I just had a great race! (Also post your great races stories)

[happyloaf]

I was in China as a Brawn driver. I qualified in 6th on medium. When the lights go out I work my way up to 3rd and look doomed to hang out behind the "silver arrows". We all pit on lap 5 to get gas and tires.

In the 2nd half of the race I notice that it is getting cloudy with the arrow pointing to rain. I decide that since I have to pit anyways on lap nine to get fuel to duck in a lap early and put on wet tires and gamble. I end up coming out of the pits 6th but the rain starts to POUR down and the AI cars are sliding all over the track. They decide to pit on lap 9 and I pass them all on pit road thinking, SUCKERS! I won by 10 seconds.

Much better than my previous 11th place finishes. Great race. I loved gambling on the rain. SI, you do excellent work!.

PS. Can we an ability to save the replays in an update? I would have loved to have this to relive my glory!

[Shepherd]

Well i was playing the demo, and came 6th, 6th, 1st and in the Chinese race, where i came first i had a pretty good battle with Massa :P He got pole on Quali and me 2nd i then over took him on first few laps but he overtook me for the rest of the race untill last corner when i must of got slip stream or w/e because we took last corner and i just cut infront of him :P

On the 2nd race i qualified last because of damage to my car but from 1st corner i worked my way up to 9th then upto 6th.

The first race i qualified first and thought wow easy.. Then came to race day and led the race untill last lap when i didnt notice the lap # and decided to Pit with the finish line ahead :wall:

[Mr Bismarck]

Loved the race I just had in Sepang - qualified 19th, but got a beautiful start and my Force India just had great pace through turns two and three and on to four and I stormed up into 11th with some late breaking into four.

For the rest of the lap I sat on the back of Glock's Toyota and had a couple of laps where I'd outrun him between three and overtake him going into four, then he'd close right up down the straight to the final hairpin, (turn 15), and get by me there, then hold the position down the start-finish straight, before I'd fly past him again down the stretch to turn four.

Eventually though I made a mistake, running onto the grass wide at turn one and he got away and I couldn't chase him down again.

For the next 10 laps or so I was totally own my own, several seconds behind Glock and several in front of Buemi, cruising about on my own little island, concentrating on not making a mistake.

And then the rain came.

The timing was perfect as I hadn't made my stop yet while most of the leading cars were going to have to come in for the second-straight lap. I came out in second place, but any idea of a podium finish slipped away pretty quickly as the leaders sprinted past me, Kubica being particularly aggressive in pushing me out of the way.

I slip back to ninth and have settled for a finish agonisingly close to the points when the rain stops... with three laps to run I decide to stay out on wet tyres on the dry track and I run past the stopped cars into the lead! For a lap and a half that looks a great decision, but then Vettel catches me, followed by Kubica, Hamilton and Kimi who fly past me like I'm standing still.

On the last half of the last lap I'm still in fourth, but I have a train behind me formed of Massa, Trulli and Glock and I just can't hold them off. I'm charging down to the final hairpin, Glock stays wide for too long and I zip through the inside and then I drag down the final straight with Glock in my wake the whole way to finish seventh for Force India's first points.

Loved the race and loved being promoted to the team's #1 driver afterwards too. :D

[markohladnik]

This could be a good place to ask this, as several of you mentioned gambling with the rain: what is the penalty of racing with wet tires on a dry road?

[ravezz]

Funny one in Brazil.

With my bad Williams i fought for place 3 when my fuel ran out on the finishing straight :D The funniest thing is that I finished yet 6th because my car rolled over the finish line :blimey:

Damn, didn't evaluate the fuel well enough at the pit stop. ;)

[happyloaf]

I didn't notice a huge difference between dry and wet tires in the rain but I only have done half a lap while going to the pits to change tires.

PS. I'm stoked I got a sticky!

[markohladnik]

Wait till it gets really wet, then try driving in slicks :D the reverse situation, though?
I also ran out of fuel a couple of meters before the finish line, but crossed it and still kept second place :) a thrilling gamble!

[Alex Reeves]

Just had a brilliant race experience in Turkey.

Qualified 4th, with the three rivals for the title qualifying 1-3 all within .5 sec of each other. 10 lap races. Messed up on a turn at the first lap, finished first lap sixth. Another mistake leads to an overtake and I'm running 7th and in a crowd of drivers....

Then, lap 4 final sector, the heavens opened and poured down with rain! Slipped and slided my way to the pits, still hoping I can do a one-stopper with the right amount of fuel - made a judgment call on how much fuel I needed knowing that I could outpace and outpit the crowd by taking slightly less than max fuel. My strategem worked! Came out of the pits in 5th spot, and by lap 7 had caught P3 and P4 who missed the tyre change window and were running slower than I was! Lap 8, ducked on the inside of P4, back to fourth place. Came round the final turn and checked fuel - the counter said 2.0 laps fuel remaining. Wow... this is going to be close! Lap 9, caught P3, and was now running 2nd! 1st was a mile away, about 10 secs ahead.

Final lap, fuel counter says 1.0 laps of fuel. Decided to go for it, as my last lap was super quick. Zoom around the track hitting every corner as perfectly as I could. Around the final chicane and into the final straight..... and then the fuel ran out. I sat and stopped in P4 on the starting grid as every single car passed me for the dreaded DNF....

Reminds me that this exact same scenario happened in RL in the F1 some years back. Wish I had the option to get out and push....

[Mr Bismarck]

That's terrible Alex. :D

I've run out on the last lap a couple of times now, but never in sight of the finish line.

It doesn't please the boss, that's for sure.

[Shepherd]

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/319/rossbergowned.jpg

Just did 30 lap race on quick race with Rossberg On Hard and like look how it ended up.. I lapped Hamilton in 2nd and lapped about another 7 car x2..
Needs to be much harder 2bh :P

[Sida79]

Is it only on quick race? I've commented before about quick race difficulty seemingly not matching the career one.

[Alex Reeves]

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/319/rossbergowned.jpg

Just did 30 lap race on quick race with Rossberg On Hard and like look how it ended up.. I lapped Hamilton in 2nd and lapped about another 7 car x2..
Needs to be much harder 2bh :P

Try and do that on Malaysia.... :)

I agree, Australia is still too easy unless a weather disaster strikes. Perhaps Si can look at the leaderboard times and racing lines that are on the online leaderboard and adapt this again. I'd say the AI needs to be able to lap at about 27.x secs to be properly challenging, currently it gets about 29.

[Paper Luke]

My race was amazing and yet annoying.

10 laps, 2nd in qualifying, I get an early lead and lead for most of the time. About lap 7 I was overtaken and went into 4th. Then, everyone pitted. I had a bit of damage and a bit of fuel, but to get into 1st I needed a quick pit stop. I added in a tiny bit of fuel to allow me to finish the last lap and a bit, but as I come out I realise I have 2 laps left. Italy, my favorite track, and I run out of fuel on the last corner of the last lap. >_>

[captinfranko]

I had an awsome race in the second race of my career with Brawn. My first full season I had won the opening race and qualified 7th for the second. I worked my way up to 4th before it started raining and pitted for tyres and fuel earlier than the rest of the field. The advantage that it gave me meant I could chase Hamilton down. When he stopped for the second time I stopped to but didnt change my tyres and so caught right up with him.

On lap 14 of 15 I went down the inside at the last corner and he turned in, we both slid wide onto the gravel and let Kubica through to lead. Although I had fallen behind Hamilton with my car smoking I hounded him for the final lap and we were neck and neck as we came onto the last straight. I finished ahead of him by 2 1000ths of a second.

I must say I find it truly Amazing that such a simple game can give so much strategic thought, involvement and excitement. The big nobs at codesmaters ought to take a leaf out of this book when thinking about their new game.

[Sida79]

I've had a race recently where I was 4th the whole time but won since a great coincidence happened that all 3 drivers ahead of me spun off at the exact same time at the exact same curve. Now, what are the odds of that? :D

[Maldini35]

Just finished a great race in Brazil. Driving for Brawn GP I managed to qualify 8th after a pretty good lap. Got a great start and after the first lap I was 3rd, then the rain hit. I stayed out for 1 extra lap as the others dived into the pits for wet tyres and I managed to build a decent lead and got out ahead of Hamilton after my pit for wets. Eventually Hamilton and Raikkonen stormed passed me and I was left quite comfortably in 3rd.

I do 15 lap races and pitted on lap 12 to get me to the end of the race and came out of the pits just ahead of Massa for 3rd again. Created a decent gap ahead of him going into the final lap and was crusing into the final corner where I began celebrating a well earned podium when BAM! out of fuel and my car finally comes to a stop right next to the "1st" position on the grid :(. The boss' angry face appears and I'm in disbelief at what just happened.

It wasn't over yet however, Massa comes flying up the final straight and, I kid you not, whacks straight into the back of my motionless car which causes it to cross the line. Suddenly a green smiley face appears and I have been awarded 3rd place and 6pts in the final standings, 0.05s ahead of Massa. Talk about going through it all :blimey:

[siread]

Quality! Nice one Massa! :lol:

[Shepherd]

Haha you lucky lucky boy

[Cookie Monster]

:lol: Nice one xD

[MarcoGazpacho]

Just had my finest race in Malaysia, in my second season. Having previously driven for the gripless Williams (and guided them to 4th in the driver's championship), I moved to Toyota for a genuine shot at the title. After a comfortable win in Australia, I was up against it in the Sepang circuit, qualifying 2nd, but with Lewis Hamilton setting a time 0.3s quicker than my best effort.

Come race day, the McLaren eased out to a 3s lead, with me battling the BMWs for 2nd. Before the first stops, I'd fallen to 4th, but a pitstop gamble to keep the same tyres on shortned my stop time and I left in 2nd place, about 2s behind Hamilton. The gap stayed the same until the 2nd stops, with Massa in the BMW (he'd made a move too in between seasons) harassing me.

On lap 10, everyone was in, and here I tried something different. I put in just 3 laps of fuel, in a bid to eke out enough of a gap for a quick splash and dash. I exited 0.5s behind Hamilton, and quickly overtook him, setting out to build enough of a gap.

Lap 13 and I was in for my final stop, but I left the pits 1s behind Hamilton, both on about the same fuel load. Coming into the final lap, a safe 2nd looked to be the most I could hope for.

But suddenly, Hamilton was having great rouble at the first of the backmarkers- a Williams, no less! Sensing an opportunity, I was able to dive on Lewis at the 2nd from last corner, leaving me on the penultimate straight just ahead of the McLaren but still behind the Williams.

At the last corner, I decided to defend the position instead of attacking the Williams, and so I came across the line winning by 0.2s!

[ravezz]

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2807/outoffuel.jpg


Weird.

[Alex Reeves]

Ouch.... you need the "get out and push" button....

[rmallen]

haha, that sucks.

[Sida79]

I always risk with the fuel so this was bound to happen, but still: I've ran out of fuel very near the finish line and started rolling slower and slower and rolled over the finish line by a milimeter right in front of the raging 2nd place driver :D