Reading these forums made me want to a-spec the 24hr race at the 'ring. So here is my write up of the race. This was not done in one sitting but over a week starting on Sunday, April 16th and finishing on Sunday April 23rd.
I was looking for a challenge but not a nail biter so, after some testing, I decided to use the Opel Calibra Touring Car '94 with R1/R1. This would yield 79 points against the following field
Nissan Falken*GT-R Race Car '04
Audi A4 Touring Car '04
BMW M3 GTR Race Car '01
Nissan C-West Razo Silvia (JGTC) '01
Opel Calibra Touring Car '94
I didnt make notes during the race so this is all from memory.
Sunday #1:
On the first lap I get past the two Nissans and the other Opel before Berkwerk . I start to chase down the BMW and Audi. I get to the back of the BMW but he takes the preferred line Kesselchen straight so I have to wait until Steilstrecke to get by him. I get past the Audi on the long straight. Lap time was in the 7:20s range.
At this point Im thinking that I should start over and find something a little more challenging as this appears as if it is going to be easy. I figure I will continue on until the first set of pit stops to see how it pans out. I pit at the end of lap 4 after dropping the fastest lap down to the 7:16.xxx but running around 7:20. As I started on R1/R1 tires and the rear didnt wear as fast as the front I switched to R2s in the rear. I fuel up to check my fuel and notice that I have exactly 40 left so at the next pit stop I dont fuel up. As Im pitting the Audi and the BMW get back past me so now Im thinking that this could fun so I continue on.
The Opel and the Nissan Falken pit on lap 5, the Audi and BMW pit on lap 6 which allows me to get back past them. I think the Nissan C-West also pits on lap 6 but I dont recall and I lap this guy so many times I could never figure out what his pit sequence was.
When I pit again on lap 8, with all tires starting to turn red, I have finally figured out how to effectively get through Pflanzgarten without going into the sand trap so my fastest lap is down to 7:11.xxx so Im starting to build a big enough lead that when I come out of the pits Im just behind both the BMW and the Audi as it appears that the Audi is holding up the BMW. This is confirmed when the BMW gets past the Audi on lap 12 just as they are about to pit.
By this time I realize that, as long as I keep up this pace, this will be easier then I thought but figure that for my first attempt at running 24 hours Ill take it. On my first stint I get about 3 1/2 hours of driving in. Im in first place by about 4 minutes over the BMW with my fastest lap down to the 7:05 range. The Audi appears to be about 20-30 seconds behind the BMW. The Nissan Falken and the Opel running 4th and 5th still on the lead lap. The Nissan C-West running in 6th has been lapped once or twice.
Monday-Friday:
Because of work and family, I only get about 1-1.5 hours each night so by Friday night Im up to 9 hours 45 minutes. During this time I lap the rest of the field taking to lap 55 to finally fully lap the BMW. I also get my fastest lap down to 7:02.4xx on lap 32 which also happens to be a lap I have to pit, but I knew it was a good lap and figured I had a large enough lead to turn around and pit after finishing the lap. It ended up costing me about 55 seconds. During this time I also run out of fuel on lap 28 on the long straight because on the lap 24 pit I only top up to 40 gallons thinking that would be enough. I guess because Im running better lap times I using slightly more fuel. I will make sure to top up to at least 42 gallons next time. The line up now stands like this
Me ~80 Laps
BMW M3 -1L
Audi A4 -1L
Nissan Falken -1L
Opel -2L
Nissan C-West -?L
Saturday:
I ask my wife to not bug me to much as I wanted to finish the race. She was cool about it. I lap the Nissan Falken and since Im a little board, as I figure I will have no trouble winning, when I get to the back of the Audi I push him to the back of the BMW. While doing this I think I made him miss a pit stop so his pit sequence changed from the BMW after this. By lap 110 I was now two laps up on the Audi, who thanks to me was now in 2nd. Lap 115 was my best lap of 7:01.613 which for the rest of the race I was never able to better though I had a 7:01.682 and a number of laps in the 7:02 7:05 range. By the end of day Saturday Im at 17 hours 34 minutes and Im leading by a comfortable margin.
Sunday #2:
The day started off with me trying to find my grove again as I did a number of laps in the 7:10 - 7:25 range. During this time the BMW didt appear to gain any time on me as I us my lap time when it crosses the line to give me an idea how far he is behind. As the day progresses I do have to take a couple of breaks to go shopping and to rest my eyes but Im aiming to finish around 10:30pm. With about 90 minutes left Im in the lap 180-185 range almost 4 laps up on the BMW as it is about 45 secs in front of me when disaster(in terms of this game anyways) strikes. The power in my house flickers for about a ½ second turning off the PS2. A load NOOOOOO is heard across the land as I toss the controller up into the air in disbelieve. I have just found out what it feels like to have a car break down with-in site of the finish line. I spend the next couple of minutes staring at the now blank TV screen. The shock is kicking in that I have just spent 22+ hours have nothing to show for it.
I must complete this race so I have decided that I want to know everything this is to know about the Nurburgring 24 hour race. I know that Smallhorses has the AI guide to pit strategy but is there a list of all race lineups for this race and what lap times the cars do? Because I have come up with the following by running 20 b-spec races for about an hour and a half each.
Edited to fix table(thanks for the tip Smallhorses I figured there was a way to do that but fcouldn't figure it out)
The best line up for a-spec points out of those 20 races was the same line up I faced.
Anyways, I hope this was an ok read and the next time I do this race I will make sure to take better notes and hope that the power doesnt go out before I finish.
Thanks for reading.
Fuzzy
I was looking for a challenge but not a nail biter so, after some testing, I decided to use the Opel Calibra Touring Car '94 with R1/R1. This would yield 79 points against the following field
Nissan Falken*GT-R Race Car '04
Audi A4 Touring Car '04
BMW M3 GTR Race Car '01
Nissan C-West Razo Silvia (JGTC) '01
Opel Calibra Touring Car '94
I didnt make notes during the race so this is all from memory.
Sunday #1:
On the first lap I get past the two Nissans and the other Opel before Berkwerk . I start to chase down the BMW and Audi. I get to the back of the BMW but he takes the preferred line Kesselchen straight so I have to wait until Steilstrecke to get by him. I get past the Audi on the long straight. Lap time was in the 7:20s range.
At this point Im thinking that I should start over and find something a little more challenging as this appears as if it is going to be easy. I figure I will continue on until the first set of pit stops to see how it pans out. I pit at the end of lap 4 after dropping the fastest lap down to the 7:16.xxx but running around 7:20. As I started on R1/R1 tires and the rear didnt wear as fast as the front I switched to R2s in the rear. I fuel up to check my fuel and notice that I have exactly 40 left so at the next pit stop I dont fuel up. As Im pitting the Audi and the BMW get back past me so now Im thinking that this could fun so I continue on.
The Opel and the Nissan Falken pit on lap 5, the Audi and BMW pit on lap 6 which allows me to get back past them. I think the Nissan C-West also pits on lap 6 but I dont recall and I lap this guy so many times I could never figure out what his pit sequence was.
When I pit again on lap 8, with all tires starting to turn red, I have finally figured out how to effectively get through Pflanzgarten without going into the sand trap so my fastest lap is down to 7:11.xxx so Im starting to build a big enough lead that when I come out of the pits Im just behind both the BMW and the Audi as it appears that the Audi is holding up the BMW. This is confirmed when the BMW gets past the Audi on lap 12 just as they are about to pit.
By this time I realize that, as long as I keep up this pace, this will be easier then I thought but figure that for my first attempt at running 24 hours Ill take it. On my first stint I get about 3 1/2 hours of driving in. Im in first place by about 4 minutes over the BMW with my fastest lap down to the 7:05 range. The Audi appears to be about 20-30 seconds behind the BMW. The Nissan Falken and the Opel running 4th and 5th still on the lead lap. The Nissan C-West running in 6th has been lapped once or twice.
Monday-Friday:
Because of work and family, I only get about 1-1.5 hours each night so by Friday night Im up to 9 hours 45 minutes. During this time I lap the rest of the field taking to lap 55 to finally fully lap the BMW. I also get my fastest lap down to 7:02.4xx on lap 32 which also happens to be a lap I have to pit, but I knew it was a good lap and figured I had a large enough lead to turn around and pit after finishing the lap. It ended up costing me about 55 seconds. During this time I also run out of fuel on lap 28 on the long straight because on the lap 24 pit I only top up to 40 gallons thinking that would be enough. I guess because Im running better lap times I using slightly more fuel. I will make sure to top up to at least 42 gallons next time. The line up now stands like this
Me ~80 Laps
BMW M3 -1L
Audi A4 -1L
Nissan Falken -1L
Opel -2L
Nissan C-West -?L
Saturday:
I ask my wife to not bug me to much as I wanted to finish the race. She was cool about it. I lap the Nissan Falken and since Im a little board, as I figure I will have no trouble winning, when I get to the back of the Audi I push him to the back of the BMW. While doing this I think I made him miss a pit stop so his pit sequence changed from the BMW after this. By lap 110 I was now two laps up on the Audi, who thanks to me was now in 2nd. Lap 115 was my best lap of 7:01.613 which for the rest of the race I was never able to better though I had a 7:01.682 and a number of laps in the 7:02 7:05 range. By the end of day Saturday Im at 17 hours 34 minutes and Im leading by a comfortable margin.
Sunday #2:
The day started off with me trying to find my grove again as I did a number of laps in the 7:10 - 7:25 range. During this time the BMW didt appear to gain any time on me as I us my lap time when it crosses the line to give me an idea how far he is behind. As the day progresses I do have to take a couple of breaks to go shopping and to rest my eyes but Im aiming to finish around 10:30pm. With about 90 minutes left Im in the lap 180-185 range almost 4 laps up on the BMW as it is about 45 secs in front of me when disaster(in terms of this game anyways) strikes. The power in my house flickers for about a ½ second turning off the PS2. A load NOOOOOO is heard across the land as I toss the controller up into the air in disbelieve. I have just found out what it feels like to have a car break down with-in site of the finish line. I spend the next couple of minutes staring at the now blank TV screen. The shock is kicking in that I have just spent 22+ hours have nothing to show for it.
I must complete this race so I have decided that I want to know everything this is to know about the Nurburgring 24 hour race. I know that Smallhorses has the AI guide to pit strategy but is there a list of all race lineups for this race and what lap times the cars do? Because I have come up with the following by running 20 b-spec races for about an hour and a half each.
Code:
[FONT=Courier New]Car Name In Lap Best Out Lap Pit Other In Other Out Other Pit
Abt Audi TTR Touring Car '02 7:51.864 7:17.683 7:29.633 6
Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 v6 T1 '93 7:55.833 7:21.790 7:31.236 5
Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 (JGTC) '04 8:27.025 7:46.646 7:59.147 8
AMG Mercedes 190E Evol Touring Car '92 7:56.489 7:33.423 7:45.302 6
ASL Arta Garaiya (JGTC) '03 8:26.576 7:43.211 7:56.077 7 8:05.801 7:55.948 6
Audi A4 Touring Car '04 7:53.894 7:21.687 7:33.155 6
BMW M3 GTR Race Car '01 8:03.380 7:19.462 7:32.475 6
Chaparral 2D Race Car '67 7:35.880 6:59.928 7:13.309 6
Cusco Subaru Advan Impreza (JGTC) '03 8:31.449 7:51.570 8:02.532 8
Nissan C-West Razo Silvia (JGTC) '01 8:24.526 7:57.541 8:08.151 6
Nissan Falken GT-R Race Car '04 8:04.620 7:20.246 7:31.765 5
Opel Calbra Touring Car '94 8:09.429 7:27.681 7:39.485 6 7:54.239 7:40.100 5
Spoon S2000 Race Car '00 8:55.527 8:27.297 8:40.376 8
Toyota Superautobacs Apex MR-S '00 8:16.256 7:49.361 8:01.780 7
Toyota Wedssport Celica (JGTC) '03 8:08.894 7:43.716 7:55.424 7[/FONT]Edited to fix table(thanks for the tip Smallhorses I figured there was a way to do that but fcouldn't figure it out)
The best line up for a-spec points out of those 20 races was the same line up I faced.
Anyways, I hope this was an ok read and the next time I do this race I will make sure to take better notes and hope that the power doesnt go out before I finish.
Thanks for reading.
Fuzzy
