I'm finding it hard to get excited about this round. I'm driving the Barker, as I expect most everyone else will. My best lap so far is 2:03.188, with most of my laps in the 2:03s. I feel like that is okay-ish, but not great. It is what it is. Sprint race. No strategy. Just try to drive fast and avoid any collisions. That damage is brutal.
I'm finding it hard to get excited about this round. I'm driving the Barker, as I expect most everyone else will. My best lap so far is 2:03.188, with most of my laps in the 2:03s. I feel like that is okay-ish, but not great. It is what it is. Sprint race. No strategy. Just try to drive fast and avoid any collisions. That damage is brutal.
I'm have some fun with the Berlinetta in practice. Low 2:03 PB. Hoping for a mid pack start, then being able to stay in the Barker's draft and outracing them through the turns.
No idea what my bottom split GT1 lobbies will bring.
Managed a 2.0.2.755 in qualify, about 1s off my best in FP but enough for pole here.
Race start you need to switch up gears immediately as you start in 1st very near the redline. Had a streamer Ozzy Man in P2 and for the first few laps we worked together to build a gap between the rest of the pack.
THE SLIPSTREAM HERE IS INSANE! You can easily gain back 0.5s in the slipstream in the straights here - it was something I was very unprepared for. After a while P2 takes me then I tuck in their slipstream and bump draft them for a few more laps, thinking we can battle in the last 2 laps. Unfortunately I messed a few corners up so couldn't get the battle going but for some reason they pulled over on the last straight to give me the win. Checking out his stream now to see why! Was a fun race but it did look a bit like chaos behind us. All Barkers except 1 Porsche which finished 2nd from last.
I didn't have big expectation also because I am little bit sick and racing with fever.
I decided to go with the Barker because at the end all the people are racing with this car and I don't want to be original at any cost.
Qualified with 2:03.9 (1.1 sec slower of my personal best) and 0.8 from the pole. Happy anyhow.
Within a couple of laps I am in P3 with one driver spinning and overtaking another one.
From now on I am following very close the P2 that I managed to overtake at lap 6 but due to some my uncertainties I am overtaken again the following lap.
However at lap 8 at T7 I didn't want to be too much aggressive on P2 but the "nice" German driver in P4 had a different approach and killed my car... due to the damages I am also overtaken by P5.
In the last two laps I had the opportunity to get back the position and become P4, but I thought that it was too risky and gaining one position couldn't do a real difference.
Race is done, I go back to my bed with a cup of hot tea...
Good luck to all the others!
P.S.
See you at Deep Forest where the strategy will matter... and then we are entering in @Moose78 territory...
Managed a 2.0.2.755 in qualify, about 1s off my best in FP but enough for pole here.
Race start you need to switch up gears immediately as you start in 1st very near the redline. Had a streamer Ozzy Man in P2 and for the first few laps we worked together to build a gap between the rest of the pack.
THE SLIPSTREAM HERE IS INSANE! You can easily gain back 0.5s in the slipstream in the straights here - it was something I was very unprepared for. After a while P2 takes me then I tuck in their slipstream and bump draft them for a few more laps, thinking we can battle in the last 2 laps. Unfortunately I messed a few corners up so couldn't get the battle going but for some reason they pulled over on the last straight to give me the win. Checking out his stream now to see why! Was a fun race but it did look a bit like chaos behind us. All Barkers except 1 Porsche which finished 2nd from last.
It’s downright awful. I got tapped lap one knocked back to 10th from P2. The slipstream is so strong. I was 3 1/2 seconds behind the next car and still getting a boost to my top speed up to 130 mph. It’s just unrealistic and it allows worse drivers to catch up no matter how much time you make up in the corners. But I guess that’s what they’re aiming for with all this extra grip, closer races with larger differences between skilled drivers and not skilled drivers. It’s sad. It allows lower SR drivers to keep using their dirty tricks because they can catch up on the straight.
Managed a 2.0.2.755 in qualify, about 1s off my best in FP but enough for pole here.
Race start you need to switch up gears immediately as you start in 1st very near the redline. Had a streamer Ozzy Man in P2 and for the first few laps we worked together to build a gap between the rest of the pack.
THE SLIPSTREAM HERE IS INSANE! You can easily gain back 0.5s in the slipstream in the straights here - it was something I was very unprepared for. After a while P2 takes me then I tuck in their slipstream and bump draft them for a few more laps, thinking we can battle in the last 2 laps. Unfortunately I messed a few corners up so couldn't get the battle going but for some reason they pulled over on the last straight to give me the win. Checking out his stream now to see why! Was a fun race but it did look a bit like chaos behind us. All Barkers except 1 Porsche which finished 2nd from last.
So the only one race I saw this morning live from Ozzy channel was your race!
Well you were driving very well and Ozzy was gaining position coming from behind using the slipstream.
When reached you he was commenting live that he started "bumping your back" in order to push you forward and creating a bigger gap behind.
I was impressed that this push didn't damaged at all the front of his car and I was thinking that could be dangerous for the front driver (in this case it was you).
At the end he decided to slow down and give you the victory because you deserved that.
I didn't get completely why (most probably i haven't understood the English), but I thought that it was even too gentle with you.
GT1 9 pm EDT. Much better race than my alt GT2 account. Q4, with the tow and the leaders battling I was P1 by lap 4. Passed on the front straight lap 5 by a car in my tow. Lost another place lap 6. P2 and P1 started battling again and on lap 7, I passed them on the front straight from their tow. I finally broke the tow and drove P1 to the last lap until p2 started catching me. Not sure if I was just trying to be careful or they were pushing, but they closed to within .5 by the end of the back straight. Closing on me throughout S3, by the last corner it became a sprint to the finish. Kept P1 by a tenth.
Great to hear the stories from all you guys who participated.
Slot 1 GT1 League 278 point lobby
Not much to report here. Took the Alfa. Qualified in P12 with a 2:02.606
I was very happy to finish in P10 and 178 points I almost finished in P9 but the Barker I was battling with in the final lap overtook me on the home straight.
A very fun race but I handicapped myself massively by taking the Alfa. It was amazing on the brakes and in the turns. But the sheer speed of the Barker meant I wasn't able to compete at all.
I was the fastest of the 2 Alfas in the race, so I was happy with that at least.
Race wasn't much to write home about with no fuel or tyres to worry about and only 10 laps - need weekly races with lineups similar to this rather than Gr3 Gr4, qualified 11th, made my way up to 5th, got overexcited, finished 11th, but blimey it was beautiful in VR
GT2 - 12PM EDT - North America - Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer '29 - 153 points available - Door #6 - Q5 (2:03.288)
The race was mostly Barkers, of course, but there were 5 drivers in other cars -- 2 Alfas, 2 Ferraris, and a Porsche 356 -- which surprised me a bit.
A decent qualifying session had me starting in Q5, much better than I would expect my 2:03.288 time deserved. I was behind a Ferrrari. My Barker was so much faster off the starting line, though, I was able to jump right by them into T1, for P4.
A lap later, I dropped a position to P5 when a Barker took advantage of the slipstream on the start/finish straight. From then on, though, luck was on my side. One lap, a car ahead went wide into the grass on the final corner. Up to P4. Another lap, the car ahead went into the wall at the kink. Up to P3.
For a while the P2 car was bump drafting the leader and the two of them were pulling away. At some point, the two of them exchanged positions and the new P2 decided they'd rather fight to get the lead back. That let me catch up.
On lap 9, the P2 car was very slow coming out of T9 and I just drove right past. Up to P2. Checking the replay afterwards, it seems that they were stuck in second gear. I'm guessing they had some kind of hardware failure.
I wasn't far behind the leader for the final lap of the race, but not close enough to challenge. Crossed the line in P2 for 149 points and a 4.9% bump to my DR A progress, taking it to 13.4%. Happy days!
Now onto the final round. I've already done a fair bit of testing for it over the past couple weeks. This one looks really interesting because it is one of those rare times where fuel usage comes into play. Without fuel saving I'm getting to 18 or 19 laps on a tank. With some light fuel saving -- short shifting at 90% of the rev bar -- I can extend it to 22 laps. RS tires last 12 laps for me. I feel like this round is going to be all about balancing speed and fuel usage to pass other drivers in the pits. I still have some more testing to do. I'll post the details when I have them.
Q5, P5. Had the pace for 3rd but there was a guy who whenever I was 4th would keep divebombing twice a lap, as I was faster but couldn't get more than 0.9 seconds away. They would divebomb, push me wide or make me lose traction or PIT me and take the place despite trying to avoid them. Then I would overtake as faster but just have the same thing happen. If they had put as much effort into driving as they did into terrorising then they would be A+ rated.
Anyway they did it again on the tight corner before the straight and took 4th. By this time 3rd was 5 seconds away with all the ridiculous ramming. The winner was clearly OP and won by about 35 seconds to 2nd.
An old jalopy like the Barker asks its driver to treat it with the delicate grace it brings to the field. Hurried through a rushed transition, the skinny tires will refuse your command by pushing the front wide or worse, swivel its shiny boattail from the awesome torque of its locomotive engine.
I treated my P5 start with care, perhaps too much care as I braked a bit too early giving my opponents some chances to gain. But the memory of practice allowed me to regain my pace and to capitalize on others mistakes, peaking right when I needed to in the last half of the race.
P4 crunched his bumper on lap 3 slowing him down on the front stretch. A later lap, P3 careened into the pit wall, disrupted by an encounter with the outside curbing on the final turn. Pressure from my opponent behind unceremoniously ended when he hobbled his motor on a wall.
P1 faced an ignominious end after having stolen his position from P2, having pushed him wide in the first hairpin on lap 5. Two laps later, P2 dispensed his justice with a gentle push of his own from behind on the last hairpin, giving the former leader a close and personal encounter with the stone wall on the outside. I reaped the reward to narrowly pass him inside, luckily too as he threw a tantrum ramming P3 and P4 before ragequitting.
Not the quickest nor the slowest, I finished P2 in GT2 for 82 points by keeping my head clear and my nose clean.
This is how it was for me so far after 2 rounds, I won some ok points in Round 3 at Sardegna, so lets see how it goes for 4. Thsi race as absymal, I choose clearly the wrong car but the Barker i cud not gel with. It so floaty and wierd feeling. Plus alos i got punted on a certain lap and had to play catchup the whole race prett much.
I'm have some fun with the Berlinetta in practice. Low 2:03 PB. Hoping for a mid pack start, then being able to stay in the Barker's draft and outracing them through the turns.
No idea what my bottom split GT1 lobbies will bring.
My guess wasn't too far off. A 03.4 pit my 4th on the grid. At the start a Barker ate me for lunch but I got back up to forth through the first lap. I was staying with the front runners and behind a gap was opening up. Nice.
Well or rather not. After not even 3 years my PS5 suddenly went dead without warning. No lights, no beep, no nothing now when trying to turn it back on. I hope my guess of it being the power unit is right. Ordered a replacement. Need to disassemble the whole console but it's way easier than repairing a phone. Just screws and clips, no glue or anything else that's difficult. Therefore I'm quite confident that I will be able to replace it. Wish me luck.
Managed a 2.0.2.755 in qualify, about 1s off my best in FP but enough for pole here.
Race start you need to switch up gears immediately as you start in 1st very near the redline. Had a streamer Ozzy Man in P2 and for the first few laps we worked together to build a gap between the rest of the pack.
THE SLIPSTREAM HERE IS INSANE! You can easily gain back 0.5s in the slipstream in the straights here - it was something I was very unprepared for. After a while P2 takes me then I tuck in their slipstream and bump draft them for a few more laps, thinking we can battle in the last 2 laps. Unfortunately I messed a few corners up so couldn't get the battle going but for some reason they pulled over on the last straight to give me the win. Checking out his stream now to see why! Was a fun race but it did look a bit like chaos behind us. All Barkers except 1 Porsche which finished 2nd from last.
Wow what a race we had and honestly your driving was top draw mate!
You deserved that win and I only enter the GT2 League for practice and strategies for the later GT1 league, If I wasn't in that race you would of won by a country mile!
The slip was intense in this race and was happy to work together to pull away from the pack, which we did so happy days!
Onwards to Deep Forest Reverse, we are holding a practice race on Friday at around 18:30 feel free to come along you just need to be in our Discord for Lobby ID
Let's talk numbers for this final round. Here's how my strategy testing is panning out so far.
This race is more complicated than most because the fuel won't last the entire race, which means different fuel-saving strategies could be viable. I tested three levels of fuel saving by changing where in the rev range I shift up to the next gear (aka short-shifting):
Maximum rev out - This is the baseline. I tried to rev the car past the top of the rev bar, as close as I could get to the limiter on every shift. I could only get the fuel to last 18 laps this way.
100% - Shifting when the rev hit the top of the rev bar. This got me to 20 laps.
90% - Shifting before the rev bar reaches the top. I could do 22 laps with this.
As far a tire life goes, I could get 12 laps out of the RSs. The RMs lasted longer than fuel. I'm sure the RHs do, too, but I only tested driving them for 5 laps because I couldn't see any reason why you'd want to go more than that.
As usual, I did all the tests in custom races against one AI opponent. I tested each stint twice and took the best lap of the two to construct an 'optimal' stint for the numbers below.
For weather, I used 'late morning', S03. This was my guess based on the shadows from the GTWS live event. Now that Free Practice is open, it looks like 'afternoon' is the closest choice.
Enough waffling. Here are the numbers:
Tire compound
Shift point
Laps
Opt time
Best time
Avg time
Total time
RS
Max
12
1:08.446
1:08.825
1:09.380
13:52.556
RS
100%
12
1:08.317
1:08.471
1:08.926
13:47.114
RS
90%
12
1:08.213
1:08.564
1:09.177
13:50.129
RM
Max
18
1:09.124
1:09.389
1:09.991
20:59.831
RM
100%
20
1:09.065
1:09.351
1:09.823
20:56.805
RM
90%
22
1:09.112
1:09.391
1:10.067
21:01.197
RH
Max
5
1:10.417
1:10.623
1:10.951
5:54.756
RH
100%
5
1:10.191
1:10.393
1:10.898
5:54.492
RH
90%
5
1:10.767
1:10.919
1:11.378
5:56.891
Lap
RS - Max
RS - 100%
RS - 90%
RM - Max
RM - 100%
RM - 90%
RH - Max
RH - 100%
RH - 90%
1
1:10.140
1:09.794
1:09.701
1:11.040
1:10.768
1:10.672
1:11.293
1:11.830
1:12.165
2
1:09.046
1:08.770
1:08.564
1:10.281
1:10.267
1:09.872
1:10.623
1:10.548
1:11.096
3
1:09.299
1:08.765
1:08.960
1:10.933
1:10.299
1:10.004
1:10.623
1:10.851
1:11.661
4
1:09.054
1:09.138
1:08.840
1:09.856
1:09.811
1:10.104
1:10.968
1:10.393
1:10.919
5
1:08.997
1:08.666
1:08.947
1:09.857
1:09.351
1:09.774
1:11.249
1:10.870
1:11.050
6
1:09.010
1:08.471
1:09.020
1:09.783
1:09.688
1:09.391
-
-
-
7
1:08.825
1:08.763
1:08.813
1:10.054
1:09.572
1:10.466
-
-
-
8
1:09.394
1:08.635
1:09.027
1:09.615
1:09.555
1:09.406
-
-
-
9
1:09.537
1:08.764
1:09.693
1:09.389
1:09.439
1:10.346
-
-
-
10
1:09.478
1:08.972
1:09.729
1:09.628
1:09.576
1:09.937
-
-
-
11
1:09.361
1:09.111
1:09.273
1:09.686
1:09.825
1:09.747
-
-
-
12
1:10.415
1:09.265
1:09.562
1:09.871
1:10.167
1:10.281
-
-
-
13
-
-
-
1:10.546
1:09.420
1:09.953
-
-
-
14
-
-
-
1:09.648
1:10.143
1:09.904
-
-
-
15
-
-
-
1:09.772
1:09.479
1:10.144
-
-
-
16
-
-
-
1:09.760
1:09.787
1:10.455
-
-
-
17
-
-
-
1:09.987
1:10.110
1:10.485
-
-
-
18
-
-
-
1:10.125
1:09.548
1:10.256
-
-
-
19
-
-
-
-
1:09.948
1:09.954
-
-
-
20
-
-
-
-
1:10.811
1:10.156
-
-
-
21
-
-
-
-
-
1:10.219
-
-
-
22
-
-
-
-
-
1:10.207
-
-
-
Tire tread levels and fuel remaining at finish:
Tire compound
Shift point
Laps
Front left
Front right
Rear left
Rear right
Fuel remaining
RS
Max
12
20%
25%
10%
25%
35%
RS
100%
12
20%
25%
15%
25%
42%
RS
90%
12
20%
25%
15%
25%
46%
RM
Max
18
40%
45%
30%
40%
7%
RM
100%
20
35%
40%
25%
40%
4%
RM
90%
22
30%
30%
20%
30%
3%
RH
Max
5
90%
90%
90%
90%
72%
RH
100%
5
90%
90%
90%
90%
75%
RH
90%
5
90%
90%
90%
90%
77%
Using these lap times and fuel consumption rates, I can simulate a full race, including refueling times based on the 3L/sec refueling rate. These were the fastest 5 strategies:
Tire strategy
Shift point
RS stint
RM stint
RH stint
RS fuel used
RM fuel used
RH fuel used
Refueling time
Total time
12RS-19RM-4RH
100%
13:47.114
22:06.753
4:43.622
58.00
91.20
15.00
0:21.400
40:37.489
12RS-20RM-3RH
100%
13:47.114
23:17.564
3:33.229
58.00
96.00
10.00
0:21.333
40:37.907
12RS-18RM-5RH
100%
13:47.114
20:56.805
5:54.492
58.00
86.40
20.00
0:21.467
40:38.411
11RS-20RM-4RH
100%
12:37.849
23:17.564
4:43.622
53.17
96.00
15.00
0:21.389
40:39.035
11RS-19RM-5RH
100%
12:37.849
22:06.753
5:54.492
53.17
91.20
20.00
0:21.456
40:39.094
Fastest to slowest
Tire Strategy
Shift point
RS stint
RM stint
RH stint
RS fuel used
RM fuel used
RH fuel used
Fueling time
Total time
12RS-19RM-4RH
100%
13:47.114
22:06.753
4:43.622
58.00
91.20
15.00
0:21.400
40:37.489
12RS-20RM-3RH
100%
13:47.114
23:17.564
3:33.229
58.00
96.00
10.00
0:21.333
40:37.907
12RS-18RM-5RH
100%
13:47.114
20:56.805
5:54.492
58.00
86.40
20.00
0:21.467
40:38.411
11RS-20RM-4RH
100%
12:37.849
23:17.564
4:43.622
53.17
96.00
15.00
0:21.389
40:39.035
11RS-19RM-5RH
100%
12:37.849
22:06.753
5:54.492
53.17
91.20
20.00
0:21.456
40:39.094
10RS-20RM-5RH
100%
11:28.738
23:17.564
5:54.492
48.33
96.00
20.00
0:21.444
40:40.794
12RS-22RM-1RH
90%
13:50.129
25:41.733
1:12.165
54.00
97.00
4.60
0:18.533
40:44.027
12RS-21RM-2RH
90%
13:50.129
24:31.526
2:23.261
54.00
92.59
9.20
0:18.597
40:44.916
11RS-22RM-2RH
90%
12:40.567
25:41.733
2:23.261
49.50
97.00
9.20
0:18.567
40:45.561
12RS-20RM-3RH
90%
13:50.129
23:21.307
3:34.922
54.00
88.18
13.80
0:18.661
40:46.358
11RS-21RM-3RH
90%
12:40.567
24:31.526
3:34.922
49.50
92.59
13.80
0:18.630
40:47.015
12RS-19RM-4RH
90%
13:50.129
22:11.151
4:45.841
54.00
83.77
18.40
0:18.724
40:47.121
12RS-18RM-5RH
Max
13:52.556
20:59.831
5:54.756
65.00
93.00
28.00
0:28.667
40:47.143
11RS-20RM-4RH
90%
12:40.567
23:21.307
4:45.841
49.50
88.18
18.40
0:18.694
40:47.715
10RS-22RM-3RH
90%
11:31.294
25:41.733
3:34.922
45.00
97.00
13.80
0:18.600
40:47.949
12RS-18RM-5RH
90%
13:50.129
21:01.197
5:56.891
54.00
79.36
23.00
0:18.788
40:48.217
11RS-19RM-5RH
90%
12:40.567
22:11.151
5:56.891
49.50
83.77
23.00
0:18.758
40:48.609
10RS-21RM-4RH
90%
11:31.294
24:31.526
4:45.841
45.00
92.59
18.40
0:18.664
40:48.661
9RS-22RM-4RH
90%
10:21.565
25:41.733
4:45.841
40.50
97.00
18.40
0:18.633
40:49.139
10RS-20RM-5RH
90%
11:31.294
23:21.307
5:56.891
45.00
88.18
23.00
0:18.727
40:49.492
9RS-21RM-5RH
90%
10:21.565
24:31.526
5:56.891
40.50
92.59
23.00
0:18.697
40:49.982
8RS-22RM-5RH
90%
9:11.872
25:41.733
5:56.891
36.00
97.00
23.00
0:18.667
40:50.496
Note: I name each strategy from softest to hardest tire compounds. The simulations don't take into account the order in which the tire compounds are used. For example, 12RS-19RM-4RH is equivalent to 4RH-19RM-12RS.
I'm kinda surprised by the results. I expected the 90% short-shifting to win out. I felt like the lap times were comparable to the 100%, but with less time refueling. But the numbers don't lie. Even with the reduced time refueling, it isn't enough to make up the speed difference. So it looks like I'll only be opportunistically short-shifting when I find myself in the slipstream of another driver, where I won't lose time for it.
I should also point out that I only simulated 2-stop strategies. If I simulate a 12RS-12RS-10RM-1RH strategy at 100% shifting, the time comes out to 40:24.384, about 13 seconds faster, but that doesn't account for the time of an extra pit stop. I haven't measured pit times at all yet, so if it is less than 13 seconds a 3-stop might be worth trying.
