All-Purpose Guide to the B-Spec Online Seasonal: La Sarthe

[garbuckle]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how do you get a new grid? Where do you have to exit/return to get a new lineup? From the race start screen, or within the race itself?

 

[Blitz24]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how do you get a new grid? Where do you have to exit/return to get a new lineup? From the race start screen, or within the race itself?

Definitely it would be from the race start screen. If you quit from the race itself then you'll just go back to the menu with the same exact grid.

 

[garbuckle]

I gave it a whirl in the Mercedes CLK-LM '98. I managed second place in 41:04. It was 869hp (or thereabouts), and 698PP. I did RH to lap 3, RI to lap 8, RI to the end. Bobs were level 37 and 37. If the leader would've spun just once, I would've taken the win. All in all, I think this car is rather similar to the Ford GT Test Car... very difficult to win, but possible, given the right circumstances.

Thanks Blitz; I'll try that next time.

 

[Spectre97]

Just tried this with my bobs leveled 21 and 16. Their chariot was a weighted and detuned c9.
Level 21 bob started on hards and pitted on lap 3 from p7 for intermediates and a driver change.
Bob 16 clawed his way back to 7th but was stuck behind the bmw for most of his stint. He got around the bmw once, but got repassed shortly thereafter. After that I told him to slow down to preserve the tires and himself. Pitted on lap 7 for tires, driver change and a bit of fuel. I knew pitting that early was a bad idea, but the strength bar was empty and I didn't know if he could hold it together for another lap.
Bob 21 inherited 2nd when the rest of the field stopped on Lap 9 with only half the tire bar remaining. He lost 2nd at the beginning of the straight after doing a 4-wheel drift onto it. I kept telling him to slow down so he wouldn't bin it. I wasn't sure if he could hold onto 3rd but I dared to hope. In the end he was pipped at the line by .002 seconds.

Going to try again tomorrow and delay the second stop til lap 8 and possibly reload to avoid the bmw. Third is doable (obviously); with a better pit strategy second is well within the real of possibility. First I think can be had with a bit of luck. Unfortunately I forgot to save the replay and I forgot to write down the gap and the cars ahead of me so I don't know how far back I was, but I don't think it was a huge amount.

 

[Famine]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how do you get a new grid? Where do you have to exit/return to get a new lineup? From the race start screen, or within the race itself?

You need to back out of the race entirely, back to the Seasonals screen, then re-enter to generate a new grid.

 

[obsessive rules]

Could you do it in a borrowed car?

 

[kj_mil]

Added. Do you have any general words about the car?

Also, is your username based on a supercharged V6, by any chance?

Thanks, I'll check the settings as well. With the set-up I used (not a tune as such), I didn't have any problem keeping up with other cars, or over-taking any (this was more a case of caoching technique). In a couple of cases I did have trouble losing a car i'd passed, but not for more than a lap with coaching. I finished the final lap having lost time to the following cars with my rapidly wearing RI, but given that I was ahead when they pitted, I had a nice cushion. I certainly avoided pushing, and even did pace-down at mulsanne and the 2nd corner at ?indianapolis?, these being the corners which can cause an issue.

regarding the name (if you're asking me), no it's based losely on my RL name.

@ kj_mil: How did you win with the R92CP? I tried it once but gave up during the first lap on Hunaudieres already. My driver (lvl 39 at the time, or already lv 40) managed to spin off the track at every corner. So I'm really curious how you got your drivers so good to win with it.

I don't know if it matters how you trained your drivers (online or offline), or how much the temperament works. Both were 'on form' (upwards arrows), one is just on the red side of half-way and the other is dead on half-way. Both were trained through offline B-Spec races almost entirely, and both have pretty full career bars.

I didn't coach at all in the first 2 laps, but just let the driver move through the field by himself. I pitted with not many cars in front at the end of lap 2, and from then coached until the last lap, where I was just nursing them home. On the laps 3-8, I was ahead (even when pitting), and it was a case of using 'increase pace' to move more into the red, 'overtake' to increase/maintain pace which has the benefit of moving the marker towards the cooler end of the scale, and 'pace-down' if they're looking a little bit wind. My level 40 driver was doing the middle stint, and he's the one with temperament dead center. The main lap I gained time on the AI was lap 3, lap 4 and lap 9 (essentially the laps before and after the AI pitted). I lost time on the final lap as I was on RI which were pretty low by the end.

Regarding the car, i'll try to get the changes I made to the set-up (likely to be gearing, power, downforce, weight, ride-height). I had some upgrades installed, but I'll have to check whether I took some off to meet the regulations.

 

[Famine]

regarding the name (if you're asking me), no it's based losely on

Bizarrely, it's also the engine I'm putting in my MX-3 - the KJ-ZEM, where "M" stands for "Miller Cycle"...

Funny old world.

 

[garbuckle]

In case anyone is curious, I achieved a mediocre 41:25 and 4th place, in a Pagani Zonda R. I don't think there's much room for improvement, as it doesn't seem to be able to catch up to the quick cars, and relies on the others making mistakes (I would've been 7th, if several cars didn't spin out in front of me)

 

[Ace_Man]

Tried a R10, R390, Blue nissan race car (covered rear wheels, can't remember the name.), Escudo, and Pescarolo Judd C60 (or whatever). My dudes are lvl 35 and 36. All cars are blown away by everything in the straights, and the best I've gotten INTO is 7th place, though after a while he started to get passed. So the best I've finished is 10th. Some of the AI cars are well below 700pp at their max, so I really don't understand what's going on. Escudo was the worst due to it's low top speed.

 

[Ace_Man]

SO #%^$%& MAD RIGHT NOW!!! If B.Bumgaertner were real, I'd skin him alive. I started with my second best driver, K.Kwiatkowski, in the R8 Oreca. Did really good and changed tires at the end of lap 3. By lap 7 he was in 4th place. Middle of lap 8, all three cars ahead crashed at the same time, they got so far behind I couldn't see them. At the end of lap 9, I decided at the last second to change back to Racing Hards since my Intermediates were getting bad. I had so much of a lead it didn't matter what I did. I also decided that my best driver deserved some points, so I put him in for the heck of it. He left the pits when the 2nd-4th guys were just pulling in. I kept him ALL the way on cool, and right on that super sharp turn after the straights, he slid (all the way on blue) all the way across the dirt and slammed into the wall. Then he slowly pulled out and let two cars pass before casually driving along at 45 MPH for about 10 seconds. He continued crashing on every corner (still close to fully cool) until the end. 3rd frikin place. Never letting him drive again. He's lvl 36.

 

[obsessive rules]

That Minolta is dog turd. A lowly 5th because of my pair of retards, in fairness Adams was faster the kitatchi or whatever he's called but kitatchi made less mistakes. I swear to go I need a doctor Frankenstein right now...

 

[Ace_Man]

Just went another 40+ mins trying again late into the night... R8 Oreca. Tried it with one pit stop. Everything was going great. Until the final lap, the tires were totally gone and my driver's strength and mental strength were gone. I let him drive at 100% cool through the whole lap, and the other cars were far FAR behind. I noticed that a car was getting close toward the end, at the last two little s turns. My driver accelerated very slow out of the last turn, and got passed by half a car length right before crossing the line. I almost threw my controller through the #$%$ TV..... Cannot believe how much time I've wasted on this STUPID event.

 

[Famine]

This comes down to "Know your strategy" and "Know your Bob".

• The default strategy for the race is to pit on 2 for Inters and then again on 8 for Inters. For specific cars it may be faster to do it some other way, but most cars that can win will win this way.
• Lineup 14 is the one that requires the least amount of performance to win (no BMW V12 LMR, Peugeot 905 on "Pole").
• 100% cool is absolutely the slowest way around a track and has no measurable benefit over dead centre - it's even worse than 100% hot, as he'll carry just about 20% less corner speed, but 100% hot will result in crashing and rapid depletion of physical and mental strength.
• You'll also need to know which of your Bobs can pass and which can drive fast. Use the Bob who can pass for the first two laps to get past the cars who might baulk you in the pits. Use the Bob who can drive fast for the middle stint when you need to keep with the lead pack (passing them is irrelevant). Use the Bob who can pass for the last stint just in case you need to leap the leader on his slow last lap.

Keeping all this in mind, I managed to get a level 17 Bob to beat the Spa event - by a minute - by knowing the strategy and my Bob... He's in training for Sarthe.

 

[Tehdas]

I have been grinding the Spa-event on autopilot like crazy the last few days in order to complete my garage (65 cars left now ), but probably will give this event a go with some of my newly acquired cars.

Maybe fancy having a go with the Minolta, since that was the first LMP-car I acquired and my Bob's have been driving it a lot. But also the Nissan LMP cars are interesting, the Toyota GT-One was proving pretty difficult to win with... Pescarolo '03 might be worth the try as well.

BMW V12 Race Car '99 I used the first time around to win it right away, very good car for the event in my view.

 

[Famine]

In case anyone is curious, I achieved a mediocre 41:25 and 4th place, in a Pagani Zonda R. I don't think there's much room for improvement, as it doesn't seem to be able to catch up to the quick cars, and relies on the others making mistakes (I would've been 7th, if several cars didn't spin out in front of me)

I've been idly wondering about some other cars too. Particularly the McLaren F1 GTR, the Nissan GT-R Concept LM, the Nissan 350Z/Z Concept LM, the Lamborghini Nomad Diablo GT-1 and the Pagani Zonda LM. I think the McLaren would be a bust as it's quite prone to a bit of wheelspin but the others could be fun if they can get up to the PP level.

 

[Tehdas]

Looking at those cars for stock PP and kg / BHP:

McLaren F1 GTR: 645 / 1.5
GT-R concept LM: 648 / 1.8
Fairlady Z concept LM: 634 /1.8
Nomad Diablo GT-1: 610 /2.0
Pagani Zonda LM: 642 / 1.7

For comparison:

Zonda R: 651 / 1.4
R8 (Oreca Playstation) '05: 702 / 1.6

So maybe will have a go with a slightly buffed McLaren F1 GTR and two level 40 guys to see if I'll get anywhere... The Nissan's probably are a lot short on straight-line speed and the Zonda R probably outdoes the Zonda LM already...

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

I'm using the C60 hybrid for that event. I pitted the same time as the AI and in the last 2-3 laps I needed to calm down my driver at Tertre Rouge so he doesnt go out in the gravel. Other then that it's quite an easy win.
I tried the chapparal 2J but my driver couldnt win at all with it and he was 39 at that time. I was 6th-7th-6th in the races I tried.

 

[nyjetsfanz14]

Audi R8' 01
bobs were 33 and 30
started with RH tires pitted on lap 3(5 liters of fuel) and ran to finish on RI tires
finished with 40 mins 3 seconds
Oil change and transmission to 249 added a little weight to bck

 

[Serialf]

Only won at third try. Used a Audi R8 team Oreca '05 with:
Oil change;
High Rev Turbo;
Engine down to 699 PP;
Max speed of 400Km/h (only used at this time - it was the solution);
Didnt change the aero settings.

My Bobs were LVL35 and 36 and have to be babyseatted to speedup during all laps but controlled on Mulsanne corner .

Start w/RH, pit at end of lap 2 to Intermed, pit again at end of lap 7 (already in 1st place) and keep Intermed.

The grid was the "normal" w/ BMW.

The R8 is now shared and usable.

Good luck

 

[Se7en590]

My bobs finally won it. Both were level 27 and with my Courage - Judd GV5.
Starting grid with BMW V12 and 2 R8's. They managed to overtake 3 opponents in the first round. Pitted at the end of the 3rd lap to RI and switched to my other bob. He was incredibly fast and was able to reach the Top 3 really quickly. At the end of the 7th lap I pitted again, switched to my first bob, again RI and was back at track at 8th place. At the end of the 9th lap the Top 6 went all in the pits so I managed to overtake them without any problems and have only a 2 second gap between me and the 2nd place. The last few corners were so intense, I almost **** in my pants LOL At the end I was 2 seconds ahead.

Settings:
- Turbo 3
- Downforce: Front 60 / Back 85
- Detuned to 700PP / 554 kW

Edit: If anybody want to see the replay, I saved it, but since I'm a newbie to GT 5 I don't know if I can upload it ingame. If anybody knows how to upload just send me a PM.

Edit2: I finished in ~40:30.

 

[Bojovnik]

Does anyone have a solid set up for a Bentley? I'm finishing like 1-2 seconds behind the lead group each time, and I'm experimenting with numerous different things but each time it just comes up short!

EDIT: Nevermind, just beat it. Pitted on lap 2 and lap 8. Was second on lap 10 until the R8 ploughed into the gravel trap off of the Mulsanne straight, holding up the Pescarolo behind it! Result!

 

[Ace_Man]

Finally won after 8 full runs. 40:15. In a r8 race car. Pitted at the end of lap 4 and ran till the end. Still had a little rear tire left and was way ahead when he finished. My lvl 23 gift ticket gave me..... the exact same r8 that I won with.

 

[Tehdas]

Was leading with the BMW McLaren F1 GTR in the last lap up to the second chicane on Mulsanne. Then my B-bob decided it was time to crash at the end of Mulsanne and smoke his tyres, actually came in 6th after that in 41:49.

With a 'better' grid and a bit more micromanagement on my side I think a win might just be possible... Got the high rev turbo, full downforce (rain conditions) and gearbox at 380. In the rain on intermediates I was doing laps 5/6 seconds faster than the lead pack, but they put in a 9-10 second faster lap when they 'packed' together on lap 8 and that was the decider in the end...

@Famine:

So close with the McLaren F1 GTR! You're right that the tire-wear on the thing is pretty high, but did manage a second place. Got overtaken in the second to last chicane... ;(

One-pit strategy end of lap 3 to racing inters. Been micro-managing my Bob a lot the last few laps to keep him in the cool, so that he wouldn't rip up the tyres, just lost too much time in the final curves of the Porsche S'es to grab a win...

 

[xEnZo]

Audi R8 '01
822 hp weight 900 kg 700 PP
Downforce 55/55
Trans top speed 249
suspension
ride hgt -12/-11
everything else default.

Best time 39:22.533
Best lap 3:37.742
Pit at end of lap 2 and lap 8 took on 11 liters fuel both times for the weight.
Start with RH then RI both pit stops.

👍👍 Got 1st by 4th lap in the R8 Race car (Playstation) but i pitted 3rd lap by then i was 4th, after getting first it was a smooth from there on out

 

[garbuckle]

So, I tried the McLaren F1 GTR. Came in 4th with a time of 40:48 (default grid). Even though that's faster than the times I had in the Ford GT or Zonda R, it does seem a little slower than both. It's top line speed isn't as high as the other two.

Edit: I see Tehdas got practically the same time (but a better result), even with a different strategy

 

[GlockPants]

Been trying to do this for hours now. Tried a couple different cars and pit strategies. Right now I'm trying the BMW V12 LMR, started off doing well but around lap 6 my Bob decided he wanted to stay in 4th. Then when it was time to pit again my new Bob decided he was going to run off the track at every corner (with new tires and mood around neutral, wtf?). My Bobs are both almost level 40....Thinking of firing them.

Trying new bobs. Ugh.

 

[garbuckle]

The Mercedes C9 isn't very good. Only managed 5th, in 41:06

 

[blah blah blah]

I used a fully modded Minolta with no changes to settings with lvl 26 and 23 (If I remember correctly) bobs and got seriously smashed. Last place by far.

Has anybody got an Audi R8 (Audi Playstation Team Oreca) '05 Or Chapparel 2J '70? Because i'd love if someone could lend (not trade!!!) it to me.

 

[GavBlade]

Currently attempting this in the R8 Oreca.

Started on RH and pitted at the end of lap 2 for RI's. I'm currently on lap 4 and I'm in 4th.

51 seconds behind the leader though!!

EDIT - All of a sudden 20 seconds now?!

Got the gap to within 4 seconds by the 5th lap so pretty much just left my Bob to it and took the lead when everybody pitted on lap 9. Was all looking good and then the tyres just went completely and he was all over the place. Finished 4th.

Second attempt - Pitted a lap later for tyres and used the same strategy of more or less leaving him to it. Took the lead when everyone else pitted at the end of lap 9. This time, the tyres were ok, right up until the final chicane. The R8 '01 was breathing down my neck and my Bob decided that would be the ideal time to spin. Finished 3rd by 3.2 seconds

Don't know what to try next now, short of making 2 pit stops.