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- Scotland
- GTP_daan
I received an invitation to a race at Monaco. It was held as a support race to the GP, so there was going to be a big crowd there. My invitation had a list of the other invitees, and their cars.
There were 2 RX7s, a '92 FD and a newer '95 model, a '97 NSX, a '95 Subaru Impreza WRX STi and a Nissan 300ZX 2by2 from '98. The opposition didn't seem much to be worried about, but I thought I'd make it a challenge and so registered my Lexus IS200 for the race. With my stock engine, I was giving away at least 50bhp to the opposition, so I made the car lighter by removing the seats and most of the electric equipment. I kept the air-con though as it was going to be a hot and long-ish 20 laps. I think I was still the heaviest car on the grid, although the big Nissan would have been close.
Unfortunately, my digital camera was broken on by careless baggage handlers at Nice airport, so I couldn't take any photos. I had my video camera installed in the car though, so you can expect some in-car action. There was also a miniature helicopter flying 6 feet above my bootlid filming the action!
The race started with me in 6th place on the grid. The first couple of laps were spent learning the limits of the car and track. It was a while since I'd last driven round Monte Carlo, and I don't recall ever having driven my Lexus before. It turned out to be a sweet ride.
Highlights of me catching the field. The NSX was first, then the Impreza and the '92 RX7. I then caught the 300ZX on lap 6 and had the mother of all battles, for 3 laps, as I tried to get past. He had the power and a really wide car, but I had the brakes and the handling. He turned in on me a few times, but I managed to squeeze past and make it stick on lap 8 - 27mb
Once I finally got past, the leading RX7 was a fair distance up the road. I was reeling him in, but there wasn't much in it. My tyres (sport mediums) were lasting the pace OK, but I knew they wouldn't last for the whole of the 20 laps. I decided to make a pitstop on lap 10 and split the race up evenly. Even though I didn't need a change at that point, I knew it was the best time to stop.
I came back out in 6th place, but the others' tyres were going off quite badly by now and it was relatively easy to reel them in and pass them. The NSX side-swiped me as I went past him on lap 14, and he headed straight for the pits (as that's where he went spinning to!)
By lap 15 I was back up into 2nd place and I was catching the lead RX7 quite easily. I didn't get the pleasure of passing him though as he dived into the pits at the end of lap 15.
Lap 16, and I was in the lead for the first time. Just to rub it in, I then did the fastest lap of the race. 1'56'161 - 7.9mb
From there, the race just petered out into a cruise to the finish. My winning margin ended up at about 28 seconds.
The moral of the story is, if you need a pitstop, always take it at half distance to get the best use of your tyres. My opposition didn't seem to be able to work this out. Why can someone think that a prefectly good pit strategy for a 20 lap race is a 15 lap first stint, followed by a 5 lap stint? His tyres were toast by the end of the first stint, and barely warmed up by the end of the race!
There were 2 RX7s, a '92 FD and a newer '95 model, a '97 NSX, a '95 Subaru Impreza WRX STi and a Nissan 300ZX 2by2 from '98. The opposition didn't seem much to be worried about, but I thought I'd make it a challenge and so registered my Lexus IS200 for the race. With my stock engine, I was giving away at least 50bhp to the opposition, so I made the car lighter by removing the seats and most of the electric equipment. I kept the air-con though as it was going to be a hot and long-ish 20 laps. I think I was still the heaviest car on the grid, although the big Nissan would have been close.
Unfortunately, my digital camera was broken on by careless baggage handlers at Nice airport, so I couldn't take any photos. I had my video camera installed in the car though, so you can expect some in-car action. There was also a miniature helicopter flying 6 feet above my bootlid filming the action!
The race started with me in 6th place on the grid. The first couple of laps were spent learning the limits of the car and track. It was a while since I'd last driven round Monte Carlo, and I don't recall ever having driven my Lexus before. It turned out to be a sweet ride.
Highlights of me catching the field. The NSX was first, then the Impreza and the '92 RX7. I then caught the 300ZX on lap 6 and had the mother of all battles, for 3 laps, as I tried to get past. He had the power and a really wide car, but I had the brakes and the handling. He turned in on me a few times, but I managed to squeeze past and make it stick on lap 8 - 27mb
Once I finally got past, the leading RX7 was a fair distance up the road. I was reeling him in, but there wasn't much in it. My tyres (sport mediums) were lasting the pace OK, but I knew they wouldn't last for the whole of the 20 laps. I decided to make a pitstop on lap 10 and split the race up evenly. Even though I didn't need a change at that point, I knew it was the best time to stop.
I came back out in 6th place, but the others' tyres were going off quite badly by now and it was relatively easy to reel them in and pass them. The NSX side-swiped me as I went past him on lap 14, and he headed straight for the pits (as that's where he went spinning to!)
By lap 15 I was back up into 2nd place and I was catching the lead RX7 quite easily. I didn't get the pleasure of passing him though as he dived into the pits at the end of lap 15.
Lap 16, and I was in the lead for the first time. Just to rub it in, I then did the fastest lap of the race. 1'56'161 - 7.9mb
From there, the race just petered out into a cruise to the finish. My winning margin ended up at about 28 seconds.
The moral of the story is, if you need a pitstop, always take it at half distance to get the best use of your tyres. My opposition didn't seem to be able to work this out. Why can someone think that a prefectly good pit strategy for a 20 lap race is a 15 lap first stint, followed by a 5 lap stint? His tyres were toast by the end of the first stint, and barely warmed up by the end of the race!
