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So, I really wanted to write about the Tsukuba Endurance Race, mostly to let you all know that it is really not as bad as people say it is.
But... no, don't get me wrong, it's really not bad, in fact, I quite enjoyed it, but honestly: There's wasn't really that much happening.
The most exciting part of it was to finally find the right car and pack of enemies to race with and against - I started with the new '07 Premium MX-5 and wanted to race it stock, but every time I tried I got about 10 second lead in the first 2 laps, so I decided this was too easy and I needed to find another car.
I bought the old '89 Premium MX-5 next, which was far too slow in stock, but after fitting SH, Race Air Filter, LSD, custom suspension and Sport ECU I decided it was competitive and went for it. Unfortunately, it took me 4 tries to finally find a bunch of enemies that seemed to be equal - after having no car younger than 13 years in my tries with the '07 MX-5 my first few tries in the '89 brought me at least half a field of '04 and '07 in the mix, with average lap times ~1:08, far too fast for my '89.
Finally though I found a race with two '04s and a bunch of '90s cars which looked like a decent fit.
I lose 7th place due to the grid start (the '89 MX-5 is quite a slow starter), but manage to settle in 9th place in the first corner and work my way to 3rd place within one lap. It takes me another lap to get past 1st place and I build a nice 15 second lead in the next 20 laps, which makes me think whether I should restart the race again and change something in the car, to make it more competitive, but I decide to carry on and see what happens. This turns out to be a good idea, because at that point the 2nd and 3rd (MX-5 (NA) '89 and 1800 RS (NB) '04, respectively) decide that they had enough of their slow pace and manage to match my mid 1:10 lap times, so my lead stays the same.
Around lap 60 my tyres are starting to show (front mostly, back is still fine) and my lap times are getting in the high 1:11/low 1:12. At the same time, 2nd and 3rd swap places and the new 2nd ('04) shows that he can go a lot faster than the '89 - it gains more than 2 seconds per lap to me.
Lap 67, the '04 MX-5 is right behind me and pushes quite a lot, but I manage to keep him behind me and don't lose any more speed, although at that point my tyres are really bad... finally, in lap 70, he makes use of an error and shoots past me, only to be caught in the next corner. My lap time is a very bad 1:15, though, and I finally decide it's time for new tyres, so I pit after lap 71 - only tyres, no fuel, though.
3rd place manages to overtake me during pitting, as well, so I join the race in 3rd place and about 25 seconds to 1st. My lap times are about 1 second faster than his and additionally, he's stuck behind the field and definitely too stupid to overtake, so after overtaking 2nd I can see him around lap 83, together with a bunch of slow MX-5. It takes me only about 3 laps to overtake all of them and I produce a decent 25 second lead in just a few laps.
He finally pits in lap 108, 2:12 into the race, at which point I lap him (I've lapped 2nd around lap 100, without pit stop - it's another of these "only one real opponent" games). His lap times match mine after he's back out, so he's not a real threat anymore, and I can comfortably have another pit stop in lap 140 to get fresh tyres and 50l of fuel (at this point, I'm down to 35l, so 50l should be plenty). 2nd passes me once during pitting, but I'm out in the field just behind him and manage to overtake him again within three laps.
The rest of the race is a piece of cake, no further movement in the positions, the lead is consistent at one lap (although I can't escape him anymore, he's always not more than 6 seconds behind me - plus one lap, though) and 3:59:56 into the race, I finish my 200th lap and start lap 201.
Result:
Me: 201 laps
'04: 199 laps (no idea why, he was only one lap behind me)
'89: 198 laps
another 4 cars with 198 laps
another 5 cars with 197 laps
As I said, not terribly exciting, but a nice race nonetheless - it was fairly competitive and without the blocking in the first 30 laps of the race I'm sure '04 would have been a difficult opponent.
Still, a more competent AI, especially during overtaking/lapping would be very welcome.
But... no, don't get me wrong, it's really not bad, in fact, I quite enjoyed it, but honestly: There's wasn't really that much happening.
The most exciting part of it was to finally find the right car and pack of enemies to race with and against - I started with the new '07 Premium MX-5 and wanted to race it stock, but every time I tried I got about 10 second lead in the first 2 laps, so I decided this was too easy and I needed to find another car.
I bought the old '89 Premium MX-5 next, which was far too slow in stock, but after fitting SH, Race Air Filter, LSD, custom suspension and Sport ECU I decided it was competitive and went for it. Unfortunately, it took me 4 tries to finally find a bunch of enemies that seemed to be equal - after having no car younger than 13 years in my tries with the '07 MX-5 my first few tries in the '89 brought me at least half a field of '04 and '07 in the mix, with average lap times ~1:08, far too fast for my '89.
Finally though I found a race with two '04s and a bunch of '90s cars which looked like a decent fit.
I lose 7th place due to the grid start (the '89 MX-5 is quite a slow starter), but manage to settle in 9th place in the first corner and work my way to 3rd place within one lap. It takes me another lap to get past 1st place and I build a nice 15 second lead in the next 20 laps, which makes me think whether I should restart the race again and change something in the car, to make it more competitive, but I decide to carry on and see what happens. This turns out to be a good idea, because at that point the 2nd and 3rd (MX-5 (NA) '89 and 1800 RS (NB) '04, respectively) decide that they had enough of their slow pace and manage to match my mid 1:10 lap times, so my lead stays the same.
Around lap 60 my tyres are starting to show (front mostly, back is still fine) and my lap times are getting in the high 1:11/low 1:12. At the same time, 2nd and 3rd swap places and the new 2nd ('04) shows that he can go a lot faster than the '89 - it gains more than 2 seconds per lap to me.
Lap 67, the '04 MX-5 is right behind me and pushes quite a lot, but I manage to keep him behind me and don't lose any more speed, although at that point my tyres are really bad... finally, in lap 70, he makes use of an error and shoots past me, only to be caught in the next corner. My lap time is a very bad 1:15, though, and I finally decide it's time for new tyres, so I pit after lap 71 - only tyres, no fuel, though.
3rd place manages to overtake me during pitting, as well, so I join the race in 3rd place and about 25 seconds to 1st. My lap times are about 1 second faster than his and additionally, he's stuck behind the field and definitely too stupid to overtake, so after overtaking 2nd I can see him around lap 83, together with a bunch of slow MX-5. It takes me only about 3 laps to overtake all of them and I produce a decent 25 second lead in just a few laps.
He finally pits in lap 108, 2:12 into the race, at which point I lap him (I've lapped 2nd around lap 100, without pit stop - it's another of these "only one real opponent" games). His lap times match mine after he's back out, so he's not a real threat anymore, and I can comfortably have another pit stop in lap 140 to get fresh tyres and 50l of fuel (at this point, I'm down to 35l, so 50l should be plenty). 2nd passes me once during pitting, but I'm out in the field just behind him and manage to overtake him again within three laps.
The rest of the race is a piece of cake, no further movement in the positions, the lead is consistent at one lap (although I can't escape him anymore, he's always not more than 6 seconds behind me - plus one lap, though) and 3:59:56 into the race, I finish my 200th lap and start lap 201.
Result:
Me: 201 laps
'04: 199 laps (no idea why, he was only one lap behind me)
'89: 198 laps
another 4 cars with 198 laps
another 5 cars with 197 laps
As I said, not terribly exciting, but a nice race nonetheless - it was fairly competitive and without the blocking in the first 30 laps of the race I'm sure '04 would have been a difficult opponent.
Still, a more competent AI, especially during overtaking/lapping would be very welcome.
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