- 1,573
- Rural Nebraska
- Apmaddock
Thanks to Hun200kmh and his great thread on the Roadster 4 Hours race, I was inspired to make the event a real competition and enjoyed it thoroughly. After success in that event, I felt prepared to move on to the next, the Laguna Seca 200 Mile endurance race.
Going in, I had a few goals/limitations in mind.
First, the race had to be a close one. I did not want to just run away from the crowd because I simply had no fun doing that. The only thrill comes when there's a chance of loss and you need to actually pay attention to your relative position.
Secondly, I wanted to use a vehicle that fit the scene. It had to be an American car, and I decided that I wanted some classic American muscle. What's more, I wanted it to be near-stock. I finally decided on the '69 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible (C3). This car shows 299 horsepower in a 1552 kg body at the showroom, showing 456 performance points, which seemed about right.
I took the car to the tuning garage and slapped in an adjustable LSD, fully adjustable transmission, and fully adjustable suspension. Then I took it to get its oil changed and added a bit of aerodynamics-more for looks than anything (as I set the downforce to minimum), but the PP came up to 461. I purchased all grades of sports tires and fitted the hards.
I ran the car for a few laps to make some tuning adjustments. When I was happy, I fired up the race.
From the start of the race I could see that this was going to be a tough one. I was never particularly fond of Laguna Seca; the course's lack of a long straight was my primary complaint, and I never really got particularly good at the track. I don't know why not.
I quickly fell back a few places, but eventually, after about 15 laps, I managed to take sixth and hold it for a good long time. I had figured that the '99 Viper in the race would be a shoe-in, but was surprised at how long he was held up in the pack. He eventually broke free, though, and began gaining space on the rest of us.
My car was handling great. I lacked for speed and mid-range acceleration in the straights, and would often be passed, there, but my cornering ability in the corkscrew and the tight turns on either side of the home stretch more than made up for that. It was going to be interesting.
Throughout the first 30 laps I could see that I was losing more and more time on the Viper. If I was going to make this race work I needed a change, so I pitted and swapped my sports hards for sports mediums.
The five cars in front of me pitted soon after I came out, and when I began to hold my ground on the leading Viper my confidence grew a bit. With both of us on fresh tires, the competition seemed to be equal, and when I grew more confident with my car and the track, I was actually beginning to catch up to the next few cars. Crawling, to be sure, but nonetheless, I was making up ground.
After about a dozen laps I was actually close enough to the next cars to begin to set up a few passes, and before I knew it I had crawled into third place. But, on my sport medium tires, I was not going to be able to make 30 laps. Knowing this I decided that I was going to have to pit twice before the end, so I decided to do that at lap 50, 20 after the previous pit. I began to look in my rear view for that Viper. He was close, but I couldn't quite see him back there, yet.
Having to pit again lost me some time, but the experience on the mediums showed me that I could put mediums in the front and softs in the rear, and the tires would wear fairly evenly. I gave it a shot and exited the pits all the way back in eighth place.
Seventh and sixth came quickly, and I began to make some good strides toward the leader. My even stickier tires and the others' worn ones was helping a great deal. I made it back to fifth, fourth, third, and passed into second when the other guy was in for his second pit stop. I was still making good ground on the Viper, now, and got his distance from me down a bit more. His pit stop put him a tempting 38 seconds in front of me. I put my head down and tried to make up ground, but my old tires and his new ones put the advantage back into his court, and he began to pull away. By lap 70, my next scheduled pit stop, he was up to 45 seconds away and leaving me by about a second a lap. Something had to change, and I figured that I had no choice but to try the sports soft tires, nothing else could give me a chance to make up the ground. The catch: They wouldn't last me 20 laps. I suffered the loss of a few more seconds and took my current tires to 74 laps, my current tires weren't dead, yet, after all. I could only hope that was enough to get me home.
I came roaring out of the pit stop with nothing but speed on my mind. With soft tires I was bound to be an animal on the track, the likes of which the other cars hadn't seen. All I needed was for that Viper to get stuck in some traffic like he had for the first several laps. . . and a bunch of very perfect laps. The first measured gap of 1:20 was rather disheartening, though.
I gave it everything that I had. I was hitting apexes 80% of the time in corners where I struggled to him them 30% of the time in the rest of the race. If it would gain me time, I was trading paint with cars that I was lapping. These are basically touring cars, after all. That's what they're for. The Viper's lead was getting smaller, but it quickly became apparent that this was a case of too little, too late. My soft tires might have been better than the Viper's half-worn ones, but I could only gain a maximum of two seconds in a lap. With only 16 left, I just couldn't do it. Things didn't get any better, either, when my aggressive driving began to show in my tires, and with about five laps left, my pace slowed considerably, and my heart sank.
I crossed the finish line just over a minute behind the leading Viper. I took second place, but I was unsatisfied. The race was a great one, it was fun, exciting, exhilarating, and required strategy and speed. It was, in a word, a battle. It was a battle that I lost, however, and I immediately swore revenge. I had learned what would improve my car, and I went to the shop to take care of it. The rematch would have to wait, though.
Stay tuned for round two.
Going in, I had a few goals/limitations in mind.
First, the race had to be a close one. I did not want to just run away from the crowd because I simply had no fun doing that. The only thrill comes when there's a chance of loss and you need to actually pay attention to your relative position.
Secondly, I wanted to use a vehicle that fit the scene. It had to be an American car, and I decided that I wanted some classic American muscle. What's more, I wanted it to be near-stock. I finally decided on the '69 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible (C3). This car shows 299 horsepower in a 1552 kg body at the showroom, showing 456 performance points, which seemed about right.
I took the car to the tuning garage and slapped in an adjustable LSD, fully adjustable transmission, and fully adjustable suspension. Then I took it to get its oil changed and added a bit of aerodynamics-more for looks than anything (as I set the downforce to minimum), but the PP came up to 461. I purchased all grades of sports tires and fitted the hards.
I ran the car for a few laps to make some tuning adjustments. When I was happy, I fired up the race.
From the start of the race I could see that this was going to be a tough one. I was never particularly fond of Laguna Seca; the course's lack of a long straight was my primary complaint, and I never really got particularly good at the track. I don't know why not.
I quickly fell back a few places, but eventually, after about 15 laps, I managed to take sixth and hold it for a good long time. I had figured that the '99 Viper in the race would be a shoe-in, but was surprised at how long he was held up in the pack. He eventually broke free, though, and began gaining space on the rest of us.
My car was handling great. I lacked for speed and mid-range acceleration in the straights, and would often be passed, there, but my cornering ability in the corkscrew and the tight turns on either side of the home stretch more than made up for that. It was going to be interesting.
Throughout the first 30 laps I could see that I was losing more and more time on the Viper. If I was going to make this race work I needed a change, so I pitted and swapped my sports hards for sports mediums.
The five cars in front of me pitted soon after I came out, and when I began to hold my ground on the leading Viper my confidence grew a bit. With both of us on fresh tires, the competition seemed to be equal, and when I grew more confident with my car and the track, I was actually beginning to catch up to the next few cars. Crawling, to be sure, but nonetheless, I was making up ground.
After about a dozen laps I was actually close enough to the next cars to begin to set up a few passes, and before I knew it I had crawled into third place. But, on my sport medium tires, I was not going to be able to make 30 laps. Knowing this I decided that I was going to have to pit twice before the end, so I decided to do that at lap 50, 20 after the previous pit. I began to look in my rear view for that Viper. He was close, but I couldn't quite see him back there, yet.
Having to pit again lost me some time, but the experience on the mediums showed me that I could put mediums in the front and softs in the rear, and the tires would wear fairly evenly. I gave it a shot and exited the pits all the way back in eighth place.
Seventh and sixth came quickly, and I began to make some good strides toward the leader. My even stickier tires and the others' worn ones was helping a great deal. I made it back to fifth, fourth, third, and passed into second when the other guy was in for his second pit stop. I was still making good ground on the Viper, now, and got his distance from me down a bit more. His pit stop put him a tempting 38 seconds in front of me. I put my head down and tried to make up ground, but my old tires and his new ones put the advantage back into his court, and he began to pull away. By lap 70, my next scheduled pit stop, he was up to 45 seconds away and leaving me by about a second a lap. Something had to change, and I figured that I had no choice but to try the sports soft tires, nothing else could give me a chance to make up the ground. The catch: They wouldn't last me 20 laps. I suffered the loss of a few more seconds and took my current tires to 74 laps, my current tires weren't dead, yet, after all. I could only hope that was enough to get me home.
I came roaring out of the pit stop with nothing but speed on my mind. With soft tires I was bound to be an animal on the track, the likes of which the other cars hadn't seen. All I needed was for that Viper to get stuck in some traffic like he had for the first several laps. . . and a bunch of very perfect laps. The first measured gap of 1:20 was rather disheartening, though.
I gave it everything that I had. I was hitting apexes 80% of the time in corners where I struggled to him them 30% of the time in the rest of the race. If it would gain me time, I was trading paint with cars that I was lapping. These are basically touring cars, after all. That's what they're for. The Viper's lead was getting smaller, but it quickly became apparent that this was a case of too little, too late. My soft tires might have been better than the Viper's half-worn ones, but I could only gain a maximum of two seconds in a lap. With only 16 left, I just couldn't do it. Things didn't get any better, either, when my aggressive driving began to show in my tires, and with about five laps left, my pace slowed considerably, and my heart sank.
I crossed the finish line just over a minute behind the leading Viper. I took second place, but I was unsatisfied. The race was a great one, it was fun, exciting, exhilarating, and required strategy and speed. It was, in a word, a battle. It was a battle that I lost, however, and I immediately swore revenge. I had learned what would improve my car, and I went to the shop to take care of it. The rematch would have to wait, though.
Stay tuned for round two.
Congratulations! Will pay attention to whatever is your next endurance challenge! 
