- 79
Extreme Hall - Gran Turismo All Stars
BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '93
Inspired by Old Geezer's race report and intrigued by the idea of a close race in some of Gran Turismo's fastest cars at nearly all of my favorite tracks, I set out for this tough but attainable championship.
I had tried this once before, but I was poorly prepared, raced badly, and failed to the Nissan R92CP by over 15 points. Wanting revenge, I restarted until I got that car in the lineup.
Obviously I've borrowed from Old Geezer's formatting, I hope he doesn't mind.
The Starting Grid:
Nissan R92CP Race Car '92
Mazda 787B Race Car '91
Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03
Toyota 7 Race Car '70
Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II '04
I was pleased to see the 787B in the mix. Hopefully he would put some pressure and steal some points from the R92CP, because in my last attempt the extremely powerful R92CP had no challengers, other than myself, and ran wild to the victory.
Race 1 - High Speed Ring (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st
Finished 1st by +0'00.296
Setup:
From my previous failure, I knew the stock setup in the BMW McLaren F1 GTR was probably not going to be enough. I left horsepower alone all series, but for this race I bumped up the Autoset transmission by one (to 15). This increased my top speed from ~201 to ~205 mph. I also took a bit of a risk by equipping my Racing Soft R4 tires, without running the full # of laps in qualifying.
Race:
Off the line, my acceleration stood no chance against the R92CP. I slid into second place, but I was able to overtake the R92CP out of the first corner. I didn't look back, although on the final lap, disaster struck. Admiring my 2.9 second lead in the rearview mirror, I drove off course!! I spun out in the middle of the raceway, but was able reverse, get going again, and hold off the 787B for entirely too narrow of a win.
Race 2 - Fuji Speedway 80's (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st
Finished 1st: +0'02.032
Setup:
Again I chose to go with the Autoset 15 transmission and R4s, and it proved to be a good decision. All around this was a very nervous race for me. I knew from my last attempt that the high speed sweeping turns here gave the R92CP an incredible advantage.
Race:
I was completely overpowered by the 787B off the line, but again was able to gain first place after the first turn. Nearly every lap was the same for me. I would gain a 2.80 second lead by the hairpin, then watched that lead dwindle to 1.9-2.0 seconds during the straight. I knew from my last series attempt that the AI got stronger as these races went on, so I was relieved when I crossed the line on comfortably yellow tires and a 2 second victory.
I was again happy to see the second place 787B steal some points from the R92CP, as I knew it was just a matter of time before that beast pulled away for a few races.
Race 3 - Mazda Leguna Seca (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'17.574 lap
Finished 1st: +0'07.377
Setup:
One of the few races I actually expected win. Back to the transmission default and R3s for this one.
Race:
I led to start and never gave it up. The technical turns and lack of a huge straight gave me an advantage over the AI, and I maintained a steady 4-6 second lead throughout the race.
I now had a 12 point lead on the 787B.
Race 4 - Autumn Ring Reverse (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'11.450 lap
Finished 1st: +0'02.399
Race:
Although I qualified first, this race started poorly when I completely misjudged the second turn (12-C) and watched the 787B fly by me. I was given a gift though. While still on the first lap I saw the 787B go too wide right before the round-about (8G) and bury himself in the sand.
I maintained the lead, and a wild card, the Bentley Speed 8, emerged in second place for the remainder of the race. This race became increasingly worrisome though, as I watched my 5 second lead during lap 5 dwindle to 4.8... 4.5... 3.8... and all the way to 2.399. In the end, I cautiously slipped across the finish line on my very bright orange tires.
The 787B finished in 3rd, and the R92CP in 4th. Again, the R92CP failed to perform. Maybe he just didn't show up this series?
Race 5 - Test Course (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 3rd: 1'47.837 lap
Finished 4th: -0'29.950
And almost on command, the R92CP asserted its dominance.
Ugh.. this was horrible. I bumped up the Autoset Transmission to 19, which increased my top speed to 217, but it still wasn't enough. Starting at third, I watched the three top dogs pull too far away off the line for me to slipstream, and nothing changed after that. The Nissan R92CP lead the entire race, but apparently it was a close battle as the Bentley Speed 8 finished just 0.239 seconds behind.
My points lead falls to 17 over the 787B and 16 over the R92CP. Things are starting to get closer!
Race 6 - Grand Valley Speedway Reverse (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'42.208 lap
Finished 1st: +0.00.799
Setup:
R3's and default transmission again.
Race:
INCREDIBLE race! In the pole position, immediately after the standing start I jumped to my left to cut off the R92CP, who I anticipated was going to jump out to an early lead. Instead, the 787B blew by on my right. The 787B and I battled it out for nearly a lap, before I emerged with the lead (turn 7L).
Over the next 4 laps, I steadily gained a 2.5 second lead on the 787B. On the 5th lap, this lead was cut down to less than 1 second, and I had to use my mirror to block the 787B from passing on the straight.
On the straight heading into the 6th lap, the R92CP came out of nowhere and passed me like I was standing still. I then passed him three times during the lap, with the last being out of the sharpest hairpin (6M), and I was barely able to hold on for the win. Awesome, awesome race... one of the best I've had in GT4.
Race 7 - Suzuka (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'48.007 lap
Finished 3rd: -0'12.902
Setup:
I switched to R4s this race, which proved to be a huge mistake.
Race:
Things were great until the last lap. I had a 2.7 second lead, then my tires went red. It started getting extremely slippery on the last lap. I completely lost it on the last turn and was passed by the R92CP and then the 787B.
My lead fell to 16 points on the R92CP and 21 points on the 787B.
Race 8 - Infineon Stock Car Course (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'05.130 lap
Finished 3rd: +0'03.306
Setup:
Back to the R3's... I wasn't going to risk it again.
Race:
Pretty uneventful race. I enjoyed the space created by the rolling start and didn't look back. I hovered around a 4 to 4.5 second lead throughout the race, and took it easy on the last lap to be sure.
Race 9 - Circuit de le Sarthe I (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 3rd: ? lap
Finished 3rd: +0'14.058
Setup:
R4s, and default autoset transmission. I should have bumped up the transmission autoset 1 notch. Slipstreaming on the straights wasn't even beneficial due to the rev limiter.
Race:
Not so good overall. I spun out twice in qualifying, and decided to just go for it anyway.
At the start of the race, the extremely powerful R92CP was gone and never to be seen from again. I battled it out with the 787B in second place, until during the final lap I broke too late at the end of the Mulsanne and clipped the sand.
I clinched the series with this one though. With one race left, I had 71 points, R92CP had 57, and the 787B had 46.
Race 10 - Nurburgring Nordschleife (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 6'10.127 lap
Finished 1st: +0'02.162
Setup:
I went with Racing Hard R2s on this one. In my previous attempt of this series I tried R3s, and needless to say The Ring tore them to pieces.
Race:
My most driven track in the game, I expected to crush this race. After the first lap I had a 2.3 second lead over the R92CP. On lap 2 though, due to some absolutely horrible driving on my part, the R92CP overtook me at Aremburg. I didn't see him again until after Hohenrein, and he was sitting in the sand!
Sort of a cheap way to win the race. I was extremely disappointed that I raced so poorly on this one, because I should have won handily.
Final Standings:
BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97: 81 points
Nissan R92CP Race Car '92: 61 points
Mazda 787B Race Car '91: 52 points
Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03: 34 points
Toyota 7 Race Car '70: 19 points
Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II '04: 13 points
A pretty close battle throughout. Overall, this is an extremely fun series in this car.
Hopefully this will help or entertain someone. This ended up longer than I expected, so thanks for reading.
BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '93
Inspired by Old Geezer's race report and intrigued by the idea of a close race in some of Gran Turismo's fastest cars at nearly all of my favorite tracks, I set out for this tough but attainable championship.
I had tried this once before, but I was poorly prepared, raced badly, and failed to the Nissan R92CP by over 15 points. Wanting revenge, I restarted until I got that car in the lineup.
Obviously I've borrowed from Old Geezer's formatting, I hope he doesn't mind.
The Starting Grid:
Nissan R92CP Race Car '92
Mazda 787B Race Car '91
Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03
Toyota 7 Race Car '70
Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II '04
I was pleased to see the 787B in the mix. Hopefully he would put some pressure and steal some points from the R92CP, because in my last attempt the extremely powerful R92CP had no challengers, other than myself, and ran wild to the victory.
Race 1 - High Speed Ring (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st
Finished 1st by +0'00.296
Setup:
From my previous failure, I knew the stock setup in the BMW McLaren F1 GTR was probably not going to be enough. I left horsepower alone all series, but for this race I bumped up the Autoset transmission by one (to 15). This increased my top speed from ~201 to ~205 mph. I also took a bit of a risk by equipping my Racing Soft R4 tires, without running the full # of laps in qualifying.
Race:
Off the line, my acceleration stood no chance against the R92CP. I slid into second place, but I was able to overtake the R92CP out of the first corner. I didn't look back, although on the final lap, disaster struck. Admiring my 2.9 second lead in the rearview mirror, I drove off course!! I spun out in the middle of the raceway, but was able reverse, get going again, and hold off the 787B for entirely too narrow of a win.
Race 2 - Fuji Speedway 80's (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st
Finished 1st: +0'02.032
Setup:
Again I chose to go with the Autoset 15 transmission and R4s, and it proved to be a good decision. All around this was a very nervous race for me. I knew from my last attempt that the high speed sweeping turns here gave the R92CP an incredible advantage.
Race:
I was completely overpowered by the 787B off the line, but again was able to gain first place after the first turn. Nearly every lap was the same for me. I would gain a 2.80 second lead by the hairpin, then watched that lead dwindle to 1.9-2.0 seconds during the straight. I knew from my last series attempt that the AI got stronger as these races went on, so I was relieved when I crossed the line on comfortably yellow tires and a 2 second victory.
I was again happy to see the second place 787B steal some points from the R92CP, as I knew it was just a matter of time before that beast pulled away for a few races.
Race 3 - Mazda Leguna Seca (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'17.574 lap
Finished 1st: +0'07.377
Setup:
One of the few races I actually expected win. Back to the transmission default and R3s for this one.
Race:
I led to start and never gave it up. The technical turns and lack of a huge straight gave me an advantage over the AI, and I maintained a steady 4-6 second lead throughout the race.
I now had a 12 point lead on the 787B.
Race 4 - Autumn Ring Reverse (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'11.450 lap
Finished 1st: +0'02.399
Race:
Although I qualified first, this race started poorly when I completely misjudged the second turn (12-C) and watched the 787B fly by me. I was given a gift though. While still on the first lap I saw the 787B go too wide right before the round-about (8G) and bury himself in the sand.
I maintained the lead, and a wild card, the Bentley Speed 8, emerged in second place for the remainder of the race. This race became increasingly worrisome though, as I watched my 5 second lead during lap 5 dwindle to 4.8... 4.5... 3.8... and all the way to 2.399. In the end, I cautiously slipped across the finish line on my very bright orange tires.
The 787B finished in 3rd, and the R92CP in 4th. Again, the R92CP failed to perform. Maybe he just didn't show up this series?
Race 5 - Test Course (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 3rd: 1'47.837 lap
Finished 4th: -0'29.950
And almost on command, the R92CP asserted its dominance.
Ugh.. this was horrible. I bumped up the Autoset Transmission to 19, which increased my top speed to 217, but it still wasn't enough. Starting at third, I watched the three top dogs pull too far away off the line for me to slipstream, and nothing changed after that. The Nissan R92CP lead the entire race, but apparently it was a close battle as the Bentley Speed 8 finished just 0.239 seconds behind.
My points lead falls to 17 over the 787B and 16 over the R92CP. Things are starting to get closer!
Race 6 - Grand Valley Speedway Reverse (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'42.208 lap
Finished 1st: +0.00.799
Setup:
R3's and default transmission again.
Race:
INCREDIBLE race! In the pole position, immediately after the standing start I jumped to my left to cut off the R92CP, who I anticipated was going to jump out to an early lead. Instead, the 787B blew by on my right. The 787B and I battled it out for nearly a lap, before I emerged with the lead (turn 7L).
Over the next 4 laps, I steadily gained a 2.5 second lead on the 787B. On the 5th lap, this lead was cut down to less than 1 second, and I had to use my mirror to block the 787B from passing on the straight.
On the straight heading into the 6th lap, the R92CP came out of nowhere and passed me like I was standing still. I then passed him three times during the lap, with the last being out of the sharpest hairpin (6M), and I was barely able to hold on for the win. Awesome, awesome race... one of the best I've had in GT4.
Race 7 - Suzuka (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'48.007 lap
Finished 3rd: -0'12.902
Setup:
I switched to R4s this race, which proved to be a huge mistake.
Race:
Things were great until the last lap. I had a 2.7 second lead, then my tires went red. It started getting extremely slippery on the last lap. I completely lost it on the last turn and was passed by the R92CP and then the 787B.
My lead fell to 16 points on the R92CP and 21 points on the 787B.
Race 8 - Infineon Stock Car Course (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 1'05.130 lap
Finished 3rd: +0'03.306
Setup:
Back to the R3's... I wasn't going to risk it again.
Race:
Pretty uneventful race. I enjoyed the space created by the rolling start and didn't look back. I hovered around a 4 to 4.5 second lead throughout the race, and took it easy on the last lap to be sure.
Race 9 - Circuit de le Sarthe I (179 A Spec Points)
Qualified 3rd: ? lap
Finished 3rd: +0'14.058
Setup:
R4s, and default autoset transmission. I should have bumped up the transmission autoset 1 notch. Slipstreaming on the straights wasn't even beneficial due to the rev limiter.
Race:
Not so good overall. I spun out twice in qualifying, and decided to just go for it anyway.
At the start of the race, the extremely powerful R92CP was gone and never to be seen from again. I battled it out with the 787B in second place, until during the final lap I broke too late at the end of the Mulsanne and clipped the sand.
I clinched the series with this one though. With one race left, I had 71 points, R92CP had 57, and the 787B had 46.
Race 10 - Nurburgring Nordschleife (200 A Spec Points)
Qualified 1st: 6'10.127 lap
Finished 1st: +0'02.162
Setup:
I went with Racing Hard R2s on this one. In my previous attempt of this series I tried R3s, and needless to say The Ring tore them to pieces.
Race:
My most driven track in the game, I expected to crush this race. After the first lap I had a 2.3 second lead over the R92CP. On lap 2 though, due to some absolutely horrible driving on my part, the R92CP overtook me at Aremburg. I didn't see him again until after Hohenrein, and he was sitting in the sand!
Sort of a cheap way to win the race. I was extremely disappointed that I raced so poorly on this one, because I should have won handily.
Final Standings:
BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97: 81 points
Nissan R92CP Race Car '92: 61 points
Mazda 787B Race Car '91: 52 points
Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03: 34 points
Toyota 7 Race Car '70: 19 points
Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II '04: 13 points
A pretty close battle throughout. Overall, this is an extremely fun series in this car.
Hopefully this will help or entertain someone. This ended up longer than I expected, so thanks for reading.
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