2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

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Impressive driving 👎

Having said that, it just looks like every Dr C daily race I am in these days. Just finished my second slot in the FIA today, lost 2k dr as a result of a punting 🤬 fest in both races.

Tyre requirements also ignored by the leading cars who all finished with 1 minute penalties but stayed in front of everyone they had lapped.

I have joined the boycott as suggested by someone in an earlier post.

Fallout 4 and No Mans Sky for me.
 
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Decided to go again and probably shouldn’t have. :lol:

Poor qualifying only just breaking into 52s putting me 14th. Decided to get Hards out the way lap 1 and then onto Mediums to leave me with a double Softs at the end. Ended up with myself in a bumper to bumper group of 4 from 8th to 11th for last 7 laps. We were all swapping positions when people were going too deep into corners and I was briefly into 9th with 2 laps to go but finished up 11th.

Disappointed with myself for the poor qualifying in a weaker lobby than I was kicked from, and the lowest points all season. :guilty:
 
Had a cracking time in the 15:00 EMEA slot, which pitched myself, @Mohamed30_, @Ashthebash, @PirovacBoy and 'Wifi Password' up against a number of top drivers including Kie and Antomix. Got the tip from Ashthebash that multi-stops on all compounds would be more beneficial than trying to do a one-stopper using Medium and Hards only. FP time up until matchmaking was a 51.965, which I was able to shave one-thousandth of a second off in another practice session just before the screen went black.

15:00 Manufacturers
A 20-car grid was promised (including a third WRX from a driver who I hadn't seen in quite some time), but only 17 ended up taking to the track in qualifying. Initial lap was a 52.377 on brake balance -3, which was consistent with the best I had set in the second test lobby I did late on Thursday evening. Managed to improve to a 52.288 despite going a little too hot into Turn 4, though I must admit that I felt a little scrappy throughout the session. Put the #14 Scooby 8th on the grid as a result, just 0.282 off Mohamed30 and 0.354 off Kie's pole time.

Committed myself to a three-stopper using two sets of Softs, the first of which I would use right away in the hope of sticking with the front of the pack. Quickly caught up to the #16 Porsche and the two Renaults (#7 and #1) starting on Mediums and Hards respectively, and witnessed a couple of strange incidents which handed me places early on. Firstly, the #1 abruptly turns in and slams into the pit entry barrier at the end of Turn 9, seconds after the #7 comes in to pit for Mediums. I'm guessing that the #1 had forgotten to come in as well, but in any case he retires on the spot. Secondly, the #16 veers completely off the road under the Dunlop Bridge, ploughing into the tyre stacks on the infield for Turn 6. It turns out that he triggered Auto Drive mid-corner which explained the sudden change of direction, after which his race never truly recovered.

Despite recurring understeer issues which forced me to adjust brake balance from -4, to -3, and later on, to -2, this was a trouble-free run for Scrappy (the nickname I've given to the Gr.3 model recently for its tendency to step out at high revs). Spent a period on Laps 7-9 catching up to Antomix on Mediums until he entered pit road, then let Ashthebash have a clear road on Lap 11 as he stormed through on fresher Softs. By then, I was mulling on whether I should get rid of the Hards first before taking on my second set of Softs. This I did on Lap 12, with no dramas or traction issues before receiving new Softs the very next lap. The advantage was that like at Red Bull Ring, I could carry the rest of the race on softer compounds without having to worry about getting jumped later on.

Third stint was a bit more challenging given that the #20 Lexus maintained - and ate into - a 1.2-second gap upon stopping for Softs on Lap 14. By the end of Lap 22, that had come down to just under three-and-a-half tenths, though Scrappy's torque and traction out of hairpins eventually allowed me to pull a little further ahead nearer the end of the stint (Lap 25). Though I didn't realise it at the time, this was sufficient to get the undercut I needed on the #20 with 8 laps to go. By this time, the #7 Renault had already scorched past on Softs to take 5th, so I settled for 6th, another DR boost and a very healthy 258 points (though this later got subtracted to 257 which still makes it equal in worth to my 2nd place at Spa!). Did enough to finish around 5 seconds ahead of the #12 BWT Mercedes, PirovacBoy and the #20, who lost a couple of places on on a very long Hard stint. 10th was taken by the #17 WRX, making it three Subarus in the top 10!

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Nowhere near as chaotic as some of the other races I've had at Tsukuba recently, but a pleasant and trouble-free run where grip on softer compounds was key. Fantastic to see Ashthebash and Mohamed30 giving Kie and Antomix a run for their money, too!

On a side note, I've been thinking for some time about making Season 2 the last in which I aim for full points scores in both championships (especially now we know that GT7 is definitely on its way soon). It's got to the stage where I am reaching the maximum thresholds for my pace and comfort at my current DR level, and no longer want to spent as much time and energy trying to push myself beyond those for the best FIA results I can get. To keep scoring this well at what is now 64-65K DR is just incredible, but not worth it if I end up getting into intensely stressful situations like at Brands two weeks ago. In case I don't enter or do well in any of the few remaining rounds, I'd be happy to treat Tsukuba as my last attempt for major points in 2021. Both Subarus have served me a lot better than I could've imagined at this level, and they could still bring a few more surprises yet, but now the time is right for me to consider stepping back from regular FIA runs once the season is done.
 
You know it's bad when I end in (what I assumed was) top split.
Managed to fluke a good quali lap following someone and that put me P7 on the grid. Started on the mediums as I wasn't sure which strategy to go on and eventually ended up doing a 3 stop. The race was largely uneventful other than letting past a couple of quicker runners and in the end I brought it home in P6 out of only 12 finishers and a good haul of points
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Tried this race a few times and had one good race. Surprisingly because of the possible strategies this could have been a good race, but with no pens far too many people just punt to pass. Had a few really good battles with clean players, but mostly it's been a nightmare.
Will PD ever put the pens back? I'm getting to the stage of not even caring if GT7 ever gets here if this is the sort of thing we can expect, this isn't racing.
 
Just not my day today, in this race and the couple of dailies I did too.
Door 3.
Qualified P9.
I decided to go onto the hards and see what the tyres were doing as I wanted to do a 17/20 but the wear would decide which way round it was. I was probably the only one to do a one stop.
In the end the hards lasted well so did them as the 17 and the meds as the 20.
I lost places due to my caution on hards and in an MR. Eventually found my rhythm.
However coming out of T1 one lap I caught the dirt and span. This put me down into the dirty players.
This is a race where I have to drive at 80% otherwise the car is going on me. This leads to the others (especially as they are on the 2 stop) catching and sometimes barging. 1 lap I go past an Italian coming out of the pits and he immediately just shoves it up the grass on the inside shoving me aside. I do see them later hitting the indestructible pit board and I laugh.
I do have a couple of good battles especially once I pit and my new meds feel great. However the last few laps were tough and I had to be extra cautious.
Penultimate lap and a Frenchman must be doing hards last few laps only as I am ahead of him as he pits. But coming into the last corner he punts me off. Just unnecessary. They must know it will be an easy pass into Turn 1 as I am struggling. Why ruin my race like that. By the time I get back to the track as no reset and the car spins facing the wrong way again, my Italian friend is back. He passes with another barge in the final hairpin. I cross the line a meagre 17th.
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Bin round I guess. Could have been a lot different if I didn't spin it myself, but also if others were patient a little. It is a 37 lap race after all!
 
Thought I try out the Americas and see if it was any better........drum roll...... well for that race at least yes. Apart from the top 2 who weren't happy that seemed clean, didn't see many yellows and the ones I saw were for mistakes not punts. One guy at the end apologised and the other guy said "for what?" So yes clean races are possible.
So the race Q9, but still decided to go 1H/12M/12S/12S With a bit of flexibility if needed. Glad I did cos I had a right pleb in front of me, then behind me and I didn't feel safe. Came out in 14th and managed to take a couple before the 2nd stop, came out in 8th and looking good (other places made though mostly driver error) last 2 sessions I was fighting hard and clean with 2 Brasileros once we had all done our last stop I was 7th behind them both, but luckily they both made big enough errors that I was able to pass them and 4th was looking good. I was faster than the guy in front but had been held up too much to catch him, once I'd passed the Brasilians I was 6 secs behind with 4 to go, got it down to 3. Still got 3rd cos 3rd hadn't used all tyres. Was a really good race and I'm quitting since I did well and get to finish in a good mood.
 
D_Dragline
This is what FIA has become. Thanks PD, a really enjoyable experience.:banghead:

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This is one of the big reasons I was getting fed up with FIA. That guy wasnt always so nasty and deliberate when we had some sort of a penalty system. With the threat of that removed he and many others are just driving to the level of enforcement, making a lit of the fun racing just go away. No need to leave room if you know nothing happens when you shove someone out of the way.
Tired of those types of drivers as they ruin the racing.
 
Slot 1: Instead of the usual 3rd Split, I got promoted to 2nd split with @Roman_GT23 and @F1Bernardo for company. In contrast to last week where I was 1 of 5 Corvettes in the race, this time I was the only one. I qualified 9th on an "ok" lap (about a tenth off my potential best), only a few thousandths ahead of @Roman_GT23 who lined up 11th. Unfortunately @F1Bernardo disconnected during qualifying, so 19 cars started the race. Being mid-pack, but still near the front, I opted to start on Mediums and go for an M/S/S/H strategy. Immediately 7th and 8th place tangled out of T4 on the opening lap, spinning 7th sideways directly in front of me, causing me to collide with their already spinning car. That moved me up to P8. P7 then pitted from their Mediums on Lap 2, which promoted me to 7th. Later on in the first stint, someone else spun out between T4 and 5 by themselves, which promoted me to 6th by the end of the first stint. At the end of Lap 12 I pitted to get rid of my Mediums for some Softs, and came out of the pits RIGHT behind @Roman_GT23, who thankfully pitted next time by. Once the first pitstops cycled through, I spent the rest of the race pretty much on my own. Someone ahead did 1 lap on Hards for their 3rd stint before pitting again, putting them temporarily behind me and promoting me to 5th. A Beetle up ahead on Mediums went off at the hairpin before the back straight, gifting me that position as well. I pitted from 4th on Lap 36 for the required Hards, hoping I could keep the spot afterwards, but I came out of the pits in 6th, behind @Roman_GT23 and one other car, which is where I would finish for 241 points. It was a decent result, but I was honestly hoping for at least 250 points so I'd have an easier time trying to hit 1000 points for the season, and based on my practice pace I felt like I could've gotten a slightly better result too. Still, I felt 241 was too much to risk, so I opted to keep the result. This means I'll need at least 258 points at either Maggiore or Fuji to reach 1000 total points on the season. I already got that much once last week at Monza, so I know I can do it again, but it'll probably have to wait until Fuji rather than Maggiore.
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Manufacturers at Tsukuba with the Jag. Didn't have great expectations here, since I don't think the Jag was too competitive and I hadn't driven much around this track.

Americas Slot 3, door #5. Qualy was incredibly close, whole grid within 7 tenths and top 3 within 0.006s. :eek: I did a pretty solid 52.8 which was good enough for P6 on the grid, 2 tenths off pole. Glad I improved, because my first banker lap which was 53.0 would have left me P16. All cars ahead were MR handling cars, so I was pretty satisfied with P6.

Decided to start on medium tyres, losing a couple of places to cars starting on softs. I tried not to lose too much time being passed, but I still lost a bit. Pitted for softs at the end of lap 12 and again at the end of lap 24. I was running in P4 before taking the hard tyres, but the issue was that I had 3 cars that were 5-6 seconds behind, who had used their hards at the beginning, and I just didn't manage to get them out of my pitstop window. After pitting for hards on the penultimate lap, I went out of the pits right behind those 3 drivers to finish P7.

I think I drove well today and had decent pace, but the conventional strategy didn't work well for me. :nervous: Top 3 were just a little bit too quick for me and my Jag, but if I would have lost less time close to other cars or used the hards at the beginning, I think I should have been able to finish P4... Enjoyable (and clean) race though, will keep the result as a banker (currently 4th best).

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Did all I could to keep my supra on track, but it wasn't easy. Here's how it went down.

Slot 3 - Door #14 in a DR A lobby. I had an OK qualification which led me to start from the 8th position. (53.2 sec)
Decided to opt for the 3 stop strategy as it was the fastest for me in practice lobbies.
Started on meds, followed by softs, hards for one lap and then the softs again.
At this point, I was 13th and surprised at how clean the race had been till now. A bit disappointed by my position, but I knew Tsukuba would not be my best race on the calendar.🙃

So, here comes the Last lap. -- Two guys battling for their lives (literally) are in front of me . One manages to pass the other cleanly through turn 1, but little did he know, he was about to get wrecked on the next hairpin. Witnessing childish moves like this makes me cringe... Needless to say I did not gave space (at all) to the offender when he tried to return on track. The victim eventually managed to finish right behind me, while the bad guy ended up way behind. Not my style but some kind of justice has to be served, especially in those times where the GTPD is off duty...

Finished 11th with 103pts. My best out of 3 stints. Definitely, the second half of the calendar doesn't suit me well. (Monza with the 86 was no joke)😬. On this note, I wish you all a great upcoming week, and good luck @ Alsace Nations cup.

Thanks to all the clean racers, Cheers and stay safe folks :cheers:- AstroVex92
 
Norrin Radd
4 stop? 12/12/12/1 roughly as softs aren't fast enough to counter skipping meds IMO. Unless your super rough on tyres I don't see how a 4 stop would be faster.
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In the Vantage a 4 stop was slightly faster. I ran 1m1h11s12s12s. It worked because the difference between meds and softs was about .7 seconds per lap over a 12 lap stint and doing stops on laps 1 and 2 meant clear air for most of the race.

Of course none of that mattered when you get murdered by an idiot on lap 23.
 
D_Dragline
This is what FIA has become. Thanks PD, a really enjoyable experience.:banghead:

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See this is what I am finding really perplexing and frustrating about the Penalty system at the moment.
I had thought that even though the contact penalties had disappeared, that the SR downs, whilst they can no longer be seen, were maybe a little more punishing, and as a result moving the dirty drivers to different lobbies.
However as you can see using the results from your race, this driver still ended up with positive SR, and is still on 99 SR overall.
This despite the fact that he did 4 races last night, in the first finished last with minus 8 SR, DNF in the next 2 and then your race, but still is a clean driver according to PD.
It is taking so much of the enjoyment out of racing, particularly in FIA where you could previously expect some sort of cleanliness for a majority.
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housej
See this is what I am finding really perplexing and frustrating about the Penalty system at the moment.
I had thought that even though the contact penalties had disappeared, that the SR downs, whilst they can no longer be seen, were maybe a little more punishing, and as a result moving the dirty drivers to different lobbies.
However as you can see using the results from your race, this driver still ended up with positive SR, and is still on 99 SR overall.
This despite the fact that he did 4 races last night, in the first finished last with minus 8 SR, DNF in the next 2 and then your race, but still is a clean driver according to PD.
It is taking so much of the enjoyment out of racing, particularly in FIA where you could previously expect some sort of cleanliness for a majority.
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This is truly perplexing. It would have been virtually impossible to lose SR in this race. It’s not like the system didn’t realize he was dirty. He got about 50 SR less than a clean race.
 
My statement that Brands Hatch was the end of my GT3 participation wasn't a lie... as such! I didn't think I'd have a chance to race yesterday until a few days ago, but as it worked out I could squeeze into the first slot, and my hopes were high (and apologies in advance for this essay!)

Entered alongside @VulcanSpirit @PirovacBoy and (I think) @Mohamed30_

Has to be said, qualifying went well! 52.0, put me 3rd, a tenth behind pole sitting Kie and a couple of hundredths behind Mohamed

I really enjoyed this race last year and I know from that race that passing a car on a slower tyre is no easy feat if they don't want to let you by! So while the three stop was the fastest and more favoured strategy, I did have a four stop up my sleeve, you know... just in case!

Race started and it was clear within two laps that the first three were on softs and Antomix behind was on mediums. With some very early stoppers, gaps were opening up down the field and I could see I had a gap if I pitted. So after spending a couple of laps under Mohamed's rear wing, I pulled the trigger on L8 and went for the four stop.

The plan was, be in clean air, jump all the cars ahead, put myself out of sync with the pit stops and possibly, just possibly I could make up the time with the extra laps on fresher softs, especially if there's a bit of people holding each other up behind me.

Getting straight down to it in clean air I began to reel in everyone ahead of me, Antomix pitted, I closed in on VulcanSpirit and he very courteously moved over at the hairpin coming onto the back straight. Back in third I kept my head down, closing in on the two leaders and as they pitted on L12 I got the jump and had just over a 1s gap to Kie.

Edging away from Kie told me he was running mediums, Mohamed caught him and passed (telling me he was on softs), and with just under a 2s lead on L19 I came in for a second stop. I was tempted to run my hard lap here, but wasn't sure that I'd be clear of 5th after back to back stops so I put softs back on - as it turned out I would have had around a 1s cushion had I put the hards on

I was going to be well ahead of the leaders when they pitted, and after everyone's second stop I really felt I could get the win. Mohamed was second, 6.5s behind and I knew he was on mediums. If I could open up a gap in the next five laps and he stayed 2nd, the win was on. Antomix however got straight past, and closed from 6.5s to 5.8 before I pitted again for my lap on hards

Coming out in 3rd just behind Kie and ahead of Mohamed (so that was one car properly overtaken), I squirmed around on the hards, defending into the final hairpin and staying tight on the exit because wanting to pit again immediately I knew I couldn't give the right hand side of the track and if I stayed ahead, that guaranteed me a podium.

I pushed as hard as I could on the fresh mediums, possibly slightly too hard (overdriving) and never really had the pace I'd hoped for. Kie pitted L35 and emerged 0.5s ahead of me, Antomix and Mohamed the following lap and I was 3rd, less than 1.5s behind the leader. I tried to get a big launch out of the hairpin on the final lap but was slightly too eager on the loud pedal and after almost crashing, gathered it up and cruised over the line for 3rd place and 299 points (which has been rounded down to 298)

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Could have had the win with just a little luck, I was one second away from jumping Kie and subsequently (possibly) Antomix, almost pulled it out the bag!
 
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Back racing after having no console for two weeks as a result of damaged from lightning. Qualified 2nd and started the race with mediums as most everyone else started on softs. Had a quick battle for second and dropped to 3rd but the top was way faster than the rest of the pack so I wasn't concerned. Pitted for hards at the end of lap 35 and finished 3rd. Glad I got a good qualifying spot for this race and not deal with possible mid pack problems.
 
WHAT A RACE!

I wasn't feeling overly confident because why would you want to shove a big V12 Aston on basically a go kart track, but after practicing I decided to just keep cramming softs and hope for the best.

Slot 1 (and done :gtpflag:) Qualy stunk. I just couldn't hook up the lap together for a decent time. Started 11th. Since I was so far back I decided to start on the hards and pit after 1 lap. Things started to fall in my favor as everyone behind me were also on Hards so I had clear track to manage the mediums and make up ground. Got held up a little bit but not too much. After 12 on the Meds it was 2x fasty softy time! I was just being smart and not forcing moves that would slow both of us down. Then came to lap 36. I was sitting in 6th a bit of aways back from @GTWolverine and 5th. Praying my pace was enough I hit my marks as best as I could on worn softs. I leaped up to 4th and ran away with it. I don't know what race was better for me climbing through the field. The Miatas or this race but I was over the moon. Enjoy the stream!

 
The only thing I have to say is I had to change from the wheel to DS4 in the middle of the race because the brake issues and that's costed me 5 seconds in the pits. And yeah, got punted in lap 1 by a divebomber.

The issues with my wheel and not getting used with DS4 again costed me around 5k DR recently. Gonna give a break to GTS. Luckily my wheel is under warranty.
 
Yesterday was the first time my schedule allowed for an FIA race in a few weeks now - and only one slot at that. I didn't have high expectations with the Jag on this track, not to mention that my DR's inflated from a couple weeks of good combos in the dailies.

I never really manage to nail down a good qualy lap but am a bit surprised to see my time is good enough for P11. I decide to start on the hards and run a 1H/12M/12S/12S strat. The strat seemed to be paying off as I get mostly clean air after the first pit but then coming out of the second pit stop, I get full PIT maneuvered and end up facing the wrong direction on the track. Between the spin and getting turned around, I probably lost a full 10 sec. Then once again, as I'm starting to feel pretty good about my pace and moving up the grid, I get punted again. This time going into T4, the tight lefthander after the esses. I end up in the grass up against the barrier, so the loss is nowhere as much but it's still grating.

Around L33 or so, I catch up with the guy that punted in T4. Going into T1, he goes wide. I keep it real tight on the inside, hit the apex and gun it out getting clear past him with zero contact. It felt really good to get my revenge on him with pure pace and clean driving rather than some sort of revenge punt. Especially as he continued to fall farther and farther behind me the rest of the race.

All in all, not a bad finish - P10. Considering the combo and the fact that my DR was about 6k higher than my normal FIA lobbies, it could have been much worse.

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Updated Manu standings:

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All but certain the top 8 Manus here are safe. For everyone else, I feel that everyone below BMW are out as the deficit is too much to overcome with just two races left. Therefore, it's 6 Manus fighting for 4 spots and I'm going to make one prediction now. Ferrari will be out because one region is having to carry them but they have maxed out on points already. BMW might be the second because their cars just don't excel in one thing although there's no guarantee.
 
D_Dragline
This is what FIA has become. Thanks PD, a really enjoyable experience.:banghead:

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OMG that minion guy is the dead set worst. He's the same in daily races also. Curiously, I've only started seeing him since the penalty system became more lenient...a friend of mine copped a ban for giving it to him in a post race chat....yet this guy can destroy everyone's races and somehow get rewarded for it..... infuriating.
 
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