Smallhorses
Staff Emeritus
- 7,260
Grand Valley 300 km
Never got more than 145 A-spec points in the 2 previous tries at this race, (those races and many more can be found in here: Smallhorses' Race Report Link Dump) so I went back for the leftovers, and this is what happened....
Car: Toyota SuperAutobacs Apex MR-S (JGTC) '00 (Oil changed) / MR / 316HP / 1125kg / 3.6kg/HP. (302HP at the end of the race, 3.7kg/HP. )
versus 8th lineup after console reset yields:
200 A-spec points! 
Thanks to AMG. for the map, which was edited to remove reverse direction turns to avoid confusion.
Grid:-
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
Race Highlights:-
Laps 1 - 10:
Passed the '01 NSX cleanly around the outside exiting turn 6, and close on the Audi, who is passed cleanly on the outside of the exit to turn 10, entering the tunnel. Finish lap 1 in 4th place, 2.9s behind the leading Supra. Passed the Nissan cleanly under braking for turn 14 on lap 2, a move which is repeated on the '03 NSX on lap 3,
Laps 11 - 20:
Another new fast lap on lap 12, 1'55.947 has only afforded the Supra a 0.9s gap increase in the past 2 laps. There's around 4s between me and the 3rd placed car, judging by the map positions, and he's got around 4s between himself and the 3 car pack at the back of the field. The Supra pits from a little over 10s lead ending lap 14 allowing me to take the lead, 👍 and he's followed in by the '01 NSX, which is the car that'd broken free of the pack.
Laps 21 - 30:
Come close to leaving the track for the first time on lap 21 as I catch a little kerb on the inside of turn 13,
judicious braking saves the day, but a 1'57 lap results and the lead increases to 9.7s. Back on track again with a new fast laptime of 1'55.898 on lap 23 sees the gap widen marginally to 10.1s. A series of mid- to low-1'56s sees me maintain around 11s gap to the leading Supra, who bypasses the pits on lap 28 when he was expected to go in. 
The '01 NSX which has been gaining steadily on me for the past few laps does head pitwards ending his 28th lap, as does the Audi who is trailing the leader by almost 2/3rds of a lap by this point! The Supra dives in ending lap 29 allowing me back through into 1st place briefly, and the Nissan to take over 2nd place 10s behind me. Make my next stop on schedule ending lap 30, taking tyres and topping up fuel to 34 units before departing. The '03 NSX also makes a 2nd stop and allows the Supra to resume his lead.
Laps 31 - 40:
Ended my outlap at around 10s behind the Supra, and once again the 2nd lap on new tyres is straight back into the mid-1'56s, dropping the lead by over a second temporarily before his tyres warm up again! Again a series of 1'56 laps follows which drops the gap by a further second to 7.6s ending lap 33 before it begins to creep up again, before a new fast lap of 1'55.728 on lap 36 sees the lead back at 8.6s. It's followed by a 1'55.665
and affords the Supra only 1/10th gain on lap 37. A 3rd consecutive 1'55 lap drops the gap to 8.2s ending lap 38, the little MR-S is rocking! Round out this 10 lap session with a couple of low 1'56s, and the gap sneaks up to 9.3s.
Laps 41 - 50:
Gap grows to 10.2s after a mid-1'56 on lap 41, but falls back to 9.7s after my 2nd fastest lap of the race on lap 42! The '01 NSX pits in ending lap 42 from 3rd place and is followed in some considerable time later by the backmarking Audi. A dalliance with the kerb inside turn 13 on lap 43 once again results in some skilled manouevering to avoid getting thrown off track,
and a low 1'57 laptime meaning the Supra's advantage is raised by a little over a second to 11.3s as he opts once again for a 15 lap pit interval. My 100% clean attempt goes out of the window on lap 44 however, as I get 4 wheels onto the grass after riding over the kerb on the outside of the exit of turn 6, 
and a 1'59 lap results, meaning the Supra stops from a 14s lead. Fortunately there was no contact with any barriers, so there'd've been no car damage. Pit in from a little under 10s lead on 2nd placed Nissan ending lap 45, who also follows me in, and sometime later the '03 NSX completes the 3rd round of pitstops. Tyres on and 35 units of fuel on the gauge should be enough to see me through to the end of the race now, while I'm hoping the Supra will have to suffer the indignity of pitting again with just 1 lap to go! 
With a 10.7s deficit at the end of my outlap, there's still plenty of work to do though! Another series of 1'56s drops the gap to 9s beginning lap 50, but a misjudgement of turns 4 & 5 see me leave the track again, and a mid-1'57 results, growing the gap to 11s going into the last 10 laps.
Laps 51 - 60:
The new oil which was given to my MR-S before the race is beginning to wear out, and I'm dropping horsepower, making it difficult to maintain the same fast pace as before.
Result:-
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
Music during race: (From Driving Songs Playlist on iPod, on shuffle play) D'you Know What I Mean - Oasis, Born Again - Starsailor, Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve, Love Is The Law - Seahorses, Taxloss - Mansun, Keep Talking - Pink Floyd, Southpaw - Morrissey, Gravity Grave - The Verve, The Man Who Told Everything - Doves, Suburbia (The Full Horror) - Pet Shop Boys, The Cedar Room - Doves, Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones, All I Want Is You - U2, Fools Gold (9'53) - The Stone Roses, Moonshine - Feeder, One Love - The Stone Roses, Trans Fatty Acid - Lamb, How Soon Is Now - The Smiths, Dry The Rain - The Beta Band, Check The Meaning - Richard Ashcroft, The Box (Part Two) - Orbital, Loaded - Primal Scream, Feeling Called Love - Pulp, I Am The Resurrection - The Stone Roses, One Perfect Sunrise - Orbital, Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) Live - Jimmy Hendrix Experience, Hallelujah (Club Mix) - Happy Mondays
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Funnily enough, the 7th lineup has the Opel Astra Touring Car '00 on pole position with another set of 4 JGTC500 cars, but the Astra is miles quicker than the Audi, and pits every 15 laps, so I wasn't able to beat him, which is why I switched my attentions to the 8th lineup!
