- 24,344
- Midlantic Area
- GTP_Duke
Series Report - Amateur GT World Championship
I originally attempted this series using the Mercedes CLK Touring Car (unmodified, at 440 hp). The competition: Castrol Tom's Supra, Loctite Zexel GT-R (or Storm V12, I forget), Pennzoil GT-R, Oreca Viper GTR, Arta NSX. Though marginal on power, the CLK would beat the field by 1 to 5 seconds (total) for the first 5 races, thanks to not pitting (medium slicks). However, I had forgotten about the 6th-race boost that the AI gets. Starting at Trial Mountain, I got beaten like a drum with this car. I never qualified above 3rd and never finished above 5th.
OK, time to suck it up and try again using my new RX-7 LM, unmodified, at 600 hp, medium slicks. The AI changed the field, deleting the Supra, Loctite GT-R, and NSX. Instead the competition was: Oreca Viper GTR, Corvette C5R, Storm V12, Pennzoil Skyline GT-R, and Castrol NSX. I was not familiar with driving the RX-7 LM, but as expected, it easily won the first 5 'weak-AI' races. I used that time for suspension tweaking and arrived at a good, mild-oversteer handling setup. I didn't qualify for any of the first 5 races, starting from the basement of the grid.
Interestingly, when I used the more powerful RX-7, the computer substituted in the Corvette, even though it was rarely as fast as the Viper except by pit strategy. The C5R typically pitted after the third lap, while the Viper pitted after the fourth lap, allowing the 'Vette to take over second place. The Storm was never a factor in any race, and I think I'll pass on winning it if I have a choice.
Tokyo R246
Best Lap: 1':37.42"
Total: 8':16.35" (5 laps)
Margin: +7.06", C5R
Laguna Seca
Best Lap: 1':20.72"
Total: 6':58.14" (5 laps)
Margin: +4.53", Viper
Apricot Hill
Best Lap: 1':18.329"
Total: 6':50.656" (5 laps)
Margin: +7.92", NSX
Deep Forest
Best Lap: 1':10.950"
Total: 6':21.95" (5 laps)
Margin: +5.54", C5R
Tokyo R5
Best Lap: 1':22.017"
Total: 7':04.172" (5 laps)
Margin: +10.752", NSX
Starting from 6th for all these races, I was typically in 2nd place by the end of the first lap, and dicing back and forth with the leader (usually the Viper) throughout laps 2,3,and 4. I never got first place from the leader pitting; that usually just affected who was second. The NSX emerged as the surprising runner up because it never pitted. With half the series down, I braced for the soon-to-be-stiffer competition.
Trial Mountain
Best Lap: 1':23.598"
Total: 7':12.844" (5 laps)
Margin: +6.842', NSX
The first of the bumpercar races. I got so tired of looking at the C5R's fat butt blocking me through every corner that I thought about ramming it just for a change of scenery. Same scenario as the first five races, but much harder to achieve. Most of the passes that I made stick where on the two uphill straights after the last tunnel. I was just about to pass the Viper at the end of lap 4 when it handed me the lead by pitting.
Seattle Circuit
Best Lap: 1':33.137"
Total: 8':02.769" (5 laps)
Margin: -12.58", Viper
The Viper ran away and stayed away. Imagine my chagrin when it didn't pit as usual, and beat me soundly. The C5R was very annoying and did quite a bit of shoving me in this race. We traded second numerous times until he pitted after lap 4.
Midfield Raceway II
Best Lap: 1':09.547"
Total: 5':58.390" (5 laps)
Margin: +1.55", NSX
I won this race the first time I ran it, by a narrow margin. Then I forgot to save before moving on. Which meant that after I reloaded the game to run R11 over, I found myself on the Midfield grid again. This time it took me about 6 tries, because the Pennzoil GT-R rammed me in every turn that required a downshift, without fail. He was trying to conserve his brakes, so he used mine, I guess. After repeating this numerous times, sometimes after 3 or 4 good laps, I got really sick of it. On the first lap of the last race, I put him into the boards at the braking point of the first turn, which at least let me make it through the sharp right after the tunnel without being spun. Having gotten that far, it was mostly a matter of whittling away at the C5R and the Viper. I managed to tow the NSX to a fairly tight second place, somehow. The key to this track is being able to stay inside and really late-apexing your turns. After finally getting a clean victory, I had the series lead by 42 points. This time I remembered to save, you can bet.
Tokyo R11
Best Lap: horrible
Total: even worse (5 laps)
Margin: 6th, huge
Most people seem to dislike Seattle, but R11 is my arch-nemesis. It's tedious yet very difficult to drive. Brake-point landmarks are impossible to see, and the straights seem to change length with every lap. I hate this course the way Der Alta hates Seattle: with a deep, steady hatred that blazes forth into white-hot fury every so often. I ran the race, starting from 3rd and finishing last by a huge margin. The RX-7 itself was acting childish, alternately understeering and making snap spins. It didn't help that the GT-R was still playing freelance proctologist on me every chance it got. I actually finished with red rear tires from spinning so many times.
Grand Valley
Best Lap: ??
Total: ?? (5 laps)
Margin: ??
Filled with disgust from my treatment at R11, and tired from my repeated attempts at Midfield, I quit this race on the grid. The PS2 saved its own life by awarding me the GT One road car on the first go. I'm confident that I can re-run it in the RX-7 and win without giving myself a thrombosis. Someday when I have a really good mood to kill, I will go back and try R11 as well. When I do, I'll fill in the blanks in the report above.
This race series taught me something about the RX-7 LM: it's amazing how frequently the way out of trouble with this car is to get back into the throttle, hard. The car was slightly unstable under braking; a little low on torque, but fast as anything in the upper revs. Any time I had stability problems, I could pick a moment where I was pointed decently, nail it, and be back in the driver's seat. If only I could drive the GT40 like that.
I originally attempted this series using the Mercedes CLK Touring Car (unmodified, at 440 hp). The competition: Castrol Tom's Supra, Loctite Zexel GT-R (or Storm V12, I forget), Pennzoil GT-R, Oreca Viper GTR, Arta NSX. Though marginal on power, the CLK would beat the field by 1 to 5 seconds (total) for the first 5 races, thanks to not pitting (medium slicks). However, I had forgotten about the 6th-race boost that the AI gets. Starting at Trial Mountain, I got beaten like a drum with this car. I never qualified above 3rd and never finished above 5th.
OK, time to suck it up and try again using my new RX-7 LM, unmodified, at 600 hp, medium slicks. The AI changed the field, deleting the Supra, Loctite GT-R, and NSX. Instead the competition was: Oreca Viper GTR, Corvette C5R, Storm V12, Pennzoil Skyline GT-R, and Castrol NSX. I was not familiar with driving the RX-7 LM, but as expected, it easily won the first 5 'weak-AI' races. I used that time for suspension tweaking and arrived at a good, mild-oversteer handling setup. I didn't qualify for any of the first 5 races, starting from the basement of the grid.
Interestingly, when I used the more powerful RX-7, the computer substituted in the Corvette, even though it was rarely as fast as the Viper except by pit strategy. The C5R typically pitted after the third lap, while the Viper pitted after the fourth lap, allowing the 'Vette to take over second place. The Storm was never a factor in any race, and I think I'll pass on winning it if I have a choice.
Tokyo R246
Best Lap: 1':37.42"
Total: 8':16.35" (5 laps)
Margin: +7.06", C5R
Laguna Seca
Best Lap: 1':20.72"
Total: 6':58.14" (5 laps)
Margin: +4.53", Viper
Apricot Hill
Best Lap: 1':18.329"
Total: 6':50.656" (5 laps)
Margin: +7.92", NSX
Deep Forest
Best Lap: 1':10.950"
Total: 6':21.95" (5 laps)
Margin: +5.54", C5R
Tokyo R5
Best Lap: 1':22.017"
Total: 7':04.172" (5 laps)
Margin: +10.752", NSX
Starting from 6th for all these races, I was typically in 2nd place by the end of the first lap, and dicing back and forth with the leader (usually the Viper) throughout laps 2,3,and 4. I never got first place from the leader pitting; that usually just affected who was second. The NSX emerged as the surprising runner up because it never pitted. With half the series down, I braced for the soon-to-be-stiffer competition.
Trial Mountain
Best Lap: 1':23.598"
Total: 7':12.844" (5 laps)
Margin: +6.842', NSX
The first of the bumpercar races. I got so tired of looking at the C5R's fat butt blocking me through every corner that I thought about ramming it just for a change of scenery. Same scenario as the first five races, but much harder to achieve. Most of the passes that I made stick where on the two uphill straights after the last tunnel. I was just about to pass the Viper at the end of lap 4 when it handed me the lead by pitting.
Seattle Circuit
Best Lap: 1':33.137"
Total: 8':02.769" (5 laps)
Margin: -12.58", Viper
The Viper ran away and stayed away. Imagine my chagrin when it didn't pit as usual, and beat me soundly. The C5R was very annoying and did quite a bit of shoving me in this race. We traded second numerous times until he pitted after lap 4.
Midfield Raceway II
Best Lap: 1':09.547"
Total: 5':58.390" (5 laps)
Margin: +1.55", NSX
I won this race the first time I ran it, by a narrow margin. Then I forgot to save before moving on. Which meant that after I reloaded the game to run R11 over, I found myself on the Midfield grid again. This time it took me about 6 tries, because the Pennzoil GT-R rammed me in every turn that required a downshift, without fail. He was trying to conserve his brakes, so he used mine, I guess. After repeating this numerous times, sometimes after 3 or 4 good laps, I got really sick of it. On the first lap of the last race, I put him into the boards at the braking point of the first turn, which at least let me make it through the sharp right after the tunnel without being spun. Having gotten that far, it was mostly a matter of whittling away at the C5R and the Viper. I managed to tow the NSX to a fairly tight second place, somehow. The key to this track is being able to stay inside and really late-apexing your turns. After finally getting a clean victory, I had the series lead by 42 points. This time I remembered to save, you can bet.
Tokyo R11
Best Lap: horrible
Total: even worse (5 laps)
Margin: 6th, huge
Most people seem to dislike Seattle, but R11 is my arch-nemesis. It's tedious yet very difficult to drive. Brake-point landmarks are impossible to see, and the straights seem to change length with every lap. I hate this course the way Der Alta hates Seattle: with a deep, steady hatred that blazes forth into white-hot fury every so often. I ran the race, starting from 3rd and finishing last by a huge margin. The RX-7 itself was acting childish, alternately understeering and making snap spins. It didn't help that the GT-R was still playing freelance proctologist on me every chance it got. I actually finished with red rear tires from spinning so many times.
Grand Valley
Best Lap: ??
Total: ?? (5 laps)
Margin: ??
Filled with disgust from my treatment at R11, and tired from my repeated attempts at Midfield, I quit this race on the grid. The PS2 saved its own life by awarding me the GT One road car on the first go. I'm confident that I can re-run it in the RX-7 and win without giving myself a thrombosis. Someday when I have a really good mood to kill, I will go back and try R11 as well. When I do, I'll fill in the blanks in the report above.
This race series taught me something about the RX-7 LM: it's amazing how frequently the way out of trouble with this car is to get back into the throttle, hard. The car was slightly unstable under braking; a little low on torque, but fast as anything in the upper revs. Any time I had stability problems, I could pick a moment where I was pointed decently, nail it, and be back in the driver's seat. If only I could drive the GT40 like that.
Now he's looking to repass me so he can get rammed coming into turn 1.
I finally got him one final time coming into turn 4.
*
