GTPlanet had the chance to talk with Gran Turismo World Series driver and unofficial Vegemite spokesman Guy Barbara about his recent experiences in Montreal, including the highs and lows, the brand new physics and a little bit of insight into life at the guts of the largest event.
The latest physics for the upcoming Gran Turismo 7 1.49 update were revealed at an event in Montreal, they usually were put to make use of — with surprisingly little warning, it seems.
As Guy recounts, players were briefed on this a bit before the event during a special driver briefing, but they weren’t allowed to really practice to find the weaknesses until they arrived in Montreal. Unlike another esports series, where participants use a special esports version, players only have access to the general public version of the sport and were only capable of check out the brand new physics on the event platforms.
The changes aren’t entirely transformational, so the house workouts haven’t been completely wasted, but there’s enough occurring to make life difficult and surprise even seasoned GTWS veterans, as we saw on stream. As Guy said, “everything is faster”!
One of the fundamental differences is tyre wear, and with just half an hour of practice before each race, many riders have fallen into the trap of tyre strategy. Indeed, considered one of the Nations Cup favourites and pole sitter, Kylian Drumont, told co-presenter Jules Hardy on the live broadcast as he waited to get into the automobile for the ultimate that he had no idea what his strategy could be!
This led to some interesting decisions – with mixed results – as drivers tried to go so far as possible on the softest tyres, without using the previous couple of pixels of tread to avoid what they called a ‘puncture’.
This refers to a brand new effect in physics where a tyre simply gives up when it’s nearing the tip of its life. Instead of having the ability to wear all of it out, Guy says you now get a tiny little bit of a warning when it comes to feel, at around 90% wear on the indicator, that the tip is near, before the grip falls off a cliff and also you’re left with nothing.
While it wasn’t fully captured on the live broadcast, he was considered one of the drivers affected within the Nations Cup, spun out of the X2019 on the primary corner of Road Atlanta just before his tyres wore out after one too many laps. He described it as his worst live race performance up to now.
We also saw the Australian driver involved in a rare blue flag battle that took place over a brief lap and a protracted pit stop on the track, which saw drivers who had initially pitted twice join the fight for the lead – despite warnings from competitors that this might occur.
That got here after considered one of his best ends in the Manufacturers Cup, where he led AMG to fourth overall, scoring three World Series points for the team. Tyre wear also played a task, as Igor Fraga – whose Lexus amusedly chewed up the front tyres – took victory partially because of an unusual triple-stop strategy.
It’s an interesting insight into the inner circle of Gran Turismo World Series drivers. On Saturday tenth August we’ll see Guy in motion again in Prague, together with the remaining of the Nations Cup drivers – with a bit of additional practice with the brand new physics that can be released publicly on Thursday twenty fifth July!
