Smallhorses
Staff Emeritus
- 7,260
My first GT4 enduro repeat! 
Having left 25 A-spec points hanging in this race first time round, it was important to go back and take care of them! My previous report can be found here:- Nurburgring 4hrs! (Stock Honda S2000 Type-V '01)
Once again I'm going to link to Flerbizky's Nurburgring map to save everyone having to memorise the corner names!
This time round, the weapon of choice is a Nissan Silvia Spec R Aero (S15) '99 which was acquired used, and is fitted with S1 tyres. The car was not given an oil change, and hence according to the selling screen, begins the race with the following stats:- 223HP / 1240kg / 5.6kg/HP powering the FR drivetrain, and 15,884.2 miles on the odometer.
Lining up with me at the back, the grid looks like this:-
1st Jaguar XKR R-Performance '02
2nd Alfa Romeo 147 GTA '02
3rd Jaguar S-Type R '02
4th Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi sp.C '04
5th Fiat Coupe Turbo Plus '00
6th Nissan Silvia Spec R Aero (S15) '99
and there's 200 A-spec points on offer!
Most of the photographic action took place on lap 1, and then a few more up to lap 7, before the replay save was cut short with 45 minutes gone. From there in the action is purely textual, but gripping nonetheless!
As the grid rolls to the start and the lights go green, the Jag XKR in clean air pulls away down the hill.
Evasive action was required to avoid the highly understeery Fiat, passing him before Hatzenbach, before he spits flames under braking!
A good run out of Hocheichen through Quiddelbacher Hohe leaves me able to slip by into 4th place ahead of the Subaru, just after Flugplatz. The Jag S-type is relegated to 4th place soon afterwards at Schwedenkreuz.
2nd place is stolen from the Alfa under braking for Wehrseifen, and as we pull away from Bergwerk through the fast section towards Kesselchen, the Jag XKR is drawing away still.
A battle-royale follows, as the lack of ooomph from my underpowered Nissan compared to the tuned AI competitors is highlighted as the Alfa goes back past before Mutkurve (a.k.a. Angstkurve), but is caught backfiring-away under braking for Karussell!
He's passed audaciously around the outside of Karussell,
leaving him back down in 3rd place, trailed by the Subaru and Jag S-type.
Proving that it's not only the Fiat suffering from gross understeer, the Alfa then makes life difficult for the Subaru, as they undergo a tyre-smoking, flame-throwing, paint-swapping confrontation at Eschbach!
As the lap closes out, the Jag XKR is able to further stretch his advantage down the long backstraight, and the Subaru is able to gain again after dispatching the Alfa. Through lap 2, the Jag XKR moves away more, and by the last part of lap 3, the Subaru has caught up.
Hot on my heels through Sprunghugel the Subaru drops back a little before Galgenkopf, but then hammers his power advantage home on the backstraight, reeling me in and flying as we pass Neue Einfart, the new start/finish line for everyday paying users of the Nurburgring.
There's a long way to go, but already I'm back down to 3rd place, and the cars ahead are pulling away. Starting lap 5, I'm aware that I'll have to pit ending this lap, as I'm sure the tyres will go away in the next 12-and-a-bit miles, but the gap to the leader is now 23s, and he's not pitted either! So much for making time in the pits!
I do have a surprise time-gaining tactic up my sleeve though! 
The splits seem to drop to the leader and 2nd placed Subaru throughout lap 5, they're surely struggling with tyre wear too. 💡
This is tyre-smokingly highlighted by the Jag XKR ending his 5th lap in a rather ungraceful, but crowd-pleasing fashion! This time though he recovers adeptly an enters the pitlane still in 1st place. He's followed in some seconds later by the Subaru, and 18s is the gap at the split before the pits before I follow him in too. I grab tyres, but no fuel, while the AI runners make their usual mistake of waiting for a full fuel load to go in before departing. My stop is therefore shorter, and I exit the pits 12s behind the Jag XKR. I'm able to go quicker on cold tyres, dropping gap to just over 9s ending the outlap.
Caught this picture of the leader belching flames approaching Drei-fach Rechts (a.k.a. Miss-Hit-Miss) on lap 6.
And since I'd got one of everyone but myself doing it, I didn't want to leave out the Jag S-Type, shown here giving his own fireworks show at Kallenhard on lap 7. Sadly that's it for pictures though, as the replay ended shortly after this. The untuned engine of my Nissan couldn't be persuaded give an incendiary display anywhere around the many laps I watched though, so no photos of that!
I maintained around 12s gap until lap 9 when Subaru takes over the lead, and extends the advantage to 14s going into lap 10.
Their inlaps are much slower than mine, and the gap is down to a shade over 4s exiting Galgenkopf, 👍 although they streak away down the straight and are over 7s distant at Antoniusbrucke checkpoint. 👎 Pass Jag XKR going into the pits, as he's parked on the grass on the righthand side of the pit entry! 
Obviously he didn't manage such a graceful recovery as he did after his spin on lap 5! 
The Subaru has also pitted, and this time I take tyres and fuel, having used 68 units in 10 laps. Topped up to 38 units and get underway!
A great session follows where I hang right with the Subaru for 2 laps, having caught up after exiting the pits 5s behind. Closest I get to a pass is at Dottinger Hohe checkpoint where I'm only 0.058s behind before his HP advantage sees him stride away down the straight! We lap the Fiat on lap 13, approaching Wehrseifen, where he's all over the road. 
I get back within a second of the Subaru who'd pulled away a bit, before he pulls out to an 8s lead beginning lap 15. Closed on him throughout this inlap, although he still pulls away a lot in the fast sections between Bergwerk and Klostertal and between Galgenkopf and Hohenrain Schikane, passing through Antoniusbrucke checkpoint just under 2s behind. Pit in together, pass him in the pits and exit in 1st place due to taking on a lighter 37 unit fuel load with my tyres.
With just over 2 hours and 5 minutes on the clock, I've finally taken the lead for the first time in this race! Humph. 
That lasts less than 2 minutes, as I put too much tyre on the grass braking for Arembergkurve, and wind up in the sand, 
handing the Subaru his advantage back. I'm 5s back at the T2 checkpoint, although I close some of it up during the lap it extends again by the time we hit the line. A new fastest time of 8'10.924 on lap 17 still leaves 6s to the leader after he lapped the Alfa down the backstretch. I have the Alfa to deal with during lap 18, he's passed cleanly under braking for the first part of Adenauer Forst. Started lap 20 9.3s behind the Subaru, but the gap drops to under 1s at Dottinger Hohe. Pit in again from behind the Subaru, taking on tyres and a lighter fuel load, exiting this time just behind the leader.
Followed closely round the outlap, and lap 22, passing the T3 checkpoint at Adenauer Forst a very appropriate 0.555s behind the Subaru! Monstrous new fast 23rd lap of 8'09.379,
which included lapping a very wiggly Fiat 
again at Tiergarten means I'm still well in touch (read about 7s behind! 
) with the Subaru. Hope I've not overcooked the tyres though. Go into the inlap (#25) with 7.111s gap to leader. Catch throughout the lap and pass him in the second part of Schwalbenschwanz. He passes back before Antoniusbuche, but I pit in within a few feet of his back bumper, and pass him before he gets onto his jacks. 
Exit ahead after a new set of tyres and 38 fuel units go in.
There's just over a half hour of race to go. I use the clear track and cold tyre advantage well, stretching my newfound lead to 10.3s by Dottinger Hohe, the 140 extra horses that the Suby is carrying buy him 2 full seconds by the finish line though.
Lap 27 is pretty much a carbon copy of the previous one, and lap 28 gives the Subaru a 6.8s gap to chase into the final lap! Keep my wits together and a finish time of 4:01'31.115 with 29 laps completed, gives a 5.910s MOV over the 2nd placed Subaru!
Result:-
1st Nissan Silvia Spec R Aero (S15) '99 29 laps (4:01'31.115)
2nd Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi sp.C '04 +5.910s (4:01'37.025)
3rd Jaguar XKR R-Performance '02 +?s on lap 29
4th Jaguar S-Type R '02 +?s on lap 29
5th Alfa Romeo 147 GTA '02 +1 lap
6th Fiat Coupe Turbo Plus '00 +2 laps
Having left 25 A-spec points hanging in this race first time round, it was important to go back and take care of them! My previous report can be found here:- Nurburgring 4hrs! (Stock Honda S2000 Type-V '01)
Once again I'm going to link to Flerbizky's Nurburgring map to save everyone having to memorise the corner names!
This time round, the weapon of choice is a Nissan Silvia Spec R Aero (S15) '99 which was acquired used, and is fitted with S1 tyres. The car was not given an oil change, and hence according to the selling screen, begins the race with the following stats:- 223HP / 1240kg / 5.6kg/HP powering the FR drivetrain, and 15,884.2 miles on the odometer.
Lining up with me at the back, the grid looks like this:-
1st Jaguar XKR R-Performance '02
2nd Alfa Romeo 147 GTA '02
3rd Jaguar S-Type R '02
4th Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi sp.C '04
5th Fiat Coupe Turbo Plus '00
6th Nissan Silvia Spec R Aero (S15) '99
and there's 200 A-spec points on offer!
Most of the photographic action took place on lap 1, and then a few more up to lap 7, before the replay save was cut short with 45 minutes gone. From there in the action is purely textual, but gripping nonetheless!
As the grid rolls to the start and the lights go green, the Jag XKR in clean air pulls away down the hill.
Evasive action was required to avoid the highly understeery Fiat, passing him before Hatzenbach, before he spits flames under braking!
A good run out of Hocheichen through Quiddelbacher Hohe leaves me able to slip by into 4th place ahead of the Subaru, just after Flugplatz. The Jag S-type is relegated to 4th place soon afterwards at Schwedenkreuz.
2nd place is stolen from the Alfa under braking for Wehrseifen, and as we pull away from Bergwerk through the fast section towards Kesselchen, the Jag XKR is drawing away still.
A battle-royale follows, as the lack of ooomph from my underpowered Nissan compared to the tuned AI competitors is highlighted as the Alfa goes back past before Mutkurve (a.k.a. Angstkurve), but is caught backfiring-away under braking for Karussell!
He's passed audaciously around the outside of Karussell,
leaving him back down in 3rd place, trailed by the Subaru and Jag S-type.
Proving that it's not only the Fiat suffering from gross understeer, the Alfa then makes life difficult for the Subaru, as they undergo a tyre-smoking, flame-throwing, paint-swapping confrontation at Eschbach!
As the lap closes out, the Jag XKR is able to further stretch his advantage down the long backstraight, and the Subaru is able to gain again after dispatching the Alfa. Through lap 2, the Jag XKR moves away more, and by the last part of lap 3, the Subaru has caught up.
Hot on my heels through Sprunghugel the Subaru drops back a little before Galgenkopf, but then hammers his power advantage home on the backstraight, reeling me in and flying as we pass Neue Einfart, the new start/finish line for everyday paying users of the Nurburgring.
There's a long way to go, but already I'm back down to 3rd place, and the cars ahead are pulling away. Starting lap 5, I'm aware that I'll have to pit ending this lap, as I'm sure the tyres will go away in the next 12-and-a-bit miles, but the gap to the leader is now 23s, and he's not pitted either! So much for making time in the pits!
I do have a surprise time-gaining tactic up my sleeve though! The splits seem to drop to the leader and 2nd placed Subaru throughout lap 5, they're surely struggling with tyre wear too. 💡
This is tyre-smokingly highlighted by the Jag XKR ending his 5th lap in a rather ungraceful, but crowd-pleasing fashion! This time though he recovers adeptly an enters the pitlane still in 1st place. He's followed in some seconds later by the Subaru, and 18s is the gap at the split before the pits before I follow him in too. I grab tyres, but no fuel, while the AI runners make their usual mistake of waiting for a full fuel load to go in before departing. My stop is therefore shorter, and I exit the pits 12s behind the Jag XKR. I'm able to go quicker on cold tyres, dropping gap to just over 9s ending the outlap.
Caught this picture of the leader belching flames approaching Drei-fach Rechts (a.k.a. Miss-Hit-Miss) on lap 6.
And since I'd got one of everyone but myself doing it, I didn't want to leave out the Jag S-Type, shown here giving his own fireworks show at Kallenhard on lap 7. Sadly that's it for pictures though, as the replay ended shortly after this. The untuned engine of my Nissan couldn't be persuaded give an incendiary display anywhere around the many laps I watched though, so no photos of that!
I maintained around 12s gap until lap 9 when Subaru takes over the lead, and extends the advantage to 14s going into lap 10.
Their inlaps are much slower than mine, and the gap is down to a shade over 4s exiting Galgenkopf, 👍 although they streak away down the straight and are over 7s distant at Antoniusbrucke checkpoint. 👎 Pass Jag XKR going into the pits, as he's parked on the grass on the righthand side of the pit entry! Obviously he didn't manage such a graceful recovery as he did after his spin on lap 5! The Subaru has also pitted, and this time I take tyres and fuel, having used 68 units in 10 laps. Topped up to 38 units and get underway! A great session follows where I hang right with the Subaru for 2 laps, having caught up after exiting the pits 5s behind. Closest I get to a pass is at Dottinger Hohe checkpoint where I'm only 0.058s behind before his HP advantage sees him stride away down the straight!
We lap the Fiat on lap 13, approaching Wehrseifen, where he's all over the road. I get back within a second of the Subaru who'd pulled away a bit, before he pulls out to an 8s lead beginning lap 15. Closed on him throughout this inlap, although he still pulls away a lot in the fast sections between Bergwerk and Klostertal and between Galgenkopf and Hohenrain Schikane, passing through Antoniusbrucke checkpoint just under 2s behind. Pit in together, pass him in the pits and exit in 1st place due to taking on a lighter 37 unit fuel load with my tyres. With just over 2 hours and 5 minutes on the clock, I've finally taken the lead for the first time in this race!
Humph. That lasts less than 2 minutes, as I put too much tyre on the grass braking for Arembergkurve, and wind up in the sand, handing the Subaru his advantage back. I'm 5s back at the T2 checkpoint, although I close some of it up during the lap it extends again by the time we hit the line. A new fastest time of 8'10.924 on lap 17 still leaves 6s to the leader after he lapped the Alfa down the backstretch. I have the Alfa to deal with during lap 18, he's passed cleanly under braking for the first part of Adenauer Forst. Started lap 20 9.3s behind the Subaru, but the gap drops to under 1s at Dottinger Hohe. Pit in again from behind the Subaru, taking on tyres and a lighter fuel load, exiting this time just behind the leader. Followed closely round the outlap, and lap 22, passing the T3 checkpoint at Adenauer Forst a very appropriate 0.555s behind the Subaru! Monstrous new fast 23rd lap of 8'09.379,
which included lapping a very wiggly Fiat again at Tiergarten means I'm still well in touch (read about 7s behind! ) with the Subaru. Hope I've not overcooked the tyres though. Go into the inlap (#25) with 7.111s gap to leader. Catch throughout the lap and pass him in the second part of Schwalbenschwanz. He passes back before Antoniusbuche, but I pit in within a few feet of his back bumper, and pass him before he gets onto his jacks. Exit ahead after a new set of tyres and 38 fuel units go in. There's just over a half hour of race to go. I use the clear track and cold tyre advantage well, stretching my newfound lead to 10.3s by Dottinger Hohe, the 140 extra horses that the Suby is carrying buy him 2 full seconds by the finish line though.
Lap 27 is pretty much a carbon copy of the previous one, and lap 28 gives the Subaru a 6.8s gap to chase into the final lap! Keep my wits together and a finish time of 4:01'31.115 with 29 laps completed, gives a 5.910s MOV over the 2nd placed Subaru! Result:-
1st Nissan Silvia Spec R Aero (S15) '99 29 laps (4:01'31.115)
2nd Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi sp.C '04 +5.910s
(4:01'37.025)3rd Jaguar XKR R-Performance '02 +?s on lap 29
4th Jaguar S-Type R '02 +?s on lap 29
5th Alfa Romeo 147 GTA '02 +1 lap
6th Fiat Coupe Turbo Plus '00 +2 laps
I was fortunate enough to receive such a thing from a member who did just that, called jdw. Sadly he doesn't come to these forums anymore, his last activity is listed as 25th May 2006, but he did an enormous amount of work in determining which factors affect A-spec points, and was one of the first few people to join the 100,000 A-spec club. 
