Races harder after Finale?

Hey everyone,

Yesterday, I have beaten the first Horizon finale.
Now I’m doing races again, but I’ve done 2 championships and I feel like the races are a lot more difficult than before the finale.
Do other people recognize this or is it just me?
I have checked my difficulty settings.

Thanks in advance!

They feel the same to me but the announcer guy did say he will be racing now.

i noticed that after the second finale the Driveatars are slightly boosted. still relatively easy to beat in the story. once you’ve beat the second finale i suggest doing online roadtrips…much more xp and credits for the same amount of driving as the solo mode and the racing is much more fun because its with other players