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

[ZEE]

Even though my first 2 Round of races where truly horrid and lacklustre, I seem to be doing ok in GT3 league, looking forward to receiving the 3mill shortly after Round 4 is up!

 

[Fezzik]

Looking ahead to round 4, turn 10 (La Caixa) at Catalunya is in my top 10 hated corners in the game. It might even be top 5. A dive-bombers paradise if you drive it normally, stupidly tight if you defend. I might skip the race rather than do that one 18 times.

For those who do partake in the horridness it looks at first glance like a very simple strategy - 1H/17M or 17M/1H.

 

[VTEC Driver]

Looking ahead to round 4, turn 10 (La Caixa) at Catalunya is in my top 10 hated corners in the game. It might even be top 5. A dive-bombers paradise if you drive it normally, stupidly tight if you defend. I might skip the race rather than do that one 18 times.

For those who do partake in the horridness it looks at first glance like a very simple strategy - 1H/17M or 17M/1H.

Shouldn't be another race where maybe do a pit stop after one lap and stay out from the "dive-bombers"?

 

[Moose78]

For those who do partake in the horridness it looks at first glance like a very simple strategy - 1H/17M or 17M/1H.

That's what I'm expecting, too. We've had this exact race -- 18 laps, RM/RH required -- at least twice before (2025-04-09 and 2026-04-25). In all the cars I've done it in (Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, and Chevrolet), the optimal strategy has been 17RM-1RH. From what I've seen of the physics changes, I'd be surprised if that has changed for this round.

 

[dazdilly75]

Nice reading about everyone's races.
In my case, once again the Renault just continues to surprise me.
Slot 2
GT1 League. Door #5
Qualified in P4 2:04.734

There were 4 Hyundai drivers in the race, with 2 of them infront of me on the grid.
The rest of the grid was a mixture of Ferrari, Jags and a few others, with my Renault being the solitary representative of my manufacturer. It's the norm for me now.
I knew the only way for me to get a result would be to drive absolutely perfect for 15 laps and not make any errors.

For the whole race I was fending off attacks on the straight from a Hyundai and a Mistubishi driver who I just couldn't shake. In the top of the moutain section, I managed to gain a few tenths on them each lap, only for them to reel me in again on the downhill straight. This went on for pretty much the whole race.
It was a constant game of cat and mouse.

I pitted on Lap 8 in 2nd and came out in 3rd. P1 (a Chevrolet driver) had pitted around lap 3 and did a massive undercut (possibly with no tyre change) Myself and P2 (A Hyundai) chased him down in the second stint. It looked like he'd hold on but the Hyundai passed him on Lap 14, and I tried my best to do the same, but to his creditt, he held on for P2. Leaving me with an incredible 3rd place podium finish. 239 points
(my best this season) and only 30 points behind the #1 driver for Renault in EMEA, even though I missed round 2.

I am absolutely estatic that I was able to achieve this result in the Renault. Even though they nerfed it with more weight, it's still clutch for me. What it lacks in acceleration, it makes up for in handling and being able to absolutely rag it on the limit. On to Barca for a repeat of the race we've done quite a few times before.

As usual, my replay is attached. Good luck fellas!

 

[Windfire1010]

I did 30 minutes of practice before slot 1. Had a very uneventful race in the Americas top split.

 

[MIE1992]

I qualified for 10th and was in 9th with about a lap and a half to go when I lost connection to the server for a moment and was forced out. Thankfully it didn’t seem like the other, worse disconnects I’ve had and it’s only an exhibition season anyway.

Might as well skip the last round, too, especially since I have less than a month to get around to actually playing Ace Combat 7 in anticipation of the 8th installment.

 

[AEther]

I question why qualifying had to be as brief as 4 minutes. All the cars were bunched up with the stakes raised to the roof given we only had one hot lap to prove ourselves. Someone went full send into me after The Chase launching me miles into the dirt. My best lap was ruined with a finish 33 seconds behind the leader, continuing my proud tradition of disastrous qualifying starting Q13.

I focused on avoiding any contact with the wall knowing the consequences of even grazing damage could cost whole seconds per lap. The Alfa suffers for power from the BOP and the hill climb and cannot afford to drop pace.

The entire race turned on Lap 6. On the front straight, a Verstappen 992 lost speed due to splitter damage putting me in 9th. I cruised into 8th past a limping R8 on the back straight. Then my eventual main competitor, a Citroën GT, pitted giving me 7th. I stayed out all the way until end of lap 8 with a large crew behind for fresh tires, exiting in 6th. One other incident on lap 11 gave me 5th with the GT behind me by about 1 second.

My pace reached the peak thankfully in my second stint including hitting my optimal time on lap 14. The GT was pushing me hard between laps 11-15 but couldn’t maintain enough composure to pass despite two brave tries on turn 21. Lucky to some degree as I had a few sluggish rounds through the esses and a couple bad exits at Forest Elbow giving him a fighting chance. But I held on for just enough to secure P5 in a clean race.

 

[VillaJ100]

Managed to do the last slot of the day, qualified 9th, managed to gain quite a few places just through consistency. Was 3rd going into the pit stops and for most of the race when a corvette gained about 3 seconds in the last lap (I changed tyres). They pipped me on the line so I came 4th. The straight line speed of the corvette was insane it was like they were using nitrous. The winner was 50 seconds ahead, way overskilled for the lobby.

 

[FlapJackFlash]

GT1 EMEA last slot low A lobby 172 available 3 on the doors

Decided to leave the pits late for qualifying to get some nice clean air. Was quite surprised that on my flying lap a Brit in a Nissan came out of the pits and started holding me up a bit - never had that happen before and they of course could not put in a time so just ruined my lap for fun I guess? Put in a 2.06.467 for Q10, about 2s off my FP pace.

Come the race I get shunted at the hairpin before the big back straight sending me down to 14th, with the same Nissan from qualifying now ahead of me. We start moving up places purely due to big crashes ahead then a pattern emerges where the the Nissan and I would catch the next car, they would fight a little, giving me a run on the car being overtaken so I moved up with the Nissan steadily. Their pace wasn't actually that bad, I was faster in the mountain section but they were faster in the straight so could tow me along. Eventually they made a mistake on the mountain so i can get past for 6th. Slowly start catching 5th, and then get past them as they made a mistake on T2.

Came home 5th for 143 points, the slow and steady approach working well again here!

 

[Moose78]

That was fun...

GT1 - Americas - 8 PM EDT - Genesis X GR3 - 163 points available - Door #9 - Q3 (2:05.594)

A good qualifying session had me starting near the front in Q3. The two Porsches ahead of me were definitely quicker, though. They took off early, leaving me to contend with the Q4 Hyundai for the rest of the race.

It was clear that I was faster over the mountain, but the Hyundai was faster on the straights. For the firsts half of the race, I'd pull away from The Cutting (T3) to Forrest's Elbow (T18) and they'd catch up by the time we got back around to Griffin's Bend (T2).

I went into the pits at the end of lap 7 for fresh tires. The Hyundai followed me in. They, however, opted to stay on their worn tires and popped out of the pits just ahead of me. Down to P4.

Now they were pulling away on the straights and I was catching up on the mountain.

On lap 9, we caught up to a slower Lamborghini who hadn't pitted yet. This gave me the opportunity to get alongside the Hyundai out of Griffin's Bend (pictured above), but I didn't have enough courage to go through The Cutting side-by-side and backed out of it.

At some point, the P2 Porsche had a crash, allowing the Hyundai and me to jump up a spot. Up to P3.

I was hoping that at some point the Hyundai's tires would get worn enough that I'd be able to get a run on them on straights, but it never happened. That Hyundai held its top speed and I could only watch as it pulled away on the straights.

Came across the line in P3 for 150 -- best result so far -- for a 4.0% increase to my DR A progress, taking it to 18.7%. That was good fun.

Next up, Catalunya... again.

 

[Moose78]

No surprises as far as strategy goes for this final round. 17RM-1RH (or vice versa) is the obvious choice for me. Here are the numbers, though, for anybody interested.

I did 17 laps on RMs and 6 on RHs for each of the cars I'm competing with: Honda NSX Gr.3 and Genesis X GR3. Custom races against one opponent. Weather conditions where Sunset S03.

Manufacturer	Model	Tire compound	Laps	Opt time	Best time	Avg time	Total time
Honda	NSX Gr.3	RM	17	1:43.699	1:44.120	1:44.443	29:35.539
Honda	NSX Gr.3	RH	6	1:45.617	1:45.701	1:46.159	10:36.953
Genesis	Genesis X GR3	RM	17	1:43.144	1:43.430	1:43.812	29:24.798
Genesis	Genesis X GR3	RH	6	1:44.984	1:45.143	1:45.643	10:33.855

Lap times:

Spoiler: Lap times - raw data

Lap	Genesis RM	Honda RM	Genesis RH	Honda RH
1	1:44.314	1:44.760	1:46.444	1:46.746
2	1:43.507	1:44.494	1:45.670	1:46.061
3	1:43.976	1:44.672	1:45.649	1:46.376
4	1:43.912	1:44.250	1:45.716	1:45.992
5	1:43.749	1:44.120	1:45.233	1:46.077
6	1:43.794	1:44.252	1:45.143	1:45.701
7	1:43.644	1:44.617	N/A	N/A
8	1:43.526	1:44.391	N/A	N/A
9	1:43.430	1:44.256	N/A	N/A
10	1:43.487	1:44.553	N/A	N/A
11	1:43.576	1:44.341	N/A	N/A
12	1:43.581	1:44.424	N/A	N/A
13	1:44.057	1:44.457	N/A	N/A
14	1:43.606	1:44.411	N/A	N/A
15	1:44.294	1:44.432	N/A	N/A
16	1:44.237	1:44.567	N/A	N/A
17	1:44.108	1:44.542	N/A	N/A

Tire tread levels at finish:

Manufacturer	Model	Tire compound	Laps	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
Honda	NSX Gr.3	RM	17	60%	80%	65%	75%
Honda	NSX Gr.3	RH	6	90%	95%	90%	95%
Genesis	Genesis X GR3	RM	17	35%	70%	70%	80%
Genesis	Genesis X GR3	RH	6	90%	95%	95%	95%

Using the above lap times, I can simulate the strategies from 17RM-1RH to 12RM-6RH. These were the three fastest for each car:

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Total time
Genesis	Genesis X GR3	17RM-1RH	31:11.242
Genesis	Genesis X GR3	16RM-2RH	31:12.804
Genesis	Genesis X GR3	15RM-3RH	31:14.216
Honda	NSX Gr.3	17RM-1RH	31:22.285
Honda	NSX Gr.3	16RM-2RH	31:23.804
Honda	NSX Gr.3	15RM-3RH	31:25.613

So, just like both of the other times we've had this race, it looks like 17RM-1RH is going to be the way to go for me. Unless I'm near the front, I'll start on RH and dive into the pits at the end of the first lap.

As usual, the Genesis is significantly faster than the Honda for me. Even towards the end of the test, when the Genesis's front tires are quite worn, it is still faster than the Honda. I sure hope PD adjusts the BoP on the Honda. It is a nice car to drive. It's just a shame that it is so much slower.

 

[HowardJ]

The Mount Panorama Bathurst round was the last round of this season for me. Saturday nights are always tight on time for me but I usually manage to make the last slot of racing at 10PM and I am still in the GT3 however I was too late for Suzuka and know I am away this week. My troubles this season though started before the first round, I picked Subaru expecting to drive the WRX so I made my livery and practiced what I could with the short time I had. However I was only offered the BRZ GT300 so I exited and just picked the Aston Martin without even trying the car. First practices in the V12 Vantage were not encouraging as I struggled to get the car turned in but outside of that it feels quick in a straight line and is very stable. Either way I missed round 1, then neither Circuit Gille Villeneuve nor Mount Panorama are tracks I have really mastered in terms of feeling fast or reliably.

Round 2 Circuit Gille Villeneuve I think went ok. In practice I was lucky, there was a very fast driver (possibly a World Series driver) who had their replay/ghost up to watch, study and chase and I definitely picked up some good speed even if I was still much slower than them. I think though the big flaw this week was not getting to do any practice races and never really being happy around turn 8 and 9 and the sausage kerbs. I qualified on pole by a good margin which was great, led away and built up a 7-8 second lead. Then I relaxed, hit those kerbs wrong and spun off. I rejoined right behind 2&3 who were close together but then got the final chicane wrong damaging both ends of the car and getting engine damage. Fortunately for me I think a lot of drivers had been struggling and I only dropped another 2 places. I managed to battle back then to capture 3rd by the finish having a great battle for position going from turn 1 to turn 6 side by side before crossing the line and out sprinting them on the straight.

Round 3 Mount Panorama was fun as well, it is a circuit I can learn but never really master at 100%. This time I had no Aston martin fast ghost to chase but I did a lot of short practice races in multiplayer. In the end practicing a bit with the racing line on really helped over the mountain to get me in the right place more often. Qualifying went well, although there were 3 Genesis drivers in the event I was looking on for pole again before one of them went half a second ahead. Into the race and the pole sitter went away off up the road while I had one of the other Genesis drivers Zephaniah32 staying with me really close. I was able to stretch away a bit on the straights but he was catching me easily over the mountain section. I eventually made a mistake on about lap 7 on the tight uphill left hander - turn 3/4? and he slipped through. I thought he would have tried the undercut for at least 2 or 3 laps before then. Either way the other driver didn't get away from me either and going into the pits thanks to having practiced pit entry quite a few times before the race I was right behind him and then alongside as we went up Mountain straight being able to hold position and pass around the outside in turn 2. I think my racing with this driver has been the best yet for me in GT7. Thanks Zephaniah32 for the great respectful race.

Sadly after that pass on lap 9 it started to go wrong for me at the end of the lap. I ran a little wide at the chase and he slipped by. I then got to eager out of the last corner spinning around and damaging the front and back of the car (but not the engine). After all the trouble and learning going over the mountain to bin it on the pit straight was really frustrating. With the splitter damage the Aston Martin was very top speed limited and I had cars passing me on both of the straights this lap to leave me 9th before getting back to full speed. After than I reeled in 8th place (that became 7th with someone else going off or pitting) but he was a different sort of driver. On lap 13 I tried a move up the mountain straight and there wasn't quite enough room so I was just about on the grass but as I was going to back out of his the other driver just swiped right pushing me into the barriers and damaging the cars splitter again. I didn't have chance to catch up enough to try again and crossed the line about half a second back.

Overall it has been a fun season. Hopefully they will adjust BOP again if the Genesis is very dominant. It is less of an issue in the lower league races I think. I really like the championship damage and I think they should use it in the daily races. I think it sharpens drivers mind that contact will cause a big detriment to their races. The reduced top speeds with splitter damage is frustrating but possibly realistic, the car is accelerating ok then just hitting a brick wall and accelerating slowly after 130mph is which might be how aero works in real life (the only car I have driven at that speed pulled quickly to 140mph ish, although that was a fairly smoothly shaped coupe) I wish they could come up with some way of penalising divers who swipe across at you on side by side contact. I happed a lot last week to me when driving the daily race A race. I think sport mode is great as there is this element of a competitive ladder but people are very precious about losing a place and possibly some DR and it can feel very aggressive and people learn how to exploit the situation.

 

[Skidude88]

I've not done either of the previous runs of Catalunya.

1st lobby run lastnight, Q8 decided to do H1M17 stratergy, Pitted lap1. to discover pretty much everyone in front was on that same strategy.finished where I started and held up massively.

Next lobby , Q1, did M16H2 & chanced not getting hit lap 1 (meant to do M17H1 but I can't count)

kept a lead the whole race. Just a .5 penalty on T10-11.

Pulled away last lap as the L17 pitters exited level with me, they were both struggling on colds and mine were up to temp.

If only the same would happen tomorrow!

Good luck.

 

[Fezzik]

I'll take the risk and start on the hards. Expect to be near the back anyway, always losing time through the uphill chicane in the middle of the lap (turn 6-7 or 7-8 I think it is). Not really enjoying any of the BMW options so will be running the M6 Endurance just to make it 4 different cars this season.

 

[Moose78]

Races are coming up soon. Good luck to everybody racing!

 

[VillaJ100]

Just rounded off the series, Q5 with a 1:43.4, P4. Uneventful race, gambled on the hard start and lap 1 pit but it didn't really make much difference. Had some nerves with traffic but was pretty fine. Start of lap 18 as an M3 came out of the pits I was 7 seconds behind, got it down to 3 seconds over the lap but not quite enough for 3rd, 11 secs behind the winner. A few didn't have the benefit of Moose and spent too long on the hard but none of the top runners sadly.

Was a fun little tournament and look forward to the next!

 

[FlapJackFlash]

GT2 EMEA 2nd slot high B lobby

Surprising lack of Hyundais in the lobby, still didn't help though - Q dead last with a 1.43.671. Pole had a quit frankly silly 1.41.5. Started on RH and gained 2 places due to some fighting up ahead, then pitted on L1 with a few other backmarkers. Was surprised I then undercut 3 other cars who pitted on L2 and L3, assume the cleanish air on RM got me up. Started to lose pace though and make a few mistakes that let others past, only got 1 place back as the RM runners started to pit for their RH, and 1 person who didn't change tyres so come home 12th for 71 points. Not going again as will be glad to not drive the NSX again!

Good luck everyone yet to race

 

[Skidude88]

Weird lost a second a lap
lap overnight. Been constantly mid 41s since Thursday (quali/free practice) and doing mid 42s, with nice tyre saving in lobby tests. Wheel feedback just felt off.

Race#1,
210 lobby, .5 covering top 13

Penalty on 1st push lap, quit and tried to get another one in. Did a poor lap, managed to squeeze another in, only to get a penalty on last corner. Q9 🙆‍♂️🤬

Opted for 1H17M..... as did everyone else.

Got hussled to last place with some really poor manners before pitting.

Don't think I managed a sub .43 at any point in the race in clear air!????

Can't replay race save as app crashes 'something went wrong' when I try to replay. Think I finished 9th or 10th

Race#2, 209 lobby.
1st out the gate
Q4, I think .3 off pole

Wasn't sure race would start (or I'd be in it!)....all menu controls btns stopped working

16M2H strat. Didn't tyre save 1st 6 laps, so they were pretty shot.

Just 1 in front pitted L1, and I saw them pile into the pitlane wall...I chuckled to my self for a couple of laps 😂

Ran P3, until lap 15(ish) a Fezza came steaming past 'SistersofMercy'.

Pitted and had been undercut by a couple.

Finished 6th, clean, with 175pts

This time I couldn't even a save replay : neither wheel or controller buttons would work, only cursor. Had to poweroff.

Looks like everything was logged. Showing just +315dr point (nett 2 races) for today. If 2nd race hadn't logged results it would be a big deficit.

 

[Fezzik]

Wasn’t sure about this one but it turned out alright in the end. GT3 C/S lobby. #9. Decided to go out straight away for once and quali in the pack. Ended up P8 with a pretty average lap.

Stuck with the plan and did lap 1 on the hards. Managed to drop only 1 place and pitted for mediums with a couple of others. We had a nice little race between us for a number of laps before one spun and the other dropped back.

Gradually worked my way up the order as others pitted midrace (very few has read the strategy guide). Was running 5th the last few laps and too far back off the leaders I thought. However I got a nice surprise/shock when they all pitted lap 17.

Sweaty palms commenced as I saw a chance of a podium. Managed to pass that fellow BMW round the outside of turn 1.

Struggling with the nerves and picked up a track limits penalty the corner before the penalty line, so that would double to a second at the finish. Thought the chance had gone but the two chasers had a clash at the hairpin. One spun and the other was delayed. Gunned it to the line hoping to preserve over a one second gap and keep 2nd.

The leader had pitted earlier but didn’t switch to hards! I’d rather win on the road but I’ll take the gift. My 2nd GTWS win.

Decent season. I wish I could’ve done the original plan and used the Z8 all the time but it’s just too depressingly slow with the current BoP and physics.

Good luck out there to anyone still to race and remember - slow and steady literally wins the day!

 

[VTEC Driver]

EMEA GT2 - Slot 2 - 11:00 - Q11 - P4

With a personal best time 1:42.7 I qualified with 1:44.x with a delay of less than 1 sec from the pole... I don't know why I was slow...

Started with Hard and just before to pit I overtook one car. I am entering in the pit with two cars in the front and I couple behind.
Other changed tires at lap 2 and 3 and now all of these are behind me.

I am lapping consistenty at 1:43.9 - 1:44.3.
The two behinds me overtook me quite agressively but I didn't want to fight. Now I follow them not loosing time.

Around lap 15 those started with Medium tires are pitting and I am overtaking all of them while in the box.
At the last lap I had the ooportunity to take place 3 but i didn't want to fight with one of the two that overtook me at the beggining.
Closing in P4... unxepected!

I checked the replay and I noticed that many drivers got penlaities for track limit and at least a couple spin exiting the curves with medium tires very destroyed (especially Porsche and Ferrari).

So keeping a constant pace, doing no mistakes, make me capable to overtook several drivers, so be consistent is one of the weapons to use for this race.
18 laps are not few, and someone could lose concentration.

With this race I have now more than 16.000 points and around 13.000 missing to become an A driver... I should do much more practice to climbing the ranking.

Championship is done, wating for the next one with a different brand never used.

Good luck to all the rest of the group that will race in the coming hours!

 

[FlapJackFlash]

GT1 EMEA 1st Slot mid A lobby

Into the Porsche RSR for the GT1 race and put in a 1.41.984 for Q4, about 0.5s off pole - could have gone faster if I managed to put everything together but happy with 4th.

Decided to start on RM as in a test lobby race turns out the RSR shreds it tyres (at least when I'm driving it) so thought I would start on the RM, see how long I could nurse them and then RH for the final stint. Lost a place immediately at the start as a Hyundai steamed past me, then pulled into the pits so so was RH as well! another front runner went in for RM as well so left me in 3rd with 1st and 2nd slowly pulling away whilst I kept a consistent gap to P4.

Things were going well, I was keeping good pace without burning the tyres and even started to close the gap to P2. Just as I was thinking this, I messed up the 2nd to last corner, then in trying to avoid the penalty messed up the next corner and still got a penalyt despite being in the gravel and lost a position so down to P4.

Nearing the end the 2 strategies start to come together and I lose 2 places to early pitters and come home 6th for 141 points, a nice way to finish!

 

[ZEE]

Well well well, overall a dissapointing season for me and a bit of a whinge towards PD I'm afraid. My first Round 4 race in Catalunya was totally absymal starting with an annyoing 2 sec penalty on entering the pits where the guy in front of me went too slow in the pits causing me to accidently bump him and as soon as I had exited i got slapped a 2sec penalty, come on no fair! Then after a few laps I had 1 spin out and then later on got punted by some knarly brit in a black 296 gt3 which didnt help, almost made me get lapped by the mid part of the race on laps 8-10 but I held the leader off as much as I could till he pitted on lap 12 to switch to mediums to avoid being lapped in this race. Managed to recover my race somewhat to 11th but was not happy overall.

Took a short break and re-tried to enter the 7pm slot in the EMEA region and had a much better run, more competitive and smoother consistent chasing and racing, a couple of 0.5 sec penalties here and there, but with the 1RH>17RM it worked out well. I was able to finish off on a good 6th place and net some good points overall to finish the chaotic season.




But I will say this and PD really need to address in Spec 4 update, is that BOP feels somewhat useless, a majority of people are running single cars for example the meta begin the Hyu Genesis, and it just feels boring that the others cars are slightly hampered by this and the new physics being very unforgiving for each car imo. The NSX used ot be a good Anti-meta car as well as the BRZ a few motnhs back but now they just slow, If we really wanted single car championships, we could use Sophy and make some of our own single cup races. We dont need to waste these manu cups races on this and have a cup that divides the players. Come on PD do better please, it feels as if they not bothered now.

 

[AEther]

My GT2 run ends this year on a somewhat lackluster note, starting 8th and finishing 8th. Not great, not terrible as the quote goes from Chernobyl.

1H17M didn’t work out like I hoped. I tried to tire save too long which negated the undercut advantage. I also got shoved off into gravel twice by the same WRX on passes, once on lap 11 and again on the final lap. Perhaps I should’ve learned from his example before.

The Alfa was a decent racing companion, but ultimately is too hampered on power by the BOP to be consistently competitive. Regardless, it’s good to stretch my limits a bit on something a little more challenging.

 

[Moose78]

It was all going as expected until that final lap...

GT2 - Americas - 11 AM EDT - Honda NSX Gr.3 - 137 points available - Door #8 - Q12 (1:43.507)

This NSX is not good. I qualified just off my best in Free Practice, but was still starting towards the back in Q12. I started on RHs for a 1RH-17RM strategy.

That first lap was pretty hectic. I picked up a couple positions in the chaos before diving into the pits. Only three other drivers did the same -- an Alfa Romeo ahead and two behind. I had comfortable gap on either side, so I thought I'd have some time to run some laps unmolested. But a Porsche pitted on the next lap and came out right behind me.

The Porsche stayed on my tail for the next few laps, not attempting any moves, but also not falling behind. I got a little breathing room when the Porsche made a mistake and dropped back by over a second. All the while, I was gaining on the Alfa ahead. And the Porsche behind was catching up again.

On lap 8, I passed a Nissan went in the pits who was switching from RHs to RMs. I chuckled to myself, thinking that's not the strategy, mate.

I caught up to the Alfa. I felt like I was faster, but I couldn't find any overtaking opportunities. And then the Porsche caught up and I had to switch my focus to defending. On lap 13, I made some minor mistakes in the final sector and the Porsche went by.

To my surprise, the new threat from behind was the Nissan who pitted on lap 8. They were gaining on me fast. With their fresher tires and my crappy NSX, they got by me at the start of lap 17.

When the final lap came, I found myself in P9. Good enough for this car, I thought.

But then in the final sector, the yellow flag came out and I passed a car crashed car. Up to P8 to cross the finish line.

However, two drivers ahead failed to follow the tire requirements and got 2-minute penalties, promoting me to P6 for 108 points. I'll take that any day. That brings my DR B progress up 1.6% to 90.6%. Happy days!

There are still a few hours to wait until I can do the GT1 race in the Genesis. We'll see how that goes. At least I can get that car around the track a little quicker than the NSX.

 

[GT5Apex]

Well that race was pretty disappointing and non eventful except for the last lap.

Catalunya isn't one of my stronger tracks, and in qualifying it showed since i qualified down in P13.

At the start of the race, i immediately lost a place to a Corvette, since the Corvette is pretty quick during a rolling start. Then towards the end of the 1st lap, the Corvette made a bit of a dive bomb move at the hairpin, which pushed a Hyundai wide and that allowed me to overtake the Hyundai, but at the next corner, the Hyundai tapped the back right corner of my car which unfortunately caused me to spin, which dropped me to last.

Then at the end of the lap, i entered the pits to change my tyres to the mediums. Then i spent the next couple of laps catching the Audi in P14, who i managed to overtake going into T1 at the start of lap 4. Then i spent the next 7-8 laps catching up to the Corvette and Hyundai. Then on lap 12 i overtook the Hyundai after they served a 1 second penalty, then at the start of lap 14, i managed to overtake the Corvette into T1.

Then i spent the last couple of laps catching the group in front who were P11-P8, which included 2 Porsches who had just exited the pits on hard tyres. I got right on to the back of the group at T5 on the last lap. Then at T12, the Porsche in P8 ran wide, which allowed 3 of us to get by, so now i was in P11. Then i gained another position after the race finished because the pink roxy Porsche in P10 had a 0.5 second penalty.

In the end i finished in P10. The race was a little bit frustrating because i feel like if i never got spun on lap 1, i could've finished a bit higher since my tyres were in better condition than some of the cars in front, plus i was catching them at the end. Also the AMG who started in front of me finished in P6, and during the last 4 or 5 laps they were lapping in the 43's, while i was still in the 42's.

 

[Windfire1010]

Last race of the season. Americas top split.

 

[Moose78]

Well, that was disappointing...

GT1 - Americas - 8 PM EDT - Genesis X GR3 - 169 points available - Door #12 - Q6 (1:42.541)

A decent qualifying session had me starting in the top half of the field. I was beginning to hope that a decent result might be in the cards. It wasn't. I was pushed off the track at T5 on lap 1, then went for a spin as I tried to get the car back on the track. By the time I got out the pits for RM tires, I was a good 10 seconds away from the next closest car.

The rest of the race was a pretty lonely affair, just turning laps trying to reduce the gap. I eventually caught up to a NSX who just let me by. Poor guy. I picked up a couple more spots to drivers who'd crashed. The only real bit of racing was on the final lap when a Viper came out of the pits on RHs beside me, but their cold RH tires were no match for my RMs, so I easily got by them out of T3.

I crossed the line P11 for 98. My DR A progress took a 2.4% hit taking it down to 16.4%. Not how I wanted to finish the season, but that's racing.

Overall for the season, I'm pretty happy with my results.

Genesis (main account):

Honda (alt account):

I somehow managed to win the top spot in North America for both manufacturers. For the Genesis in GT1, that was mainly by virtue of being the only driver to do all four rounds.

I'm a little surprised that the Genesis X isn't more popular. With the new physics and BoP, it seems like a very strong car now.

The Honda, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. It is a fun car to drive, but it is just not at all competitive -- at least not in my hands.

Looking ahead to next season, of the manufactures I haven't used yet, Lamborghini was the least popular in Canada in GT2 with 5 drivers. In GT1, there was a three-way tie between Audi, Lexus, and McLaren, each with only a single driver in Canada. Assuming I'll be split between GT1 and GT2 again, I'm going to go with Lexus and Lamborghini so I get a mix of drivetrains.

I expect we'll be seeing Nations Cup season announced soon. I hope it is today so I can start testing and practicing. I won't be surprised if PD makes us wait until tomorrow or even later, though.

Thanks, as always, to everybody here for sharing their race stories and tips. It's been fun.

 

[ZEE]

Not a bad finish for GT3 league overall....!

 

[Fezzik]

Full house for me

Right on the edge of DR B promotion so I’ll be in GT2 if the Nations Cup starts soon. Hopefully they’ll give us something different from the usual high power & high downforce vehicles.

Might try the Moose Method of picking a manufacturer for the next season. Suzuki and Dodge were the least popular in my region, that would be a pretty decent challenge.