guess I'm jumping in. No more 11am or noon EDT races for me. At least for the very short term.

 

[Moose78]

I was running a few laps in Free Practice this morning and had to pit for repairs after the Death Chicken killed me. I noticed that the car showed up much sooner than it does in the Custom Races I'm doing for testing. It looks like we are going to have shorter pit times again, like we did for the Manu Cup race at Interlagos. The car pulls up to the pit in Free Practice after 3-4 seconds versus the 15 seconds in Custom Races.

I haven't precisely measured the difference yet, but if you are doing any kind of strategy testing, this is something you might want to take into account.

 

[Moose78]

I've been pressed for time lately, but I have at least been able to get a couple strategy tests done. The two that I tested were 11RH-21RM and 14RM-9RS-9RS.

Here are the numbers:

Strategy	Opt time	Best time	Avg time	Avg Dev	Total time
11RH-21RM	1:17.394	1:17.487	1:19.586	0:01.429	42:26.762
14RM-9RS-9RS (2)	1:16.496	1:16.818	1:19.138	0:01.985	42:12.411

Tire tread levels at first pit:

Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
11RH-21RM	70%	75%	60%	60%
14RM-9RS-9RS (2)	60%	60%	40%	40%

Tire tread levels at second pit:

Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
14RM-9RS-9RS (2)	45%	50%	25%	30%

Tire tread levels at finish:

Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
11RH-21RM	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
14RM-9RS-9RS (2)	45%	50%	25%	30%

Apologies, I forgot to record the final tread levels for the 11RH-21RM strategy. The rear tires were both quite close to being fully spent, if I remember correctly.

I'm feeling like 14RM-9RS-9RS is the way to go for me. For one thing, it was faster than the 1-pit strategy, even without accounting for the shorter pit times we'll be having in the race. It also allows gives me the option of switching to RSs even earlier with a 3-stop strategy (eg. 2RM-10RS-10RS-10RS) if I take damage early on.

You perhaps noticed the '(2)' on the 14RM-9RS-9RS strategy. I had to run this a second time. My first attempt went really well, actually. I managed to evade the Death Chicken for the entire race. It wasn't perfect, but it was as close as I've come so far.

Naturally, I had a Death Chicken album playing in the background.

Afterwards, when I was reading lap times and tread levels from the replay to enter into my spreadsheet, I lost my connection to PSN. Apparently, PD in their infinite wisdom, have decided that the game must be online to view the offline replay of an offline race. The screen went black and when the PSN connection was re-established, I was kicked out of the replay and back on the main screen. Thanks, PD.

 

[appu]

I tried a custom race. Conclusion- @Moose78 is definitely very gentle on his tires. His/Lopez's strategy may not work for you. There is a reason that other World Series players went for 2RM-1RS instead of 1RM-2RS.

For me, even 2RM-1RS barely made it to 32 laps. But to be fair, I had some spins and some kissing the chicken moments. These moments absolutely melt the rear tires. Think how F1 drivers typically pit for fresh tires after a spin.

For GT1, I am at a loss about strategy because any strategy is potentially out of the window with damage, spins, and even too many squiggly exits out of corners due to damaged rear tires.

I am absolutely a danger to everyone around, sigh. It is also too hard to avoid an incident/slow-down in front of me. Biggest problem tomorrow, however, is whether I can make it to one of the 3 slots.

Yet to try RHs. Fuel is not an issue.

 

[afc5150]

Not gonna lie, after a (very) few practice laps last night, I don't have much confidence that my GT1 debut is going to go very well.

No turning back at this point, though. Looking forward to it anyway!

edit to be honest, I'm most looking forward to seeing and racing some of you guys again, it's been awhile.

Except for @appu , screw that guy for scaring me off the track at the Nurburgring last night!

 

[OJBrit]

Did a few time trial laps today. I'm very surprised that in my hands the new physics seems to have settled this car down a bit. It seemed very stable and only thought about a squiggle on cold hards, otherwise it didn't want to spin out at all (with TCS 0).
I know famous last words and hopefully a full tank and wearing tyres won't change too much.

 

[bduddy]

I tried a custom race. Conclusion- @Moose78 is definitely very gentle on his tires. His/Lopez's strategy may not work for you. There is a reason that other World Series players went for 2RM-1RS instead of 1RM-2RS.

For me, even 2RM-1RS barely made it to 32 laps. But to be fair, I had some spins and some kissing the chicken moments. These moments absolutely melt the rear tires. Think how F1 drivers typically pit for fresh tires after a spin.

For GT1, I am at a loss about strategy because any strategy is potentially out of the window with damage, spins, and even too many squiggly exits out of corners due to damaged rear tires.

I am absolutely a danger to everyone around, sigh. It is also too hard to avoid an incident/slow-down in front of me. Biggest problem tomorrow, however, is whether I can make it to one of the 3 slots.

Yet to try RHs. Fuel is not an issue.

I believe only one of the GTWS competitors did M-S-M. But they're all really really good on tires. And it did actually work out pretty well.

 

[appu]

I believe only one of the GTWS competitors did M-S-M.

Oh my bad. Do you have a rough list of all strategies used in the GTWS? I was not exactly watching carefully.

 

[Moose78]

Best of luck in your races, everyone!

 

[goudaj]

Just finished the first Oceania GT2 slot. The 14RM-9RS-9RS strat that @Moose78 posted worked great for me. I won by 43 seconds so I'm pretty happy with that. Only 9 entries and 127 points available in my race but I'll take the wins when I can.

 

[Moose78]

I just got around to measuring pit times. Here's how they compare between Free Practice and Lobbies/Custom Races (tire change, no fuel):

Free Practice: 13.3s
Lobby: 17.6s
Difference: 4.3s

 

[MetalApe]

It's today???? Whoever's in charge of their website needs to be fired. Anyway, don't think I can bring myself to abandon the Ring for this. I'm loving those 6 lappers in the rain around the greatest race track ever built. Maybe if it wasn't for the lack of force feedback in these cars I'd have done it, but just did a few laps and the car doesn't feel that great to drive.

 

[Sjokkomoes]

Normally I never play these but had some time off. Almost. Lapped the entire field. Had pole, fastest lap and crb.

Just for my information, if I enter another one, do I risk losing my points or does it just take the highest one? I know they’ve used both in the past.

 

[Danielsan]

Just for my information, if I enter another one, do I risk losing my points or does it just take the highest one? I know they’ve used both in the past.

It will always take the last one. So only do it again If you think you can improve

 

[Sjokkomoes]

It will always take the last one. So only do it again If you think you can improve

Well ok guess I’m out then. I could only improve if the PD gods grant me a higher ranked lobby

 

[Danielsan]

I attended First Slot in the morning with quite some confidence, however it ended Up being one of my worst races ever.
Finished on p12 afer multiple spins. In VR I'm Always struggling to Shift down to R or first gear after a Spinning session.
I think it wouldn't have saved me today with my terrible Performance however I also got 3s Penalty after each Pit Stop. It was immediately there when Control was handed over from Auto Pilot. I recognized this already earlier in the free training but couldn't find Out how to avoid IT.

I can confirm that the 1M+2S Strategy worked nicely for me despite some spins like a ballerina.

 

[Sjokkomoes]

I attended First Slot in the morning with quite some confidence, however it ended Up being one of my worst races ever.
Finished on p12 afer multiple spins. In VR I'm Always struggling to Shift down to R or first gear after a Spinning session.
I think it wouldn't have saved me today with my terrible Performance however I also got 3s Penalty after each Pit Stop. It was immediately there when Control was handed over from Auto Pilot. I recognized this already earlier in the free training but couldn't find Out how to avoid IT.

I can confirm that the 1M+2S Strategy worked nicely for me despite some spins like a ballerina.

You will have crossed the line on pit entry. It’s a bit awkward especially on used tires.

 

[Danielsan]

You will have crossed the line on pit entry. It’s a bit awkward especially on used tires.

Damn, that's it. Thank you for enlightening me :-)

 

[OJBrit]

Managed to get my FP time down into the 16's. Probably the closest I've ever been to @Zorz on the leaderboard.

Replicated that time for a 5th place grid slot only 0.3 seconds off pole. Should be a competitive race.
Went wide into T1 and lost a place but gained it again from a spinner out of T2. Then did a good move around the outside of P4 in the esses. Then it went wrong. Misjudged the mediums and fuel load and glanced the COD (first time in a while). Lost a few places as thankfully I was still facing forwards. P10 looks down the inside of the final chicane. I give space but they don't care. They drift into me on acceleration and I am knocked into a slide. I miraculously keep it the right way but again loose places. P13 and time to put my head down. Unfortunately the car ahead jumps over a kerb in the esses and right into my path shoving them into the barrier. 4 seconds to me. Well not my fault really but I have to suck it up. Down to P14 after the pen. Glance the COD again in the same manner as before. More speed less haste required. By my pit on lap 14 I was in P7. (If you can't be as fast as a Moose you can be as strategic as one.)
Came out in P8 and put my softs to work. Lap 16 and I got stuck behind a Frenchman exiting the pits. I was faster through the first chicane but equalish the rest of the lap. I needed to make the move into T1. Lap 19 almost presented me with that opportunity but a German coming out of the pits complicated it. I had to stick to the inside and then the disparity of lines caused me to lightly tap the Frenchman. I had to hold back whilst they sorted their slide meaning the opportunity had gone. Then into the Seaside Hairpin the German just taps my back end causing me to spin. To be fair they try and wait but another spin for me and 4 seconds for them causes them to carry on. No hard feeling here as their behaviour means it was an accident. Just frustrating as I was making good progress to be reset again. Back in 11th I see what I can salvage. I come in from 9th on lap 23 and come out in 10th. Lets see what the last stint brings for me. It's a boring one. I'm slowly catching a Brit ahead but dropping slightly to a Frenchman behind. Lap 29 and the Brit lets me past just before Larini 1. Any second later and an airplane crash is happening. However they pick the pace back up again so I am slightly confused. Then the last lap a P4 has got Seaside wrong and span. They are right in front of me heading through the COD. This is enough to distract me and I do the two hit special which also spins me. I loose time getting back round and cross the line in P11. However a few people didn't use 2 tyre types and I was promoted to P8. A good salvage in the end from some idiots but it also meant I threw away a chance for P3-5. So frustrating in the end. Every silver lining has a cloud and all that.
Only me and 2 others (including the winner used no assists) and only 1 player left. So not too bad of a lobby really with some good close racing. Good luck everyone.

 

[Zorz]

Managed to get my FP time down into the 16's. Probably the closest I've ever been to @Zorz on the leaderboard.

Replicated that time for a 5th place grid slot only 0.3 seconds off pole. Should be a competitive race.
Went wide into T1 and lost a place but gained it again from a spinner out of T2. Then did a good move around the outside of P4 in the esses. Then it went wrong. Misjudged the mediums and fuel load and glanced the COD (first time in a while). Lost a few places as thankfully I was still facing forwards. P10 looks down the inside of the final chicane. I give space but they don't care. They drift into me on acceleration and I am knocked into a slide. I miraculously keep it the right way but again loose places. P13 and time to put my head down. Unfortunately the car ahead jumps over a kerb in the esses and right into my path shoving them into the barrier. 4 seconds to me. Well not my fault really but I have to suck it up. Down to P14 after the pen. Glance the COD again in the same manner as before. More speed less haste required. By my pit on lap 14 I was in P7. (If you can't be as fast as a Moose you can be as strategic as one.)
Came out in P8 and put my softs to work. Lap 16 and I got stuck behind a Frenchman exiting the pits. I was faster through the first chicane but equalish the rest of the lap. I needed to make the move into T1. Lap 19 almost presented me with that opportunity but a German coming out of the pits complicated it. I had to stick to the inside and then the disparity of lines caused me to lightly tap the Frenchman. I had to hold back whilst they sorted their slide meaning the opportunity had gone. Then into the Seaside Hairpin the German just taps my back end causing me to spin. To be fair they try and wait but another spin for me and 4 seconds for them causes them to carry on. No hard feeling here as their behaviour means it was an accident. Just frustrating as I was making good progress to be reset again. Back in 11th I see what I can salvage. I come in from 9th on lap 23 and come out in 10th. Lets see what the last stint brings for me. It's a boring one. I'm slowly catching a Brit ahead but dropping slightly to a Frenchman behind. Lap 29 and the Brit lets me past just before Larini 1. Any second later and an airplane crash is happening. However they pick the pace back up again so I am slightly confused. Then the last lap a P4 has got Seaside wrong and span. They are right in front of me heading through the COD. This is enough to distract me and I do the two hit special which also spins me. I loose time getting back round and cross the line in P11. However a few people didn't use 2 tyre types and I was promoted to P8. A good salvage in the end from some idiots but it also meant I threw away a chance for P3-5. So frustrating in the end. Every silver lining has a cloud and all that.
Only me and 2 others (including the winner used no assists) and only 1 player left. So not too bad of a lobby really with some good close racing. Good luck everyone.

Sorry to hear your race went south.

I'm not sure how to react to being used as a benchmark. 😅 I'm just praying it all comes together later because my free practice time (now a 1:15.0) is far, far above my typical average compared to the aliens. There's something about this combo that just feels right, especially in VR. In turn, if this is the closest you feel like you've gotten to my time, you must be on a real flyer with this combo too. Worth giving it another go, maybe?

I've done a few full length practice runs and they've come out in the 41:38-41:40 range. That kind of pace has got to be competitive at the A/A+ crossover, surely...

 

[OJBrit]

I'm not sure how to react to being used as a benchmark. 😅 I'm just praying it all comes together later because my free practice time (now a 1:15.0) is far, far above my typical average compared to the aliens. There's something about this combo that just feels right, especially in VR. In turn, if this is the closest you feel like you've gotten to my time, you must be on a real flyer with this combo too. Worth giving it another go, maybe?

Well everyone who is faster than me (and that's most if not all on here) are a benchmark.
I do feel I'm clicking with this combo. I think as one of the drivers was saying at the finals that these cars are very suited to this track. And as I said I feel the physics change helped calm these cars down.
Alas I do not know if I will have time to go again. I'm about to leave for the football. By the time I'm back I will not be bothered, so I'll take the points and indeed the good feeling from having some pace for once.

 

[stpatty]

I am very, very glad you pointed that out. I'd completely missed it and had been practicing doing an all-Mediums 1-stop...

I saw a few screenshots with people getting penalties and couldn't figure out why because it's not listed in the race information screen on they entry page. No, you need to go into race details and scroll down. Great stuff. I don't know how long it's been like this because I don't think I've done a race with it turned on since I came back but good to know PD are as transparent as ever.

Anyway, did a practice and I'm going 16/8/8. I think I'd be quicker doing a one stop on mediums but since I can't, pray I don't hit the wall. Or the kerb on the outside of the first chicane which has a tractor beam in it.

 

[Talon16]

It's today???? Whoever's in charge of their website needs to be fired. Anyway, don't think I can bring myself to abandon the Ring for this. I'm loving those 6 lappers in the rain around the greatest race track ever built. Maybe if it wasn't for the lack of force feedback in these cars I'd have done it, but just did a few laps and the car doesn't feel that great to drive.

View attachment 1381686

I've learned to take the information on the site with a grain of salt; it's wrong all the time.

In fact, as we speak it shows the RA272 TT ending on 9/15 whereas the game says 9/1; similarly it has the AMG challenge ending on 9/6 whereas the game is 8/30.

Typically, Nations/Manu race on Saturdays and sometimes Wednesdays; TGR is Sundays. But yea, you gotta keep your wits about ya with the site.

 

[IngRobNy]

7th place in GT3 , can't complain about that after one spin out and one 3 sec pit entry penalty, didn't look forward to this race, hoping for at least 10th place, but managed to do better than that, 6-7 laps on RS and 2 times RM (don't remember which laps ). Skipping the RA272 race and will do the SF and GT3 race.

 

[ZEE]

Soooo...this was a very interesting race, the 1st round of the nations cup. Got an ok/good qualiy time, but it wasnt all smooth sailing.

Logged onto the 10am slot, with DR B group GT2 League for me. Proceeded to do some practice laps and hit a good 1:17.3 in the my test runs with the RB X2019 25th version, I dont like the normal RB X2019 it feels more twitchy, and snappy oversteery, very odd I know.

So went into the qualifier and chaos ensued, many folks were spinning out include myself, had to regain some composure on the 2nd and last lap of qualifiers to get a semi decent time which put me in 4th position on the start of grid.

Race time:
The Race was nerve wracking as I wasnt sure my tyre strategy paid off. I went on RS tires to start. Grid got off smooth but already on trun 2 it was chaos and argy bargy, everyone jostling for the top spot. There was an italian guy with a horrible username 11111 something, he was leading the pack.

So little bumps here and there i started to follow the top 3 cars. 2 italians and 1 spaniard in the top 3 leading this race so far. I was chasing the italian named Ramza and was trying to get 3rd place franticilly. The key I found was to stay consistent and do not hit death chicane at all or you lose so much time. Luckily i never hit that ever in my entire race but I did have one spinout, more on that later.

Had a little bumpy with a turkish guy called Gojira in 5th place he passed me on lap 6 on the final turn, but then spun out as i took the inside corner, he didnt feel too jhappy about it, but I did aplogise post race. Then swtiched to RM tires on lap 9 and kept pushing to close gap to the italian in 3rd place, but the 2nd place spaniard spun out after that and I got 3rd place then chased for 2nd.

Pushing and pushing & staying consistent was so key here, the top 3 were getting so quick we started lapping the rest of the back pack of racers. Then later on the gap between 1st and 3rd was huge, almost 1min and he started to lap me! I was shocked, he strangely used hard tires also at some point so I thought hmm intresting.

My tyre strategy was 9 laps (RS) 14 laps (RM) 9 laps (RS)

I managed to pit again and switch back to RS tires and close the gap in the italian 2nd palce guy, but as I said the 1st guy started lapping me, I spun out on lap 27 or 28 and was freaking out, had to put the car right round faicng the right way, to not lose the large 15sec time gap I had on 4th place car. Manged to hold it till the end as the race got cut short due to 1st lapping the field. MY race ended on lap 32 and I acheived 3rd place podium.

GREAT RESULT, Very happy for this race and netted 53 points or so.

 

[Zorz]

I'm calling that a day there. That was a rollercoaster of emotions and quite frankly, I'm exhausted. I think participation must also have been pretty low because the lobby was mixed A/A+ but only worth 238 points. It must have pulled a really wide spread of DRs.

I started P6 as I couldn't quite get my quali lap nailed (still pretty good though) and started on the Mediums. That seemed to be the common thought, as it seems like everyone else also did that briefly scanning over the replay.

I failed to get to grips with the dirty air off the start and laps 1 and 2 turned into a disaster. I went a bit deep on turn 1 and ended up having to take a very narrow line through turn 2 that cost me. I then lost some more at the first hairpin due to being forced off the racing line, and then went deep at the last hairpin. Horrible, horrible start. And then just to top it off, I outbroke myself at turn 1 on lap 2 and went onto the gravel. Trying to get the car back on track and pointed the right way, followed by sliding around on dirty tyres ended up costing me about 15-16 seconds that lap and dropped me down to P15. Thankfully, no damage.

At that point I was fuming because I'd just completely blown it, but decided to get my head down and see whether I could recover anything. Fast forward to the end of lap 14 and I come in to the pits running P5. I was fully expecting to get dumped right back down coming out of the pits but... no. I came back out in P6.

I then catch P5 and make a move into turn 1, so back up and running in actual P5 again. I'll need to go back and try figure out what on earth happened for me to make up so many positions after such a crippling mistake.

Going ahead to lap 23 and I'm once again in P6 as I come in for my second pit stop. P5 is a bit further ahead this time, but I manage to catch up by the start of lap 25 and we start fighting. I can't get any moves in, but then get a much better run out of the last hairpin and take the position at turn 1.

Nothing much else happened from here onwards other than lapping a couple of people, but the big surprise came at the end. Four people missed the two-compound rule for a whopping 4 minute penalty, and two of them were in front of me. P3!

However... think back to how much time I lost from my lap 2 screw up...

I potentially had the pace to win that. Either the pit stops were shorter in the actual race than in offline custom races or I was on fire after I finally got my act together, because I'd have been on for at least a 41:30 or so? That's a lot, lot faster than my practice runs.

218 points will do nicely. Now I'm off for a bath, because I've been sweating buckets.

​

 

[stpatty]

First, a message. If you're in qualifying and you mess up a lap and there's someone a second or two behind you, bail out. You're not beating your time on that lap and they're going to be right behind you on the subsequent lap. Don't be like the guy in my race who did this, made a mess of turn 1 on the next lap then took the huff and put me in the wall when I tried to go past him and then blamed me in the chat for it.

Started 8th, eventually. Missed the worst of some carnage behind me in turn 1 and the field gradually spread out. I was doing a 16M/8S/8S strategy and it turns out almost everyone started on softs. I was quite happy to plod along at my own pace. I passed a few people when they died in various places. One very optimistic guy in a weed themed livery tried 10 laps on softs. Didn't work.

I don't really have much else to say because I was alone for pretty much the entire race. An Italian did 9S/14M/9S and I was trying my hardest to eat into his lead. From the crossover point mid-race I got it from about 10 seconds to 4 seconds by the end, but 2nd was the best I could manage:

Every couple of laps I'd see yellow flags at the chicane and pray he'd hit the wall, but it was always just traffic. In a 40+ minute race it's easy to feel you could have made up 4 seconds somewhere, but I think I drove as well as I could so I don't feel so bad. 115 points.

 

[SM_Marti]

Entered Round 1 GT2 League
Qualyfying went wrong as a Spanish guy ruined my lap and I went in the wall
The race was another thing. Starting P6 and already before T1 made 1 position.
The first few laps were very stressful but before I could do my stop at the pit at lap 9 I was already first!
Then it became only a thing between me and a Scottish guy called stpatty, we were in different strategies.
In the end my strategy (RS 9, RM 15, RS 8) paid off and won my second race with the X2019, out of three, in my Nations Cup career.
Gained 120 points which are good for both my zone, region and national classification. (Fun fact: I have now the same points as my little brother).
Here are a few pictures of my race

 

[stpatty]

Oh, well, there you go.

 

[SM_Marti]

First, a message. If you're in qualifying and you mess up a lap and there's someone a second or two behind you, bail out. You're not beating your time on that lap and they're going to be right behind you on the subsequent lap. Don't be like the guy in my race who did this, made a mess of turn 1 on the next lap then took the huff and put me in the wall when I tried to go past him and then blamed me in the chat for it.

Started 8th, eventually. Missed the worst of some carnage behind me in turn 1 and the field gradually spread out. I was doing a 16M/8S/8S strategy and it turns out almost everyone started on softs. I was quite happy to plod along at my own pace. I passed a few people when they died in various places. One very optimistic guy in a weed themed livery tried 10 laps on softs. Didn't work.

I don't really have much else to say because I was alone for pretty much the entire race. An Italian did 9S/14M/9S and I was trying my hardest to eat into his lead. From the crossover point mid-race I got it from about 10 seconds to 4 seconds by the end, but 2nd was the best I could manage:

View attachment 1381828

View attachment 1381829

Every couple of laps I'd see yellow flags at the chicane and pray he'd hit the wall, but it was always just traffic. In a 40+ minute race it's easy to feel you could have made up 4 seconds somewhere, but I think I drove as well as I could so I don't feel so bad. 115 points.

View attachment 1381827

That was very though to keep you behind. Well done for your great recovery