I think since you've cited the example of Holl01, it can provide a slightly different side to this conversation in addition to what you have already said.
With my WRS runs, I tend to do many laps in the same bracket for an extended period of time, then maybe eventually the lap I want will come together. That could be just a marked improvement in a particular sector, it could be all 3 personal bests in T1, T2 and T3 coming together to give me my best theoretical lap or maybe just reacting to a better ghost in front of me and finding time that way. WRS 32 was a fine example of this, for days I was running low 1'43s and in a race that was my best also, then in the free run finally a 1'42 came up and I submitted with that.
We don't really know for sure how much time Holl01 spends on the time trials, but people like him and Madison have got to the stage where their limits are reached a great deal faster than mine. Sometimes Holland submits in the first day, sometimes if he has to compete with Timppaq he has to run all week to find that special laptime and may still not beat Timo.
In a race situation, holl01 has been beaten very recently in RoC by GTP_PASM (Division 2) and also in Event03 by GTP_Stotty (Div 1 silver) because PASM and Stotty have a long history of racing as opposed to dedicating their priorities to time trialling. PASM and Stotty were able to win by being consistently fast whereas holl01 made mistakes in the races and cost himself time, usually a result of less race practise and trying to do perfect laps every lap of a race...like an extended time trial. Also it should be noted that the races were close, it wasn't the case that when holl01 was running good laps he was many tenths faster than those opponents.
I think this shows that a healthy mix of both racecraft and pure TT speed is required to truly flourish on the track. Don't by any means assume that because someone trumps you week after week in WRS that they will eventually find a way around you in a race.
I personally was struggling a great deal in WRS when I first started as D2 bronze, hardly threatening the mid-pack D2 guys at all, but I won my class in Event 02 because I was a much more frequent racer at the time and far better at that. I also was runner up in the GTP Sixaxis championship, losing 2-1 in a very very close battle with GTP_timeattack who is Division 1 gold based on his time trial performance in the GTP qualifier. I guess what I'm trying to convey is that time trial specialists may not have the racecraft and consistency in a race situation to find their way around someone who is of a lower division or subdivision based solely on WRS and TT results.
All the best
Maz
Very interesting, I did not know those things.
Although I will say, I would believe that to be the status quo of what's commonly called "choking". Not that I'm saying Holl01 choked, but rather, he was so desperate to not lose, and/or to impatient to wait for the right moments, that he went overboard.
I've seen the penalties of being impatient myself, causing screw-ups in my first 50+ online races. I've since learned that it's better to wait, and finish 3rd than go "balls to the wall" for 10 laps, which usually results in 2-3 screw-ups.
I guess that's why real-life drivers don't always push the limit quite like they can to.
I would say actual races define you as a better driver, and even go so far as to say hot laps mean squat, but only once we can actually choose races, and set them up ourselves. Like a 40 lap race around Fuji, or something longer than 10 laps, with the potential to qualify or choose starting grid order.
What would make races be the ultimate test, would be actual qualifying, wherein if you crash, it's back of the pack, in a "backup car" (no settings). And also the damage we expect from GT5, that
should knock you out of the race, or at least contention.
For me, Time Trialing will remain a much better guide of someone's absolute driving ability until the draft effect is made more realistic.
Agreed. The "drafting" is crazy. I've found that since
at least GT3, if you're within 1.5 seconds, you're in the draft. And if you're in it, it doesn't take long to close that gap, and start picking up tremendously unrealistic amounts of extra speed.
