Circuit de la Sarthe 1 24 hours

[flyingkiwi]

The Lineup:　107pts
Nissan R92CP Race Car 1001hp, 900kg
Nissan R89C Race Car 968hp, 900kg
Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car 987hp, 893kg
Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TSO20) 815hp, 900kg
Mazda 787B Race Car 843hp, 830kg
Gillet Veritgo Race Car 960hp, 780kg, R1 tyres, Stage 3 turbo

Hour 1 - Leader 17 laps completed
I pass the 787B and the GT-ONE on the Mulsane Straight before the first chicane. Catch up to the leading three cars by Indianapolis but lose time through the Porsche Curves due to my relative lack of downforce. The 787B repasses me and by the end of the 1st lap I am 5th, 3.6s down on the R92, Sauber, R89 and 787B.

Pass the 787B again coming onto the Mulsane straight and use my very good straight-line speed to catch up to the R89 but I outbrake myself massively into the first chicane and have to go up the escape road! Spin it around and rejoin last but I pass the GT-ONE before the next chicane. End lap 2 still in 5th but this time 9.3s down on the Sauber.

Do a 3:31.471 on lap 3, my first real incident-free lap, but the Sauber is now 10.0s ahead.

Close up to the R89 on lap 4 but the run down to Indianapolis is very narrow and almost impossible for overtaking. Nevertheless, I move to the outside, and duly lose control. I don't spin but I lose a lot of time with correct and overcorrecting as I go from one side of the track to the other I end the lap 19.1s down on the Sauber.

Lap 5 is mistake free and is the fastest lap of the race so far: 3:28.155. The gap is down to 17.2s.

I battle with the R89 for half a lap before finally prevailing. The Sauber pits on lap 7, followed by the R92. The 787B stays out and I am now in 2nd, some 6s down.

I stay out for another lap, but then notice that my fuel gauge is almost empty!!

Miraculously, the car runs out of fuel with a 100 metres to go before the pit entry. Safe!

The R89 and GT-ONE follow me into the pits.

After taking on a full load of fuel, I rejoin in 4th, 48s down on the 787B.

The 787B pits at the end of lap 9 and rejoins in 2nd, having jumped the R92.

I get pass the R92 for 3rd but get on the grass near the end of the Porsche Curves and give the position back.

I have a good battle with the R90 and we both catch up with the 787B. But I spin it at Indianapolis just as I have caught up to the 787B. I lose about 5 seconds. I lose another 5 seconds going off on the first turn of the Porsche Curves. The 787B meanwhile has inherited the lead from the Sauber, who has made his 2nd stop. I am 11s back in 3rd.

I planned to pit at the end of lap 15, but I missed the pit entry! I used the slipstream of the Sauber to good effect for the next lap and came into the pits on lap 16 without running out of fuel.

The R92 passes me for 3rd as I make a slight mistake on my outlap so I end the hour in 4th, 48s behind the Sauber. The 787B is doing really well in 2nd, and the R92 is just in front of me in 3rd. The R89 is some 15s behind me and the GT-ONE is almost half a lap down on the leader.

Hour 2 - Leader 34 laps completed

Have a good battle with the R92 until he pits on lap 21. The Sauber pits on the same lap but this time keeps the lead. The 787B and I close up on him in the next couple of laps. I do my best lap so far on lap 23: 3:27.615. The car's handling seems to get better as the fuel load goes down.

I decide to risk an 8-lap stint again and by the end of the Mulsane Straight I am right behind the two leaders. The 787B gets the lead for a few corners before the Sauber resumes command. My tyres have given up the ghost and I head into the pits at the end of the 24th lap, once again just managing it on fuel.

The bad news is that I am now 45s down on the Sauber with a lot of work to do. The good news is that I emerge well clear of the R92, which means I have a clear track on which to concentrate on consistent, smooth laps.

The 787B pits on lap 25 and I pass him on lap 27. I lose time to the Sauber, however, and by the time he emerges from his stop on lap 28, I am still 18s down.

I close the gap to 3s but decide to pit a lap earlier as I didn't want all my good work to go to waste from running out of fuel.

Change to R2 tyres in a bid to get 7 laps out of them. Resume in 3rd.

The R2 tyres work a treat and I do a 3:22.584 on lap 34 to finish the hour only 29.7s down on the Sauber.

The GT-ONE is a lap down.

Hour 3 - Leader 50 laps completed

The good news is that I gain the lead for the first time in the race.

The very bad news is that I lose a huge amount of time. On the first lap of the hour I have two spins which means that I have to pass the Sauber for the lead on the track instead of zooming by him when he pits. Next, I find out that R2 tyres are only good for 6 laps. On my 7th lap, the rears go off so badly that I basically have to limp at 50km/h through the Porsche Curves. The 787B passes me for 2nd and after an in-lap of 4:41, I rejoin 1:34s down on the Sauber.

On fresh tyres I pass the 787B on his out lap. By lap 44, I am less than 40s behind the Sauber.

Until disaster strikes.

It was my own fault. I didn't fill up the tank all the way at the last pitstop and also didn't notice the fuel gauge until it was too late. It coughed on Mulsane Straight and that was it. 80km/h for the rest of the lap, which turned out to be nearly 8 minutes long. By the time I exited the pits, I was a lap-and-a-half down in 5th.

I rejoin just in front of the 3rd-placed R92. So I have a long way to go.

I immediately set a new race fastest lap: 3.22.385 and the chase is on...

Hour 4 - Leader 66 laps completed

Unlap myself from the 2nd-placed 787B on lap 54. Meanwhile, about 1 minute up the road, the Sauber laps the R89 and puts the GT-ONE 2 laps down when those two cars pit together.

Pass the R89 for 4th at the beginning of lap 60. He repasses me as I pit but I get him back on lap 64.

The next lap I uplap myself from the Sauber. Mark that one down.

I'm now lapping up to 9 or 10 seconds faster than the Sauber, who has slowed down to 3:32s. I end the hour with another 3:22 lap, 3:16s behind the Sauber.

Hour 5 - Leader 83 laps completed

Pass the R92 for 3rd on lap 76. Everyone else seems to be lapping very slowly. Had a big spin coming up to the Dunlop Bridge on lap 80, and ran off the road at the end of the Mulsane Straight on lap 83. Nevertheless, I have made time and I end the hour 2:36s down.

Hour 6 - Leader 100 laps completed

The first news of this hour is that the Sauber laps the R92 for the first time. The Nissans have been disappointing in this race. Meanwhile, I lap the R89, after passing him for 4th only 26 laps previously. I pass the 787B for 2nd when he pits on lap 89.

Here is a demonstration of the speed difference between the Sauber and myself at this point in the race:
Lap 88: Sauber 3:28.9 Gillet 3:24.7 +2:03.6
Lap 89: Sauber 3:29.6 Gillet 3:23.7 +1:57.7
Lap 90: Sauber 3:29.9 Gillet 3:26.0 +1:53.8

The 787B repasses me when I have an off at the start of the Porsche curves on lap 93 but I pass him again at the final chicane.

The hour is blighted somewhat by a huge spin on the narrow run down to Indianapolis on lap 98. I must have spun over 1000 degrees!

Standings after 6 hours
1. Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car 100 laps
2. Gillet Veritgo Race Car + 1:08s
3. Mazda 787B Race Car + 1:50s approx.
4. Nissan R92CP Race Car +1 lap
5. Nissan R89C Race Car +1 lap
6. Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TSO20) +3 laps

 

[DK]

Good luck flyingkiwi with trying to keep that thing on the road.

 

[flyingkiwi]

It hasn't been so bad so far. My mistakes could have been easily avoided.

Looks like it will be a good contest!

 

[SHAUN09]

Good luck. The gillet is the worst for handling but good for speed. Are you going to do the Sarthe II race with this car?

 

[flyingkiwi]

Has anyone ever won this race from a lap down before?

 

[DK]

Well, I heard one guy almost won it after spending an hour at a standstill. Or maybe he did win it, I forget how it happened. As for me, I can't win it without a cheat disc that makes all races 5 laps long.

 

[Austin343]

Plenty of people have won even after falling asleep, but inevitably, they're using cars that are complete overkill for the field. It will be quite an uphill battle for you, but I believe that you'll be able to do it. You have 350 laps left, and you're in the neighborhood of five minutes (300 seconds) down on the leader, meaning that you'll need to beat it by an average of one second per lap. So you'll have to go two seconds per lap faster than you did in the first two hours, in which you evidently were a second slower per lap than the Sauber, considering that you were thirty seconds behind after 34 laps. It all comes down to whether you think that you can beat your pace from early in the race by such a large amount.

 

[SHAUN09]

Plenty of people have won even after falling asleep, but inevitably, they're using cars that are complete overkill for the field. It will be quite an uphill battle for you, but I believe that you'll be able to do it. You have 350 laps left, and you're in the neighborhood of five minutes (300 seconds) down on the leader, meaning that you'll need to beat it by an average of one second per lap. So you'll have to go two seconds per lap faster than you did in the first two hours, in which you evidently were a second slower per lap than the Sauber, considering that you were thirty seconds behind after 34 laps. It all comes down to whether you think that you can beat your pace from early in the race by such a large amount.

Good point.

 

[flyingkiwi]

I believe I can. Made some stupid mistakes in that first hour.

Going to stick with R2 tyres for the rest of the race. Worked out that more pitstops with R2s is slightly faster over a long distance than less stops with R1s.

 

[SHAUN09]

I believe I can. Made some stupid mistakes in that first hour.

Going to stick with R2 tyres for the rest of the race. Worked out that more pitstops with R2s is slightly faster over a long distance than less stops with R1s.

Good plan

 

[PF]

Nice work kiwi. Looks like the pit strategy is working, you seem to have gained 40s in the last hour. That's more than enough to win it.

Choice, bro.

 

[SHAUN09]

this is getting intense.

 

[flyingkiwi]

I believe I will do it easy in the end.

Which actually disappoints me because one thing I hate in endurance races is winning easy, because it bores me to tears.

Anyway, one question: does the speed of the A1 cars actually slow down as the race wears on? The Sauber seems to be lapping very slowly. He can do 3:27s but he is doing 3:32s at times in the last hour.

 

[SHAUN09]

I believe I will do it easy in the end.

Which actually disappoints me because one thing I hate in endurance races is winning easy, because it bores me to tears.

Anyway, one question: does the speed of the A1 cars actually slow down as the race wears on? The Sauber seems to be lapping very slowly. He can do 3:27s but he is doing 3:32s at times in the last hour.

Yes they do.

 

[flyingkiwi]

Much hilarity last night as I was using the microwave and the a/c at the same time and the power cut.

Well, I was going to win that one at a canter in all likelihood anyway.

Time for a greater challenge. I reckon a car that can do no faster than 3:27s on R2 tyres would be worth a look.

Any suggestions on what I can use for my next car?

I'm leaning towards the Audi Touring Car.

 

[mynameissport]

Same lineup but could use the Toyota GT-One Black version, no oil and no chassis refresh and use R1 tyres at the start then change to R2/R1 if you wish. If you reduce the downforce to 50/70, setup your car, put a little TCS you will still get 200 A-Spec points with that lineup. So give it a shot.

 

[SHAUN09]

Not sure about using the Audi Touring Car. Unless you can get an easier line up and still get 200 points for it.

 

[-raVer-]

Not sure about using the Audi Touring Car. Unless you can get an easier line up and still get 200 points for it.

Which one of the Audis?

Or try a worn out Courage Pesky


Respectfully

raVer

 

[SHAUN09]

Which one of the Audis?

Or try a worn out Courage Pesky


Respectfully
raVer

The Audi tt touring car.

 

[Seismica]

M3 GTR race car with a turbo maybe?

 

[Matti_Dude]

Ohhhh i was enjoying reading that, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do on your next race.

 

[SHAUN09]

M3 GTR race car with a turbo maybe?

That could work

 

[flyingkiwi]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Looking at a new race start time of Sunday!

 

[Matti_Dude]

Good luck! I would try and do one myself but my PS3 doesn't have backwards compatibility, stupid 40GB

 

[flyingkiwi]

Lineup No.2: 141pts
Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car 987hp, 893kg
Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TSO20) 815hp, 900kg
BMW V12 LMR Race Car 839hp, 900kg
Nissan R92CP Race Car 1001hp, 900kg
Panoz Esperante GTR-1 Race Car 790hp, 1,150kg
Mazda RX-8 Concept LM Race Car 877hp, 1,100kg, Stage 4 Turbo, starting on R1 tyres

Hour 1 -17 laps completed

The Sauber pulls away in front immediately. I pass the Panoz after the Dunlop bridge and by the end of the Mulsane I am on the tail of the GT-ONE. I outbrake myself trying to go around the outside of him and I bounce across the sand before finding that little bit of tarmac at the end of the run-off area. The first lap is thus horrible, a 3:49.528, and I am already 11.3s down.

I pass the GT-ONE after the Dunlop bridge on lap 2, the same place I passed the Panoz. A 3:34.498 puts me 9.8s behind the Sauber.

I pass the BMW up the Mulsane on lap 3 before the first chicane but the Sauber has increased his pace and after my 3:33.917, he is 11.2s up the road. And, shock/horror, my fuel gauge is almost half empty

I do a 3:31.808 on lap 4, but still drop a small amount of time: 11.8s down.

I try my best (fastest lap of 3:31.756) but I am 16.7s down as we all put into the pits on lap 7, except for the BMW, who continues on into the lead. My fuel mileage in the end lasted the 7 laps, which could end up being crucial. I immediately change to R2 tyres. There is no time for mucking around and playing myself in. I need to close up to the leaders and hopefully take the lead as soon as possible.

The BMW pits from the lead at the end of lap 8, leaving me about 12s behind the Sauber.

I do my first sub 3:30s time on lap 11 (3:29.120), and the gap is now 6.2s to the Sauber, with the R90C sandwiched right between us.

The gap hovers around five to six seconds as the three of us have a great battle, lapping the Panoz in the process.

Alas, I am the first to blink: the front tyres are turning a ghastly shade of red and I am forced to pit on lap 13, one lap earlier than the Sauber and R90. On the bright side, I can afford to put in slightly less fuel.

I rejoin 3rd. The BMW is by now out of contention for the lead.

Alas! When pitting in I cut across the chicane before the pitlane due to my worn front tyres. I am ordered to do a stop-go in front of the start-finish line. I execute it at the beginning of lap 15 and I am now 12s down on the Sauber.

But I push on and by the end of lap 15 I am right on the tail of the R90. I slipstream him down the Mulsane and pass him just before the first chicane. Now for the Sauber. I stalk him through the Porsche Curves, where all of a sudden my car has very good grip and feels top notch, and I gain the lead at the last chicane.

I push on in the last lap of the hour (a 3:30s lap) and finish the first stanza 3.5s in the lead

 

[DK]

Nice to see you trying again, flyingkiwi. 👍

 

[SHAUN09]

Good luck. I hope it doesn't switch off at the last minute

 

[flyingkiwi]

Can someone tell me if the Bentley would have been faster than the BMW?

 

[SHAUN09]

Can someone tell me if the Bentley would have been faster than the BMW?

If you are talking about the Bmw V12 LMR then its hard to say because the top speeds are the same. If its any other bmw then yes it would be faster.

 

[Austin343]

No, the Bentley is much slower than the BMW (by almost three laps), according to the ranking done by Digital-Nitrate, which can be found in the forum's sticky threads.