Vision GT LMP Series - A Custom Race Championship

[Guffaluff]

INTRODUCING: THE VISION GT LMP SERIES​

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Last night I started my own championship using custom race and Excel! Was originally gonna post this in the Custom Race thread, but it ended up being way too long for a comment 😅 So I figured I'd just make a thread here and update it as this goes along. Hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
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So, I made a grid consisting of 8 manufacturers, 2 cars each, so a 16 car grid, using only the VGT Gr.1 cars. I have planned a 8 round season, with each race spanning a distance of 150km. My main settings are the following:

• BoP on / Default tires (RM)
• "Qualifying" is done using a list randomizer
• Weak boost (based on what I've read in the Custom Race thread)
• Heavy Damage
• 1x fuel / 3x tire wear
• Real slipstream
• Real off-wet track grip
• Contact penalties on
• Shortcut penalties strong
• Pitlane penalties on
• Random weather

I also have certain rules towards my own driving as well.

• I'm no alien, but I'm a decent driver, so I don't go full sweat on this. That wouldn't be all too much fun with the level of the current AI (Sophy AI to Custom Races would be amazing!). I drive very safely and treat the AI as I would human opponents, so I only attempt a pass if it's safe, and if in doubt I rather give the place back instead of forcing it.
• If I get a shortcut penalty, I need to serve it by slowing down after a maximum of 2 corners since getting served the penalty.
  
  • PD, please bring penalty zones to custom races!
• If I get damage, I will pit for repairs the following lap, even if I believe it's better for me to stay out. This is how the AI does it, so I want to play fair.
• I play with no HUD and in VR. The no HUD takes away my weather radar, so I'll have to judge the weather on the fly in case of rain, putting me at a possible strategic disadvantage. This is to try and counter the AI's rather questionable strategy calls.

There is no strategy to these races with these settings. The tire wear is enough to feel the tires fade a bit towards the late stages, but not enough to have to pit. But with heavy damage, it throws a wrench into the mix, both for myself and the AI.

So, are you ready to meet the teams and drivers? I'm using only drivers who ran the recent Le Mans 24hr, and tried to match drivers to manufacturers as per real life, where I could.
(Please note, liveries are not mine, got them all from Showcase)

TEAM HYUNDAI
Drivers: Me / Romain Grosjean

TEAM DODGE
Drivers: Sébastian Bourdais / Alex Palou

TEAM PEUGEOT
Drivers: Stoffel Vandoorne / Paul Di Resta

TEAM MCLAREN
Drivers: Jack Aitken / Alex Lynn

TEAM MAZDA
Drivers: Kamui Kobayashi / Brendon Hartley

TEAM BUGATTI
Drivers: Dries Vanthoor / Antonio Giovinazzi

TEAM AUDI
Drivers: Kévin Estre / Jenson Button

TEAM ALPINE
Drivers: Mick Schumacher / Nicolas Lapierre

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SEASON INDEX
I will post each round summary as a comment on this thread, and will link to them here below for ease of access to follow along

R01: 150KM OF CATALUNYA

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SEASON STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1 OF 8

 

[Guffaluff]

ROUND 1: 150KM OF CATALUNYA (WITH CHICANE)

Here we go! It is the inaugural round of the Vision GT LMP Series!

Our drivers take the stage here at Catalunya on a sunny afternoon and we should have fierce racing ahead of us!

QUALIFYING
The first ever pole in the VGT LMP Series goes to Sébastian Bourdais, who set the fastest time in the qualifying session for Team Dodge, with Giovinazzi and Button following closely for Teams Bugatti and Audi respectively.

Here are the full qualifying results:

RACE SUMMARY
Bourdais followed his pole nicely and secured the win and a full bag of 25 points! Mick Schumacher drove a good race and finished P2, gaining 2 places. Thorvaldsson claimed the last step on the podium with a good recovery race after a lackluster qualifying.

Here are the full race results:

NEXT ROUND
Round 2 will take the teams and drivers over to Germany to tackle 150km of the Nürburgring GP circuit.

Stay tuned!

NOTES
This was surprisingly fun to drive! Going by my own rules/guidelines listed in the post, it makes for a fun experience. Gained a couple of places passing the AI after they were pressured into a mistake and overshot a corner, and others when AI pitted for damage after contact. I spun on the penultimate lap while in P2, causing Mick to get ahead.

Really fun stuff, looking forward to finding time to run the next round!