So,
@05XR8 race report got me really curious about the possibility of a 2-stopper for Nations. I found yesterday that the Gr 4 Lancer was my best combination of speed v tire wear but I was really unhappy with the 5th lap on both tire compounds. I made a lobby and tried 10 laps with a variety of pit strats and found some interesting results.
In the Lancer, at least, the effect of fuel weight is substantial over the course of the race. When I started on softs and ended on mediums, I could match my early RS times with late RM laps. Which got me
really curious as to what that would mean for late lap tire degradation for the softs.
Basically, for me, a 2M/4S/4S was almost 6 sec faster than a 4S/4S/2M. Seriously. And the latter was still a bit faster than either 1-stopper I tried (5M/5S and 4M/6S) without the added danger of sliding off the track when the tires started to die.
I never would've considered a 2-stopper in this race without that post, so thank you!
One of the things I love about GTS, the photographers never move.