Originariamente Scritto da
T4RG4
So last year some of you may remember my write-up for a rather epic race during the development of the 2010 title. Whilst I do intend to follow that up over the next few weeks, for now I thought you might be interested in some quotes taken from the likes of Mark, Lee, Jason and myself - after our 50% race around Shanghai*
Rules & Flags: Reduced
Tyre Wear: On
Fuel Sim: On
Car Damage: Off
Race Dist: 50% (28 laps)
Weather: Clear
Mark: Virgin
Lee: HRT
Jason: Sauber
Myself: Lotus
No AI
Each of the cars has a strength and weakness, but it's clear three of them are in a different league to Jasons Sauber. For a number of reasons...
We all started on the Option tyre, with a random grid. I managed to get to the front after a couple of corners, with Lee slotting into 2nd place right on my tail. We kept this formation up to lap 8 when Lee pitted for a new set of tyres. The racing was so very close, very consistent and it's apparent to us all how much easier it is to get into a rhytym with the cars in the 2011 game. Last year I felt the race was a little manic, it was a little too easier to make small mistakes which cost significant amounts of time. Now you're able to quickly get into the groove and put your thinking cap on.
Our cars were quite evenly matched but the Lotus has a slight edge. That was perhaps countered by the fact Lee had a psychological advantage in that he was shadowing my every move. He made a gutsy call to pit before me and I switched to a higher Mix as soon as I saw him pit. I aimed to put a blinding lap in before covering with a stop of my own. Unfortunately the Option tyre had already given me it's best. Nevertheless I blasted around and entered the pits, fitting the Prime tyre and rejoining the race track...
Lee was already into Turn 2, on Options. He'd decided to go for an aggressive strategy and it had, currently, given him track advantage. Fresh tyres offer superb grip for the first couple of laps and he'd taken full advantage of this. To make matters worst Mark, in the Virgin, had just cleared me into Turn 1 and I quickly set about hounding him into every corner. I could see he was on very worn Option's and I feared being held up for too long - I desperately needed to pass and set about maintaining a decent gap to Lee.
Mark put up a tough fight but it was only a matter of time before his aggresive driving and tired tyres gave me a clear opportunity. It eventually came leading onto the DRS straight... easy pass.
The race was back on... it's hard to get your head around it, when compared to experiences in other racing games, but you have to know your pace, for your tyres, for your car and for the race. The game helps with this a little more this year, but it's important to drive within the limits, to let the race play out. It's not over until it's over.
I kept a gap to Lee of about seven seconds knowing that even though he had pace on the Options, I was going to run a much longer stint, pass him when he changed for Prime's (two compound rule is in effect in race distances of 20% and above). It played out that way, with me passing Lee whilst he stopped. I could hear the sound of his car, amongst the others, downshifting into grandstand hairpins, the sound bouncing off and creating a real race day atmosphere.
There was no way I'd be able to run to the end on my Prime tyre so I planned to pit around lap 21, fit the Option tyre and hunt Lee down by about a second a lap. Even though he'd have track position I was confident in the Option tyre giving me the passing advantage. Problem was, I was starting to struggle for grip. I have become a little more acclimatised to the information the tyre feeds back to you in conjunction with lap time. I knew they were about to give up and rather than suffer that dramatic loss of grip I pitted, on lap 19... I knew I'd have to charge after Lee, using everything the Options could give me. Grip alone wouldn't be enough, so I upped the Mix again, determined to banzai for all the tyres were worth and just hang onto the track should I manage to catch and pass Lee. For the first couple of laps I took huge chunks of time out of him in every sector, I knew he'd be receiving information on my charge and hoped it would lead to him over-driving. It didnt... and he played a very Prost like game. I was Mansell, and I pushed harder and harder...
He came into view with five laps to go. With three laps to go, and at this rate, it was going to come down to the final lap! This is where Jason came into play. I passed (read lapped) him down the DRS straight and braked cleanly for the corner. He didn't brake so cleanly and swiped the side of my car... I felt it cost me a critical couple of seconds
Back into the groove... I threw caution to the wind and despite running the highest Mix for many laps, thought I'd keep going until informed to tame fuel consumption. I wanted to use the Option tyre whilst they had life, and use them I did. Too much. In the final couple of laps I was running wide, I knew I was struggling for grip and even though Lee had been using a lot of fuel to maintain the gap, even though he was running the Prime for longer than he'd like (he made an early call, by just two laps) he had track position. I followed him onto the S/F straight... he crossed the line 2.398 seconds ahead of me.
40 minutes of great racing, different strategies, different cars and it comes down to ~2 seconds.
If you're going to win the longer races in F1 2011, you'd better get your thinking cap on.
Quotes from the players:
"I felt I could drive a little faster, so I pitted early hoping to jump you in the pits"
"I was gaining on you, then I just pushed a little too hard and lost the car. It cost me loads of time, I was furious with myself!"
"I was feeling quite stressed in the final stint, I knew you were gaining and I just had to keep my nerve!"
"I went in straight after you, hoping to cover your early stop... it didn't quite play out. My tyres were shot"
"Sorry for hitting you"
"Get out"
*Okay, so I just wrote it all up anyway