It's July 4th - Independence day over here - perfect day for an All-American Race Report! It's my first race report, and nearly my first usage of photo mode, so bear with me. Click on any of the images for the full-size version.
The Challenge
Defeat America's best of the rest for 200 points across the board. I don't intend to challenge Panoz or Chaparral for the American crown, but everybody else is fair game. I had been waiting on winning a Chaparral 2D to take this on, but reading AMG's excellent Shelby Series 1 writeup inspired me to go a different way. I've gone through several cars, configurations, and trials, and the best I've come up with is:
Ford RS200 Rally Car vs NTSC Lineup 4
The Car
Ford RS200 Rally Car '85
- Primary Set-Up: Turbo 3, R3 tires, 182 ballast, and NOS (561hp on tuning screen)
- Alternate Set-Up: Turbo 3, R2 tires, 90 ballast, NOS
The Competition
Trial & Error
Failed Attempts: about 15 (counting other cars/tunes)
At Seattle I can hold off the Viper for the first few laps, but I'm much harder on my tires than he is, and he just abuses me in the first and last turns - I can't stay off his line and he just barrels into my bumber sending me straight into the wall(s) - in my initial attempt in particular he took me to a dead stop at the end of lap 4. By the end of lap 5 my tires are deep orange going on red and I can't even hold on to second.
Making an attempt on R2/R3 tires with 90 ballast this time. I ran two laps qualifying and much to my delight the GT ended up in the second slot over the Viper. He was much less aggressive and I was able to hold both of them off without making any progress to pull away. Each lap I would build to about 1.5 seconds lead at the top of the hill jumps, then fall back down to about .5 nearing the start/finish. Unfortunately, nearing the end of the fourth lap the GT disappeared from my rear-view and the Viper started chasing me down. He managed to pass briefly approaching the long straight, but I overtook with NOS and held a very slim lead into the final chicane, where he blasted me straight into the barriers, spinning me out and letting 5 cars go zipping past while I was stationary and facing the wrong direction.
Initial Success: Seattle
Failed Attempts: about 10
Starting Grid: RS200, GT LM Spec II, VIPER Team Oreca, Chap 2D, GT LM '02, Corvette C5R
Set-Up: Turbo 3 for 561hp, R2/R3, 90 ballast, Tranny Auto 12. I tried to tune out one of my problem spots - turn 1 requires braking much earlier than the competition... I dialed up the brake controller, but did not see a dramtic improvement.
Began as a very similar race for three laps. In the third lap, I build up to a 2.5 second lead at the top of the hills and thought I might be able to pull away, but lost a good deal of ground through the rest of the lap. Lead at the start of lap for was less than .5 seconds.
Both the GT and the Viper passed in turn 1, but I was able to overtake the viper before the hill, and trailed the GT as far as the straight, where a shot of NOS retook the lead. Drove cleanly through to the start/finish of lap 5, where I held a half second lead. The GT and I were side by side in turn 1, but I came out ahead and held him off through both splits. Just before the final split, he suddenly dropped out of view, and a 1.1 second lead confirmed he had gotten into trouble. I nervously and cautiously navigated the final turns and pulled across the line ahead of the Viper. Used approximately half the NOS supply.
Finishing Order
Lap Splits:
Infineon Raceway - Sports Car Course
Failed Attempts: 7
If I somehow pull this off it will be by far the hardest race set I've won. Race 2 is the opposite-equivalent of mission 29... requiring about the same level of speed & precision but instead of flying past people, you see them fly past you if you miss the ideal line on a turn. There is just zero margin for error. There is simply no way I am capable of winning on R2 tires, and I'm absolute murder on R3's. Not good. R3 front tires are dark orange by the start of lap 5 and the positions 2-4 are less than a second behind - they simply blow right past in any turn.
Starting Grid: RS200, GT LM Spec II, VIPER, GT LM '02, Chap 2D, Corvette C5R
What a difference a little tuning can make. Dialed the brake controller back to more standard levels, turned my driving aids back on (5/5/5), and moved all the ballast to the rear of the car. Gave me a tiny bit more tire life... Drove a great first lap, extended the lead to approximately 2 seconds. Drove two uneventfully clean laps on green tires to push it out to 3 seconds without touching the NOS reserves.
Early in lap four the tires go full yellow, and I start pushing the NOS as the GT starts creeping back within 2.5 seconds. At the start/finish of lap 5 the lead is down to 1.5 seconds and my tires are starting to touch on orange. With half the NOS left in the tank, I push the pace to keep the GT out of my rear-view, holding on to a 1 second lead through most of the lap. I have to take the high-speed a bit on the conservative side, and the GT almost pulls alongside in the final hairpin, but superior acceleration and plenty of NOS left over power me through to the clean win.
Finishing Order
Lap Splits:
The Challenge
Defeat America's best of the rest for 200 points across the board. I don't intend to challenge Panoz or Chaparral for the American crown, but everybody else is fair game. I had been waiting on winning a Chaparral 2D to take this on, but reading AMG's excellent Shelby Series 1 writeup inspired me to go a different way. I've gone through several cars, configurations, and trials, and the best I've come up with is:
Ford RS200 Rally Car vs NTSC Lineup 4
The Car
Ford RS200 Rally Car '85
- Primary Set-Up: Turbo 3, R3 tires, 182 ballast, and NOS (561hp on tuning screen)
- Alternate Set-Up: Turbo 3, R2 tires, 90 ballast, NOS
The Competition
- Dodge VIPER GTS-R Team Oreca '00
- Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II '04
- Ford GT LM Race Car '02
- Chaparral 2D Race Car '67
- Chevorlet Corvette C5R (C5) '00
Trial & Error
Failed Attempts: about 15 (counting other cars/tunes)
At Seattle I can hold off the Viper for the first few laps, but I'm much harder on my tires than he is, and he just abuses me in the first and last turns - I can't stay off his line and he just barrels into my bumber sending me straight into the wall(s) - in my initial attempt in particular he took me to a dead stop at the end of lap 4. By the end of lap 5 my tires are deep orange going on red and I can't even hold on to second.
Making an attempt on R2/R3 tires with 90 ballast this time. I ran two laps qualifying and much to my delight the GT ended up in the second slot over the Viper. He was much less aggressive and I was able to hold both of them off without making any progress to pull away. Each lap I would build to about 1.5 seconds lead at the top of the hill jumps, then fall back down to about .5 nearing the start/finish. Unfortunately, nearing the end of the fourth lap the GT disappeared from my rear-view and the Viper started chasing me down. He managed to pass briefly approaching the long straight, but I overtook with NOS and held a very slim lead into the final chicane, where he blasted me straight into the barriers, spinning me out and letting 5 cars go zipping past while I was stationary and facing the wrong direction.
Initial Success: Seattle
Failed Attempts: about 10
Starting Grid: RS200, GT LM Spec II, VIPER Team Oreca, Chap 2D, GT LM '02, Corvette C5R
Set-Up: Turbo 3 for 561hp, R2/R3, 90 ballast, Tranny Auto 12. I tried to tune out one of my problem spots - turn 1 requires braking much earlier than the competition... I dialed up the brake controller, but did not see a dramtic improvement.
Began as a very similar race for three laps. In the third lap, I build up to a 2.5 second lead at the top of the hills and thought I might be able to pull away, but lost a good deal of ground through the rest of the lap. Lead at the start of lap for was less than .5 seconds.
Both the GT and the Viper passed in turn 1, but I was able to overtake the viper before the hill, and trailed the GT as far as the straight, where a shot of NOS retook the lead. Drove cleanly through to the start/finish of lap 5, where I held a half second lead. The GT and I were side by side in turn 1, but I came out ahead and held him off through both splits. Just before the final split, he suddenly dropped out of view, and a 1.1 second lead confirmed he had gotten into trouble. I nervously and cautiously navigated the final turns and pulled across the line ahead of the Viper. Used approximately half the NOS supply.
Finishing Order
- Ford RS200 Rally Car '85 7'52.941
- Dodge VIPER GTS-R Team Oreca '00 +1.26
- Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II '04
- Ford GT LM Race Car '02
- Chevorlet Corvette C5R (C5) '00
- Chaparral 2D Race Car '67
Lap Splits:
- 1'37.7XX: -0.811
- 1'34.1XX: -1.380
- 1'34.7XX: -0.235
- 1'33.1XX: -0.415
- 1'33.007: -1.260
Infineon Raceway - Sports Car Course
Failed Attempts: 7
If I somehow pull this off it will be by far the hardest race set I've won. Race 2 is the opposite-equivalent of mission 29... requiring about the same level of speed & precision but instead of flying past people, you see them fly past you if you miss the ideal line on a turn. There is just zero margin for error. There is simply no way I am capable of winning on R2 tires, and I'm absolute murder on R3's. Not good. R3 front tires are dark orange by the start of lap 5 and the positions 2-4 are less than a second behind - they simply blow right past in any turn.
Starting Grid: RS200, GT LM Spec II, VIPER, GT LM '02, Chap 2D, Corvette C5R
What a difference a little tuning can make. Dialed the brake controller back to more standard levels, turned my driving aids back on (5/5/5), and moved all the ballast to the rear of the car. Gave me a tiny bit more tire life... Drove a great first lap, extended the lead to approximately 2 seconds. Drove two uneventfully clean laps on green tires to push it out to 3 seconds without touching the NOS reserves.
Early in lap four the tires go full yellow, and I start pushing the NOS as the GT starts creeping back within 2.5 seconds. At the start/finish of lap 5 the lead is down to 1.5 seconds and my tires are starting to touch on orange. With half the NOS left in the tank, I push the pace to keep the GT out of my rear-view, holding on to a 1 second lead through most of the lap. I have to take the high-speed a bit on the conservative side, and the GT almost pulls alongside in the final hairpin, but superior acceleration and plenty of NOS left over power me through to the clean win.
Finishing Order
- Ford RS200 Rally Car '85 7'41.954
- Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II '04 +1.39X
- Dodge VIPER GTS-R Team Oreca '00 +2.84X
- Ford GT LM Race Car '02
- Chevorlet Corvette C5R (C5) '00
- Chaparral 2D Race Car '67
Lap Splits:
- 1'34.1XX: -2.757
- 1'32.491: -3.814
- 1'32.994: -1.766
- 1'30.975: -2.141
- 1'31.378: -1.396
you can always pass them as they recover, and it beats being punted into the wall while they drive off like nothing has happened! 
... I'll see about doing a report for that one, but will probably have to condense the detail per race so it doesn't get out of hand.
