FIA Race Discussion [Archive]

[Ashthebash]

Well I did say all strategies could be on the table...

Did a quick qualy warm up before entering the race and clocked regular mid 28s with an optimum of 1:28.2 so I was confident of a good qualifying session.

Entered and for the second Nations race running found myself alongside @watto79 and @T_revisio . The qualy practice didn't pay off, could only manage a 28.7 which stood at 6th, then picked up a penalty on my final flying run and watched as my 6th place began to tumble, finishing up with 11th. Hard tyres on.

I felt slightly out of position with the pace I knew I had around here in the Aston and knew that the tyres would compete with the mediums time-wise from about L6 onwards, it was just about getting there trouble free. I quickly gained a place as a car ahead had a moment, then a couple of laps later heading into T3 (I call it T2) a car clearly on mediums had the run on me, I indicated left and blended out of the throttle so as not to lose too much time but didn't notice the other car right behind him! Managed to slot back in just ahead and we were back in single file again, gained another place as an Atenza driver - who had promised to spin before the race - made good on his promise through T1. Reached the magical L6 and all of a sudden the group ahead started to come back to me, Trevisio seemed to really be struggling with tyres, I went past but picked up a dodgy penalty through T1. People start to pit, I get promoted to P4 and I'm left behind a Viper who again is clearly struggling with tyres.

Now was the decision time, I knew I could get the car to the end but I also knew I'd be 1.5s a lap quicker on the mediums. A couple of glances at the minimap showed I would go back down to 9th/10th, and be quick but it's hard to pass. So I stayed out.

The Viper pits promoting me to the podium and I'm trying to hold off a German in an Aston, the laws of physics get turned upside down as my car mysteriously runs wide through the penultimate corner as if I'd got dirty air from the car behind! What I did have now was a 0.5s penalty, dirty tyres, three laps to go and a train of cars 2s behind. Just calmed myself, kept it clean, hit the braking points and brought it home in 4th place despite a Brit in a Viper pushing hard

Very very pleased! No stop definitely isn't the quickest way to race here but starting in the midfield it really isn't a bad option once you get the first few laps out the way

Watto did question my trickery to get up the field! Don't blame him!! (I had practiced a 19 lap run on hards this morning though!)

 

[watto79]

For anyone wondering on strategy @Ashthebash will be along soon with a surprising idea. EDIT - Check the post above

I qualified 5th, started on mediums and pitted for hards on lap 11. Picked up a track limits penalty on pit entry which was dumb and proved very costly as I fell off the slipstream and ended up 8th.

On the other hand, it's good to be a tad disappointed with 8th at one of my weaker tracks!

 

[deviln3]

@Ashthebash just curious what your average lap time on the hard tires was?

 

[rhcpeppers]

Looking forward to tonight's Nations race. I've decided to use the Lexus. I've never used the Lexus in an FIA race before, so I made a Nascar replica livery for it last night. We'll see how it goes!

 

[Ashthebash]

@Ashthebash just curious what your average lap time on the hard tires was?

On my test run I started off low-mid 1:30s, gradually got quicker for the first half down to 29.8, and the slowest lap at the end was 30.7. Obviously in a race situation lap times will fluctuate more but my best was 30.0 and my last lap was I believe 30.5.

For comparison starting on mediums I could lap at 29.0 with full fuel so around 1.2s quicker initially, and putting hards on at L9 I could lap 29.6/29.7 and maintain it to the end

Stick the BB to the front a little (I only did it once I decided to no stop and even then only 1F) and try to avoid wheelspin where you can. People around you who pit for hards shouldn't be able to make up the time. Your last couple of laps will be hairy!!

Make no mistake, a M-H or H-M is quicker but if you jump say, five people who are all switching to hards it's highly unlikely they'll all get back past you

 

[stpatty]

Bottle-fest. 15th. Very close grid, .9 separating 1st to 20th in qualifying. If I could do turn 1 properly I'd be much better.

 

[RX8 Racer]

I did some last minute modifications to my livery before heading into the race. Most of my races were unremarkable.

Race 1: Needed top 5 finish for useful points. Started 13th on Hards and did a 1 stop. Finished 8th.

Race 2: Needed top 5 finish. Started 12th on Hards and gambled on a no stop after getting up to 5th. Tyre wear eventually got the better of me and I dropped to 6th after a long fight, with 7th too far behind to capitalise on my weakness.

Race 3: Needed top 6 finish. Qualifying was a disaster, with my first 2 laps ruined by me getting too close to my tower and running wide exiting turn 4, respectively. I failed to get a tow on the other stints, leaving me in 18th. I ran Hards until end of lap 12, then switched to Mediums. I was able to finish 7th after making a dive up the inside at turn 4 on the final lap. My quarry closed the door a little too late, leaving him with a 1 second penalty. He took back the position on the following left-handers, but had to serve the penalty on the straight.

Race 4: Needed top 6 finish. I delivered my best lap of the night in qualifying with a 1:29.972, beating my time trial best of 1:30.120.

I started 10th on Mediums, looking to fight my way up. I pitted in on lap 8 for Hards from 5th. The undercut worked initially, but mistakes induced by tyre wear and fatigue meant that I gradually slipped from 2nd to 4th as the race went on, with a final lap mistake at turn 3 ultimately demoting me to 5th.

Race photos:

Sending it into turn 9:

Uphill climb:

Front and side views of my ride:

 

[DK]

Bottle-fest. 15th. Very close grid, .9 separating 1st to 20th in qualifying. If I could do turn 1 properly I'd be much better.

I was in the same lobby, I'm so glad I qualified out of reach of the midfield scramble. I think the closest I got to drama was a 3-way scrap for 4th/5th/6th into T4 on lap 3.

 

[stpatty]

I was in the same lobby, I'm so glad I qualified out of reach of the midfield scramble. I think the closest I got to drama was a 3-way scrap for 4th/5th/6th into T4 on lap 3.

Ah! Had no idea that was you. When I pitted on lap 1 I got to watch most of the midfield fighting without ever catching up to it. It wasn't nice.

 

[Adam Barber]

NATIONS

16:20

An ok lap with no slipstream put me in 5th so I knew I had some ground to make up.

The start was really clean apart from the person who spun lap 1 from 3rd. In the first few laps I made a couple of moves and made it into 2nd. I stayed there and pitted lap 12 only to come out in 4th after a scruffy in lap. From there I managed to get into 3rd again by lap 18 but an unexpected move into T4 dropped me to 4th with a 1 second penalty. Finished just 1 second behind 3rd and about 2.5 of first. If I pitted a lap earlier I think I could've kept 2nd. Overall a really clean and fun race on way back up and way better than some A/S lobbies I've been in.

17:40

After a slipstream-less qualifying lap I started in P4, not bad.

A slight nudge at T1 was enough to get me a half second penalty for track limits and got another penalty at T4 when a car ever so slightly touched me as they went of giving me a 1 second penalty.

After all this I was in about 5th and on lap 2 got the car in 4th at T2/3. The cars in 2nd and 3rd were about 4 seconds ahead as they managed to stay out of trouble. As they started fighting and got a couple of track limits penalties I soon caught up and quickly passed both cars in quick succession. I then pitted on Lap 11 for the hard tyres. Eventually came home in 2nd for 111 points and another 1200 DR on my way back up. Was also really nice to use the V12 Vantage again in one of these races.

Gran Turismo™SPORT_20200714183111

• Adam Barber
• Jul 14, 2020

 

[LVS_1986]

Hi all! First I got to tell that I REALLY dont like RBR, and Im very slow at this track. Q20 with almost 2s off the pole, and 0,7s to 19th, so a light years at short track like this. Decided to go nostopper, just cruise and watch the views... Also not expecting much. Lap after lap I somehow keep to the back pack. When Medium users start to pit I decided to change my strategy and take Mediums for the rest of race, it was lap 9. I overtake 2 cars, some died fighting each other, some make mistakes under pressure, ended 11th for 92pts Gained 9 positions, with beer in one hand funny how things goes if you take it easy, one and done. Good luck everybody!

Edit: was using Lex prototype, most of the grid was meta astons, 2 or 3 911 and 2 hyundais(?!)

 

[afc5150]

Slot 1 - didn't realize it was a one stopper! Q17, started on mediums, pit lap 9, make my way up to 7th, pit lap 18, finish 10th for 105 points. I need 133 to improve.

Pretty clean race (for me) overall but I need to qualify better and fire my crew chief!

I'll go again in slot 2.

*edit - door #1 and gained 11 DR lol

 

[KosmoKazi]

I'm so tired of getting punted.

 

[CJam]

Slot 1 wasn't fun. Punted somebody T4, tried to give the position back down the straight and got abused by about 5 cars! Ended up 18th from 9th and got caught in a tit for tat punt fest with 19th and 20th. First they sent me wide, hitting me while they fought over T4 then they cleaned me out T5. 13 seconds behind in last place on lap 2. Used it as a practice session and finished 17th. High A/S lobby had door #19 so only lost 100DR. Qualifying was super close, less than a second from 1st to last. I started in 11th just 3 tenths behind pole.

 

[Lill_Turtle]

and 2 hyundais(?!)

I used Hyundai today and it's quite capable car now after last upgrade. Not very fast, but steady and easy to make consistent laps. Qualified P7 with 1.29.4, and all grid was in 1.29. Started on mediums for 9 laps, then 1H and another 9M. In the mid-pack density on 1st lap I lost 2 positions and until the end I was in the 8-11 bracket, keeping mainly 1.30 and finished 10P for 98 points, so no bad at all and some gain of the points. I should have kept P9, but the Austrian guy behind me started using my rear bumper as a brake on pre-last lap so I decided to let him past before he ended the race for both of us, and because I thought he needed to pits for Hards. But he didn't, so P10 after quite a enjoyable race.

 

[rhcpeppers]

Nice run for me at Red Bull in the Lexus. The no-stop strategy worked like a charm. I qualified 4th, but times were very close all the way back to 12th or so. I started on hards, and proceeded to botch both turns 1 AND 2 on lap 1 , which quickly put me back in 10th place, ugh. I just tried to stay consistent from there. Cars ahead of me eventually started pitting so I passed them, and not many were able to catch back up. Several pitted twice. I got as high as 3rd at one point, but two faster cars on fresh tires eventually caught up to me and I didn't fight them as they went by. The car that finished 2nd got the 1 minute tire penalty so that moved me up to 4th at the end.

Red Bull has been by far my most successful track. I've run 9 races there with 1 win and 7 top 5's. Fuji, on the other hand.....11 races with 0 top 5's, haha!

I really like this Lexus. I definitely want to try it out at some other tracks now.

 

[Razgriz2118]

Things were looking up, looked like I was going to finally break my streak of bad results by finishing 8th, only for me to spin it coming out of T1 on the final lap so I finished 14th. Gonna go again though, since I was able to qualify 12th with a rather bad lap time and the points I got from this race won't help my ranking at all, so I'm hoping the next race's room will be similar in DR split. I'm a little concerned though since towards the end of the race, I was essentially at "my level" I felt since the person ahead was pulling away and the people I was battling with were one group ahead of another pack. I'm definitely letting my nerves get to me though.

 

[afc5150]

Slot 2 - I still can't qualify to save my life. Door 18 in this one and Q17, but only .915 off pole. Tight group!! Race went off without a hitch except for being pushed wide at T4 and losing 2 spots, but my pace in this faster room was good enough to bring me home in 12th, but for only 102 points.

Pretty discouraged after thinking I had better pace for this race, so I may or may not try again with my main account. The top 6 I need for points just doesn't seem to be in the cards after 2 attempts.

 

[KosmoKazi]

I'm so sick of being punted

 

[CJam]

I'm so tired of getting punted.

I'm so sick of being punted

Man it never stops!

Slot 2 was no better for me. Could have took the lead after T3 1st lap from 4th but the dreaded cold tires sent me to 14th. Took the perfect line hit the gas...and then the fence. Got in an incident a couple laps later. Thought it wasn't my fault until I checked the replay. Don't know what the hell happened, maybe I grabbed the curb but I completely wiped out a dude I was side by side with. Potatowave if you're on here I'm sorry!

 

[Pigems]

Well, that was a big waste of time. Finished 16th in the Viper in an unusually strong first slot. Had a decent race, but made one big mistake or I could have maybe finished a little better, overall a kind of boring race. Onto the next one

Used the Aston for the 2nd Race, started and finished DFL. I was going along alright until and alien from up ahead spun himself out and ended up behind me. I made a mistake braking into T3 and he just drives right to the outside as if I’m not even there, then drives off into the distance after putting me into the sand. I’ll remember that buddy!!


Couple of laps later, guess who pitted and ends up right behind me again? Yup, Mr. Alien. So I start thinking, I’m already in DFL, let’s defend like hell when he comes by this time just to piss him off. He catches me by the left hander after T3, so I take a super inside line and park it on the apex, and as I’m touching the inside curb, he tries to jam his nose inside me? Like, seriously buddy? Soooo, once he hit me and my rear end loosened, I said eff it and just turned into him, 🤬 you buddy! Your an alien, have some effing respect, or at least some race craft, there’s no need of that.


I watched some of the rest of his race and he was diving on a few other people too, if not for the letting off he’d have hit them too.

I won’t be trying the third slot.

 

[deviln3]

Qualified 4th in the V12 Vantage, and started on Hard tires, while others were on Mediums.
After about 5-6 laps, I kept losing places and lost 3 places when I got pushed wide down to 8th place.
I was hoping to do a no stopper, but I didn't manage the tires very well.

Decided to pit at the end of lap 8 or 9 for Mediums, came out 12th. Worked up to 4th, but then got pushed wide on turn 1, game decided to give me a 1 second penalty for forcing another car off track, even though I was on the outside and got pushed out.

Mediums were starting to wear out by lap 17, and other cars were catching up to me, managed to finish 5th after holding off a few attempts.

 

[HaydenFan69]

Cannot figure the Gr3 cars out. No pace at all. Baffles me as I’m strong in everything else.

 

[mohitraina91]

Well, that was a big waste of time. Finished 16th in the Viper in an unusually strong first slot. Had a decent race, but made one big mistake or I could have maybe finished a little better, overall a kind of boring race. Onto the next one
View attachment 940730

Used the Aston for the 2nd Race, started and finished DFL. I was going along alright until and alien from up ahead spun himself out and ended up behind me. I made a mistake braking into T3 and he just drives right to the outside as if I’m not even there, then drives off into the distance after putting me into the sand. I’ll remember that buddy!!


Couples of laps later, guess who pitted and ends up right behind me again? Yup, Mr. Alien. So I start thinking, I’m already in DFL, let’s defend like hell when he comes by this time just to piss him off. He catches me by the left hander after T3, so I take a super inside line and park it on the apex, and as I’m touching the inside curb, he tries to jam his nose inside me? Like, seriously buddy? Soooo, once he hit me and my rear end loosened, I said eff it and just turned into him, 🤬 you buddy! Your an alien, have some effing respect, or at least some race craft, there’s no need of that.


I watched some of the rest of his race and he was diving on a few other people too, if not for the letting off he’d have hit them too.

I won’t be trying the third slot.
View attachment 940731

That's rough man, I had some good clean racing a bit ahead fortunately.

So far I've noticed 1 - 2 names in the NA top split who are part of an E-sport team who tend to dive-bomb from far back, especially people like us who are a bit lower rated but filling the bottom of the top split. In fact the exact same situation as your 1st video happened to me on the same corner (different driver) but I saw it coming so I gave up the position and didn't end up in the gravel (lap 8 or 9 I believe). I get the feeling they feel entitled for the position no matter what since they are technically faster.

Though I do want to make it clear that the above is 100% the exception, not the rule. Most of the people I race in the top split are very clean, and pass and defend quite fairly.

 

[Mert160]

Qualified 17th in the Viper GT3. Ran 9 laps on M, ran another 9 on M, did the final lap on H. Finished 6th.

 

[Groundfish]

I heard from a fella who knew a guy that said his brother had good races online at RBR.
I don’t drive there, EVER. But that guy said it brings good racing so I guess it can?
I’m sitting out waiting for better combos...

 

[KosmoKazi]

FIA Nations Rd 23 - Red Bull Ring / Gr3

As noted in my prior two posts, a forgettable night at the Red Bull Ring, after two pointless attempts. In the first race, I was really happy with a strong qualifying effort... given I'm not the best qualifier and this track doesn't suit my style at all (point-and-shoot... not my thing!). And it seemed that everyone was obsessed with the Aston, so maybe my surprise attack in the Viper would pay off. Started ahead of fellow GTP friend @afc5150 (in a really sweet B&W liveried Aston) and said my prayers for a clean race.

At least the Viper looks BA in my personal livery. Had to scratch it together last minute after settling on the car for the race.​

I was actually really amazed at how orderly L1 T1 was, it was really clean. But next lap, some idiot thought he was gonna whip out from behind the car behind me and overtake him, despite not having a run or any reason to believe he could outbreak the guy. DIVEBOMB. And since he jumped out from behind the car behind me, first, no way I could see it coming to defend. Ruined what was likely a straightforward top-10 and probably useful points, and positive DR. Race 1: over. 13th by the time I clawed my way up. #7 / Q7 / R13



Second attempt, didn't qualify as well, the lobby was full of more Vipers and faster QT, it seemed. Was on track for a top-10 (really that was my target at this event, just take positive DR). The got hip-checked by a guy who didn't know that if you have a run it doesn't mean you have license to the complete width of the tarmac in front of you. (And I'm pretty sure that guy has hit me and ruined a race of mine before... he did apologize after, but then again, he finished in the spot that I would have had, so it sucks). @#$%!!!

Clawed my way back to 12th, but that was as good as I could do with the remaining laps. #7 / Q12 / R12 ....Useless FIA Points again.

And to be honest, when I saw the lobbies, I just had a feeling they were gonna be bad ones. Some of the other people that I've seen before I recalled as not the cleanest or best sports. And 7 is not a lucky number for me, and I drew it twice in a row. So I guess it was just how things were gonna be.

(It was not, Rauch-- Donated 700 DR over two races.) Lots more Vipers in the second race.​

Ran another race on my Alt account afterward, out of pride. In case anyone was wondering, the AMG GT is NOT a sleeper for this event! What a pig! I got hunted down by an Aston at the end, for 2nd place, and eventually had to concede 3rd to a Porsche (ironic) on the last lap, too, after trying to go no-stop. Much of the race was a typical low B/S @#$%-show... I love that people have to scope out the META, and then proceed to simply blow braking zones and go wide enough to get penalties multiple times in races, and then bang door-to-door for lap after lap instead of trying to actually use the pace in the car.

Made a mistake of my own on T1 exit and cost myself both of those spots, in the time I threw away going off track there, or would have had a 2nd at least, in a really disadvantaged car. I wonder if I should have used my other Gr3 in that account' garage, the Corvette.

Also: noticed in some Daily practice afterward that it looks like my G29 brake pedal isn't getting to 100% unless I MASH it... I think it needs cleaned out or something, I wonder if that has been a factor as I struggle, especially given the nature of RBR with that stab-and-steer flow. It would make me feel better, because I was getting eaten up at times, and I could not figure it out...

(My TrueBrake mod is on order and in the next manufacturing batch but I won't have that until after the end of the FIA season, I suspect, coming from the UK...)

 

[Razgriz2118]

The second race went much better. GT Sport took pity on me and put me in a lower-split room (I went from 223 points for P1 to 191 points), meaning I was Door #1. @csmirnoff was in this room and took pole, while I got the qualifying lap I should've gotten in the first slot and put myself in 3rd position for the start. Luckily all the trouble was behind me and I kept up with the top 2. I had an incident towards the beginning in T3 where I tapped the person ahead and spun them, but they recovered. I watched the replay and I feel like it was a racing incident, but I could see how you could argue I stuck my nose where it shouldn't have been. When I share the video you can judge for yourself, I'll accept whatever judgement is thrown at me. Regardless, he recovered and led most of the race, and I found myself in 2nd, until he pitted on the 2nd to last lap, which let me take the lead and bring home a victory and my best FIA points finish so far. While I am happy about the victory, I feel a bit conflicted about it because of the aforementioned incident and also because it was a split lower than I'm normally in. Like, I feel like I should be in a split in between the first and second slots.

 

[CurbHog]

Lap Guide - Sardegna Road Track B - Race 23
Got a pretty good lap together for this track in the McLaren.
1.5s behind the best alien and for me that is normally a good indicator.
I'm curious what you think about cutting that last corner like I did.

 

[barak181]

Well, in what is likely my last FIA race for a month, it was such a cluster I actually rage quit.

I didn't have much time to practice, so I basically wing it. I tried a few laps with the Viper the other night and couldn't get any pace with it. So when I get home today, I try a few laps with the Atenza. Not great but definitely better. I qualy'd P8, better than I expected. I start on RH, which I didn't really put any practice on and it showed immediately. After going wide on T1, T3 and T4 I end up in P18. I start the slog back up the grid.

I guy I was behind for a few laps, following closely but cleanly I end up tapping at some point in T3. On top of that, the person behind me PITs me right after I make contact so now I lose 4 of the places I just got back. But apparently, it doesn't matter how cleanly I was racing this guy or for how long I did the fact that I made any sort of contact with his back bumper sets him off. A few laps later, I'm ahead of him. We go into T3:



Somebody tell me again how that's a penalty on me?

I bite down and forge ahead. A couple laps later he's coming back on track after going wide on T4. I try to go around him and he swerves to hit/block me. Then I lose it and line him up for a punt to the shadow realm. Then rage quit.

Not proud of it, I really got to keep my cool in these situations but PD and their joke of a penalty system isn't helping anything.