Mercedes-AMG Launches Multiplatform “Virtual Championship”, Starting Today

[A_Higher_Place]

Division 2.2 photos featuring the GTPlanet car . Photo credit: AMG Motorsports

 

[P-Courty]

it looks like your div only has 1.5 aliens compared to my 3.5. Maybe I'm just making excuses now too .

I class you as an alien being able to qualify 3rd 👽😅

That second race made my blood boil. I served my penalty to the right of the racing line and once I was un-ghosted I was entitled to the racing space. That driver decided they wanted it and basically pit manoeuvred me. Submitted a report to AMG so we will see what happens there.

I'm waiting to see them post the link of their replay showing it 😬

Also Div 2.1 photos from AMG page, there is only 5 and the purple GTP machine is in 4 of them, can you guess the odd one out 😝

@mercedesamgmotorsport (IG)
@amgmotorsport (X).

 

[A_Higher_Place]

I class you as an alien being able to qualify 3rd 👽😅

Ahh, I can only do so when one alien isn't present. Even then, it's luck and lots of practice. I was able to close the gap pace-wise to two of the others since Laguna. However, my nerves and consistency need some work.

Really looking forward to Suzuka. It's a stronger track for me than Brands.

 

[P-Courty]

This may be a bit controversial, but I think Brands Hatch is a rather technical track when you think about the corners individually, no two are the same and there are fast and slow corners as well as many elevation changes.

You had more battles to contend with to try to keep your cool through whereas I was only trying to catch P5 on race 2, so I was really pushing it but had the space around me (18 sec from P7) to treat it more like a time trial, concentrating purely on my lines and brake/turn/accelerate points.

It only takes 1 lap to make an alien time 👽😝

 

[P-Courty]

Thought I'd play around in photo mode this morning... Enjoy 🙂

Div 2.1

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Livestream up for today's race. 2pm and 3pm qualifying before each race start. They changed the second race to rain... so don't expect a great drive

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Race 1: Qualified 3RD, FINISHED 3RD!! I'm over the moon with this result 'cause I'm reaching far above my weight class here. Was bumped into the gravel early on and fought my way back. The driver who bumped me ended up showing good sportsmanship and yielded on the homestretch after I closed the gap. From there is was simply keeping it cool with a mantra of "Its just good car placement, its just good car placement..." Thank you @Nicktune for all your help with prepping lines. The work paid off 👊🏻💪🏻.

Race 2: Qualified 4th and finished 4th. Ended up taking myself out by getting overzealous and challenging the far quicker Italian. I thought I could capitalize on their struggle but it wasn't meant to be. Took myself down to 5th for awhile until a driver took themselves out at the hairpin. As I recieved damage from the impact with the wall, I just kept it cool and brought it home. Solid points finish

 

[P-Courty]

2 guys in my rain race who are same pace as me had an amazing run, they finished 3rd and 4th. In the dry race I was constantly on the tail of one of them, didn't let them go and finished together still.

I struggled with both races, the car felt nothing like Brands Hatch where it was a dream to drive.

At Suzuka in the dry I was fighting with so much understeer that I had brake balance set to rear 4 just to get any sort of turn in but then as soon as I tapped the accelerator on corner exit I just got snap oversteer and ended up in the opposite direction.

I was properly fighting with the car in both races, with struggling in the dry I knew the wet race would be a disaster, which it was, I had no control at all.

I tried different levels of TC and BB and even turned TC completely off half way through the race which seemed a bit better but still nothing like the front runners experience.

I studied their laps during practice and they could get full throttle quite easy, I couldn't replicate it at all, I had to try to race with 3/4 throttle everywhere otherwise I was in the sand pit.

I just don't understand how the car felt so drastically different at Suzuka compared to Laguna and Brands which were both great.

I sat there after the first race and thought the only change is the recent update, but why did mine feel so bad but others had a great experience.

I finished 8th and 9th, just can't believe that the 2 guys I've been battling for the past two races were both blisteringly quick here up at the podium.

😕

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Results are up for Race Day 3. With a solid performance, I move up to 60th overall!

Interestingly, as we go into the break we can expect the relegation to happen. If I understand this correctly, and due to their unavailability thus far, I could be sharing the track with Kylian Drumont for the next three races 👀🔥


@P-Courty the car definitely changed between updates but not too much. A couple of us were finding that we were around 0.5s slower over a lap at Suzuka due to the physics update. Trail braking is necessary now and seems to provide far more rotation that before. I ended up using +1 BB for quali and 0 for the race. Whenever I went (-) BB I would get massive oversteer into corners.

Hopefully we can get some solid practice together for the second half of the season!

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Stream for todays race if anyone is keen on watching. Race two's gamification will be a reverse grid today.



Qualifying for race one starts in a little under an hour.

Edit: Well, with the aliens being promoted to Div 1 and no relegated aliens participating, I won back-to-back at the Nurburgring GP! GTPlanet car is victorious!

 

[P-Courty]

In D2.1 there was also another GTPlanet podium even after some Turn 1 carnage.

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Photo credit: AMG Motorsports. Best race day yet and really appreciating their photos of the GTPlanet car crossing the line in 1st place

 

[P-Courty]

I was just looking through their photos when you posted these.

D2.1 photos courtesy of AMG Motorsport

@mercedesamgmotorsport (IG)
@amgmotorsport (X).

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Another couple of wins at the temple of speed this week to help extend my lead in Division 2.2. Race one was a win from pole. Race two, however, I had to fight for it as T1 was bowling instead of racing. luckily I didn't receive any damage and was able to put my head down and hunt for the lead.

Photocred: AMG Motorports.

 

[P-Courty]

Unfortunately not so good for me on this one, was a little tight at the start of race one at the chicane causing the front pack to escape, a few more tussles and gained my places back but too far behind at that point.

Race 2 was amazing for the first 10mins trying to keep @GT5Apex behind me and really close racing from all involved, until my lovely G29 steering wheel locked up completely to the right and wiped me out, damaging aero and front wheel, lost all speed on the straight so couldn't catch anyone back up.

Found that the return of the kitten may be the cause after the race though 😡

Some repairs to be made before the next one 😮‍💨


D2.1 photos courtesy of AMG Motorsport

@mercedesamgmotorsport (IG)
@amgmotorsport (X).


I have loads of photos that I have taken from each round which I will probably upload at some point for people to enjoy viewing.

 

[GT5Apex]

Race 2 was amazing for the first 10mins trying to keep @GT5Apex behind me and really close racing from all involved, until my lovely G29 steering wheel locked up completely to the right and wiped me out, damaging aero and front wheel, lost all speed on the straight so couldn't catch anyone back up.

I was wondering what happened to you, because initially, i thought you had clipped one of the small sausage kerbs which can cause your car to spin out. Sucks to hear that your wheel locked up, because it would have been a good battle for the next couple of laps since the field was bunched up for race 2.

 

[jrbabbitt]

Deleted post because I am stupid and didn't read initial post either.... sorry

 

[P-Courty]

I was wondering what happened to you, because initially, i thought you had clipped one of the small sausage kerbs which can cause your car to spin out. Sucks to hear that your wheel locked up, because it would have been a good battle for the next couple of laps since the field was bunched up for race 2.

I was having so much fun in that race too.

I know you would have got past a few laps later but with the slipstream it would have made a fun chase down.

I hit the sausages many times during practice and a few times during the race but never had any slide at all on that corner, I did have a few moments coming out of it on the straight but could easily move the wheel to control them.

I even had a few twitchy moments at the exit of the second chicane and Lesmo 1 which were also easily manageable to save, but the one I had in front of you I completely had no control at all.

I watched the replay back with the car details on and the red dot doesn't seem to go all the way to right, it still only moves a little bit as it normally would when I take the corner.

The only thing I can think that caused the G29 to lock right without showing in game is that, when it is switched off and back on, the wheel calibrates from full right to full left, then centre again.

The red dot followed the tires going left during the slide and when I started to move again I had normal control, so that's the only thing I can think that caused it.

It has never happened before and caught me completely by surprise 😢

It was a real shame but unfortunately this stuff happens, hopefully I'll get the cable repair done and give it a good test before the next round.

 

[A_Higher_Place]

The final round is upon us for Season Zero of the AMG Virtual Championship. For the final round, we're at Spa Francorchamps! Sharing my 'Thank You AMG' livery for the races.

For those interested in watching, I'll post a stream in this thread at 1PM ET tomorrow. Quali and Race 1 starts at 2PM ET and Race 2 starts at 3PM ET.

I have a chance to bring the Division 2.2 championship home to GTPlanet tomorrow so wish us luck 😁

 

[P-Courty]

20 minutes until live practice session starts for the final round.

Updated my livery only slightly, big GTPlanet now on the rear wing and the tracks of this season on the window.

Lets go 🔥

Good luck @A_Higher_Place @GT5Apex

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Stream up. We are go at 2PM ET

 

[P-Courty]

My race didn't go so well last night 😅

My times in race 1 were pretty consistent but the top guys were much quicker.

The first race was pretty relaxed but I clipped the outer edge of the track before Blanchimont on the last lap and couldn't serve to 0.5sec penalty so that turned into 1sec penalty but still kept 5th place.

No keeping with the top times in either race.


Race 2 it went wrong on lap 1 🤦🏻‍♂️ but managed to avoid damage luckily. But into last place.

I managed to get back from 8th to 5th in a few laps...

But just after the halfway point in the race, I made a stupid mistake and apexed way too early at Blanchimont and that sealed the deal on my race with the damage sustained.

I did managed to get back ahead of P6 and crawl to the finish though.

A few different angles of the crash

 

[A_Higher_Place]

The final round went as well as I could have asked for - Double victory! I was in a league of my own and managed to keep it on track until the end. A double win at Spa came with a wave of emotion (get it?) as this was the final round of the AMG Motorsport Virtual Championship Season Zero. Learning and improving as a sim racer has been a fantastic experience. Between round one at Laguna Seca and round 6 at Spa, I feel my pace has increased quite a bit as I sought to understand the car and my driver errors as best as I could.

Perhaps I'll do a season summary post in a few once I have pictures from all other rounds lined up

Photo credit to AMG Motorsports - Thank you for an amazing opportunity!

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Final race results and overall championship standings are in. Managed a P22 overall and the second highest scoring Div 2 driver


Edit: I've been invited to the awards ceremony at Stuttgart in mid-December. Pretty exciting! However, plane tickets aren't cheap. Anyone happen to have a room for a night or two in the area to help cut down costs of accommodation?

 

[P-Courty]

I finished 4th in my division, missed out on the trip by 1 place 😔 but I was a fair few points behind though 😅

@A_Higher_Place make sure you get to it in your spaceship 👽 and take some photos.

Congratulations.

Also same goes for the other GTPlanet 1st place podium too @GT5Apex

At least both divisions 2.1 and 2.2 ended with 1st place going to GTPlanet residents 👽

Well done guys

(p.s. if I owned a spaceship too then maybe I could have joined you 🤣)

 

[GT5Apex]

I finished 4th in my division, missed out on the trip by 1 place 😔 but I was a fair few points behind though 😅

@A_Higher_Place make sure you get to it in your spaceship 👽 and take some photos.

Congratulations.

Also same goes for the other GTPlanet 1st place podium too @GT5Apex

At least both divisions 2.1 and 2.2 ended with 1st place going to GTPlanet residents 👽

Well done guys

(p.s. if I owned a spaceship too then maybe I could have joined you 🤣)

Thanks man!

I did get a bit lucky with getting 1st place since there is a promotion and relegation system in place, but i will happily take 1st.

It's cool that Mercedes have invited us out to Stuttgart, but unfortunately i don't think i will be able to make it. ☹️

Also congrats to @A_Higher_Place on getting 1st place in Division 2.2.

 

[P-Courty]

More photos from AMG Motorsport for division 2.1

@mercedesamgmotorsport (IG)
@amgmotorsport (X).

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Thanks man!

I did get a bit lucky with getting 1st place since there is a promotion and relegation system in place, but i will happily take 1st.

It's cool that Mercedes have invited us out to Stuttgart, but unfortunately i don't think i will be able to make it. ☹️

Also congrats to @A_Higher_Place on getting 1st place in Division 2.2.

Same as (and to) you! Congratulations! Won on technicality and on consistency in attendance. I likely won't make it. Honestly pretty disappointed by AMG for this. Lots of things kinda flopped over the season.

I'm curious, we're you able to keep up with the relegated D1 driver at all?

 

[GT5Apex]

Same as (and to) you! Congratulations! Won on technicality and on consistency in attendance. I likely won't make it. Honestly pretty disappointed by AMG for this. Lots of things kinda flopped over the season.

I'm curious, we're you able to keep up with the relegated D1 driver at all?

Nah, we never really managed to keep up with the relegated D1 driver. At both Monza and Spa KimiMatt slowly increased the gap each lap. At Monza we did do an alright job of 'keeping up' since at the start of lap 9 we were only 3 seconds behind him, then MrSnebstegim and myself started to battle, so KimiMatt pulled further ahead. He finished just over 8 seconds ahead in race 1. Race 2 was a bit closer since he only finished 1.3 ahead of P2, but that's because he started from last.

At Spa he finished 9.4 ahead of P2 in race 1, and in race 2 he finished 8.7 ahead of P2.

In qualifying at Monza we weren't too far away from him, but im not sure if that's just down the fact that Monza is just mostly straights. 🤷‍♂️

 

[A_Higher_Place]

They've created some certificates for participants too!