Well this week certainly had its ups and downs. It was good to get right back into things without having to wait indefinitely for another season to start (what happened to November?). I was definitely looking at getting stuck into the RedBull Ring for Round 1 in my new Aston Martin, having switched from McLaren, and decked out in a stunning AMR livery, complete with 007 logo. That was until I saw the available tire options, and the weather - cue the Bond theme. Almost every commentator here on the forums had suggested they did not think the online races were ready for wet weather, given the often poor sportsmanship and lack of skill on display in the points races. Obviously the developers had other ideas. Having practiced with the S2000 in the time trials, I was at least moderately confident of completing the race, and perhaps not coming last. However I ended up qualifying 15th and progressed up to 10th, before slipping off the track and falling back to 15th. I ended up 12th, and was proud that I'd managed to not hit anyone, and avoided any major accidents, which is usually an achievement in the dry let alone the pouring rain. Nations however was simply a straight up struggle - I tried the classic 'no-stopper' tactic, however the tires were just too worn by the end, and I ended up at the back of the field where I had qualified.
One thing has certainly become apparent - Polyphony Digital must have taken on board the feedback from players that the Sport Mode is too repetitive, with the races too short and not allowing time for a proper race strategy, and always being held on the same tracks. So far we've had wet weather in Austria, and then onto Interlagos for a 19 Lap race - possibly the longest online point race in GT Sport so far. The fuel and tire consumption seemed to have been tweaked to a more realistic level, yet still provide enough of a challenge. It's always a good thing to have developers take on board criticism, and use it to constantly improve their products.
Thankfully Interlagos was dry, and having planned ahead I put in plenty of practice in those conditions. Not that it paid off straight away; qualifying on hard tires, I qualified dead last. But at least I was ready for turn 1, unlike those players who qualify on mediums then switch back before the race starts, and wonder why they don't hit the right apex. What I wasn't ready for however was a "glitch" on the grid, where the 9th placed Aston Martin was jittering wildly all over the track during the grid presentation, and was stuck in place for most of the race, with the rolling start coming to a halt behind them. I pounced, and went from 18th to 10th, with only a 1 second penalty awarded for what must have been interpreted as a hit on the driver, yet there was no collision. Somehow that same driver ended up 2nd overall. I slowly made my way up the grid, peaking at about 5th, before pitting on lap 12, and falling back to around 10th. Even on a fuel limiter of 2, I was still able to catch up to the field, crossing the line in 8th. Had I come off the limiter earlier, I could have gone even higher - I still had over a lap of fuel left. And yet I still ended up in 7th - what many players failed to notice was another change to the online Sport Mode races, the introduction of the tire requirement. Interlagos was the first round to feature a specified tire, with all racers required to use Hard tires at least once during the race, or face a time penalty. The second placed driver ended up falling to 6th, and several others lost their positions as a result of sticking to medium tires. Just another example of how it always pays to read the fine print
I hoping for better than 4th in the next one.
Chose the VGT instead of RCZ because we have quite a few high power tracks coming up but man, it's a huge shock as it has completely different strengths and weaknesses than the Evo Gr.3. Definitely will need a couple of races to adjust my driving style. The rain race wasn't fun at all because of its huge torque I was practically drifting every corner 
