GTP WRS-Online : Event 28 : Snake in the Road - Mar 21

[WRP001]

Marc (hydro), Jon (jtv) and I battled like a pack of dogs with 3 cars bumper to bumper to bumper for the entire first stint (for 2nd place as T-L was in his own time zone). Marc and I dove into pits after 11 laps having shredded our tires with the battles. JTV stayed out a lap and our short pit got us away from him a little, but he was always lurking just back.

The 2nd stint had me following Marc's bumper lap after lap after lap. Finally he made a mistake and I sprung by and kept the lead until the 2nd pit stop.

The 3rd stint I had a really great out lap and then set my fast lap of 1'32.9 (no proof as the room blew up without a replay available to anyone, but I promise ). I got about a 3-4 second gap on Marc and felt I was pulling away when I started to make mistakes and Marc started getting faster. His car got closer every lap and he was settled *right* on my bumper by lap 31.5. My rhythm was shot and it looked (to Marc) like my tires were shot because I was missing every apex, but I had a surprise in store for Marc... my tires weren't that bad at all, but instead I was just driving like an idiot. At least I knew, unlike worn out tires I had a chance to cure the idiot driving syndrome so it was going to be a real fight to the finish. I was ready to do whatever it took.

And then...

Whamo!!! A massive DC and a sudden end to race for all. Stupid seasonal time trial online must have glitched the psn servers and disconnected everyone. 👎

A terrible ending to basically one of the best races I've been a part of in this game. This is a true story, believe it or not, but both Marc and I had worked up such a sweat that we were both "topless" by the 3rd stint and racing bare belly to keep ourselves from overheating more than our tires. I had no idea he had done the same thing until he started describing his frantic removal of his shirt during his 2nd pit. My gosh, what has my life come to, luckily I don't have one of those PS3 Eye "thingies."

 

[Small_Fryz]

Before I start, I just want to apologize for my long post . I enjoy reading and writing post race reports as much as doing the race itself!

Well done T-L, Dion and Pekka.

Congrats Mark, Dion, and Pekka, great drives.

Awesome race today!
Made some silly mistakes in the early going, but managed to claw my way back past Mad Max and Small Fry.
Final pit stop put me out perfectly beside Small Fry for the first corner!!
Made for a really exciting spring to the finish.
Luckily I saved my 11 lap stint for the end and was able to pull away a bit eventually with fresher tires.

Thanks guys! 👍

I knew straight from the start that Mark would be hard to beat, he was able to reel out those low 32's at will and while I had done a 32.3 in practice yesterday it was more of a "crazy lap" than something I could easily replicate. Still managed a solid 32.6 to put me in 2nd place and I figured with the large draft I should still hopefully be able to hang on and make a fight of it.

Race started well and I tucked in behind Mark heading down into turn 1, I braked a little early and went to the inside and felt a nudge, upon reviewing the replay it appears Don had gone deep underbrakes and went for a gap that was closing fast. Poor fellow hit my rear tyre then went into the tyre barriers, sorry mate but I don't think a pass was quite on the cards either.
I followed Mark around for the first lap while trying to hold off Pekka at the same time. I did get a few hurry up taps as I was slow as ever through those back hairpins (sorry mate, anybody who knows me, knows how much I love hate hairpins and this track has 2 tight ones!!). Down the straight I was able to draft by Mark and he made it easy for me into turn 1 by outbraking himself. For the next 5 laps I was able to stretch out to about a 3 - 4 second lead while Pekka and Mark traded places back in 2nd. Mark made a mistake and fell back allowing Pekka some clean air, in which case he started to reel me in. By lap 10 or so Mark had caught back upto Pekka and my tyres were really starting to hurt and both were catching me again! Damn!! I was hoping to hold a few seconds advantage going into the pits... not to be.

Lap 11 I just had to pit as my tyres were gone and I knew I would not be able to keep the boys behind me if I did any more laps. In hindsight I probably should have pushed one more and just attempted to keep them at bay. Mark pitted the next lap which put me comfortably into 2nd, I think he had lost some time as I was now a good 7 seconds ahead!!??!. Pekka continued on and I thought he was going for a 1 stop and was starting to fret as I wasn't sure I would be able to close in the 40+ second lead, even with him being on worn tyres.

Lap 15 or so Pekka pit which put my mind at ease as I knew he would definitely be making 2 pitstops and had lost considerable time by running those extra laps so I could now just focus on trying to keep Mark behind. Unfortunately my tyres were fading fast again and he was starting to eat into my lead quite considerably with every passing lap! The inevitable happened and Mark made the overtake of the race that started on lap 22? with both of us heading into the first corner side by side. He braked on the outside and was able to hold it side by side through turn 1, thus placing him on the inside for that little switch back, I had to lift in order to run the wider line (on viewing the replay I probably could have cut to the inside here but at the time I thought he was beside me), and that enabled him to get level with me as we entered the long right tightening sweeper. Struggling for grip and not wanting to push him off the track I did my best to get the Viper around the corner but Mark made me look stupid and just simply drove right around the outside!! !, no touching or anything . I tried to hang with him once he passed but I just wasn't able to, the combination of his tyres being 1 lap newer and probably much more looked after than mine meant he was just too quick!

I pitted on lap 23, which was a lap earlier than him, and once I circled around he came out right next to me!! We went into the first corner side-by-side again! But this time I had the upper hand as my tyres were warm and I was having none of his stick . For the next few laps he followed closely until I did a stupid error and hit the tyres at the first turn ... causing my car to bounce out wide and he snuck through like a pro. I tried to hang with him and hopefully slipstream back but Mark was just too good and was able to manage his tyres better and simply ran away from me until the end!

Awesome display of not only raw pace but also being able to manage your tyres . I think that really let me down today and its something I will focus on more in the future. Maybe I need to take it easier at the start in order to save a bit more % at the end?. My lack of hairpin skill is laughable and I could never understand how or why I was loosing .5 just about every lap in that sector . Anyway I can hardly complain for my first performance in an Online WRS event but you can't help but critique and improve

Well done Mark for the win and Pekka for the podium spot!

Shout out to Mike for the awesome recovery from 11th to 4th 👍

Really was a lot of fun racing with you guys and I hope to join in again next week!

 

[Allibubba99]

Well what an abrupt end to a very fun battle with Lucas. I too had a good sweat going but was too proud or chicken to shed the shirt! My wife thinks I take this racing too seriously already!

Look forward to many more battles as I find myself getting faster every Wed. night. Just wish you guys would stopping getting faster too! Hope next week or any other race doesn't end like this one. Good luck on the weekend everyone! Wish I wasn't working.

Al

 

[Gravitron]

Before I start, I just want to apologize for my long post . I enjoy reading and writing post race reports as much as doing the race itself!

...

Thanks guys! 👍

EPIC RACE REPORT

Glad to have you, Dion. 👍 Great write-up! Congrats on keeping your shirt on! (I assume)

Sorry again for that bump, Al. Not very nice. 👎 And great driving...you kept pulling farther ahead. 👍

 

[Speedy6543]

It was a very fun race with, again, some awesome pacesetters up front.

Nice battle between Hydro and Speedy there and I've gotta ask Speedy.... How did you out brake Hydro from that far back and hit the apex on lap 18?????

Actually, I missed the brakingpoint slightly and for sure I thought I was going to overshoot Marc through the inside and hit the wall behind the turn.
I think my rear wing must have pulled upwards, giving me the brakingpower I needed at that point.

PS: Some nice reads here. 👍
Sorry to hear about the NA lounge crash.

 

[Hydro]

A terrible ending to basically one of the best races i've been a part of in this game. This is a true story, believe it or not, but both marc and i had worked up such a sweat that we were both "topless" by the 3rd stint and racing bare belly to keep ourselves from overheating more than our tires. I had no idea he had done the same thing until he started describing his frantic removal of his shirt during his 2nd pit. My gosh, what has my life come to, luckily i don't have one of those ps3 eye "thingies."

It turned out that someone had opened the roof top doors to let cooler air circulate through the halls of my building. A nice thought to get fresh air, but it triggered the heaters and by race end it was 80 degrees in my place!
It had me wondering during the race...I mean it was a great (amazing) battle for the entire race - Tim and Jon were right on my bumper heading into turn 1, and the final chicanes for the entire first 2 stints, then Tim took the lead for the final leg - but I was really sweating too hard, all things considered.
By the 2nd pit, I was literally dripping and had nothing to wipe my face with, so I sacrificed my shirt
I'm switching to Gatorade for the next race 👍

before i start, i just want to apologize for my long post . I enjoy reading and writing post race reports as much as doing the race itself!

No problem, you certainly ran a great race. Welcome to the series 👍
Tim needs some competition in the post race write-up category anyway.

Nice battle between Hydro and Speedy there and I've gotta ask Speedy.... How did you out brake Hydro from that far back and hit the apex on lap 18?????

I wondered the same thing I saw Speedy closing in really, really fast going into turn 1, so I gave him room - assuming there was no way he would make the turn, and I'd simply watch him sail into the grass. But he made it
Damn!

well what an abrupt end to a very fun battle with lucas. I too had a good sweat going but was too proud or chicken to shed the shirt! My wife thinks i take this racing too seriously already!

Al

Too funny Al!
Maybe Tim's onto something - PS3 eyetoy for everyone!
I imagine we'd have to limit the lobby to 4 or so if we add camera's to the mix, so for that reason alone, I guess we'll pass

Great racing once again guys, Always looking forward to next week's race, but this time I'm looking forward to Spa

Congrats to Mark for the double win
If Tim didn't figure out how to end the race remotely, it just may have been a Team Canada 1-2. Next time

 

[iGoFast]

Awesome recap Small Fry!
It was like I was there
Thanks everyone for the congrats.
Great racing from all, hope to see you all out for the next one too!

 

[CSLACR]

 

[WRP001]

Long time no see Dom... What does that mean anyway?

 

[CSLACR]

Long time no see Dom... What does that mean anyway?

Have you read the second half of my username lately?

I've been waiting for this since I joined the registry.
I don't have the words to express my disappointment for missing both the WRS TT of this and the race(s). So -


Wait... Relief, it hasn't been used in a WRS TT yet, there is still hope.

 

[WRP001]

The race was so good and the mass DC in NA was so disappointing with only a couple laps left that we WILL run it again sometime. Maybe a Saturday event or marathon flashback day.

I love the car now too. Straight stock and no tuning and it was fun to drive.

 

[jtv90069]

Had a great NA race and I am looking forward to a revisit sometime in the future.

I qualified 3rd and got off to a good start but got boxed in on the outside for turn 1 by Tim(in front) and Marc on my right. Taking the first corners easy to avoid contact as had happened in the EU race I slotted in behind Marc and quickly settled into a good rhythm on their bumpers. I can't remember when Marc got by Tim but it was early on and both were showing impressive pace dragging me along with them until a small error on Lap 9 lost me a couple of seconds and no more slipstream.
I pitted on Lap 12 (I was first for a lap ) and exited a short distance behind the still battling duo of Marc and Tim and still wasn't in their slipstream. I got my fastest laps of the race and felt I was clawing back a tenth or two each lap until my tires started showing wear and the gap stabilized just short of the slipstream still.
A mistake from Marc allowed Tim through into 2nd (Lap 20ish) and finally was getting some draft on the straight. On Lap 23 Marc closely followed Tim into the pits and I stayed out again(first for another lap ) and promptly out-braked myself into turn 1 barely missing the wall and lost so much time getting back on the track .
After my 2nd stop I was alone in 4th with no chance of catching save a big mistake or incident. I was cruising around to finish the race pleased with my early race and frustrated by my one major error, then got DC and very nearly threw my controller at the TV.
Can't wait to race this one again and hopefully have a fast mistake free race .

 

[WRP001]

Well, it's a bit unsatisfying, but here was the running order when we all were kicked and these are the official results:

It's certain T-L was going to win as he had at least a 25 second lead if not more. Positions 2/3 were definitely up for grabs with Hydro maybe the favorite to overtake me, but would have been a good battle. JTV was locked into 4th as he said unless there was a major mistake somewhere.

For future races (if this happens again) the race will be considered official if *at least* half the laps are completed by the leader *and* if there is a general consensus on the running order of the top 3 finishers at the time of the DC.

If a mass DC happens within the first 15 minutes of the race (or 5 laps whichever is less) we will do a re-race starting over from scratch.

If a mass DC happens after 15 minutes, but before mid way we'll just strike the race from the record. Maybe re-schedule if there is interest or just cancel it all together.

If you DC, you really don't know if everyone else did also, but you can re-enter the lounge "quietly" to see the status. If you DC late in the race with a few laps to go it's best just to wait out the time it would take to finish as we're not going to restart anyway and then join the lounge. Or check the lounge before joining to see if there are still many drivers there or if they are all DC'd or just a few.

We'll try to re-formulate some of this and put it in the guide for reference.

 

[WRP001]

Well before we close/archive this thread I have to take care of some ceremonial duties we should have implemented a few weeks ago for his first win. Better late than never.

Congratz Mark.

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