- 1,202
This was getting ridiculous. With only 151bhp, the diminutive 1962 Lotus Elan was still making light work of the El Capitan Montorsport Elise. Just how little power could the old car win with? Could I pedal it around to victory?
With only 151bhp, the Elan had won by 40 seconds, and that was after losing a good 10 seconds in a spin. The twincam engine's power had to be slashed still further to give the Elise a fighting chance of keeping up! Removing the Stage 1 N/A tuning left me with 129bhp, which sounded suitably minimalist.
It seemed crazy that I was considering taking on the mighty El Capitan Elise with only 129bhp, but it must be remembered that despite it's modest power output, my Elan is far from standard. Here's a reminder of the changes:
The engine has been polished and balanced. It had covered 1307 racing miles before the start of the event, and with a racing exhaust and chip, and an oil change, was showing 129bhp. The chassis and running gear has been rather more extensively modified. The car features a racing flywheel, racing clutch, carbon driveshafts, and a fully adjustable 5 speed gearbox because the standard 4 speed box only allows a top speed of 114mph. In addition, a fully adjustable racing suspension is fitted (though the settings are still on default) along with racing brakes, and the car has experienced a stage 3 weight reduction programme which leaves kerb weight at just 581kg. This gives a kg / hp figure of around 4.5, which is not what would be expected of a mere 129bhp. While the car will never excel on the quarter mile strip, it's light weight and extensive mods mean that even on Sports Hard tyres, it's grip, balance and braking performance are unbelievably good.
I lined up for the El Capitan 200 mile endurance race alongside a Lotus Esprit Sport 350, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Corvette ZR1, Callaway C12 and, of course, the Mostorport Elise. 200 a-spec points were offered. The countdown reached zero, and what followed was possibly the most memorable, exciting and truly enjoyable race I have yet had on GT4.
129 unfit ponies finally cured my startline wheelspin, and the nimble Elan flitted through the traffic without complaint, leaving me in 2nd place at the end of lap 1, just ahead of the Esprit. The Elise was in the lead, 4.2 seconds ahead of me. On lap 2 I was catching the Elise while he was on cold tyres. I have noticed in these races that the Elise's pace varies wildly with his tyre life. He's fairly slow for the first 2 or 3 laps on new tyres, then he finds a bit of pace, and then for the last 4 or 5 laps he's stupendously fast - fast enough to keep pace with the Elan when it had 210bhp. Thus it was that by the end of lap 2 I had reduced the gap to 2.7 seconds, and had the Elise constantly in sight. Unfortunately his tyres were warming, and I never got close enough to challenge for the lead. Eventually he started pulling away, and by the end of lap 6 he was 10 seconds ahead, and out of view.
On lap 11, the Elise pitted as usual. He had been 25 seconds ahead at the last timer. I've been driving absolutely flat out trying to keep the gap down, but he's FAST, and he had a big enough gap to exit the pits just in front of me. My lap times have been around the 1:58.5 mark, my tyres are bright green, and the Elise, right in front of me, is on cold tyres. Now is the time to make a move. If I'm in front of him, he can't be lapping faster than me. So we have a very scrappy battle for the lead which lasts nearly the whole lap, but I manage to come out in front and keep the lead down the straight despite having a top speed of 122mph by driving off the racing line towards the kink. The Elise didn't fancy trying to overtake me on the outside, and backed off. Now I need to make the most of his cold tyre spell, and drive as fast as I dare.
WIth so much grip and so little power, much of the lap is full throttle, and speed comes from smooth lines which don't scrub too much speed. But I am taking risks, the biggest ones being on that horribly bumpy section immediately after the tunnel. I'm manhandling the little car around these bumps on full throttle and it is clearly unsettled, but it's paying dividends. By the first timer on lap 16 I have a 4 second lead on the Elise, but then, flat out through the tunnel, I hit a bump at just the wrong angle and bounce towards the cliff face on the right hand side, I steer left to avoid the cliff, then right again to negotiate the right hander at the top of the hill, but these inputs are coarse at a time when delicate driving is a neccesity, and the Elan stumbles over another bump and into a spin. I flick to full opposite lock but it's too late to recover from the spin, and the Elan aims itself at the armco on the inside of the corner. Some heavy braking avoids contact with the barrier, but by the time I'm facing the right way again the Elise has flashed past, and is six seconds ahead by the end of the lap. Then, on lap 18 I catch up with the Aston Martin, and realise another area that my low power is a disadvantage. Despite being faster around a lap, I struggle to lap the Aston, and lose another 2 seconds to the Elise. This is going to be a tough race.
The Elise pits on lap 22, carrying a 35 second lead. I stay out 'till the end of lap 23 to try make the most of the tyres, and was 3 seconds behind the Elise when I came in to pit. No fuel is needed. I accelerate out of the pit lane and join the track again, and then I find my self violently thrown into the barriers on the bridge. I had wandered into the path of the flying Esprit - I had not realised how close he was, and now found myself in 3rd place! I drag the car out of the barriers, then put my head down and give chase. It's been a scrappy race. At the end of the lap I am 32 seconds behind the Elise, and despite putting in clean laps I fail to close on the Esprit, only regaining second place when he pits on lap 29.
On lap 33 the Elise has stretched the gap to 45 seconds. I reckon he has 3 stops to make and I only have one. A pitstop costs a little over 20 seconds. This is going to be a close race, but I still feel have a chance. The Elise pits at the end of lap 33, and the gap drops to 14.5 seconds. By lap 39 I have chipped another 5 seconds off of the Elise's lead when he wakes up and puts his foot down.
The gap goes up to 25 seconds on lap 44 and the Elise pits. I pass him before he exits, and carry the lead for a single lap. At the last timer on lap 45 I am 4.5 seconds ahead when I pull in for my second and last pitstop. The Elan does not need to take fuel, and I am free to sprint the last 21 laps on a light tank, while the Elise still has one more stop to go. The win now hangs in the balance. I am 22 seconds behind, but in second place, as the Esprit seems to have fallen out of the picture. When the Elise exits from his last stop, I need to be ahead, and by a good margin too, because if I don't, I'm going to be on worn tyres on the last lap, while the Elise is going to be in his fast phase. To make matters worse, the start / finish straight is on the one section of track where I cannot hope to keep the much faster Lotus behind me. So I need to get a move on.
I had a mountain to climb, and if I was going to lose, I was going to go down fighting to the chequered flag. The Elise, though, was just too fast. He had a 37 second gap when he pulled in for his final stop on lap 55, and came out 11 seconds ahead. Now, for the first time, I felt that the race win was beyond my reach, so I did the reasonable thing, planted the throttle in the floorboards and went for hell or glory. Maybe if I am lucky the Elise will get caught up behind a tail marker or spin or something, or perhaps even pit on lap 66 as his schedule suggested he should, and I wanted to be there to take advantage. It's a satisfying feeling when you get into the groove. Your vision narrows and focuses on the road far ahead, time slows down and while you are negotiating one corner your brain is already plotting your route around the next one. Senses are enhanced, your movements become light and economical, and lap after lap pases with almost identical pace.
Backmarkers did indeed slow the Elise down, and I managed to get to within 2.5 seconds of him, but it was not to be. On lap 62 he found his pace again, and I crossed the finish line at the end of lap 66 in second place, 22 seconds down.
It was an exhilirating race. I'd given it my all, and had lost, but to the Elan's credit it had made a race of things with only 129bhp, and had been in with a shout. Certainly I had made up some of the gap I had lost in the first half of the race, and without the 10 seconds I lost in my all-my-own-work spin, and the time I lost by drifting into the Esprit's path, and with some better luck passing the backmarkers (it was possible to be stuck behind them for a couple of laps at a time, since the Elan just didn't have the power to overtake and then stay ahead down the next straight), the top spot on the podium just might be attainable. Obviously, I would have to try again!
Final positions:
1 Lotus Motorsport Elise, 2 hours 11 mins 0 seconds
2 Lotus Elan S1, 2 hours 11 mins 22 seconds
3 Lotus Esprit Sport 350
4 Callaway C12
5 Corvette ZR1
6 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Fastest lap in Elan: 1:56.629
With only 151bhp, the Elan had won by 40 seconds, and that was after losing a good 10 seconds in a spin. The twincam engine's power had to be slashed still further to give the Elise a fighting chance of keeping up! Removing the Stage 1 N/A tuning left me with 129bhp, which sounded suitably minimalist.
It seemed crazy that I was considering taking on the mighty El Capitan Elise with only 129bhp, but it must be remembered that despite it's modest power output, my Elan is far from standard. Here's a reminder of the changes:
The engine has been polished and balanced. It had covered 1307 racing miles before the start of the event, and with a racing exhaust and chip, and an oil change, was showing 129bhp. The chassis and running gear has been rather more extensively modified. The car features a racing flywheel, racing clutch, carbon driveshafts, and a fully adjustable 5 speed gearbox because the standard 4 speed box only allows a top speed of 114mph. In addition, a fully adjustable racing suspension is fitted (though the settings are still on default) along with racing brakes, and the car has experienced a stage 3 weight reduction programme which leaves kerb weight at just 581kg. This gives a kg / hp figure of around 4.5, which is not what would be expected of a mere 129bhp. While the car will never excel on the quarter mile strip, it's light weight and extensive mods mean that even on Sports Hard tyres, it's grip, balance and braking performance are unbelievably good.
I lined up for the El Capitan 200 mile endurance race alongside a Lotus Esprit Sport 350, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Corvette ZR1, Callaway C12 and, of course, the Mostorport Elise. 200 a-spec points were offered. The countdown reached zero, and what followed was possibly the most memorable, exciting and truly enjoyable race I have yet had on GT4.
129 unfit ponies finally cured my startline wheelspin, and the nimble Elan flitted through the traffic without complaint, leaving me in 2nd place at the end of lap 1, just ahead of the Esprit. The Elise was in the lead, 4.2 seconds ahead of me. On lap 2 I was catching the Elise while he was on cold tyres. I have noticed in these races that the Elise's pace varies wildly with his tyre life. He's fairly slow for the first 2 or 3 laps on new tyres, then he finds a bit of pace, and then for the last 4 or 5 laps he's stupendously fast - fast enough to keep pace with the Elan when it had 210bhp. Thus it was that by the end of lap 2 I had reduced the gap to 2.7 seconds, and had the Elise constantly in sight. Unfortunately his tyres were warming, and I never got close enough to challenge for the lead. Eventually he started pulling away, and by the end of lap 6 he was 10 seconds ahead, and out of view.
On lap 11, the Elise pitted as usual. He had been 25 seconds ahead at the last timer. I've been driving absolutely flat out trying to keep the gap down, but he's FAST, and he had a big enough gap to exit the pits just in front of me. My lap times have been around the 1:58.5 mark, my tyres are bright green, and the Elise, right in front of me, is on cold tyres. Now is the time to make a move. If I'm in front of him, he can't be lapping faster than me. So we have a very scrappy battle for the lead which lasts nearly the whole lap, but I manage to come out in front and keep the lead down the straight despite having a top speed of 122mph by driving off the racing line towards the kink. The Elise didn't fancy trying to overtake me on the outside, and backed off. Now I need to make the most of his cold tyre spell, and drive as fast as I dare.
WIth so much grip and so little power, much of the lap is full throttle, and speed comes from smooth lines which don't scrub too much speed. But I am taking risks, the biggest ones being on that horribly bumpy section immediately after the tunnel. I'm manhandling the little car around these bumps on full throttle and it is clearly unsettled, but it's paying dividends. By the first timer on lap 16 I have a 4 second lead on the Elise, but then, flat out through the tunnel, I hit a bump at just the wrong angle and bounce towards the cliff face on the right hand side, I steer left to avoid the cliff, then right again to negotiate the right hander at the top of the hill, but these inputs are coarse at a time when delicate driving is a neccesity, and the Elan stumbles over another bump and into a spin. I flick to full opposite lock but it's too late to recover from the spin, and the Elan aims itself at the armco on the inside of the corner. Some heavy braking avoids contact with the barrier, but by the time I'm facing the right way again the Elise has flashed past, and is six seconds ahead by the end of the lap. Then, on lap 18 I catch up with the Aston Martin, and realise another area that my low power is a disadvantage. Despite being faster around a lap, I struggle to lap the Aston, and lose another 2 seconds to the Elise. This is going to be a tough race.
The Elise pits on lap 22, carrying a 35 second lead. I stay out 'till the end of lap 23 to try make the most of the tyres, and was 3 seconds behind the Elise when I came in to pit. No fuel is needed. I accelerate out of the pit lane and join the track again, and then I find my self violently thrown into the barriers on the bridge. I had wandered into the path of the flying Esprit - I had not realised how close he was, and now found myself in 3rd place! I drag the car out of the barriers, then put my head down and give chase. It's been a scrappy race. At the end of the lap I am 32 seconds behind the Elise, and despite putting in clean laps I fail to close on the Esprit, only regaining second place when he pits on lap 29.
On lap 33 the Elise has stretched the gap to 45 seconds. I reckon he has 3 stops to make and I only have one. A pitstop costs a little over 20 seconds. This is going to be a close race, but I still feel have a chance. The Elise pits at the end of lap 33, and the gap drops to 14.5 seconds. By lap 39 I have chipped another 5 seconds off of the Elise's lead when he wakes up and puts his foot down.
The gap goes up to 25 seconds on lap 44 and the Elise pits. I pass him before he exits, and carry the lead for a single lap. At the last timer on lap 45 I am 4.5 seconds ahead when I pull in for my second and last pitstop. The Elan does not need to take fuel, and I am free to sprint the last 21 laps on a light tank, while the Elise still has one more stop to go. The win now hangs in the balance. I am 22 seconds behind, but in second place, as the Esprit seems to have fallen out of the picture. When the Elise exits from his last stop, I need to be ahead, and by a good margin too, because if I don't, I'm going to be on worn tyres on the last lap, while the Elise is going to be in his fast phase. To make matters worse, the start / finish straight is on the one section of track where I cannot hope to keep the much faster Lotus behind me. So I need to get a move on.
I had a mountain to climb, and if I was going to lose, I was going to go down fighting to the chequered flag. The Elise, though, was just too fast. He had a 37 second gap when he pulled in for his final stop on lap 55, and came out 11 seconds ahead. Now, for the first time, I felt that the race win was beyond my reach, so I did the reasonable thing, planted the throttle in the floorboards and went for hell or glory. Maybe if I am lucky the Elise will get caught up behind a tail marker or spin or something, or perhaps even pit on lap 66 as his schedule suggested he should, and I wanted to be there to take advantage. It's a satisfying feeling when you get into the groove. Your vision narrows and focuses on the road far ahead, time slows down and while you are negotiating one corner your brain is already plotting your route around the next one. Senses are enhanced, your movements become light and economical, and lap after lap pases with almost identical pace.
Backmarkers did indeed slow the Elise down, and I managed to get to within 2.5 seconds of him, but it was not to be. On lap 62 he found his pace again, and I crossed the finish line at the end of lap 66 in second place, 22 seconds down.
It was an exhilirating race. I'd given it my all, and had lost, but to the Elan's credit it had made a race of things with only 129bhp, and had been in with a shout. Certainly I had made up some of the gap I had lost in the first half of the race, and without the 10 seconds I lost in my all-my-own-work spin, and the time I lost by drifting into the Esprit's path, and with some better luck passing the backmarkers (it was possible to be stuck behind them for a couple of laps at a time, since the Elan just didn't have the power to overtake and then stay ahead down the next straight), the top spot on the podium just might be attainable. Obviously, I would have to try again!
Final positions:
1 Lotus Motorsport Elise, 2 hours 11 mins 0 seconds
2 Lotus Elan S1, 2 hours 11 mins 22 seconds
3 Lotus Esprit Sport 350
4 Callaway C12
5 Corvette ZR1
6 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Fastest lap in Elan: 1:56.629
, whereas the lead car (a yellow corvette, the newest one) could manage TWENTY FIVE LAPS! i was spitting rivets: how could he manage that many laps without his tyres just disintegrating? it later dawned upon me that having almost 500 horses and about 99999% of them going straight to the rear wheels wasnt exactly tyre-friendly.
