FIA Race Discussion [Archive]

[stpatty]

The most amusing thing is the top split EMEA drivers moaning about no stopping on Twitter all used mixed compounds to exploit the tyre requirements before it was patched out. Almost everyone did it and rightly not an eyebrow raised.

I didn't see any complaints among the top drivers in Oceania or Asia either. Just a 'non-established' name won the first timeslot in Europe after seeing the earlier races and those who take off-season way too seriously missed a trick.

Just a sign Polyphony don't test the races much as they should, just like with Daily C at the start of the week!

I agree with this.

I wasn't aware that there was one - there's only notes about rebalancing the tyre wear, fuel consumption, and "handling":

No mention of the front-engined 4WD Gr.4 cars...

We may as well not bother with Gr.4 races after this update. You know they're not going to do anything for the GT-R or the Atenza.

 

[adam46]

I'm not sure the Merc will comply around here, so let's see how it goes...

EDIT: Internet said no to that...

Okay, well, after yet another FIA day where my router has decided to rebel, I'm in another last chance saloon lobby! Come and watch the madness as my turn my big, silver mule around Laguna...

 

[Famine]

We may as well not bother with Gr.4 races after this update. You know they're not going to do anything for the GT-R or the Atenza.

But look at the nice new Gr3 car to replace the already pretty decent Gr3 Atenza!

 

[OutlawQuadrnt]

I find the people strong arming others not to use the exploit more of an issue than the exploit itself.

 

[Granadier]

I find the people strong arming others not to use the exploit more of an issue than the exploit itself.

Agreed. It’s no different from corner cutting when the limits allow or running mixed compounds when that was allowed. Use it or it’ll be used against you.

 

[UjiOgami15]

Lost 2500dr in 2 races, laguna Seca never again! It s by far my worst track

 

[MCL1974]

had a very strange race. messed up my quaiifying lap in the last corner and started 17th. (was expecting well within top 10)
At the start the car placed 13th did not move so all cars behind him stalled, so when crossing the fstartline i was already about 17 seconds behind, and then I spun in the second lap costing me about 5 more seconds. I actually reached for the off switch but decided not to quit.

from that moment I decided to go for 1 stop using softs only and from that moment all went pretty smooth,consistent good laps and constantly making up places when other drivers pitted. prior the last lap i found myself in third place and then cars 1 and 2 went in for their final pitstop so i crossed the finish in first place about 14 seconds in front of the next car. after the penalty the end result was fifth place.

would have preferred to have another go but and qualify better i was home from work about 2230 hrs so only had 1 chance.

 

[Jujar100]

First FIA race for a couple of weeks. Awful qualifying starting 19th! Just decided to drive steady and see how many places I could make up with people losing it into the dirt. Eventually got into a good rhythm, lapping with decent times and worked my way up the field to finish 10th. Points were a bit rubbish and last slot so can’t go again!

 

[The359]

First race of the night for North America, winner used the exploit and won by a mere second. Most everyone in the chat, except his teammate, was frustrated and annoyed by it. I qualified 16th in the Aston Martin, 2 seconds off the pace. Used the H-M-S strategy and finished 56 seconds (36 with the penalty) behind in 15th. The soft tires struggled to even survive 7 laps.

I'm going to give this race a hard pass as the likelihood of gaining any championship points is slim to none.

 

[LOBO_99]

I find the people strong arming others not to use the exploit more of an issue than the exploit itself.

One stopping or no stopping is 200 IQ strategy given the race parameters.

 

[GTWolverine]

Qualified 10th, finished 16th only because the car that was in 16th ran out of fuel coming to the finish line. I decided to go with the "proper" strategy since I knew passing all the cars in front on softs would be difficult. I got into a brief battle with an NSX who screwed up turn 5, allowing me to get a run on it, which unfortunately put me on a tighter line for Turn 6, which I was subsequently slow through. This allowed the NSX to cut back to my inside on the run up to the corkscrew. Under braking, my back end stepped out slightly, causing my car to turn slightly to the inside and nudge the NSX enough to upset it so that it couldn't slow down in time and crashed at the corkscrew. I slowed to wait for it, but it quit so I gave up several spots and maybe 10s for nothing.

Might have another go, but for some reason the car felt like it was on ice even on the Medium tires, and I can't do more than 6 laps on the Softs before the right front "dies of death". In qualifying I can't for the life of me get it under a 1:27, and can't seem to go any faster than a 1:28.1 no matter how empty my fuel tank is.

Edit:
2nd slot: qualified 4th and spun like a dips*** on the entrance to turn 2 by dipping 2 wheels into the sand. The race was a waste from there so I decided to see if I could actually 1-stop the softs and climb up a few places. Spun out later in the race and after that just screwed around by myself until I got lapped. There's no way I'm getting a better result than what I got my last 3 races, and all I'm doing is killing my DR and my average finishing stats.

 

[05XR8]

Through all the complaints and concerns, I think this shows how competitive the FIA is. It shows most players are about even in talent.
That car choice, definitely becomes one of separating Hamilton in an AMG from Ricciardo in a Renault.

Maybe PD are addressing this in the next update. The handling update, will be the most interesting.
Will cars like the Scirocco and Mustang, which, arguably, have the tightest off-throttle turn-in, be softened or stiffened?

Will the AWD cars be adjusted for more rear biased power delivery, to help with handling?
How about gear ratios? The Gr.4 ATENZA 2nd gear, is horrible at the start of races and out of tight corners.

I know just about all cars have 3.0° of negative camber front & back. Wonder if that will be adjusted, to simulate better tyre wear and handling.

So many more questions....

 

[Pigems]

 

[05XR8]

View attachment 910969

 

[barak181]

Didn't have much time today to practice or prep a race strategy, so I just kinda winged it.

Slot 1:
I qualify P8. About what I was expecting but I probably could have gained another position on the grid except that on my second flying lap I clipped a guy coming back onto the track right before the corkscrew.

I was planning on doing 2H/7M/6S but I forgot to change my tires after qualifying as I got caught up reading all the people yelling at each other in the lobby. So, I started on RS. Right away the guy in front of me is shooting all over the screen with a one bar connection. I really, really need to learn how to block that stuff out. I end up in the gravel after T4, losing several positions. Really the big thing about this race is the fact that I got pushed off the track 5 times and not once did the person pushing/punting me receive a penalty. A couple of my own errors on top of that and I end up finishing P15.

Slot 2:
I again get clipped on my second flying lap and qualy P7. Honestly, I don't think I would have qualified higher than P5, anyway. But this time I do remember to change my tires and run a 2H/7M/6S strategy.

Then the weirdest thing happens. After the intro video, the game hangs on the Race splash screen. Like for a minute. I thought I was going to disconnect but just let it sit there as I swap out my controller because I notice it got down to one bar. I sit back down and the game continues on to the starting grid. I think a couple people did disconnect themselves in that time, though.

I again manage to slide off the track after T4 and again manage to lose several positions. Bu the pit strategy worked well as I got clean air after my first pit and made it up to P5 before my second pit. Coming out for the final stint, I'm in P9. I make one clean pass on the sharp left-hander after the bridge and catch up with a clump fighting for P4 by the corkscrew of the final lap. I'm able to keep it close going into the final turn and let them all bang each other creating an opening to exploit for the final stretch. I'm able to pass 2 racers in the final turn and push it down the straight for P6 and 52 points.

Then I forgot to take a screenshot.

 

[ScottPuss20]

View attachment 910969

First time for everything. I have never seen anything like this in my life, and probably never will again.

 

[ImRingo]

I just did my first race for this Manu round. Started in 13th 0.8 seconds off of pole. Was able to fight through the field utilizing all 3 tire compounds to finish in 5th. All 4 drivers ahead of me did either 0 or 1 stop strats and received a 20 second penalty. I think maybe if I started around 7th or so I could have beat them.

 

[barak181]

First time for everything. I have never seen anything like this in my life, and probably never will again.

I get it though. Laguna has such a long pit stop and the multipliers made a one stopper a viable option for top split racers, even with the penalty.

 

[Canucks_9419]

Well that was.. interesting?

Went into the 3rd race just now and as soon as we entered the pre quali lobby 13 of 20 drivers disconnected, leaving the remaining 6 and myself real confused. Qualified 2nd and honestly went into the event considering doing the exploit 1 stop, but decided against it and ran 6S/8M/1H to finish 4th.

 

[The359]

View attachment 910969

Exactly why I only did the first slot and stopped, I knew everyone else would do it.

 

[Pigems]

2nd run went a bit better, I didn’t crash in Q this time.

I really need to learn how to save fuel better though, I was up a few more places before I had to pit.

 

[OutlawQuadrnt]

View attachment 910969

What else can be said? North America Top Split was being sensible for once. We hardly had any drama because we decided to play with the cards we were dealt.

 

[chuyler1]

First race of the night for me in the slow-tenza. Qualified a paltry 17th with a pretty clean lap using fuel burn and a bit of draft from a mustang. If this Atenza can do a 1:28 with tire wear on, i’d love to see it. Did the 1 pit RS/RS along with about half the lobby, finished 4th, ended up with 7th. Probably could have done better but I had a few 1-2 second mistakes. Gave myself an extra half lap of fuel during the pit stop but had to go into fuel saving mode the final lap for some reason. That allowed someone to come up behind me. I took the inside exiting turn 6, he went over the left side white line trying to pass me. Then he missed his braking point for the cork screw. Yelled at me after the race then exited. (Shrugs)

 

[roamingbard13]

I thought Monza might be a good place to get the 600 dr I needed to get back to A for this round, since Laguna is a strong track for me. Needless to say, I lost 3000 DR and 20 SR in 3 races after getting beaten to a bloodied pulp.


So. At B/A, I got placed into a lobby where 50 points went to the victor.

Qualified 3rd, and took the lead on lap 2 and never saw anyone again. I won with a 16 second gap after I took my 20 second META penalty. More importantly, it got my SR back to 99.

The next slot must have been the top DR B split. Winner took 137 points. I qualified 5th, and the people in front made mistakes until I was in second. I took the lead briefly but took a half second limits penalty at the corkscrew making the pass (I don’t think the stewards had a clear view...my wheels never technically touched anything to the right of that line lol), and took the lead the next lap when P1 pitted. I never saw another soul during the race, and built up a 23 second gap on the last lap using the META strategy, but got sideways pushing a little too hard on the corner before the corkscrew. It cost me about 5 seconds.

Hard to be too mad...even winning, I would have only improved the sum of my top 3 scores by 4 points. Still sitting at 419.

I don’t love the next track, so it may stay where it is. My average score across the three rounds is like 50 points higher than the average of the keepers last season. Pretty solid improvement, if you ask me.

 

[TeddyWestside]

Having given up on getting anywhere positive with the Alfa, it was time to cross the pond...

Manu, Laguna Seca

N America

Slot1:
Highlights (7 min)

Spoiler: Summary & result

Having been punted from P6 to P16 at the top of the Corkscrew by a Porsche twice ramming the car behind me on Lap 1, and another driver doing the same to me on Lap 2, I was in no mood for others' rough tactics later in the race. Finished P14 for 34 pts. No apologies from the rammers after the race. Fed up of people not leaving a sensible gap when entering the Corkscrew.

Slot 2:
Highlights (6 minutes):

Spoiler: Summary & result

P2 start (Door 10), I was through to the lead after the first corner but the following Canadian Porsche drifted into me and put me down to P5. But, like a true Canadian, he slowed and dropped from P1 to P4 to let me pass. Thank you, ArtooThreepio👍. I messed up trying to pass him again at the end of the lap and dropped to P10. Things started getting very physical, and there were regular trips to the beach at the final corner. Then, I was put off the track by the American JDRacer-PR787 but, like a true Canadian (), he stayed behind me until I'd recovered and stopped ghosting. Thank you!👍 But in the end, I could only finish P16 of 17 finishers, for 26 pts. A pretty dirty race, but with gentlemanly conduct thrown in.

Slot 3:

Certainly not amused by this move in Qually, which was only ever going to result in me being barged off into the gravel. I remembered that during the race, as you'll see...


Race Highlights (8 minutes):

Spoiler: Summary & result

Started P4 (Door 16), with the qually-spoiler in P2. I was able to repay the action on Lap3, appropriately enough at the Corkscrew. The 0.5s cutting penalty was worth it, although that's an entirely inconsistent spot for that penalty. Sometimes you get it, often you don't. Anyway, I'd started on Softs by mistake as I'd been trying to get a response to the qually incident. I then held onto my Ms for probably a lap too long, maybe 2, and I hadn't been fuel saving, so I couldn't stop the winner from passing, or catch back up. The Mustang was guzzling fuel and I needed to top-up at both stops. Didn't help that the fuel guage was inaccurate, so I had to over-fill to be safe. Still, happy with P2, a CRB and 65 pts.👍

 

[chuyler1]

Last race of the evening for team slo-tenza. I’ll share the video once it’s done uploading. Got door #1, so not as high competition as the first race I did. Qualified #9 with a blistering 1:28.5 lap, the fastest i’ve gotten the Atenza, and that was with some help getting a draft. Made quick work of the #8 driver when he got bottled up on turn 5. Over the first 3 laps myself and a Ferrari got past two more cars running on RH tires. Why they were out there that long on hards I don’t know. The Ferrari towed me around the track running solid 1:29s. I pitted on lap 7, he waited until lap 8. We apparently were both doing the RS/RS one stop but I wasn’t sure at the time. When I came out there was that pesky #8 Porsche in my way because even in the pits the Atenza is slow, lost maybe a second on that lap, but I eventually got back to within tow distance of the Ferrari when he made a few mistakes. By now we’re running 4 and 5. On lap 12, He puts a tire in the dirt exiting turn 5 and loses it. There goes my tow, but i’ll take the position since I could never get close enough to pass. I run a few 1:30s and finish the race in 1st place. I get bumped down to 4th after 1 2 and 3 cross the line. The winner was in a Toyota 86 and was only 3 seconds behind me after doing his 2 pit stops. Long story short, the Gr.4 Atenza is god awful slow but at least I got 124 points.

 

[adokeeffe]

Round 9

Nations Cup

I was quietly confident of a win at the Red Bull Ring, buoyed by qualifying on pole. But I just couldn’t get the Toyota to behave, it slipped and slid around, understeered when I needed oversteer, and vice versa. I quickly fell to 2nd, but held my place for several laps before pitting at the end of Lap 9 for the first mandatory tire swap. I emerged from the pits still in 2nd, but hard tires just made the car worse. I came off the track on lap 14, leaving some paintwork and my clean race bonus on the inside barriers of Schlossgold, thankfully I at least avoided a spin. I was back in 1st place briefly but still had to pit for the soft tires, which I’d left till last, as I was worried they wouldn’t go the distance beyond a few laps. Coming out of the pits in 3rd, I made quick work of the car in front, but just couldn’t make up the time lost to the race leader (the same Toyota that overtook me on Lap 2), and realised I should have had more faith in the tires and pitted earlier. I had to settle for 2nd instead, but that’s hardly a hardship, and in the end the better driver won.

Manufacturers Cup

I was looking forward to Laguna Seca, and unlike the previous round, spent a good amount of time practicing on all tires. Yet my first attempt was a complete disaster - despite my best efforts I qualified somewhere around 8th, and finished the race in 17th. My tire strategy of leaving the softs till last to take advantage of the car’s lower weight backfired, as the tire wear multiplier was so low that soft tires barely wore down, and therefore could be used for the majority of the race. So every other car was on a softer tire compound, on a circuit that demands tire grip.

With these lessons in mind, I tried again in the final time slot and qualified 2nd, and started on softs. I held 2nd for several laps, but pitted at the end of 7 to swap to hard tires, and refill some of the fuel needed. I fell back to 7th as cars on softer tires flew by, but I had faith in my strategy, and pitted after one lap to ditch the hards for mediums, ticking off all the required tires, and filling up the other half of the fuel I needed. I emerged from the pits with 5 laps to go, and with some work to do - I was in 12th place. But I suspected that not everyone had read the fine print, and that the faster cars had neglected to pit for slower tires. Regardless, I made steady progress up the field as other drivers pitted, and was in 4th place by the final lap. My tire strategy had paid off, however my fuel strategy had not. I ran out of fuel midway up the home straight, having made it to 3rd. Two cars overtook me crossing the line, and I finished 5th. And then suddenly I was 2nd. Sure enough, the 3 cars ahead had not fulfilled the tire requirements of Soft, Medium and Hard, and were all heavily penalised. And in true Jeremy Clarkson fashion, it was time to deploy the smug face

 

[Groundfish]

I don’t believe anyone exploited in the race I did. Uneventful 8 finish from 14th grid.
No drama, only one pen in room. The A crowd drove clean. Such a nice difference at 99 opposed to below 90 sr.
I’m starting to like the track, still gettin used to it...

 

[05XR8]

Looking at the leader boards, the top Mazda drivers got all their best points from Gr.3 races.

We may as well not bother with Gr.4 races after this update. You know they're not going to do anything for the GT-R or the Atenza.

Pretty much why we all need a refresher from this video. He says exactly how the FIA is based(so to speak). It's probably best to choose a manufacturer, that will afford you your best chance with that manufacturer's Gr.3 car. Besides, we all know there can never be too many choices for a Gr.3 car(ahem, BMW, Peugeot, Mercedes, VW, Toyota, Ford, Aston Martin, now Mazda).[/QUOTE]

 

[chuyler1]

Ok, Gr.4 Atenza from 9th on the grid to 4th in one of the cleanest FIA races to date. No way I would have pulled this off with a legal tire strategy. The Ferrari was on the same strategy until he wrecked himself. As I said above, letting him pull me around the track in his draft probably gained me an additional 5s off what I could have done solo. It’s a few more points for me than last week, but not enough to catapult me in the standings.