2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

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Decided to go with the RCZ. Considering I was in top split, it didn't go as disastrously as I imagined :lol: There were two 911s, one RS01 and one Corvette. Everyone else in GT-R. Quali 13th and finished 11th with 7M/1H/8S, no refuelling. On the meds and hards the GT-R struggles for traction so the RCZ can put a bit of distance in the early part of straights, but once the softs are on there's no stopping the GT-R taking off like a rocket :crazy: Even so lots of people can't keep it on the track, especially on cold tyres on first lap and coming out of pits. So don't feel pressured to use the meta, Suzuka is a track where the driver can really make the difference 👍
 
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Just mailing these races lately as I am disconnecting from half of them during matchmaking, so I don't want to waste too much energy.

Disconnected from slot 2 (4th in 8 attempts). Decided to give final slot a go (expecting a DC) but made it in, then started and finished P2.

Was a pretty low turnout tonight even by OCE Nations Cup standards, but at least I had something to show for it.
 
Going again.

Qualified in 10th as usual. Finished 9th for 121 points in a very placid race (thankfully).

Started on the mediums, avoided a calamity at the start. Cold tyres tried murdering me but survived. Up into 6th early on as people misjudged the first turn. Would fall back again as they recovered.

Switched to hards for a single lap at lap 8 then on to softs for the remainder. Came back out in 9th, got a 1 second penalty which delayed me in catching the group of 4 until the second half of the last lap but couldn't gain any spots.

Didn't really put a foot wrong in the race so a little disappointed by 9th. Maybe wasn't quick enough on the mediums or maybe just didn't have a decent pace at all! The 121 points is alright but feel i could at least do as well by going again.
 
After qualifying 7th in the Z4 and moving up to 2nd place things were looking good. Lost a position to a GTR on lap 2 down the straight, as we went through the esses, I accidentally bumped into the back of him as he bumped into the leader and he just saw red. Spent the rest of the race purposely taking me out any chance he had. Brake checking, ramming, what ever he could do. I’d got back up to 6th with him in 7th and the final corner of the race he just decided it was better to take us both out. Finished 11th. Sad and pathetic and a total waste of time. Fuming. Checked his stats after and this explains it!

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Benay79
After qualifying 7th in the Z4 and moving up to 2nd place things were looking good. Lost a position to a GTR on lap 2 down the straight, as we went through the esses, I accidentally bumped into the back of him as he bumped into the leader and he just saw red. Spent the rest of the race purposely taking me out any chance he had. Brake checking, ramming, what ever he could do. I’d got back up to 6th with him in 7th and the final corner of the race he just decided it was better to take us both out. Finished 11th. Sad and pathetic and a total waste of time. Fuming. Checked his stats after and this explains it!

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You know you're in for a good race when your opponent's SR history looks like birdshot.
 
Attempt 1, qualified poorly in 15th, managed to get into 10th by lap 7, pitted again lap 8 and has a disaster of a soft stint to finish 14th.

Attempt 2, qualified 15th again, race went much better and much cleaner this time, was in P8 by the last lap when the car being me tapped me off at the second part of spoon in what was at best a very stupid place to try and pass someone. Ended up in 10th after a car ahead had a 1:00 penalty. Annoying that I would have had 7th but what's done is done, 87 points overall. The AMG GT3 felt like a really strong car choice at Suzuka, good luck to everyone else.
 
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Attempt 2. Qualified 11th (seriously with these 10th-12th qualifying efforts!). Finished 2nd (!) for 174 points (PB)

I'd love to see some stats for my FIA qualifying. Be very surprised if I wasn't between 10th and 12th 90% of the time. But yea, qualifying incredibly beautifully average as always.

Decide to mix it up with the strategy. Slap on the hards and wack up the TCS for the chicane. Up into 10th after the leader goes off courtesy of P2 getting a bucket load of oversteer and clipping them. Pit at the end of the lap and after a bit of deliberation, on go the mediums.

Emerge 17th, move up a spot after someone pits on lap 2 to shed their hards. No change until lap 5 when P15 has a wobbler after the chicane. Claim another spot a lap later when P14 does the exact same thing and then another position gained courtesy of a pit stop.

Lap 7 leads to 2 more spots gained with people pitting. Clear road ahead so focus on consistent laps. More stops so temporarily into 4th on lap 9. Last pit stop beckons, softs go on with a lick of fuel. Time to pound out the laps.

Emerge in 13th, at this stage I've no real idea how my race is going. Frenchman has a wobbler after degner 2 on lap 10, up to 12th. Lap 11th, more pit stops so up to 10th. Slowly gaining on a Russian and overtake them on the pit straight on lap 12. Great close driving and thankfully no incident at T1. Someone else in the pits. Now P8.

Stays that way until lap 15. Take P7 on the back straight and as I enter the pit straight see several P's on the leaderboard. P2 and 3 are emerging from the pit lane but not quick enough as I slot into second! Have enough of a gap that the remainder of the lap is stress free.

Lengthy review (sorry not sorry) but so pleased with this result. Probably my best and definitely my favourite performance so far.

Good luck everyone yet to go or going again. Needless to say I recommend the H/M/S strategy!
 
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barak181
It's very early in the PST time zone (I'm not sure why I'm up right now) and my dyslexic morning self read that as "I'm not mental though!" :lol:
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No, but he is.

Well what can I say...

Door 13. Qualified 8th. Started on mediums. Released just coming out of Casio so no squirrelly issues to deal with. Though a couple ahead were wobbling around. Got past a GT-R who wobbled into turn 1. Another couple of cars were on the grass in the esses. The three cars ahead had penalties. I pass them when they serve them. Doing a @GOTMAXPOWER threading the needle pass on 2 of them incase they unghost of which 1 did. They battled a bit allowing me a gap and I was closing slowly on the 1st placed car. Eventually a GT-R broke free and chased me down. He barged me out of the way into the hairpin. Then I fail to take into account the dirty air and run wide through 130R, thankfully I keep in a straight line but I have allowed another GT-R passed. (Only 6 of them but they were at the front.) They then proceed to battle and the rude Frenchman pits. Then the Italian slides off at turn 2 allowing me the lead. I pit lap 8 for hards and they follow me. I come out still in the lead by 4 seconds. The Italian put in a small amount of go juice at the pit. I maintain a gap of about 3-4 seconds for my 2 laps on hards. Lap 10 and it's time for the softs and fuel. The Italian behind also does copying me. I come out in 4th with the guys ahead still to pit. I'm behind an Austrian who is obviously struggling with their tyres. They go deep into the hairpin and I dive underneath them and pull away. Everyone ahead pits and I am back into the lead. However the Norwegian polesitter is only a couple of seconds behind. He has done the fastest lap about 1.6 seconds ahead of mine. I just keep putting in good consistent laps of 2mins flat. He catches in certain areas but has wobbles in others. He must have had an issue at Spoon because the gap shoots up to 7 seconds. Whilst it does start to come down again I can relax a little and come home for my 2nd win of the day.
20210515_171216.jpg

My first Nations win and 1,600 DR gained raising me to 19.6K (I'm feeling lightheaded.)

This morning I noticed that my wheel was slightly offskew on the frame. I straightened it up and moved my chair a little to align myself up. I think I had been giving myself an undue handicap for months by sitting slightly off. Well it seems to have helped so far.
 
Feeling pretty chuffed with myself as I've now got my first ever win in FIA

Qualified in 4th, T2 P1 Spun off, P2 got punted by P3 who then spun off after T4. I don't think Ive been so excited/nervous in quite a while, I could feel My heart racing and my hands ached afterwards as I was gripping the controller so tight, managed to calm down and keep a steady pace for a win by 5 seconds or so
On a side note during practice laps I couldn't control the GTR and indeed a few others that I'd had a run out with, spinning off all over the place, I've been driving with TCS off for a while now so stuck it on 2 and much more stable knocking 2 seconds off my best time, weird that .. oh and Door number 20 to boot, so I guess that means DR aceness

Anyway, far more excited than a man in his mid 50's should be about a video game ... time for sum Rum I think
 
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AndrewD3k
It's a day for 1ts it would seem .. £10 on Leicester might be worth a shot
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Well then

Managed to fluff my first quali lap and my 2nd didn't feel great but still it was good enough for P9.
Started on hards and ran my own race just making sure I kept the car on track. Had someone who refuelled chasing me down in the last stint and eventually had to let them go as I was pretty tight on fuel and in the end crossed the line P6, which changed to a P5 as the race winner DSCd

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Went for the 1st slot in the afternoon. A bit under the weather so fancied an easy drive, has to be the Beetle for that :lol:
C S room, managed to qualify 4th after getting caught behind a very slow GT-R after the hairpin and had to keep backing off.
Start on mediums, 1st corner goes OK for the front runners, although we did bunch up quite a lot, P6 lost it and spread out the rest of the field, P 1 loses it lap 2 but regains 4th. I pit for softs lap 10 but forget fuel :banghead:
P2 for out lap, just. Pit start of lap 15 for hards and fuel, out with a GT-R 1sec back, they catch really quick & I let them pass me. P1 20 + secs ahead, start to think someone hasn't read tyre regs :confused:
And so it comes to pass, promoted to winner once I'm across the line.
Do me for the evening :gtpflag:
 
OJBrit
No, but he is.

Well what can I say...

Door 13. Qualified 8th. Started on mediums. Released just coming out of Casio so no squirrelly issues to deal with. Though a couple ahead were wobbling around. Got past a GT-R who wobbled into turn 1. Another couple of cars were on the grass in the esses. The three cars ahead had penalties. I pass them when they serve them. Doing a @GOTMAXPOWER threading the needle pass on 2 of them incase they unghost of which 1 did. They battled a bit allowing me a gap and I was closing slowly on the 1st placed car. Eventually a GT-R broke free and chased me down. He barged me out of the way into the hairpin. Then I fail to take into account the dirty air and run wide through 130R, thankfully I keep in a straight line but I have allowed another GT-R passed. (Only 6 of them but they were at the front.) They then proceed to battle and the rude Frenchman pits. Then the Italian slides off at turn 2 allowing me the lead. I pit lap 8 for hards and they follow me. I come out still in the lead by 4 seconds. The Italian put in a small amount of go juice at the pit. I maintain a gap of about 3-4 seconds for my 2 laps on hards. Lap 10 and it's time for the softs and fuel. The Italian behind also does copying me. I come out in 4th with the guys ahead still to pit. I'm behind an Austrian who is obviously struggling with their tyres. They go deep into the hairpin and I dive underneath them and pull away. Everyone ahead pits and I am back into the lead. However the Norwegian polesitter is only a couple of seconds behind. He has done the fastest lap about 1.6 seconds ahead of mine. I just keep putting in good consistent laps of 2mins flat. He catches in certain areas but has wobbles in others. He must have had an issue at Spoon because the gap shoots up to 7 seconds. Whilst it does start to come down again I can relax a little and come home for my 2nd win of the day.
View attachment 1011044
My first Nations win and 1,600 DR gained raising me to 19.6K (I'm feeling lightheaded.)

This morning I noticed that my wheel was slightly offskew on the frame. I straightened it up and moved my chair a little to align myself up. I think I had been giving myself an undue handicap for months by sitting slightly off. Well it seems to have helped so far.
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That’s awesome, congrats!
praiano63
Soon against a lot of GTR.:cheers::cheers:

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“Hello Roman, it’s your cousin Nico, Would you like to go bowling?” Nicely done.
MetaBrain
Door 8th, Quali 2nd with my best time ever, of course I ran out on T1 due to cold tires again... Lots of rammers like always absolute pain but eventually I managed 5th!.. until I was 5 secs away from the finish and I got the dreaded "data loss" screen. I am devastated. Would be my greatest FIA result ever...
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I feel your pain, happened to me a few months back at Interlagos. Still, there’s always the story of the World Championship race where the top player lost due to a disconnect. (Or something to that effect). So while it’s downright terrible, it can always be worse.
 
Another one-and-done for me today, this time in the 17:40 slot with the GT-R. I had only done a handful of laps beforehand to get a feel for fuel consumption, but no amount of practice would make up for being forced onto the grass on the back straight by a Dutch Mercedes on my 1st lap, and then a Finnish Porsche driver recovering from a penalty on the next one, leaving me 12th on the grid.

Thanks to the wonders of rolling starts, I assumed control just as the bot finished braking for Casio Triangle. It could've been worse, as the guy in 13th spun out when exiting it. I picked off a couple of places at the end of L1 thanks to some drivers further ahead ditching their Hards. I wound up 8th as I ditched my Mediums for Hards at the end of L8, but not without some drama as I clipped the grass and ended up sliding sideways into the pit barrier. I somehow avoided a penalty, and pitted at the end of the lap for Softs...which was when it all kicked off.

I emerged behind not one, but two, but four other cars. I gained a couple of places as that Dutch Mercedes who held me up during quali got into fisticuffs with someone else exiting the hairpin, resulting in both of them hitting the wall on the outside of T12. I spent the next few laps short-shifting and coasting so I could avoid an emergency fuel stop, and ended up 9th at the end of L15.

Seconds later, I encountered an 8th placed German GT-R emerging from the pits, obviously on Hards, so I decided to send it around the outside, hoping they'd realise that their cold Hards were no match for some warm Softs. That wouldn't be the case, as instead they held onto the inside, somehow restraining their car from lagpunting me, and it took until the entry of the Esses for them to give up and settle into 9th. I held onto 8th, but unfortunately the German GT-R couldn't hold onto 9th as they explored the gravel at the exit of Spoon. Whether they jumped or got pushed, I couldn't tell.
 
Busy day today so a short recap and my driving didn't deserve any more than that!

17.40 slot EMEA, B/S lobby and I'm doorb5 and feeling good after a bit of practice.

Qualy is a shambles. Had clear track ahead but a German in a Corvette decided to aggressively cut the last chicane while I was taking it wide to set up the run down the straight. He bumps me then slipstreams down the straight and takes the inside of turn 1 slowing us both:banghead:

He ends up q17 with me q18. To be fairbhe apologises and we had some nice clean battling at times in the race.

Went 1H/7M/8S which worked out as I finished 11th for 59 points and a loss of a tiny bit of DR. But I made at least 8 mistakes including 3 spins and kept messing up 130r and Spoon when following anyone.

I actually had fastest lap at one point with my first full lap on softs which was in clean air. Ended up only 0.5 off fastest.

I can drive this track when no one else is around but in traffic I am utterly useless. All the mistakes were of my own doing today.

Ah well, onwards to Sardegna C in Manu on Wednesday.

And congrats to @OJBrit we're about the same DR but it seems he knows racecraft whereas I just want the track to myself:cheers:
 
Had an inkling that today's Nations would be a Godzilla-fest, but decided to use it as a taster for Gr.3 rounds that may (or may not) happen in the next stage of Manufacturers. My factory-loaned WRX also turned out to be the sharpest and most comfortable car to drive of the options I considered in Free Practice (others included a GT-R, Supra, Citroen and AMG), and an encouraging test lobby the other night left me in high spirits as I prepared for the 15:00 EMEA slot.

15:00 Nations
GT-Rs took up exactly half of the grid, the remaining entrants including myself, @SmokeyMR2 in his AMG, four Porsches and one each of a Beetle, Peugeot, Supra and a Renault R.S.01. Managed to get some smooth, consistent running in tests and qualifying was no exception. Set a clean 1:58.140 on my first lap. Would have gained a further two tenths had I been a bit more adventurous under braking for the Casio Triangle, but by the time I realised that my Softs weren't quite up to bettering it in the earlier sectors. Twelfth-place start and only 9 tenths off the pole-sitting Portuguese GT-R. :)

My mind was set on a 6S-8M-2H strategy if I started within the top 10, with refuelling at the second stop. It made sense, therefore, to swap the first two stints around given my position. I must confess, however, that I almost binned it immediately trying to exit the Triangle in third gear on cold Mediums. I was also not prepared for the Beetle starting behind me (on Softs) to chuck it up the inside of Turn 2, resulting in slight contact which may or may not have halted my 'Clean Race' streak. Traded places with him more cleanly on the next lap, but in the process of giving him room through Dunlop Curve I end up messing up my own line through Degner 1 and skirting the gravel. Fortunately, I keep it stable and keep running long enough to start gaining time on a Swiss Porsche driver a couple of laps later. Turned brake balance down from -2 to -1 as I was starting to feel uncomfortable with the way the WRX was squirming out of the hairpin. Fuel was also becoming a big issue, but this was mitigated by frequent short-shifting as well as leaving the Casio Triangle in third gear.

Entered the top 10 on Lap 5 after a Russian Porsche clouted the tyres just beyond Spoon Curve, and made inroads on the Swiss driver as the first of the other Medium starters pitted. Made my first stop on Lap 8 without fuss despite an off at 130R, with 6.4 laps worth of fuel and brake balance now mostly set to 0. The Beetle who fought me at the start was about 1.3 seconds behind the next time I exited Turn 2; by Lap 12 it was over 5 seconds. I did make a few more mistakes along the way (one of which where I missed the first apex at Spoon), but otherwise had enough pace to be only 13 seconds behind the leader by the time of my second stop on Lap 14. Upon re-emerging, I was fully aware of a Polish GT-R who was flying after committing to the 'Hards first' tactic. For a while, I kept comfortably in front, but eventually he drafted past on the final run down to Turn 1. We did beat, however, the Beetle who stayed out longer on Mediums, and so 10th place was secured when the Coca-Cola Porsche behind was unable to make similar inroads.

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Not much else to say here other than it was another solid and satisfying run in the Scooby. Manufacturers at Sardegna RT C and Nürburgring will likely be my next priorities, but I am open to another Nations round from this set to (hopefully) keep up my consistent run of Top 10 finishes thus far.
 
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OJBrit
Thanks, Knowledge is nothing without application on the racetrack and that is where I fail mostly. I've had races like yours before and will again. Makes days like today feel even better.
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True facts. In other news I broke 80 for the first time in ages with a scorecard in my hand this morning. I think golf and motor racing are similar disciplines in a weird way. You need to learn routines and repetition and, in the words of Kenny Rogers, know when to hold em and know when to fold em:lol:

It's just that one happens at a lot faster pace than the other. :lol: Today I was good at slow pace, not so much at speed.

(Public service announcement: I may have started drinking early this evening :cheers:)

I'm going to ping a bunch of psn friend requests to folks on here tomorrow. Please feel free to ignore them, I won't be offended. But I think having a larger group of like minded racers on my friends list would be a good thing.

And I'll try to join @Seth_Logan 's lobbies. Practice races are surely better than an hour of hotlapping. And it ought to be a laugh at least.
 
Well USA and I get D1, slightly spoiled quali but still Q2 and can't decide strategy.... I think fighting at the front is still a bad idea so stick with with 1H and fuel/8M/7S and everything is looking good, cutting through the pack with little issues and by the time I'm on softs I'm in 6th. Pass a few and a couple pit, but I'm confused as first seemed to pit and go softs to softs and there's no way I was far enough behind to have missed a stop. So last 2 laps I'm 3rd thinking I've got 2nd but 6 secs behind on track 2nd and tyres too worn to be stupid enough to try and catch him. At the end think I've missed something as 2nd didn't take 1st....but no alls good and I roll in for the win. Just in front of the guy with fastest lap (0.016 faster than me the 🤬)who I hadn't seen all race due to strategy. So not a super fun race, but it was nice trying that out and having to work through all the slower cars, not racing with the fast guys probably saved me a few seconds over the race and the fact I was never truly racing, more time trailing, I only made a few minor mistakes and nothing that really cost me.
 
First race with citroen i did 2d pos on the grid. Unfortunately somebody ram my car1st turn lap 3. Rear tires were really bad after this , very difficult to save some rubber when your under pressure. Just crusing till the line.
18th at the end.

2d race , toyota , it's a very good car. A very good eagerness , no understeer . A real pleasure. I'd not driven it since a long time. A good re-discovery for me. Happy with my result , stop for me tonight.
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Slot 1, 135 pt room. Was amazed, I had 5 bars and everyone I matched with were either American or Canadian, then I realized it was my first Nations race this season. Door #4, Q'd 11th, finished 7th. Was a great race, started on RMs and made it up to 8th. Even lead a lap during the first pit cycle, then pitted for RHs and fuel on lap 9. The next lap I pitted for RSs and came out 13th. Made my positions by others pitting and a penalty. I passed 1 car on the penultimate lap. Finished 7th for 96 pts. It was a great pleasure running a race with great racers and NO LAG problems. Tempted to stop running the manufacturers season because of the lag. Shared the track with Trone Colby and another from my friends list. It was the kind of race I play for and I loved it. Thanks to all I competed against, had a blast.
 

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