When we are the HOST of an Invitational Event, we can change several Assistance System settings (e.g., traction control, gearbox settings, and others), and they work in the race.
HOWEVER, if we are a GUEST and change the GEARBOX from automatic to manual AND disable traction control, the race will be set to AUTOMATIC (despite switching to manual). This is a BUG!!! Please fix this!
However, if we ONLY change the gearbox to manual (without changing any other settings), the race will be set to MANUAL (the one we selected).
I'm playing on PC. I don't know if the issue also affects consoles.