Also: anyone ever notice their heart rate when racing in the FIA races?!
I don’t have a smart watch, but my heart rate definitely gets up there during a good race.
I'm really glad I'm not the only one whose heart rate goes up during a race, I thought it was just me being too nervous/anxious.
Ended up doing two of both races last night because although my first rounds were decent results, I thought I could do better.
Race 1: Nations, 1st time slot
I got placed in a higher-split lobby than usual, 1st place was 222 points. I chose the 911 because it wasn't as unstable as the X-Bow was but still had the power in the straights. The SF-R was just too slow in the straights and in a practice race I was absolutely destroyed by 911s and X-Bows when I was driving one. I had a bad qualifying session, as I decided I wanted to try to slipstream people, but the track was absolutely packed, so even though qualifying is now 10 minutes, my first 2 laps were wasted and I couldn't nail a good lap in the last 3, not helped by tire wear. So, I started 14th, over a second behind what I knew I could lap comfortably.
On race start, the power advantage the 911 had showed and I was able to overtake an SF-R into the first corner, but I lost the place due to catching up to an X-Bow who had the line for the T2-T3 complex and the SF-R followed the X-Bow through. I passed the SF-R again out of the downhill chicane, but the SF-R came back on the inside of the final corner and I backed out otherwise they would've gone into me. I braked too early into T1 and the SF-R passed o the outside, while an X-Bow passed on the inside. I got squeezed by another SF-R out of the T2-T3 complex and lost two more places, before passing the SF-R again and getting past an X-Bow that passed me. All this chaos let the SF-R that I was originally racing grow a gap, which I then closed, and with no further traffic ahead, finally stuck a pass on. Things stayed uneventful for the next several laps as I was closing the gap to the group ahead. I passed someone with a penalty, and again things were uneventful for another few laps until I caught up to 12th and passed them into T1, although they came back at me into T2. We were side-by-side heading into the downhill chicane, and I decided to bluff them into backing off, which they did, an although they were sticking with me, I was able to keep the position. Things again remained uneventful until I passed another person with a penalty for 11th. After a few more laps, on lap 12, we caught up to the group ahead, and I passed a 911 that went wide into T1. On the next lap, I overtook a 911 that had a penalty, so I finished in 9th.
Because I got placed in a higher-split lobby than usual (222 points), I still scored 148 points, which was my 3rd highest result in Nations. However, I knew that I could've placed higher, but my low starting position and time lost fighting at the back held me up. So, I decided to go again. But first...
Race 2: Manufacturers, 1st time slot
After how high of a split I was in for Nations, I thought I would also find myself in a high Manufacturers split as well, but instead, it was a 190-ish point lobby. I was initially planning on skipping this because the only time I've raced on St. Croix was the Circuit Experience. However, after some practice, I found that, although the track has a really weird flow, it's a flow that I liked, so I went ahead and competed. Despite all of the straights, I decided to qualify alone because I was afraid of catching up to the person ahead and ruining my lap. I was the first out of the pits and just hammered it, although I made a mistake on the 1st flying lap, letting the person behind pass me. However, they then made a mistake on their 2nd flying lap, which luckily didn't affect me, and I got some slipstream for a little bit of the lap, allowing me to qualify 4th.
On race start I was up on the bumper of the RC-F in front of me, and I wanted to make a feint into T6, but got the braking wrong and ended up accidentally going for the move instead, which didn't work out, slowed me down, and let the guy behind catch up. A gap opened up though to the people behind and I was back on the RC-F's tail again, but I couldn't find a way by. The RC-F and a Cayman ahead scuffled, which let an NSX catch up to us, as I again couldn't find a way past. I ended up losing a spot to the NSX as I came out of the 2nd to last corner the worst. The RC-F got by the Cayman on Lap 3, and the Cayman got a 1 second penalty from contact. However, coming into the chicane before the hairpin and bridge, I accidentally braked too late and ran wide, giving me a time penalty as well. So, I passed the Cayman, the NSX passed me, and then I made a mistake into T4 letting the Cayman pass me again and an Evo to be right on my tail on Lap 4. I was able to pull a gap to the Evo and keep up with the cars ahead, but small mistakes here and there, such as apexing a corner wrong, meant I couldn't close the gap completely. On Lap 7 the RC-F and Cayman started fighting again, and the Cayman messed up the chicane after the bridge, putting me right up against their bumper. I tried going for a pass on the final corner but couldn't make it stick, and because we both needed to pit, I had to lift off to make it into the pit lane. An M4 was right behind us, obviously pitting earlier and on Mediums as they closed the gap very quickly. I was getting held up by the Cayman up front, which let the M4 pass me. So, I came home in 6th at 156 points. I thought I could do better if I didn't make mistakes, so I decided I'd go again. However...
Race 3: Nations, 2nd Time Slot
I got placed in a lower split lobby, where 1st place was 185-ish points. So, I felt pressure to deliver a solid result to exceed the 148 points I got in the last race. In qualifying I secured pole position on my first flying lap in clean air and couldn't best it, but neither could anyone else.
At the race start, I wanted to build a gap, so I decided to push, even though it may bite me later with tire wear and fuel use. However, little did I know was the 911 behind me was a rammer, who rammed me off at the final corner of Lap 1. How I didn't completely lose control of the car I have no idea, but I carried on and passed him back on lap 5. He decided to try the same thing, but I was expecting it and went wide. Although I still lost 1st, I was in second and alive. The rammer decided to punt the guy behind me, which punted him into me, which punted me into 1st place, leaving me and the now-second place X-Bow with damage and the former lead X-bow with a 1 second penalty. But, for once in my life, the penalty system actually worked, and the rammer got a 4 second penalty, meaning us up front didn't have to worry about him anymore. So, with half the race over and me still in second, with an X-Bow close up front and a 911 close behind, I decided to see if I could get 1st place back. The gap grew to 3rd and closed to 1st. I tried to pass on the inside coming out of the final corner, but accidentally oversteered into 1st and bumped him. Luckily he didn't spin all the way around so I let off the gas to not take 1st away from him. This let the 911 behind us pass, me, but out of T1 I got a little too enthusiastic with the gas, letting 3rd place overtake me and 1st to have a 2 second gap. The lead 911 messed up the downhill chicane so we all went past, and although I was able to close the gap again to the first 2 X-Bows, the tire wear on my rear tires were starting to kick in, and by the next lap that gap was slowly opening back up. Furthermore, another X-Bow behind me caught up, and I was able to defend for 2 laps, but eventually they got past and sailed off into the distance. With a large gap behind, I settled in for 4th place, netting 164 points. I got a much better result than the last race so I'm happy. I probably could have fought for the win without the rammer and my mistake, but this points haul gave me an extra 20 points to my total, so I'm still satisfied.
Race 4: Manufacturers, 2nd Time Slot
Again, for qualifying, I went out alone, and although I got a worse laptime than the first race, I still qualified 4th again.
At race start, the SLS behind me was really bothering me, and the Atenza that qualified on pole by some margin was falling behind rapidly, falling back to P3 right in front of me only about a third of the way though the lap. The Atenza and an SLS ahead started fighting and were side by side into the chicane, and I backed off because I didn't want to crash, which let the SLS behind me pass me and an M4 to catch up to my rear bumper. At T1 on the next lap I tried to feint the SLS into a pass but again messed the feint up. Even though I did end up getting a better exit, the SLS was right there at corner exit so I couldn't capitalize on it. The SLS and I ended up passing the Atenza into T8 on Lap 2. I passed on the inside and the Atenza ended up going into the gravel. Watching the replay, I will defend that I was on the inside rightly, stayed tight enough, and the Atenza turned into me slightly, which caused the contact. This allowed the M4 behind me to also pass the Atenza, and they passed me into the hairpin before the bridge. The top 4 started pulling away from me and the Atenza was keeping up with me and attempted a pass into the hairpin before the bridge on Lap 4. However, they went in too deep and I got the cutback. Then, the Atenza got a time penalty into the chicane after the bridge, which meant I could relax a bit. The little battle with the Atenza meant I dropped out of slipstream range of the M4, but by the end of Lap 5 I had caught back up. The 458 that was in the lead and now in second place made a mistake coming out of T6 on Lap 7, allowing the M4 to pass but blocking me. However, the M4 ran wide into the chicane before the hairpin and bridge, getting a time penalty. This allowed the 458 and I to pass him on the straight before the final corner. Everyone pitted for Hards and despite going slowly through some corners, letting the M4 catch up to me, I was able to defend to the line, finishing 4th for 172 points, my 4th highest points haul. I definitely felt better about this race, and my points haul was good, so I was satisfied with the result.
Onto the Supra Cup! Whose forum is dead right now...
(apologies if there was any contact made, can't remember now 👍).
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