FIA Race Discussion [Archive]

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Went again, finished 8th. Probably should have got 6th, but I was quite slow in my final stint and ended up battling with a French guy on hards for most of it. Going into the chicane at one point he had effectively a wheel's worth of his car alongside me and he didn't back out. If I hadn't lifted we would both have died.

Still, great fun working my way through the field after my first pit stop. I'm not going to claim I'm good at driving FF cars but some of the things people were doing down there were absolutely heinous.
 
Decided on using the TT for this round as I was still really comfy with it from a few weeks ago at this combo.

Qualifying went well for once with a decent tow put me in 9th on the grid about a second of pole. About 6 Peugeot's and 2 Audi's were Infront of me, no surprise as that Peugeot Peugeot is quick on the straights and a pain in the proverbial to overtake.


First lap went well and I felt like I could make some moves and was in 8th but with cars going 3 wide there was simply no space to do anything more. Then on lap 2 the chicane of death killed me and any chances of improving on my qualifying position. At the end of lap 3 I span at the exit of the last corner with a wheel dipping of track and unsettling the car.


Now in 17th (yay), I slowly worked my way back up passing the two Bugattis that has entered as well as a couple of Peugeot's. Pitting for hards lap 9 from 11th, I came back in 13th place. I should mention that I was shifting at 50% and was great on fuel. I then managed to gain another place on one car. In the closing couple of laps I had a small battle with another TT for 9th with me just losing out on the line. Decent recovery drive but shouldn't have turned into that right at the start.


Willow should be good with the Ferrari tomorrow with tyre wear effectively turned off.
 
Jumped aboard the FF train today after a weekend away from racing. Didn't like how the Peugeot handled when I gave it a quick test before the 15:00, so went with my first choice, the TT Cup, after setting some consistent 1:47 laps in lobby conditions and a 1:45.607 just before matchmaking.

15:00 Nations
Seeded first in a lobby shared with @T_revisio and @Ashthebash; grid consisted of 9 RCZs, 6 more TTs, a Citroen, a Ferrari, a Viper and Ash in his Mercedes SLS. Got compromised by a traffic jam at the final S-bend, so aborted my initial lap and crawled the whole way back to the pits for fresh Mediums (didn't think to exit to lobby and start again that way, silly me). Set a 1:46.367 with less than two minutes before the cut-off; despite crashing at the downhill S's and not having enough time to improve, this would be good enough for a 9th-place start and eight tenths off the pole-sitting TT.

Started on Mediums and was surprised to find myself already gaining on a pack of Pugs fighting for 4th-8th spots. Took one place from a Frenchman after he was forced wide at the second hairpin by a Spaniard, then another when said Spaniard cut the second part of the 'death chicane' complex. In trying to be as gentle as possible with the TT's tyres, I ended up gaining some rather smooth, fast lines with the gradual inputs learnt from previous races. The advantage I gained was especially apparent when I caught up to another French Pug (in Lightning McQueen guise) through the downhill 'S' on Lap 4. A five-tenth deficit turned into a pass at the third hairpin, which McQueen was happy to fight me over.

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Kept following McQueen round until he ran wide at the second hairpin, gifting me 6th. The British Peugeot up front also struggled badly on the downhill 'S's, and seeing his right-hand indicator flashing made me think that at some stage he was anticipating an imminent pass. He scrapes the wall at the 'death chicane'; McQueen capitalises on our hold-up when he makes a savage lunge at the second hairpin. I stayed wide knowing full well that he had the speed and the inside line to pull through cleanly, and didn't want to compromise myself too much before my imminent stop. That being said, McQueen dips two wheels into the gravel at the third hairpin, putting me back in the fight with the British Pug. Was planning to pit on Lap 7 (as in the two full test lobbies I did), but was so happy with how the Mediums were lasting that I decided to stay out when I saw that no-one else in front was coming in. Gained another good run on the British Pug as he indicated from right to left, gliding past under braking through Turn 1.

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Up into 5th we go... and we're making gains on the German Pug up ahead. Stayed out for another lap as he pulled into pit road, having saved at least an extra lap's worth of fuel with my short-shifting and odd map adjustment. Finally swapped over for Hards on Lap 9, re-joining right behind the German and piling the pressure on him once again. Whatever advantage he gained on the straights would be eroded through the twisty bits; twice I got the run out of the final S-bend and tried to pass him around the outside of the first corner, but couldn't pull it off. The only true scare I have is on Lap 14, where I lift too quickly going through the 'death chicane' and come millimetres away from striking the inside barrier. Thankfully, I pull through as normal, but this is how close it came to disaster for the Wix Filters car:

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Made another attempt to pass the German around the outside of Turn 1, but couldn't quite make use of the extra revs I had saved. The German closes the door on me as we enter the tunnel, but the gap he builds in the first sector is again decimated through the downhill 'S'. This time, he loses even more speed coming out of the third hairpin, and shuts the door again as we go nose-to-tail through the left-hand kink after. Here, the German clips the kerb, twitches and spears into the grass. Almost didn't see him re-joining as I went to the inside of the next kink, but avoided him just in time and jumped to 4th without contact. Really ought to keep my radar on next time someone else goes off in that section, but ah well...

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So, it seems like I'm finally getting somewhere in Nations! 6th at Spa, 240 points here and a DR rank now standing at 60K. If it wasn't for the straight-line speed advantage that the FF cars have, I would've easily gone with the Cayman as I've grown accustomed to its confidence and agility in recent months. Yet, I can't help but feel that the second test lobby - done in the Cayman - might have helped me improve my racecraft in the TT. Certainly I had no problem making gains on the Peugeots with the gentler inputs I was forced to make, nor ensuring that I could last the distance without a refuel. No decision yet on Willow Springs tomorrow; haven't quite reached a stage where I feel confident pushing hard without throwing myself off the road.
 
In a Daily at the reverse track, a Viper was hanging on AHEAD of a TT down the straights. I was in a Supra at the time. Really surprised it had that speed.

In my FP with a TT ghost. It took the ghost a good while from exit of T1 to just exiting the tunnel, to get alongside. From there, it brakes earlier to navigate the COMI. I gap it because I don't tap the brakes(just drop a gear). However, it does catch back up as I'm not in the powerband.

For the braking at the hairpin, before the hill, I have a stronger exit and again, the TT takes awhile to catch up. It gets me on the transition from left to right heading down the esses and back up. It pulls away from there and again at the final corner.

I'm going to qualify and start on the fast tyre. I want to see if the RC F can get it in.

The M's sure fall off early, in the TT. I think I will not hesitate to pit for H's early, depending on the race situation (get out of a gaggle of potential crashers, for example, or if caught behind someone, etc.) Running nearly as fast on H's especially as the Fuel burns...

Thanks, great race! I think my best so far is about 27:19 with no slipstream, I should be ok with some tow then. :)

Does the race timer start with a) lights out b) first car to cross start/finish line or c) you crossing the start/finish time

I ran a practice session alone in a lobby I created, so could not 'race' but was able to simulate a race time of 27:41 counting just my own laps... including about 11 sec for pit stop. But I don't think that compares to a simulated Race, because of my question above. Which brings a question: is it possible to simulate a "Race" without another player? The game won't let me start a race by myself...
 
The M's sure fall off early, in the TT. I think I will not hesitate to pit for H's early, depending on the race situation (get out of a gaggle of potential crashers, for example, or if caught behind someone, etc.) Running nearly as fast on H's especially as the Fuel burns...



Does the race timer start with a) lights out b) first car to cross start/finish line or c) you crossing the start/finish time

I ran a practice session alone in a lobby I created, so could not 'race' but was able to simulate a race time of 27:41 counting just my own laps... including about 11 sec for pit stop. But I don't think that compares to a simulated Race, because of my question above. Which brings a question: is it possible to simulate a "Race" without another player? The game won't let me start a race by myself...

I believe your race time starts when you cross the line, you can’t see the gap timing between cars until you do that in a race. Only thing you can do is run a custom race offline with same settings and only one other car, then you can basically run solo for the race. :)
 
Are people fuel saving or no? I didn't have time to see what the difference was between fuel saving and having to refuel.
In the RC F, I didn't. Flatout. Guess it depends where you start. Only had two TTs in my race. One dropped out. The remaining TT had the best fuel economy. Didn't refuel. It pit for RH same lap as me.
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What's a bit funny and messed up, I was trying to "communicate by flashing", to tell the Viper 'stay out!'. I didn't try to pass or pressure first half of the race. We had the pace to stay ahead of the RCZ. If he stayed out one lap more, even though it had to take on more fuel, it wouldn't have been undercut. Viper still came out ahead of the RCZ.

It drove good and I would have been fine to hold position to the finish.
 
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Well I enjoyed most of today's nations. Qualified worse than expected in P13, but worked my way up to P8 on the hards. Chuffed with that, changing to mediums on L8, unfortunately in a bit of traffic. Not to worry most were on the hards or worn mediums so I'll just drive my way through soon enough picking my spots. Lads, I was wrong and I'd like you all to take a moment of silence for my poor rear fender.....
CxwoC2d

CxwoC2d
 

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Are people fuel saving or no? I didn't have time to see what the difference was between fuel saving and having to refuel.

I did a couple practice races this morning. I'm a little torn about fuel saving to the point of no refuel at the pit stop. At least in the TT. The pit loss without fuel is ~10 sec. Maybe a little less, I forget. I didn't write it down. :dunce:

I'm thinking for the first slot I'll push a little harder than my practice race and do a splash of fuel at the pit stop. I'm not totally convinced I saved more in refueling time than I lost in short shifting.
 
Nations Rd 13 - FF at Dragontail Seaside 2

As I am part of a private league that runs the same Nations cup race one day before, I was pretty well prepared. Based on the fact that I put times in top100 EMEA and I was consistent very close to my personal best(45.005) I was not going to leave without a victory.

1st slot - Qualified P1 after putting a 46.3. Had a bad start by getting a penalty in the chicane and that cost me the lead. End of lap1 was in P3 with one RCZ in P1 and a German in an Audi in P2. I felt I was faster and was pushing for a pass but the guy was blocking me at every corner and straight. Pitted in lap8 for Hards, again was behind the German - again blocked me every chance he had. Lap14, he scrapes the wall in the chicane, I have space to get past and he turns on me pushing me in the front wall. Of course he goes forward, I lose two positions and finish in P5. In the post-race chat he said "I'm sorry" - sure, after blocking me at least 15 times and deliberately ruining my race...

2nd slot - qualified in P2, but at the start made a mistake and lost the slipstream on the lead RCZ. Pushed hard the whole race, but I was not able to close the difference so P2 it was.

3rd slot - Again qualified in P2 and started pretty good, was in the 3 car group that managed to break away from the pack. I was in 3rd and pushing hard when I missed my braking point and hit the Italian in front at the lefthander after the chicane. He went head on in the wall - could not take advantage and gain a position and pulled from the racing line and drove slowly till he caught on. That put me in 9th but I started again cutting through the field and by the time I pitted was in 6th. On Hards I pushed hard and closed the distance to the cars in front. There were also people who went for a 2 stopper and with my good pace I managed to get P2. Apologized to the Italian guy again in the post-race chat but he just reacted very agressive and called me a lot of names. I seriously felt sorry that I waited for him...

4th slot - I put my yellow TT in pole with a magnificent 45.9. Me and the German driving an RCZ in 2nd managed to break away early and put almost 10s gap after 6 laps. We then started a bit of a battle, I got a 0.5s penalty and lost the lead then the next lap he scrapes the wall in the chicane so I regained my position. I pitted in lap8 for Hards, but got passed in the pits - the 6 laps leading made me use more fuel. He got out 2s earlier and started to increase his lead. I was giving up hope after 2 laps as he had a 3s advantage, but he crashed at the chicane. From there on it was just a matter of putting good laps and don't make mistakes. Did it perfectly and got the victory with 8s gap. P1 and 176p. Also shared the track with @stpatty, he finished 8th.

I got also 5k DR today, I am now at my highest ever DR - 38k.

Great day for Romanian simracing - from the 13 players which are racing in the private leagues we had 4 victories and 2 other podiums.
 
Things I learned in slot 1:

  1. You don't need to short-shift quite as much as I thought in the TT
  2. Slipstream is a real big deal in this race
  3. Tire wear in the TT is even worse than I thought once you get in traffic
  4. People are jerks
Qualy'd P15, finished P10, not sure about giving it another go.
 
My race sucked as I only had a 1-2 bar connection for some reason. Usually it's full bars. I was probably jumping around based on how many times I had to avoid cars crashing into me.

In the future I'll probably quit when I see my connection that low. Not worth racing in those conditions. And better for others.
 
Nation's Cup was awesome! Qualified 13 (poor showing on my part - didn't follow some sound advice and try to get up front) but finished 11th. For the hard core racers that probably sucks but that is a great finish for me & the GT-R. Thanks to all in the first D/S race for a great race. I think I am passing on Willow Springs (I hate this track).

Thanks to all for a great day racing - see you out on the track!
 
Robbed of Two Wins in a Row!

Jumped into the first slot for the Nations Cup race at DTS-II... was looking forward to it, because was feeling really good in the TT during Free Practice sessions. Nailed a 1:46.1 in the FP session after entering the race, and was really happy to see I was DR rank #18 in my lobby... points for the taking!

Qualified 2nd, of course was held up in one sector by a guy racing, who later went on to rear end me not once but twice after I managed to get around him for remaining laps... oh well, that's a good place to start. Was really close to pole time anyway, and the top 13 were all within 1 sec...

After the first lap, the leader, who I was faster than but didn't want to press just yet, because we got outside of the slipstream gap right out of the gate, plugged the chicane wall, opening the way to me. I cruised to a 2+ sec lead for most of the first stint.

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But a small mistake on my last two laps with the M's meant that gap was down to nothing as I pulled into the pits after lap 10, for my H's. I should have jumped in earlier, because the M's fell off hard when they did, and it cost me.

The Citroen that was on my tail proceeded to try to go around the outside of me after pit-out, and then cut down on me leaving no track at the apex... causing ME to get a penalty! Oh well, kicking myself, maybe I was too cautious on the cold hard tires.



But then that guy proceeds to cause havoc in front of me with two laps to go, I capitalize on his penalty to slingshot him on the front stretch of to start the last lap. I've been gapping him by 0.2 sec every time in the hairpin after the chicane, so if I get through there clean... the race should be mine! Two in a row!?? And I breathe a huge sigh of relief when I nail the chicane. Just bring it home, right?

NO. This idiot in the Citroen dive-bombs me at a ridiculous angle, and I not only lose my spot to him, I 'earn' a 1.0 sec penalty, which means I fall to 3rd place on the front stretch before finishing the race. And the cheater doesn't even say I'm sorry in the chat room, despite sharing some other pre-programmed salutation. I will never respect him in a race again, he robbed me point blank.



But overall, a great result, another podium, though I feel bad about putting the trophy sticker on the Porsche I usually race, when I earned it by cheating on it with the Audi, but that TT is a real joy to drive! I would recommend fresh Hards after 9 laps, not 10 though!

And finally, earned "A" rating with the solid DR points haul, to go with what I am sure will be some of my top 8 points for the complete season. Hope I can keep that A and keep climbing. Somewhere up there has to be some clean lobbies!

Looking forward to Willow Run tomorrow, though a little worried about the consequences of the punters' shameless moves, it's a track that I've done well at, with different cars, though the RSR isn't a the front end of the pace there (at least in my hands) I am comfortable in it and should be able to defend myself... let's see how that goes!

PS: seemed to work for me... to use ALL of the track in the chicane section! No sparks! Didn't leave a mark! Thanks, Audi of America!

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Good solid 3rd in a bump and bang race. Could've won if I was more aggressive, but at the end of the day I got a clean race bonus and I really needed that more than anything else.

Oh, the Ferrari is alright. Wouldn't go at it in a high A room, but the bottom of the bottom A room, it was a podium contender.
 
Well, that race ended up going much better than I thought. I knew I was slow because I'm still learning to trail brake, so going into the 1st and 2nd hairpins could be faster, and I'm always cautious going into the Chicane of Death because, as I saw during the race like 3 times, I don't want to hit the barriers at all, and I got placed in a higher split lobby than usual (I'm at 43k DR and I was door 15, with the room being a 222 point room, normally when I was 40k DR I was in the top 8 door numbers and the rooms were under 200 points), so I thought I was going to get a poor result. Qualified 14th and started on hards, just tried keeping clean and ended up getting some places from people crashing, decided to spend more than the bare minimum on the hards so I could push the tires more, and came in at the end of Lap 6 for Mediums. The undercut worked beautifully as I gained several positions as people ahead pitted, for Hards no less, and after some more Chicane of Death victims and some major crash/ram/tussle at the 2nd hairpin on the final lap (I forgot to delete replays so I can't see what happened), I ended up finishing in 5th for 186 points, my largest haul yet. So yup, done for tonight, gonna go debate if I want to run Manufacturer's tomorrow or not.
 
I must be the only one who stays in his pit box until all cars have left then go set my qualifying lap in peace all alone. At least in the higher DR races/top splits I never see it but I'm just so used to doing it that way by now.

I do this too. I am only DR-D rated and sometimes I would leave it so late that I would miss out on my second lap. Now that qualifying is 10 minutes (back to 10 minutes apparently) there is plenty of time to do this. I can see the advantage of a slipstream but there is also a big potential to stuff things and be even slower, especially around other D rated drivers.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I didn't realize that was a possibility until recently. I've just pulled out and waited until I got a gap. But even then, seemed like I always was held up eventually by a slow (or crash recovering) driver. Slipsteam in GTS is still a bit silly, but like you, always found it was better to just run a clean lap. With many races qualifying seems to have mildly large gaps between drivers, so a clean lap seems to always lead to a better grid position than taking the risk of a few extra tenths that probably won't get you more than a spot or two.
 
The M's sure fall off early, in the TT. I think I will not hesitate to pit for H's early, depending on the race situation (get out of a gaggle of potential crashers, for example, or if caught behind someone, etc.) Running nearly as fast on H's especially as the Fuel burns....
I found this too. I didn't think to practice in the mediums and was wondering why my practice times were so far off the top drivers. I started on the hards and I was feeling pretty comfortable and gaining places so I waited until lap 7 to pit, which if anything was a little early as I struggled a bit on the last couple of laps with the mediums.

A bit off topic but this circuit, time of day and weather really showed off the graphics of the game. I was watching the replay back marvelling at how beautiful the game is as it's hard to appreciate it during the race itself as you're so focused. I recently upgraded to a PS4 Pro and a 4K HDR TV and I'm so glad I made the investment as the game looks simply stunning at times. It's hard to see how they will improve too much on this for the next gen.
 
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So I ran a couple of Race simulations for the Big Willow Race. For me: a no-stopper in the Mediums from the start was faster. I was surprised by this. Is that going to be the prevailing approach? And: wow, it’s another sprint. Under 19 minutes race time again this week.

A bit off topic but this circuit, time of day and weather really showed off the graphics of the game. I was watching the replay back marvelling at how beautiful the game is as it's hard to appreciate it during the race itself as you're so focused. I recently upgraded to a PS4 Pro and a 4K HDR TV and I'm so glad I made the investment as the game looks simply stunning at times. It's hard to see how they will improve too much on this for the next gen.

agreed! I got carried away with photos after this one. As scenic as any of them, and that magic hour light! And this is my first week with the PS4 Pro and bigger, 4K TV setup. It’s glorious.

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Well, after 3 failed attempts to make the Citroen work, I gave up and just ran the TT Cup. Worked much better. :)

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14 laps worth of tire wear. :lol:
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Nice- you ran that Intimidator livery! I was gonna steal it but settled on a variation of the TT Cup in my preferred white and black colors!
 
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I was in a ~43k DR room, and when I saw I was Door 15 and the race was worth 222 points, I didn't think I was going to do well, since I'm also not very familiar with Dragon Trail reverse and I'm not able to trail brake amazingly well. I decided to go for the Audi TT because even though the tire wear is horrendous, I was still able to lap faster in it than the Citroen or Cayman. Plus, I drive a high-powered FWD boat in real life so FWD handling characteristics feel natural to me.

In qualifying, my first flying lap was ruined by someone behind me who decided that it was a race and didn't back off at all behind me, going for a pass into T1, compromising my line, and not really passing well so I was right on their bumper. So I backed off and let the field through, and lapped in clean air, like I wanted to. I ended up getting 3 laps in (I decided not to pit to finish a lap and didn't think to quit to the pits and head out for one last lap on fresh tires) and qualified 14th place. Even if I did get a better qualifying time like I thought I could, I would've been in the lower 10 places. Since I was starting at the back, I started on the Hards. I planned to go more than the minimum on them so I could push harder on both the Hards and Mediums without worrying about tire wear. I was aiming for 6-7 laps depending on how the race went.

At race start, the RCZ behind me passes me into T1, since it's a rocket ship and also on the Mediums. I actually forgot I was on Hards and over-did it into the Chicane of Death, scraping the wall, but for the next 4 laps I settle into a rhythm. All of the runners ahead were on Mediums, and the runners behind me were on Hards, and started making mistakes into the Chicane of Death, giving me breathing room. On Lap 4 the RCZ made a mistake coming out of the final chicane, and a TT ahead crashed into the barrier at the Chicane of Death, promoting me 2 positions. A TT on the same strategy as me pitted, and although I didn't know at the time the RCZ was on Mediums, I did know it was much faster in the straights, so when they went for a move into T1 on Lap 6, I didn't defend too hard, but it did slow me down overall. So, I had a net loss of zero places. Since 13th was right behind me, catching quickly, and the RCZ ahead was slowing me down, I dived into the pits at the end of Lap 6 for my Mediums and no fuel. I came out in 16th. I made up a spot as 15th pitted, and I made a move against a Cayman going much slower than me into the downhill Esses. I gain 2 more positions out of T1 on Lap 9 as more people pitted, just barely coming out ahead of another TT. I thought they were much faster than me, so I was initially not going to defend much. However, they couldn't stick a pass on me at all, and after 2 laps I was actually beginning to build up a gap, so I decided I would defend. The Chicane of Death claimed another victim on Lap 11, and luckily they were ghosted so I went right through them. However, an incident occurred because now the person I was defending against was 3 seconds behind me. I gain another position out of the Downhill Esses as someone was in the grass, handing me 9th place, and I gain another position as more people pitted. The Downhill Esses claimed another victim on Lap 12, promoting me to 7th. From there, I was able to keep a good rhythm up, maintaining a 1.5s-2s gap to the people behind and a 1.5s-2.5s gap to the people in front as they battled. It all kicked off on Lap 15 though. Coming out of the Chicane of Death for the final time, there's a ghosted car, a yellow flag, a car facing the wrong direction, and a person with a 1 second penalty. I'm up to 4th briefly as I pass the person ahead of me when they slowed down, but they get the better line through the Downhill Esses. I could've gone for a move in the final chicane, but I decided to back off and play it safe as I had already gained 9 positions and didn't want to get too greedy.

I cross the line in 5th place, somehow only 4.6s behind first place, and get 186 points, my highest point haul of the season so far. Strategy and staying clean pays dividends sometimes, and I'm super happy with the result.
 
I know a lot of people are running from tonights race at Big Willow so I am going ahead anyway. If I am awake after doing the night to day back to back shift set. And I definitely plan on getting some practice laps here. Expecting carnage but if it goes like Brands it will be more in my favor so here is hoping. Always enjoyed this track, going to be interesting running Gr. 3 there.
 
I like Big Willow. My optimum TT time is 0.9 seconds slower than the fastest in region over a 70 second lap so I don't think I will be competitive here... but will see what happens.

I don't think there will be a lot of (clean) overtaking in Gr3 cars somehow.
 
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