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

[Wilsonson]

Pole, clean race, win for 138 pts in high B GT2. Happy.

I got through the first few corners cleanly starting on softs. But the lead was small. Thankfully P2 through P4 got into it on the back straight already. In the final corner they did this: Q2 got pushed wide, Q3 (grey Porsche) made it through, Q4 (Verstappen Merc) got spun.

From then on I had a comfortable lead that was never in any danger. Start of lap 2:

 

[Uday9479]

For the past 2 race slots I got the error attached below. In the last hour's race, I was able to complete qualy & just before the grid ranking show, I got disconnected. In this hour's slot, I couldn't even start qualy. Strange thing is this happened two races in succession & on my primary a/c I was able to finish a race from start to end in my secondary a/c 3 race slots earlier.

My Wi-Fi is working fine & all devices connected to the Wi-Fi didn't lose connection even once.

 

[VTEC Driver]

EMEA GT3 - 12:00 - Q4 P2

It seems that less I am prepared the better I race...

Did some laps to warm myself half an hour before the start just after reading the tires analysis and laps strategy from @Moose78 (thanks as always).

Qualified in P4 with 1:42.9 with the poleman 1 sec faster, so for me it was already nice to be there.
Started with soft because I thought I would need the best tire to defend myself.
In reality it allowed me to stay close to the first drivers that fighting among them went out and I was in P2 after lap 2.
During lap 4 the poleman and still in P1 disapperead... I don't know if disconnected by himself or by the system.
I am now P1 but after 2 laps a fast Ferrari reached me easily and I left to go... why to fight?

At lap 7 the Ferrari goes to box so I followed him immediately.
We go out togehter in P10 and P11 respectively.

I remained following the Ferrari with a gap of around 2-3 seconds and we started overtakiing many cars while they were going to pit.
Around lap 10 we are both again in P1 and P2.
I am not gaining neither loosing time, same pace of him while the third one is following me at 10 seconds of gap and, at the end, the gap was 13 sec.

Happy with the result and now watching the real 24 hour of Nurburgring on tv.

Good luck to all the others that will race in the coming hours!

 

[BGreenFace]

Practice make perfect… well kinda…

Gt2 slot 1 all DRA/SRS
Door 12. 263 points for the win.
Q2

Sardegna is one of those track that rewards consistency and practice over pure pace. The inside walls being so easy to clip, practicing and knowing you limits is key for a good result.

Starting in p2, I decided on the opening lap to work with the lambo in p1 to try and create a gap to p3 by bumpdrafting. And it worked. By the end of lap 2 we had a 3 second gap to p3.

On lap 3 he clipped the wall allowing me to have a run at him on the back straight but couldn’t make the pass. Very clean racing with this guy. Super fun 😁.

I think it was some sort of a wake up call for him cause right after it was has if he found an extra gear and he simply disappeared. (My laps time were still consistent).
The rest was simply cursing and pitted on lap 9 for a new set of soft (9M-6S).
I crossed the line in p2 with a healthy 256 points.

Good and clean racing out there once again.
See you guys in 2 weeks at mount panorama…


Bonus:
Special livery for the final at the Nurburgring:

 

[Uday9479]

This is the only race I could take part in with my secondary a/c using the RCZ.

I managed to qualify in 2nd. What shocked me was the close proximity of this grid. The 16th placed driver was only .744 off pole. I was expecting a fierce battle throughout the field because of this.

I started with RM. Took the lead after the 1st placed driver ran wide in turn 1. The driver who qualified in 3rd place caught upto me on 3rd lap or so & when he was very close, I let him through as I had a hunch he was on RS. I was right, he pitted on lap 8 for RM which then put him into the middle of the grid. I pitted a lap later for RS. Not only I rejoined in the lead, the driver who was leading earlier & now on RM, was losing time to me with others catching up to him slowly.

I was surprised to win & that with this margin. I'm not that good to create such a gap. The biggest factor was keeping it clean & being on the sensible strategy of RM-RS which the driver did opposite.

Love the RCZ. It's like a dream in a way. I think this is my 3rd victory in the secondary a/c which includes a win with RCZ Gr.4 at Fuji. Looking forward to Mt. Panorama in the Gr. 4 spec of this car.

 

[Moose78]

I never really considered Sardegna one of my better tracks...

Race 1 - GT2 - Americas - 11AM EDT - Chevrolet Corvette Gr.3 - Door #4 - 122 points available - Q1 (1:42.041)

I was a bit surprised to be starting on pole. I threw on the RS tires in the hope of breaking away from the rest of the pack. It worked beautifully. The drivers behind me were battling from the get-go.

By the time I pit at the end of lap 6, I'd built up a 5-second gap. I came out in some traffic, but it only slowed me down a little because the car directly ahead of me crashed in the chicane at the end of the first sector and the one ahead of that pitted at the end of the lap.

Once the rest of the cars pitted, I found myself still in the lead, with about 3 seconds to the car behind. I was worried they'd be on the softer tires and catch up, but they never did.

I took home 122 points and increased my DR B progress by 5.9%, taking it to 82.0%.


Race 2 - GT2 - Americas - 12PM EDT - Alfa Romeo 4C Gr.3 - Door #3 - 126 points available - Q3 (1:42.226)

There was a Lamborghini on pole and a Renault in Q2 ahead of me. The three of us broke away from the rest of the pack early on.

I'd started on RM tires. Since I was keeping up with the two cars ahead of me, I figured they were on RMs, too. But on lap 6, the Lamborghini dove into the pits on RS tires.

The Renault stayed out for another couple laps, but really seemed to be having a rough go of things on lap 8, going into the wall at the kink at the start of the third sector. I drove by (pictured above) and headed into the pits as the lap ended.

The Renault followed me in. They were on RSs, too! Of the three lead cars, I was going to be the only one on RSs for the final stint. As a bonus, I came out of the pits ahead of Lamborghini.

It was clear sailing from there. The Renault couldn't keep up on their RM tires.

Another win! 126 points and a 5.9% boost to my DR B progress, now at 87.3%.

I'm still having a hard time believing I was able to pull off two back-to-back wins. Fastest lap in both, too. And at this track. The other times I've driven here, I've had middling results at best. I don't understand it, but I'll take it.

Next, on to Bathurst. We have a couple weeks to prepare, so there should be plenty of time to figure out an optimal strategy -- not that it looks particularly complicated. See you there!

 

[BGreenFace]

I never really considered Sardegna one of my better tracks...

Race 1 - GT2 - Americas - 11AM EDT - Chevrolet Corvette Gr.3 - Door #4 - 122 points available - Q1 (1:42.041)
View attachment 1537609
I was a bit surprised to be starting on pole. I threw on the RS tires in the hope of breaking away from the rest of the pack. It worked beautifully. The drivers behind me were battling from the get-go.

By the time I pit at the end of lap 6, I'd built up a 5-second gap. I came out in some traffic, but it only slowed me down a little because the car directly ahead of me crashed in the chicane at the end of the first sector and the one ahead of that pitted at the end of the lap.

Once the rest of the cars pitted, I found myself still in the lead, with about 3 seconds to the car behind. I was worried they'd be on the softer tires and catch up, but they never did.

View attachment 1537610

I took home 122 points and increased my DR B progress by 5.9%, taking it to 82.0%.


Race 2 - GT2 - Americas - 12PM EDT - Alfa Romeo 4C Gr.3 - Door #3 - 126 points available - Q3 (1:42.226)
View attachment 1537613
There was a Lamborghini on pole and a Renault in Q2 ahead of me. The three of us broke away from the rest of the pack early on.

I'd started on RM tires. Since I was keeping up with the two cars ahead of me, I figured they were on RMs, too. But on lap 6, the Lamborghini dove into the pits on RS tires.

The Renault stayed out for another couple laps, but really seemed to be having a rough go of things on lap 8, going into the wall at the kink at the start of the third sector. I drove by (pictured above) and headed into the pits as the lap ended.

The Renault followed me in. They were on RSs, too! Of the three lead cars, I was going to be the only one on RSs for the final stint. As a bonus, I came out of the pits ahead of Lamborghini.

It was clear sailing from there. The Renault couldn't keep up on their RM tires.

View attachment 1537615

Another win! 126 points and a 5.9% boost to my DR B progress, now at 87.3%.

I'm still having a hard time believing I was able to pull off two back-to-back wins. Fastest lap in both, too. And at this track. The other times I've driven here, I've had middling results at best. I don't understand it, but I'll take it.

Next, on to Bathurst. We have a couple weeks to prepare, so there should be plenty of time to figure out an optimal strategy -- not that it looks particularly complicated. See you there!

Congratulations on the double p1!!
🥳

 

[MCL1974]

Haven't raced in a while but decided to have a go at Sardenga...

Low B lobby, almost everybody was in a Porsche or a Lambo and P1 qualified with a 1.42.1, I could not do a good lap and was much slower then in practice and had to start at P9, being a second slower then the Lambo on pole.

First corner I went in with caution, fortunately no real incidents, but then later in the opening lap everybody who was in front of me hit everybody else and somehow it was me that ended up with a 4 second penalty!



Tell me please; what horrible act have I commited that deserved a 4 second penalty that pretty much ended my race in the first lap?

Anyway, the rest of the race was chaotic, some cars behind me were just faster and I was just not good enough. Gained some places as cars were crashing out a lot and somehow got from the back of the field to a finish in midfield, ending at 7th place.

And got to meet the Frenchman in the pink Porsche that got a 5 second penalty for the first lap incident later in the race, he hit me in the back a few times, got a 2 sec penalty for it and off course blamed me for it and tried to run me off road.

All in all a reminder why I do not do a lot of on-line racing these days...

@Moose78 : many congrats to you for two amazing wins!!!

 

[OJBrit]

For the past 2 race slots I got the error attached below. In the last hour's race, I was able to complete qualy & just before the grid ranking show, I got disconnected. In this hour's slot, I couldn't even start qualy. Strange thing is this happened two races in succession & on my primary a/c I was able to finish a race from start to end in my secondary a/c 3 race slots earlier.

My Wi-Fi is working fine & all devices connected to the Wi-Fi didn't lose connection even once.

View attachment 1537497

That's my screen from this morning. Frustrating. Someone knocked the door and said they have been upgrading the network locally and whether I had noticed any instability. Well... 🤔

Haven't raced in a while but decided to have a go at Sardenga...

...

Tell me please; what horrible act have I commited that deserved a 4 second penalty that pretty much ended my race in the first lap?

Welcome back. I'm newly back from a hiatus too.
Nothing you could help. The white Porsche you glanced. It sounds like it hits the wall afterwards. With a black and white penalty system you're not going to get justice there.

Managed to get into the 6pm slot. Lobby was a bit unstable with some cars moving about but nothing too bad.
Managed P6 in qualy but P1 who was at least half a second quicker than P2 quit (or disconnected) after qualy bumping me up to P5.
Got through T1 on the back of the Genesis ahead who was battling. Through the next corner he nudged me and GT's superb physics knocked me slightly onto the grass.

Well the car took offence and promptly tank slapped into a spin. Of course facing the barrier and requiring a reverse to get out of. Then in the next corner it spun out in another tantrum. And yes left me facing a barrier for good measure. I was at least 13 seconds behind the car in front. Lets see what I could do.

Lap two and coming onto the start/ finish straight I see a Renault pit and a Porsche going slow. Looking at the replay the Porsche went wide bounced off the barrier and knocked the Renault into the pits. Poor fellow had to change to softs for a long stint. I got past them both. A few other incidents and pits saw me into 8th before my stop on lap 10. I was surprised at how long some of the soft runners we going.
I came out in P13 and right behind a Supra. I closed and began a couple of laps of good clean racing despite the car often bouncing around slightly. I got a better run through the kink and passed them into the last left.

But their better straight line speed helped them back past into T1.
Next lap it was my turn into T1. I was only just alongside but they misjudged the brakes and skated into the gravel. I went past but was now too far behind to settle for anything other than P12.
But there was more.
The Renault from before had finally chewed through their tyres. They were sideways in the chicane before the church. From the replay the rest of their last lap was the stuff of knightmares. I'd hate to be them.
Crossed the line in P11, except I gained a place. Guy in first did the whole race on mediums and gave me P10. And thankfully with a 2 min penalty now it meant that the Renault wasn't last! A bonus for them no doubt.
This was a fun one and without the annoying spin a second podium on the spin may have been on the cards. Ah well.

 

[stpatty]

Started 14th. Finished 9th. All the positions I made were from people crashing. 7th was realistically as high as I could have managed. I was right on the back of a Porsche for the first stint, I managed to get alongside him during the left/right in sector 1 but someone had crashed and a yellow flag came up so I had to back off.

I probably could have gone faster but it was a race where it was easy to get stuck in a train. Meh.

 

[ZEE]

So Round 4 was decent but onyl did pne slot at 8pm today as not much time left to compete. Overall the JAG was great and I had good pace shame it got marred by a dodgy push to pass portuguese driver in the Ferarri 296 (see pics below), but Karma served him up back to me later on with a spin-out - oh dear haha. Then he rage quite later on so serves you too right to get a DNF. Overall managed 6th but was close to catching a pair or Porsches on last lap, if only there was one more.

Spoiler: Race photos - Rd.4

 

[Uday9479]

As I kept getting disconnected with my primary a/c yesterday, I didn't try to race in another slot. Any way, 5 best race results count overall & I wasn't feeling totally competitive in my AMG at Sardegna. I enjoyed the RCZ there with my secondary a/c & it was enough.

 

[AEther]

In a GT3 race driving the Citroën GT, I am continuing my very long tradition of qualifying calamities starting midpack in Q7, not bad and the best I could hope for after spoiling my last lap running into the grass on one of the hairpins.

In practice, I had perfected braking a bit later than most for Turn 1 and that paid off by allowing me to jump four places in Lap 1. P2 was within striking distance for the next few laps until he ran Turn 1 slow and wide allowing me to sneak inside around Lap 4.

The chase was on to reach P1 who was 2.5 seconds ahead. This seesawed from a long of 3.5 seconds to brief tastes of 1-1.5 second gaps as his tires wore and he struggled to compensate.

I trailed him all the way through our mutual, very long stints on RM before following him into the pit on Lap 10. I wanted to save the best for final battle and that turned out just right for this competition. P1 came out ahead but only just. He started making a few mistakes, occasional late braking or running slightly wide in hairpins leading to slow exits. But I was in my bag on RS, pulling faster and faster laps including the race’s fastest lap on Lap 14.

It was close but not close enough to complete the win as I was marginally slower on last lap while he put in his best. Still, a P2 finish with fastest lap and promotion to DRB (for now) makes for an excellent day overall.

 

[RACECAR]

Beyond frustrating. Taken out and then the grip seeming to have an on-off switch lap-to-lap. Not racing here unless its GR.2 or Open wheel.

 

[Pianista911]

EMEA low GT2 - I think I did around 1:42.5 in qualy, which I consider poor since my best time on practice was 1s less, but it was enough to be Q2. Started together with P1 on RS and we had a little runaway group. Due to stupid mistake on lap 4 I went down to P5, but was faster than cars in front so regained P3 and 3 laps before the end P2 crashed so I finished P2. I'm waiting for next race, since Bathrust is my favortie and also fastest track. I hope Gr4 Porsche is capable there.

What I've noticed those races at least in my region are much cleaner than daily races - the carnage in those was the reason I abandoned GT7 online, but now I see there is still hope.

 

[Moose78]

I've been doing some tests for Bathurst, mainly trying to figure out two things. First, I wanted to know which of the two Gr.4 Alfas to choose. Second, I wanted to know if changing tires is needed. To test, I drove all three of the cars I have available -- the Corvette C7 Gr.4, 4C Gr.4, and 155 2.5 V6 TI '93 -- in 13-lap tests. For all of them I pitted at the end of lap 6, then I'd either change the tires or not. Weather was late morning, C02, 1x time.

Here's how that panned out:

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Laps	Opt time	Best time	Avg time	Total time
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	13​	2:15.795​	2:16.048​	2:18.942​	30:06.250​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	13​	2:17.373​	2:17.121​	2:20.012​	30:20.162​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	13​	2:16.688​	2:16.991​	2:19.398​	30:12.177​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	13​	2:17.167​	2:17.563​	2:19.768​	30:16.988​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	13​	2:15.996​	2:16.535​	2:18.793​	30:04.311​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	13​	2:16.703​	2:17.155​	2:19.264​	30:10.438​

Lap times:

Spoiler: Lap time raw data

Lap	Corvette Tire Change	4C Tire Change	155 Tire Change	Corvette No Change	4C No Change	155 No Change
1​	2:18.847​	2:19.202​	2:19.357​	2:18.847​	2:19.202​	2:19.357​
2​	2:17.155​	2:17.563​	2:18.137​	2:17.155​	2:17.563​	2:18.137​
3​	2:17.344​	2:17.862​	2:17.671​	2:17.344​	2:17.862​	2:17.671​
4​	2:17.258​	2:17.956​	2:17.484​	2:17.258​	2:17.956​	2:17.484​
5​	2:17.310​	2:18.087​	2:17.121​	2:17.310​	2:18.087​	2:17.121​
6​	2:35.566​	2:36.101​	2:36.930​	2:35.566​	2:36.101​	2:36.930​
7​	2:19.601​	2:20.050​	2:19.184​	2:18.534​	2:18.434​	2:20.634​
8​	2:17.473​	2:17.288​	2:17.232​	2:17.722​	2:18.745​	2:18.410​
9​	2:16.535​	2:17.924​	2:16.591​	2:18.135​	2:18.780​	2:18.815​
10​	2:16.951​	2:17.773​	2:16.804​	2:18.085​	2:18.079​	2:18.678​
11​	2:16.585​	2:16.991​	2:16.048​	2:18.218​	2:18.874​	2:18.511​
12​	2:16.826​	2:17.252​	2:16.781​	2:18.053​	2:18.373​	2:20.237​
13​	2:16.860​	2:18.128​	2:16.910​	2:18.211​	2:18.932​	2:18.177​

Tire tread levels at pit stop (lap 6):

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	75%​	65%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	70%​	65%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	85%​	75%​	80%​	75%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	80%​	75%​	80%​	75%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	80%​	70%​	85%​	80%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	80%​	70%​	85%​	80%​

Tread levels at finish (lap 13):

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	70%​	60%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	40%​	15%​	70%​	65%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	80%​	70%​	75%​	70%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	65%​	50%​	50%​	45%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	70%​	60%​	80%​	75%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	45%​	20%​	55%​	45%​

Comments and conclusions:

First, it is pretty obvious that I'll need to change tires. Even the 4C, which is extremely good on tires, was significantly slower without changing tires.

Between the two Alfas, the 155 is the faster for me. It can be a little dodgy in a few places on this track, but I figured out how manage it.

The 4C, on the other hand, was a new adventure every time I went down the hill, skidding out at different places on each pass. I just could not find a way to get through the third sector with it consistently.

The Corvette is a breeze to drive there. No drama at all. It isn't the best on tires, but if I'm changing them, it doesn't really matter.

 

[Pakiti]

I've been doing some tests for Bathurst, mainly trying to figure out two things. First, I wanted to know which of the two Gr.4 Alfas to choose. Second, I wanted to know if changing tires is needed. To test, I drove all three of the cars I have available -- the Corvette C7 Gr.4, 4C Gr.4, and 155 2.5 V6 TI '93 -- in 13-lap tests. For all of them I pitted at the end of lap 6, then I'd either change the tires or not. Weather was late morning, C02, 1x time.

Here's how that panned out:

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Laps	Opt time	Best time	Avg time	Total time
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	13​	2:15.795​	2:16.048​	2:18.942​	30:06.250​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	13​	2:17.373​	2:17.121​	2:20.012​	30:20.162​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	13​	2:16.688​	2:16.991​	2:19.398​	30:12.177​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	13​	2:17.167​	2:17.563​	2:19.768​	30:16.988​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	13​	2:15.996​	2:16.535​	2:18.793​	30:04.311​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	13​	2:16.703​	2:17.155​	2:19.264​	30:10.438​

Lap times:
View attachment 1538141

Spoiler: Lap time raw data

Lap	Corvette Tire Change	4C Tire Change	155 Tire Change	Corvette No Change	4C No Change	155 No Change
1​	2:18.847​	2:19.202​	2:19.357​	2:18.847​	2:19.202​	2:19.357​
2​	2:17.155​	2:17.563​	2:18.137​	2:17.155​	2:17.563​	2:18.137​
3​	2:17.344​	2:17.862​	2:17.671​	2:17.344​	2:17.862​	2:17.671​
4​	2:17.258​	2:17.956​	2:17.484​	2:17.258​	2:17.956​	2:17.484​
5​	2:17.310​	2:18.087​	2:17.121​	2:17.310​	2:18.087​	2:17.121​
6​	2:35.566​	2:36.101​	2:36.930​	2:35.566​	2:36.101​	2:36.930​
7​	2:19.601​	2:20.050​	2:19.184​	2:18.534​	2:18.434​	2:20.634​
8​	2:17.473​	2:17.288​	2:17.232​	2:17.722​	2:18.745​	2:18.410​
9​	2:16.535​	2:17.924​	2:16.591​	2:18.135​	2:18.780​	2:18.815​
10​	2:16.951​	2:17.773​	2:16.804​	2:18.085​	2:18.079​	2:18.678​
11​	2:16.585​	2:16.991​	2:16.048​	2:18.218​	2:18.874​	2:18.511​
12​	2:16.826​	2:17.252​	2:16.781​	2:18.053​	2:18.373​	2:20.237​
13​	2:16.860​	2:18.128​	2:16.910​	2:18.211​	2:18.932​	2:18.177​

Tire tread levels at pit stop (lap 6):

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	75%​	65%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	70%​	65%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	85%​	75%​	80%​	75%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	80%​	75%​	80%​	75%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	80%​	70%​	85%​	80%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	80%​	70%​	85%​	80%​

Tread levels at finish (lap 13):

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	70%​	60%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	40%​	15%​	70%​	65%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	80%​	70%​	75%​	70%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	65%​	50%​	50%​	45%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	70%​	60%​	80%​	75%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	45%​	20%​	55%​	45%​

Comments and conclusions:

First, it is pretty obvious that I'll need to change tires. Even the 4C, which is extremely good on tires, was significantly slower without changing tires.

Between the two Alfas, the 155 is the faster for me. It can be a little dodgy in a few places on this track, but I figured out how manage it.

The 4C, on the other hand, was a new adventure every time I went down the hill, skidding out at different places on each pass. I just could not find a way to get through the third sector with it consistently.

The Corvette is a breeze to drive there. No drama at all. It isn't the best on tires, but if I'm changing them, it doesn't really matter.

I noticed that you seemed to have problems with the 155 on the first laps, first laps, and then the pit stop. Considering that you were getting used to it on the 155 during the first laps and then made a mistake (by more than 1 second) during the pit stop, the 155 is about as fast as the C7, maybe even faster.

 

[Moose78]

I noticed that you seemed to have problems with the 155 on the first laps, first laps, and then the pit stop. Considering that you were getting used to it on the 155 during the first laps and then made a mistake (by more than 1 second) during the pit stop, the 155 is about as fast as the C7, maybe even faster.

Yeah. There is definitely some variability in my driving at this track. But I'm not sure that explains all of it.

The lap time numbers come from multiple runs. For my reports, I pick the fastest lap time from across all the runs for each strategy. And since the first stint is equivalent between the tire-change and no-change strategies, the fastest laps for those first six laps are drawn from the test runs of both strategies. I've had several opportunities to get better lap times on that first stint, and that's the best I've been able to do.

The 155 seems to take longer to get up to speed. I'd guess it has something to do with fuel weight, tire temperatures, or the weather. Or maybe I just had some good luck with the Corvette for those early laps. There are a lot of variables still.

 

[Pianista911]

I tried Gr4 Porsche on Bathrust, done around 8 laps and managed to get 2:15:9xx. The car is quite twitchy, I haven't raced Gr4 for quite some time but I remember them to be much more stable. It seems I need to train a lot before that race. I'm wondering what's the weather setting for that one.

 

[Moose78]

I'm wondering what's the weather setting for that one.

GT-Engine says it is late morning C02, 1x time. That's what I've been using.

There is a pretty big difference in the time of day between that and Free Practice, though -- 8:32 versus 11:50. That is the closest time-of-day option available in Custom Race and Lobbies, so we'll always be substantially off from what we'll see in the race.

 

[Pakiti]

Yeah. There is definitely some variability in my driving at this track. But I'm not sure that explains all of it.

The lap time numbers come from multiple runs. For my reports, I pick the fastest lap time from across all the runs for each strategy. And since the first stint is equivalent between the tire-change and no-change strategies, the fastest laps for those first six laps are drawn from the test runs of both strategies. I've had several opportunities to get better lap times on that first stint, and that's the best I've been able to do.

The 155 seems to take longer to get up to speed. I'd guess it has something to do with fuel weight, tire temperatures, or the weather. Or maybe I just had some good luck with the Corvette for those early laps. There are a lot of variables still.

Of course, a factor like consistency applies not only to the driver but also to the car. The first, second, and sixth laps really stood out to me. If you exclude them, the average time for the 155 is already higher. Three laps is less than 25% of the distance.

MEDIANA	02:17,105	02:17,016
AVG	02:17,274	02:17,183
Lap	Corvette Tire Change	155 Tire Change
3​	02:17,344	02:17,671
4​	02:17,258	02:17,484
5​	02:17,310	02:17,121
7​	02:19,601	02:19,184
8​	02:17,473	02:17,232
9​	02:16,535	02:16,591
10​	02:16,951	02:16,804
11​	02:16,585	02:16,048
12​	02:16,826	02:16,781
13​	02:16,860	02:16,910

At the same time, if you look at the median time rather than the average, then 155 is faster over the entire distance.

MEDIANA	02:17,258	02:17,232
AVG	02:18,793	02:18,942
Lap	Corvette Tire Change	155 Tire Change
1​	02:18,847	02:19,357
2​	02:17,155	02:18,137
3​	02:17,344	02:17,671
4​	02:17,258	02:17,484
5​	02:17,310	02:17,121
6​	02:35,566	02:36,930
7​	02:19,601	02:19,184
8​	02:17,473	02:17,232
9​	02:16,535	02:16,591
10​	02:16,951	02:16,804
11​	02:16,585	02:16,048
12​	02:16,826	02:16,781
13​	02:16,860	02:16,910

 

[FlapJackFlash]

Going to miss the next one, not sure how I feel about that as I really enjoy driving Bathurst, not sure how much I enjoy racing there

 

[OJBrit]

Didn't realise there was a random week off.

 

[MCL1974]

Didn't realise there was a random week off.

Means more time practicing entering that pits....

 

[VTEC Driver]

I've been doing some tests for Bathurst, mainly trying to figure out two things. First, I wanted to know which of the two Gr.4 Alfas to choose. Second, I wanted to know if changing tires is needed. To test, I drove all three of the cars I have available -- the Corvette C7 Gr.4, 4C Gr.4, and 155 2.5 V6 TI '93 -- in 13-lap tests. For all of them I pitted at the end of lap 6, then I'd either change the tires or not. Weather was late morning, C02, 1x time.

Here's how that panned out:

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Laps	Opt time	Best time	Avg time	Total time
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	13​	2:15.795​	2:16.048​	2:18.942​	30:06.250​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	13​	2:17.373​	2:17.121​	2:20.012​	30:20.162​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	13​	2:16.688​	2:16.991​	2:19.398​	30:12.177​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	13​	2:17.167​	2:17.563​	2:19.768​	30:16.988​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	13​	2:15.996​	2:16.535​	2:18.793​	30:04.311​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	13​	2:16.703​	2:17.155​	2:19.264​	30:10.438​

Lap times:
View attachment 1538141

Spoiler: Lap time raw data

Lap	Corvette Tire Change	4C Tire Change	155 Tire Change	Corvette No Change	4C No Change	155 No Change
1​	2:18.847​	2:19.202​	2:19.357​	2:18.847​	2:19.202​	2:19.357​
2​	2:17.155​	2:17.563​	2:18.137​	2:17.155​	2:17.563​	2:18.137​
3​	2:17.344​	2:17.862​	2:17.671​	2:17.344​	2:17.862​	2:17.671​
4​	2:17.258​	2:17.956​	2:17.484​	2:17.258​	2:17.956​	2:17.484​
5​	2:17.310​	2:18.087​	2:17.121​	2:17.310​	2:18.087​	2:17.121​
6​	2:35.566​	2:36.101​	2:36.930​	2:35.566​	2:36.101​	2:36.930​
7​	2:19.601​	2:20.050​	2:19.184​	2:18.534​	2:18.434​	2:20.634​
8​	2:17.473​	2:17.288​	2:17.232​	2:17.722​	2:18.745​	2:18.410​
9​	2:16.535​	2:17.924​	2:16.591​	2:18.135​	2:18.780​	2:18.815​
10​	2:16.951​	2:17.773​	2:16.804​	2:18.085​	2:18.079​	2:18.678​
11​	2:16.585​	2:16.991​	2:16.048​	2:18.218​	2:18.874​	2:18.511​
12​	2:16.826​	2:17.252​	2:16.781​	2:18.053​	2:18.373​	2:20.237​
13​	2:16.860​	2:18.128​	2:16.910​	2:18.211​	2:18.932​	2:18.177​

Tire tread levels at pit stop (lap 6):

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	75%​	65%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	70%​	65%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	85%​	75%​	80%​	75%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	80%​	75%​	80%​	75%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	80%​	70%​	85%​	80%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	80%​	70%​	85%​	80%​

Tread levels at finish (lap 13):

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	Tire Change	70%​	60%​	85%​	80%​
Alfa Romeo	155 2.5 V6 TI '93	No Change	40%​	15%​	70%​	65%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	Tire Change	80%​	70%​	75%​	70%​
Alfa Romeo	4C Gr.4	No Change	65%​	50%​	50%​	45%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	Tire Change	70%​	60%​	80%​	75%​
Chevrolet	Corvette C7 Gr.4	No Change	45%​	20%​	55%​	45%​

Comments and conclusions:

First, it is pretty obvious that I'll need to change tires. Even the 4C, which is extremely good on tires, was significantly slower without changing tires.

Between the two Alfas, the 155 is the faster for me. It can be a little dodgy in a few places on this track, but I figured out how manage it.

The 4C, on the other hand, was a new adventure every time I went down the hill, skidding out at different places on each pass. I just could not find a way to get through the third sector with it consistently.

The Corvette is a breeze to drive there. No drama at all. It isn't the best on tires, but if I'm changing them, it doesn't really matter.

So with 13 laps and 1 pit required, the only point is if to change tires at lap 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 according to traffic conditions or fights on going?
Anything else?

 

[Wilsonson]

I remember one Mt. Panorama GTWS some while ago where wall penalties were on. That was quite brutal for many of the more average players. But I have no idea if that will be the case this time.

 

[Moose78]

So with 13 laps and 1 pit required, the only point is if to change tires at lap 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 according to traffic conditions or fights on going?
Anything else?

If you plan on staying on the same tires, you can pit at any time. I would think the best time to do that is after lap 1, so you can get out of traffic and run fast laps while the tires are still good. Expect to be struggling towards the end of the race, though. I was losing a lot of time in the final laps in all three cars I tried. Not worth it for me.

If you do plan to change tires, then laps 4-8 seems like the optimal pit window to do it. I chose 6RM-7RM for my tests, with the longer stint at the end, because the the fuel weight is less for the second stint, so the tire wear is slightly less. Come race time, it'll likely come down to traffic. If you are stuck behind a slower driver, it might be worth pitting earlier to try to get an undercut.

I remember one Mt. Panorama GTWS some while ago where wall penalties were on.

Not this time. Wall penalties are off this time around.

 

[BBerlingo]

Thanks for the testing as always @Moose78 !
I missed out on the previous round so it's been a few weeks since my last Manu race. Looking forward to tomorrow!
Race info says only 4 minutes for qualifying, meaning we only get to do one lap? That's gonna be brutal.
Good luck to all tomorrow ☺️

 

[SeleneX]

Mt panorama is such a hard track to improve on.

This track, Autopolis & Nurburg are easily my 3 worst tracks in the game. Nurb because I simply don't have the memory for such a long track, Autopolis because it never feels like it really flows or gets fun at all, & Bathurst because it feels like you have to carry way more speed on every corner than you think is possible.

I genuinely have no idea how people are getting 2:14s in this gr4 Viper.

That downhill section with all the walls, I'm losing like 1.5 seconds to the top guys in that section alone & it feels like I'm flat out as much as I can be, when I'm not on the brakes

I got 260 last round, but I'm expecting I'll to get 100 PTS or less in this round as I just don't see how I can improve enough to be competitive.

The steering on controller with +10 sensitivity & +5 BB still doesn't feel enough

 

[Thorson1987]

Pit after 11 laps because I was away from traffic pretty much the whole race.

Maybe should have pit earlier though and changed tyres. Got a bit hairy the last couple of laps and only just held on the 2nd from someone who did change their tyres.