- 52
- Germany
- emmetbrown1955
This started out as a test: I took the Audi R10 to the Nürburgring 24 hours figuring it would be slow enough to provide a challenge. Also it is the only premium LMP with an open cockpit. Since I plan to enjoy the scenery of night and day during the race in cockpit view, this is the car of my choice.
Grid:
Corvette C5R
Bentley Speed 8
905
Dunlop R34
Ford GT
McLaren F1
R8 LMS
GT One
R390
Zonda
Courage C60
me: Audi R10 TDI Race Car
No tuning except max aero settings. No aids except ABS 1.
1st stint, race hard tires. Lap 1+2
Bright sunny sky. The first phase of the race is rather turbulent. I get to first place quickly but before I can say: "this will be a peace of cake", I brake too late in Hatzenbach and crash, losing first place to the Bentley Speed 8. I quickly realize that I can not keep up with his pace and the 3rd placed Courage C60 flys past me as well at Flugplatz. I spin out at Schwedenkreuz and am 9th. I struggle with throttle control. My driving is really sluggish. By the end of lap two my tires have already passed their prime and I decide to change to racing soft tires just to see where that will bring me. My inlap is 8:58.
2nd stint, race soft tires. Laps 3-5.
After the pit stop and realizing that the Audi's Diesel engine consumes a little less than 15 litres per lap I am in 12th position trailing by 2 minutes. My outlap on racing softs is again ridden by mistakes. I barely manage to keep the distance of 2 minutes with 8'33. Lap four is my best so far, but again far from a decent lap with 8'21. I reduce the Speed 8's lead by 5 seconds and manage to overtake the Zonda, Ford GT, GT-ONE and Corvette C5R. The leading Speed 8 apparently begins to struggle on worn tires as his lead shrinks during lap five. I am only 1:20 behind at the end of lap five, but I have again destroyed my tires after only 3 laps! I head back to the pits and suspend the race.
3rd stint, race soft tires. Lap 6-8
The other cars are pitting too, I can overtake all except the Courage C60 and the Bentley Speed 8, which is still first after we both pitted. I am trailing by 50 seconds. I am still not really comfortable with the car and make mistakes, crashing into the walls at least once a lap. I sometimes have to keep myself from rage quitting. Before I can really bite off some time from the Bentley's lead I have to get fresh tires in lap 9 and meet the Courage C60 in the pits.
On a side note, I notice smoke, most certainly from people barbecuing at different points around the track in the camping areas in Hatzenbach, Steilstrecke and others.
4th stint, race soft. Lap 9-11
I leave the pits before the C60. I finally get to grips with the car and gradually improve my lap times. Nevertheless, the Speed 8 is still more than 1 minute ahead in lap 11 when something strange happens: After Schwedenkreuz the distance between me and the Bentley shrinks by several seconds at every split time. At Pflanzgarten I see him crawling at low speed, obviously out of fuel! The Speed 8 loses lots of time in this lap and even loses 2nd place to the courage C60 before he reaches the pits.
5th stint, race soft. Lap 12-14.
The Courage has taken the lead again, being on longer stints (5 or 6 laps?). On fresh tires I pass the Courage in lap 13.
6th stint, race soft. Lap 15-17.
The Courage, Speed 8 and I all pit in lap 14. By now I consider doing 4 lap stints, because as the race progresses I grow accustomed to the R10's wheelspin and can control the car better accelerating out of corners. I retake the lead in lap 15 after battling with the C60 around Adenauer Forst and manage to gain a lead of 20 seconds before pitting again at the end of lap 17. I notice that the shadows of the trees become longer, creating spectacular patterns of light and shadow on some parts of the track, especially between Bergwerk and Kesselchen.
7th stint, race soft. Lap 18-20.
The race is progressing in my favor, I beat the 8 minute mark for the first time with a 7'55 lap. I have a comfortable lead in lap 19, when I realize ... clouds! For the first 3 hours of the race the sky had been blue. Now, I am actually looking forward to driving the R10 in the rain in cockpit view. And I am shaking a little at the thought of driving in the rain at night!
8th stint, race soft. Lap 21-23
What has really helped me having a challenging race so far, is my disastrous driving. But I'm still hoping that I will grow into the race and the car enough to change to racing medium tyres over the course of the race.
Anyway, when I resume the race the clouds seem to have disappeared 👎
Coming out of the pits my lead is 39" as the speed 8 and the Courage pit as well. I do a 8'55 outlap after which my lead is only 32" on the C60. I do a 7'57 in lap 22, which gains me a lead of 35".
Lap 23 I turn of the HUD. And I can almost hear Yavin base in my headphones: "Luke what's wrong, you turned off your targeting computer."
"Don't worry. I got this!"
Standings after 23 laps and 3h 15' before the pit stop:
1. Audi R10 TDI
2. Courage C60 20"
3. Bentley Speed 8 1'10"
4. GT One
5. 905
6. McLaren F1
7. R390
8. Zonda
9th stint, racing soft. Lap 24-26
I take in 15 litres more this time and I want to see if I can do 4 lap stints (but then I don't). I get passed by the C60 in the pits. The C60 is really slow in lap 24, I have no problems overtaking him again. In lap 25 the Bentley Speed 8 takes 2nd place. I now have a lead of more than 1 minute. Halfway through lap 25 the C60 gains 2nd place again. The Bentley might, once again, be out of fuel?
I mess up lap 26 and lose 20 seconds of my lead.
10th stint, racing soft. Lap 27-29
Driving without HUD costs about 35" during this stint compared to my previous stints. Instead of taking the red flashing indicator as reference for braking, I now have to memorize braking points by features of the track which takes a while. I guess I will adapt to the new conditions soon enough and keep the HUD turned off.
At Döttinger Höhe in lap 29 the C60 is right behind me. We dash past the long straight and the C60 screams on as I dive into the pits.
11th stint, racing soft, lap 30-32
30 P2 8'?? +44" (C60 pits)
31 P1 8'08 -23"
32 P1 8'19 -15"
12th stint, racing soft, lap 33-35
33 P2 8'47 +25")
34 P1 8'02 -10"
(overtook C60 at Schwalbenschanz, C60 pits)
35 P1 8'15 -1'15")
Almost 5 hours have passed, the sun is close to the horizon. At Schwalbenschwanz in lap 35, the R10's headlights went on.
13th stint lap 36-38
36 P1 8'57 -18"
37 P1 8'08 -23"
38 P1 8'30 -30" (C60 on worn tires, we both pit this lap)
At this point of the race, chosing the open top R10 pays off. The sunset looks stunning. I also notice some clouds. Maybe there will be a few drops of rain after all?
14th stint
39 P1 8'59 -33"
40 P1 8'03 -31"
41 P1 8'18 -24"
15th stint
42 P1 8'58 -5". Got overtaken in the pits, got P1 again on Döttinger Höhe, C60 to the pits
43 P1 8'06 -1'01.
44 P1 8'42 -28". An exceptionally bad inlap. It is now almost completely dark and without HUD, this proves to be hard.
After 6 hours 12 minutes:
1 R10 TDI
2. Courage C60 28"
3. Bentley Speed 8
4. McLaren F1
5. 905
6. R390
7. GT One
8. Ford GT
45 P2 8'55 +20"
46 P1 8'12 -8". I overtake before Schwalbenschwanz. C60 pits.
47 P1 8'32 -40"
48 P2 9'00 +21"
49 P2 8'16 +29"
50 P2 8'24 +16" We're both in the pits.
51 P1 8'45 -5"
52 P1 8'10 -0.770"
53 P2 8'32 +16"
When I clear the GP part in lap 52 I am only 3" ahead, but I can see the Corvette's taillights in front of me. At Hatzenbach I pass the Corvette hoping it will obstruct the C60. The gap grows to 6 seconds again. In the pitch black night I don't dare to go full throttle from Bergwerk through Kesselchen. I lift the throttle a few times, brake too much at Mutkurve and my lead tickles away. I am only 3 seconds in the lead when I reach the Carousel. For the rest of the lap the C60 lurks behind me, waiting for an opportunity to get by. At the end of lap 52, 7 hours and 20 minutes into the race, I lead by less than one second as I cross S/F. I have a halfway decent 3rd lap and manage to keep the only remaining contender for victory behind me until I hit the wall after Mutkurve and the C60 breezes by demoting me to 2nd place. Trying to keep up I push too hard on degenerating tyres and spin between the Carousel and hohe Acht. I crawl back to the pits losing 16".
54 P1 8'53 -1'17" C60 in pit
55 P1 8'14 -2'38
56 P1 8'40 -2'00
The C60 was ridiculously slow in lap 54. When I came out of the pits the gap to 1st was +1'00. After half the lap I passed the C60 and gained well over one minute on top. His inlap must've been over 11 minutes. Otherwise a disastrous stint for me.
57 P1 8'56 -1'00 So so outlap.
58 P1 8'06 -1'09 Ok lap. C60 obviously didn't pit.
59 P1 9'08 -1'20 Worst. Lap. Ever. I suspended the race after this lap. The night is killing me! Somehow the C60's lap was even worse (He stayed out for a fifth lap).
60 P1 8'59 -14"
61 P1 8'32 -1"
62 P3 12'12 +3'08 C60 pits
I'll have to explain this one. I messed up laps 60 and 61 more than usual. I was fighting with the C60 and the 6th place Peugeot 905. I spun out a few times which resulted in my tyres being completely shot after half of lap 62. Still driving without HUD, I didn't even see it coming.
Don't know if you've ever tried driving an LMP with completely worn out rear tyres. It's no fun, I can tell you that now. I'd prefer being out of fuel any day. I seriously consider giving up now but isn't this what I asked for? A challenge?
63 P3 8'51 +3'17
64 P3 8'02 +3'16
65 P3 8'15 +3'15
I won't pretend that I didn't turn on HUD again. Because I did. This comes close to admitting defeat, I know. But I am not ready to aim for 2nd place in a the 24 hours race.
66 P3 8'44 +2'19. Courage C60 in pits
67 P3 8'13 +2'31
68 P3 8'14 +2'34
I pass the Bentley Speed 8 in the pits reclaiming 2nd place.
69 P2 8'49 +3'14
70 P2 7'58 +2'33 First sub 8 minute lap in the dark, C60 pits.
71 P2 8'07 +1'36
10 hours have passed, turning the HUD back on definitely helped me a lot, reducing the 3-minute gap pretty quickly. I also feel a lot more confident and make few excursions off track. I guess I will keep the HUD for now since it's more fun for me driving without crashing. It will still take a few hours to take back P1.
After 10 hours 5 minutes:
1 Courage C60
2. R10 TDI +1'36
3. Bentley Speed 8 +~3'00
4. R390
5. McLaren F1
6. GT One
7. 905
8. Zonda
72 P3 8'50 +2'29
73 P2 8'20 +2'39
74 P2 8'25 +1'58 C60 pitted.
I overtake the Bentley in lap 73 braking into Wehrseifen and ruin an otherwise ok lap with a severe crash around Klostertal. Someone should put some "Do not step on the grass" signs there. It's really dangerous at 300kph.
75 P2 8'38 +1'57
76 P2 7'54.555 +1'51 New fastest lap.
77 P2 8'18 +1'55
78 P2 8'39 +47" (C60 pitted)
79 P2 8'10 +56" Bad crash at Hatzenbach. Many spins. Tyres suffer.
80 P2 8'12 +1'01
81 P2 8'34 +1'29
82 P2 7'53.665 +41" new fastest lap. C60 Pits
83 P1 8'02 -19"
Best outlap, best flying lap, best inlap: Best stint so far by far. I take my reward for 3 good laps: I overtake the C60 in lap 83 while he is in the pit lane. Half of the race is over, I am first place again. Phew!
84 P2 8'32 +12"
85 P1 7'55 -1" Flying past the C60 on Döttinger Höhe with a new top speed of 372 kph. What a blast!
86 P1 8'29 -10" We both get fresh tyres at the end of this lap.
87 P1 8'36 -41"
88 P1 7'57 -44"
89 P1 8'15 -44"
After 12h 35'
1 AUDI R10 TDI
2 Courage C60 +44"
3 Bentley Speed 8 same lap
4 R390
5 McLaren F1
6 GT One
7 905
8 Zonda
Update!
90 P1 8'50 -30 C60 pit stop
91 P1 8'14 -1'30
92 P1 8'10 -1'24
93 P1 8'41 -47"
94 P1 8'01 -1'12
95 P1 8'22 -2'19C60 pit stop
96 P1 8'40 -2'09
97 P1 7'56 -2'20
98 P1 8'30 -2'09
During this stint the sky turned from pitch black to grey. Dawn is nigh! 13 and a half hours in.
99 P1 8'39 -1'31 C60 pit stop
100 P1 7'55 -2'54
101 P1 8'00 -3'03
Rushing down Fuchsröhre in lap 101 I see a red sun rising behind a layer of fog or clouds. I kind of regret missing out on a full fledged sun rise because it's somewhat cloudy. But I appreciate the chance of a change of wheather.
102 P1 8'42 -2'31
103 P1 8'07 -2'39 C 60 pit stop
104 P1 8'15 -4'13
In lap 102 I change to chase cam and look back to view my R10 speeding along the long straight with the sun rising above it. It's a breathtaking view.
Lap 103 is ruined by two bad mistakes on my part which also effect the lap time of lap 104 (because of greater tyre wear). The inlap is still not as bad as some of my previous inlaps.
105 P1 8'58 -3'09
106 P1 8'17 -2'57
107 P1 8'18 -3'02 C 60 pit stop
Just a bad stint. It's still cloudy. But no rain so far.
108 P1 8'32 -4'18 Lights went off, 15 hours 15 minutes in.
109 P1 7'46.993 -4'35 New lap record!
110 P1 7'53 -4'42
111 P1 8:38 -4'10 C 60 pit stop
112 P1 7'46.916 - 5'40 lap record!
113 P1 7'57 -5'51
This is getting too easy. Still no rain. Time for the harder tyre compound!
After 16 hours:
1 AUDI R10 TDI
2 Courage C60 +5'51
3 Bentley Speed 8 1 lap
4 McLaren F1
5 R390
6 GT One
7 905
8 Ford GT
Switch to RM tyres
114 P1 8'49 -6'39 ???
115 P1 8'04 -6'32
116 P1 8'16 -6'28
RM tyres
117 P1 8'47 -5'42 C60 pit
118 P1 8'13 -7'17
119 P1 8'37 -7'00
RS tyres
120 P1 8'33 -5'50
121 P1 8'03 -6'11 0% wet
122 P1 8'08 -6'26 0% wet
It has started to rain in lap 121. I've lost track of the C60's pit stops. I guess he pitted lap 122 same as me.
RS tyres
123 P1 8'50 -6'50 0% wet
124 P1 8'04 -6'55 4% wet
125 P1 7'59 -6'57 14%
Rain still not noticeably reducing grip level. I am looking forward to lapping the C60! It seems inevitable now.
RS tyres
126 P1 8'48 -7'28 27% C60 pit stop.
127 P1 8:08 1 lap 40%
128 P1 8'48 1 lap 55%
Another stint on RS tyres. Just as the C60 accelerates out of the pit lane in lap 126 I cross S/F and pass the C 60 at the first corner. Can't see which tyres he's on, though. Loss of grip is very noticeable by the end of lap 128. Standings with only 6 hours left:
1 AUDI R10 TDI
2 Courage C60 +1 lap
3 Bentley Speed 8
4 McLaren F1
5 GT One
6 R390
7 905
8 Ford GT
I stay on RS tyres for one more stint. Just as the C60 accelerates out of the pit lane in lap 126 I cross S/F and pass the C 60 at the first corner. Can't see which tyres he's on, though. Loss of grip is very noticeable by the end of lap 128.
After that stint I change to intermediate tyres and extend my stints to 4 laps. Track is now 100% wet. This is a welcome variety to the race but the AI is just not competitive in the rain. I mistakenly change to full wets at one point. They are horrible and far worse than intermediates even at a 100% wet track. This once more confirms that there are no conditions in the game (in A-Spec) under which full wets are the best option. I assume the AI is on full wets though. This would explain their slowness.
Lap 158 rain stopped. Leading by 1 lap and 5 minutes.
Lap 161 Bentley Speed 8 unlaps itself on slicks.
Lap 162 I change to Racing soft
Lap 163 new lap record 7'44.180. At this point of the race (after 23 hours) I actually feel quick. This lap could easily have been 7'40 had I not crashed at Pflanzgarten II.
After 24 hours and 167 laps I have won the 24 hours at the Nürburgring. And what is my reward? The Audi R10 TDI Race Car!
Final standings:
1 AUDI R10 TDI
2 Courage C60 +1 lap and 6'10
3 Bentley Speed 8 2 laps
4 McLaren F1
5 GT One
6 R390
7 905
8 Ford GT
Grid:
Corvette C5R
Bentley Speed 8
905
Dunlop R34
Ford GT
McLaren F1
R8 LMS
GT One
R390
Zonda
Courage C60
me: Audi R10 TDI Race Car
No tuning except max aero settings. No aids except ABS 1.
1st stint, race hard tires. Lap 1+2
Bright sunny sky. The first phase of the race is rather turbulent. I get to first place quickly but before I can say: "this will be a peace of cake", I brake too late in Hatzenbach and crash, losing first place to the Bentley Speed 8. I quickly realize that I can not keep up with his pace and the 3rd placed Courage C60 flys past me as well at Flugplatz. I spin out at Schwedenkreuz and am 9th. I struggle with throttle control. My driving is really sluggish. By the end of lap two my tires have already passed their prime and I decide to change to racing soft tires just to see where that will bring me. My inlap is 8:58.
2nd stint, race soft tires. Laps 3-5.
After the pit stop and realizing that the Audi's Diesel engine consumes a little less than 15 litres per lap I am in 12th position trailing by 2 minutes. My outlap on racing softs is again ridden by mistakes. I barely manage to keep the distance of 2 minutes with 8'33. Lap four is my best so far, but again far from a decent lap with 8'21. I reduce the Speed 8's lead by 5 seconds and manage to overtake the Zonda, Ford GT, GT-ONE and Corvette C5R. The leading Speed 8 apparently begins to struggle on worn tires as his lead shrinks during lap five. I am only 1:20 behind at the end of lap five, but I have again destroyed my tires after only 3 laps! I head back to the pits and suspend the race.
3rd stint, race soft tires. Lap 6-8
The other cars are pitting too, I can overtake all except the Courage C60 and the Bentley Speed 8, which is still first after we both pitted. I am trailing by 50 seconds. I am still not really comfortable with the car and make mistakes, crashing into the walls at least once a lap. I sometimes have to keep myself from rage quitting. Before I can really bite off some time from the Bentley's lead I have to get fresh tires in lap 9 and meet the Courage C60 in the pits.
On a side note, I notice smoke, most certainly from people barbecuing at different points around the track in the camping areas in Hatzenbach, Steilstrecke and others.
4th stint, race soft. Lap 9-11
I leave the pits before the C60. I finally get to grips with the car and gradually improve my lap times. Nevertheless, the Speed 8 is still more than 1 minute ahead in lap 11 when something strange happens: After Schwedenkreuz the distance between me and the Bentley shrinks by several seconds at every split time. At Pflanzgarten I see him crawling at low speed, obviously out of fuel! The Speed 8 loses lots of time in this lap and even loses 2nd place to the courage C60 before he reaches the pits.
5th stint, race soft. Lap 12-14.
The Courage has taken the lead again, being on longer stints (5 or 6 laps?). On fresh tires I pass the Courage in lap 13.
6th stint, race soft. Lap 15-17.
The Courage, Speed 8 and I all pit in lap 14. By now I consider doing 4 lap stints, because as the race progresses I grow accustomed to the R10's wheelspin and can control the car better accelerating out of corners. I retake the lead in lap 15 after battling with the C60 around Adenauer Forst and manage to gain a lead of 20 seconds before pitting again at the end of lap 17. I notice that the shadows of the trees become longer, creating spectacular patterns of light and shadow on some parts of the track, especially between Bergwerk and Kesselchen.
7th stint, race soft. Lap 18-20.
The race is progressing in my favor, I beat the 8 minute mark for the first time with a 7'55 lap. I have a comfortable lead in lap 19, when I realize ... clouds! For the first 3 hours of the race the sky had been blue. Now, I am actually looking forward to driving the R10 in the rain in cockpit view. And I am shaking a little at the thought of driving in the rain at night!
8th stint, race soft. Lap 21-23
What has really helped me having a challenging race so far, is my disastrous driving. But I'm still hoping that I will grow into the race and the car enough to change to racing medium tyres over the course of the race.
Anyway, when I resume the race the clouds seem to have disappeared 👎
Coming out of the pits my lead is 39" as the speed 8 and the Courage pit as well. I do a 8'55 outlap after which my lead is only 32" on the C60. I do a 7'57 in lap 22, which gains me a lead of 35".
Lap 23 I turn of the HUD. And I can almost hear Yavin base in my headphones: "Luke what's wrong, you turned off your targeting computer."
"Don't worry. I got this!"
Standings after 23 laps and 3h 15' before the pit stop:
1. Audi R10 TDI
2. Courage C60 20"
3. Bentley Speed 8 1'10"
4. GT One
5. 905
6. McLaren F1
7. R390
8. Zonda
9th stint, racing soft. Lap 24-26
I take in 15 litres more this time and I want to see if I can do 4 lap stints (but then I don't). I get passed by the C60 in the pits. The C60 is really slow in lap 24, I have no problems overtaking him again. In lap 25 the Bentley Speed 8 takes 2nd place. I now have a lead of more than 1 minute. Halfway through lap 25 the C60 gains 2nd place again. The Bentley might, once again, be out of fuel?
I mess up lap 26 and lose 20 seconds of my lead.
10th stint, racing soft. Lap 27-29
Driving without HUD costs about 35" during this stint compared to my previous stints. Instead of taking the red flashing indicator as reference for braking, I now have to memorize braking points by features of the track which takes a while. I guess I will adapt to the new conditions soon enough and keep the HUD turned off.
At Döttinger Höhe in lap 29 the C60 is right behind me. We dash past the long straight and the C60 screams on as I dive into the pits.
11th stint, racing soft, lap 30-32
30 P2 8'?? +44" (C60 pits)
31 P1 8'08 -23"
32 P1 8'19 -15"
12th stint, racing soft, lap 33-35
33 P2 8'47 +25")
34 P1 8'02 -10"
(overtook C60 at Schwalbenschanz, C60 pits)
35 P1 8'15 -1'15")
Almost 5 hours have passed, the sun is close to the horizon. At Schwalbenschwanz in lap 35, the R10's headlights went on.
13th stint lap 36-38
36 P1 8'57 -18"
37 P1 8'08 -23"
38 P1 8'30 -30" (C60 on worn tires, we both pit this lap)
At this point of the race, chosing the open top R10 pays off. The sunset looks stunning. I also notice some clouds. Maybe there will be a few drops of rain after all?
14th stint
39 P1 8'59 -33"
40 P1 8'03 -31"
41 P1 8'18 -24"
15th stint
42 P1 8'58 -5". Got overtaken in the pits, got P1 again on Döttinger Höhe, C60 to the pits
43 P1 8'06 -1'01.
44 P1 8'42 -28". An exceptionally bad inlap. It is now almost completely dark and without HUD, this proves to be hard.
After 6 hours 12 minutes:
1 R10 TDI
2. Courage C60 28"
3. Bentley Speed 8
4. McLaren F1
5. 905
6. R390
7. GT One
8. Ford GT
45 P2 8'55 +20"
46 P1 8'12 -8". I overtake before Schwalbenschwanz. C60 pits.
47 P1 8'32 -40"
48 P2 9'00 +21"
49 P2 8'16 +29"
50 P2 8'24 +16" We're both in the pits.
51 P1 8'45 -5"
52 P1 8'10 -0.770"
53 P2 8'32 +16"
When I clear the GP part in lap 52 I am only 3" ahead, but I can see the Corvette's taillights in front of me. At Hatzenbach I pass the Corvette hoping it will obstruct the C60. The gap grows to 6 seconds again. In the pitch black night I don't dare to go full throttle from Bergwerk through Kesselchen. I lift the throttle a few times, brake too much at Mutkurve and my lead tickles away. I am only 3 seconds in the lead when I reach the Carousel. For the rest of the lap the C60 lurks behind me, waiting for an opportunity to get by. At the end of lap 52, 7 hours and 20 minutes into the race, I lead by less than one second as I cross S/F. I have a halfway decent 3rd lap and manage to keep the only remaining contender for victory behind me until I hit the wall after Mutkurve and the C60 breezes by demoting me to 2nd place. Trying to keep up I push too hard on degenerating tyres and spin between the Carousel and hohe Acht. I crawl back to the pits losing 16".
54 P1 8'53 -1'17" C60 in pit
55 P1 8'14 -2'38
56 P1 8'40 -2'00
The C60 was ridiculously slow in lap 54. When I came out of the pits the gap to 1st was +1'00. After half the lap I passed the C60 and gained well over one minute on top. His inlap must've been over 11 minutes. Otherwise a disastrous stint for me.
57 P1 8'56 -1'00 So so outlap.
58 P1 8'06 -1'09 Ok lap. C60 obviously didn't pit.
59 P1 9'08 -1'20 Worst. Lap. Ever. I suspended the race after this lap. The night is killing me! Somehow the C60's lap was even worse (He stayed out for a fifth lap).
60 P1 8'59 -14"
61 P1 8'32 -1"
62 P3 12'12 +3'08 C60 pits
I'll have to explain this one. I messed up laps 60 and 61 more than usual. I was fighting with the C60 and the 6th place Peugeot 905. I spun out a few times which resulted in my tyres being completely shot after half of lap 62. Still driving without HUD, I didn't even see it coming.
Don't know if you've ever tried driving an LMP with completely worn out rear tyres. It's no fun, I can tell you that now. I'd prefer being out of fuel any day. I seriously consider giving up now but isn't this what I asked for? A challenge?
63 P3 8'51 +3'17
64 P3 8'02 +3'16
65 P3 8'15 +3'15
I won't pretend that I didn't turn on HUD again. Because I did. This comes close to admitting defeat, I know. But I am not ready to aim for 2nd place in a the 24 hours race.
66 P3 8'44 +2'19. Courage C60 in pits
67 P3 8'13 +2'31
68 P3 8'14 +2'34
I pass the Bentley Speed 8 in the pits reclaiming 2nd place.
69 P2 8'49 +3'14
70 P2 7'58 +2'33 First sub 8 minute lap in the dark, C60 pits.
71 P2 8'07 +1'36
10 hours have passed, turning the HUD back on definitely helped me a lot, reducing the 3-minute gap pretty quickly. I also feel a lot more confident and make few excursions off track. I guess I will keep the HUD for now since it's more fun for me driving without crashing. It will still take a few hours to take back P1.
After 10 hours 5 minutes:
1 Courage C60
2. R10 TDI +1'36
3. Bentley Speed 8 +~3'00
4. R390
5. McLaren F1
6. GT One
7. 905
8. Zonda
72 P3 8'50 +2'29
73 P2 8'20 +2'39
74 P2 8'25 +1'58 C60 pitted.
I overtake the Bentley in lap 73 braking into Wehrseifen and ruin an otherwise ok lap with a severe crash around Klostertal. Someone should put some "Do not step on the grass" signs there. It's really dangerous at 300kph.
75 P2 8'38 +1'57
76 P2 7'54.555 +1'51 New fastest lap.
77 P2 8'18 +1'55
78 P2 8'39 +47" (C60 pitted)
79 P2 8'10 +56" Bad crash at Hatzenbach. Many spins. Tyres suffer.
80 P2 8'12 +1'01
81 P2 8'34 +1'29
82 P2 7'53.665 +41" new fastest lap. C60 Pits
83 P1 8'02 -19"
Best outlap, best flying lap, best inlap: Best stint so far by far. I take my reward for 3 good laps: I overtake the C60 in lap 83 while he is in the pit lane. Half of the race is over, I am first place again. Phew!
84 P2 8'32 +12"
85 P1 7'55 -1" Flying past the C60 on Döttinger Höhe with a new top speed of 372 kph. What a blast!
86 P1 8'29 -10" We both get fresh tyres at the end of this lap.
87 P1 8'36 -41"
88 P1 7'57 -44"
89 P1 8'15 -44"
After 12h 35'
1 AUDI R10 TDI
2 Courage C60 +44"
3 Bentley Speed 8 same lap
4 R390
5 McLaren F1
6 GT One
7 905
8 Zonda
Update!
90 P1 8'50 -30 C60 pit stop
91 P1 8'14 -1'30
92 P1 8'10 -1'24
93 P1 8'41 -47"
94 P1 8'01 -1'12
95 P1 8'22 -2'19C60 pit stop
96 P1 8'40 -2'09
97 P1 7'56 -2'20
98 P1 8'30 -2'09
During this stint the sky turned from pitch black to grey. Dawn is nigh! 13 and a half hours in.
99 P1 8'39 -1'31 C60 pit stop
100 P1 7'55 -2'54
101 P1 8'00 -3'03
Rushing down Fuchsröhre in lap 101 I see a red sun rising behind a layer of fog or clouds. I kind of regret missing out on a full fledged sun rise because it's somewhat cloudy. But I appreciate the chance of a change of wheather.
102 P1 8'42 -2'31
103 P1 8'07 -2'39 C 60 pit stop
104 P1 8'15 -4'13
In lap 102 I change to chase cam and look back to view my R10 speeding along the long straight with the sun rising above it. It's a breathtaking view.
Lap 103 is ruined by two bad mistakes on my part which also effect the lap time of lap 104 (because of greater tyre wear). The inlap is still not as bad as some of my previous inlaps.
105 P1 8'58 -3'09
106 P1 8'17 -2'57
107 P1 8'18 -3'02 C 60 pit stop
Just a bad stint. It's still cloudy. But no rain so far.
108 P1 8'32 -4'18 Lights went off, 15 hours 15 minutes in.
109 P1 7'46.993 -4'35 New lap record!
110 P1 7'53 -4'42
111 P1 8:38 -4'10 C 60 pit stop
112 P1 7'46.916 - 5'40 lap record!
113 P1 7'57 -5'51
This is getting too easy. Still no rain. Time for the harder tyre compound!
After 16 hours:
1 AUDI R10 TDI
2 Courage C60 +5'51
3 Bentley Speed 8 1 lap
4 McLaren F1
5 R390
6 GT One
7 905
8 Ford GT
Switch to RM tyres
114 P1 8'49 -6'39 ???
115 P1 8'04 -6'32
116 P1 8'16 -6'28
RM tyres
117 P1 8'47 -5'42 C60 pit
118 P1 8'13 -7'17
119 P1 8'37 -7'00
RS tyres
120 P1 8'33 -5'50
121 P1 8'03 -6'11 0% wet
122 P1 8'08 -6'26 0% wet
It has started to rain in lap 121. I've lost track of the C60's pit stops. I guess he pitted lap 122 same as me.
RS tyres
123 P1 8'50 -6'50 0% wet
124 P1 8'04 -6'55 4% wet
125 P1 7'59 -6'57 14%
Rain still not noticeably reducing grip level. I am looking forward to lapping the C60! It seems inevitable now.
RS tyres
126 P1 8'48 -7'28 27% C60 pit stop.
127 P1 8:08 1 lap 40%
128 P1 8'48 1 lap 55%
Another stint on RS tyres. Just as the C60 accelerates out of the pit lane in lap 126 I cross S/F and pass the C 60 at the first corner. Can't see which tyres he's on, though. Loss of grip is very noticeable by the end of lap 128. Standings with only 6 hours left:
1 AUDI R10 TDI
2 Courage C60 +1 lap
3 Bentley Speed 8
4 McLaren F1
5 GT One
6 R390
7 905
8 Ford GT
I stay on RS tyres for one more stint. Just as the C60 accelerates out of the pit lane in lap 126 I cross S/F and pass the C 60 at the first corner. Can't see which tyres he's on, though. Loss of grip is very noticeable by the end of lap 128.
After that stint I change to intermediate tyres and extend my stints to 4 laps. Track is now 100% wet. This is a welcome variety to the race but the AI is just not competitive in the rain. I mistakenly change to full wets at one point. They are horrible and far worse than intermediates even at a 100% wet track. This once more confirms that there are no conditions in the game (in A-Spec) under which full wets are the best option. I assume the AI is on full wets though. This would explain their slowness.
Lap 158 rain stopped. Leading by 1 lap and 5 minutes.
Lap 161 Bentley Speed 8 unlaps itself on slicks.
Lap 162 I change to Racing soft
Lap 163 new lap record 7'44.180. At this point of the race (after 23 hours) I actually feel quick. This lap could easily have been 7'40 had I not crashed at Pflanzgarten II.
After 24 hours and 167 laps I have won the 24 hours at the Nürburgring. And what is my reward? The Audi R10 TDI Race Car!
Final standings:
1 AUDI R10 TDI
2 Courage C60 +1 lap and 6'10
3 Bentley Speed 8 2 laps
4 McLaren F1
5 GT One
6 R390
7 905
8 Ford GT
Last edited:
Thanks for sharing. Couple of questions:
that should give you some excitement! 
