200 points at Laguna Seca 200.

[Uncle Harry]

Testing various cars for this event, the Laguna Seca 200 Enduro showed that my Shelby Series 1 Supercharged car was found to be a contender for a 200 point win.
The car was fitted with a sports exhaust giving the car 4 more HP over standard and still maintaining the 200 point total. R1 race tires and all the good transmission and suspension parts.
This car seems to better than the numbers would indicate out performing a Lotus Elise and the Suzuki concept.
I was against line up 1 consisting of a
Pontiac GT0 (Manaro) on pole, a Camaro, another Shelby, Ford GT and a Saleen S7.
I gained the lead after the corkscrew on lap 1 and pulled a 5 second lead after 3 laps. The Ford GT then closed the gap to 2.5 seconds untill it pitted at lap 9. The Saleen then took over 2nd place about a constant 5 seconds behind. Knowing the Saleen pit schedule (Thanks Famine) I decided to pit on lap 19 with tires starting to go orange which cost me several seconds.
I dropped back to second place on my return to the race about 25 seconds behind the S7. The S7 lost a lot of time on the lap before he pitted on lap 21 and I was able to put a good lead of about 15 seconds on him.
I then pitted at lap 38 and come out again in second 10 seconds behind the S7. I was able to regain the lead as he entered the pits on lap 43, that last lap on worn tires costing the S7 lots of time again.
The rest of the race was very incident free with the only high point being my fastest lap of 1.30.2xx seconds.
Next pit stops were shortened to get the best of the tires being on lap 56 and 74.
Remained in first place during both pit stops and went on to win by 54 seconds over the S7.
For anybody doing the race I would suggest pitting at 4 stops at 18,36, 54 and 72 to get the best out off the tires.
Race time was 2 hours 19 minutes and 57.860 seconds about 54 seconds ahead of the S7.
The minor placings were 3rd Shelby, 4th Ford GT, 5th Camaro and 6th the Pontiac.
On of the poor things about GT4 is the lack of race times for the AI if you win by more than 10 or so seconds.

A great race!!! A better pit schedule for the S7 would have seen a far closer race.
200 points won at laguna Seca 200 enduro.👍

 

[Smallhorses]

Uncle Harry! Congratualations on what seems like a toptastic race!
I know you're already a Club 200 member, but, do you think it'd be possible to repeat this feat without the only upgrade you made, and run with stock HP? I doubt the 4 HP difference would make it that much closer! Otherwise, this just seems perfect for the stock car challenge thread, where R1 tyres are allowed for this race. I haven't done this race yet, but the attraction of 200pts in a stock car is enormous, and this has given me huge ideas!
Sorry to steal your idea!

Can I be really pedantic and get you to confirm the Ford GT's 9 lap pit strategy before I add it, and a credit to your goodself here?
Sorry. Do you know if he stuck to a 9 lap strategy or extended it when he wasn't burning tyres stuck in traffic? Just curious as I'd like to make my guide as accurate as possible.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

it's a 200 Aspec race if the GT and Saleen are in, but the race is unwinnable. I ran against another Shelby and some vipers for 199 Aspec points.

 

[Uncle Harry]

Smallhorses,
I had racing transmission and race suspension on the car, which helps a lot in lap times. I do not think I could manage a win in a stock car. Stock transmission is geared to high???
In regard to Ford GT pit schedule, I only noticed him pit on lap 9, not sure of his next pit stop. At that stage in the race I only had eyes for the track and the Saleen S7.

 

[Alfaholic]

Nice race! The S7 is stiff competition, but this guy can be a bit stiffer:



He trades places with the S7 over the length of the race as their pitstop routines are quite different. The Spirra pitted on lap 16, then 32, and 48 etc - every 16 laps. He is, however, faster than the S7 and came out on top in the end, when I raced against them both.

I managed to beat the Spirra (not in the race with the S7 as well though) in this,



but this was as close as I came to actually overtaking it on the track. Once his tyres warmed I could only keep up but not really catch. I only beat him because this little ride (which is far, far from standard) manages more than 30 laps on a set of R1s at Laguna. In the replay the Spirra was lapping in 1:30 or 1:31 at his fastest. The Elan managed a 1:29.58

Oh, the Ford GT made an appearance in that particular event and pitted on lap 13 and 25, and I did not record any more of his stops because by that time he was out of contention.

 

[Smallhorses]

Thanks Uncle Harry. My pit strategy guide is updated with your change and you're in the credits. It's stickied at the top of the Race Reports Forum.