2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

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No long drawn out story about today’s FIA Gr. 1 race from Spa for me today. Really exhausted after the 300km race at Spa today hosted by @Adam Barber, I just wanted a top 10. And I got so much more. Never did a slot this late in any serious attempts, so saw a lot of new faces, meaning I was very apprehensive to start this race. Ran respectable and qualified 5th, though with a lot of time left out on the track.

Lucked out with a pile up ahead at La Source after missing the start by like a half a second. So fell back to like 10th, before moving up to a podium run by working my way through the sideways cars. And again, through many penalties and offs, found myself 2nd before pitting. And I’d been really struggled on that last lap on hards in practice runs (pretty sure I spun every time at No Name Corner), but came through clean to keep that runner up spot. Maybe a win possible if I didn’t botch (autocorrect almost got me in trouble with that last word) the start, but I’m taking my podium trophy and being very happy.
 
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Almost got the battery management nailed down, but then screwed it up on lap 6 or 7 and eventually lost podium. Still a really good attempt, and got some yummy points!

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Had an unremarkable run on the main account, just not fast enough at this DR level for great finishes too often. The DR slide from 40k continues! But it’s a fun race. So I ran it on the Alt at 31k DR. Managed a 5th place in the Porsche from 16th in the grid, via a clean run. Was proud of that. Got knocked to 7th because a dude with one red bar was warping (from third! As bad a warping mess as I’ve ever seen, he would go the distance of four or five places on screen. Awful) and I got a penalty for it at the sector... but I earned 5th so that’s what I’ll say.
 
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Ran 2 slots at Spa:

Slot 1 - B/S lobby, 135 pts, ~26.7K DR, door 6, Q20, P9

Spun at La Source on my hot lap, panicked, reset myself to the pits and didn't have time to set a lap. Oh Dear. Emerged from the T1 carnage in 12th but with a 1 second penalty for some unknown contact, down to 14th. Pitted for softs and dropped 17th. Ran consistent laps from there caught and passed a few guys battling, a few more spun and a couple had penalties. Crossed the line in 10th but someone ahead didn't use the hards so finished 9th.

88 points, 250 DR


Slot 4 - A/S, B/S lobby, 140 pts, ~27K DR, door 17, Q9, P3

No qualy drama this time. Lined up on the inside and prayed. And while I hugged the wall and thought I missed it all, I somehow got a 2 sec contact penalty in the T1 melee, but emerged in third place! Served my penalty down to 6th. Ran the 12S, 1H this time and plucked off clean fast laps. 4th place was a known dirty mofo, but instead of challenging him, I just pressured him into a mistake at Stavelot, and that was goodbye to him. Ran the rest of the race close on the tail of an R18, made the pitstop and somehow emerged in 5th. Someone had not pit for the hards. 4th tried to pass him and they collided and I picked up the pieces from there.

129 points, ~1250 DR, and some Mojo. :D Love Spa, love the TS050.

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I had entered slot 1 of round 2 of the Nations Cup - Season 1, which was the only one I needed for the day. In qualifying, I ended up in 7th place and used soft tires. When the race began, I retained these tires until lap 11 when I switched to hard tires, which was mandatory. I ended up getting the win with 57 points.
 
Very frustrating FIA night for me. I decided to use the TS050 even though I was 8 tenths quicker with the R18 in qualy pace, but I just couldn't learn the battery tricks...

CSA Slot 3. Started on hards, was hit into T1 and got a 2 second penalty for being pushed into the guy ahead, great... Then a guy on softs tried to overtake into Stavelot and pushed me to the gravel, unfortunately I didn't back off enough and spun. :banghead: From dead last and 8 secs behind anyone else, I managed to recover to P12 at the finish, 12-lap soft stint was good and managed to make a few overtakes.

Slot 4. This time decided to start on the softs, and I again got a penalty for being hit from behind into T1... :ouch: That put me into traffic and ruined the strategy. Was in 4th when a Brazilian insisted in blocking heavily, holding me up 2 secs a lap. I eventually made an aggressive move to finally get through but he cost me almost 10 seconds and the chance to finish 4th. But with the time lost, it meant I dropped down to 9th as I pitted on the penultimate lap.

Final slot, weaker split. Qualified P5, and decided to start on softs. Had a better start than the guys ahead, easily passed two Peugeot's off the line and almost got alongside the two leaders, but decided to back out as it would have been very risky. As I was turning into T1, I feel a hit from behind and another guy completes the job and spins me round.

When I looked at the replay, it was the same dirty Brazilian who intentionally ruined my two slots at Laguna Seca on the Cayman last season... :mad: He did get a 4 second penalty for crashing me, and after getting many penalties for bumping and passing people, he ended with 49 SR at the end. Later in the race, he twice pushed me off the track and made me pick up track limit penalties. Fed up, I eventually returned the favor after he made a mistake into Les Combes and never saw him again... This is his SR graph for reference.....
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Wish I had started on hards, as I had to recover from 19th. Was still a fun comeback to finish 7th at the end, but points were completely useless. Frustrating because I had pace to get at least a podium, but no race went well for me today. :nervous: Will maybe try some daily races tomorrow and see if I can raise my DR on this account...
 
After the karts last week, this round was the one I was most looking forward to this season in the Nation's championship. Spa is one of my favorite real-world tracks, and I typically excel in high downforce cars, so I was expecting great things tonight.

Naturally, this night was a complete waste.
Slot 1: Qualified 13th with a lap that was roughly half a second slower than what I was capable of. Finished 7th for 199 points. Just one shy of my 200-point cutoff, but I felt I had the pace to do much better, so again I went...
Slot 2: Qualified 14th and finished 8th for 186. NEXT!
Slot 3: Qualified 9th, got Grosjean'd by someone who nearly spun themselves on the start but was able to save themselves by pinning me to the inside wall. In spite of that annoyance, I was running 6th on the last lap, with 5th directly in front of me having just pitted for their 1 lap on Hard tires. They overcooked Les Combes and caused a traffic jam in which I somehow 3 spots in 1 lap to everyone behind me on Soft tires, and I ended up finishing where I started for 169 points.
Slot 4: Was thrown into Top Split where I didn't have a chance. Qualified 17th, finished 14th for 145 points.
Slot 5: Similar story as Slot 4, but slightly better. Started 16th, finished 12th for 167 points.

Despite enjoying Gr.1 cars, I somehow manage to get a terrible result almost every time they come up as an actual championship round. I wasn't planning on doing any of the other Nation's races until the RB Jr. race at Big Willow, but now I'll have to in order to make up for this disappointing round.
 
Well, not going to write a long story. I did the second slot EMEA and went for a no-stop on hards in my Toyota.
Got totally pinballed in La Source at the start soplowed right through the field and into the runoff. Was p19 with a 4.5 pen...
Anyway, coming to the bus stop I was P11 and trying to do my own race in my own speed to capitalise on the lack of pitstop.
Then in lap 13 a Belgian did the most well executed piece of dirty driving I have ever been receiving.
In bus stop he punted me all the way into the pit entrance...
So I come out on softs and as p18 with only a 962 behind me...
Then at Bruxelles the guy that punted me runs wide I go inside and he turns right back on me, causing him to spin and giving me a 2.5 sec pen on the last lap so effectively a 3 second pen.
I lost 300 Dr and 12 SR points....
But at least I survived. Now getting back to SR99 is next on the agenda...
 
praiano63
I"ll go with toyota
The R18 '16 trick is a joke. Braking out of the braking zone to gain performance around all the lap is broken law of thermodynamics.
Sure a game don't have to follow this rules .... , at least if it name is "Real racing simulator" ;)
Being myself a joke fake racing driver , i would love to use this trick but i'm not able to perform this thing. :lol::lol: Perhaps i'm just unskilled or my G29 brake pedal course is too short to to apply the good amount of pressure .... :confused:
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Do you have any replay of the top drivers doing this? If you're braking on the exit of corners, theoretically yes you can gain more hybrid energy. But because you are also braking then that extra acceleration is wasted no? Also probably increases tyre wear and fuel consumption unnecessarily (neither are critical in this race fortunately).

Unless they can apply such light brake pressure that the game still counts it as "braking", but it doesn't actually slow down the car. In which case you can simply wedge a thick piece of cardboard in front of the brake pedal so it does this automatically for you throughout the race. It's similar to the blinking brake indicator hack early in 2018 (which has been patched thankfully): https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/possible-new-bug-blinking-braking-indicator.383758/

You are right though, either case wouldn't generate enough energy to recharge the battery to any significant amounts IRL. Honestly, PD should just give us a separate setting for the hybrid deployment, just like fuel map:
- Quali mode - full deployment, but battery depletes after 1 lap
- Overtake mode - aggressive deployment, battery lasts 2-3 laps, for attacking/defending situation in races
- Normal mode - average deployment, battery maintained above 20% at all times, good for most situations
- Recharge mode - deployment minimized, to top up the battery after using quali/overtake mode
- Conservation mode - no deployment at all, for use in quali outlap

In addition, you can also deploy max boost at any time by pressing the overtake button, just like the Super Formula. Would make a much more interesting dynamic in battles IMO.

And if you think that's complicated, in Assetto the Ferrari F1 car has 4 separate settings (MGU-K deploy, MGU-K regen, MGU-H mode and engine brake strength). It comes with a 10 page pdf that explains how everything works :lol:
 
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LeGeNd-1
Do you have any replay of the top drivers doing this? If you're braking on the exit of corners, theoretically yes you can gain more hybrid energy. But because you are also braking then that extra acceleration is wasted no? Also probably increases tyre wear and fuel consumption unnecessarily (neither are critical in this race fortunately).

Unless they can apply such light brake pressure that the game still counts it as "braking", but it doesn't actually slow down the car. In which case you can simply wedge a thick piece of cardboard in front of the brake pedal so it does this automatically for you throughout the race. It's similar to the blinking brake indicator hack early in 2018 (which has been patched thankfully): https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/possible-new-bug-blinking-braking-indicator.383758/

You are right though, either case wouldn't generate enough energy to recharge the battery to any significant amounts IRL. Honestly, PD should just give us a separate setting for the hybrid deployment, just like fuel map:
- Quali mode - full deployment, but battery depletes after 1 lap
- Overtake mode - aggressive deployment, battery lasts 2-3 laps, for attacking/defending situation in races
- Normal mode - average deployment, battery maintained above 20% at all times, good for most situations
- Recharge mode - deployment minimized, to top up the battery after using quali/overtake mode
- Conservation mode - no deployment at all, for use in quali outlap

In addition, you can also deploy max boost at any time by pressing the overtake button, just like the Super Formula. Would make a much more interesting dynamic in battles IMO.

And if you think that's complicated, in Assetto the Ferrari F1 car has 4 separate settings (MGU-K deploy, MGU-K regen, MGU-H mode and engine brake strength). It comes with a 10 page pdf that explains how everything works :lol:
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Hello , sorry but it's hard for me to read a long message as your , due to my aphasia problem after my stroke. Reading is my most difficult goal lately . Only 4 lines or i lose the meaning of what writing above. :lol: Better progress are with writing and speaking.👍
So here a video for Igor Fraga . He does it every before strong braking zone , as any top driver R18 '16.
 
I have no idea how some people did all 5 slots last night. I did about 20-30 min of hot lapping, then a practice race, another ~30 min of lobby practice, followed by the first two slots and was exhausted by the end of it. (It probably doesn't help that I'm getting over a cold but damn, this combo takes some concentration.)

Historically, I haven't been all that great in high downforce cars. But I ran a few Race C's in the alt earlier this week and started to feel like I might just maybe figuring this thing out. Then I really dug into the times and realized that I'm still pretty slow for my DR. :banghead: But I did manage to run a couple sub 1:59 FP laps right before slot 1, so I was cautiously optimistic going into the races.

Slot 1 I qualy P14 and start on the hards. I only had two goals this race: A sub 2 min lap and a top 10 finish. I got a good start somehow made it through the first lap clean. Then I got exactly what I wanted, clean air after the pit on L1. It was all going good until I started to catch up with traffic. I get my sub 2 min lap, I'm creeping towards the top 10, then it starts to unravel on me. I tapped a R18 from behind that looked to be losing hybrid for a 1 sec penalty and SR down. Then I run wide at Stavelot a few times - a corner that didn't give me problems in all my practice. But what killed my chance at P10 was completely sliding wide and getting squirrelly coming out of the Bus Stop at the end of L12. It cost me at least 2 sec - which was the difference between me and P10.

Slot 2. I qualy better at P9 but L1 turns into the disaster that I saw everyone else go through. I stay tight in T1 and feel like I got through clean but get a SR down and 1 sec penalty. Then I get a .5 penalty going through Eau Rouge and Raidillon. I again started on hards but instead of clean air after the pit, I get caught up with 2 guys that want to fight rather than work together. The longer the race goes on, the more silly mistakes I make again as my concentration starts to slip here and there. Then at the start of L12, we get held up by a Hyundai(?) that pitted to the hards a lap early. It was one of those cars that flies down the straights but is painfully slow through the technical sections - especially on the hards. But this guys is swerving and bumping the two guys in front of me as they try to go around him. I finally get my turn that the start of L13, He goes defensive but I easily go under him as he runs wide on the exit. I pull away through Eau Rouge and Raidillon but he uses his better top speed to divebomb me hard going into Les Combes. Again, he's slow and slidey going through Les Combes and I tap him wide at Bruxelles. I instinctively slow down to give the position back and then remember everything I've seen him do the last lap and half, put my foot back down and speed away from him. I get my P10 and feel like a horrible human being, even though a part of me felt justified in this situation.

Anyway, my SR took a bit of beating both races. Both rear taps got SR downs, even though one of them barely unsettled the car ahead of me. Not to mention the mystery down arrow for T1 on race 2. Whatever. On to Fuji.

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Owwhhh hybrid this and hybrid that. Get your Paris Hilton tree hugging batteries out of here. I'm going to drink this diesel juice that grows hair (in random places :lol:).

In all seriousness though I could run the fastest one lap in the R18 but either just couldn't get the battery trick right consistently or I'd just lose the rear end and spin it. Toyota felt ok but for whatever reason I was .7-.8 faster in the Peugeot so I went for that. Joined the 2nd slot I believe in 2nd split (26x points on offer)? While everyone was bickering about finding a drafting teammate and such I was 20 something seconds up the road for qualy all lone. Threw down a 56.9 which was a surprise for me. Was 5th initially but slipped to 9th. Knowing I would get mobbed on the start by the hybrids I started on the softs to mitigate some of it. As expected the first turn was chaos but I managed to ease up early enough to get through it. There were a handful of people with penalties while others have pitted so by lap 2 I was 4th with 3rd just ahead carrying a penalty so I was poised for 3rd. Then it was just hitting my marks till the end of L12 where it got really interesting. Got out of the pits retaining my 3rd but was only 1.5 sec ahead of the hybrids on softs as I was on hards. I just placed my car where the aero draft would be a nuisance to the cars behind, even slowing the apex a little to put everything on my exit. Out of the last corner I put TC on 1 just to aid me a bit as I knew it would be a mash and hope for the best. Just held onto 3rd by hundredths. If that finish line was any further away the boost from the hybrid would have gotten me.

Interesting enough a friend @Gouletzky and I were the only ones running the Peugeot and we got 2nd and 3rd respectively and very good points. In a way I was relieved I was one and done and as the saying goes. The fastest car is the car you're most comfortable in, and for me it was that diesel juice baby! :cheers:
 
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Didn't have much time for practice yesterday, but I was able to run a few laps in the R18 last wednesday night after MFG. Little did I know, that if the R18 was going to be viable you needed to learn the hybrid regen trick, otherwise race pace was garbage (for me anyway). So, a few hours before the first slot I started testing other cars. Tested the Toyota TS050 and the Peugeot 908. Neither of them were as fast in Q as the R18, but both of them seemed to have better race pace than the R18 without the hybrid regen technique...which I wasn't too excited about learning on the day of the race.

Ran one practice race in the Toyota and decided to use it. Even though I was giving up a half-second in qualifying, my overall race pace was much quicker in the Toyota.

First slot, second split lobby, went wide on the exit of no-name in qualifying and copped a .5s penalty. Didn't have time to back out and try again, and the next penalty zone would be on my only chance for a qualifying lap....so basically lap ruined. Started P17. Due to the chaos at the start, I found myself in P10 after T1 and then in P6 after 4 more people served penalties. So before the end of the first lap I had gone from P17 to P6 on hard tires. Decided to pit for softs and see how it went. Race went well, undercut a bunch of people and found myself in P7 on the final lap. Gained 2 positions right before the end, one at the final bus stop to finish P5 for 221pts. Not enough.

Tried again, this time was door #1 in 2nd split again. Didn't quite nail my qualy lap but was within a half-second of my optimal and ended up starting P2. Pole was an R18 with a 55.5, so even if I hit a better lap I wouldn't have beaten that in the Toyota. I pulled away from the pole-sitter right away on the grid start and was able to loop it around for the lead at T1. Hybrid juice pulled me away even further and since he was on hard tires he seemed to get swallowed up pretty quickly before the end of the 2nd sector. There were a couple Peugeots behind me after that, and even though they gained on the straights it still wasn't enough to overcome the excess of hybrid power so I slowly increased the gap all race until the end. Clean air for the win, 262pts. Back to back FIA wins for me (MFG & Nations) so I'm pretty happy.

Cheers everyone, see you at Fuji!
 
Round 2 was not going well for us first 3 races we never made past turn 1. 4th race Q4th we escape turn 1 and was p2 at the end of the Kemmel Straight. We chase the leader for 2/3rd of races got distracted by track penalty and missed how brake point at the bus stop chicane, got track reset than spin on the curd right out of the chicane into the wall, panicked we shift up the gears instead of reverse and blew 11 sec gap and finish p7 -_-

And so we decided to go again, we felt like we found the groove you know, we can get Win #nevergiveup, But after 5 hours of racing and practicing we a bit agitated and well. . .



-_-
 
Famine
It doesn't count yet (assuming you scored more in the first race). It might count in the future.
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Yeah, scored more in round one. So just sit and wait? Just seems silly to not do an overall, then subtract the lowest scores as they get replaced.

Though, tbf, that kart race didn’t see much participation, so in the grand scheme of the final standings, was almost a wasted round.
 
HaydenFan69
Yeah, scored more in round one. So just sit and wait? Just seems silly to not do an overall, then subtract the lowest scores as they get replaced.

Though, tbf, that kart race didn’t see much participation, so in the grand scheme of the final standings, was almost a wasted round.
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It's 1/3 of the rounds, rounded up. So 2 rounds done / 3 = 0.66. Rounded up is 1 round that counts. A 2nd best round will start to count after round 4.
 
praiano63
Hello , sorry but it's hard for me to read a long message as your , due to my aphasia problem after my stroke. Reading is my most difficult goal lately . Only 4 lines or i lose the meaning of what writing above. :lol: Better progress are with writing and speaking.👍
So here a video for Igor Fraga . He does it every before strong braking zone , as any top driver R18 '16.
Click to expand...


Ahh so that's how they do it. It makes sense now :lol: You just ride the brakes at the end of straights when acceleration isn't as important anymore. It's similar to how you switch to fuel map 6 for extra boost coming out of corners in fuel saving races. One more trick in my bag, thanks Igor :D

Sorry for the long post mate. I knew you had a stroke but I didn't realise it affected your reading. Take it slow, recoveries like these take time 👍 Even with that you're still soundly beating me in time trials so I'd say you're doing well already :lol:
 
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praiano63
Hello , sorry but it's hard for me to read a long message as your , due to my aphasia problem after my stroke. Reading is my most difficult goal lately . Only 4 lines or i lose the meaning of what writing above. :lol: Better progress are with writing and speaking.👍
So here a video for Igor Fraga . He does it every before strong braking zone , as any top driver R18 '16.
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That and from what others have told me, I finally understand. It's dragging the brakes when there is still hybrid in the car. If all the hybrid is gone, then this will not work.

Did not work well for me mainly because the replacement spring on my T3PA is incredibly soft and applying only a sliver of pressure was impossible. I was only able to recharge at the bus stop and even that was not consistent. Really annoying because this was a good combo for me.

Still had a chance (and likely my only one this season) for a top split victory.

 
OutlawQuadrnt
That and from what others have told me, I finally understand. It's dragging the brakes when there is still hybrid in the car. If all the hybrid is gone, then this will not work.

Did not work well for me mainly because the replacement spring on my T3PA is incredibly soft and applying only a sliver of pressure was impossible. I was only able to recharge at the bus stop and even that was not consistent. Really annoying because this was a good combo for me.

Still had a chance (and likely my only one this season) for a top split victory.

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I’ve got the replacement springs in my T3PA’s, can’t remember if they are Ricmotech or 3Drap, but they come with a gas and clutch spring, I just put the clutch spring in the brake since it was nice and heavy and I don’t use a load cell. But they work really well, and are a fair bit stiffer than the stock ones. 👍
 
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Pigems
I’ve got the replacement springs in my T3PA’s, can’t remember if they are Ricmotech or 3Drap, but they come with a gas and clutch spring, I just put the clutch spring in the brake since it was nice and heavy and I don’t use a load cell. But they work really well, and are a fair bit stiffer than the stock ones. 👍
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I believe my spring broke around the shutdown and so I couldn't get those. Just bought them today to see how they feel.

As for Fuji, I am terrible at that track and the GT-R is atrocious in S3. I may just do the last slot to not finish last.
 
Ashthebash
On the hybrid regen thing, don't get why we can't just press the overtake button going down a straight to get the battery to harvest extra energy at the cost of some power. Might not be accurate to real life but then neither is riding the brakes into every braking zone
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...The latter probably ~is more realistic, though I wonder if the severity of the battery draw is somewhat 'overplayed' in the game, making it a bit more drastic than real life. But a controlled boost button isn't realistic at all and shouldn't be something the game offers, either.
 

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