Endurance League

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BloodRaven

BloodRaven

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Blood_Raven_70
I've been running the Endurance League races the past few days. I did 5 races on Friday, 4 on Saturday, and 4 yesterday (I'm on vacation.....Friday of last week through this coming Sunday). I've done all the Gr.1 races and all but one of the Gr.3 races. I've had pretty good fun running these races.

For the Gr.1 races, I used the Alpine VGT '17. That car is easy to handle, fast as hell, and is decent on tires and fuel. I absolutely smoked the competition on Monza; winning by at least 2 laps (possibly 3, couldn't remember). My only "issue" track was Sainte-Croix. But I'm not a fan of that track, anyway.

For the Gr.3 races, I've used several different cars; AMG GT3 '16, Corvette C7 Gr.3, NSX Gr.3, and McLaren 650S GT3. Out of those, the McLaren drove the easiest and was the best for tire wear; although they all did pretty good on tires. The McLaren was also the best as far as fuel usage. I usually use medium tires and Fuel Map 2-3 to get the lead, then switch to hard tires and drop the fuel map down to 6 to minimize the number of stops I have to make. The toughest race I've had so far in that particular series was the Autopolis race. I spun out 3 times (thanks to my own stupidity), and had to put in a pretty good drive to get the gold. The car I used, NSX Gr.3, was very easy to drive, but it was twitchy if you hit the rumble strips the wrong way or got a tire off going into a corner. But even with all of my self-induced issues, I still won by about 30 seconds.

My next race (and final for this particular level series) is the Gr.3 race at Nürburgring. I think I'm going to use the AMG for this one as that tracks suits me better with an FR car.
 
I am not ready for so long races for the moment. So when I see you doing 4 or 5 the same day 🤪
 
Yeah I'm not ready for it either. I'm still trying to tackle the Beginner League, The tricky thing is when you go in the pit and stay for 5-10 mins then other cars pass you and then you're scrambling trying to catch up. I experienced this a lot in GT3,4 and 5. Maybe you can give me a car guide for each race.
 
Chris30
Yeah I'm not ready for it either. I'm still trying to tackle the Beginner League, The tricky thing is when you go in the pit and stay for 5-10 mins then other cars pass you and then you're scrambling trying to catch up. I experienced this a lot in GT3,4 and 5. Maybe you can give me a car guide for each race.
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Pitting is obviously the one place where you're not in control over what happens. I always try to make sure I'm in the lead or pretty close to it when I make my first pit stop. The thing is, when you start an endurance race, you don't start with a full tank of fuel (half or a bit more). So that's kind of throwing you under the bus from the start. But it is what it is and I can't change that. So I just go with it. And some of the pit lanes take FOREVER to get to your box; like up to 20 seconds before you even get there and they start changing your tires. And they won't refuel until the tires are changed, so there's nothing being done but 1 thing at a time. BUT, they are pretty quick on changing the tires so there's that. And the fuel goes in pretty quick, too. So after you're stopped, depending on how much fuel you need/take, your stop isn't that bad. But getting there is the issue with the longer pit straights.

During my 1st endurance race, I got frustrated on how long it took and how many spots I lost while in the pits. But I quickly made up the positions, and then some, after the AI cars started making their stops. And one thing to note, if it's late in the race and an AI car makes a stop, they'll only take enough fuel to make it to the end. They will NOT fill up; therefore their final stop is shorter.

For my 1st pit stop, I usually change to hard tires and a full tank. After that, I may switch the tires depending on the track and how my previous set held up. Like if they didn't seem to wear out all that fast, I may switch back to mediums to try and get faster laps to either catch up or pull away.

Also, use your fuel map. If you're ahead by a good margin, switch it to 5 or 6 and save the fuel (if needed). That's won me a couple races since I didn't have to make another stop just to get a few liters of fuel to make it to the end.

For my current race, Gr.3 at Nürburgring, I'm using the AMG GT3. I had to stop at the end of lap 3 for fuel (as previously stated, you only start with a partial tank at the beginning). I switched to hard tires and got a full tank of fuel. The medium tires I started on were still good, but I wanted to see how the hards would do. I went in in 2nd place ( I passed the 2nd place car JUST before the pits, lol) and I came out in 5th; so not too bad. And I'm right behind the 4th place car and more than 20 seconds ahead of the 6th place car. I'm more than 40 seconds from 1st, but I know I can eat up a big chunk of that difference once they pit.

And remember, you can pause at any time (like I currently am because I had to go use the bathroom) to stretch, take a break, go use the bathroom, eat, etc. The longest "time" races are 60 minutes, so you're there for only an hour. The ones that have lap limits (30 is the max) MAY run a bit over an hour, but it's only a few minutes or so, depending on the track and your lap times.

Also, I plug my controller in so the battery doesn't run low right in the middle of a race. I sit by my desk and turn to see the TV. SO I just run a cable from my controller to a USB hub on my desk and it charges while I play.
 
Chris30
Yeah I'm not ready for it either. I'm still trying to tackle the Beginner League, The tricky thing is when you go in the pit and stay for 5-10 mins then other cars pass you and then you're scrambling trying to catch up. I experienced this a lot in GT3,4 and 5. Maybe you can give me a car guide for each race.
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If you're in the Beginner League then pitting is not advisable.
 
Finished the race in 1:04:05.489. A total of 9 laps. I pitted twice. I started with medium tires, then switched to hards and a full tank, then switched back to mediums and just enough fuel to get me the final 2 laps + a bit extra and switched back to fuel map 1 for maximum speed.

During my 2nd pit, I was in the lead by about 19 seconds (it WAS almost 28 seconds, but thanks to a spin for not paying attention, it got knocked down quite a bit) and got passed while in the pits. I knew it would happen, that's why I went with mediums and only a partial tank of fuel. When I exited the pits, I was directly behind the 1st place car. The gap was less than a second, so the pass was easy and I made it within the 1st sector. That was the beginning of lap 8 and I needed 1 more lap for the time. By the end, I was more than 30 seconds ahead.

I lapped the field from 10th place down, too.

So I got my 440k Cr (just over 8m Cr, now), my 1700 mileage points, my distance of 120 miles, and my 7700 XP (~3/4 of the way to level 43).
 
Just completed the 1st race of the Porsche Cup Series (@ Suzuka). Here's some tips I'd suggest (for this particular race):

Use soft tires. The 911 is good on tires so using softs gets you an advantage. The AI use either hard or medium tires so start on softs and use them for each stint. I started on mediums and the car was sliding quite a bit until they warmed up (about middle of 2nd lap). So I'd suggest starting on and using softs throughout the race. Of course this car doesn't use downforce (well, any adjustable downforce, anyway) so you can't use the same driving style as you would with other cars in the other Endurance Series races. It's pretty decent on fuel, too. You can get ~7 laps from the softs (driving conservatively) and if you use fuel map 5-6 you'll never run out of fuel before your tires need changing. Therefore your stops will be shorter due to not using as much fuel and the refueling time taking less.

I pitted 4 times: laps 5 (thanks to starting with just over a half tank and running FM 1), 12, 19, and 26. The last pit I didn't need any fuel, but I took a splash. I was in 1st place by well more than a minute so the extra time didn't hurt. Overall, it was an easy race; minus my sliding all over the place as I wasn't used to a car with no real downforce, lol.
 
Second race (Dragon Trail - Seaside) of the Porsche Cup Series in the books. Like the 1st one, it's a 30 lap race. And, again, I'd suggest soft tires for this one. You'll most likely run out of fuel before the tires need changing.

Total time of 54:56.336

I pitted on laps 6 (you start with just over a half tank of fuel), 13, and 21. If I'd have pitted on lap 20 instead of 21, I'd have had to pit, again, before lap 30. As it was, I literally ran out of fuel just before crossing the line at the end of lap 30, lol. I heard the engine cut off, then I crossed the line. I couldn't have timed it any better than that. 😎

I ran FM 3 until I took the lead (lap 8 or 9), then I switched to FM 6. During my 2nd pit, I fell to 2nd place but came out just behind the leader. I was able to pass him right after the first sharp right-hander.

Also, some of the AI made some stupid mistakes in this race, too. Once, I was coming down the straight that leads to the 2nd sharp right-hander. There were 2 AI cars there at the same time. One of them just rammed the other one. The car that caused it got stuck on the wall for a second. The one that got rammed bounced back onto the track and hit me; causing me to almost wipe out. It did cause me to get passed, but I was able to take the position back just before the death chicane. Another time, one of them ran way too deep, way too fast into the final sharp right-hander and wound up against the outside wall. He got passed by 2-3 other AI cars for his mistake.
 
Did the 3rd race of the Porsche Cup Series earlier, today. Definitely use soft tires as you'll run out of fuel long before your tires need changing. Again, go with FM 6 to maximize the fuel usage.

Just now, I ran the Monza race (race 4 - 30 laps) of the Red Bull X2019 Competition Series. I lapped every other car. Some, more than once. They seemed to pit an awful lot for that race. I only pitted twice. I used medium tires for most of the race but switched to softs for the final stint (it was only 3 laps, lol). I actually could've gone maybe another 5-6 laps without changing tires, but I changed them anyway since I wanted to pit as few times as possible. You actually start out with almost a full tank of fuel, so you can get a decent amount of laps in before you have to pit the 1st time. After that, I went 15 laps (I think) before I had to pit, again. I pitted on laps 12 and 27. The last time taking just enough fuel to make it the final 3 laps. I used FM 6 the whole race except for the final 3 laps. I changed it to 1 to get them done as fast as possible.

I'm about to start the Sardegna race (also 30 laps) and then call it a day as far as racing. Hopefully I can finish up the entire endurance series this week before I have to go back to work on Monday. I've got 3 races left in the Porsche Cup series and I'll have 3 left in the RB X2019 series once I complete the race I'm about to run.
 
Just ran the Spa race of the RB X2019 Series.

Tires: Softs all the way
Fuel Map: Run 1 until you get the lead, then you can switch down to 3 for a couple laps, then down to 6 and maintain an easy, and ever-expanding, lead. And running FM 6 will make it so your fuel and tires will need changing at just about the same time. FM 1 well get you about 6 laps, FM 6 will get you about 9 laps.

Most of the AI like to pit all at the same time. Also, they'll usually pit before you'll need to. They like to run all tire compounds; soft, medium, AND hard.

I pitted on laps 7, 15, and 26. By my second stop, I had more than a 40-second lead. By the end, it was well over a minute.

I run full downforce
Brake balance set all the way to the front
TCS set at 3 (with this car, and my driving style, anything lower and I spin way too easily)
I don't mess with any other settings except maybe the gearing depending on the track. But this one needs no adjusting.
With full downforce, you can run deeper into corners before you have to brake hard. And you can carry more speed through those corners in which you only have to lift.

I can drive the car absolutely balls out with those settings. Whereas the AI will brake harder and go slower, you may only have to lift to go through a turn. So there are ample opportunities to pass. The flip side of that is if you come up on one that has slowed way down, and you don't, you try to take the inside line and they'll turn into you. That happened a couple times and I would up off the track (spun on one occasion). But I was consistently doing sub-2 minute times (minus the laps on which I pitted). I had a fast lap of 1:57.631.
 
Just finished the RB X2019 race at Interlagos (36 laps). I started on softs, but switched to mediums. I had to pit on lap 8 due to tires; I still had about 4 more laps worth of fuel. And that was running on FM 1 for 4 laps then 2 for 4 laps.

On lap 13, the top cars all pitted. The 1st place car came back out in 1st, but I was just over a second behind him. I caught him at the beginning of the switchbacks (turn 8) and by the next lap, I was over 7 seconds ahead. I changed to FM 3 at that point, then went up to FM 4 a couple laps later. Every consecutive couple laps, I went up another level until I got to 6. Also, going into the switchbacks (starting at turn 6 - Ferradura), you can take turn 6 at full speed, then lift just a little bit for turn 7 until the braking zone going into turn 8. I was able to pass a few cars doing this. They would always brake going into turn 6. But if you take it full speed then just lift a bit for turn 7, you can hold it (even on medium tires) and carry much more speed all the way through to the braking zone. On soft tires, you can go full speed through turns 6 and 7, but you'll have to brake a little bit earlier than normal for turn 8. Either way is a good way to take that section and pass some cars.

My 2nd pit stop I did on lap 22; so I was able to get 12 laps from both the tires and fuel. Although, I did have over a lap left of fuel. I decided to pit because my tires were getting a little bit slick. And with the speeds this car can do, slick tires can be a bad combination. I was over 40 seconds ahead of the 2nd place car, so I came out in 1st still over 12 seconds ahead. And by that time, I was on FM 6.

I was able to make it to the end of the race without another pit stop. I still had another 2-3 laps left on the tires and another 4.7 laps of fuel left. And even on FM 6, I was putting in consistent lap times of 1:22/1:23.

Next (last) race for this series is Autopolis (30 laps). I don't do the races in order. I always save the track I'm the worst on, for last. And for this series, that's Autopolis.
 
Finished the final race (Autopolis).

Started on softs and FM1 since I'm usually not that good on this track. My 1st pit stop came on lap 5. Tires were about gone, but I still had about 3 laps of fuel left. I went with softs, again, full fuel, and switched to FM2. I stayed on FM2 for about 2 laps then I switched to FM3. I worked my way up to 1st before I had to pit, again, on lap 13. I switched to mediums and stayed at FM3. I dropped down to 3rd, coming out about 7 seconds behind the leaders (they were running very close together). At the end of that lap, the 2 leaders pitted, putting me in 1st by about 19 seconds. I switched to FM6 to save as much fuel as I could. My final stop came on lap 25. I took mediums, again, and just enough fuel to make it to the end.

Total race time 48:46.890

I was well over a minute ahead of 2nd place.

There are a few full throttle turns and a few turns where you can just lift and make it through. And there are some where you hit the brake, lift for about half a second, then hit the throttle and make it through. And there are 2 turns (6 and 11) where you need to brake pretty hard. With the AI cars doing their usual "brake at every turn", you can pass quite a few this way.

Turn 1: Brake, lift, then throttle in quick succession
Turn 2: Full throttle sweeper
Turn 3/4/5: Same as Turn 1
Turn 6: Brake hard, lift halfway through, then throttle out
Turn 7/8/9/10: Full throttle
Turn 11: Same as Turn 6
Turn 12: Same as Turn 1
Turn 13: Lift just a bit going in, then full throttle
Turn 14: Full throttle
Turn 15 (double apex): Brake going in, lift through the second apex, then throttle out
Turn 16: Lift through, then a bit of throttle on the way out
Turn 17: Lift, then throttle out
Turn 18: Lift, then throttle about halfway through
Turn 19: Full throttle

The pit entrance is tricky, too. There's a sharp left then right as you're going in. If you're not careful, you'll nail the end of the pit wall.....like I did. :lol:
 
Just finished Tokyo Expressway - South Inner Loop in the Porsche Cup Series. I did Circuit de Barcelona right before that. Barcelona is a track I dislike almost as much as Brands Hatch.....maybe equally. And I'm no fan of that particular Tokyo track, either. But they're both done and over with. Now, I have one race remaining in that series (and in Endurance League).....the one on the Nürburgring 24h track. It's a 60 minute race. I'm definitely not looking forward to that car on that track. Even with soft tires, the Porsche likes to slide around a lot.
 
And with that, the Endurance League is complete.

It took only 7 laps to get 60 minutes. Well, not even 7 full laps, really. At the end of lap 6, there was a bit over 3 minutes left; so I had to do 1 more lap. My first pit stop came after lap 2. I then pitted every 2 laps after that; so laps 2, 4, and 6. I used softs the whole way. They did pretty well even at the end of the 2nd lap of each stint, not too much sliding and they still had decent grip. On the 1st lap I used FM 1 on the GP section of the track, but switched to 3 and 4 for the Nordschleife. After my first pit stop, I switched to 6 as I was easily catching and passing the other cars. I was up to 9th by then. On lap 4, I took the lead going into the back straight. My top speed was well beyond what theirs was so that back straight helped me gain some time. Going into the pit, I was about 6 seconds ahead. It took a tiny longer for my pit than it did for the 2nd place car; so I came out in 2nd. But I was behind by only a couple seconds so I was able to pass him by the 3rd turn and keep the lead until the end. And by the time we had to pit, again (the AI cars also pitted every 2 laps), I had a pretty good lead (47+ seconds) that only got better. By the end, I was 1:02.xxx ahead.

My first lap was basically a refresher lap. I didn't do too bad, but there was some banging/rubbing/side-swiping with the other cars. They do NOT like to give up the inside line. The good thing is I never spun out. I did run off the track a couple times, but it was nothing major as I just let off the gas, applied a soft brake to slow down, and got back on track as conveniently as possible without panicking. Usually, I'm good for a spin or 2 on that track. But this time I did pretty well.

I'm at 13m Cr at the moment. so I'll need to run the Premium Sports Lounge Race 1 a few times to get to 20m Cr.
 
Ive done all the 1hr challenges and they're all pretty fun. I wish there were more coming.

For the GT1 events I used the McLaren VGT for any high speed course like Le Mans. The Audi R18 for handling. But any LMP-H should do. There's no much to say here. RH tyres and just drive. I didnt think fuel was an issue much. Avoid the 600-700hp GT1 cars, they just dont have enough juice. You need the 900hp stuff or the dual 500hp ICE + 500hp electric cars.

The 911 cup you can cheat by using an N600 car but really, an N500 car tuned on RH and judicuous use of fuel should do it.

GT3 events, just use any GT3 car youre used to. I would prefer cars that are on the more easy driving side... I found the AUdi R8 could slaughter everyone. The Corvette is nice and easy driving. V12 Vantage. FT1. Mustang. I think fuel can be your undoing. You can do stuff like like FM6 on twisty sections and FM1 on straights. I would avoid cars like the Ferrari 458 unless you like a challenge.

X2019... ah jeez I hated these. Single make events where you're limited to just a tune separates the men from the boys. I think this one actually works well on RS tyres. On tighter tracks I found them a bit easier but on something like Spa where there's a fair bit of power needed on straights but you all have the same power then its harder.

I would also not try to juggle too many elements. Like DRIVING, racing and then juggling tyres and fuel can overload your attention.

I try to limit tyres to RH and only play with fuel.
 
BloodRaven
Just finished Tokyo Expressway - South Inner Loop in the Porsche Cup Series. I did Circuit de Barcelona right before that. Barcelona is a track I dislike almost as much as Brands Hatch.....maybe equally. And I'm no fan of that particular Tokyo track, either. But they're both done and over with. Now, I have one race remaining in that series (and in Endurance League).....the one on the Nürburgring 24h track. It's a 60 minute race. I'm definitely not looking forward to that car on that track. Even with soft tires, the Porsche likes to slide around a lot.
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You know that's my favorite technical place because of all the buildings, trains and scenery, plus it's like you're on a highway except there's no traffic.
 
The GR3 isn't really much of endurance race, IMO, as it's limited to 30 laps or just 60 minutes of racing. More like a sprint race.

For me GT4 was the ultimate endurance race series, with proper 24 hours race, 90 laps race, 6 hours races, 1000 km races, etc. of course this is limited in GT sport.

That being said, i did enjoy the Porsche races and the GR3 races. I've tried various cars like the Mclaren F1, etc, but I think the best is the Aston Martin (blue livery, can't recall model name), and also the M6s.

But it's easy to smoke the opponents with that, therefore i tend to use less powerful car, like the Mitsu Evo to get a proper fight with the Ai.
 

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