I am disappointed as well. It was the frustration of only getting worse races the higher my SR was getting. It shouldn't be like that. Anyway here's my pov. What set me off:
1:45 First penalty which I thought came from him bumping me.
1:50 That was my fault. I usually hug the inside there, shouldn't expect others to do the same.
2:20 I slow down and get bumped passed into the wall as result. Not his fault, yet adding to my frustration.
2:27 Same driver turns in on me, luckily no penalty.
3:37 Same drive swerves in the braking zone under braking into my path, can't avoid, penalty number two.
4:43 I get a mystery penalty, frustration building.
5:58
@wtrain77 turns into the corner as if I'm not there, penalty 4. My frustration level has reached critical mass.
6:23 I have to slow down for the other driver, but still leave space for traffic from behind.
6:41 Other driver hits the wall, messes me up, I get rammed by the car behind, screw up shifting and inadvertently punt the other driver.
7:51 ??? Teleporting car
8:48 I mess up, get 5 sec wall penalty, not thinking clearly anymore
9:18 Car in front brakes early, only place to go is inside, luckily he saw me coming
13:40 I lose my mind, go full GTA. See 15 sec penalties, a car responsible for 2 of them in front of me, I decide to go for SR.B.
15:53 Second punt, I hit him only on my screen odd, still the SR Down I was looking for.
Dunno why I bothered to scrub my penalties, as I said, wasn't thinking clearly.
You took revenge on a driver which you thought wronged you, but looking at that, didn't really? You blamed him for two penalties from what I can see.
First one at 1:45, which you tried moving right as he was holding the outside line and boxing you in, totally legit. Rather than lifting you try to force the issue, you bump the VW into the wall and you got a penalty.
1:50, at least you admit fault. It's not because he wasn't holding a tight inside line, it's that he was wide on the previous corner and understeered outwards a little. You didn't predict this and it cost you a little.
5:58, on his replay, he turns in late and wide, giving you more than enough room on the inside lane. In your replay, you can see you are understeering as you went in too fast for the tighter line. You had plenty of room on the inside to make that corner cleanly. You got yourself that penalty.
So with 3 contacts with him, you picked up 2 penalties and they could have been avoided with your own actions. And for that, you punt him hard...
Also, dodgy moves like 7:51 and the teleporting car. Once again, boxed in, but you tap both cars then drive into the wall gifting them penalties each. You tried that a number of times through the race, some more successful than others.
It's a shame as you have some really good moments and drive cleanly and well at some points in that race, and from what I have seen from you before.
I am Australian ( you are an elite driver, from New Zealand). I'm 65 years old, started GTS in November I think, I am hardly fast.
But ... the game encourages crashes. For yourself, you are surrounded by highly skilled drivers, who rarely make an error. If you go a level below, to the S boards with a mix of A+ and A and B drivers, there's a tonne of dirty tactics that happen because a driver feels entitled to bump a car in front in order to pass them, and having some skill, they'll avoid a penalty or even take a small one in order to attempt to destroy a driver in front. If you start on the front row, or the top 3, you hardly have such issues. And if you're fast, you gap the crashing drivers who live from the back of the field up to typically where the time gaps appear, let's say around 4th place.
The crash for gain issue is increased by the multiple account phenomenon. One can get lower rated drivers who are very fast, and they don't care about hurting others ... in fact it often seems to be fun for them. They smash by you, you gain a penalty, and then they drive away from you. Or they'll cop a penalty, open up a gap, and then when they choose, they'll get rid of their time penalty. I remember when PD said compulsory same lap penalty zones were going to be part of the normal on line race games. But its not happened. Why not?
Thank you for the compliment. Hardly would call myself elite though, I always look at it as, no matter how fast you are, there will always be someone out there faster. It's the race that never ends really...
Also, you may forget that we all start in the same place. I remember when I first got the game on launch, I was qualifying in the last 5 of the grid and considering a top 15 as a good result, while the likes of Brond (very fast Japanese driver) was setting record breaking times and I couldn't figure out how they were 5 seconds faster.
I do not believe the game encourages crashing. I may be surrounded by highly skilled drivers, but they do make errors, I certainly do! While they may be fast around a lap, only a handful know how to race and give racing room properly. The difference being is that none of them believe crashing gets you places.
Anyone who crashes regularly and deliberately do not end up at the sharp end of the field. It is one thing I learned straight away, and to get my DR up, I concentrated on finishing races as cleanly as possible. It wasn't until I was well into my hundreds of races that I picked up my first win, and that was largely due to the matchmaker dropping the competition. (Appears as though the matchmaker tries to run a mix from A+ DR downwards. When you hit A+, you may end up as the fastest driver in the field as you may only be matched by yourself or one other A+ driver. Before that, even in A rank, you will get matched with 2-3 A ranks, as well as 2-3 A+ ranks, so a lot more competition and most likely faster than you)
And the multiple account phenomenon is an interesting one. I consider myself a clean driver, I try my best to get home without a scratch or a dirty tire every time I head out to track. With A+ drivers as fast as myself, I know when they will brake and what line they will take. Therefore I know how to run side by side with them, or bumper to bumper, inches, without touching them.
But, put a B driver in front of me across the top of Mt Panorama, and I often can't help but tap them. Not trying to pass them, not doing any crazy moves, but just bump them all the time. The difference is they are braking in unpredictable places as that is their pace. So I imagine a fast driver coming through the field would find the same problem. Unintentional, but seems rude as they are 'the fast guy trying to barge on through'. Have learned now and sit around 1 second back until approaching a straight then close the gap for the draft and a clean pass. Costs me time? Sure, but if you can't pass cleanly, you shouldn't pass.
So I imagine if you put a couple of B or D rank drivers together, and they try to run close, they will bump each other, as one driver is faster on one corner and the other is faster in another, but overall, they lap at a very similar pace. Would seem like bedlam as they try to mimic close racing as seen on TV/Streaming/Life etc. May give the impression that crashing is the way to get ahead, where the drivers are stepping over their limit without realising.