David O'Reilly
A bad quali means I can go forwards in the race.
Season 3 Lotus. 50% Distance, Expert Mode except Auto and fuel sim.Fresh from Brazil where Webber took 5[SUP]th[/SUP] and 10 points to extend his WDC lead to 14 points over myself in the Lotus. We had been swapping the WDC lead for 10 rounds.
The WDC race was thus since Spa:
WDC Standings after each race:
After Spa 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-9points),
Monza 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-2points),
Singapore 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-10 points)
Japan 1[SUP]st[/SUP] (+15points)
South Korea 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-4 Points)
Brazil 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-14 points)
To win the WDC I needed to win and have Webber do worse than 5[SUP]th[/SUP].
Qualifying: did not go well I got into Q3 but my pace was poor. 1.44.7 on primes for P10. AI quali times were quicker than last year where 1.44.037 got me P8. This year I would have needed a low 1.43 to get P8. During a warm up lap I came across Webber (my rival) and cruised around for half a lap in close proximity. Without doing a Schumacher I asserted my rights to the racing line and there was contact as he tried to pass. Webber ended up spinning off, there was no official indication anything was untoward. I finished the session in P10, Webber P5.
The Start: We went to the race and I was surprised to see I was in P9 on the grid. It then became apparent that my rival Webber was beside me in P10! He had been issued a 5 place grid penalty for the qualifying incident. Amazing!
The AI start pretty tame at Abu Dhabi and I was able to gain many places in the opening corners Two AI drivers actually took each other out in turn 3 and I narrowly missed the carnage. By lap 3 I was in P1 with a small gap to Hamilton. This built to about 7 seconds by lap 7 when I made a big mistake braking for I think turn 8, the one at the end of the first of the two long straights. Reflecting on a possible WDC trophy for the motor home I missed my brake marker (150) and braked at the wrong one (100). 50 metres it seems is a long way in a braking zone from flat out to a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] gear corner and I had to take the exit road under a building and reverse back out. Both Hamilton and Button were through. It wasn’t going to be as straight forward as it first seemed. I got Button for P2 but Hamilton maintained a 5 sec gap.
Fortunately for me Hamilton was on Options and he pitted on lap 10 allowing me through. He returned still in P2 and I could not extend my gap past 5 sec while on the worn primes. He would surely retake the lead when I pitted on lap 20/28. He did and Button got through for P2. I returned to the track on P3 on fresh options with 8 laps to fight. Button was mine within 1 lap but Hamilton was still 5 sec up the road, however on primes that were past their best vs my fresh options. I was making up about 1.5 sec per lap on the gap. About lap 25/28 I caught and passed Hamilton. Once I had a gap I switched to standard engine mode to avoid any dramas on the worn options and brought it home with Hamilton closing the gap to 3 sec. The WDC title would be mine as long as Webber did worse than 5[SUP]th[/SUP]-He was 10[SUP]th[/SUP] 1 point. My WDC 273 Points, Webber 263. The title was mine.
Conclusions: a) I read a lot about poor AI behaviour in game. It most often seems to be in the PC format. This season I have seen thrills and spills from the AI. Spins, two car crashes, and now an AI car get a grid penalty. I love it!
b) Getting the (difficulty and sim) settings right can make for an exciting and rewarding season. One more assist and it would have been too easy, one more sim (fuel) and it would have been too hard. A last race cliffhanger was brilliant. I’m back in the Lotus for season 4/7 now bring it on!
The WDC race was thus since Spa:
WDC Standings after each race:
After Spa 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-9points),
Monza 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-2points),
Singapore 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-10 points)
Japan 1[SUP]st[/SUP] (+15points)
South Korea 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-4 Points)
Brazil 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] (-14 points)
To win the WDC I needed to win and have Webber do worse than 5[SUP]th[/SUP].
Qualifying: did not go well I got into Q3 but my pace was poor. 1.44.7 on primes for P10. AI quali times were quicker than last year where 1.44.037 got me P8. This year I would have needed a low 1.43 to get P8. During a warm up lap I came across Webber (my rival) and cruised around for half a lap in close proximity. Without doing a Schumacher I asserted my rights to the racing line and there was contact as he tried to pass. Webber ended up spinning off, there was no official indication anything was untoward. I finished the session in P10, Webber P5.
The Start: We went to the race and I was surprised to see I was in P9 on the grid. It then became apparent that my rival Webber was beside me in P10! He had been issued a 5 place grid penalty for the qualifying incident. Amazing!
The AI start pretty tame at Abu Dhabi and I was able to gain many places in the opening corners Two AI drivers actually took each other out in turn 3 and I narrowly missed the carnage. By lap 3 I was in P1 with a small gap to Hamilton. This built to about 7 seconds by lap 7 when I made a big mistake braking for I think turn 8, the one at the end of the first of the two long straights. Reflecting on a possible WDC trophy for the motor home I missed my brake marker (150) and braked at the wrong one (100). 50 metres it seems is a long way in a braking zone from flat out to a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] gear corner and I had to take the exit road under a building and reverse back out. Both Hamilton and Button were through. It wasn’t going to be as straight forward as it first seemed. I got Button for P2 but Hamilton maintained a 5 sec gap.
Fortunately for me Hamilton was on Options and he pitted on lap 10 allowing me through. He returned still in P2 and I could not extend my gap past 5 sec while on the worn primes. He would surely retake the lead when I pitted on lap 20/28. He did and Button got through for P2. I returned to the track on P3 on fresh options with 8 laps to fight. Button was mine within 1 lap but Hamilton was still 5 sec up the road, however on primes that were past their best vs my fresh options. I was making up about 1.5 sec per lap on the gap. About lap 25/28 I caught and passed Hamilton. Once I had a gap I switched to standard engine mode to avoid any dramas on the worn options and brought it home with Hamilton closing the gap to 3 sec. The WDC title would be mine as long as Webber did worse than 5[SUP]th[/SUP]-He was 10[SUP]th[/SUP] 1 point. My WDC 273 Points, Webber 263. The title was mine.
Conclusions: a) I read a lot about poor AI behaviour in game. It most often seems to be in the PC format. This season I have seen thrills and spills from the AI. Spins, two car crashes, and now an AI car get a grid penalty. I love it!
b) Getting the (difficulty and sim) settings right can make for an exciting and rewarding season. One more assist and it would have been too easy, one more sim (fuel) and it would have been too hard. A last race cliffhanger was brilliant. I’m back in the Lotus for season 4/7 now bring it on!
Still only halfway through my first season. lack of time and online racing has got in the way but your stories got me wanting to pick it up again which I started a couple of weeks ago. My new season will be 50% like yours but not decided on pro or legend just yet. 
