Gran Turismo World Series 2024 Begins 17 April

[AdxRE]

EMEA GT1 Slot #3 - 287 points lobby, Door #16

My first race of the season after missing the first 2 rounds. Didn’t really expect results anywhere close to the exhibition season with the serial nerfs that the McLaren got and my general lack of practice time.

The lobby was incrediblely quick with pole at 1:25.2, and my 1:25.8 was only enough for 10th on the grid.

1st part of the race was mostly clean, quite a bit of defending needed with my lack of acceleration out of slow corners.

The whole field bar 1 BMW started on RM and I stayed out til lap 9 for the switch to RS. That put me down to 11th and by the time I caught up to those early pitters on worn tyres, I ran out of laps and therefore can only settle for P8, only 13s off P1.

Hoping for a better next round!

 

[Zorz]

What does that mean: "fixed weather" definete rain, maybe rain or no rain?

There will be rain. This Suzuka round is one we've seen twice before and after doing laps in free practice it appears to have the exact same slow-moving weather pattern as the previous runs.

The first time it appeared was the Manufacturers final at Amsterdam last August. It then turned up with a very slight rules change in an exhibition season back in September, making it Hards only rather than the Mediums/Hards combo that the GTWS finals used. The weather pattern had not changed though. It was identical to the live final.

GT1 will see it go dry > wet > dry as it's a 35 lap endurance race for us. GT2/3 will presumably have a dry start and a few laps of rain to finish off the shorter 15 lap variant.

For GT1:

• Spoon will start getting wet on lap 10, but not enough to cause a problem for slicks. The rest of the track will remain dry.
• On lap 11, Spoon will become too wet for slicks to run normally. It can still be done but will require caution. The rest of the track is still dry.
• On lap 12, Spoon requires extreme caution if you're still out on slicks. The rain is now slowly spreading towards the hairpin and 130R.
• Staying out on slicks into lap 13 is lethal and the rain will continue to move across the course over the following laps until everything is wet.

GT2/3 ran this combo in Group 3 before but is using Group 4 this time, so it might be necessary to shift those estimates one lap earlier to account for the slower cars.

​

 

[appu]

I think GT2/GT3 folks are getting the exact same weather as GT1 folks. I ran a practice session. See the screenshots below.

Lap 10: Spoon is wet. Still doable in AWD on RH despite the wet meter being over 1/3rd. Drivability score 8/10. Rest of track dry.

Lap 11: I could not make it around the Spoon without going off track but with more caution, I could have made it around. Drivability score 5/10. Rest of track dry.

Lap 12: Dry track until the hairpin. The hairpin was wet but still drivable on RH. But I could not even make it to the spoon without going off track at 200R (the turn you see coming in the screenshot below).

So, GT2/GT3 has two strategies:
1. Take it easy on lap 10 spoon. Crawl on lap 11 spoon. Pit at end of lap 11. Faster but riskier.
2. Take it easy on lap 10 spoon. Pit at end of lap 11.

I am happy that I am possibly going to experience a partially wet track for first time in my gaming life.

 

[Zorz]

I think GT2/GT3 folks are getting the exact same weather as GT1 folks. I ran a practice session. See the screenshots below.

Lap 10: Spoon is wet. Still doable in AWD on RH despite the wet meter being over 1/3rd. Drivability score 8/10. Rest of track dry.
View attachment 1356012

Lap 11: I could not make it around the Spoon without going off track but with more caution, I could have made it around. Drivability score 5/10. Rest of track dry.
View attachment 1356013

Lap 12: Dry track until the hairpin. The hairpin was wet but still drivable on RH. But I could not even make it to the spoon without going off track at 200R (the turn you see coming in the screenshot below).
View attachment 1356014

So, GT2/GT3 has two strategies:
1. Take it easy on lap 10 spoon. Crawl on lap 11 spoon. Pit at end of lap 11. Faster but riskier.
2. Take it easy on lap 10 spoon. Pit at end of lap 11.

I am happy that I am possibly going to experience a partially wet track for first time in my gaming life.

That is the exact same weather pattern we've got in GT1. That also confirms my theory about GT2/3 then, you will get it about one lap earlier than we do in GT1 due to the cars being slower.

The track dampness gauge on your lap 10 looks like my lap 11, and your lap 11 looks like my lap 12.

 

[Seth_Logan]

Apparently the Honda is going to do very well... not bcause I drive it but I set up a practice session tonight and altough there are only 135 Honda racers in GT2 half the grid was full of Honda's and I suspect most were in Alt Accounts.

I hate this sharade, sure I understand it: GT1 is a 90 min affair and you guys only have 3 slots and yes; group 4 IS a lot of fun and maybe there are some folks who don't like to play fair (ask any golf player about handicaps), but man... do the rest of us get our day in the sun as well?

I can't join GT1...! Make that possible for me too, and I'll shut up.

4 drivers all "C" rated doing 2:10's 2:12's in the Honda... am I really that slow (haven't checked leaderboard so genuine question) or are these guys on Alts? I dunno...

PD: no need to continue with this GT league stuff. As far as I'm concerned you can shuffle us all back together. Oh, and while your at it: please allow outside parties like Kudos to access your data again. It was so much more fun seeing and sifting through the standing/tt's and what not.

Rant finished. You can go back to your normal routine now and ignore me. I'll be over there in the corner moping around.

That is the exact same weather pattern we've got in GT1. That also confirms my theory about GT2/3 then, you will get it about one lap earlier than we do in GT1 due to the cars being slower.

The track dampness gauge on your lap 10 looks like my lap 11, and your lap 11 looks like my lap 12.

Would you advise Rain or Intermediate tyres?

 

[Zorz]

Would you advise Rain or Intermediate tyres?

Intermediates. The conditions will be peaking about the time your race ends, and they get up to the crossover line for Intermediates/Wets at their absolute worst.

 

[MCL1974]

4 drivers all "C" rated doing 2:10's 2:12's in the Honda... am I really that slow (haven't checked leaderboard so genuine question) or are these guys on Alts? I dunno...

PD: no need to continue with this GT league stuff. As far as I'm concerned you can shuffle us all back together. Oh, and while your at it: please allow outside parties like Kudos to access your data again. It was so much more fun seeing and sifting through the standing/tt's and what not.

Rant finished. You can go back to your normal routine now and ignore me. I'll be over there in the corner moping around.

There is an unfortunate issue with the leagues; there are those who want easy wins and the method is simple: say you are B level then join a daily race, create some havoc to get penalties and get yourself demoted to a lower level like C. Then sign in for the series in Gt 3 and you get in a league that is below your standard. Same for A drivers getting themselves into GT 2.
And then you might get a few easy wins. Only issue is you are not the only one there:

I had one season in Gt3 and the top was all A-level drivers (or high B) that were seconds faster then the rest. I was in a race with them and they were out of sight in no time leaving only the scraps to us mortals.
It's the same in Gt 2, the top are A level drivers that are demoted, in most cases voluntary, either to score easy wins or in some cases because of the increase in time slots that come available as Gt 1 only has three which is incnvenient to some. Others like to do Gr 4 cars too or like the shorter races.

Could partly be solved by having seperate DR/SR that are not influenced by the daily races, I think. But you will always have drivers purposely lowering their DR and / or using alternate accounts for the easy wins, same happened in GTS.

For example: I saw a mid C level driver that had about 600 races with more then 300 wins. I raced him and I can guarantee you he was much faster and not driving fair....if you got in his way he would simply shove you off.

 

[Zorz]

There is an unfortunate issue with the leagues; there are those who want easy wins and the method is simple: say you are B level then join a daily race, create some havoc to get penalties and get yourself demoted to a lower level like C. Then sign in for the series in Gt 3 and you get in a league that is below your standard. Same for A drivers getting themselves into GT 2.
And then you might get a few easy wins. Only issue is you are not the only one there:

I had one season in Gt3 and the top was all A-level drivers (or high B) that were seconds faster then the rest. I was in a race with them and they were out of sight in no time leaving only the scraps to us mortals.
It's the same in Gt 2, the top are A level drivers that are demoted, in most cases voluntary, either to score easy wins or in some cases because of the increase in time slots that come available as Gt 1 only has three which is incnvenient to some. Others like to do Gr 4 cars too or like the shorter races.

Could partly be solved by having seperate DR/SR that are not influenced by the daily races, I think. But you will always have drivers purposely lowering their DR and / or using alternate accounts for the easy wins, same happened in GTS.

For example: I saw a mid C level driver that had about 600 races with more then 300 wins. I raced him and I can guarantee you he was much faster and not driving fair....if you got in his way he would simply shove you off.

Considering how there are complaints about the league setups from both sides, GT2/3 players wanting the longer races and GT1 players who don't, I'd propose switching things up entirely and half reverting back to how things were in GT Sport. Also tie in the discussions from a few pages back about the problems with the setup.

Three leagues in each championship, and signing for one immediately locks you in to that and removes the others.

GTWS Qualification
Only available if you're at 80k+ DR when a season starts. Very few timeslots per race and the most serious settings - heavy damage, long races etc.

Due to how few people should be in this per region, give the races human stewards like at the live events to prevent all the issues and drama the recent disqualifications have caused. All rounds are counted towards the final total, so no more getting a few good results early in a season then disappearing to protect your chances by artificially dropping the points available for others. If you're trying to qualify for the live events, you should damn well have to fight for it.

Endurance
Similar to the current GT1 setup, but available to everyone and with 10 timeslots per race to make it more accessible to the average player than GT1 is now. Group 3 only in Manufacturers and longer races, at least 45 minutes+.

Short
Similar to the current GT2/3 setup, but available to everyone. Mixed Group 3/4 in Manufacturers and shorter races, up to 30 minutes.


Let people pick what they want on a season-by-season basis. Busy schedule and doing the longer races will be tough, or you fancy some Group 4? Go for the Short league. Want the more intense races? Go for the Endurance league.

 

[Seth_Logan]

Considering how there are complaints about the league setups from both sides, GT2/3 players wanting the longer races and GT1 players who don't, I'd propose switching things up entirely and half reverting back to how things were in GT Sport. Also tie in the discussions from a few pages back about the problems with the setup.

Three leagues in each championship, and signing for one immediately locks you in to that and removes the others.

GTWS Qualification
Only available if you're at 80k+ DR when a season starts. Very few timeslots per race and the most serious settings - heavy damage, long races etc.

Due to how few people should be in this per region, give the races human stewards like at the live events to prevent all the issues and drama the recent disqualifications have caused. All rounds are counted towards the final total, so no more getting a few good results early in a season then disappearing to protect your chances by artificially dropping the points available for others. If you're trying to qualify for the live events, you should damn well have to fight for it.

Endurance
Similar to the current GT1 setup, but available to everyone and with 10 timeslots per race to make it more accessible to the average player than GT1 is now. Group 3 only in Manufacturers and longer races, at least 45 minutes+.

Short
Similar to the current GT2/3 setup, but available to everyone. Mixed Group 3/4 in Manufacturers and shorter races, up to 30 minutes.


Let people pick what they want on a season-by-season basis. Busy schedule and doing the longer races will be tough, or you fancy some Group 4? Go for the Short league. Want the more intense races? Go for the Endurance league.

Where do I sign

 

[JDM_GT7]

Apparently the Honda is going to do very well... not bcause I drive it but I set up a practice session tonight and altough there are only 135 Honda racers in GT2 half the grid was full of Honda's and I suspect most were in Alt Accounts.

I hate this sharade, sure I understand it: GT1 is a 90 min affair and you guys only have 3 slots and yes; group 4 IS a lot of fun and maybe there are some folks who don't like to play fair (ask any golf player about handicaps), but man... do the rest of us get our day in the sun as well?

I can't join GT1...! Make that possible for me too, and I'll shut up.

4 drivers all "C" rated doing 2:10's 2:12's in the Honda... am I really that slow (haven't checked leaderboard so genuine question) or are these guys on Alts? I dunno...

PD: no need to continue with this GT league stuff. As far as I'm concerned you can shuffle us all back together. Oh, and while your at it: please allow outside parties like Kudos to access your data again. It was so much more fun seeing and sifting through the standing/tt's and what not.

Rant finished. You can go back to your normal routine now and ignore me. I'll be over there in the corner moping around.

I am do Gt1 and I also Do Gt2. I sometime can not make the gt1 race but I can always make a Gt2 race.

TBH if they gave me slots every two hours though out the day especailly on saturday and a 6pm slot I would stop doing Gt2 at all. Gt1 is WAY cleaner.


I get the two hour gap consider that suzuka Gt1 race will be way over an hour in Gt1.

Not sure why endurance has to be gr3 only.

What really sucks for me, is I am A+ in gr4, but like maybe B in Gr3.

 

[alejandroivx]

There is an unfortunate issue with the leagues; there are those who want easy wins and the method is simple: say you are B level then join a daily race, create some havoc to get penalties and get yourself demoted to a lower level like C. Then sign in for the series in Gt 3 and you get in a league that is below your standard. Same for A drivers getting themselves into GT 2.
And then you might get a few easy wins. Only issue is you are not the only one there:

I had one season in Gt3 and the top was all A-level drivers (or high B) that were seconds faster then the rest. I was in a race with them and they were out of sight in no time leaving only the scraps to us mortals.
It's the same in Gt 2, the top are A level drivers that are demoted, in most cases voluntary, either to score easy wins or in some cases because of the increase in time slots that come available as Gt 1 only has three which is incnvenient to some. Others like to do Gr 4 cars too or like the shorter races.

Could partly be solved by having seperate DR/SR that are not influenced by the daily races, I think. But you will always have drivers purposely lowering their DR and / or using alternate accounts for the easy wins, same happened in GTS.

For example: I saw a mid C level driver that had about 600 races with more then 300 wins. I raced him and I can guarantee you he was much faster and not driving fair....if you got in his way he would simply shove you off.

I agree that it is unfortunate that the system incentivizes this behavior. I would be in favor of whatever system allows people to A. race in epic races against other drivers of similar skill levels and B. have it mean something (credits, whatever). It’s clearly broken to see A and A+ level drivers in GT3 and for that matter in GT2 (there are a few).

 

[911RSR]

There will be rain. ...

Damn it! I've never driven the Cayman in the wet before!
Even if i manage to do a wet practive race tonight, all rwd cars will be like dead moles compared to awd cars in a wet race on saturday!

Yesterday i had a little test run with the Cayman (in the dry of course!) and like every time before, the 2 Degners are killing me! I constantly find new ways of failing.

I've watched the lap of the fasted driver so far. He was also in a Cayman. He went thru 130R without breaking, just a little lift. I tried to copy it ... no chance!

 

[Fezzik]

Good luck out there everyone. I'm personally boycotting this round - less than half distance for GT2/3 is an insult.
See you all again at Daytona.

 

[RobertHammer]

Good luck out there everyone. I'm personally boycotting this round - less than half distance for GT2/3 is an insult.
See you all again at Daytona.

I still thinking about skipping Suzuka because Corvette Gr.4 isnt fast enough but with that rain it makes more interesting so not sure

 

[emGieT]

Considering how there are complaints about the league setups from both sides, GT2/3 players wanting the longer races and GT1 players who don't, I'd propose switching things up entirely and half reverting back to how things were in GT Sport. Also tie in the discussions from a few pages back about the problems with the setup.

Three leagues in each championship, and signing for one immediately locks you in to that and removes the others.

GTWS Qualification
Only available if you're at 80k+ DR when a season starts. Very few timeslots per race and the most serious settings - heavy damage, long races etc.

Due to how few people should be in this per region, give the races human stewards like at the live events to prevent all the issues and drama the recent disqualifications have caused. All rounds are counted towards the final total, so no more getting a few good results early in a season then disappearing to protect your chances by artificially dropping the points available for others. If you're trying to qualify for the live events, you should damn well have to fight for it.

Endurance
Similar to the current GT1 setup, but available to everyone and with 10 timeslots per race to make it more accessible to the average player than GT1 is now. Group 3 only in Manufacturers and longer races, at least 45 minutes+.

Short
Similar to the current GT2/3 setup, but available to everyone. Mixed Group 3/4 in Manufacturers and shorter races, up to 30 minutes.


Let people pick what they want on a season-by-season basis. Busy schedule and doing the longer races will be tough, or you fancy some Group 4? Go for the Short league. Want the more intense races? Go for the Endurance league.

YES! I also think that separate GTWS league for aliens is great idea!
But I'm not sure about separating short races to own league... Maybe let's leave short races for dailies? In the end it's championship! It should be little harder, than simple daily races.
And maybe if we would have unified settings for all "normal" leagues there wouldn't be so much sandbagging and dropping to lower leagues?

My vision for championships is like that:

• more rounds (minimum 8) and more than half of them counted for final result (5 of 8 in this case minimum)
• back to gr4/3 mix
• mixed length of races (few short rounds, few longer ones so people can something in their flavor)
• slot every 2 hours all day
• no heavy damage (but also no heavy ghosting which works randomly)
• big differences in credit payout across leagues, so people would have motivation to start higher leagues

 

[ElectricNaz]

Because it's a day early I've no idea if this is good or not.... But I'm genuinely quite proud of this lap.

If it is good, I've just gotta do it in Qualy, then again 15 times during the race....!!!

The guy in 10th I know from experience is bloody good, so that gives me a bit of a benchmark

 

[MCL1974]

Considering how there are complaints about the league setups from both sides, GT2/3 players wanting the longer races and GT1 players who don't, I'd propose switching things up entirely and half reverting back to how things were in GT Sport. Also tie in the discussions from a few pages back about the problems with the setup.

Three leagues in each championship, and signing for one immediately locks you in to that and removes the others.

GTWS Qualification
Only available if you're at 80k+ DR when a season starts. Very few timeslots per race and the most serious settings - heavy damage, long races etc.

Due to how few people should be in this per region, give the races human stewards like at the live events to prevent all the issues and drama the recent disqualifications have caused. All rounds are counted towards the final total, so no more getting a few good results early in a season then disappearing to protect your chances by artificially dropping the points available for others. If you're trying to qualify for the live events, you should damn well have to fight for it.

Endurance
Similar to the current GT1 setup, but available to everyone and with 10 timeslots per race to make it more accessible to the average player than GT1 is now. Group 3 only in Manufacturers and longer races, at least 45 minutes+.

Short
Similar to the current GT2/3 setup, but available to everyone. Mixed Group 3/4 in Manufacturers and shorter races, up to 30 minutes.


Let people pick what they want on a season-by-season basis. Busy schedule and doing the longer races will be tough, or you fancy some Group 4? Go for the Short league. Want the more intense races? Go for the Endurance league.

well laid out. Personally I would like to have both gr3 and gr 4 cars combined back for all leagues. This because you get more brands selected and it prefends that everyone in the top league is showing up in the same top gr3 car. With both gr3 and gr4 races you will have to select a manufacturer

YES! I also think that separate GTWS league for aliens is great idea!
But I'm not sure about separating short races to own league... Maybe let's leave short races for dailies? In the end it's championship! It should be little harder, than simple daily races.
And maybe if we would have unified settings for all "normal" leagues there wouldn't be so much sandbagging and dropping to lower leagues?

My vision for championships is like that:

• more rounds (minimum 8) and more than half of them counted for final result (5 of 8 in this case minimum)
• back to gr4/3 mix
• mixed length of races (few short rounds, few longer ones so people can something in their flavor)
• slot every 2 hours all day
• no heavy damage (but also no heavy ghosting which works randomly)
• big differences in credit payout across leagues, so people would have motivation to start higher leagues

share your vision pasted above, in my view this one would be close to perfection.
Only thing for me to add would be to have 1 round per week for each series and not the current 2 per week. So 1 race for Nations on Wednesday and 1 race for Manu on Saturday or vica versa.

 

[MetalApe]

Considering how there are complaints about the league setups from both sides, GT2/3 players wanting the longer races and GT1 players who don't, I'd propose switching things up entirely and half reverting back to how things were in GT Sport. Also tie in the discussions from a few pages back about the problems with the setup.

Three leagues in each championship, and signing for one immediately locks you in to that and removes the others.

GTWS Qualification
Only available if you're at 80k+ DR when a season starts. Very few timeslots per race and the most serious settings - heavy damage, long races etc.

Due to how few people should be in this per region, give the races human stewards like at the live events to prevent all the issues and drama the recent disqualifications have caused. All rounds are counted towards the final total, so no more getting a few good results early in a season then disappearing to protect your chances by artificially dropping the points available for others. If you're trying to qualify for the live events, you should damn well have to fight for it.

Endurance
Similar to the current GT1 setup, but available to everyone and with 10 timeslots per race to make it more accessible to the average player than GT1 is now. Group 3 only in Manufacturers and longer races, at least 45 minutes+.

Short
Similar to the current GT2/3 setup, but available to everyone. Mixed Group 3/4 in Manufacturers and shorter races, up to 30 minutes.


Let people pick what they want on a season-by-season basis. Busy schedule and doing the longer races will be tough, or you fancy some Group 4? Go for the Short league. Want the more intense races? Go for the Endurance league.

I pretty much agree with all that, exactly how I'd like it setup.

In addition I'd like to have a few side leagues running with different themes for our different tastes.

• Super Formula: 30 minute races on F1 tracks + other suitable venues
• Historics: Mixed duration, use BoP to mix up a few of the classic historics in the game. Focused on the classic old circuits, Monza, Spa, Goodwood, Watkins Glen etc. Maybe each season could focus on a different era.
• Sports car Enduros: GT1/2/3 & 4. 1 hour plus races with interesting strategy options
• Touring cars: Use GT4 as the closest option. Each event features 2 or 3 short races run back to back on the shorter more club like circuits. Grid for 2nd & 3rd races could use a scheme such as result of previous race, or reversing top n positions.
• Single make: 20 minute races, aimed at performance road cars. Different car for each season.

 

[emGieT]

I made a grave mistake picking the Ferrari, and it reared it's ugly head last night at Deep Forest.

My one and only race I was optimistic but it got shot down quick in the multiplayer practice lobbies. I was expecting to qualify mid pack at least, but I put in a ringer and qualified 4th. Since I was in the front I opted for softs, but everyone chose mediums . This was my first mistake. While I was able to keep up with them and managed the tires well, it was the wrong strategy. My 2nd eye opener was the opening laps. I had a Toyota and Ford GT in front of me. I would get a slightly better exit onto the long straight in the hairpin and literally be glued to their rear bumper, but they easily gapped me by about .3 by the brake zone into the hairpin. The 3rd eye opener was the terrible tire life on the Ferrari. In the practice lobbies I only got 9 laps. Maybe 10 if I was careful while others were able to get 11-13 laps out of a set of softs. The other eye opener later in the race was I was battling a Porsche. It got a bad drive off the corner and I was pulling on him. After the first tunnel. The Porsche was pulling on me unassisted. What the heck! I thought the Ferrari was fast on the straights.

My strategy plummeted me to P9 but was able to claw back to P7 due to the soft runners running out of tires and me picking them off. I'm waiting for my stream to fully load but the last lap was a dog fight.

Anyways back to my mistake. I think I shot myself in the foot. In my testing I had the Ferrari being faster on the straights but this was not the case in the few races I've done. I won't be able to make Suzuka on Saturday, and the remaining races (Daytona and Fuji) rely on straight line speed and power more than handling prowless. Guess it's curtains for me this go around

Welcome to the Scuderia Ferrari team 🇮🇹😎🇮🇹 We are on the same hard path... I was tempted by great agility, nice traction and sound of this car. As expected Ferrari was monster on Interlagos and I got great result there.

Even on deep forest, when I was doing TT runs it felt great! I was able to make top 1000 time, so not bad for me. But in the race... OMG... tires... It was nightmare! When rears went down under the half this car just got crazy. In section before tunnels I had to go on half-throttle and very safe line, because I felt it will spin immediately. Of course I've been caught by opponents instantly and it was over... Oh, and I spun... on the last corner... Race to forget.

Anyway, I hope Suzuka will be more successful for us, and I'm aware that Daytona is also bad field for fight for our Italian pony, but I'm not sure about Fuji. Beside that endless straight there are fast high-downforce corners and tricky last sector where Ferrari can showoff, and tire-wear isn't issue in that round. So maybe there is a chance?

 

[Talon16]

well laid out. Personally I would like to have both gr3 and gr 4 cars combined back for all leagues. This because you get more brands selected and it prefends that everyone in the top league is showing up in the same top gr3 car. With both gr3 and gr4 races you will have to select a manufacturer

IMO having Gr3 & Gr4 cars required actually REDUCES the amount of Manus picked, not increases it. There are some Gr4 cars that are just horrid, so when those go out of the equation it increases the amount of Manus being picked since the Gr4 car is no longer a concern. Think BMW, Audi, Peugeot, VW, or Porsche (I realize the Cayman is decent now but it used to be a slug) where the Gr3 cars are good but Gr4 cars are bad. I've seen all these Manus in races (less VW) where otherwise probably not so much.

Back when GT1 was Gr3 and Gr4 you'd rarely see any of the above because the Gr4 car is so bad, but now BMWs and R8s are abundent. IMO, the variety of Manus in GT1 is pretty good. It used to be basically nothing but Toyotas, Nissans and McLarens since they are strong in both categories.

I think PD's track/tire choices jumble up the Manus more than anything. This season is a perfect example. Cars like the Porsche/Audi are good for most tracks, but will suffer at Daytona. Cars like the Chevy/Toyota will be very good at some but struggle at others (Suzuka and Fuji in the rain for example). Ferrari/Audi great at Nord and Interlagos, but might as well stay at home for Daytona and likely struggle at Fuji too because of the long straight. Yadda yadda yadda.

In fairness, the BoP is in a much better place than it used to be; I actually think it's pretty darn good in Gr3 and really good in Gr4. But, I for one, do no miss the Gr4 cars at all.

 

[RobertHammer]

I don't mind the Gr.4 cars but there is still a problem with the BoP that some cars are still slow and other cars have advantage because of 4WD etc

 

[Talon16]

I've come to the conclusion that the Porsche is no longer a tire friendly car. All the cars behind had better tires than me, including the Renault that would eventually get by; and it wasn't even close. Admittedly, I didn't check to see when they all pitted but the strat was pretty much the same for most, 8/12. But, I began to suspect something when I was doing Daytona testing and the Ford GT LM II was better on tires (and gas!!!) than the Porsche. Kinda bummer as that was one of the reasons I picked this car. Anyone else noticing the same or is it just me?

A couple more shots from Wed.

This was either lap 19 or 20, battle for P7:

I certainly lost a bunch of time and places getting pushed around by a red Ferrari and white Porsche (not the one pictured here) so I don't even feel bad about getting a freebie with two to go. This Mazda started behind me and raced clean, but that RXV is a bit tail happy:

Renault got by... close one at the line for P8 (you can see the damage on my car from my friend in a red Ferrari pictured previously):

 

[MCL1974]

IMO having Gr3 & Gr4 cars required actually REDUCES the amount of Manus picked, not increases it. There are some Gr4 cars that are just horrid, so when those go out of the equation it increases the amount of Manus being picked since the Gr4 car is no longer a concern. Think BMW, Audi, Peugeot, VW, or Porsche (I realize the Cayman is decent now but it used to be a slug) where the Gr3 cars are good but Gr4 cars are bad. I've seen all these Manus in races (less VW) where otherwise probably not so much.

Back when GT1 was Gr3 and Gr4 you'd rarely see any of the above because the Gr4 car is so bad, but now BMWs and R8s are abundent. IMO, the variety of Manus in GT1 is pretty good. It used to be basically nothing but Toyotas, Nissans and McLarens since they are strong in both categories.

I think PD's track/tire choices jumble up the Manus more than anything. This season is a perfect example. Cars like the Porsche/Audi are good for most tracks, but will suffer at Daytona. Cars like the Chevy/Toyota will be very good at some but struggle at others (Suzuka and Fuji in the rain for example). Ferrari/Audi great at Nord and Interlagos, but might as well stay at home for Daytona and likely struggle at Fuji too because of the long straight. Yadda yadda yadda.

In fairness, the BoP is in a much better place than it used to be; I actually think it's pretty darn good in Gr3 and really good in Gr4. But, I for one, do no miss the Gr4 cars at all.

fair point. But I do think that in GT2 and GT3 one might be tempted to do only gr3 or gr4 and pick the META for that caterory. A solution might be that you are forced to enter a minimum number of races in each categorie in order to get points at the end of the season as @emGieT already mentioned in his post.

But I really have to agree with you about the BoP, in both gr3 and gr 4 you do see a large variety of cars in the top of the timing lists, not just the Toyota or the Porsche for example. And that varies pretty much each race, it finally seems to be a bit more in balance.

 

[Roman_GT23]

Welcome to the Scuderia Ferrari team 🇮🇹😎🇮🇹 We are on the same hard path... I was tempted by great agility, nice traction and sound of this car. As expected Ferrari was monster on Interlagos and I got great result there.

Even on deep forest, when I was doing TT runs it felt great! I was able to make top 1000 time, so not bad for me. But in the race... OMG... tires... It was nightmare! When rears went down under the half this car just got crazy. In section before tunnels I had to go on half-throttle and very safe line, because I felt it will spin immediately. Of course I've been caught by opponents instantly and it was over... Oh, and I spun... on the last corner... Race to forget.

Anyway, I hope Suzuka will be more successful for us, and I'm aware that Daytona is also bad field for fight for our Italian pony, but I'm not sure about Fuji. Beside that endless straight there are fast high-downforce corners and tricky last sector where Ferrari can showoff, and tire-wear isn't issue in that round. So maybe there is a chance?

Maybe. But I think of the Ferrari like the Initial D 86. Great in the corners and can make up time. And maybe the first 1/4 of the straight you can either gain or hold your own. But then the real life laws of physics come to kick us in the face.

Might be a help for you, but at Nords, I had to run TC at 1 the entire time. Otherwise I would spin out. I did it again at Deep Forest when the car got sketchy. I know traditionalist will probably flame me for going into the forbidden fruit of driver aids, but Traction control is a real life tool, even in real GT3 cars so if it's available I'm going to use it. Besides in iRacing if you even try to run no TC, you're making the not top 10 of the week lol.

 

[Moose78]

How are all you GT1 drivers practicing for tomorrow's race at Suzuka? I feel like the most perilous part of the race is when the drying line has formed and you switch to slicks for the final laps of the race, so I'd like to focus my practice time on that. It takes about 40 minutes of driving in free practice to get to that point, so I've taken to running doing shorter 12-lap custom races where the weather starts with rain (R05, I think), followed by dry. I guess it works okay, but I wonder if anybody has found other approaches that they like better.

 

[Roman_GT23]

How are all you GT1 drivers practicing for tomorrow's race at Suzuka? I feel like the most perilous part of the race is when the drying line has formed and you switch to slicks for the final laps of the race, so I'd like to focus my practice time on that. It takes about 40 minutes of driving in free practice to get to that point, so I've taken to running doing shorter 12-lap custom races where the weather starts with rain (R05, I think), followed by dry. I guess it works okay, but I wonder if anybody has found other approaches that they like better.

If I was to do the race tomorrow, I would just open a lobby and start with a wet track but no rain and just keep running laps and experiment.

In my opinion, I would keep inters for as long as I can. Yes, they may not be the fastest at the end, but if you're on the dry tires and miss your mark or get nudged into the wet part of the track (I've seen this tactic both as offensive and defensive) not even the man above can save you. Suzuka is pretty narrow in terms of driving line. Most of the course only has one line. I wouldn't switch back to normal tires until the bar is about halfway filled between the 0 and 1st mark on the bar.

 

[Zorz]

How are all you GT1 drivers practicing for tomorrow's race at Suzuka? I feel like the most perilous part of the race is when the drying line has formed and you switch to slicks for the final laps of the race, so I'd like to focus my practice time on that. It takes about 40 minutes of driving in free practice to get to that point, so I've taken to running doing shorter 12-lap custom races where the weather starts with rain (R05, I think), followed by dry. I guess it works okay, but I wonder if anybody has found other approaches that they like better.

I'm not doing anything special to practice for that. I've always focused on knowing how to manage the course when things are at their absolute worst in the wet and then adapt on the fly from there.

The only things I can suggest if you're worried about the transition back to dry are:

Don't be ashamed about staying out on Inters 1-2 laps longer if you're really not confident. Chances are you'll lose a position or two for it but better than binning it, and you can never be sure what will happen. I won the 2022 Manufacturers grand final copy at Spa in one of the highest rated lobbies I've ever been in (271 points) after staying out on Inters 1-2 laps longer than everyone else. My pace was awful but several people binned it so...

Coast out of the pit lane to join the dry line and run TCS5 for a while whilst it is narrow, gradually decreasing it back to whatever you normally run over time as the track dries. I know using TCS is looked down upon by some but my perspective is it's there for a reason. Making your safety net as big as possible for if you do put a wheel off the dry line will help you fight against the nerves.

Resist the urge to push as well, bring your braking points forward a bit and hold back a bit as if you've got a couple of people fighting in front of you and there's no way past them. Unless someone is especially confident, chances are everyone else's pace is going to drop a lot too.

I did these kinds of things the last time this Suzuka round came up in a 258 point lobby and finished P3, just 3 seconds behind the winner, after starting P9 and dropping several positions during the opening dry stint. These might not be the optimal tactics for the aliens but they still work up to low A+.

 

[icycls]

How are all you GT1 drivers practicing for tomorrow's race at Suzuka? I feel like the most perilous part of the race is when the drying line has formed and you switch to slicks for the final laps of the race, so I'd like to focus my practice time on that. It takes about 40 minutes of driving in free practice to get to that point, so I've taken to running doing shorter 12-lap custom races where the weather starts with rain (R05, I think), followed by dry. I guess it works okay, but I wonder if anybody has found other approaches that they like better.

I recall this race, can't say much about practicing, but one thing I remember - Drivers would get into the pit to change back to slicks with the track still slightly damp. They immediately pooped themselves exiting the pit, it was tricky. A penalty at best , into the grass at worst, so watch that exit!

 

[Moose78]

I recall this race, can't say much about practicing, but one thing I remember - Drivers would get into the pit to change back to slicks with the track still slightly damp. They immediately pooped themselves exiting the pit, it was tricky. A penalty at best , into the grass at worst, so watch that exit!

I knew about this, but still blew it on my first practice. I coasted out of the pits to avoid spinning, but then I forgot to wait until I'd passed the pit exit line before moving onto the drying line. 3-second penalty.

This is why I need to practice.

 

[appu]

GT2/GT3: Just some more things in case they are helpful to you.
1. Intermediates life after 2 dry laps, at +5BB (highlighting the strategy that you can probably pit at lap 10 since the risk of sliding off at the lap 11 Spoon is pretty high):

2. Wets life after 2 dry laps, at +5BB:

I was assuming that I should switch to wets instead of intermediates because I had to absolutely crawl through laps 14 and 15 on the intermediates; and this was just the practice, meaning I had zero fuel weight + zero tire wear and hence I was faster than I would be in the actual race (also hence less rain than what I will get in the race).

But I was slower on wets than on intermediates on laps 12 and 13. The wets were also barely faster than intermediates in heavy rain conditions (laps 14 and 15).