Toughest race I've ever endured.

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RikkiGT-R

RikkiGT-R

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IamValhalla
(at the end of my story I'm asking for advice)

Entered the Dream Car championship a while ago in my ZR-1 RM. The first 4 races were standard fare; took first place in the first or second lap, then held on gallantly until the end.

Then came 3 laps of Nurburgring 24hr in the rain. It was lucky I had just come from the advanced AMG School and so had a fair idea of driving on a rain-soaked Nurburgring. Took the lead in the first lap and built that up to about 3 seconds. As I began the 2nd lap I noticed the 2nd place car going into the pits; "Great!" I thought as I sauntered off into the distance.

As I pulled onto Nordschleife the split time was 30 seconds ahead and so I thought this'd be easy. The next split read 20 seconds which made me panic a little (how did he just cream 10 seconds off my lead?). Then with each split the lead was cut by 1 or 2 seconds until "Mr Ford GT LM Race Car" was right behind me and no matter how hard I tried I could not shake him off, until half way through lap 3 when he tried to overtake me, we both just about touched... but naturally my car went spinning as though it had taken a side impact from a wrecking ball. As I tried to get my car back on track 3 or 4 more cars drove through me (smashing me off track again and again) but they carried on as if I was never there, pretty much as I expected. I immediately quit the race in disgust as I had already sealed the Championship.


A couple of questions:

If I was initially able to build up a 3 second lead, then have that increased to 30 by a pit-stop from an opponent, HOW did he cut that down to nothing and then overtake me within a lap and a half? I was driving at my limit the whole time and managed to pull into the lead, not to mention the fact I was using rain tires from the start. If he was on normal [race] tires to begin with, how did he manage to keep so close over such a long distance? Would he have swapped TO rain tires in the pits? And if so, how could he then apparently drive like a lunatic when I was unable to?

Even though I was using rain tires, I was severely restricted in how much I could push the car. What tires should I have been using, and is there a particular tuning set-up I should use in those conditions?


tl:dr :D
 
There are actually 2 types of rain. Drizzle and downpour. I noticed this first at The Ring. I was driving my ISF RM (racing hard tires) and it started to rain a little bit. The car was a little more skiddish but nothing uncontrollable, then as the sun fell in the sky and the rain intensified my cars grip SEVERELY dropped (like I could not go above 100mph). Rain tires are only meant for downpours. If its was a light rain then inters or even slicks would be your best bet. Assuming you were on rains, he was on inters or slicks and it was raining lightly, that is how he caught back up to you.

Its tough to gauge the situation, but that is racing. Particularly at The Ring, because of the large distance between you and the pits. If it starts to rain or dry up as you pass the pits, consider yourself F'ed.
 
@ paskowitz It was a downpour from start to finish.
 
I did these races last night. I wonder though, what are the odds that I did all three of the weather races in the dry? I didn't get one drop of rain in any of them. The Nurburgring was dark and gloomy though, looked like pending rain.
 
Pretty much the same thing happened to me, I was forced violently off the track by rival cars on the final lap after they made up quite a lead I had by avoiding the pits... but luckily after retiring from that race I also still won the Championship anyway. It's tough to know how hard you were pushing it without us actually seeing it... the Ford probably made up much of that time on the corners, it's just curious why he didn't do that the entire time, it must have been the tire change.
 
paskowitz
What did you set the downforce to? If it was low then that could have been a factor.
Click to expand...

Downforce full at the front, slightly lower at the rear (5 increments).
 
Same thing happened to me with monza except I was in a group c car and the gt lm pitted twice, and managed to knock a one minute lead down to about 20 seconds before the race ended. I was using rain tires though and couldn't really gauge the rain it kept going up n down. Maybe the AI was getting rubber banded?
 
R1600Turbo
I did these races last night. I wonder though, what are the odds that I did all three of the weather races in the dry? I didn't get one drop of rain in any of them. The Nurburgring was dark and gloomy though, looked like pending rain.
Click to expand...


I got dry races for all of them. Happened to me for just about all the weather track so far....

Didn't help though, I got PIT by AI on the first lap in Nurburgring and I just quit since I got a 4 win lead and enough points to clinch the title. Went back on a different occasion to just win the race.
 
coreyvf
Pretty much the same thing happened to me, I was forced violently off the track by rival cars on the final lap after they made up quite a lead I had by avoiding the pits... but luckily after retiring from that race I also still won the Championship anyway. It's tough to know how hard you were pushing it without us actually seeing it... the Ford probably made up much of that time on the corners, it's just curious why he didn't do that the entire time, it must have been the tire change.
Click to expand...

I'm comfortable driving in the rain like that (well I thought I was until earlier!) - I was driving as fast and as controlled as a ZR-1 RM can drive in those conditions, but the Ford GT caught up with me as though he was totally unaffected by the rain. It was really intimidating to watch my lead just vanish like that :(

Having said that, I won the very same Ford as a prize car for that Championship so I'm going to enter with that to see if it's as easy for me :D
 
RikkiGT-R
(at the end of my story I'm asking for advice)

Entered the Dream Car championship a while ago in my ZR-1 RM. The first 4 races were standard fare; took first place in the first or second lap, then held on gallantly until the end.

Then came 3 laps of Nurburgring 24hr in the rain. It was lucky I had just come from the advanced AMG School and so had a fair idea of driving on a rain-soaked Nurburgring. Took the lead in the first lap and built that up to about 3 seconds. As I began the 2nd lap I noticed the 2nd place car going into the pits; "Great!" I thought as I sauntered off into the distance.

As I pulled onto Nordschleife the split time was 30 seconds ahead and so I thought this'd be easy. The next split read 20 seconds which made me panic a little (how did he just cream 10 seconds off my lead?). Then with each split the lead was cut by 1 or 2 seconds until "Mr Ford GT LM Race Car" was right behind me and no matter how hard I tried I could not shake him off, until half way through lap 3 when he tried to overtake me, we both just about touched... but naturally my car went spinning as though it had taken a side impact from a wrecking ball. As I tried to get my car back on track 3 or 4 more cars drove through me (smashing me off track again and again) but they carried on as if I was never there, pretty much as I expected. I immediately quit the race in disgust as I had already sealed the Championship.


A couple of questions:

If I was initially able to build up a 3 second lead, then have that increased to 30 by a pit-stop from an opponent, HOW did he cut that down to nothing and then overtake me within a lap and a half? I was driving at my limit the whole time and managed to pull into the lead, not to mention the fact I was using rain tires from the start. If he was on normal [race] tires to begin with, how did he manage to keep so close over such a long distance? Would he have swapped TO rain tires in the pits? And if so, how could he then apparently drive like a lunatic when I was unable to?

Even though I was using rain tires, I was severely restricted in how much I could push the car. What tires should I have been using, and is there a particular tuning set-up I should use in those conditions?


tl:dr :D
Click to expand...

I am guessing rubberband AI! its very stupid.
 
RacingManiac
I got dry races for all of them. Happened to me for just about all the weather track so far....

Didn't help though, I got PIT by AI on the first lap in Nurburgring and I just quit since I got a 4 win lead and enough points to clinch the title. Went back on a different occasion to just win the race.
Click to expand...

I got pit too, but I was in the lead before the first lap was over, and I was on intermediate tires.
 
Its because your tires are burning every second. When you burn them enough, they cant endure as high speeds, and you begin to lessen speed and traction slightly
that slightness of speed/traction loss combined with their new tires would make up about 30 seconds
 
Another thing, even though it's a long shot, is perhaps because the Ford's tires were fresh... and yours were worn at that point... it gave him an advantage...

BTW, what is "rubberband AI"?
 
My first time with this race, I ran it with a Jag Race Car I bought used (4mil cr) because I saw I needed a race car for future races. I got gold on my first attempt of the Championship, but I made the mistake of trying out the races first which I golded, but didn't get the championship, which I did later.

Now I have been stuck at level 29 trying to get to 30 so I have been running this event for the points and CR with the Minolta, XJ13 (I won doing the Indy 500) and the GT Formula car. All of them can out lap the AI's except on Nurinburg.
 
R1600Turbo
I got pit too, but I was in the lead before the first lap was over, and I was on intermediate tires.
Click to expand...

It was 1 am and I was pissed....lol

When I went back on a different time to redo the race(sunny, again), I was holding a 10 sec lead over a XJR-9. It was an interesting race as it was probably the fastest car(still the RM Z06, no supercharger, ~700 something bhp) I've driven yet in GT5 around the ring 24 hour track and it was pretty hair raising how fast you are going through some section...
 
Ford GT LM is MR and handled the rain better than your Vette? IDK, Normally the computer goes super slow when it's raining. You must of got the one AI who can drive like a pro lol. Also guys there is no tire wear on A-spec events other then endurance races.
 
I did this race the first time in a Peugot 908, just to be sure I wouldn't have any trouble winning. I generally like to enter a car that is relatively equal to the others in the race for a fun challenge - even though there are no restrictions on just about any of the races. I saw the three weather change tracks in that championship lineup and wanted to be sure I could put a lead on the other cars. As luck would have it, it didn't rain in a single race. Bone dry. Easy wins.

I went back and did the championship again, same car, and this time got the rain. I had a fun time, left the race slicks on, and played around with the GT LM and Jag XJ9.

The third time I did the championship I decided to take something a little more fair. Picked the Nomad Diablo and detuned it down to about 700hp. The dry races were not a big deal. Monza looked foggy but no rain, so I left the slicks on, and half way through the race it started raining, but it was raining harder on certain parts of the track and almost no rain at all on other parts, so I didn't feel I should switch tires. The other cars never pitted, and I don't know what tires they started on, but the GT LM cut my 30 second lead down to 2 seconds in those last 5 laps, and on the last lap I really put some work in and stretched it to ~5 seconds before the finish.

On the noogenburger it looked the way it had at Monza - foggy. I put intermediates on. I got out in the lead early and was doing well, similar story to yours. It was raining heavily. Lead jumped to 35 seconds after the first lap - GT LM must have pitted. After that, over the next lap he ran me down to just 5 seconds gap. He tailed me the whole last lap at a couple second gap and I only finally put some distance on him on the big straight. Finished first but was really confused about how he ran me down so hard... yes I was on intermediates, but mine was a superior car..

-Ryan
 
ThePass
Lead jumped to 35 seconds after the first lap - GT LM must have pitted. After that, over the next lap he ran me down to just 5 seconds gap.
Click to expand...

Same as me then. I just don't know how he caught up so fast. I was driving on the edge; not losing control, just pushing the car as hard as I could without it losing control.
 
I've experienced the same thing. AI goes to pit, and my lead time goes up to 35 sec. One lap later, it's 3 seconds. In my opinion this is simply the reality of playing a video game and is only in there to create a challenge. It's arcade. We just have to deal with it.
 
A couple of questions:

If I was initially able to build up a 3 second lead, then have that increased to 30 by a pit-stop from an opponent, HOW did he cut that down to nothing and then overtake me within a lap and a half?

Even though I was using rain tires, I was severely restricted in how much I could push the car. What tires should I have been using, and is there a particular tuning set-up I should use in those conditions?
Click to expand...

Just did the Dream Car championship last night for the first time in B-Spec and had two wet races (one level to go in A-Spec), including the Nurburgring. Noticed a couple of weird things which could well explain what happened to you.

In both wet races the entire field started out on slicks judging from their pace (as did I in the first one, having made the foolish assumption that GT5 would put me on wets given that it was raining Datsun cogs). At the end of the first lap the entire field had to pit to change tyres to wets.

When I went to the next race I checked and my car was left on intermediates, despite it being a beautiful sunny day, so I changed to slicks and Bob annihilated the opposition who I guess were also put on inters.

Wet Nurburgring - same story, the entire field (apart from me) were on the wrong tyres and had to pit after the first lap.

If you had only built up a 3 second lead after one full lap of the Nurburgring 24h despite being on wet tyres while the field were on slicks, then once they changed over in the pits they would have easily caught you as you described. B-Spec Bob was leading by several minutes after the first lap.

As to tyres and tuning I can't say for GT5 but only comment on the real world. Inters are only for very light rain and with a drying line on the track - if it's raining constantly you need wets. Even if it stops don't change to inters until to start to see dry patches appearing. Maximise your downforce to increase grip and soften your suspension off all around if you're expecting a totally wet race, again to maximise grip.

BB
 
Tell you what though, for two of my races I started on intermediates and just left them on. Once they warmed up, they were actually pretty grippy.
 
I won this race first time pretty easily with RM ZR1. I was on Intermediate tires because I didn't know if it would rain on and off. The only adjustments I made was front downforce all the way and rear downforce half way.
 
I used my Toyota 88 for this series, and the Nurburgring was the most hair-raising. Extra long and bumpy, with AI on your butt the whole way. I was lucky that the race was in the dry. In the whole series, only one race was in the rain, and I did managed to win it, even with my rain tires.

Weirdly enough, one of the Formula GT races (Tsukuba) was in the rain, and I won that by two full laps, because I was on slicks, and everyone else pitted and must've changed to rain tires. I've heard that the rain can be a little buggy, and that sometimes it makes more sense to just stick to slicks.
 
Dunno sofar for me rain races have been cake, it usually either cloudy with a chance of rain, or just a total downpour.

If it is a downpour you can change tires and setup easy enough. But the AI will always seem to start on slicks and will do a full lap on them in a downpour.....then pit after the first lap to change tires.

Used the minotla for that whole series, granted i had monza just before nurburg both were in torrential rain so i had monza to get my bearings with the minolta in the rain so nurburg was pretty easy after that.
 
Do a search on tires or tyres. There has already been a discussion on this, you should have used Racing Soft tyres and maybe turn up the TCS on the fly.

In Aspec mode when it is raining the track is dry ! Yep, unbelievable..but true. The track is only 'properly' slippery when the grip option is set to real, but you cannot do that in Aspec - only in Arcade or Practise/TT mode.
 
You had rain tires on. They pitted for inters when the rain slowed down a bit (they only pit when it's time to swap from rain to inters and inters to drys)
 

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