For Nations Cup, I ran some test races last night... race leader had the following strategy which I think I will implement tonight:
start on medium
pit lap 6 for hard
pit lap 9 for medium and finish race on that set.
He was averaging 1:45s on mediums and 1:47s on hard IIRC.
Having fought hard to get back to a B/S rating after being the victim of some horrendous dirty driving (and the occasional red mist after some of it!), it was with trepidation that i put it on the line tonight in the only 2 races I managed to start.
Nations: I qualified 12th of 18 in the Xanavi Nismo, started the race with the above strategy and by the first corner I was in 6th, but due to the ridiculously "over-zealous" driving (very generous description) of those I'd passed, I was back to 11th before I'd even exited that corner.🤬 Crazy amounts of contact around me. I was 8th by the start of L2, 6th by L4. But my race was constantly compromised by the aggressive contact by 2 French drivers, with one almost pitching me into a spin with 2 hard hits at the post-dip hairpin halfway round the lap.
I was still in 6th after my pitstop (in hindsight, I would probably have been better staying out until L7), and began L8 in 5th. Laps 2-5 ranged between 1:50.556 and 1:53.044. L8 and L9 averaged 1:49.500. After the L9 pitstop, I came out in 7th but soon retook 6th with both French drivers together ahead of me. One of them pitted on L13 and so I was now in 5th again. BoP kicked in, and the 2nd French car was soon on my tail, trying to get by at the start of the final lap. My luck (and grip) ran out near the end of the lap and he got past me as i slid a bit too wide, and so the two French drivers' dubious tactics had worked.
Under the circumstances, I'd done well though.
Manufacturers: With no idea who to race for, I decided to opt for Lexus and it proved to be a poor choice for me. I hate racing any of the Tokyo track layouts as they end up being penalty-filled orange DR-fests and tonight was no exception. My nemesis in this one raced under the Slovak flag. He'd already messed up my qualifying lap with unnecessary contact. That, and the fact that the Lexus (in my hands at least) was totally unsuited to this track left me starting the race in 20th. Opting for a no-stopper with Hards on the rear and Mediums up front, I gained a place at the start and together with the now P20 car we caught the Slovakian who by now had a 2 second penalty and had then crashed into the chicane, dropping to 18th from his 5th place start. We dropped him and I made it to 17th. The Slovakian made a mad dive up the inside of a corner on L4 and unsurprisingly hit me, but I got a 4 second penalty for it.🤬 He then tried it again as I moved to the wall after the chicane and I got another 2 seconds added! Serving that dropped me to 19th, with the Slovak behind. I didn't make it hard for him to repass me as there was no point, the Mustang (and every other car being too quick).
Nothing of note happened until L11 when a German crashed at the pit entry and retired, putting me in 18th due to another driver's pitstop. That car passed me before the end of the lap. I retook 18th when he got a penalty but again he passed me shortly after, leaving me to finish 19th and last. Except that... he crashed into the chicane and I was able to pass and stay ahead by about half a second, plus his 3 second penalty for the crash. A very underwhelming race but at least I made up 2 places and was (by dint of being the only one in the race) the top Lexus driver!
But thanks to the Slovakian, I am now down to B/A.
Hoping I've not made a really poor choice of manufacturer for this season...
penalty system 
