2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

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I did not pit. But as I mentioned above I think it was a mistake to repeat that strategy from the front, especially as I had the pace to podium if I had just had fresh tires.

and sorry about the contact in the opening lap or two... it was mayhem back there until I could get clear of that one guy! At least we avoided penalties. But I didn’t see you on my side there, glad it didn’t compromise your race.

Oh, it was nuts. How I didn't get a penalty is beyond me. Are you referring to when you went for the overtake in T1? I believe I ran wide and (did that a lot more than I should've on that corner) just about everyone went passed me. We had a few good battles though. I think I had contact with just about everyone around me. I nearly spun out @afc5150 at one point. I know he and I did our best to keep it clean, especially when held up by those two black cars. I noticed I drove the car differently than most. I was more hard in and slow out, while everyone else was slow in-fast out.
 
Oh, it was nuts. How I didn't get a penalty is beyond me. Are you referring to when you went for the overtake in T1? I believe I ran wide and (did that a lot more than I should've on that corner) just about everyone went passed me. We had a few good battles though. I think I had contact with just about everyone around me. I nearly spun out @afc5150 at one point. I know he and I did our best to keep it clean, especially when held up by those two black cars. I noticed I drove the car differently than most. I was more hard in and slow out, while everyone else was slow in-fast out.
It really did drive different. It did respond to driving hard in on the hairpin for sure... when you needed that extra few tenths you could get it there. And it had a weird drift at high speed, like a four wheel drift, noticeable at the bottom of the hill, where the crossover wall from the other track configuration was. The diff was pretty neutral too, so it wasn’t hard to manage the exits even if you were a little off.

But it was a fun car to race... I could have done it again and again if I had nothing else going on. I love spec car races and on those tires I thought it made it a different challenge. Nice work by PD.
 
It really did drive different. It did respond to driving hard in on the hairpin for sure... when you needed that extra few tenths you could get it there. And it had a weird drift at high speed, like a four wheel drift, noticeable at the bottom of the hill, where the crossover wall from the other track configuration was. The diff was pretty neutral too, so it wasn’t hard to manage the exits even if you were a little off.

But it was a fun car to race... I could have done it again and again if I had nothing else going on. I love spec car races and on those tires I thought it made it a different challenge. Nice work by PD.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/tpc-presents-gr-yaris-showdown-sunday-6th-december.396824/

Next Sunday if you have an hour or so free.
 
Manu - decided to join the Audi gang this season. Got fed up driving manus with no quali pace in previous seasons. And you know what, straight off the bat, I qualified 2nd in second split :lol: Race was about survival in the FFs, I did 10M/13S and only dropped one place and finished 3rd so not bad (200 points to boot :D). The Scirocco on pole scampered away and a Lexus jumped me in the pits with its better tyre wear. In hindsight doing S/M would probably be better because it means less battling, but you live and learn.

Nations - I don't like how the Yaris drives on tarmac (compared to dirt, where it is fantastic). Quali 10th in second split, and dropped to last by the end of the first lap (because everyone tried to win the race in first corner, as usual :rolleyes:). Did a no-stop and climbed as high as 6th at one point, but couldn't keep the 1-stoppers at bay so dropped back to 12th. Apart from me, the only people who no stopped finished 1st/2nd/3rd, so at least I'm on the right strategy :lol:

Monza No Chicane is going to be painful in the R8. Any tips, Mr Audi Expert @Tidgney? :D

Next Nations Evo vs WRX looks to be a classic grudge match, except you realise the WRX is faster off the line AND will be faster at the end of the race due to worse fuel consumption (making the car lighter). C'mon PD, at least give the Evo 6 gears...
 
First slot I got hungry and quit halfway through

Third slot started 5th, had a clean run and finished second. Winner nursed the tyres, which I cannot do
So that's what happened. You were the only car I finished ahead of.

I finished both my races in the pits after giving up. First race was because I drove like 🤬 . Second race I was ok until I got tangled with another driver in a ticky tack battle, let the sketchy moves pushing me off rattle me, then drove like:censored:.

On review I just let myself get rattled in both races and drove poorly after getting punted. Leading to me having unnecessary dodgy battles, all of which I lost. Need to figure out tips to calm down and maintain some decent driving standards or I'll have to bail this season as I will end up only ruining others. I already did ruin 1 persons qualifying in my first race so not the look I want to start. They did get me back by pushing me off twice in the race without penalty.

Not sure Monza is going to help me.:nervous:
 
I'll just be straight up: today sucked. I guess the combo had some potential, but ultimately the no stop being the winning strat led to people (including myself) way overextending themselves up front, and people in the back (where I deserved to be with my horrendous pace) drove with absolutely no respect at all for anyone else. As much as I want to be in contention for the top 16 SS at Bathurst, today might just have turned me off enough from Nations that I'll stick to Manu instead even if the Top 16 races don't exactly look too fun. At least the Lambo should be OK at Monza if I can keep it under control!
 
Nations round 1 - Yaris at Sardegna

Did not have too much expectations, I am not that fast in road cars and Sardegna B is not a track where I am strong.

Slot1: Did a disaster of quali, 35.1 which was just enough for P16. A bit of carnage in the first 2 laps and we are in P12, but I have no pace really. I struggle to have a decent pace, and I do go up when people in front pit - up to P7 but the end is pretty much a mess. The 1 stoppers catch me like nobody's business and to sum it up I completely mess the run up the hill in the last lap to put a last nail in the coffin to my race. P13 and 107p.

I decide to go again:

Slot2: A bit disappointed by the qualifier - I had a lap that would have been pole but got a penalty out of nowhere and had to abandon the lap. The retry was nowhere near, and I started from P8. I was too cautious on the first lap and dropped down and was at the wrong end of the pack. Then, as soon as the field spread a bit started to put some decent laptimes but the damage was already done. Had to settle for P12 and 120p.

Wanted to take this, but the race itself was fan, so with 2 minutes before entry closure decided to go again. I have also decided to be more aggressive this time and fight for some positions.

Slot3: mediocre quali, just enough for P11. I stuck a bit my elbows out in the first lap and with two cars messing up in front I was in P9. Lap 3 I got a **** 2s penalty after trading a bit of paint with a red Yaris. Nobody lost anything, just a bit of understeer, but had to serve it. Back in P11, but the field was spread so managed to get in some good laptimes and overtake 3 cars till P8. The group in front had a 3s gap and included the leader but they were fighting like crazy. Took me just 2 laps to melt that gap, and cars from the group started to pit.
Found myself in P5 in lap 8, made short work of the car in front to gain another position then I did not take any other risks. Took care of my tyres, maintained a decent pace and although I lost a place to a really fast 1 stopper I managed to finish P5. 191 points and a really good result for me in a road car.
 
I just could not get a handle of the slide of this small beast so I chose to skip this one. I practiced instead for the SF19 races later on in the night and ran some practice runs for this week's GTP Weekly Race Series Time Trials (week 157) which coincidentally is also using the Toyota GR Yaris RZ.

Looking forward to Monza and Maggiore West. Monza and Maggiore GP are favorite tracks (Maggiore West is just a shortened GP course).

Good Luck to all in your upcoming races. Enjoy your racing!
 
So I ran 2 custom races for next Saturday, one in the Scooby and one in the Evo, to see which was fastest. After 15 laps the difference was .080! Running free practice chasing the ghost I am significantly faster in the Evo, and it feels better as well (the gear changes in the Subaru ALL feel like they are right at the wrong spot, middle of a corner or just as I'm focusing on my line).

I'm looking forward to this one, it's all the good bits of Lago Maggiore without the bits I usually make a mess of :D

I'm looking forward to Monza as well (at least, laps 2-15), I'm generally pretty strong there and the Aston should be competitive!
 
Gave the first round of the nations Cup a go. And boy oh boy. Was it terrible haha.

Quali was terrible. Simply a lack of speed and practice on my part. Was only good enough for P15 on the grid.

Was squeezed off the road before turn 1. Down to P20. Worked my way back up to P16 by the end of lap 1. Only to get pushed in to the sand...

A general lack of speed on my part, struggled to catch up with the pack. Finished 17th. Lost about 1200 Dr. For 49 points. Terrible round for me.

@LVS_1986 was good to see you out there. Shame about the disconnect.
 
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anybody got any tips for the coming Monza race? I am not really used to racing this track and especially dealing with slipstream racing.....
 
Oh, it was nuts. How I didn't get a penalty is beyond me. Are you referring to when you went for the overtake in T1? I believe I ran wide and (did that a lot more than I should've on that corner) just about everyone went passed me. We had a few good battles though. I think I had contact with just about everyone around me. I nearly spun out @afc5150 at one point. I know he and I did our best to keep it clean, especially when held up by those two black cars. I noticed I drove the car differently than most. I was more hard in and slow out, while everyone else was slow in-fast out.

Definitely a hard fought, but clean battle we had for most of the race. Thanks for that, too bad it was for 10th place or so!

I somehow copped a 2 second penalty in the T1 melee, and another 1 second later on, but ultimately it didn't matter as the pace wasn't really there. Got a red S for my troubles, too.:banghead:

I ran another slot and finished 11th for a handful more points, got my 99 SR back but overall a forgettable round and a slow start for me in both series.
 
Looking to Monza and my expectations are rising by the day. I have just gotten back to A DR rating, my best practice time is 0.7s outside the top 10 and I am consistently lapping sub 1:40s in race conditions.

Perfectly placed for some idiot to ruin my races. More than likely I’ll be the idiot that does it.

But for the moment I’m dreaming of a first FIA victory.
 
This race will be great once we get through lap 1. Once those chicanes start to string the field out will we get a good idea what will happen. The only real worry I have is how people take Curva Grande (Turn 1) with the draft. I know some of these cars will push so drivers on the outside will have to be wary of that possibility. Add 5-10 mph with a bit of a draft, and it could get messy, especially heading into the chicane.

Will be glad that the barriers will probably get moved by a lap 1 incident though. That will give a bit of more runoff in the situation one runs a bit wide.
 
anybody got any tips for the coming Monza race? I am not really used to racing this track and especially dealing with slipstream racing.....

Hi MCL1974, I haven't tips, but I think that this race could be a trouble. The "training" it's not real, I tested and my car his 1/ 0,5 second faster that in a lobby with 6x wear tire (and 100L of gasoline).
You can do 15 laps without refill fuel or change tires, but only if you are alone. If you use splistream your tires will wear quickly, and this is a trouble in same curves like at "the second of lesmo" (C7) and during c9 and C10 (variante ascari).

the more dangerous curve is the "Variante della Roggia", all the cars rear of you 1S or 1,5S could think that is a good place to overtake. But is not a good/easy place to overtake. I think that brakes at 150m is the only way to exit the curve properly, I dont' contraste an overtake entering of the curve, but the risk is if someone hit you When you are curving after the braking point...

p.s. my toyota F1-Vgt is at the top speed before the "big curve" with rev limiter. Has others gt3 this trouble?
 
Can we talk about the Nationals and the Yaris? I don't like the car to start with, but I tried hard. Watched the tutorials, tried following the ghosts and got to where I thought I might have a chance. I failed to train for the demolition derby that was this G.D. travesty called a race. First try, qualied poorly thanks to blockers and dive-bombing. P14 to start, stayed on the black part, slow,clean racing. Up to P5, was feeling confident, tires good, maybe a no-stopper. Untill the guy I passed in the pit decided he was coming through,and tough luck for you pal. Got driven into the barrier and jammed up into a weird angle of it. Down to last. 6 laps left,managed to make P15. Tried a second time. The short is qualied P8, run off at turn 4 finished P14. Those two races did more damage to my low but growing DR than ten rage quits. Maybe the next will suck less.
 
19:20 Nations
Committed to my third and final slot after extracting more qualifying pace during @Tidgney's practice lobby. Got matched with @Lost Sheltie and set a 1:34.237 on my first tour; my best quali lap to date. Though I was not able to improve in the first two sectors and had to pull over near pit entry to let others through, this was good enough to start 9th, around eight tenths off the pole-sitting Frenchman.

Despite losing one place, the first lap went well until another British driver (the same green, red and white car from the last two lobbies) made a last-minute dive up the inside of Turn 4. This was just as I was in the process of taking the inside line, and I immediately thought there was no way he was going to make it work without punting me or any of the cars on my right. Suffice to say, he proceeded to shove me into the side of Lost Sheltie (who got a 1-second penalty for contact with a nearby Spaniard), costing me a lot of momentum. It didn't help either that while I was focused on looking after the tyres, several drivers were eager to attack and take a few more places away. Coupled with a track limits penalty (which looked more questionable in replays showing that I still had at least one tyre behind the blue line), and the downward spiral began anew.

Much of the race thereafter was spent fighting a group of Spaniards, a Union Jack car and a Norwegian entry near the back. Too much time was lost getting stuck behind these, but I eventually passed the Norwegian around the outside of Turn 1 and fought off his attempts to retake what was 16th. This became 14th in the space of two laps when another Frenchman and one of the Spaniards crashed heavily at Turn 6 in separate incidents. Caught up and passed the Union Jack Yaris just before the final lap, giving me eight more points to round off the day's work.

Interestingly, I don't think anyone pitted during that race.

View attachment 974856

Loving the Yaris even more with its performance on Sport Softs; it bodes well for @El_Beardo's Showdown next Sunday. Despite the chaotic and at times desperate racing I witnessed throughout all three slots, I'm really happy with how the car drives and the lap times I was setting in practice and qualifying. Great to see @ionstriker and @Hasnain282 earlier, and glad that Lost Sheltie was able to salvage something decent after that penalty he received on Lap 1.

Yeah, couldn't hook up qualifying, as usual :banghead:, but had good race pace so gave it a couple of shots. Was a shame that certain driver decided to wrecking ball into us, but I see he must have gotten reset at the weekend as he is now showing as a C rated driver :lol:, so might be safe for Wednesdays race (but being Monza I doubt it).

I was quite surprised with how I managed to save tyres in this car, must be all that time I spent racing in @Tidgney Fugu races.
 
anybody got any tips for the coming Monza race? I am not really used to racing this track and especially dealing with slipstream racing.....
When approaching a brake zone in slipstream either brake early because you go faster or pull out into clean air before braking.
When cornering in dirty air remember that your frontend is light in slipstream so you understeer. Try lifting a little to weight transfer before steering or braking.
Try to go smoothly off the brake too.
 
this G.D. travesty called a race. First try, qualied poorly thanks to blockers and dive-bombing. P14 to start, stayed on the black part, slow,clean racing. Up to P5, was feeling confident, tires good, maybe a no-stopper. Untill the guy I passed in the pit decided he was coming through,and tough luck for you pal. Got driven into the barrier and jammed up into a weird angle of it. Down to last. 6 laps left,managed to make P15. Tried a second time. The short is qualied P8, run off at turn 4 finished P14

I’ve raced a lot lately. The thing is this...If you are respectful and race clean and all it’s great. However if you don’t know the people around you in race it’s better not to trust them to be clean and respectful also. I’d go so far as to say you should assume they are trying to smash you off first chance they get.
It’s not that that’s always the case but imo that’s how you have to choose your lines.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing to totally clearly fairly defend the inside.
If the guy behind you is being a jerk it’s really all one can do.
If you do this you can always let them go round the outside if you feel it’s best.
Imo one should NEVER trust an unknown opponent, especially if they are in a stock livery lol.
I know it sucks and it’s going to slow you down but imo better to be slower than tempt a person by leaving a gap.
It’s the same for all online, all sims. People have a hard time with being tempted by a gap, so don’t leave one. Jmo
Plus you should always be aware if you’re at a big disadvantage on tire condition.
If you are you are quite vulnerable so sometimes it’s best to let the guy behind by in that case.
Imo you can tell very quickly what kind of driver you are dealing with by how they respond when you choose a defensive line.
If they STILL try to force it up the inside, or ride your bumper and force you to defend to the track limit on inside they are a TOTAL jerk and at that point you might have to brake check them or park it on apex or run them off.
You can always tell if you go clearly defensive on s straight and the guy behind doesn’t take the outside he’s dirty.
For me, if a guy refuses to respect my EARLY CLEAR ONE MOVEMENT TO DEFEND INSIDE then I HAVE to assume his intention is to punt me, therefore brake really really early and hard to prevent THAT and possibly take the guy out so he can’t do the same to others.
Somebody’s gotta take out the trash I guess.
 
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When approaching a brake zone in slipstream either brake early because you go faster or pull out into clean air before braking.
When cornering in dirty air remember that your frontend is light in slipstream so you understeer. Try lifting a little to weight transfer before steering or braking.
Try to go smoothly off the brake too.

Thanks! I did just that in a lobby just now, braked early in third position as i was speeding up in the slipstream at race start and was #$%$^# from behind.
Stilll, usefull tips, thanks for that!
Still; at raceday I think I will go into the first corner on a wing and a prayer, ignore all the mayhem and brake well in time and just hope for the best.....it might be good not to qualify to much upfront?
 
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Hi MCL1974, I haven't tips, but I think that this race could be a trouble. The "training" it's not real, I tested and my car his 1/ 0,5 second faster that in a lobby with 6x wear tire (and 100L of gasoline).
You can do 15 laps without refill fuel or change tires, but only if you are alone. If you use splistream your tires will wear quickly, and this is a trouble in same curves like at "the second of lesmo" (C7) and during c9 and C10 (variante ascari).

the more dangerous curve is the "Variante della Roggia", all the cars rear of you 1S or 1,5S could think that is a good place to overtake. But is not a good/easy place to overtake. I think that brakes at 150m is the only way to exit the curve properly, I dont' contraste an overtake entering of the curve, but the risk is if someone hit you When you are curving after the braking point...

p.s. my toyota F1-Vgt is at the top speed before the "big curve" with rev limiter. Has others gt3 this trouble?

Thanks! i did not know that tyre wear increases when slipstreaming. Not a problem for me though as I usually not keep up with the cars in fromt of me.:lol:
Regarding the rev limiter; I drove the Peugeot and do not have that issue
 
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