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- London
- JohnsonCapote
Ok, I parted with my beloved Mazda 787B after the Speedway endurance race to finance the purchase, on day 694 exactly, of the Nissan R390 GT1 black edition. After an oil change and a purchase of my usual setup of tires (R1s on rear, R2s on front) I fancied a challenge to break in my new car. Where better else than the GTWC?
My opposition:
Pegeout 905 Race Car - not very good acceleration but good tire mileage
Jaguar XJR-9 - good top speed
Pescarolo Courage C60 (V6 model) - good handling
Audi R8 - ditto
Toyota 7 - erm...
Round 1: Tokyo R246
Qualified on pole, much to my surprise. Already I was beginning to see why the R390 had managed to pull off such a giant killing at Lemans in the hands of Smallhorses (correct me if it was someone else) - it has magnificent handling and holds the road much better than the old 787B, which had a tendency to understeer a lot. As an experiment I put on R1 tires all round to see what kind of endurance I could get off them.
It must be noted now, I am ATROCIOUS at standing starts. Started on pole and the Jaguar, Peugeout AND Audi all stacked up behind me, but one car managed to slip by - to my surprise, it was the Pescarolo. I battled with him for a few laps before the handling began to go away hidiously on my car, something I attributed to the tire setup. I was passed by everyone, and by lap 7 was trailing even the Audi R8. Fortunatly the Jaguar and the Audi both pitted, meaning I snatched back 3rd place at the death. Lesson learnt then - a) don't use R1 tires all round again and b) this wasn't going to be easy.
Results:
1. Pescarolo C60
2. Peugeot 905
3. Me
4. Toyota 7
5. Jaguar XJR-9
6. Audi R8
Round 2: Twin Ring Motegi SS
I knew this was going to be tough because of the Jaguar's strong top speed. After some real hard-on-the-edge laps I qualified 2nd, and my strategy for the race was to simply draft by the Jaguar and keep him behind me, simple as that. I did this on the first lap, and it felt like being back at the SS 150miles all over again, only this time my car wasn't a 787B, and the opponent was white and purple, not silver. By lap 4 the Audi R8 had joined the meleé, and lap 6 brought a stationary Toyota 7 in the middle of turn 2 which helped slow down the Jag and Audi as I made some sort of an escape. As they duelled between themselves I drove ahead to a 2second lead, before pitting a lap after the Jaguar on lap 16. Annoyingly, the 905 and C60 stayed out, the Peugeot till lap 19, the C60 till the end of the race. This is becoming a tough championship.
Results:
1. Pescarolo C60
2. Me
3. Audi R8
4. Peugeot 905
5. Jaguar XJR-9
6. Toyota 7
My opposition:
Pegeout 905 Race Car - not very good acceleration but good tire mileage
Jaguar XJR-9 - good top speed
Pescarolo Courage C60 (V6 model) - good handling
Audi R8 - ditto
Toyota 7 - erm...
Round 1: Tokyo R246
Qualified on pole, much to my surprise. Already I was beginning to see why the R390 had managed to pull off such a giant killing at Lemans in the hands of Smallhorses (correct me if it was someone else) - it has magnificent handling and holds the road much better than the old 787B, which had a tendency to understeer a lot. As an experiment I put on R1 tires all round to see what kind of endurance I could get off them.
It must be noted now, I am ATROCIOUS at standing starts. Started on pole and the Jaguar, Peugeout AND Audi all stacked up behind me, but one car managed to slip by - to my surprise, it was the Pescarolo. I battled with him for a few laps before the handling began to go away hidiously on my car, something I attributed to the tire setup. I was passed by everyone, and by lap 7 was trailing even the Audi R8. Fortunatly the Jaguar and the Audi both pitted, meaning I snatched back 3rd place at the death. Lesson learnt then - a) don't use R1 tires all round again and b) this wasn't going to be easy.
Results:
1. Pescarolo C60
2. Peugeot 905
3. Me
4. Toyota 7
5. Jaguar XJR-9
6. Audi R8
Round 2: Twin Ring Motegi SS
I knew this was going to be tough because of the Jaguar's strong top speed. After some real hard-on-the-edge laps I qualified 2nd, and my strategy for the race was to simply draft by the Jaguar and keep him behind me, simple as that. I did this on the first lap, and it felt like being back at the SS 150miles all over again, only this time my car wasn't a 787B, and the opponent was white and purple, not silver. By lap 4 the Audi R8 had joined the meleé, and lap 6 brought a stationary Toyota 7 in the middle of turn 2 which helped slow down the Jag and Audi as I made some sort of an escape. As they duelled between themselves I drove ahead to a 2second lead, before pitting a lap after the Jaguar on lap 16. Annoyingly, the 905 and C60 stayed out, the Peugeot till lap 19, the C60 till the end of the race. This is becoming a tough championship.
Results:
1. Pescarolo C60
2. Me
3. Audi R8
4. Peugeot 905
5. Jaguar XJR-9
6. Toyota 7
