All-American Endurance: Laguna Seca 200 miles
90 laps. 12 cars with gnarly and rumbling V8's. Some from the classic era, others from the modern millenium. What better car to start our race other than a bright yellow Callaway C12. 440 HP of pure LS1 muscle, and an exhaust note that put its 'vette cousins to shame. Puts up a pretty good challenge because there are Vipers and Corvettes with nearly a marginal horsepower advantage. It's a little oddball too, since the guys rocking the country are part of the Big Three: Ford, Chevy and Dodge. Without further ado, let's cut to the chase.
We start with a double-file rolling start, with this as our lineup:
1 - M. Sears / Camaro SS '10
2 - T. Heinrich / Corvette Z06 (C5) '04
3 - L. Mayer / Viper GTS '02
4 - J. Salazar / Tempest Le Mans GTO '64
5 - R. Allain / GTO 5.7 Coupe '04
6 - S. Gronholm / Corvette Coupe (C2) '63
7 - U. Madson / C12 ' 03
8 - K. Kline / Camaro Z28 Coupe '97
9 - E. Richmond / Charger 440 R/T '70
10 - T. Donati / GT350R '65
11 - I. Moser / SRT4 '03
12 - V. Marks / Camaro SS '69
Armed with sports softs for the take-first-at-the-start strategy, we start the All-American 200 mile race with a bang!
Lap 1: Neat start, made two overtakes in a row on the Andretti hairpin. Took J. Salazar on Turn 3. Bumped into L. Mayer before the Corkscrew, he's not gonna be happy about that... :| Passed him round the outside at the final hairpin. Now at 3rd place. Lap time of 1:49.225.
Lap 2: L. Mayer tried to pass me on the outside round the Andretti hairpin but to no avail. Took M. Sears and his Camaro before the final hairpin. Now at 2nd place. Best lap so far at 1:39.486.
Lap 3: Have my eyes on T. Heinrich. M. Sears hot on my tail but not for long. 1:40.870.
Lap 4: Gap lessened to over a second. Power oversteer after the Corkscrew. 1:39.939.
Lap 5: Really close now. Understeered at the 3rd corner but still kept up. Heinrich's C5 Corvette has a sports exhaust, wat. 1:39.878.
Lap 6: Dirty pass at the Andretti hairpin because of side-to-side contact. Understeer at turns 5 and 6. 1:41.110.
Decided to take a shower and drink some Gatorade. After 30 minutes...
Lap 7: Understeered at last corner. 1:42.951.
Lap 8: Understeered at the last three corners. 1:42.070.
Lap 9: 1:40.987. 2.2xx second gap.
Lap 10: Understeer at turn 3 again. 1:42.209.
Lap 11: 1:42.371. 2.171 second gap.
Lap 12: My inconsistencies made me understeer at the last corners yet again. 1:41.060. Need to focus moar.
Lap 13: I'm starting to lose my senses and I'm continuing my understeer frenzy. Heinrich is already on my tail. 1:43.945.
Lap 14: Heinrich got me at turn 6. Ugh. Took my position back on Turn 10. My tires are already on the half of their lives now. 1:42.885.
Lap 15: I decided to go more aggressive. The gap is opening again. I'm right at the tail of the last placer, V. Marks. going to lap him. 1:41.738. My chin is itchy.
Lap 16: OH 🤬, I BRAKED TOO LATE AT THE ANDRETTI HAIRPIN! I still was able to pass V. Marks though, phew. Passed T. Donati at Turn 3, through the inside. Then R. Allain, right before turn 5. Braked late at Turn 5 and lapped S. Gronholm. The traffic should buy me some time. Cut through the corkscrew, ahh who cares. 1:42.250, gap increased to 9 seconds. SEY.
Lap 17: Understeered at the last two corners, uhhh. Gap decreased to 8.9xx. 1:43.640. AJSDFSAKDLFJDLSAF;
Lap 18: 1:42.503. Gap is back to the 9 second zone. Closing in on lapping I. Moser.
Lap 19: Dirty pass on I. Moser, didn't brake on time. :| Lapped E. Richmond before crossing the line for a lap of 1:43.960.
Lap 20: Richmond nearly scared me on the Andretti hairpin. I understeered at turn 3 for the nth time, and almost lost control. 1:45.516. The gap is starting to close up. 1:45.516.
Lap 21: Lapped J. Salazar before turn 5. Plowed forward at turns 10 and 11. 1:44.199.
Lap 22: Braked too late at the Corkscrew. Cut the corner and Yao Ming'd. 1:44.330. Gap is nearing 9 seconds.
Lap 23: Missed the apex on turn 5, AARRGGGH. Pitted for fresh sport soft tires. Rejoined on 4th place, 30 second gap. They're yet to pit anyway. Shouldn't have refueled though.
Lap 24: Suspended the race. 38+ second gap. Gonna meetup with my cousin and watch Inception on his PC.
... and I'm back. This race has brought to you by INCEPTION: a film starring Leonardo diCaprio.
Lap 25: How stupid of me, I had to change my tires again.
Oh well, I'll save those tires for solitary track day. My C12 still feels solid though. I have to make up for a minute's worth of gap...
Lap 26: 1:40.993. Cut 3 seconds off the gap...
Lap 27: 1:40.413. Screwed up some corners though. :S At least I'm still charging and catching up.
Lap 28: 1:39.729. 50 second gap, no mistakes....
Lap 29: Lapped the '69 Camaro SS and the GT350R. 1:40.408. Gap is now at 49 seconds.
Lap 30: Passed Moser, Salazar and Richmond. 43 second gap. Set a best lap record at 1:38.918. Radio is playing I Don't Know Why by Moony, CHYEA.
Lap 31: Understeered at last corner, ajfdlajflksdafkjla. Left foot went asleep. Doesn't matter though since I'm playing with DS3. 1:40.751. Gap is narrowed to somewhere near the 40's.
Lap 32: 1:40.556. Foot has awaken. Understeered a little at last corner. I'm all alone now it seems.
Lap 33: Understeered at the Rainey Curve. Gap narrowed down to 28 seconds though. If the top cars pit in, I should be able to take the lead. 1:41.061.
Lap 34: Braked too late at the Corkscrew and screwed it up. Heinrich and Mayer pitted though. 1:43.220. Now 2nd place.
Lap 35: Plow here, plow there. Sears have pitted, and I took the lead. Tire life at 3/4. 1:42.717. I think I should continue building the gap.
Lap 36: A remix of David Guetta's track "Titanium" is playing, schweet. 1:42.216. Gap between me and 2nd placer is 29 seconds. Need at least 40 or something to stay in the lead. And I forgot to point out that it's now three minutes and an hour progressed through the race.
Lap 37: 1:41.864
Lap 38: Couldn't get a grip anymore. If only I be a noob for once and use the driving line aid, I would drive better. 1:43.465. Gap narrowed town to 26 seconds.
Lap 39: 1:41.591
Lap 40: 1:42.745, gap staying at 25 seconds. I think I'll do sports mediums the next time I pit
Lap 41: 1:43.066
Lap 42: Hangover, Hardwell remix. yay Gap is slowly being narrowed down. I have a bad feeling about this. 1:43.340
Lap 43: 1:42.979 Gap at 20 seconds, oh nooooes
Lap 44: Punted Moser before the final hairpin,
merde. 1:43.277
Lap 45: Pitted for fresh sports soft tires. Refueled for 15 liters instead of a full tank. Pit stop is pretty short, it won't cost me much this time. Rejoined at 2nd place, behind Heinrich. 11 second gap, no biggie.
Lap 46: 1:46.933.
Lap 47: Interfered the battle between Allain and Marks for a second while lapping them. 1:40.988.
Lap 48: Some techno track I dunno is playing. I looove techno. Screwed up turn 5 though, fuu. 8 second gap, 1:41.833.
Lap 49: 1:41.402
Lap 50:
when there's love, in first sight... 'cause baby when I hold you for the first time... Kudos to the person who points out what techno-ish song is that. 1:39.591
Lap 51: 1:39.468.
Lap 52: Deal is now playing with the Dankann & Astillas remix of Shine. 2 second gap behind Heinrich, the leader. 1:40.668.
Lap 53: Right behind Heinrich's tail. 1:40.044.
Lap 54: Trading paint with him and took him by the throat on the Rainey Curve. 1:40.709.
Lap 55: Understeered at last corner. 1:42.672
Lap 56: Extended version of Moves Like Jagger. 👍 1:41.328
Lap 57: 1:42.370. Gap extending, moves swaggin'
Lap 58: 1:41.976. Lapped Salazar and Gronholm. A fresh track is playing, the title must be
I must surrender.
Lap 59: 1:42.580
Lap 60: 1:43.154. ~10 second gap. I wonder how Sears and Mayer are doing.
Lap 61: Understeered while lapping the GT350R on the final corner, fugh. 1:44.494
Lap 62: 1:42.535. Another song I like is playing.
Lap 63: 1:43.359
Lap 64: 1:44.166
Lap 65: Screwed up last corner real bad. 1:46.282
Lap 66: Large mistake at Corkscrew. 1:46.206
Lap 67: 12 second gap. Suspended race. Will pit for sports softs and another 15 liters worth of fuel. Tires at 1/4 life and fuel 1/4 full. I'll dummy around the forums for a while before heading to bed. Hopefully my strategy would be a win, despite the erroneous first pit stop.
Woke up 50 minutes after lunchtime. I have yet to eat my lunch and take a shower. I'll continue this anyway.
Lap 68: Not much of a good start. Understeered at turn 5. :|
Lap 69: 1:43.253. Heinrich pitted. Took first.
Lap 70: 1:40.790
Lap 71: 1:41.979. Heinrich is now closing in. This is bad.
Lap 72: 1:42.496. 15 second gap but understeered in some places, falling back to 14 seconds.
Lap 73: Decided to take it easy for a while and try to preserve tires. Callaway C12 feels pretty stable with this kind of driving style. 1:43.386. 13 second gap but I'm hoping on last lap heroics.
Lap 74: Enabled the tire load indicator. 1:43.109
Lap 75: Thanks for yielding, Gronholm. 1:44.792
Lap 76: Disabled tire load indicator, relied on tire screeches. I'm getting worse now. 1:46.424
Lap 77: Heinrich is less than a second behind me. I'm gambling on delaying tactics and slowing him down. Salazar, block him for me!
1:42.419
Lap 78: Salazar did buy me some time. 1:42.159
Lap 79: Heinrich is closing in again. There's someone in front that I'm about to lap, I'll use him as an obstruction too. Rick Dees on the radio now. 1:44.541
Lap 80: Richmond played with Heinrich for a while, good. 1:43.459
Lap 81: 1:44.029
Lap 82: Mistake at last hairpin.
1:44.013
Lap 83: Heinrich kamikaze'd me at Andretti Hairpin, and rammed my left door. It's time then. 1:44.173
Lap 84: Half tire life, I hope I can fend him off for 6 laps. Heinrich plans to kamikaze me again but I cut his inside line off, so he slows down a little more instead. I understeered at turn 5 and Heinrich got me, AKLSDFJLKSAFJSLKDFJKL;SADISJKLFADSJSAISAJKFSAFKLJ;AJKLDFKL;
1:44.511
Lap 85: I have a second to make up. My plans were foiled and reversed by Heinrich, but I was able to get around Donati after he got lapped by Heinrich. I gave Heinrich a little tap on the rear at the Corkscrew. This is getting intense. Moser understeered and when he went back to the road, he denied Heinrich some milliseconds. Brilliant. 1:41.590
Lap 86: 1:44.261.
Lap 87: Cut the corkscrew, ahhh who cares, I just screwed up. Fuel and tires are getting low, and yet the race is almost finished. THIS IS A FIGHT TO THE END! 1:41.549. Gronholm gets lapped again, I'll use him to delay Heinrich this time. HAR HAR HAR
Lap 88: Fuel is below 1/8 level. Tires nearing 1/4. 2 seconds between me and Heinrich. 2 hours and 32 minutes through the race. 1:42.585.
Lap 89: IT'S ALMOST OVER! Got my camera ready for the race finish screen. 1:43.296
Lap 90:
FINAL LAP! Fuel about 1/16, tires almost dying, but I'm not down for the count. Heinrich is closing in, this is gonna be one hell of a lap.
Is it Adele? Is it Adele? Or is it Adele? Ahh Rick Dees. Anyway back to the action. So far so good. Through the Corkscrew, no mistakes so far. Not screwing up through the Rainey Curve. Brake here, brake there, easy on the throttle, and across the line! I finish the race in first! The race was finished in 2:36:06.0xx.
The final result looked like this:
1 - U. Madson / Callaway C12 '03 / 2:36:06.0XX
2 - T. Heinrich / Corvette Z06 (C5) '04 / 2:36:07.0XX (+01.070)
3 - L. Mayer / Viper GTS '02 / 2:36:12.3XX (+06.380)
4 - M. Sears / Camaro SS '10 / 2:36:20.XX4 (+14.588)
5 - K. Kline / Camaro Z28 Coupe '97 /
Not Classified
6 - I. Moser / SRT 4 '03 /
Not Classified
7 - E. Richmond / Charger 440 R/T '70 /
Not Classified
8 - V. Marks / Camaro SS '69 /
Not Classified
9 - T. Donati / GT350R '65 /
Not Classified
10 - J. Salazar / Tempest Le Mans GTO '64 /
Not Classified
11 - R. Allain / GTO 5.7 Coupe '04 /
Not Classified
12 - S. Gronholm / Corvette Coupe (C2) '63 /
Not Classified
So I received 209,000 worth of credits and 411003 XP. The XP can be bumped a little more but it's satisfactory. On the other hand, I should have won a million and a half instead of a crummy 200 grand. And to top it all off I get an Infiniti Coupe Concept '06. It's a great car alright, but I can just get one from the NCD for like 50 grand! Oh come on, PD, why can't you give me something I deserve more!
So there you have it, me doing 200 miles in a yellow Callaway C12, in Callaway Special Yellow. It's been abused throughout the 2 hour and a half race. 5666 cc, broken in to 433 HP of pure American metal. 333.5 km, most of which was on Laguna Seca. It has two switches and one win. One win, a win that would be remembered. This car may cost 170,000 or so but with such a memorable win, it should be worth half a million when I get to sell it.
To the garage you go, I'll reserve you for the new Time Trial seasonal.