“Porsche Esports Challenge USA by Gran Turismo” Event

[Mistah_MCA]

Porsche eSports Challene USA
Round 2 - Laguna Seca
'95 Porsche 911 Carrera RS
12 Laps of Hell

Slot 1 - I did get to my knees and say a little prayer to 8 week old baby Jesus that I would survive all 12 laps. I prayed for my competitors as well. If you checked the BOP there was no sway bar on this monster. Which meant weight transfer was large and in charge. We'd all need devine intervention to survive this race.

After botching qualifying badly, I started p18 in top split. My chance of moving up from 16 in the overall rankings was, at best, unlikely. After waiting on the tarmac for almost a minute, the tree FINALLY lit up and we were off. Mayhem cannot describe the start. I don't know if people forgot to use TC on the start or if was a few false starters mucking up the grid, but there were cars flying everywhere. I went from p18 to ~p6 BEFORE turn 1. Unfortunately, I had to go off track after getting hit and while avoiding another racer sideways in the middle of the road. GT7 penalty system of course ignored the mayhem and gave me a 1/2 second. Well, it was lap one so I went from p6 to ~p10. Then a stupid error by yours truly put me into the rear of @OutlawQuadrnt almost murdering him at the top of the corkscrew. Luckily he was able to hold on to the car. I fell back to p18 and found myself in a race with @Mistah_MCA When we came out of the pits I noticed I was now on the wrong tire (H) and he was on the right one (M). So, it wasn't much of a race and I let him slide down the inside as soon as an opportunity presented itself. Finished p16, 135 points. I decided to go again.

Slot 2 - I had a much better qualifying and found myself starting in p12 behind @Mistah_MCA . The names in front are those constently scattered accross the top 20 in time trials. So, I knew I had to have a great race to get a good result. Unfortuantely, right behind me was a known trouble maker. I caught Mistah sleeping at the light and pulled on him and p9 towards T1. As we went into the turn, the trouble maker sent it up the inside of Mistah pushing him into me causing me to go very wide and losing two or 3 spots in T1. But, that would be OK, as Karma would find him a few laps later. I decide to run a fuel race and went 5 hard saving fuel then jumped out on the mediums for 7 more. I was able to get the undercut on Mistah and Zen on lap 7 and just squeeze by on T3. The end of the race had Zen running me down and me running down p10. We both came up just short as I finished p11, running out of fuel a few feet before I crossed the line. 195 points. All I was going to do this night. I had enough of that car.

My pace disappeared on the day of the race hahaha. I don't know if it was from burning out (prepping/struggled all week with this combo), or things did not click again with the car... Yeah, I had a disastrous day. 😅

 

[GTWolverine]

Slot 1: Got matched with @Geauxgreddy and a bunch of other familiar names, including one I'd rather not have been matched with. I qualified pretty well in P7, right behind @Geauxgreddy, which is about where I expected to be given where we were on the Free Practice leaderboard. When the race started, it completely unraveled for me. For some reason, on the front straight (at least that's where I noticed it), every time a car was behind me they'd visibly lag forward and gain several tenths on me down the front straight, like I somehow wasn't pressing the accelerator down (the in-game pedal trace said I was), then easily dive down the inside into T1. I suspect these were the beginnings of my connection problems (more on that later...). On Lap 3, someone rear-ended me into T1 then took the opportunity to try to pass me. I wasn't pleased so I decided to take it side-by-side into the esses. Unfortunately he managed to clear me before the left-hand portion, and I was off-line so I got rear-ended again and shoved into the wall. A 3rd car then ran into me as I bounced off that wall and unfortunately we got connected and he got shoved into the opposite wall and spun.

On Lap 4 the aforementioned jerk wiped me out from 10th place at T1 and dropped me to 16th. He got a 5s penalty and fell behind me, then went for a move again on Lap 5 when I ran wide on my own, so I turned down and forced him into the inside wall before the esses and that was that. Finished P16 of 18 (with 18th spending most of the race parked in the pits).

Slot 2: Had my first disconnect ever in this game between warm-up and qualifying, even though I loaded into the room just fine and made it onto the track for the warm-up.

Slot 3: Disconnected again between warmup and qualifying...

 

[Geauxgreddy]

Porsche eSports Challene USA
Round 3 - Willow Glen
Porsche Tycan
10 Laps

Slot 1 - As mentioned above, the lobby came alive and I saw fellow GTP regular @GTWolverine as well as many other familiar names. I didn't, however, see many of the top split drivers. This was going to be a 2nd split affair so I had a shot at bettering my best points haul of 271 in round 1. My 1st 3 laps of qualifying were a mess, but I pulled it together on the last lap and put in a solid 6th place run at 1:58.1xx, right in front of @GTWolverine . Starting the race its always good to know you have a level headed driver behind you!

On Lap 1 I was able to stay in touch with the leaders, which was a good sign. The race was about tire saving and not making mistakes. Even though I knew the top 5 had better overall pace, I still had a chance if I raced smart. Around lap 3 I had my first break as P4 went wide into the downhill left after the Coca Cola sign. I was able to easily move up one spot to 5th. Then on lap 6, P4 made an error coming out of T1 and picked up a 0.500 second penalty. At the penalty zone, I was able to just edge ahead of him and then outbreak him for the 90 degree right hander. He fought back but I was able to hold him off. After that, I just had to keep the 2 behind me at bay and not make any mistakes myself. Not an easy task in a very heavy, very fast, car that punished you for braking late or tossing the weight around. The former P4 driver put loads of pressure on and went for an outside move on lap 9 but ended up out-braking himself and flying off track. I rolled accross the finish line with half my tires remaining and a P4. 259 points.

At the end I was hoping to see GTWolverine stacked in there near the front but unfortunately he had the run-in with the notorious driver who absolutely and shamelessly murdered him in T1. From the early leader boars in TT, looks like Equus has good pace at Daytona though, so pulling for him to have a solid round 4.

After the third slot, I checked the points total and I'm tied for 20th. I basically need to win top split next race to get into the top 12. I got this.

 

[GTWolverine]

This was the one race on this schedule that I was truly looking forward to doing. I love driving Daytona Road Course in practically anything, but give me a Group C/GTP car on top of that and you definitely have my attention! I'd struggled with the EV barges in previous races, so a light, nimble racecar that ACTUALLY STOPS was a nice change. My Free Practice times were within half a second of the top time, so I was feeling especially good about this race, and was hoping I could finally get a result up to my standards.

Slot 1: I qualified 11th, then froze just as the grid walk was starting...judging from the streams I saw of this race, I had a decent chance of winning the thing because of how chaotic the start was, in spite of it being a legit Top Split lobby. At the very least, I was looking forward to having a battle with @Geauxgreddy like in our practice lobbies.

Slot 2: I switched my connection over to my actual router instead of my phone's hot spot (which, believe it or not, is usually more reliable than my router). For some reason, (maybe the 4 extra cars each race), my phone seemed unable to handle staying connected to the Porsche Challenge races specifically (including lag and 2 disconnects in last week's races). Fortunately this slot was still relatively stacked, and I managed to qualify P5, just ahead of @OutlawQuadrnt. I was on the receiving end of a chain-reaction punt into T1 at the start, but fortunately I stayed on the track, even though I did pick up rear end damage (Outlaw came out way worse from it after being punted into me and several others). From my practice races with @Geauxgreddy, I knew running flat-out and pitting would be quicker than trying to save fuel, so I went on the attack immediately while almost everyone else saved fuel, moving past P4 down the front stretch to start Lap 2. P2 ran off track after getting too eager on the throttle at the exit of the International Horseshoe, which promoted me to P3. I was all over the back of the new P2, but couldn't find a way by despite being quicker on the straights due to not saving fuel. I finally got by at the start of Lap 5, and very quickly built up a gap, while also closing down on P1. I set Fastest Lap on Lap 9 just before I pitted on Lap 10, by which time I'd closed the gap to the leader to under 3s. Coming out of the pits I was still P3, JUST in front of the car I'd been fighting for P2 earlier. In spite of making a mistake at the turn that leads back to the oval on Lap 12 and losing the spot, I was easily able to re-pass down the front straight to start the final lap. Up ahead, once again P2 had issues out of the International Horseshoe, only this time it was a disconnect, gifting me P2 once again, which would end up being my final result.

Thankfully, the points in this slot were still worth something, and I was still able to score 323 points, which beats my previous record for most points scored (also at Daytona Road Course) by 3 points. This also means I still have yet to finish off the podium at the Daytona Road Course, and now 3 of 4 of my results here are over 300 points. A great way to end what was an otherwise disappointing championship campaign.

 

[SPL170db]

Got pole @ Daytona, decided to try and do a no stop....fell back to P5 or 6 since I had to set it to fuel mix 4 to make the distance. Couple of guys pitted and then 3rd was running low on fuel and had to back down his mix and made it back up to 3rd.

 

[Geauxgreddy]

Slot 1 As seen above, I had @GTWolverine in the lobby with me and we had and advantage...the car. LOL. We were one of the few that actually owned the Porsche 962 C so we were able to practice during the week. While I'm not terribly good at driving, Youtube, or writing, I am pretty good at math. I quickly worked out that the one stop was the way to go. Then after racing @GTWolverine I also came to realize TC1 in this car was a hair bit quicker as well. All week, I chased him in lobby and in TT. After the dust settle in qualy, we were nose to tail with @GTWolverine in Q11 and ole Greddy in Q13.

As we sat for an eternity, @GTWolvering disappeared in front of me. Which sucked, but maybe not because what happened afterwards was pretty shameful for the top split drivers in the USA. As soon as the lights dropped, p12 swerved in front of me then disconnected or missed a gear shift, causing me to have to take an evasive maneuver. Then as I entered T1, people were running into each other, dive bombing, braking late, and displaying overall poor racemanship into T1. I tried to settle in next to @OutlawQuadrnt but the Pole sitter, who had an aweful start and was bumped wide thanks to the silly invisible wall, dove back onto the track taking out me, Outlaw, and one other. I got the worst of it and ended up in last place after T1.

But, I'm not a quitter. Never have been, never will be. So, i put my head down and climbed back up to p8 before the pit stop on lap 10. Came out in P14 and then worked my way past 6 more fuel savers, including the pole sitter. to finish P8. After being in last after T1, I'd call that as good as a victory...ok, maybe not that good. HA. Only walked away with 259 points but I was proud of my race. Thought about doing Manu next but it was late and I am an old man so I put together the video and went to bed. LOL.

I am super excited to hear that @GTWolverine had a great 2nd slot race. He deserved a good result after the effort put in. Great Job!!

 

[GTWolverine]

Here's a replay of my 2nd attempt last night:

 

[GTWolverine]

My final results in the championship. First round went horribly (by my standards) as I couldn't stop giving myself wall penalties. I didn't bother with Round 2 since it was a rear-engined car at Laguna Seca, both of which I suck at driving. Round 3 I had connection issues in all 3 slots and got disconnected in the final 2 slots. Round 4 almost made up for the frustrations in the other rounds, except I got disconnected from the first slot there too, when I could've potentially scored more points (though I might be overestimating my skills admittedly).

Also for the first time in a LOOOONG time, I wasn't first in Michigan at the end of a championship. That honor went to @Harmonic.

 

[Jordan]

Have any of you guys qualified or plan to attend?

I'll be covering the live finals on Saturday and it would be great to meet any GTPlanet members!

 

[TUSMBOX]

Have any of you guys qualified or plan to attend?

I'll be covering the live finals on Saturday and it would be great to meet any GTPlanet members!

Is it going to be streamed somewhere?

 

[Jordan]

Is it going to be streamed somewhere?

Not that I'm aware of.

If so, I'll share the link here.

 

[Jordan]

No live stream, but I’m here with @GumballCGT! Racing kicks off in about 30 minutes.

Nice setup and a lot of familiar faces from the World Tour events, including @TRL LIGHTNING. Great to be back at a live GT event.

 

[Jordan]

Race 1 results and standings:

 

[Jordan]

Race 2:

 

[Jordan]

Congratulations to the winner, Randall “Hollywood” Haywood @TNR_5zigen! I’ll have a full write up posted tomorrow.

 

[Jordan]

This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

Randall Haywood Wins $15,000 in the Gran Turismo 7 Porsche Esports Challenge USA 2022​

The live finals of the Gran Turismo 7 Porsche Esports Challenge were held last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as part of Porsche’s 2022 Sports Car Together Fest, a three-day celebration of the German automaker at one of the most famous racing circuits in the world...

 

[Auditore]

Porsche has streamed iRacing events before,don't know why they didn't for this.
Congrats to the winner.
I would like these money prizes to be inplemented in the world tour events if PD can bring in sponsors for that.
Call it
World Tour powered by Porsche or Dior GT7 World Tour Finals 😂

 

[Nebuc72]

It's a shame this wasn't streamed. Would've been fun to watch, especially with a proper prize on the line.

Don't know if it's just me, but having prizes makes an event more interesting for me to watch as well. I get more into it knowing the drivers are fighting for something truly meaningful. Huge shame the GTWS events don't lean into the same direction, Sony can certainly afford it.

 

[A_Higher_Place]

Congrats to the winners!

 

[Auditore]

It's a shame this wasn't streamed. Would've been fun to watch, especially with a proper prize on the line.

Don't know if it's just me, but having prizes makes an event more interesting for me to watch as well. I get more into it knowing the drivers are fighting for something truly meaningful. Huge shame the GTWS events don't lean into the same direction, Sony can certainly afford it.

They had the Tag Heuer watches back in 2018 but that's it.

 

[odeepaanh]

I actually attended the sports car festival on Sunday since I live in the area, and it was great fun. We spent most of the day at the track watching the Porsche cup races, which were proper exciting and sounded marvelous. At the end of the day I realized we had not even checked out the tent where they hosted the Gran Turismo tournament and since it was after the tournament had finished, they were letting attendees take five minutes to set the fastest time they can around laguna seca in the group 4 cayman. To sum it up I decided to have a go and was able to set a 1:28.8, with the previous record being a 1:29.something and little did I know they were giving a free pair of Bose Earbuds away to people who set a new fastest time!

Thank you to Porsche and Polyphony

 

[GordonS]

One of my fav drivers! Congrats R.Haywood! Well done!

 

[dazdilly75]

Congratulations to the winner, Randall “Hollywood” Haywood @TNR_5zigen! I’ll have a full write up posted tomorrow.

View attachment 1189810View attachment 1189811

Well done to Randall Hayward! He is one hell of a driver! Happy to finally see the top guys getting rewarded for their passion and dedication. Maybe they'll throw in an actual Porsche for the winner next time! Please let EMEA have access to this event in the future. Can't believe we missed out on this opportunity!

 

[Saidur_Ali]

Well done to all who took part. Great to see players getting rewarded. @Doodle, congrats man! I remember being impressed by a time you did with controller on Kart Space many years ago, knew you would be even more of a top player when you switched to a wheel.

 

[T_702_Balone]

who is Anna Giro?

 

[Nebuc72]

who is Anna Giro?

Gyrza Groana, I assume.