New found love for Yas and COTA

I hated both of these tracks in Fm6 due to predominantly playing in multiplayer and the dodgy track limits and corner cutting. Having spent most of my time in Sp on 7 I’ve really started to appreciate the technical challenges both tracks present. It seems track limits are greatly improved, not sure if they are still a disaster in Mp. What’s your thoughts?

Offline, both are great tracks. Online, the human element kicks in. Then not so good…Charles

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My thoughts? Probably my two least favorite tracks in the game. Like modern hypercars, I just feel like I’m looking at science when I consider them, as opposed to art like Spa, Brands Hatch or Le Mans. No passion, too sterile, too CAD-driven, too Tilke-designed.

Which would all be forgivable if I enjoyed driving on them, which I don’t. I feel so tired whenever I finish a race there. Not sure if it’s the ultra-heavy braking zones, the lack of flow, or what. Maybe it’s because I feel like I’m driving in a parking lot whenever I race on them, which I do as rarely as possible.

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Hey Smooth. Maybe you’re my long-lost twin brother. I was going to type a lengthy reply and then I read yours and felt like I already did, LOL.

The tracks feel exactly like a tile set of randomly challenging overly cut corners. Some people may like that I suppose. I prefer flowing tracks that have some life and you feel like one turn leads into another and you set up for the race that way. These Lego set trscks feel like it’s a bunch of individual turns attached by straightaways. Somebody bought Minecraft for Forza and built a track.

That being said, I did get relatively decent at both tracks since I finished the elite career and was forced to drive on them many times. However, now that I’m playing strictly FreePlay as I can’t stand the monkey brains in multiplayer I never have to drive them again.

Strangely though I do like watching real races on both of those tracks there’s tons of them on YouTube.

Yes I totally understand what you’re saying there. The tracks you mention are my personal fav’s. I’ve just recently appreciated how difficult they are technically- the track limits on Yas are now harsh and this improves it no end. Imo

Love COTA, but I will always hate Yas.

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That’s cool- we’re all different and have our our likes and hates. Like I said I literally despised Yas in 6 but it’s really grown on me due to the TL… it’s a great track now imo. Btw at night in 4k HDR it’s jaw dropping as well

After watching the Lonestar LeMans this year on IMSA I’ve been wanting to take Tommy Vilanders #62 Ferrari around COTA on an endurance race. I doubt I’ll do the full 6 hours tho but should be a fun race to set up with P1, P2, and GT.

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I live 30 minutes from COTA but missed the IMSA race this year. I did make it to the WEC race though. Still too hot in September! ( upper 90’s and plenty of humidity ) I hope I will like the track in FM7. Haven’t raced on it since I hated the curbing in FM6. They actually added curbing behind existing curbs irl to soften the jarring to the race cars supposedly.

People are still cutting on Yas Marina though.

It does dirty the Lap though, I hope when leagues open that there will be penalties for cutting ( they have said so already) like I say the TL are much stricter in Fm7… though far from perfect- see the liberties people take with the cork screw on Laguna in the bounty hunter event

I watched it on the IMSA Youtube channel. They post all their races a few days after each race. There is no IMSA race scheduled there this year but I’d love to go next time there is. I’m only 6 hours away which is nothing in Texas.

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IMSA and WEC are no longer in contract with COTA. But, Pirelli World Challenge will be there next March I believe.

Back on topic it seems that the cars in FM7 turn better than in FM6 which allows for the technical tracks to be put together from corner to corner if this makes any sense.

Not that big a fan of COTA. Big fan of Yas though. Yas has a great feel when your on it, and nailing the braking for those chicanes is a great experience. Sure you can cut a bit but the track is designed for that to allow for different approaches to the apex’s on some corners. To be frank, trying to mega cut there will make you slower. Im always faster when I getting the line spot on, as it allows for a much better flow around the track giving you much more speed.

I have noticed however that the AI and most players take the chicane before the first hairpin super slow compared to myself. They are gearing down and not using the kerbs at all here. In F1 games you can clip in/out of the chicane at speed with minimal braking then sweep out and in for the hairpin braking point. Doing it in Forza its still a clean lap, not a cut so its just weird why everyone is slow here.

I’ve loved Yas for a while now. When people aren’t corner cutting, the track is really fun when battling it out with someone.

From the hotlap perspective I love it too due to that challenge of putting a complete lap together.

I’ve never liked CoTA. Just doesn’t flow well to me and the racing is just ok with clean drivers.

Yas is a very technical track, and in lower classes it is very fun. Higher classes it just feels like the track is punishing you. It’s a brutal track, but still pretty fun.

COTA is super boring. The track has no flow and none of the corners are very fun, just difficult for the sake of being difficult.

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I wonder if this is the reasoning that IMSA pulled out of it next year. I know that they’re trying to bring in some new tracks and whatnot. But the COTA event was a big event to them especially being in Texas. The drivers during interviews would always say how they like the track. But then again, I’ve never heard a single driver ever say he didn’t like it. They know that there are certain things that they should be saying during those interviews, they always of course talk great about their teammates, their crew, the track etc etc.

I am bummed that they did pull out of though because I was hoping to go out there to see both the IMSA and the WEC event and make a big trip out of it. But it looks like the WEC is going back to Sebring in 2019. I have been to Sebring a few times, it’s my favorite place to enjoy a race. Nothing like renting an RV, sleeping at the track, and being woken up by the growl and bark of thousands of horsepower

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It was removed due to scheduling issues.

http://racing.blog.statesman.com/2017/07/28/imsa-series-will-race-mid-ohio-not-cota-next-year/

Never. Herman Tilke needs to be put out to pasture, along with his garish and uninspiring tracks

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+1

Tilke’s tracks are a mess in most cases, with no real soul or actual driving feel. I mean just look at the track in Korea, he completely wrecked the track layout by getting the pitlane entry / exits completely wrong. So wrong in point of fact, that in 3 GP here had different exit layouts because it caused crashes all the time. The only track of his that’s any good is Sepang, and that’s now no longer an F1 venue. Yas wasnt even really his design, it was a pre-planned area for the track in the marina bay. All he had to do was join up the areas with tarmac.