GTP WRS-Online Event 2 : FXXza Irresistibile! - February 5, 2014

I'm really starting to dislike qualifying.
It takes me at least 2 to 3 laps before I'm up to speed and able to put down a decent lap time, by the rules, so the 6 or 5 minute qualifying is a struggle for me (so far). How the heck are so many guys able to put down such fast laps without a decent couple of laps to warm up? Impressive!
Guess I'll have to work on my one lap warm ups and then be able to throw down a fast run in under 5-6 minutes.
Any suggestions?

Practice qualifying rounds during the practice sessions or on your own. Do the 5 minute sessions, note your time, and go again.

Arrive at least 15 mins earlier to warm up (really helps).

Also comes down to experience. The top drivers here have been doing it for around 2 years so they're used to the pressure (not saying there isn't any). This comes with time and races, and in 6 months you'll be much, much better at it.
 
I'm really starting to dislike qualifying.
It takes me at least 2 to 3 laps before I'm up to speed and able to put down a decent lap time, by the rules, so the 6 or 5 minute qualifying is a struggle for me (so far). How the heck are so many guys able to put down such fast laps without a decent couple of laps to warm up? Impressive!
Guess I'll have to work on my one lap warm ups and then be able to throw down a fast run in under 5-6 minutes.
Any suggestions?
To be honest, I used to have the exact same problem. I had relatively decent race pace, but would shoot myself in the foot so many times by getting rubbish qualis. Hey, it's still gunna happen from time to time, that's the pressure of a 2-3 hot lap quali and that's the fun! Key to it, work on consistency first. Not only will that help with the long run race, but it means, even if you don't get a cracking lap, you won't get a bad lap of your 3. That way, you will be ahead of anyone that might have botched it, and anyone with a bit less pace. From there, yes, it's a good idea to physically practice your first 3 laps. See how far you can push cold fresh tyres.

Also know where and where not to take risks. It's easy to think its just like the TT but it's very different. In the TT, to get that perfect lap you need to take risks all over the place and push non-stop. In the quali, you can't afford to make a mistake, so know where the corners that you can safely push, and where is a corner that you simply can't afford to get wrong, and play it a bit safer. Then hey, if your 1st or 2nd lap is good, or you are happy with, then take a risk on your 3rd. Go for broke, and then if all fails, you got a decent lap to fall back on.
 
Our standard in GT5 was only 2 hot laps for qualifying so you new guys are getting it easy. Although lap one gave you a chance to warm tires a touch you couldn't bank the lap (you start from the pits). Plus you had potential traffic to deal with if someone went off or someone didn't create the proper gaps because we always ran "race together" as there was no other option.

On top of that when the lounges were large we qualified in two groups. Group 2 would often be sitting watching group 1 for 5-7 minutes and have to drive cold for their hot laps. Stewards had to track all the times by hand before we could start the race. The director really has his hands full toward the last 15 minutes prior to race. It's very hard to juggle that job with getting your mind in a spot to do a quali lap or for the first few laps of the race. But after some practice directing races it gets easier and less stressful. It sure would be easier if we didn't have these pesky connection issues to constantly deal with.

The system is good now in terms of being time efficient, but I think if we have smaller lounges (10 and under) or longer tracks we should run race together and extend the quali time to allow for spreading out (and allowing only two hot laps).
 
We could do it the way Formula 1 does it. They have two knock out rounds and then the top ten battle it out. Watching that on TV is super cool and exciting. Whoever thought of that for F1 must be commended and they should do that in NASCAR, Indy, and any other top series over here in the States.

Too bad setting up something like that for GT would be a pain in the badunkadunk. :lol:
 
We could do it the way Formula 1 does it. They have two knock out rounds and then the top ten battle it out. Watching that on TV is super cool and exciting. Whoever thought of that for F1 must be commended and they should do that in NASCAR, Indy, and any other top series over here in the States.

Too bad setting up something like that for GT would be a pain in the badunkadunk. :lol:

Look it up, NASCAR is doing that this year (well, kinda...).

Too long for us here though. I like the 2-and-go formula, let's get racing :)
 
We could do it the way Formula 1 does it. They have two knock out rounds and then the top ten battle it out. Watching that on TV is super cool and exciting. Whoever thought of that for F1 must be commended and they should do that in NASCAR, Indy, and any other top series over here in the States.

Too bad setting up something like that for GT would be a pain in the badunkadunk. :lol:

We did that for our entire WRS F1 series last year and for several F1 special events the year before. It was awesome, but way too slow for our needs.

It's not a pain to set up at all... we've done it. It just takes a lot of time. 1 hour was our allocation. Here were the results from our F1 Quali at Spa. I missed round 3 by 0.022. :mad:

20130824_quali_round1.png
20130824_quali_round2.png
20130824_quali_round3.png
 
We could do it the way Formula 1 does it. They have two knock out rounds and then the top ten battle it out. Watching that on TV is super cool and exciting. Whoever thought of that for F1 must be commended and they should do that in NASCAR, Indy, and any other top series over here in the States.

Too bad setting up something like that for GT would be a pain in the badunkadunk. :lol:

Yeah that would be kind of cool, but for the Weekly Events the decision was made to stick to 90 minutes for the event duration. We wouldn't be able to run 3 full qualifying sessions.

However, you missed a bit of the fun we had in GT5. The 2013 WRS Formula 1 had live qualifying. Here are a few replays of Paul's excellent extended broadcasts:





Edit: Treed by faster than light Tim.
 
Great advice guys! If I can put in enough time and still stay married it's a win win!
I did qualify 3 in the EU race amongst closer competition in room B, so not all bad.

Edit: it will probably help to remember to change my oil. I was down 40hp by the end of the race.
 
Last edited:
EU Race Penalties

@Revoy: 15 sec penalty for jumping the start




EU Results
View attachment 112286

---

NA Race Penalties

@RacingOtaku86: 15 sec penalty for jumping the start




@See23: Warning for blue flag violation




@Kessil: Warning for blue flag violation (1:07 to 1:21 in this video)




@Strop: DQ and probation period for multiple infractions
  • Multiple blue flag violations (3 shown in video above)
  • Punt and run (3:40 in the video above)
  • Multiple unsafe returns to track (below)




This is meant to be educational to everyone. Many of you (should be *all of you*) have read the OLR Rules but putting videos with the words should help.

During staggered rolling starts, you don't hit the gas until the driver immediately in front of you does. In staggered formation, the driver in front is to your left or right, not the guy straight ahead of you (who is two places ahead).

If you're being lapped, get out of the way as soon and as safely as possible. Your goal is to not affect lead-lap drivers AT ALL.

If you punt someone, it doesn't matter if you're in 1st place or last place 5 laps down, you wait.


NA Results
View attachment 112294
 
Someone in the EU race C is thanking their lucky stars that I didn't report their butt (don't worry, no names). The same thing happened to me three times as in the video that got someone DQ'd. I won't get into trouble for not reporting something that I already warned the other person about, will I?
 
What blue flag??? Are you serious?

Reference the OLR and my post before the race in this thread and nearly every race we've run in GT6.

First, braking zones under draft can be deceiving. Brake early when behind someone and under the influence of draft. Going into turn 1 you really feel the speed gained from draft and it's pretty natural to break early. You can also brake really early and modulate the brake to manage the distance and end up right behind the other driver at the apex without taking risks. Going into the 2nd chicane is much more deceiving. It doesn't feel like you are going faster, but you really do have to brake quite a bit earlier and the brake zone is shorter. It's easy to miss a brake marker when following so be careful. The braking zone into ascari is the easiest to miss... make sure you aren't just using shadow lines on the ground for your markers because you might not see them. I'm a bit worried about lesmo 2 also sine the brake markers are no longer immovable objects... you might want to figure out an alternate marker just in case they aren't there.

Second, there is quite a pace differential between drivers. I suspect there will be an equally great difference in how drivers abuse the rear tires. It's easy to make a mistake and one touch of the grass can send you in a spin. Add to all of that there may be times when some drivers are on different compounds. Conclusion is that a few drivers are going to getting lapped (and maybe more than a few). If you are getting lapped you must observe the blue flag. You cannot defend your position and you cannot drag race a lead lap car down the straight. According to the OLR, you must pull over and get out of the way at the first opportunity. And you should be conservative about it and think ahead. If you are heading into the chicane and feel like you will be holding up the lead lap driver by in the middle of the chicane you should pull over before the chicane and let them through. Yes, you are losing time, but once you are being lapped that's your responsibility. Once you let the driver pass you there is nothing against using their draft a bit and maybe get back just a bit of that time, but you have to be careful... before you get to the braking zone back off or pull out of the draft. You don't want to be punting anyone into the sand trap.

Be careful re-entering the track after an incident. We've had drivers in the past make a mistake heading into turn one and ending up on the blocks and return unsafely to track and receive a penalty. Once you are off track you can't get back on track until the coast is clear. Don't dive back into the chicane into oncoming traffic, remember your tires will be slippery and you might have damage. You might have to wait for an entire pack to pass before you can proceed. Once you go off track it's your responsibility to return safely. Once you are back up to speed and on the racing line you get back your rights to the racing line, etc. (assuming you are battling cars on your same lap).
 
Re Blue flag violation:
1) looks like I gave him lots of room
2) what blue flag?
It's an imaginary blue flag, but the rule applies. Have a read up of the OLR section here:

10: Defensive Driving:

C:
Drivers that are about to get lapped have to make sure not to interfere with the lapping cars. Slow down on the straights on either side of the track or maintain the outside line during cornering. If for whatever reason you happen to be on the inside line when being overtaken, stay on the inside line until all drivers that were about to lap you have passed. You are not allowed to deliberately block the lapping cars.
Oh Tim...to fast for the second time in a row!
 
Ya I get that and I know the rules but the imaginary blue flag leaves a lot to the imagination when you're focused on staying on track and there being no name on the car in your review mirror. Seriously.

In any case; got the message. Thank you.
 
Ya I get that and I know the rules but the imaginary blue flag leaves a lot to the imagination when you're focused on staying on track and there being no name on the car in your review mirror. Seriously.

The game doesn't make it easy. It doesn't highlight triangles so you know who is who. It doesn't show names in the rear mirror. But it does show names if you click the "rear view" button. Even though it's not easy, it's still the responsibilities of the driver to have situational awareness including knowing when they are being lapped. Practice clicking the "rear view" just like you practice braking or any other driving technique until you don't have to think about it. It would be great if there were a better way supported by the game, but in the meantime it's on the driver.
 
Congrats to @Daniel Pinho on your first win, in the EU C room! :cheers:
Thank you Gravitron and I would like to say thank you all GTP guys for organising such event.
Not only this one but all WRS events I've seeing around are well organised.
Can't forget to mention that drivers are pretty even in skills and speed in my div.
Once again congrats and many thanks.​
 
Well, crap, my eighth turned to tenth just because of a stupid move...... I'm not happy with myself. I'm also not happy with the part of me that expects to keep up with 99% of you, which is nearly impossible, and futile to even think about such things. I'm sorry to litter this thread with such crap, so feel free to delete this post, but....
 
The combo was very demanding, i knew that up front, and said to myself "you have to keep it on track" well on the first race lap i lost it at lesmo 2. Had to let everybody pass, managed to get close to the pack (place 4-10), and when there was a pile up off cars in lap 9 or 10 after the first chicane pilmat, me and tka-tha managed to get through.
Unfortunately i had a big off in lap 14, i tried to rejoin fast thought i was in gear but i was in R, slammed the throttle and going backwards over the track where jtv was. He lost time and i appologized for that.

I was fed up with myself for making that mistake, went into the pit being angry, and forgot to change to RH.
So after a couple off head bangs on the steering wheel i continued the race.

Despite off my own misstakes i realy enjoyed this race looking forward to race you guys again.
 
Well, crap, my eighth turned to tenth just because of a stupid move...... I'm not happy with myself. I'm also not happy with the part of me that expects to keep up with 99% of you, which is nearly impossible, and futile to even think about such things. I'm sorry to litter this thread with such crap, so feel free to delete this post, but....
That's ok. The bolded part is the most important. It's an easy thing to do, but so long as you don't expect too much of yourself, you won't go away disappointed. I like to set goals for myself in races, and not always related to speed. I used to really struggle with suzuka, so I made it my goal to just get to the end of the race without any offs. Didn't worry about speed, just focussed on staying on track. Or there might be someone close to me in handicap who I would try to at least battle with, or focus on getting a great fast lap or something like that. That way you can set realistic goals and you won't come away disappointed.
 
I always wondered how we're supposed to know who the person behind is. Just because someone comes from behind doesn't necessarily mean they're a faster driver, it could just be you had a bad lap and let the driver behind you in the race catch up. Once people get past I know if it's someone I have a chance of catching and adjust accordingly, but you had to get past first.

In future I'll try the look-behind trick. As I said before I would never intentionally block a faster driver, and realistically that's a large percentage of the people in the race. As See23 said, some of us haven't done that much online racing, and concentrating on keeping the FXX on the road, braking points, and spending time looking back to figure out if the car behind is someone you should let past is not that easy.
 
That was a lot of incidents!! I was really surprised as when I came up on lap cars I found them all quite courteous, even Mav and JTV were nice to me when they were on their SS change tires :)

My advice, based on being given a serious penalty in the past: learn from it and move on. The WRS folks are a helpful bunch and like close racing, with an ounce of tolerance to keep it fun.

[/steps off soapbox]
 
Is hard to know who's coming is about to lapping you... I totally agree.
One method I use is what I call "approximation rate" (don't know how to name it) :confused:.

I know that my pace is pretty similar to the guy behind me or he should be in front of me right?!

If someone suddenly appease on my mini map and get closer fast than I expect or if I did no mistake at all and my lap time is regular, probably this driver is going to lap me and I assume that is a blue flag out there.

Okay, you wasn't on blue flag and a lost your pos!

Well, look the hole scenario:
The driver came so fast in just a few corners or even a lap. You gave him a "free pass" and lost your position.
It would happen anyways, that is just a matter of time since the behind driver is clearly faster/better than you.
Let it go.

Just my noob method!
 
Is hard to know who's coming is about to lapping you... I totally agree.
One method I use is what I call "approximation rate" (don't know how to name it) :confused:.

I know that my pace is pretty similar to the guy behind me or he should be in front of me right?!

If someone suddenly appease on my mini map and get closer fast than I expect or if I did no mistake at all and my lap time is regular, probably this driver is going to lap me and I assume that is a blue flag out there.

Okay, you wasn't on blue flag and a lost your pos!

Well, look the hole scenario:
The driver came so fast in just a few corners or even a lap. You gave him a "free pass" and lost your position.
It would happen anyways, that is just a matter of time since the behind driver is clearly faster/better than you.
Let it go.

Just my noob method!

Not a bad way... but really using rear view on a straight has to be part of the repertoire of any driver. This has to be practiced like anything else.

There are combos, like this one to some extent, where it's easy to gain on a driver from a distance, but at a certain point behind it gets tougher. So sort of hit a wall following through some sections of the course. The F1 cars at Monaco last year was a perfect and more extreme example. There was an invisible wall about 5 car lengths behind the next car of dirty air to the point where you couldn't make corners at close to the same speeds when in that air. If every lapped car thought you weren't fast enough to pass at that point they'd never let you through, but they would be significantly holding you up to the order of 3-5 seconds per lap and changing the outcome of the race. Honestly, we had a few problems there with blue flag issue, but the leaders were MUCH faster at times right up until that boundary of dirty air. Most drivers getting lapped did a good job of pulling over, but a few didn't... we notified them before the race, just like we did this week, and they got penalties for ignoring instructions during the race. The rest of the series we had very few issues with the blue flag.

PS> In that Monaco race I was a lap down myself and had to pull over for several drivers.
 
Back