FIA Race Discussion [Archive]

[ShiftingGears]

Did you no stop hards?

No. If I had track position I would've probably rolled the dice, but by the halfway point everyone in front of me had pitted and rejoined ahead of me, and there wasn't many people to tangle with behind me either, so it was an easy decision.

After a less incident filled race, it's definitely a one-stopper.

I won the next race starting on hards but it's a big risk at the start because someone on mediums will easily run up the back of you if they don't quickly identify that you have a lot less grip than they do.

 

[ShiftingGears]

And @ShiftingGears I see you ran into on of our B/S lobby bad boys. He punted me to death in Manu and had a Nations lobby where everyone was trying to rip him a new one. Very short fuse for him.

Yeah I think the SR S rating is a bit meaningless. I went from SR:B to SR:E in one race last week for a race where I picked up a one second penalty and had some inconsequential bumper tapping. But he racked up 10 seconds of penalties in one lap and still finished the race with SR:A. Maybe because the race is so long, but it's weird how dirty you can be and still be in SR: S, even after the penalty changes.

Great line for him in post-race as well.

Thanks, I had to choose my words carefully because I've received a language warning already and didn't want to get banned haha.

 

[stpatty]

Is there any point in qualifying at Tsukuba? Seems like the first corner would be a complete disaster if you were at or near the front.

 

[ShiftingGears]

Is there any point in qualifying at Tsukuba? Seems like the first corner would be a complete disaster if you were at or near the front.

It's guaranteed to be a disaster if you start at the back

 

[watto79]

Is there any point in qualifying at Tsukuba? Seems like the first corner would be a complete disaster if you were at or near the front.

It's guaranteed to be a disaster if you start at the back

Yeah it seems to be a case of surviving the first few turns, regardless of where you start. I qualified 16th, survived and gained a few positions from the T1 bowling alley and thought I was on to a winner. Then approaching T2 there was a 4 wide traffic jam so braked early and got punted into 19th

Penalties are as always a complete lottery. Someone breathed on my rear bumper and they got a 2s penalty. Someone else did the exact same thing and I got a 1s penalty

No stopped to see how it would work out and finished 14th. I wouldn't advise no stopping unless you enjoy being overtaken.

As long as you're sensible you shouldn't need to worry about SR. One person ended the race at SR:B but I saw them do a massive revenge punt so it was no wonder.

 

[SpecMiata-JSW]

I hate the penalty lottery, mostly because I'm always on the losing end of it.

 

[GTWolverine]

Penalties are as always a complete lottery. Someone breathed on my rear bumper and they got a 2s penalty. Someone else did the exact same thing and I got a 1s penalty .

From what I've seen, who gets the penalty for light taps depends on whether the car in front is braking or accelerating, the only thing in common being that the penalty almost always goes to the wrong party.

 

[stpatty]

Started 14th. Up to 6th after turn 1. Got the inevitable 4 seconds for being in the middle of the concertina at turn 2. Then it got bad.

If I'd practiced for that I would probably have gone for a 2 stop. The fronts are worthless after about 8 laps.

 

[05XR8]

Tsukuba-alt-Mustang. 3rd to 2nd.

Mixed B/S ->D/S. Why PD didn't ghost cars in qualifying, I don't know. Pole sitter was called out by P2, for being dirty. Agreed. I was being patient in P7 behind P8. I was lapping faster than it on RH.

Into the final turn, we both catch P16. I was patient not to get tangled in that. Pole was in P12 and barrels thru use three. I exited to the pits.
Switched to RM. Ran a couple laps and got P3 with no time to run again.
P1 and P2 jump to the top, by .6 faster than me in RCZs.

Race starts. I'm on the outside into T1. three-wide. I get a nudge. T2, I'm still 3rd and cars behind nearly bowl me off the track. Escape the carnage. P2 gets ahead of P1. I catch up the leaders. After two laps. I set FL.

Lap 7, Leader goes off exiting the final turn. I'm staying on the car that was Pole sitter. Decide to pit Lap9 for RH. Fall to P3.

I'm catching P2 while P1 was 9 seconds ahead. I lost time behind P2, as P1 is now 6.3 seconds ahead. I was still gaining until I catch P2. Tried to be clean and I'm just losing time by being clean. By Lap 16, P2 finally pits.

P1 RH are wearing fast. I'm 4 seconds behind, but it's going to be a struggle if P1 pits for RM. LAP 16, P1 pits. Comes out 2 seconds behind. Stretches to 3. Lap 20, front tyres are done. P2 takes the lead with a tap on my right rear before the back straight. So close to punting that player! Just wrong.

I finish 10 seconds behind P1, .4 ahead of P3. Glad I didn't use my normal account.

 

[Jwptexas]

Tsukuba-alt-Mustang. 3rd to 2nd.

Mixed B/S ->D/S. Why PD didn't ghost cars in qualifying, I don't know. Pole sitter was called out by P2, for being dirty. Agreed. I was being patient in P7 behind P8. I was lapping faster than it on RH.

Into the final turn, we both catch P16. I was patient not to get tangled in that. Pole was in P12 and barrels thru use three. I exited to the pits.
Switched to RM. Ran a couple laps and got P3 with no time to run again.
P1 and P2 jump to the top, by .6 faster than me in RCZs.

Race starts. I'm on the outside into T1. three-wide. I get a nudge. T2, I'm still 3rd and cars behind nearly bowl me off the track. Escape the carnage. P2 gets ahead of P1. I catch up the leaders. After two laps. I set FL.

Lap 7, Leader goes off exiting the final turn. I'm staying on the car that was Pole sitter. Decide to pit Lap9 for RH. Fall to P3.

I'm catching P2 while P1 was 9 seconds ahead. I lost time behind P2, as P1 is now 6.3 seconds ahead. I was still gaining until I catch P2. Tried to be clean and I'm just losing time by being clean. By Lap 16, P2 finally pits.

P1 RH are wearing fast. I'm 4 seconds behind, but it's going to be a struggle if P1 pits for RM. LAP 16, P1 pits. Comes out 2 seconds behind. Stretches to 3. Lap 20, front tyres are done. P2 takes the lead with a tap on my right rear before the back straight. So close to punting that player! Just wrong.

I finish 10 seconds behind P1, .4 ahead of P3. Glad I didn't use my normal account.

I'm thinking about running the Mustang as well just for the fun factor, we'll see how this goes. Plan on drifting around the competition for some cool race photos

 

[RX8 Racer]

Today was about as chaotic as expected. I skipped Race 1 as I was busy waiting for my aunt to come pick up her dog, so I practiced qualifying laps in a lobby. Race 2's start was really messy. I started 7th, but the Ford Focus ahead of me was slow off the line and I rear-ended him, giving him a penalty. The Turn 1 mayhem resulted in me ploughing into his side and giving me a 4 second penalty, sending me to the back. It was a sloppy race on my part, as I went off at the final corner at one point, but I clawed my way back to 8th with the no-stop, only to botch the turn 10/11 hairpin on the final lap and drop to 10th. Not great.

Race 3 had me encounter my friend and fellow Love Live fan HeatAgi, whom I had added after my disastrous Manufacturer Spa Wet race. We started with him in 7th and me in 8th.

However, the turn 1 mayhem would separate us, with HeatAgi getting spun round and sent to the back while I survived the lap 1 chaos. After the dust settled, I found myself in 6th behind a Focus and a green RCZ (Chelu_West). Towards the mid-point of the race, it became clear that the Focus was struggling with worn Mediums and was bottling the two of us up. Chelu would attempt a dive at the second hairpin (turn 5/6) and tapped the Focus wide, earning a penalty and a drop to 6th for his attempt. I would be more successful, though my pass on lap 12 was still pretty scruffy, as I tapped him wide while accelerating to turn 10/11 hairpin's exit. I got off without a penalty, with the Focus proceeding to dive into the pits.

As the race progressed, I moved up into 2nd as the others pitted. The polesitter/race leader TlipR had managed to exit the pits ahead of me, and I knew that I was effectively racing for 2nd. TlipR didn't have a entirely quiet drive though, as he nearly binned it on lap 16 into the turn 10/11 hairpin:


I had seen the tail end of that incident, but I was too far away to do anything about it. As the race progressed and my Hards wore down, I had to worry about the one-stoppers catching up to me. raku33 accidentally punted me off at turn 1, but conceded 2nd to me even though he was still ahead of me after serving his 3 second penalty. I appreciated his sportsmanship, though the incident allowed 3rd to 6th to queue up behind as I lead the Trulli Train. raku33 would brake too late and accidentally tap me off again at turn 10/11, taking another 2 seconds penalty and knocking him off the podium.

I held 2nd until the penultimate lap, when Chelu_West tapped me wide at turn 10/11 and got off without a penalty. I was miffed at the pass, though I guess it was karma for my dodgy pass on the Focus on lap 12. The final lap saw the Taiwanese RCZ get alongside me at turn 5/6, only to lose his rear end, slam into my side on exit and take a penalty drop to 5th for the contact. I came home in 3rd to record my best points of the season. The no-stop can work, though you have to survive lap 1, go really defensive and hope the one-stoppers don't punt you off.

HeatAgi managed to finish 9th despite the dismal start, giving Team Love Live a decent result today. Someone else had no such luck, however. mi26881214 started 2nd, crashed into the pit board for a 1.5 second penalty on lap 11, and somehow ran out of fuel on the final lap at turn 9. The poor soul plummeted from 6th to 14th in the crawl of shame to the finish line. I really don't know how he managed to run out of fuel, as I was redlining throughout the grid intro and finished safely.

HeatAgi posted his replay of the race, if anyone wants to watch.

Race photos:

 

[koshmare]

Oh. My. God. First FIA win ever!

 

[Tidgney]

I'm in danger haha!

 

[Pigems]

Oh. My. God. First FIA win ever!

View attachment 946475

Congrats man, Well done!

 

[05XR8]

I'm thinking about running the Mustang as well just for the fun factor, we'll see how this goes. Plan on drifting around the competition for some cool race photos

I was fine with it. Just pitted too early. Set diff - Qualy: 20:70, Start: 50:50, After T1: 25:75.

Oh, big deal. Focus finished 3rd after the 3rd placed RCZ didn't switch compounds.

 

[VulcanSpirit]

So, after what seems like a long absence from Nations, I ended up doing the 17:40 with very little testing in the RCZ. Expected chaos and another frustrating outcome, but the race itself turned out better than expected.

17:40 Nations
As a fellow British driver put it, an 'RCZ cup' in all but name. Ran into yet another closely-fought qualifying session, initially setting a 56.488 despite tapping the would-be pole-sitting Portuguese driver at the first corner, then a 55.761. Settings used were 50:50 torque and brake balance +4, both learnt from @Mistah_MCA's guide. Adjusted brake balance to +3 and went out a second time, improving to a 54.821 at the 6:30 mark. Trimmed another three-thousandths trying to leapfrog 'Wifi password' and a Spanish driver. Had the potential to gain another 0.130 seconds, but that was the best I could manage. Ultimately started 13th just 0.620 off pole.

Also learnt from Mistah_MCA that the three-stop I initially ran in practice lobbies probably wouldn't work out, so started on Hards and tried to make it on a one-stop. Bolted off the line on TCS 1 and gained one place when the JIM Williams car (P7) jumped the start. Had purposefully stayed around the outside to avoid trouble, but was biffed into the gravel by another Briton who lost control following contact with a Spaniard. This was one of a number of incidents happening on the first lap, including one where an Italian - whether by misjudgement or malice - pitched a Russian into a spin just half a car length behind. Recovered and worked back up to 14th past a spin for one of the French drivers and a few penalties. Another penalty, this time for one of the two Italians, allowed me to go side-by-side with him between the last and first corners; pitstops effectively brought us to 11th and 12th respectively.

Given that the Italian was on Mediums, any chance I had of keeping up of him was minimal at best. My main attention turned to the Austrian driver close behind; he too had started on Hards and was setting consistent low-56 second laps. On Lap 7, however, I set a 55.868, and begin pressuring a golden Dutch car who had fought his from the very back. Dived past the Dutchman three laps later as he went wide at Turn 10, to which he gallantly eased off before he gradually lost touch. Lasted all the way to Lap 14 - over the half-way point - to take on the faster Mediums, re-joining in 12th. The main caveat in the second stint was that the three cars in front - the British Marlboro (writer of the 'RCZ cup' quote), the Spaniard and the Austrian - were either on Hards or worn Mediums, and so would inevitably have lower grip and pace to the end. The latter dive-punts the Spaniard at Turn 1, and almost immediately pulls over to let him back past. The scuffle brings me up to 10th and in pursuit of the Marlboro car which is slipping and sliding all over the place. Lap after lap I try to sneak in front; outside, inside, but no joy. On Lap 21, he goes deep into Turn 4, but hangs me to dry on the outside before the Dunlop bridge. We bang wheels, but nothing too major, as the Spaniard and Austrian proceed to wind up in their own battle.

Next three laps were spent trying to pass the Marlboro car round the outside of Turn 1, each time without success. Fair play to him; his defence was stoic, if a bit forceful at times, and he managed to cross the line just over a tenth in front.

Considering the problems I've had this season, I'd be happy to finish it here unless I am mad enough to do the X2019 race. Must thank Mistah_MCA once again for his information on strategy, torque/brake balance settings and general driving techniques; without them, I wouldn't have probably made the most out of the RCZ. Would've probably had the potential to get more than 10th and 182 points, but I'm just as glad that the Marlboro driver held his own and reaped the reward of his charge from 18th.

 

[FANCY CLOWN]

Due to SSRX giving my DR an undeserved boost, I've been punching above my weight for the past few races. I'm not very good at this game at all but I found myself in a ~4000DR/99SR lobby, which, believe it or not, is above my skill level at the moment. Door 19, qualified in the middle in my trusty WRX.


Predictably the grid start was a mess: I avoided any penalties at the start and ended up near the back for my troubles. From there I just did nothing but bleed time for 25 laps. My problem isn't lap times (although mine really aren't that good at all): it's consistency. I made a mistake about once every five laps, from hitting the pit barrier, to braking late and going off the track, to flying off the long turn at the end. I even missed a chance to undercut a GT-R, and because I stayed out on dead mediums, I understeered like crazy and lost even more time. I finished dead last in 17th, only managing to place higher than a DNF. At least I didn't get lapped.

...what is this? I'm 14th??

Apparently three people - including one of the frontrunners - forgot to put on hards and got penalized hard enough for me to pass them. There's nothing quite like gaining free positions and then watching the poor guys freak out in post-race chat.

Certainly an eventful race. I quite like driving the AWD Gr.B cars.

 

[deviln3]

Nations Cup

Door #12
Quali #1
Finish #1
+ 53 Pts
+ 1200 DR

Started the race with:
Medium tires
TC1
BB +2
50/50 Torque Split

Turned off TC after first gear, and used handbrake to launch the car, but 2nd place caught up and here is the T1 incident:


Lost two places in T1, but the very next hairpin, the two cars in front of me had an incident and I made up a place. Lap 2, the person who pushed me out wide, missed their braking point on the hairpin turn, so I took back first place. Changed BB +3, 25/75 Torque Split after that and maintained a 1 second gap to 2nd place.

End of Lap 12, the fronts were done so I went in to the pits, and 2nd place darted in right after me. My slow pit entry meant the gap was down to 0.2 seconds at pit exit. My pace was better on Hard tires than the guy behind, so ended up first, comfortably by about 6 seconds.

 

[KosmoKazi]

FIA GTC Nations Rd 29 - GrB at Tsukuba - DIRTY DRIVERS RULE AGAIN

After a nice podium on my Alt account (25k DR/S), figured I go against my gut, and give it a go in my main account (35K DR/S)

Mistake. Race was full of 🤬 dirty drivers and mine was ruined by a couple. Got punted at least three times after starting 12th in a very tough, high DR room with Turismo Lester leading the way. I was more than happy to target a top 10, given the competition. If only the other guys in the second half of the grid were as realistic...

Got up to 8th after the first turn, with a good TCS-assisted start. But got hit from behind in T2, sending me to the gravel and last place. Super. And unlike my Alt race, this time, there were not a bunch of (accurate) penalties that helped me recover from the damage done in T2.

Worked my way up to 11th place, legitimately and without hitting anyone, only to have to deal with an impatient Subaru from team ATK. First he punted me to take my position, but after getting a penalty for it, I was ahead of him again on the way into my pitstop.



We pitted together (after I signaled that I would be taking the pit exit), and he rear ended me at the pit sign (probably giving him another penalty). When we exited the pits, he made sure to line me up at the second hairpin, and punted me again, then waited for me to get beside him again and turned into me to ruin my race with a 4 sec penalty. Then he rage quit like the loser he must be.



These dirty drivers 🤬 me off and ruin the game for me. It's the same 🤬 every race. Would have been plenty happy with a 12th place and some clean fun racing, but the ATK Subaru and some other dirtbags had other ideas.

Q12 / R17 / #18 WASTED MY EVENING AGAIN THANKS

oh well at least I enjoyed the Alt account race

The start... notice the impatient Subaru driver that ruined my race was 5 or 6 spots behind me here in Turn 1, on the first lap. So if he's so fast, and I'm holding him up so much that he has to punt me 2x during the race, why was he qualified so far behind me? So sick of poor sports in this game.

 

[afc5150]

I can't even be bothered anymore. The same dirty drivers ruining the races and sucking all the fun out of it race after race. Looks like mayhem out there.

 

[Keith2324]

I have simply decided to sit out the races for the rest of the season. I finally got my A ranking and I figure I'll hang on to it going into next season in whatever form it takes. These races are unnecessarily dirty and they are not even worth doing on an alt account. Hang in there KosmoKazi. You're a clean diver. Hopefully you'll be rewarded with better drivers in the future.

Keith.

 

[Razgriz2118]

One-and-done for me because I got placed in an extremely high split, 250 pts for the win, which meant I knew I wouldn't get any useful points nor would the next race be in a more evenly-seeded split. And unfortunately, two of my favorite people were in my race: everyone's favorite A-level hothead, driving a red and black Focus, and the angry Canadian whose DR/SR plots look like someone trying to draw a line during a magnitude 10 earthquake, driving a pink RCZ with some rather tasteless decals applied to it. As for the rest of the field though, only around half of the cars are RCZs, surprisingly, with some Focuses (Focii?), STis, and Evos included.

Qualifying went as well as it could, I think. I qualified 15th, and being far back, I decided to start on Hards and go for the one-stop.

Coming into T1, I braked early and was cautious. Since I started on the outside of the track, I got passed on the inside by a few people, but only lost a net of 2 places due to some chaos. Coming into T4 (the second 180 degree turn), I get a mild punt from the rear. I knew it wasn't deliberate since I've raced with the person who hit me many times in the past and I knew it was an accident. I get back on track second-to-last, as someone else also spun. Coming into T8 (the third 180 degree corner before the back-straight), a major ramming incident occurred involving the hothead in the Focus which sees several people off track and several people with penalties. I inherit 17th as someone serves a penalty, and I come up to the back of a forming train ahead.

Coming into T8 on Lap 2, a the hothead in the Focus rams someone off at T5, and the victim has no choice but to rejoin at a bad angle due to how they were punted off, and collects the angry Canadian, who spins out. I was too focused on watching that ahead to realize the person ahead slowed down to avoid the incident, and so I, braking at my regular braking point, take evasive action and luckily only tap the person ahead, but I spin myself out into the gravel. putting me back down into last place.

I play catchup on Lap 3 and gain a place as someone serves a penalty, but coming into T4 on Lap 5 I fall back to last because I have to slow down for an incident: the Escudo-painted RCZ ahead brakes too late and shoves a Lancer, meaning I lose a position to the angry Canadian. The Lancer then goes for a deliberate ram on the Escudo RCZ into T8. The Lancer recovers and the angry Canadian puts a wheel on the grass and oversteers into the Lancer, who in this case was just driving in straight line. But, the angry Canadian then slams the side of the Lancer, but the Lancer had enough speed and pulls ahead and then pits, putting me back up into 15th, as someone ahead also rage quits.

Not much happens as I maintain the gap to 12th ahead until Lap 11, where the Focus hothead comes out of the pits. I try to defend on my worn Hards but get on the throttle too early coming out of T4, compromising my entry into T5, which lets them pass. Not that I minded since I just wanted to avoid them as much as possible.

The hothead in the Focus then brakes late and punts the angry Canadian that was ahead of me, putting me side-by-side with the angry Canadian. I try to move up the inside on T8 and they slide into me, giving them a 1s penalty. I was bracing myself for some form of retaliation, but they pit, and I stay 13th until I pit at the end of Lap 14, which I decide to do after making a big error.

I come out in 17th, right behind the angry Canadian as before. I go for a move on the inside of the rammer Lancer into T8 at the end of Lap 16 and get the pass done as they serve a penalty and then pit again. I spend the next 7 laps in 14th, getting close to, but not enough, to pass the angry Canadian, until they pit at the end of Lap 23.

I then cruise on home to finish in 13th. Somehow, I miraculously didn't get a penalty, but boy oh boy did this race bring down the red mist on some people who were already quick to anger. I finished in 13th in a lobby at least 2 splits higher than where I should be, so while the points are meaningless to my total, I'll still take it.

 

[05XR8]

Yeah, not doing tonight's race on either account. Probably watch The Fixer with my Wife.

 

[Redneckchef]

Yeah, not doing tonight's race on either account. Probably watch The Fixer with my Wife.

Eh, I am dumb enough to give it a run. Going to be interesting as last time I drove there I got run off a bunch of times by FFs who couldn't steer on exit. See how bad it goes tonight since I am terrible there anyway.

 

[05XR8]

Eh, I am dumb enough to give it a run. Going to be interesting as last time I drove there I got run off a bunch of times by FFs who couldn't steer on exit. See how bad it goes tonight since I am terrible there anyway.

I watched BTCC last night and just not feeling the virtual race bug. Also reading about Gordon Murray's T.50 F1 successor.

 

[Redneckchef]

I watched BTCC last night and just not feeling the virtual race bug. Also reading about Gordon Murray's T.50 F1 successor.

Oooh. Sounds like a good read. Currently finishing a very odd book out of spite. If you haven't read 'Go Like Hell' it is a pretty good read of the Ford vs. Ferrari battle. It isnt the weird book I am vurrently finishing.

Still want to find a solid book on Smokey Yunick as well. Probably check out for a bit this week prior to Saturdays X2019 Bonanza.

 

[05XR8]

Oooh. Sounds like a good read. Currently finishing a very odd book out of spite. If you haven't read 'Go Like Hell' it is a pretty good read of the Ford vs. Ferrari battle. It isnt the weird book I am vurrently finishing.

Still want to find a solid book on Smokey Yunick as well. Probably check out for a bit this week prior to Saturdays X2019 Bonanza.

It's just the Top Gear article.

 

[Redneckchef]

It's just the Top Gear article.

Doh. Just saw a video on it pop up on youtube. Think my phone is reading my messages.


Edit. Tried a few warm up laps in my jag for the Nurb. Good lord I am terrible here. Going to be a catastrophe. But what the heck, it's not a real risk

 

[ShiftingGears]

The SLS is an absolute slug so I had to take the first chance I could to get into the lead and then block the rest of the race. It worked so can't complain.

 

[05XR8]

Doh. Just saw a video on it pop up on youtube. Think my phone is reading my messages.


Edit. Tried a few warm up laps in my jag for the Nurb. Good lord I am terrible here. Going to be a catastrophe. But what the heck, it's not a real risk

The SLS is an absolute slug so I had to take the first chance I could to get into the lead and then block the rest of the race. It worked so can't complain.

Okay, I'll bite. Did a Race C(no qualy), normal account A/A. Last to 5th. Slow and steady, Fuel 3 until my pitstop end of Lap 6. One actual pass for position(every other position was by players colliding), on a GT-R conserving and on worn tyres. Grabbed 6th. Promoted to 5th, due to a 1minute penalty player.

A/S post race. I'll do Nurb from the back, no qualy.