Gran Turismo World Series discussion (2026 Manufacturers Cup Exhibition 2: Aug 22 - Sep 12)

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GT2 EMEA 1st slot mostly A lobby 162 points up for grabs

Qualifying was a bit of a mess, went out quite late but not quite late enough as only my 1st lap was clean and the rest was held up by traffic or accidents. Put in a 1.13.8 that got me 7th on the grid.

Race start it did that annoying thing of keeping you in first gear at max rpm so immediately lost a space to an AMG getting into 2nd. Was a very tight pack for the first 8 or so laps, with about 4 seconds covering the top 8. Most people driving respectfully and didn't take silly lunges. Started picking up a few penalties from hitting the outside wall on the last corner and dropping a few places.

Tried getting some bump drafting going with the cars around me but our paces in the infield were too varied to keep it going (and no one returned the favour!). Got to lap 12 and had a penalty so decided to pit, was originally thinking I was going to change tyres but they were better than expected as driving in traffic kept them fresher as couldn't push as hard. Decided not to change, but pit brain struck again, and didn't cancel the refuel (is there some specific term for pit related stupidness or is just untreated ADHD?). Took maybe a second or so of fuel before cancelling and then came out into relatively clean air.

Just kept driving safely for the last of the race, fresh tyres wouldn't have made a difference as the cars ahead were all faster, the ones behind were all slower. One of the cars I was close to before the pit pitted on lap 22 and came out just behind me so maybe not switching helped with a position there.

Finished 6th for 128 points which I'll take as everyone ahead of me was faster so no point going again.

Doing the first slot each time has meant I now recognise a lot of the drivers each time which has been quite nice as everyone seems to be quite respectful (mostly).
 
Skidude88
Nope, hopeless... watched calstar video, still launch into the sky trying to take wide line in at turn 1 (in Cayman)
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I’ve done more practice for this race than any previous round, but still find T1 a bit of a lottery. I think the lower line is the percentage play; slower but much safer. Best time 12.9 in practice following someone but zero chance of getting anywhere near that without a guide! Will be going at 8pm GT2 uk so looking forward to reading the early reports.
 
He's a none speed related question to these cups...

I'm always the only driver on grid with a 'plain/blank" helmet? where do you edit this for the cup? My normal helmet design isn't showing, presumably its a different helmet for the cups?
 
I did a couple lobby races last night -- one in the Ford, the other in Subaru. I'm not remotely fast in either car. I'm pretty happy on the rare occasions when I can get into the 1:14s. I managed to gain positions in both races, though, just by keeping the car on the track.

My expectations for this round are pretty low. I'm just going try to stay out of trouble, and let other drivers crash at T1 and knock each other off in the infield. We'll see how it goes.

Go luck to everybody racing today!
 
Just had sufficient time to do 1 attempt today as away later. Managed to Q6 and orf we went. Relatively clean tbh at the front and squeezed up to 3rd.
Tyre wear was quite high but didn’t want to pit and hit traffic so pitted lap 17 and came out 5th.
Could see all 4 cars ahead and was catching each lap. The guys who finished 2 & 3rd must have pitted but not changed tyres. It was so so close at the end and 1 more lap myself and the guy in 4th could have passed them.
Great race and happy with 5th.
Race was a Low DRB and SRS
Enjoy 😊
 
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My lap 1 no tyre change stop plan worked better than I could ever have imagined, qualified 12th, running 11th at the end of the first lap when I came in. At the end of the 13th lap when every one had pitted I was out in the lead, the only car in sight behind keeping me honest had pitted on lap 2, and had been slowly closing the gap all race.
 
Sadly I m working today and I’ll probably only get back in time for the 8pm (EST) slot for the race today. If I’m lucky I’ll be back soon enough to get more practice in before but I don’t count on it.
The thing is since I missed round 2 (sad since I’m somehow quick for my league at road Atlanta) I now have to do the two next round and I can’t have a bad result…
Anyway good luck out there guys and gals
 
Just did my race, GT3 B/S lobby. I'm on pad, MT, 0 TCS, neutral brake balance.

Qualifying went badly, only did a 1.15 dead which was a second slower than practices. Either way front runners put in times of 1:13.0 for a low B lobby was insane. Qualified 14th.

Committed to the lap 1 no tyre change as there was a ton of traffic and wanted clean air. Ended up in P6 after all the stops, tried to hold it but a couple of rough laps meant I lost 2 places. Had Huracan closing in last 4 laps but found a bit of pace/grip again and managed to come home .300 ahead of them. There was another couple of cars behind them so the lowest I could have gone is P10 with a bad error, but my qualifying peers who I were in and around when I pitted were tens of seconds behind so they likely lost a ton of time fighting.

Interestingly me and the Huracan were the fastest cars on track the last couple of laps, pulling over 6 seconds back on the leader. Finished pretty much as my practice race did with a 29:30 time (although i didnt pit then, so found about a second a lap more pace than then) for P8 and 50 points and a slither of DR gain 😄 in two minds whether to go again.
 
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Skidude88
He's a none speed related question to these cups...

I'm always the only driver on grid with a 'plain/blank" helmet? where do you edit this for the cup? My normal helmet design isn't showing, presumably its a different helmet for the cups?
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It's different for the manufacturer cup, (not sure about nations). For example I'm Ferrari this time and my suit is basically plain red. In any other mode my normal suit and helmet show.

You can edit your usual race suit and helmet in GT Auto and then the furthest option on the right but this won't impact this cup.
 
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VillaJ100
Just did my race, GT3 B/S lobby. I'm on pad, MT, 0 TCS, neutral brake balance.

Qualifying went badly, only did a 1.15 dead which was a second slower than practices. Either way front runners put in times of 1:13.0 for a low B lobby was insane. Qualified 14th.

Committed to the lap 1 no tyre change as there was a ton of traffic and wanted clean air. Ended up in P6 after all the stops, tried to hold it but a couple of rough laps meant I lost 2 places. Had Huracan closing in last 4 laps but found a bit of pace/grip again and managed to come home .300 ahead of them. There was another couple of cars behind them so the lowest I could have gone is P10 with a bad error, but my qualifying peers who I were in and around when I pitted were tens of seconds behind so they likely lost a ton of time fighting.

Interestingly me and the Huracan were the fastest cars on track the last couple of laps, pulling over 6 seconds back on the leader. Finished pretty much as my practice race did with a 29:30 time (although i didnt pit then, so found about a second a lap more pace than then) for P8 and 50 points and a slither of DR gain 😄 in two minds whether to go again.
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I wouldn't do it if I were you. I've played it twice - once 12th (got a massive bump on U turn), then 14th because of... just weak driving. Will need to give it another go as I got like 30 points but also I'll be soon kicked out from B rating if I continue performance like this on that track. But ofc it's up to you and how confident you feel
I saw one guy from France pitting on 1st lap and though that its a mistake. But maybe it's not a bad idea after all as going head to head on this track is very intense, and that way you can pass them clean later when they pit. For me no tire strategy is risky though - also playing on pad and during last two laps front right tire is almost gone.
 
Hiponiak
I wouldn't do it if I were you. I've played it twice - once 12th (got a massive bump on U turn), then 14th because of... just weak driving. Will need to give it another go as I got like 30 points but also I'll be soon kicked out from B rating if I continue performance like this on that track. But ofc it's up to you and how confident you feel
I saw one guy from France pitting on 1st lap and though that its a mistake. But maybe it's not a bad idea after all as going head to head on this track is very intense, and that way you can pass them clean later when they pit. For me no tire strategy is risky though - also playing on pad and during last two laps front right tire is almost gone.
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Yes it is a concern, the pole qualifier was fast but finished 4th due to two spin outs, one when was behind me after pitting and tried to divebomb into the hairpin which I just about avoided.

I think changing tyres or no is very much depending on what car you have. The Cayman is pretty light on tyres, i had about 25% life on the front right and my 'bad' few laps around laps 18-20 were mainly caused by skidding into T1 whivh would have been very hard on them. Ultimately though I'm not super fast just consistent so probably abuse them less.

I think something FWD like the scirocco would absolutely shred them
 
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VillaJ100
Just did my race, GT3 B/S lobby. I'm on pad, MT, 0 TCS, neutral brake balance.

Qualifying went badly, only did a 1.15 dead which was a second slower than practices. Either way front runners put in times of 1:13.0 for a low B lobby was insane. Qualified 14th.

Committed to the lap 1 no tyre change as there was a ton of traffic and wanted clean air. Ended up in P6 after all the stops, tried to hold it but a couple of rough laps meant I lost 2 places. Had Huracan closing in last 4 laps but found a bit of pace/grip again and managed to come home .300 ahead of them. There was another couple of cars behind them so the lowest I could have gone is P10 with a bad error, but my qualifying peers who I were in and around when I pitted were tens of seconds behind so they likely lost a ton of time fighting.

Interestingly me and the Huracan were the fastest cars on track the last couple of laps, pulling over 6 seconds back on the leader. Finished pretty much as my practice race did with a 29:30 time (although i didnt pit then, so found about a second a lap more pace than then) for P8 and 50 points and a slither of DR gain 😄 in two minds whether to go again.
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Either way front runners put in times of 1:13.0 for a low B lobby was insane. Qualified 14th.

Holy snykkies.....Well, I can only hope a steady quick pace will make up for a low 1:14 qualy. Wish me luck, friends.
 
I'm driving AMG which is FR. Dunno if it's my playstyle but in the end of no tire change race front right was like 5% or lower tops and last two laps was struggle to properly execute fast turns 2 and 3 especially and from usual 1:14-15 I dropped to like 17-ish.
 
PhlebMike
Either way front runners put in times of 1:13.0 for a low B lobby was insane. Qualified 14th.

Holy snykkies.....Well, I can only hope a steady quick pace will make up for a low 1:14 qualy. Wish me luck, friends.
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In my lobby that would have got you around 5th-6th I think qualifying spot, for some reason my three laps had F all pace and I can't figure out why 😂 for comparison my fastest race lap was a 1:14.2 ffs
 
After a few practice races last few days I knew that driving in traffic on this circuit is dangerous and quite difficult to make the pass (if it is to be a clean one). So, it really relied on good qualification time. My best one from practice was around 13.7.
Entered the first US slot (high B lobby, 132 points for the win, door 13), wasn't very hopeful before time attack, counting on top 5 to maybe escape some mid-pack drama.

But just out of nowhere I pulled a lap pretty close to my optimals and placed P1 on the grid:
GTWS25-Ex3-Manu5-qualiresult.webp


And it was two laps in succession first 13.5 and 13.4 at the end! Wow!

I was kind of nervous at the start, first corners weren't too good, but I held my own and after first lap I started to clock low 14s with occasional high 13. Solid pace in my book.

There were three of us that broke away from the rest. It was clear observing cars that followed me that they have great pace too, some corners (especially the last one and the turn 4) I gained and some (especially the slow ones) I was loosing out.
So whenever I gained on the straight and afterwards I was loosing about the same in the hairpins.

We were inside 2 seconds or so. The P2 car (the Viper) overtook easily when I made a small mistake in my strongest corner (the last one) and kissed the wall just too much to get 0,5 second penalty. The 3rd one (458 Italia) came quickly to my rear. We raced for a few laps but eventually using my slipstream they came close and we entered first corner side by side (I was on the outside). It made me miscalculate my braking and I veered off the track hitting the wall there. So P2 was gone.

The P4 car (the Huracan) came within 2 seconds of me then, but we soon entered the pitting cycle and most of cars dived into pits on lap 11, probably no one went for no change strategy, because it only made sense on first or last lap really.
So, after the cycle there were two twos fighting in front: P1 and P2, about 4 seconds gap and then me with the Huracan catching my draft after few minor mistakes. Both fights were fierce and (I think) mostly clean. The Huracan with its grunt on both hairpins was destroying whatever advantage I built earlier, I relied on my big straight exit and turn 4. So we raced quite closely for a few laps when finally I messed the big straight exit and Huracan ate me alive before turn 1. P4 is not so bad I thought, but the Huracan did some struggling on the lead and I was always quite close on the straight.

On penultimate lap Huracan messed the first corner braking and went very wide allowing me to take the inside and hammer it. Last two laps were intense, but I kept an honest gap of 0.3-0.5. Last corner they were really close, but I again hit the correct line exiting for the straight, tightened to the inside quickly and kept it to the finish line. Huracan took the slipstream and started to pass me on the outside, but it was not enough before the checkered flag.

GTWS25-Ex3-Manu5-result.webp


Really cool fight and the one that I was victorious so, yay!
A podium place awarded me with record points haul - 121 points. Never saw such amount beside my name.
GTWS25-Ex3-Manu5-podium.webp


Another fine round, now to the settings sheets 😬
 
Had a great race just now, well great for me. Lacked excitement but let me explain....

Ended up hitting my best free practice time of a 12.7 just before qualifying, so I knew I was in good form, I'd found taking the last corner in 3rd on the rev limiter was infinitely quicker than taking it in 4th (for me using a control pad).

Qualified in 6th, slightly disappointing but still my best of the series so far in my final appearance.

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Left my strategy down to the Gods - I had no plan, and sometimes no 0lan is the best plan. I actually got upto 4th by the hairpin on lap 1, but then this occurred (all these guys were behind me in 5th-7th)

19ac14c730b100-screenshotUrl.webp

So I was pushed out thanks to the car next to me having absolutely steamed down the inside of me at a ridiculous speed, I went off track into the dirt. Temporarily I was 9th, but after the following left hander where I'd held back a bit, 4 of them took each other out so I was back up into 6th. It was too crazy for my liking, so I dived into the pits - the standard of driving on show left me no other chance. Only one other guy pitted alongside me, he was 2 and a half seconds behind after we merged back onto the track.

Anyway the next 16 laps were uneventful, the gap was between 0.5 - 1.5s between me and a Swedish driver consistently. We caught upto a back marker (well, he was in 5th but hadn't yet pit) and the guy behind lost it at the hairpin behind me, so I was free of any pressure.

I managed to overtake him, and thankfully over the next couple of laps everyone ahead decided to pit, and I'd cycled up from 5th to 4th.

I was losing time to the guy in 3rd, so although he was only 2 seconds behind him I decided to not be a hero, and cruised through the last 2 laps at 90% in order to bring it home for 223 points, my best of this series, to take me to 736 from 4 events.

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And a 28min 58.5s race time - bang in line with what I expected really, and this race I didn't tap the wall once nor get any penalties.

Tyres were still fine - screenshot below shows just before the line along with my lap times for the 2nd half of the race. I will say that for 90% of the race, I didn't have a slipstream, so basically all of those laps are natural rather than slipstream assisted - which is the only downside of pitting early and being the first driver to do so.

19ac144d96b98-screenshotUrl.webp


Happy racing, all! And enjoy the final round on Saturday.
 
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The fact that I was playing a lot of PMR over the last four days and can no longer remember how cars drive didn't help...

... but that was a race not worth the electricity.
 
This race was the nightmare I predicted. Full of Citroen, BMW and Porsche drivers, with me being the only Renault driver (again)

Slot1: Qualified 8th with a 1:13.434
Pole was 1:12.686!!! (WTF)
Door #8 Finished P7

I actually managed to get up to 5th after a couple of cars in front of me went off on the first lap, but resistance was futile, once I hit the straight, as the poor Megane Trophy was completely out of its depth.

Anyone could draft past me, but I couldn't do the same and over 23 laps, I lost places to a Citroen and BMW driver who qualified behind me.

The infield part was absolutely great, but Blue moon Bay is all about good acceleration and top speed.

Finished witb 171 points and a DR gain. 990 points so far this season. I can't wait to jump back into the RS.01 for Deep Forest. Tuning should make the last round very interesting.

Hope you all had fun today!
 
dazdilly75
This race was the nightmare I predicted. Full of Citroen, BMW and Porsche drivers, with me being the only Renault driver (again)

Slot1: Qualified 8th with a 1:13.434
Pole was 1:12.686!!! (WTF)
Door #8 Finished P7

I actually managed to get up to 5th after a couple of cars in front of me went off on the first lap, but resistance was futile, once I hit the straight, as the poor Megane Trophy was completely out of its depth.

Anyone could draft past me, but I couldn't do the same and over 23 laps, I lost places to a Citroen and BMW driver who qualified behind me.

The infield part was absolutely great, but Blue moon Bay is all about good acceleration and top speed.

Finished witb 171 points and a DR gain. 990 points so far this season. I can't wait to jump back into the RS.01 for Deep Forest. Tuning should make the last round very interesting.

Hope you all had fun today!
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Still positive DR!
 
Top 4 were all sub 1m14, I did fastest time I've ever done with fuel , a 1m14.1 to Q7

Almighty crack mid way though with brake pedal, managed to finish 6th

Anyone know where to get Fanatec csl v2 pedal spares? One side of The 'T, has sheared

11622.webp


...update...Fanatec do a spare kit , 'rod and washer kit' for 5euros +9euro delivery. Invoice is just in and looks like it's coming from Corsair UK, Reading👍
 
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I’m thinking I might try something a little different. I will try to qualify the best I can but I’m a bit worried of my one lap pace so I’m thinking about pitting (with tire change) around lap 4-5 to hopefully get into clean air and have better tire then those how will pit later and/or not change tire.
Not sure yet if it’s viable but did anyone tried something similar?

I personally think the 3-4 seconds added to the stop for tire change is worth it instead of trying to save them the best we can.
 
Didn’t enjoy that. Just can’t get the hang of this track. Qualified 13th, pitted lap 1. A few clear laps but then ran into the old problem of backmarkers racing you for no reason whatsover. Not even trying to pass, just waiting for them to pit but losing so much time with the weaving, swerving into the braking areas, running you into the wall.

In the end I was in a swarm of them, got fed up and parked it in the pits. On to the last round and a dumb tuning race. If I wanted to do that I’d play a real sim.

Oh and no problems with tyre wear in the Scirocco if you drive slow enough.
 
GT2 EMEA 19:00 Q2/P7

Honestly it wasn’t a great experience I think mainly for my low experience in tough racing.

Qualified with 1:14.2 in Q2
At T1 was already first but at T2 I saw cars coming from everywhere.
To be respectful I was breaking earlier to not hit anyone but other had different opinions and any small room left was used by a “car train”
On the straights the Renault Trophy is struggling and if I cannot have the room to take the right trajectory then I am destroyed.

Lap 2 I am 5
Lap 3 I am 12

Then I started to thinking if Pit immediately but I was scared to not have enough tire to the end.
In reality in that situation pit at lap 3/4 would be the right choice… I pit at lap 8… too late.

At the end every time the other were pitting I was just behind them and so at lap 14 I was packed in the middle of many other cars.
The group between P4-P9 (me) was in less than 1 second and in front of me were fighting so hardly that I didn’t see any room where to try to overtake.

It is a pity to be one of the fastest (I did a couple of time the fastest lap of the race) but you end so behind…

At the end it was lack of experience.

See you at Deep Forest… hoping that it will be a little bit more enjoyable…
 
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VTEC Driver
GT2 EMEA 19:00 Q2/P7

Honestly it wasn’t a great experience I think mainly for my low experience in tough racing.

Qualified with 1:14.2 in Q2
At T1 was already first but at T2 I saw cars coming from everywhere.
To be respectful I was breaking earlier to not hit anyone but other had different opinions and any small room left was used by a “car train”
On the straights the Renault Trophy is struggling and if I cannot have the room to take the right trajectory then I am destroyed.

Lap 2 I am 5
Lap 3 I am 12

Then I started to thinking if Pit immediately but I was scared to not have enough tire to the end.
In reality in that situation pit at lap 3/4 would be the right choice… I pit at lap 8… too late.

At the end every time the other were pitting I was just behind them and so at lap 14 I was packed in the middle of many other cars.
The group between P4-P9 (me) was in less than 1 second and in front of me were fighting so hardly that I didn’t see any room where to try to overtake.

It is a pity to be one of the fastest (I did a couple of time the fastest lap of the race) but you end so behind…

At the end it was lack of experience.

See you at Deep Forest… hoping that it will be a little bit more enjoyable…
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I expect DF to be one of the best races in this series.. even for me personally it'll be hard to be better experience than Red Bull Ring race.
 
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First race was toilet. Started 12th, finished 10th. I was 0.2 off of qualifying 5th. I went off trying to avoid a spin in front of me on lap 2, got nowhere after that.

Second race, qualified 3rd. 6th and back tripped over themselves in the first few laps, then eventually 4th and 5th dropped off too. An Italian in a McLaren was up front, I was fighting with a Frenchman in an Audi who I had been running with in the first race.

A couple of times I think we could have got close to the McLaren but I think we were a bit too evenly matched on pace/performance to really challenge, even if we worked together perfectly. We traded 2nd and 3rd a bunch of times and eventually by the last lap he was ahead. I tried a move into the last hairpin but ended up bumping him so I backed off. We had both pitted and changed tyres on lap 12 so there wasn't much difference in performance either.

Blue Moon Bay Speedway - Infield A_.webp


160-something points I think. I've never really liked this track, and it took quite a bit of practice to get locked into the consistency needed for it. I still can't do the last turn properly though.
 
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