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- FLK_255
Fuji 1000 km Endurance
Fuji was the first endurance race that I reported on for GT4 when my driving skills weren't so good and I opted to use a modified CLK-GTR with a Stage 3 Turbo. Now wanting to get the full haul of A-spec points and also win the race without any modifications for this event I opted to use the AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car '98 again but this time in completely standard configuration.
After spending a couple of hours practicing along with a few setup alterations I could comfortably hit low 1'18s on Super Hard Race Tyres. This was around the Sauber's (quickest competitor) average lap time according to Digital Nitrate's ranking and data list for this event. Hopefully this should give me a close race. 👍
Again I picked up the strongest line-up and without any need for ballast this gave me 200 A-spec points.
Grid Line Up:
Mazda 787B Race Car '91
Nissan R89C Race Car '89
Nissan R92CP Race Car '92
Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '89
Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car '89
AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car '98 (Me)
Circuit Map:
Race Report
Mazda 787B Race Car '91
Nissan R89C Race Car '89
Nissan R92CP Race Car '92
Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '89
Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car '89
AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car '98 (Me)
Circuit Map:
Race Report
Hour 1
I managed to get off the start line losing little time despite the difficulties of using a DS2 to control wheelspin and made a cautious first lap following the field. Near the end of the lap I made a move on the GT-ONE at turn 7 but a couple of mistakes kept me behind and I wasn't able to pass until we reached the main straight.
Starting lap 2 I needed to get past the Sauber while it was still ahead and on cold tyres but I ran wide at turn 4 (100R) falling back behind the GT-ONE. A further mistake at turn 7 lost me more time.
Now onto lap 3 the leading 787B was 9.8 seconds ahead. On the follow up to turn 7 I repassed the GT-ONE to take back 5th place and despite running wide of the apex at turn 9 I managed to hold the place into the next lap. My tyres were now up to optimum temperature and so was the Sauber's and it passed the R89C on lap 4 to move into 3rd place. On lap 5 the gap to the 787B was down to 8.132 seconds but the Sauber was now steaming ahead as I closed in on the R89C at the end of the lap.
At the start of lap 8 I slipstreamed passed the R89C to take 4th but I then had to dodge to the right to avoid being rammed into the first corner, I soon went back to 5th place after being tagged by the R89C at the apex. I didn't repass the R89C until the end of lap 9.
Unfortunately I had to repass the R89C on the following lap after running wide at turn 4, again I repassed it down the main straight at the end of the lap. Despite the problems of the last few laps the leading 787B was 8.965 seconds ahead of me as I started lap 12.
At the end of lap 12 the R92CP and R89C pitted for their first stop of the race. With my own tyres now going yellow I was glad to not have the R89C behind me for a couple of laps at least. A lap later the Sauber stopped while I was still in good shape for another few laps.
On lap 14 the GT-ONE was next to pit and I'd be following soon as I started lap 15. The 787B 11.8 seconds ahead now would probably be out the longest of all the runners. As I neared the end of lap 15 the 787B pitted earlier than I expect so with my own rear tyres now starting to go a shade of orange I also decided to pit. I rejoined with the dueling Sauber and R92CP not far ahead of me, I'd need to pass them both during this hour to put me in a good position to take the lead before the end of the next hour.
By lap 21 the 787B's lead was down to 7.098 seconds and for now I seemed to be running even pace with the Sauber, R92CP and trailing R89C neither gaining or losing time over them. Looks like I'm going to have to work for this one!
Two laps later I could see the R92CP ahead of me as I braked for turn 1, I thought that it wouldn't be long now before the Sauber was in the lead. Both the Nissans in 3rd and 5th pitted at the end of lap 24, meanwhile I had so far been putting it consistant 1'18.500s allowing me to catch up on the leading pack and taking the lead before the end of the first hour was a possibility.
The Sauber pitted at the end of lap 26 and I was only 6.391 seconds behind the still leading 787B, I also set a new fastest lap of 1'18.251 as I crossed the line. Making a few mistakes the gap fell back to over 8 seconds and there it stayed until I pitted on lap 30 with the 787B and the GT-ONE which was about to go a lap down. I exited the pits to find myself ahead of the both the Sauber and R92CP but on cold tyres this lap was going to be interesting. However I fell back to 3rd at turn 3 as (yes you may have guessed) the Sauber rammed me in the braking zone, then to top it off I ran deep into turn 5 allowing the R92CP past into 3rd.
On lap 33 the Sauber finally took the lead while I was still in 4th and not making much impression on the leaders due to making several mistakes. During the next lap however I closed in on the leaders who were still pretty close to each other. At turn 1 on lap 36 the leaders then caught the GT-ONE giving me a chance to make some places up while they lapped it. At turn 7 I passed both the GT-ONE and the R92CP into the braking zone despite a little bit of contact. Both the R92CP and R89C pitted at the end of the lap with the Sauber up to 10 seconds ahead of me. Things got worse on lap 39 as took too much kerb going into turn 3 and this spun the car out increasing the gap to the Sauber to over 17 seconds. The next lap the same mistake happened allowing the GT-ONE to unlap itself momentarily.
On lap 45 the first hour ended and the 787B was currently 17.343 seconds in the lead with the Sauber some 11 seconds behind me.
Hour 2
Pitting at the end of the lap I fell back down to 4th place. The 787B also pitted putting the Sauber back into the lead with the GT-ONE making another stop itself as I left my pit box. At the end of my outlap the Sauber had a 22 second lead and I wasn't even close to the R92CP or 787B at this stage of the race. The gap was up to 26.630 seconds by lap 50, both the Nissans pitted on the previous lap putting me back up to 3rd place but with still a lot of time to make up. Understeer was becoming a big problem here and I couldn't attack the corners properly while on cold tyres.
On lap 51 the Sauber pitted again and it rejoined just behind me on lap 52, by the end of the lap the 787B was now 14.354 seconds ahead of me. By the end of lap 57 I'd worked the gap down to 10.8 seconds and I set a new record of 1'18.246 as I started lap 58. With the gap down to 9.5 seconds on lap 60 both myself and the 787B made our next stop and the Sauber retook the race lead. As I left my pitbox the R92CP made another stop allowing me to keep 3rd place. As I completed my outlap on the Sauber showed up 20 seconds ahead at T1 and later in the lap the R89C and GT-ONE pitted.
On lap 64 I caught up with the 787B at turn 7 and then overtook it down the main straight to take second and then first place as the Sauber had also pitted ahead of us. At turn 3 I tagged the grass spinning the car and the 787B returned to the lead of the race. It took me several laps to catch back up and as we started lap 68 I retook the lead from the 787B. Out of turn one the GT-ONE was ahead of me and I lapped it for a second time on the run up to turn 7, having a clean lap this time I had now pulled clear of the 787B.
During lap 73 the R92CP and R89C pitted and this put the latter of the Nissans a lap down to the GT-ONE's two lap deficit. The gap to the second placed 787B had now stablised at around 6 seconds with my tyres needing to be replaced soon in a couple of laps. At the end of lap 75 I pitted along with the 787B for my 5th stop of the race. The Sauber passed me for 1st place as I began to leave the pits with the GT-ONE stopping again behind me, by T2 the Sauber had just under a 14 second lead however by the end of my outlap the Sauber pitted giving me back the lead of the race.
On lap 85 with half the lap doen the R92CP pitted soon followed by the R89C into lap 86. I now had a 15.2 second lead over the second placed 787B.
At the end of the hour on lap 89 things were looking much better and this race was now looking to be a fairly easy win if I could keep my consistancy up and build on the 16.5 second lead I currently had over the 787B.
Hour 3
Halfway into lap 89 the Sauber pitted again putting it firmly back in 3rd place, a lap later both myself and 787B pitted again for fuel and tyres.
On laps 97 and 98 the R92CP and R89C pitted respectively another time while the Sauber seemed to be catching the 787B some 13 seconds behind me. On lap 101 I caught the GT-ONE but I didn't lap it until the following lap after it pushed me onto the grass at turn 1, the Sauber also pitted again on this lap (102).
I made a pitstop on lap 105 soon followed by the 787B 11.8 seconds behind me. By lap 112 and near to midway through the race the lead gap was up to 23 seconds. On lap 115 when the Sauber made another stop the 787B had managed to pull back 2 seconds on me. At the moment I was putting in an average of 1'19 lap times, which seemed to be okay at the moment for keeping the lead, despite hitting 1'17 earlier on in the race even without slipstream assistance from the other competitors.
I made another stop on lap 120 and the gap was down to 18 seconds due to running wide at the final turn on lap 119, as usual the 787B also stopped on the same lap. Somewhere on lap 123 the Sauber retook 2nd from the 787B while the GT-ONE and the two Nissans made their routine stops and then began to reduce my gap of 19 seconds, I responded by putting in a few 1'18s and held the gap at 18 seconds but after lap 126 I went wide in turn 7 putting the gap down to 17 seconds. By the time the Sauber next pitted the gap had fallen to 16.277 seconds but with the Sauber in the pits the 787B returned to 2nd place 26 seconds behind me.
As the hour ended over half the race was done and I had a lead of over 26 seconds, ahead of me I'd soon be lapping the R92CP, GT-ONE and R89C who were all close together while I'd also be due to stop in another two laps.
Half Distance Standings
Laps Completed: 133
1st: AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car '98 (Me) Time: 03:00'06.200
2nd: Mazda 787B Race Car '91 Time: -26.252
3rd: Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 Time: -43.100*
4th: Nissan R92CP Race Car '92 Time: -1'15.098*
5th: Nissan R89C Race Car '89 Time: -1 lap
6th: Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '89 Time: -3 laps
Hour 4Laps Completed: 133
1st: AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car '98 (Me) Time: 03:00'06.200
2nd: Mazda 787B Race Car '91 Time: -26.252
3rd: Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 Time: -43.100*
4th: Nissan R92CP Race Car '92 Time: -1'15.098*
5th: Nissan R89C Race Car '89 Time: -1 lap
6th: Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '89 Time: -3 laps
By turn 7 on lap 133 I was able to pass the GT-ONE with the two Nissans ahead who on the following lap both pitted. Unfortunately on my inlap (lap 135) I ran wide out of turn 4 allowing the GT-ONE to get close to me and on the exit of 7 I caught the kerb spinning me sideways, I would have recovered but the blundering AI hit me sending us both off track. At the end of the lap I pitted as the GT-ONE continued. I rejoined as the 787B pitted and thanks to the stupid AI and my own mistake I failed to leap frog both Nissans. At the end of my outlap the Sauber was back in second some 14 seconds behind.
By lap 128 I was passing the R92CP while the GT-ONE had pitted ahead down the main straight only to run wide at turn 1 and lose traction allowing the R92CP past again. This caused me to loose 4 seconds as well so the Sauber was only now 8 seconds back, I held this until the Sauber pitted again on lap 140. It took me a few laps to catch and pass the R92CP being cautious to not get barged off and I made the pass stick on lap 144 down the main straight into turn 1. The R89C went another lap down on lap 145 as I lapped in the same fashion towards turn 1.
The R89C pitted on lap 146 and then R92CP on lap 147, I now had a 26.5 second lead over the second placed 787B and we were both due to stop in another two laps as I start lap 148. The lead was down to 24 seconds by the time I stopped on lap 150, when I rejoined the 787B was just stopping itself, I had a safe gap to the Sauber though it moved into second before the 787B could rejoin, 14 seconds behind me.
On lap 151 I messed up at turn 7 and had to cut across the grass and the 12 second gap now fell to 10 seconds but as the lap ended the Sauber made another pitstop. The gap to the 787B was up to 32 seconds by lap 160, the trailing R92CP had been more of a concern as it was keeping up with me and I needed to keep it at distance or it could interfere with my pace, to my relief it pitted at the end of lap 159.
On lap 163 as I lapped the GT-ONE again on the approach to turn 1. On lap 165 I stopped again but as I approached turn 7 the Sauber also pitted meaning that it was effectively demoted to 3rd permanently now with 787B also due to pit. The gap to the 787B was up to 40 seconds by lap 169 bit I ran wide at turn 8 and caught the grass spinning me out. I lost about 10 seconds and R92CP unlapped itself only to make another pitstop on lap 171 giving me some clear air again, the gap to the 787B was now at 32 seconds as I start lap 172.
By the end of this hour I'd recovered the gap I lost to the 787B and I also noticed that the Sauber was still close to the 787B so it could potentially take 2nd from the 787B depending on how quick it is and when they both stop before the end of the race.
Hour 5
Into lap 179 the gap to the 787B was over 40 seconds and ahead of me the Sauber had recently exited the pits but with my next pitstop due on the following lap I wouldn't be lapping it this time around. By the time I stopped on lap 180 I was behind the Sauber by no more than 2 seconds, as I exited the pits the 787B made another stop.
On lap 183 the R89C pitted again with the R92CP and GT-ONE pitting as well a lap later. On lap 184 the Sauber repassed the 787B to take 2nd place, both we're now over 47 second behind me. Somewhere around lap 190 the Sauber must have pitted as the 787B 49 seconds back retook 2nd place. The Sauber had managed to reduce the gap by 4-5 seconds before stopping, if it's pit window had matched mine it could have been a problem as the Sauber was quick once at full speed.
Near the end of lap 192 I found myself in traffic the first pair in front was the R89C and unexpectedly the Sauber C9, I was due to pit on lap 195 and with the gap I had on the 787B I could afford to be cautious about lapping the lairy AI in front. I overtook both into Turn 1 and stayed in front for the rest of the lap, next was the GT-ONE not that far ahead of me, later into lap 194 I passed it at turn 6 as we ran down the hill towards turn 7.
I stopped on lap 195 as did the 787B and by lap 198 the Sauber had moved back into second place some 52 seconds behind me. The Sauber had reduced the gap to 45 seconds by the time it stopped at the end of lap 204. It rejoined the track ahead of me by about 4 seconds and with the 787B now back in 2nd it was 54 seconds behind me. On lap 206 I lapped the Sauber down the main straight. As the Sauber began to match my pace I made another stop on lap 210, the gap to the 787B was now 55 seconds with the 787B due to stop this lap as well. The Sauber again returned to second place after the 787B had stopped.
On lap 216 I got on to the grass as I braked for turn 3 which spun me out, I lost about 8 seconds because of this putting the gap to the Sauber down to 39 seconds. On lap 217 the Sauber made what must be it's final stop of the race and with myself and the 787B still due to stop again it looked like the Sauber would take 2nd place as the 787B was now 59.060 seconds behind me.
The hour ended on lap 221 and I had a lead of 58 seconds over the 787B.
Hour 6
I'd been catching the Sauber gradually but by lap 222 it seemed to be up to speed and holding distance over me, with my tyres now wearing out as well I doubt I'd catch it before my final stop on lap 225. On lap 225 the Sauber passed the GT-ONE down the main straight and had now moved well out of my reach due to the slipstream it got. At the end of the lap the gap to the 787B was at 1'05.441 as I made my final stop.
As I started the final lap of the race the Sauber was at T2 39.790 seconds back and for the rest of the lap I had an easy coast to take the race winning me 750,000 credits and a Nissan R92CP Race Car '92.
Final Standings
Laps Completed: 228
1st: AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car '98 (Me) Time: 05:11'07.440
2nd: Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 Time: -38.397
3rd: Mazda 787B Race Car '91 Time: -1'08.100*
4th: Nissan R92CP Race Car '92 Time: -1 lap*
5th: Nissan R89C Race Car '89 Time: -3 lap*
6th: Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '89 Time: -6 laps*
Time marked by * denote my best guess based on map overlay position or rough estimate.
Best Lap: 1'17.670 (SA) (Lap 68)
Pitstop (laps): 15 (15,30,45,60,75,90,105,120,135,150,165,180,195,210,225)
A-Spec Points: 200
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