2021 FIA Series Race Discussion

[csmirnoff]

Yes!!! After so many frustrating races this season, it's incredible what a rollercoaster simracing can be. I think I've just driven my best ever race on GTS.

It was very unlikely that I was going to be able to race today, but I got home in time to do the third slot. My practice was a few laps in TT and 5 or 6 in a lobby to practice some tyre saving. I'm not usually good at it, but from those laps, it was very promising so I was confident I could make softs last to the end on my Jag.

Americas Slot 3, door #8 on a 223-point lobby. Was a bit lucky in qualy, as I decided not to use a slipstream, but I still picked up one in the final straight at the end of the lap. Went for a second lap and was improving a little bit after S2, but without the slip, lost out in the final sector. Still, a solid P4 on the grid.

Went for a very conservative approach, thinking about the big picture, making the tyres last to the end. With slower cars ahead, I had a great start, almost up to 2nd, but everything started to kick off. Was pushed wide into T5, which dropped me all the way down to 8th place, but was soon back up to 4th after some shenanigans involving two GTP favourites, the mad Viper driver and the Portuguese who races under the American flag. Luckily, scaped all the chaos safely and started to work together with the Mexican ahead in 3rd. We built a confortable gap of over 10 seconds to everyone behind, while I was 3 secs off the lead in 4th, so I knew a solid result was almost guaranteed if I didn't make mistakes.

The Atenza in the lead pitted at half-way, so I was up into 3rd. Then, the Mexican on the Cayman started to struggle with the tyres. He eventually made a mistake, almost losing control of his car and going off track. Since I knew he would have dirty tyres, I went for the move and he backed out and tried to get my toe, but he lost it soon after. I was now up to 2nd with another Argentinian in an 86 leading.

I tried to work together with him for a few laps, but he didn't want to be bump drafted, he kept trying to break the toe, which he was never going to manage with his 86, he was very slow on the straights. He seemed to start struggling with the tyres earlier than me and started to hold me up, so I decided to go for a move into T1, which was quite easy given the difference in top speeds.

So I was now leading, but the 86 in the slipstream is a completely different beast, I wasn't able to shake him off and he kept right behind me at a 2-3 tenths range. He was quicker in the corners, but I was pulling away on the straights. Since in the last 2 or 3 laps, I started to suffer from tyres myself, I thought I was going to have to defend the lead, but he went off in the penultimate corner, gifting me a 2 second gap.

So in the end, did a good job with the tyres, had about 40% left on the front left. Took the win by 3.5 secs, my second win of the 2021 official series, both in Manufacturers and both at Fuji! (the other one being the Gr3 race on season 1). But this time, I scored 223 points, which is by far my new FIA record!! Really, really happy!

 

[Geauxgreddy]

2021 FIA Manu Round 10 - Fuji
GR4 - Aston Martin
Slot 1 - A+/S Lobby
Door 16

After a week of practice, I just wasn't sure about this race. I wasn't excited about this race. BUT, it was the LAST RACE of the epic Official Manufacturers Series...so I wouldn't miss it!! I was just pumped going into the race. Concentration was at max 10. I put in my personal best during qualy, a 1:44.6xx. Which made me even more pumped! All I had to do was save tires and not get penalties. From Q5 I worked my tail off keeping the rubber underneath me...trying to get to the podium on my final race. From p5 I worked worked my way forward and finished in p4. P3 was right there, but just couldn't catch him. It was actually a fun race. Pretty darn clean as well. I got 240 points and was just shy of 1000 points on the season.

Thanks to GTPlanet for making the FIAs even more fun. I enjoyed following everyone's progress and results, good and bad. Thanks for those that jump in to my channel and enjoy the videos I make. I do them for fun and its even more fun when folks seem to enjoy them. GT Planet members have commented a ton and I really appreciate that!

 

[MIE1992]

Tried to do a no-stop on Racing Hards at Fuji tonight, and I did indeed typically have a lap time of about 1:50.xxx without much drop even at the end. But it didn’t seem to pay off - I finished a few positions below my qualifying position. It seems that those who opted to go for Mediums/Softs and pit for a change did better. For me, it was a disappointing finish to a disappointing season - but I would’ve done a lot more than the minimum four races if I didn’t have that summer cold.

 

[JoeDaSnow]

At the end of this Manufacturers Series season, I scored two victories, ten top 5 finishes and 216 total points. I now await the victory bonus for the Nations Cup since my compatriot had topped the final standings.

 

[C_Raccoon23]

NA/CSA Slot 1, A/S Lobby, 208 points, Door #8

I was joined in this lobby with @KosmoKazi, but also two notorious drivers who let's say aren't known for their track etiquette. (@csmirnoff mentioned who they are.) I was already expecting to have to do another attempt after this one because of this. However, I managed to qualify 5th after catching @KosmoKazi's slipstream on the main straight. I also learned that no stopping on Softs was my best chance at doing well in this race.

The race started off with turn 1 being incident free. On lap 2, I was over taken by a Jaguar at T1, placing me in 6th. However, the Jaguar driver incurred a hefty 1.5 second penalty for cutting the corner at the end of 300R, so I gained back 5th after they served the penalty. That wasn't the last of them though. On lap 5, the Jaguar made it back up and passed me again. This made it very clear that they were going all out and not tire saving at all. I sat behind the Jaguar for several more laps, even getting close enough to bump draft them on the main straight on more than one occasion. But of course, I avoided giving the impression that I wanted to battle.

On lap 11, the Jaguar's loss of grip was quite apparent and that gave me opportunity to make an overtake at the hairpin before 300R. I was now in 3rd by lap 12 when a Subaru on Mediums pitted. It was complete smooth sailing from there. I eventually built a large gap from the cars behind me and was around 3 seconds behind 2nd place who was in a 650S. I continued to look after my tires and brought it home.

It feels really good to end a season with a podium. But man, I won't lie, it irks me a bit to be so close yet so far once again from my first 200 point finish. If I remember correctly, my highest ever score is still the 194 points I got in the F1500T-A race at Saint Croix C back in July 2020. It would be wonderful if I could achieve a 200+ point score before GT7 arrives. With the next FIA season not being for another 3 weeks, hopefully I can hone my driving skills in the daily races and get that final nudge I need to make it happen.

 

[xxPinkyKissxx]

So that’s a wrap! Ignoring yesterday’s disappointment at not being able to increase my points, it’s still been a massive improvement over last season. I do feel like I’ve become a decent driver! I’ve only dropped DR in one race this year which is quite an achievement. Never imagined I’d break the 40k DR barrier. I’m the fastest Chevy driver in London. (Fastest is actually alien Tunablecoyote7 so he doesn’t count!).
Thanks again to everyone on here for the help, advice and encouragement! I’ll probably be back for the exhibition.

Last season:

This season:

 

[MCL1974]

I had a very nice race, thank you very much.

This race had – what apparently I’m good at – a huge tyre saving component. When I started practicing earlier this week, I was a little worried. My pace was ok, but not top 5 worthy, so I felt I was in trouble this last race. But then it all started to click as each practice showed that the only real viable strategies where one stop softs and no stop softs and HUGE tyre saving was required.

Enter @Mistah_MCA. His vid not only proved I needed to go no stop full stop. But also:

• To take turn 2 in fourth
• Go full throttle after the second path on the right at turn 3
• Break and turn at the thin white line at the final turn

Those three adjustments lowered my race pace by at least a second if not more and his warning not to take it easy on the tyres was not lost on deaf ears as well.

I annihilated the lobbies after that. Some A and even A+ drivers I could not close the gap on, suddenly I qualified ahead or decreased the gap.

Did I mention I somehow know how to tyre save? Well maybe I don’t but I’m just oblivious to the fact that worn tyres should be handled differently. I don’t know. Anyway, I enjoy these races more than most I suspect because they can be taken easier and not pushing gets you further than storming the beach. Which caters to my race stance I suppose.

Of course, you still have to qualify… and that was garbage. A guy in a Nissan (who was going to end in the bottom both after quali and race) decided it was a good idea to pass me while bumping…
This was in the qualifying lap, mind you, not the outlap… I was fuming, but luckily still managed one qualifying lap after hastily aborting the current lap and drive on my own.

That one lap was not good, not bad, but not spectacular either. And even though I knew I was going to do this race well through strategy during the race I still felt I was robbed a place or 2.

I started 7th. And boy was it a bumpy ride. Since I was in cruise mode, people were trying to pass me left, right and center (yes, through me if they could). I was bumped around like I was in a mosh pit, but I kept all four wheels staring the right way all through it. Most importantly I showed respect even to the guys that hit me on several occasions, and made sure to pass them clean if needed be. On occasion I would even bump draft all to show I was a friendly driver and maybe create some sympathy.

I also knew/noticed I was faster and had my secret weapon: the no stop tyre save strategy. But I didn’t want to give that away at the beginning. I had also learned long ago that you can save extra on your tyres if you stay behind someone. Which I did.

As time passed by, most started to pit. I stayed behind those that seemed to drive at a decent pace, bump drafting them along as we progressed through the laps. By the time EVERYONE had pitted, my tyres were still looking good. I was in P1 and things were looking bright.

Unlike practice in the lobbies, the penalty settings seemed… stricter? I don’t know, all I know is I picked up 2 which was one too many. In the final laps P2 who was the race lead before the pitstop sequence caught up with me. The 2 penalties, sloppy driving in the earlier stages and poor qualifying did me in. My lead from the no stop was not big enough. On his better tyres he caught and passed me. I still had a chance but blew it going wide in T1 lap 19. The gap between me and P3 actually still grew, so I had a comfortable second place finish. Total points 105. The highest ever in a FIA race for me and a DR increase of some 1,2k… since I was door number 16 at start.

Not bad, not bad at all.

It’s been a very good tournament ending on a high. That’s all you can ever hope for, isn’t it?

Saw you had 105 points yesterday afternoon after the race in the friend standings, so was curious how your race went....well done! on your way to A!?
May I ask what your qualifying lap time was? and how were your laptimes in the race, and did you start on Mediums to do the no-stopper?

 

[GR33N]

Wow, I see some great results here, congrats everyone !!

I didn't have time to do both Nations and Manu in Season 2, and I couldn't race on Saturdays anyway (except 1 miserable slot in the X2019) so my results are what they are, a little bit disappointing in the end but I'll try and come back stronger in the next one.
See you soon!

 

[Seth_Logan]

Saw you had 105 points yesterday afternoon after the race in the friend standings, so was curious how your race went....well done! on your way to A!?
May I ask what your qualifying lap time was? and how were your laptimes in the race, and did you start on Mediums to do the no-stopper?

Thank you. You did very well yourself! I guess we are all on our way to A, eventually. As long as you finish higher than 11th you will continue to increase DR.

Tried forcing the issue twice, but failed. Dailies were a mess. Got shoved and punted all over the track.

I don't think I'll make it to A in this game. Right now I'm rather curious if our DR carries over to the next game.

 

[MCL1974]

So the final score for me: Not bad for a number two driver...

Pleased with my season. 21st for Citroen is okay, I think. The GR 4 is a fine car but lacks top speed. The GR 3 is a mess on most tracks but on some tracks it does perform well. It hates the Nurburgring but did fine at the RBring. In the end I do not think that I did my season with the best manufacturer available but had fun and thats most important.

My own progress is slow but steady, I usually finish midfield, it was like that in C and it still like that in B. Average qualifing positions is 10th and average finish is 10th, and it has been like that for as long as i can remember.

I pasted my Kudosprime stats below and it shows that slow but steady progress. Pleased most with my SR rating. It is steady 99, only a few drops in that period the penaltysystem was bonkers and punished the one that got punted. It is still important to me not to ruin other peoples race and trying to be a gentlemen racer.
For a pad racer with automatic transmission I think I have gotten pretty far but doubt that I will get much higher then this unless I would put a lot more effort into practicing et cetera....which I can't/won't.

Thanks again to all here for support and advice, especially to the friends I can compare my laptimes and scores with!

 

[Adam Barber]

Highest finish in the manufacturs season so far so I'm happy with that. I pretty quickly ditched the Gr4 in season one and didn't look back at it.

Manufacturers results

• Adam Barber
• Sep 26, 2021

 

[Lewmatic]

Never did consistently well on this track with the NSX but I did good in this race. Wish a pushed hard in the end a little sooner as the grid level on softs was still holding up but happy with the results. Finish the season above 500 in the region for the first time and was close to breaking into the 300 group.

 

[Odiesback]

Manufacturers Series - Fuji Rd10

17:00 Slot

Door: 4
Qualified: 11th
Finished: 16th

That was not the way I wanted to bring the season to a close. Qualifying was going well until a slower car got the blue flag and decided to brake in front of me. I avoided rear ending it but it cost me precious time.

The race was a bump fest! By the time I settled in I had been hit, hit people ahead, a mess. Got an 1s penalty to make things worse and at the very last lap I got pushed off after T1 and span for a terrible finish and 900 DR points gone.

All in all, happy with season final result. Hope to see you all again next time!

 

[MIE1992]

I have a minor update! In spite of my personally unsatisfactory result last night at Fuji, it looks like I moved up a few places among the other Hyundai drivers, ending this second and final 2021 season as the 54th-best Hyundai driver. I think that considering my circumstances this season - such as that terrible summer cold I had, and the fact that I only did the minimum four rounds - that's excellent.

 

[VulcanSpirit]

Now that the dust has finally settled on Season 2 (and the 2021 FIA Championships as a whole), I can say with total confidence that this has been the most consistently competitive I have ever raced in the main series at A+/S rank. Not to say that there weren't plenty of dips and troughs to work through along the way, but overall I'm elated with my best scores from the entire campaign as well as yesterday's finish.

Nations Cup
First off, despite only making seven attempts in the five rounds that interested me the most, Nations Cup continued to deliver with surprisingly great results on two of what I considered to be the 'joke' combos. Those were 6th at Sardegna A in the X2019 and 2nd at the Nordschleife in the GT40, which both felt amazing to drive after I had learnt how to get the most out of them in testing. Strong runs at Dragon Trail Seaside II (Gr.3 Supra, 9th) and Red Bull Ring (Gr.2 RC F, 7th) also helped build up a total of 932 points before the anti-climax at Laguna Seca - exactly 100 points up on my Season 1 score. Had a few scares and scrapes along the way, of course, but for the most part I wasn't too bothered by these as I treated the earlier combos as a fun distraction from Manufacturers. Topped my local rankings by being the only A+ driver in that particular area to earn a full score, all while finishing 22nd overall in the UK right behind @T_revisio and @watto79, and 106th overall in EMEA.

Manufacturer Series
Manufacturer Series remained my biggest focus of the whole season, which was reflected in the fact that I made at least one attempt in every round except Monza. It was important to me that I would try and carry forward the momentum from Season 1, and the extent to which my DR level rocketed over the course of the season meant that even lower Top 10 finishes would've been enough to bag around 200 points in certain lobbies. The problem was that my testing pace got so good that I would often end up intensely frustrated and demoralised if things didn't pan out during the actual meetings. This reached a head at Brands Hatch where it took me four attempts to grab my second-highest score (264 points), something which I do not wish to put myself through again. Additionally, there were times where I ended up driving rougher than I would've liked while fighting or trying to hold onto position, which I'm sure was something that started creeping in after the contact penalties got turned off.

Yet, after 15 attempts and a total distance of 7,107.5 miles in both Scoobies, what did we end up with? Two 4th places (Red Bull Ring and Brands Hatch), a 6th (Tsukuba) and an 8th (Blue Moon Bay Infield A) for the Gr.3 WRX, as well as two Top 10-worthy drives at Lago Maggiore that could've been saved had I not cut the final corner in the second slot. The Gr.4 version also started strong with 6th at Interlagos and 8th at Sardegna B, though again these could've easily been higher if it weren't for on-track battles and an unfortunate off-track excursion. Dragon Trail Gardens was a real low point for the pink Scooby in that it suffered greatly with heavy tyre degradation, but the season finale at Fuji was truly epic. 2nd place on the no-stop Soft strategy, an all-time best DR rank and individual points score, and one of the real highlights of the entire championships along with the pole at Spa, the Super Formula/X2019/Nordschleife races and the drive from 12th to 4th in my second RBR Gr.3 slot.

Going into Fuji, I was already on course to finish significantly higher in the Manufacturer Series than in Season 1. Thanks to that herculean effort there, however, my final total jumped from what would've been an already fantastic 994 points to a whopping 1,056 - beating my Season 1 total by 126 points. Something I later worked out for myself was that had the 2021 seasons been combined and run to the same 'best of 8' system from last year, my overall total for Manufacturers would've stood at 1,998 points - 119 more than my main 2020 total for Ford. Anyway, the scores that counted for this season alone were enough for me to finish as the 5th-ranked Subaru driver (two places behind @Mohamed30_) and joint-86th overall in EMEA between @PirovacBoy and @Hasnain282.

I just want to thank everyone in the GTP community who I was able to race, chat and share updates with throughout the course of the 2021 seasons, plus the likes of @TRL LIGHTNING and @Mistah_MCA whose ghost times and strategy guides also helped me out when I needed them. They've been intense, they've been very frustrating at times, but they'll go down as among the most competitive, surprising and satisfying FIA Championships I've ever taken part in. With that said, I feel that the time is right to step back from the full seasons for now. If there are a few Dailies and Nations Exhibition combos that interest me enough, then sure, I'll still do those as, when and if I can fit them in. But I'm at the stage where I have reached the peak of what I can comfortably achieve at my new highest level (DR 60-65K), and want to take a back seat so I can refocus on other things away from Sport Mode racing.

It's been an incredible pleasure being part of this community since I first joined part-way through the 2019 seasons, and I hope to keep this momentum going with a fresh start once GT7 is finally released. As far as my next Manufacturers pick is concerned, I already like the look of the Genesis concepts that were shown fairly recently, so that's a potential option if I ever want to switch back to a pure rear-wheel drive pairing....

 

[stpatty]

Recap time:

I'm not going to look and see if I had any aims going into the season, I'm just going to post the highlights and compare to last year. I don't think I did a recap after the first half of this year's official season, so this is going to encompass all 20 rounds.

Nations Cup:

For the first half I was 48th in the UK, 266th in EMEA with 711 points (185, 179, 187, 160)
For the second half I was 30th in the UK, 173rd in EMEA with 791 points (226, 176, 198, 191)

Race highlights here were:

• Super Formula at Catalunya. I think I finished 2nd in this race, after realising my best strategy was to use lots of overtake off the grid start and get to the first corner before everybody else. I was in the lead for a long time but the person in second was on the opposite tyre strategy, and it was an easy pass when the time came. This is probably the best I've ever done in a high downforce car and was one of my highest ever scores at the time. Plus my Feisar livery looked amazing, obviously.
• Gr.4 at Autopolis short. I started 18th with what was a good qualifying lap. I finished 6th. I passed one person on track. The sort of luck you dream about.
• Red Bull Jr. at Big Willow. I hate Willow Springs and the RBJ was on sports tyres. This was not long after the update which made pit stops take three years, but I had enough of a gap in this one to know that double stinting the softer of the tyres available was the best choice. I made up several places in the second half of the race just by not driving like a dick.
• Red Bull 2019 at Sardegna A. This was the first race where I was A+. There was a delay on the white screen before the grid because we had a South African with a terrible connection in the lobby, so my nerves were working overtime. I'd qualified well at a track that suits me, I even had @watto79 in a race with me for the first time in years. Grid start, guy next to me turns off traction control too early and spears into me, the only cars who don't make it to the first corner. I go again and get to the first corner before being shovelled off the track. What a welcome to the big leagues.
• SSRX. By my count I'd had well over 10 attempts at this in its previous FIA appearances. All were terrible. Here I finished 4th and scored 226, my highest score to date. Luck evens out.
• MX-5 at Yamagiwa. I loved this race last year, it came early-ish in my time with the wheel and as I won I really felt like I was getting used to measuring my inputs, braking and steering gently to carry speed and maintain the tyres. I did the same this year finishing 6th rather than winning, for 198 points. My lap time compared to the year before was over a second a lap faster. It's nice that I was able to measure progress.
• Gr.4 TT at Alsace. I annoyed a streamer and it wasn't my fault. 191 points and I was disappointed. What a rise.

Manufacturer Series:

For the first half I was 10th for Nissan, 364th in EMEA with 752 points (196, 167, 183, 206)
For the second half I was 6th for Nissan, 302nd in EMEA with 715 points (173, 215, 124, 203)

• Gr.3 at Le Mans. Something I'd earmarked as a potential first ever 200 point result. My first three attempts weren't great but on attempt four I had a fantastic race with @joetoml1n and came home 2nd for 196. This is probably my favourite ever race in this game, just for the sheer effort, will and concentration I had to draw on for it.
• Gr.3 at Sardegna A. Something that was definitely going to be a first ever 200 point result. When I first achieved an S rank I was so pissed off with the final race of that season I barely cared. Same here. I think I got 209 in my first attempt and the race went so badly I'd decided I was going again after about 2 laps. I went again, I took 3rd place on the line and had 200+ points.
• Gr.4 at Monza. 20 laps of tyre saving and similar to the MX-5 at Yamagiwa in Nations, I had won the race when it happened last year. I couldn't this time and I lost a place and a best ever score at the line after making a mistake on the last lap. A fantastic score and performance, but still a feeling that I had under-achieved, which is pretty wild.
• Gr.4 at Fuji. Yesterday's race and a miraculous performance given the track, car, tyre multipliers and the demolition derby going on around me for most of it. If Le Mans in the first half is my favourite race to have been involved in, Fuji yesterday is probably the most impressive. I had to drive carefully, I had to drive hard, I had to drive a horrid car in the process at a track I hate and I made it for a score I would never have thought possible.

Let's see what I had to say about my hopes for 2021:

"It's a shame the season ended the way it did with my DR. I have no idea what's going to happen in the upcoming off-seasons but I guess it's more of the same for me. Keep going, keep trying to maximise what I can get from good combinations for me and Nissan, keep trying to improve with the wheel. My DR only got as high as mid 37k rather than 41, but this allowed me to score record points totals. I think my highest under the new system before this season was 150 or so.

My only hope for future seasons left in GT Sport is for Gr.4 to be fixed. The GT-R is a lost cause at this point that's only ever going to be good at tracks with lots of straights and no corners where you have to carry any speed, but that's not the worst part. It's not that the GT-R is bad, it's that everything else is so much better."

My DR is now 54.7k. I scored 200 points on four occasions, and was close on a few others. I've made marked improvements in races that were repeated from last years, and could even feel this as it was happening. The Gr.4 GT-R was nerfed after I posted that last year, that shows how much of an achievement that was.

These aren't the last FIA races I'm going to be competing in. I'm going to be doing the upcoming exhibition races because I just do this now, and that's that. I started doing the FIAs regularly in 2018 and Gran Turismo and sim-racing has become a massive part of my life in the process. Before I got my PS4 in 2017 I felt like I was missing out on online gaming and the communities that surrounded those in a way that PS3 gaming didn't.

GT Sport and sim-racing have absolutely fulfilled that for me. With GTPlanet, with streamers like Super GT, Jimmy and @Tidgney, with @Mistah_MCA making guides telling me what strategies to follow, with the TPC guys from here, it's much easier to get back into it after a bad race when you can come on here and commiserate with people who had a bad result, and get genuine joy from people who finished well.

Even though my DR has improved fairly steadily since I switched to a wheel in December 2019, I don't feel any different as a driver or a racer. I'm always learning in terms of racecraft, and I always want to learn in terms of different styles of driving, or different types of car. I haven't gone in for every race as religiously as I have in the past and that's partly why my DR is high. I finished 6th for Nissan in the second part of this year's races and that was with only three good scores. That shows how bad the Nissans were in a lot of races, and I skipped a lot of those to try and stay as high up as I could. While I've raced at a high level as a result, I know I'm not learning too much. At the same time, I know I wouldn't be as committed to the races I do enter if I entered everything. Lake Maggie in the Gr.3 GT-R was hideous. A bad combo and the tyres felt like ice. I've learned by now it's not worth stressing yourself out with these.

I've raced with a lot of you on here and there's some I've not raced with in a while. I don't know how much time people can dedicate to these races (and even saying "dedicate" here sounds absurd) but I hope everyone is able to find the balance I've described here, always improving as racers and racing at the highest level while making sure you're enjoying it. I can't wait to see you all in GT7. Hopefully there's a Gr.4 400Z waiting for me. RWD plz.

 

[csmirnoff]

My 2021 Season 2 review:

Nations Cup

Rounds entered: 6 out of 10
Wins: 0
Pole Positions: 0
Top 5 finishes: 2

Total points: 680 (641 last season)
Counting scores: 184 (Round 5 - N400 @ Special Stage: Route X), 179 (Round 10 - Gr3 @ Laguna Seca), 166 (Round 9 - TT Cup @ Alsace), 151 (Round 8 - Gr2 @ Red Bull Ring)
Regional rank: 72th (89th last season)
National rank: 18th (24th last season)

Nations Cup was quite frustrating for me this season. A very disappointing day at Sardegna on the X2019 race ended with myself being driven into the pits on purpose by a dirty driver on a combo where I could have won and scored well over 200 points. Having to miss many rounds due to other commitments, problems with pedals or combos that I was in no way doing, I had only one good score going into Round 8, so the end of the season was just about salvaging a decent result.
Was driven into the wall from a well over 200-points position at the last turn at Route X and wiped out from the chance to score at least very close to 200 points at both Alsace and Laguna Seca, so I definitely could have scored around 70 or 80 more points throughout the season. However, it was still decent damage limitation, still managing to improve a little bit on my points total and positions in the standings from Season 1.

Manufacturers Series

Rounds entered: 7 out of 10
Wins: 1 (Round 10 - Gr4 @ Fuji)
Pole Positions: 0
Top 5 finishes: 4

Total points: 761 (644 last season)
Counting scores: 223 (Round 10 - Gr4 @ Fuji), 194 (Round 7 - Gr4 @ Monza), 176 (Round 3 - Gr3 @ Red Bull Ring), 168 (Round 1 - Gr4 @ Interlagos)
Regional rank: 180th (329th last season)
Manufacturer rank: 11th (33th last season)

Manufacturers was luckily, a completely different story, having clean races and trying to improve on some decent scores in the final rounds to improve my overall score. Got top 5 finishes on all counting rounds, close to winning at Monza and closing the season with a victory, in what was probably my best FIA race ever yesterday at Fuji, with my new round score record (223). 117-point improvement compared to last season, and big gains in the championship standings, both in the Americas region and Jaguar.

Final thoughts

While I wish I had better luck in the Nations Cup, I'm very happy with the Manufacturers result, how I ended the season with yesterday's win and specially, the progress made this season. Scored many more points and improved my positions in the standings on both championships. Also, increased my DR to my new record of 47978, quite close to getting to A+ (maybe now that the FIA is over, I should do some DR grinding on daily races... )

Special thanks once again to @Mistah_MCA, his strategy guides are invaluable. And to all GTP members who I've shared races with, and to everyone sharing their FIA experiences here in this forum and reading and supporting mine, community makes it a lot more enjoyable!

 

[GTWolverine]

2021 Season 2 Results

2021 Season 1 Results

2020 Season Results

Observations:

• I came so annoyingly close to finishing this season with 1000 points.
  • Not only did I miss out on it by 3 points, but I was 0.8s away from (and rapidly gaining on) the position I needed to get those additional points as I was running down 2nd place rapidly at the end of last night's race, but needed 1 more lap to do so.
• I should've taken a gamble and done Slot 2 at Tsukuba to try to get more points. In spite of loving that combo, and having great pace there, it ended up being my lowest counted score because I didn't want to take the risk, even though I knew I had the pace to do better than the 241 points I wound up with.
• In both of the 2021 Manufacturer's seasons, my 2 best scores were with the Gr.4 races, with Gr.3 races making up my bottom 2 scores. In the 2nd season, my 2 best scores were also my only podiums - 3rd place at both Monza and Fuji. Again, this could've changed if I'd just taken a gamble and done another slot at Tsukuba.
• In spite of having literally twice as many people to compete with after they combined North and South America for the Manufacturer's Championships this year, I actually finished 16 positions higher in 2021 Season 2 than I did in the 2020 season (the higher score for 2020 was because 8 races were counted instead of 4).
• Also, my WORST counted score from Season 2 this year (241 at Tsukuba), was 3 points better than my BEST score of the 2020 season (238 at Spa), as well as being better than my 2nd-best score from the first season of 2021 (240 points also at Spa).

 

[Ashthebash]

Pretty pleased! Did 10 races (ran BMB twice), in weak top splits for Brands, Monza and Fuji, and never really had a bad race.

I could probably get better results if I could enter earlier/multiple slots, but to be honest, I don't think I'd have gambled many of the early results anyway. Been driving really solid races on the whole. The problem that pained me last season (qualy) hasn't been an issue this season, I've had plenty of top six qualy results.

Take a little break then time to take it up a level

 

[miumiu79]

I’m quite happy with this result but given I almost got the wr in time trial i probably should’ve got more points, but not the worst way to cap off an underwhelming season.

 

[AstroVex]

Here's my last round of Manu @ Fuji:

As much as I practiced for this one, I messed up 3 qualifications in a row yesterday night. Almost two hours of racing later, my fourth and final stint arrived. Another A/S lobby it was, but with a lower skill level than the past races. (I guess this is where I belong after all 🙃)

The 86 is slow and I've had a hard time with it this season, but I knew I had the pace for Fuji if I qualified well, which I did.

Not a tremendous lap but enough to start from the 2nd position, behind a Colombian Renault. Two Vipers were following me, making me a bit nervous. I found that for the 86, a second and a half of advance before the final straight was pretty much mandatory
against those mean engines, or else you'll get caught up eventually.

Sadly for me, one of 'em was about half a second behind when the last turn came on lap 1. Expecting to lose at least one position, I moved to the left because that's what clean racers do. And then... Magic! 💥🌞 Instead of passing me, a familiar name gave me the needed push, exactly at the right time. Wow... (@ LoopinJupiter , Thank you so much for this - I owe you one man!) )

There I am, still second on the second lap without a second to lose (Door #2 by the way). Softs are now warm, and I can finally breathe a bit, and push carefully. Opted for the 1 stop strategy, because destruction is always funnier than being careful, when given the tire option of course. Not saying it is wiser though, as I lost a place doing so... Finally ended up P3 with around 150 pts. Yay! Those did count towards my final score, so I couldn't be happier for all the efforts I put in yesterday.

This sealed the deal on a season of ups and downs; It was a weird calendar overall, with an unsanctioned demolition derby at a lot of races, Brands Hatch being my most memorable night. They need to fix this. Really.
Apart from that, I keep having a lot of fun driving for Toyota. Their two cars are so different, it is a constant learning experience. I'm glad they won the thing(?), even though the point system still confuses me; I barely see any Toyota drivers in lobbies...

In the end, I've had huge progress this year, and its all that matters. Surely, I'll extent my Toyota contract for the next season, and try to stay their fastest Canadian driver of the championship. (Please correct me If wrong).
On this note, I want to thank you all for being part of this, it was a great time. GTP Rocks! See you in a month... Can't wait already!

Special Thanks @ MistahMCA , the one who makes us all better drivers.


Cheers and stay safe folks! - AstroVex

 

[SmellMyCheese]

Happy with this seasons performance. Had some good results and finished in the top 10 in every race after the disaster of Rd.1 Interlagos, with a win at BMB Rd.4. Easily my highest points total so far.

 

[OJBrit]

Despite getting a good handle on the Gr3 Lambo in Season 1 she got the better of me this season. A lot of the time I felt I couldn't push and just leaked time whilst others were able to get past with ease. On races where I was doing well such as Brands a small mistake cost me. Plus I really dropped it on strategy at Tsukuba.
So it's no surprise that all my counting scores are from Gr4. The Gr4 Hurracan is a great little car. I'm glad to have made 2, 3 digit scores which are my first. I could have had a third and broken the 400pts barrier if not for that incident at Fuji.
Still some more good progress.

+16 places for Lambo.
+1,302 places in EMEA.

Let's see what the randomiser pulls out for the exhibition season.

 

[Roman_GT23]

Welp, gone the whole week. This is how my manufacturer standings shook out.

69th in the Americas eh..............

bummed I couldn't hold onto 5th for Aston as I just lost out in the end and couldn't do anything about it this weekend. The combos for this weekend just didn't suit me apart from Red Bull and Tsukuba (both ironically Gr.3s). None the less this is my best standing in NA so not too shabby. I really need to find a Gr.4 car I like (that I can also live with in Gr.3) when GT7 comes along.

 

[RacingGrandpa]

Here's a recap of my FIA tis second part of the season:
I signed up for Ford, this time with the GT as gr 3.
And then nothing.... I haven't been able to get a single race in. The times have been impossible for me to take part.
I wish they would swap the times between Wednesday and Saturday.

 

[MCL1974]

Here's a recap of my FIA tis second part of the season:
I signed up for Ford, this time with the GT as gr 3.
And then nothing.... I haven't been able to get a single race in. The times have been impossible for me to take part.
I wish they would swap the times between Wednesday and Saturday.

Shame you could not participate, you and your laptimes were missed! I really do hope that they will increase the number of timeslots so that more people have a chance to enter. I also miss a lot of races when my shift is 1400 - 2200 hrs...

(ps cool to see your contribution to IOTW)

 

[OJBrit]

Here's a recap of my FIA tis second part of the season:
I signed up for Ford, this time with the GT as gr 3.
And then nothing.... I haven't been able to get a single race in. The times have been impossible for me to take part.
I wish they would swap the times between Wednesday and Saturday.

It's obvious why they do the evening slots for Weds. They could do a single earlier slot in the afternoon, say 1 or 2pm.

 

[RacingGrandpa]

It's obvious why they do the evening slots for Weds. They could do a single earlier slot in the afternoon, say 1 or 2pm.

My problem is they are over so early. I am at CET.

 

[OJBrit]

Ah that way around. They are still compact though and can be spread a bit. At least you are not in Vladivostok. You'd have to get up early on a Thursday and race lagging cars and get disco'd.

 

[Seth_Logan]

Is there anyone in our group that drove both McLaren 650's this season, who has any offerings on what that was like? What tracks and conditions are good and vice versa?