Barbers GT500 Suzuka challenge. *Event over*

Tea_Leaves
Apart from my expected no pace at Suzuka and overfueling, fun race! Thanks for hosting @Adam Barber. :cheers:
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Overfueling? What's that? Is that something that happens when you pit? :embarrassed:

Not to put a downer on things (hey, who am I kidding, of *course* I do. The forums are like the blues. It ain't about feeling better, it's about making other people feel *worse*!), but I had a thoroughly miserable time. I used to love Suzuka, till GTS. Loved it in GT3. Loved it in GT4. Hated it from the very first time I drove it in GTS and that hasn't changed :grumpy:. I'm hoping they improve the feel of it for GT7. Lemme see, what else. Oh yeh, that stupid bloody blue light warning. A blue flag should come out when another car is about to lap you, *not* when it's still half a 🤬 lap away! . I think I came off the track every single time the blue flags came out! Of course most of you have no idea what I am talking about, since most of you have never seen them. Newsflash @Ashthebash , yer a fake! I'm the *real* captain slow! :P (congrats on the win though mate 👍).

Oh yeh, what else to 🤬 about? It was frigging freezing here and I was getting pins and needles holding the controller :yuck:.
 
Firstly, I have to say a massive thank you to @Adam_Barber for hosting this race, and congrats to @Ashthebash on winning for Nissan. It was very close between myself, Ash, @SRT DK Racing and @Pigems at the start, but in the end it was down to who would survive without tripping up.

Spent the majority of the race pressuring Pigems as he squirmed around on ever-wearing tyres, then briefly got the jump on him when I pitted after 16 laps. Of course, his straight-line speed was enough to slipstream back past on the run to the Casio Triangle, and from there I was content with pressuring him more until he binned it out of Degner 2. Felt gutted for him as I was hoping we could continue the fight to the line. Might have also challenged Ash for victory if I hadn't collided with @Invisigoth at Degner 2 (sorry mate!) or dipped the gravel upon understeering at Dunlop Curve (karma for rejoining Nissan, I suppose?). Did set the fastest lap a couple of times, but Ash always seemed to be a little faster throughout.

Other than those setbacks - and possibly fuelling up a tad too much at my pitstop - that was a blast. In a way, I'm glad I switched back to Nissan as it made for a close and equal fight between myself and Pigems' NSX, and meant that even though we were two cars short we were still fairly competitive. I'd certainly sign up for another GT500 race if it lead to more battles like that.
 
Invisigoth
Overfueling? What's that? Is that something that happens when you pit? :embarrassed:

Not to put a downer on things (hey, who am I kidding, of *course* I do. The forums are like the blues. It ain't about feeling better, it's about making other people feel *worse*!), but I had a thoroughly miserable time. I used to love Suzuka, till GTS. Loved it in GT3. Loved it in GT4. Hated it from the very first time I drove it in GTS and that hasn't changed :grumpy:. I'm hoping they improve the feel of it for GT7. Lemme see, what else. Oh yeh, that stupid bloody blue light warning. A blue flag should come out when another car is about to lap you, *not* when it's still half a 🤬 lap away! . I think I came off the track every single time the blue flags came out! Of course most of you have no idea what I am talking about, since most of you have never seen them. Newsflash @Ashthebash , yer a fake! I'm the *real* captain slow! :P (congrats on the win though mate 👍).

Oh yeh, what else to 🤬 about? It was frigging freezing here and I was getting pins and needles holding the controller :yuck:.
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Thanks mate. I thought you were gonna edge me wide on that last turn of the race! Wasn't sure if you knew I'd gone on the outside.

Not ghosting lapped cars really does add something, @RacingGrandpa and me almost had a plane crash as he exited the pits. I was trying to work out where he was going and figured it just in time (he did the right thing and stayed tight - but you're always uncertain when coming up behind someone at pace. Any collision there though and it would have been 100% my fault)

Really enjoyed it, big mentions to @Michelin Man and @VulcanSpirit who both had off track excursions at key moments for me! I was going to run the whole race on one set of tyres until I saw Vulcan had lost 5s somewhere while I was on my in lap. It would have been a very close finish with Vulcan on much fresher rubber but the mistake gave me a buffer to change tyres which made it less likely that I'd bin it in the final six laps

I'd happily do another race like this - while I can't do them all the time this was just a lot of fun and I love the GT500 cars. Hopefully if Adam sets up another one I can be involved again (might need a livery though!!:lol:)
 
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That was a fantastic race, thanks very much @Adam Barber for hosting and organising. Had some great fun on the way to a suprise and lucky P4 finish, but the biggest shock was that I didn't bottle it! Though I did do a Sebastien Vettel, and crack under pressure when @Ashthebash closed right up on us circa lap11/12, dropping a wheel on the dirt into Casio under braking, going deep and losing a few seconds in the process, no worries though. Was certainly tense in the last 10 laps or so as @Drex124 began reeling us in, finishing right on my bumper!

I would also like to apologise to @Invisigoth for bumping you, completely messed up when coming to overtake you into Spoon curve, I should have been more alert so I hold my hands up for that one, my bad.

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Going sideways into Casio doesn't work, who would have thought?
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Overall a great success would definitely be up for another GT500 race or similar, and thanks all for the racing :cheers:.
 
Hey hey everybody, that was intense race, Suzuka does not forgive.
Congrats to @Ashthebash @VulcanSpirit & @Pigems for making up the podium and to @Michelin Man & @Drex124 for rounding out the top five. And thanks @Adam Barber for organising this great event.
Special shoutout to @mohitraina91 for actually extracting some pace from that Lexus. It showed me that there was more to gain from this car...I kinda knew it of course, but the Lexus still felt like a blunt knife as well. Just did not have the single lap pace to keep up with the front in any way shape or form this time. But I managed not to trip and had a quiet race, which I am happy with.
See you all or at least most of you in two weeks at Monza for some old school Group C action. I have the hope that my Sauber there will propel me to the sharper end of the grid again, at least over a single lap (it'll also drink gas like a proper neurotic German, lol).
Here are a few race photos I shared in the GT community - and final shoutout to @GTP_Guido for allowing me to use the Esso livery, it looked great, thank you =):

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VulcanSpirit
Might have also challenged Ash for victory if I hadn't collided with @Invisigoth at Degner 2 (sorry mate!)
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Yeh, I think I had about 4 people hit me as they were passing, so you weren't alone :P. A couple of times I hadn't even managed to get back on the track when I got nailed!

Ashthebash
Thanks mate. I thought you were gonna edge me wide on that last turn of the race! Wasn't sure if you knew I'd gone on the outside.
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When I see the blue flags come out, my attention get divided between trying to concentrate on staying on the track, the track map that shows where all the cars are on the track, and the radar. When I can, if I see someone on the radar, I pull to one side and brake or lift so they get past me. More often than not I end up on the grass or in a sand trap :crazy:. The worst thing about the sand is that you always end up facing the opposite direction and they make it harder than it needs to be to get back onto the track :grumpy:.

Michelin Man
I would also like to apologise to @Invisigoth for bumping you, completely messed up when coming to overtake you into Spoon curve, I should have been more alert so I hold my hands up for that one, my bad.
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I was having issues with Spoon all race, so I tended to brake hard, early. I'm currently ranked a C driver, but given that I haven't been doing the dailies, and these events plus @Pigems weekly DRWF are the only races I've been doing since the beginning of April, I'm probably a DR/D. Means I'm unpredictable, so I can be a bit hard to avoid :lol:.
 
RacingGrandpa
Mid race something went off outside, sounded like a shot or a piece of fireworks.
I waited a while but when it happened again I pitted and investigated. Didn't find the reason but spend 4 minutes in pit.
It turned out to be a torched car...
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I saw you pit and thought "here's my chance!" then noticed you were there a lot longer than a pit stop and figured maybe someone came to the door or something. Despite the 4 min pit stop I believe you finished about 16s behind me.... defiantly your victory, not mine :lol:.
 
Invisigoth
I was having issues with Spoon all race, so I tended to brake hard, early. I'm currently ranked a C driver, but given that I haven't been doing the dailies, and these events plus @Pigems weekly DRWF are the only races I've been doing since the beginning of April, I'm probably a DR/D. Means I'm unpredictable, so I can be a bit hard to avoid :lol:.
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That's fair enough, Suzuka is an unforgiving and difficult beast to master, it was on me to overtake properly. After all my last race there before this event was a shambolic affair for Rd28 of the Manufacturers, so I was cautious going into this! And to be honest, your probably doing yourself a favour by not running dailies, I don't do them anymore as it often results in more stress than any enjoyment. And organised events like these are probably far better for practice and learning I'd say. At the end of the day, regardless of your rank, as long as your having fun it's all that matters 👍
 
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Let me just clarify that I for one was having fun.
Funnily enough I had the most fun when I was being lapped. It was a rather lonely race for me besides that. But having blue flag for a lap and a half might be a little excessive of PD.
Anyway, I stuck to lines and lifted on straight to make the lapping more safe and for the lapper to have less dirty air
 
Great race yesterday fellas!! I can’t believe I spun it after having such a great start and an awesome battle with @VulcanSpirit for the 2/3 of the race. It’s a good thing my mic was accidentally muted at the time, we’ll just put it that way. :lol: I was having a blast trying everything I could to hold him off, I think he’d have gotten around in the end, but it was really fun trying to see how long I could keep him back there. Congrats to @Ashthebash on the Win, that was some awesome driving man, even without my crash you had me beat by a long shot, very well done! :cheers: Congrats to @VulcanSpirit on 2nd place as well, great race man! You had me sweating the whole time, your constant pressure eventually payed off, I didn’t have a single moment to relax in that race until after I had crashed. :cheers:

Great job by all who came out to race, thanks for a great time fellas! Thanks to @Adam Barber for hosting, I look forward to the next one man. :cheers:
 
Pigems
Great race yesterday fellas!! I can’t believe I spun it after having such a great start and an awesome battle with @VulcanSpirit for the 2/3 of the race. It’s a good thing my mic was accidentally muted at the time, we’ll just put it that way. :lol: I was having a blast trying everything I could to hold him off, I think he’d have gotten around in the end, but it was really fun trying to see how long I could keep him back there. Congrats to @Ashthebash on the Win, that was some awesome driving man, even without my crash you had me beat by a long shot, very well done! :cheers: Congrats to @VulcanSpirit on 2nd place as well, great race man! You had me sweating the whole time, your constant pressure eventually payed off, I didn’t have a single moment to relax in that race until after I had crashed. :cheers:

Great job by all who came out to race, thanks for a great time fellas! Thanks to @Adam Barber for hosting, I look forward to the next one man. :cheers:
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Honestly mate it was so close in reality. I think the gap when you spun was around 6s but I still had to stop and I'd made my mind up at that point that I wasn't going to change the tyres. I was trying to get enough of a lead to just put fuel in and still come out ahead, then try to hang on to the end. I'd done what I hoped, think I was 9s ahead on my in lap then Vulcan dropped it through Dunlop which gave me a buffer. It really could have been an epic finish with the three of us, but not making mistakes for that length of race is difficult (I made more than one! Whoever took out the 100m board on the approach to Casio caused a couple, it took me three laps to spot the boards on the wall!!)
 
Ashthebash
Honestly mate it was so close in reality. I think the gap when you spun was around 6s but I still had to stop and I'd made my mind up at that point that I wasn't going to change the tyres. I was trying to get enough of a lead to just put fuel in and still come out ahead, then try to hang on to the end. I'd done what I hoped, think I was 9s ahead on my in lap then Vulcan dropped it through Dunlop which gave me a buffer. It really could have been an epic finish with the three of us, but not making mistakes for that length of race is difficult (I made more than one! Whoever took out the 100m board on the approach to Casio caused a couple, it took me three laps to spot the boards on the wall!!)
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Maybe they were trying to demonstrate the importance of other brake markers :lol::lol:

I dropped it a couple of times most notably T1 in Qualifying on my first timed lap D'OH and lap 1 on the exit of spoon. Its such a fun track to drive though and can really bite when you make mistakes which I think most of us found out one way or another.
 
I had to reset my cones when the brake board at the end got taken out, I assumed that’s the only reason I was able to pass @VulcanSpirit there after the pit stop. I took a guess that he wasn’t using cones and figure with mine being reset that I could probably out brake him there since it had just happened. Luckily it worked out. :)
 
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