FIA Race Discussion [Archive]

[Famine]

Do NOT fuel burn in qualifying. I repeat, DO NOT FUEL BURN IN QUALIFYING!

I ended up having to be a little conservative in qualifying and thus started lower than I'd like (but ahead of the two guys I passed after they ran out of fuel), but three laps of the N24 simply requires no mistakes to finish well... so 4th at the chequered. Benefitted from a bunch of stupid on lap 1, turn 1, and I did pass a chap on Dottinger Hohe on the last lap after he chucked it at the first Karussell but that was pretty much it for overtaking action.

One stop - two laps on hard, one on mediums and a cautious 59l of fuel to account for the slightly longer time on the throttle.


Edit: Atenza Gr.3, obviously...

 

[stpatty]

Qualified 6th, 11 seconds off an Aston on pole (and another GT-R who I think was 3rd). I qualified on hards because I remember that being the better option the last time this race happened. I was on fuel mix 4/5/6 for about 2/3 of the lap before I went to 1. I actually timed it quite well, I think I had 6% fuel left when I finished. I was really slow in the GP circuit and went off after Flugplatz, so time to be had.

I ruined a guy in a Supra's race at turn 1. Tapped him and as I was trying to avoid him recovering it I got bumped from behind, bumped into him, he died. 1 second penalty for me, which I think was fair. I ended up 8th after that and the first lap was pretty tame. I still wasn't sure if I was stopping twice, but I started on hards and was on fuel mix 2 just to be safe.

By the end of lap 1 some people pitted to put me 5th, and I had about 47% of fuel left. I had a decent gap to the cars behind me so I stayed out, assuming I could at least maintain that gap and not lose out too much, largely because Famine was right, and not falling off is the key to a result here.

Actually I'm watching the replay back now, hilarious penalties abound. Two AMGs in 3rd and 4th. 3rd goes a bit deep at the second left hander after the Rebel Tree. As he's coming back on there's a slight clip by the other guy going past. First one gets 4 seconds. I don't know what to say. I passed the one with penalties on the straight, and was 4th by the time we started the last lap. I caught right up to 3rd who slid through the final corner, when we came out of the pits we were inside each other. I thought I over-fuelled, he put in loads more than me.

I passed him for 3rd just at the penalty line on the GP circuit after he went off. He dived me at the entry to the Nordschleife and stayed there for the rest of the race. I was right behind and bumping into him for most of the first 3rd of the lap, but I didn't want to risk being forceful with a pass and getting a penalty, especially since he'd picked up a 0.5 track limits penalty. Get him on the straight.

The final twisty 3rd of the track is really bad for the GT-R (and me), so I ended up falling away, and a 911 in 5th was catching up. We went really close through the final section but I just held him off (he backed out at the braking zone, smart guy) and crossed the line in 4th.

The Mercedes I'd been fighting with on the last lap hadn't used hards. First 3-figure result with a wheel.

 

[Tidgney]

Some Manufacturers practice for those interested !

 

[timekiller001]

Well I did have another go at the Nordschleife and got a better result this time.
During my quali lap I got overtaken by someone quicker which allowed me to stay close with him and boost my lap time. Still only P15 but would've been worse otherwise...
During the race I was rather slow but consistent. Due to other people's mistakes I was in P7 on the long straight in the last lap. Got overtaken on it but got in the slipstream and we both went head on next to each other into the following corners. We gave each other space and it would've been a wonderful finish, but unfortunately he lost control and ran into the side of me, which gave me a 6 second penalty... To be honest it was an optimistic move by me and something like this was bound to happen so no hard feelings there, he also apologized. No worries.
Unfortunately though that bumped me down to P10, but that's still a major improvement compared to the first try. Even got 178 points so I won't try it again.

 

[Sean YZF]

Completely messed up qualifying, should have sat in pits longer and fuel saved more on out lap, fortunately had good drivers in front and behind. Qualified 12th. Race start not too bad, unnecessary pushing and shoving, just tried to keep clear.
My strategy was 2 laps on H while fuel saving, then hot lap on mediums. Plan out of window on lap 1, not much opportunity to save fuel. 2 pit stops, kept hards on and used mediums on last lap, ended up in P3 at the finish line, should have been 4th, but they hadn't used hards 👍
Gong in again, hopefully I'll sort qualifying this time

2nd attempt.
Played it cool, sat in pits until 2 min mark, fuel save on max for out lap, crank it up for the straight, going great until just after the carousel, unexpected car appears, I lose concentration slightly... and I spin out Ended qualifying 7th.
Race start, T1, 2, 3 ...everyone fine 👍 take a quick look to check... miss apex, hit gravel... P12, oh well, ha.
Work way up to P5 at finish.
The race winner was v fast, so fast he used mediums, took the penalty and still won by a canny margin

 

[Veinz]

Fraga is about to race if any of you are interested.

https://motorsport.tv/motorsporttv/video/hampton-downs-race-2/31387

 

[afc5150]

Pretty clean Nations race in slot 1 in North American lobby of A/S drivers. Qualified the Aston Martin in 9th on hard tires, and started the race on hards. Ran 2 laps switching between 2 and 4 fuel mixture and pitted for mediums and fuel for the last lap. Ran flat out to the end with no issues, and finished 6th for 149 points, my biggest haul of the season.

As much as I love the track and want to go again, I think I'll sit on my points haul and be happy.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

The Atenza Gr.3 definitely isn’t one of the slowest cars, it’s in the top 50% for straight line speed for sure. It’s always been one of the more balanced FR cars. It’s slower than the speed cars, faster than the handling cars. You were just probably around the exact cars that were faster than it. I’ve definitely never struggle for speed with it, but I also am used to the WRX which it is MUCH faster than.

Now the Gr.4 is absolutely at the bottom of the straight line speed rankings, only above the Mitsubishi.

I actually tested all the Gr race cars at Tokyo East's main straight a while back. The Atenza is defo the slowest Gr.3 (266 kmh). Above it are RS01 (268 kmh) then Z4/Evo/WRX/RCZ (270 kmh). The top speed kings are F1 GTR (285 kmh) and Pug VGT (283 kmh). But obviously those have poor handling & brakes. The "handling" top speed cars are as you suspect, Supra/FT-1/GT-R/Jag/Ford GT, which are all pushing 280 kmh. SLS and old M3 are quite fast too but obviously their handling is not as good as the newer cars. All other cars are somewhere in between. The most balanced car is probably the Beetle, mid level top speed (275 kmh), good easy handling and one of the best tyre wear (only chink in its armour is poor fuel consumption, but then it has 7 gears so it can short shift easily).

The caveat with the Atenza though, is that it has the most powerful BOP'd power. So acceleration out of corners is actually very good and if the straight is <400m you can still hang with the big boys, which masks the low top speed at technical tracks. And of course, with how OP the draft is with Gr.3, if you can stay in draft that will also mask the top speed deficiency. I spent like 2/3 of the race in the draft, and got a perfect tow down Dottinger in my quali lap, lucky me

The Gr.4 Atenza, I agree is slow as molasses, but in reverse to the Gr.3. Top speed 264 kmh (Evo/WRX is 260 kmh), but acceleration is very slow. There are slower cars (Megane Trophy, 4C, 86) but those are OP handling and tyre wear unlike the Atenza which has no redeeming features. None of that applies if you're an alien though, as Rangeraus posted a few pages back akagi-san posted a top 10 time with the Atenza at Bathurst

 

[DK]

I qualified 9th in the Atenza, only 4.5ish seconds off pole, with maybe a second of that due to me letting the eventual polesitter through right under the bridge at the end of the back straight. I got punted down to 17th at the start, but climbed my way back thanks to mistakes ahead, and ended up 4th at the end of the lap as pit stops came into play. I kept my cool for lap 2, and emerged from the pits in 6th, only falling to 7th on the back straight to the polesitter's AMG GT3. At least I posted a season-best 120pts at the end.

 

[GTWolverine]

First slot: ran out of fuel in qualifying, started 19th out of 20. Miraculously finished 7th.

Second slot: spun like an idiot at the fast right-hander just before the Caroussel and started 11th when I probably could've qualified at least 5th. During the race I drove head-on into the end of the pit wall like an even bigger idiot. Finished 8th largely because of so many people quitting (only 14 were left at the end of the race).

We'll see if I can actually stop being an idiot long enough to get some decent points from the 3rd slot.

 

[GTWolverine]

First slot: ran out of fuel in qualifying, started 19th out of 20. Miraculously finished 7th.

Second slot: spun like an idiot at the fast right-hander just before the Caroussel and started 11th when I probably could've qualified at least 5th. During the race I drove head-on into the end of the pit wall like an even bigger idiot. Finished 8th largely because of so many people quitting (only 14 were left at the end of the race).

We'll see if I can actually stop being an idiot long enough to get some decent points from the 3rd slot.

HA! Nope! Got screwed over by a bunch of cars fighting and spun myself after hitting the back of one of them when they rejoined the track after going off at the final corner. Finished 11th.

4th slot it is...🤬

 

[GTWolverine]

HA! Nope! Got screwed over by a bunch of cars fighting and spun myself after hitting the back of one of them when they rejoined the track after going off at the final corner. Finished 11th.

4th slot it is...🤬

Qualified 3rd, took 2nd after the polesitter went waaaaay too deep into turn 1, then got run off the road at the start of the Nordschleife when the leader ran off track and rejoined next to me, then I got spun when 3rd and 4th place plowed through me as I tried to straighten my car out. Went to the back, eventually rebounded to 8th...still not enough points to erase one of my other finishes from earlier this season.

5th slot here we come...this is about to be a colossal waste of a Saturday. 🤬

 

[Odiesback]

Never raced in the Nations, but with the N24 on the calendar I couldn’t resist and going in for the last slot.

Did a 2 practice laps and came out with a 8:20.7 best time.

Plan on starting on RH and pit at end of first lap, switch to RM for the remainder of the race... any thoughts?

Taking the M6 out as usual.

 

[GTWolverine]

Never raced in the Nations, but with the N24 on the calendar I couldn’t resist and going in for the last slot.

Did a 2 practice laps and came out with a 8:20.7 best time.

Plan on starting on RH and pit at end of first lap, switch to RM for the remainder of the race... any thoughts?

Taking the M6 out as usual.

You'll be stuck in traffic doing that. If you're gonna take it easy on the Mediums to get 2 laps out of them, being behind traffic might not be the end of the world though.

 

[ToddSalad]

Think I'm going mediums hards mediums. Starting 8th in the Beetle.

 

[GTWolverine]

Qualified 3rd, took 2nd after the polesitter went waaaaay too deep into turn 1, then got run off the road at the start of the Nordschleife when the leader ran off track and rejoined next to me, then I got spun when 3rd and 4th place plowed through me as I tried to straighten my car out. Went to the back, eventually rebounded to 8th...still not enough points to erase one of my other finishes from earlier this season.

5th slot here we come...this is about to be a colossal waste of a Saturday. 🤬

Yep. Complete waste. Qualified 5th, quit after an idiot in a Z4 divebombed me into Aremburg after I'd been held up by him for the entire lap up until that point. I did force myself a little bit into a gap on the outside just before that, but we both stayed on the road until he tried to get back a spot that he was too slow to keep 'til the end anyway. After that I had to fight a bunch of other slow cars that took me forever to pass, then I spun myself in the twisty part of the track near the end and quit because there was no point trying to finish the last race of the night when I would've ended up with too few points to bump out one of my scores from previous rounds. It was probably a bad idea to 2-stop with how hard it is to get through traffic. I could've been done after the first 2 rounds if I hadn't been an idiot and took myself out of those though. Absolute waste of a weekend, moreso becase I'm a dumb:censored: than anything else.

 

[Odiesback]

Nations... oh my... where do I start? Lol stuck with bunch of lunatics. One of those times that no matter how much you try to avoid trouble, trouble will find you wherever you go.

Low tier drivers, qualified in 6th and finished 3rd... could’ve won easily but this was not about racing but rather destruction derby...

1H-2M with top off tank and had to save fuel to finish.. I’m glad that I survived the ordeal with “just” 3s penalty.

 

[Lion-Face]

Starting Bathurst from race 2. Need to score mega points in the hope to guarantee a slot for top 16 after a few races this season of being rammed for money.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Geeze, people hitting 2:09's in qualifying. Things are definitely going to be quite difficult for me, I can see it now...

 

[bloodyboyblue]

I actually tested all the Gr race cars at Tokyo East's main straight a while back. The Atenza is defo the slowest Gr.3 (266 kmh). Above it are RS01 (268 kmh) then Z4/Evo/WRX/RCZ (270 kmh). The top speed kings are F1 GTR (285 kmh) and Pug VGT (283 kmh). But obviously those have poor handling & brakes. The "handling" top speed cars are as you suspect, Supra/FT-1/GT-R/Jag/Ford GT, which are all pushing 280 kmh. SLS and old M3 are quite fast too but obviously their handling is not as good as the newer cars. All other cars are somewhere in between. The most balanced car is probably the Beetle, mid level top speed (275 kmh), good easy handling and one of the best tyre wear (only chink in its armour is poor fuel consumption, but then it has 7 gears so it can short shift easily).

The caveat with the Atenza though, is that it has the most powerful BOP'd power. So acceleration out of corners is actually very good and if the straight is <400m you can still hang with the big boys, which masks the low top speed at technical tracks. And of course, with how OP the draft is with Gr.3, if you can stay in draft that will also mask the top speed deficiency. I spent like 2/3 of the race in the draft, and got a perfect tow down Dottinger in my quali lap, lucky me

The Gr.4 Atenza, I agree is slow as molasses, but in reverse to the Gr.3. Top speed 264 kmh (Evo/WRX is 260 kmh), but acceleration is very slow. There are slower cars (Megane Trophy, 4C, 86) but those are OP handling and tyre wear unlike the Atenza which has no redeeming features. None of that applies if you're an alien though, as Rangeraus posted a few pages back akagi-san posted a top 10 time with the Atenza at Bathurst

I always skip races at Tokyo, Nordschleife and Bathurst so that’s probably why I’ve never noticed. It’s fast enough to keep up at all the tracks without super long straights. I’ve outdragged and passed most of the MR cars this season on the short straights whereas the WRX can’t even do that.

 

[skyline1683]

Well I managed to lose my A+ rating of 54k because every qualifying I put myself in top 5 even 1 pole position and what followed seemed like every idiot in the lobby is trying to win a 30 min race at the first corner I got punted off receiving engine damage multiple times or just plain spun out with idiots trying to pass at stupid places.
I had to do what I hate and go back to the daily’s to repair my DR for tonight’s manu
Let’s hope people actually understand how to race tonight thou with what I saw last night I ain’t holding out much hope .

 

[RacingGrandpa]

I did my second nations yesterday, spend my outlap on meds in fm6 and the blinkers on all the way so people could pass easily. Still 5 drivers ran into me at full bore. When the qualifying lap started I had fuel for 1.7 lap and fresh (nearly) tires. Set a 8:40 that put me at p8. In hindsight I probably should have chosen a different car, the Mustang uses a full tank of gas on a lap in fm1 on AT. One lap on hards to start and then two laps of meds, two stops for a full tank and new tyres.
Finished p11.
Looking forward to this afternoon at Bathurst

 

[Sean YZF]

I'm signed for BMW this season, the M4 is far too slow on the straights at Bathurst, good through the corners but that's not enough there. Probably use my alt account as that is signed up to Jaguar. That account is DR D SR A after I entered a race B last night went for a tab and missed the start. Probably be chaos but don't want to risk my DR B SR S main account.

And... disconnected during matchmaking at the 1600 hr race

Did 3 daily's while waiting for next slot at Bathurst, alt account back to C & S, 3 clean races and I gained 28 SR points 👍

 

[Famine]

Qualifying starts. I’m a noob to this and never in my wildest did I imagine that we would be doing a full lap. Just call me “Mr.Naive”.

Anyway, I’m in my R.S. and I’m halfway around the GP track and I’m unceremoniously “walled” by an R8. Ah well, I think, and hit the reset to get back to the pits and clear track.

Leave pits for the second time and proceed to give it my best shot to get around this monster.By the end of our warm up lap I’m needing fuel it seems. I head into the pits for both fuel and tyres.

I exit the pit with just over 2 minutes of the allotted 13 still on the clock and I’m greeted by .....

FINISHED

What?

The quali screen pops up with the 16 folks remaining all showing as running.

I’m on auto-drive for 11 minutes and 50 seconds.......

Qualifying is the length of the session as given, and anyone left on track when the clock runs out can complete the lap that they are on, with the second timer set high enough to allow for slow people. When you pitted at the end of your second attempt at an outlap, you crossed the finish line and started an invalid lap (neither in-laps nor out-laps are valid laps), meaning you had no possible way of setting a valid lap because the timer would have expired for you on that invalid lap with no opportunity to start another.

I'm actually surprised that the game detected and acted on that though.

 

[DK]

I'm signed for BMW this season, the M4 is far too slow on the straights at Bathurst, good through the corners but that's not enough there. Probably use my alt account as that is signed up to Jaguar. That account is DR D SR A after I entered a race B last night went for a tab and missed the start. Probably be chaos but don't want to risk my DR B SR S main account.

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll give this one a miss to since I'm stuck in the Slophy.

 

[watto79]

I'm signed for BMW this season, the M4 is far too slow on the straights at Bathurst, good through the corners but that's not enough there. Probably use my alt account as that is signed up to Jaguar. That account is DR D SR A after I entered a race B last night went for a tab and missed the start. Probably be chaos but don't want to risk my DR B SR S main account.

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll give this one a miss to since I'm stuck in the Slophy.

I signed for Alfa Romeo and am about to give this a go. I'll be happy with "not last" as a result. I've already said goodbye to the DR I'll lose!

 

[Odiesback]

I'm signed for BMW this season, the M4 is far too slow on the straights at Bathurst, good through the corners but that's not enough there. Probably use my alt account as that is signed up to Jaguar. That account is DR D SR A after I entered a race B last night went for a tab and missed the start. Probably be chaos but don't want to risk my DR B SR S main account.

And... disconnected during matchmaking at the 1600 hr race

The M4 is tricky because it can keep up on the straights as long as you have good speed and momentum coming out of the turn into the straights.

Edit: this is true for any car but it is accentuated for the M4.

 

[stpatty]

Another qualifying fuel burning bottle meant I was the only person to not set a lap. I got up to 13th on lap one before I got side swiped through the Chase by someone who had been put off going into it. I love how cars aren't ghosted when they come back on there. I caught back up to the guy who hit me and bumped him going into... is it the Elbow? the corner before the back straight. He was fighting with a Porsche and I got forced to the inside trying and failing to avoid them. The same guy, in the ugliest Jag you've ever seen, punts me at the Chase and then at the final corner before quitting after he served his penalty at the next line. Why even bother?

I had the third fastest lap of the race at the end of that, so I suppose going again could be fun. I'm still not sure on a 1 or 2 stop though, I feel like I'm slower overall with the 2 stop but I'm guaranteed a crash somewhere with someone if I'm on worn tyres.

 

[Famine]

Another qualifying fuel burning bottle meant I was the only person to not set a lap. I got up to 13th on lap one before I got side swiped through the Chase by someone who had been put off going into it. I love how cars aren't ghosted when they come back on there. I caught back up to the guy who hit me and bumped him going into... is it the Elbow? the corner before the back straight. He was fighting with a Porsche and I got forced to the inside trying and failing to avoid them. The same guy, in the ugliest Jag you've ever seen, punts me at the Chase and then at the final corner before quitting after he served his penalty at the next line. Why even bother?

I had the third fastest lap of the race at the end of that, so I suppose going again could be fun. I'm still not sure on a 1 or 2 stop though, I feel like I'm slower overall with the 2 stop but I'm guaranteed a crash somewhere with someone if I'm on worn tyres.

The GT86s and some of the Caymans in my race didn't stop. I'd just about caught up to the GT86 I was racing with before my stop at the end, but wasn't helped by the 1.5s penalty I got for pit lane entry understeerfail.

 

[timekiller001]

People driving for Toyota be aware, you'll get eaten alive on the straights, so you must have slipstream in front.
Got in a relatively high lobby (#1 got 289 points or something) as car #3.
Qualified in P11 as I went for the no slipstream route. Not too bad.
In the first corner someone spun coming out and someone else got a 6 second penalty, so 2 positions gained. After that it was all just a matter of staying in the slipstream. In the cornery bit I was clearly faster but you can't overtake there. Towards the end I was running in P8 with 3 cars in front. They started to fight and got themselves penalties, so I was in P6 but one of the guys from turn 1 came back and overtook me, so I was back in P7. In the last lap in the cornery bit (the first sharp left turn once you go downhill) he cut it a bit and got a 1.5 second penalty, so I was lucky to finish in P6. 210 points in the bag. Could've been worse ;-) But had I lost the slipstream it'd have been a lot worse.