- 528
A while ago I decided to complete the game in A-Spec mode only with 100000 points. This brought me today to the Nurburgring and I'm going to try for the maximum points. After about 7 diferent line ups I settle on these opponents:
Audi A4 Touring car
Opel Calibra Touring car
BMW M3 GTR Race car
Nissan C-West Razo Silvia
Nissan Falken GTR Race car
I'm taking them on in brand new Amemiya Mazda RX7. With 125kg of ballast and slightly lowered downforce and R1 tires this would give me 200 A-Spec points.
Hour 1.
I take advantage of AI not being able to drive on cold tires and get up to second place before the first lap is over. I stay about 3 seconds behind leading A4 until I make a mistake and crash. I get passed by the M3 and Skyline. Not knowing the track well I have couple more incidents before pitting at the end of 4th lap 40seconds behind the leading A4 and M3.
This is just the practice run so when I forget to change my tires to R2s I just circle around the short pit wall and pit again.
All this confusion costs me one minute and 4th place.
It looks like I can do 4 laps on R2s as well and I'm turning faster laps now (7:20).
Lap 6 - the M3 and A4 both pit and I find myself only 50seconds behind.
Lap 8 - I pass the Calibra for 4th place and pit at the end of the lap. When I come out I'm 1 minute and 10 seconds behind the leaders.
At this pace I don't have to restart the race and I should be able to catch them.
Hour 2.
on lap 11 I pass Skyline for the 4th place. The gap is down to 1:03 and I'm gaining about 2 secods per lap. The A4 and M3 pit on lap 12 and so do I. My main competitors are stopping every 6 laps, I do 4 lap stints. I get passed by the Skyline while pitting. Back to 4th place.
I'm not able to cut down the lead now. It looks like the A4 was being held up by a car lap down and he is clear and running fast ! I can only get about 0.5 second per lap back.
I pit again at the end of lap 16 and when I come out I'm 1:05 behind the Audi. If I keep doing this I will catch him in around lap 140 (about two thirds of the race !!!)
I wanted a close race but this might be too nerve wrecking ...
Hour 3.
Unable to close the gap any more I wait until lap 18 when the A4 and M3 pit again. A4 comes out of the pits only 31 seconds ahaead closely followed by the M3. Next two laps show how bad the AI is on cold tires and I get the gap down to 19 seconds at one point.
On the lap 20 after small mistake I get attacked by the Skyline. He is on the lead lap so only 22 seconds separate the first four aftere more than two hours ! I'm able to keep the Nissan behind me but actually lose some time to the leaders. +24"
After pitting on lap 20 I find myself down 48 seconds and I keep loosing time by making small mistakes.
On the lap 22 I'm still in 3rd place down by 53 seconds.
Hour 4.
Shortly after resuming from paused on lap 23 I messed up big time. I spun out and lost about 15 seconds. Seriously thinking about giving up.
Lap 24 - Audi BMW and me we all pit. I come out 55 seconds behind in 4th place. I'm catching up quickly on cold tires. On lap 27 the Audi catches up to Silvia but it doesn't slow him down. I pit on lap 28 some 37s behind.
Lap 30 - Audi and BMW both pit and when they come out they are just 17 seconds ahead and on cold tires.
Time to put the hammer down. Fastest lap of the race 7:15 flat
Lap 31 - I can see the BMW !!! Shortly after that I easily passed him while he still struggles with cold tires.
Lap 32 - I catch up to the A4 and touch his bumper - Hello ! :-) Unfortunately I set my gearing too low so I run out of revs when trying to draft-pass him and it's time for me to pit again
Hour 5.
When I come out of the pits I'm 20 seconds behind and in 3rd place again. for next three laps I'm only able to cut the lead down to 18. On lap 36 on worn tires the Audi driver runs into some trouble that costs him 8 seconds. Nice to see that I'm not the only one messing up :-)
Just before the pit entrance I find the M3 off the track, his tires must be shot too. All three of us pit.
I come out flying on cold tires in 2nd place only 8 seconds behind Audi. I catch him on the lap 38 where I take the lead for the first time after almost 5 hours of racing !!!
I start pulling away to 6 seconds only to be reeled back by the Audi. Under pressure from the A4 I make another mistake and spin out. I lost at least 9 seconds and the lead but stayed ahead of the M3.
My 300hp is no match to BMWs 450 so he passes me on the long straight before the end of lap 40 and I pit from 3rd place (+13s)
Hour 6.
I come out of pits 38 seconds behind. On lap 42 Audi catches some lap traffic but it doesn't slow him down ! He actualy uses his draft to pull ahead :-( and then he pits. I catch hih right after he comes out of pits and pass him right away. I build 10 seconds lead and when I come out of pits on lap 45 im 10 seconds down in second place. Slow laps 45-47, Audi pulls ahead another 5 secs. I close the gap down to 8 and we all pit on lap 48.
Hour 7.
Thanks to my mechanics and blazingly fast pitstop I come out of pits right behind the Audi and quickly pass him.
Two laps later I'm 17 seconds in the lead ! If I keep going like this I might stay ahead after next pit stop.
Ahm ... No ... I strated pushing too much and spun on lap 51. Lead down to 8 seconds.
Lap 52 - under pressure from Audi I spin again :-( and lose the lead.
Lap 53 - after the pit stop I'm half a minute behind the leader. This puts me back where I was three hours ago !!!
I slowly eat away the gap and I pass the BMW as he crashes again on worn tires at the end of lap 54.
Lap 55 Audi and the BWM come out of pits on cold tires again and I able to pass the A4 for the lead again and build a 10 second lead. It feels good to be in the front again.
At the end of the lap I notice something strange. I could only go about 230kph on the back straight. Couple hours ago I could almost hit the rev limiter in 6th gear at 260kph. WTF ???
One more lap and I'll check it out during pit stop. The car seems slow. The lead is down to 5 seconds. Then on the back straight again I figure out I have a problem with gas pedal. Even when pressed all the way down it only gives me about 90% of power.
I pit at the end of the lap and both my mechanics and me go to work :-)
Hour 8.
Gas pedal is fixed (Logitech DFP - known issue) and I come out of the pits 15 seconds behind Audi. Oh my god the car is quick now !!!
It only takes me 1.5 lap to catch up to the Audi who is stuck behind the Nissan Silvia.
Lap 59 - 7:10 I break the lap record by 5 seconds and I wasn't even trying ...
I'm having to learn the track again because the car is so much quicker now, there were some turns I could take flat out and now I have to slow down. I spin out couple of times but I'm still quicker than the Audi !
By the end of lap 60 I manage to pull ahead by 20 seconds and everyone (me A4 and M3) has to pit.
It looks like the rest of the race is gonna be boring. I'm gaining about 15 seonds per lap and at the and of lap 64 I'm 1:20 ahead
I'm going to switch back to R1s and try to stay out 5 laps
Hour 9.
I want my broken gas pedal back !!! This is boring :-)
Right, I decided to stay out for 5 laps but only had fuel for 4 and 3/4 :-) I ran out of fuel on lap 69 and lose about two minutes giving the lead back to Audi. It's not really a big deal now that I know I can catch him in few laps.
On the lap 72 I fight with the Audi at the end of the lap, he bumps me and we both crash. Funny thing is that he misses the pit entrance and runs out of fuel on lap 73 :-)
Hour 10.
That puts the A4 behind the M3 and the BMW takes the lead for the first time.
I'm keeping myself entertained by trying different pit strategies and tire combinations but always stay within 15 seconds of the BMW.
I follow him for couple of laps and find out that he is actually faster than the Audi but always crashes at the end of his 6th laps on worn tires.
Hour 11.
Much of the same. I settled on 5 lap pit strategy and R1 tires. I have no problem keeping the BMW about 20 seconds behind me. I'm not pushing hard at all. Audi doesn't seem to be closing the gap on the 2nd place BMW. I believe the Nissan Skyline is still on the lead lap, Calibra is one lap down and I lost count of the Silvia's laps (about 4 laps down)
Hour 12.
Everytime I decide to put some distance between me and the BMW I usualy end up spinning out. Fortunately I can count on the BMW's tires every 6 laps.
I thought I would be done with the race by now (48 hours elapsed since I started) but I also have a life besides GT4 :-)
Audi A4 Touring car
Opel Calibra Touring car
BMW M3 GTR Race car
Nissan C-West Razo Silvia
Nissan Falken GTR Race car
I'm taking them on in brand new Amemiya Mazda RX7. With 125kg of ballast and slightly lowered downforce and R1 tires this would give me 200 A-Spec points.
Hour 1.
I take advantage of AI not being able to drive on cold tires and get up to second place before the first lap is over. I stay about 3 seconds behind leading A4 until I make a mistake and crash. I get passed by the M3 and Skyline. Not knowing the track well I have couple more incidents before pitting at the end of 4th lap 40seconds behind the leading A4 and M3.
This is just the practice run so when I forget to change my tires to R2s I just circle around the short pit wall and pit again.
All this confusion costs me one minute and 4th place.
It looks like I can do 4 laps on R2s as well and I'm turning faster laps now (7:20).
Lap 6 - the M3 and A4 both pit and I find myself only 50seconds behind.
Lap 8 - I pass the Calibra for 4th place and pit at the end of the lap. When I come out I'm 1 minute and 10 seconds behind the leaders.
At this pace I don't have to restart the race and I should be able to catch them.
Hour 2.
on lap 11 I pass Skyline for the 4th place. The gap is down to 1:03 and I'm gaining about 2 secods per lap. The A4 and M3 pit on lap 12 and so do I. My main competitors are stopping every 6 laps, I do 4 lap stints. I get passed by the Skyline while pitting. Back to 4th place.
I'm not able to cut down the lead now. It looks like the A4 was being held up by a car lap down and he is clear and running fast ! I can only get about 0.5 second per lap back.
I pit again at the end of lap 16 and when I come out I'm 1:05 behind the Audi. If I keep doing this I will catch him in around lap 140 (about two thirds of the race !!!)
I wanted a close race but this might be too nerve wrecking ...
Hour 3.
Unable to close the gap any more I wait until lap 18 when the A4 and M3 pit again. A4 comes out of the pits only 31 seconds ahaead closely followed by the M3. Next two laps show how bad the AI is on cold tires and I get the gap down to 19 seconds at one point.
On the lap 20 after small mistake I get attacked by the Skyline. He is on the lead lap so only 22 seconds separate the first four aftere more than two hours ! I'm able to keep the Nissan behind me but actually lose some time to the leaders. +24"
After pitting on lap 20 I find myself down 48 seconds and I keep loosing time by making small mistakes.
On the lap 22 I'm still in 3rd place down by 53 seconds.
Hour 4.
Shortly after resuming from paused on lap 23 I messed up big time. I spun out and lost about 15 seconds. Seriously thinking about giving up.
Lap 24 - Audi BMW and me we all pit. I come out 55 seconds behind in 4th place. I'm catching up quickly on cold tires. On lap 27 the Audi catches up to Silvia but it doesn't slow him down. I pit on lap 28 some 37s behind.
Lap 30 - Audi and BMW both pit and when they come out they are just 17 seconds ahead and on cold tires.
Time to put the hammer down. Fastest lap of the race 7:15 flat
Lap 31 - I can see the BMW !!! Shortly after that I easily passed him while he still struggles with cold tires.
Lap 32 - I catch up to the A4 and touch his bumper - Hello ! :-) Unfortunately I set my gearing too low so I run out of revs when trying to draft-pass him and it's time for me to pit again
Hour 5.
When I come out of the pits I'm 20 seconds behind and in 3rd place again. for next three laps I'm only able to cut the lead down to 18. On lap 36 on worn tires the Audi driver runs into some trouble that costs him 8 seconds. Nice to see that I'm not the only one messing up :-)
Just before the pit entrance I find the M3 off the track, his tires must be shot too. All three of us pit.
I come out flying on cold tires in 2nd place only 8 seconds behind Audi. I catch him on the lap 38 where I take the lead for the first time after almost 5 hours of racing !!!
I start pulling away to 6 seconds only to be reeled back by the Audi. Under pressure from the A4 I make another mistake and spin out. I lost at least 9 seconds and the lead but stayed ahead of the M3.
My 300hp is no match to BMWs 450 so he passes me on the long straight before the end of lap 40 and I pit from 3rd place (+13s)
Hour 6.
I come out of pits 38 seconds behind. On lap 42 Audi catches some lap traffic but it doesn't slow him down ! He actualy uses his draft to pull ahead :-( and then he pits. I catch hih right after he comes out of pits and pass him right away. I build 10 seconds lead and when I come out of pits on lap 45 im 10 seconds down in second place. Slow laps 45-47, Audi pulls ahead another 5 secs. I close the gap down to 8 and we all pit on lap 48.
Hour 7.
Thanks to my mechanics and blazingly fast pitstop I come out of pits right behind the Audi and quickly pass him.
Two laps later I'm 17 seconds in the lead ! If I keep going like this I might stay ahead after next pit stop.
Ahm ... No ... I strated pushing too much and spun on lap 51. Lead down to 8 seconds.
Lap 52 - under pressure from Audi I spin again :-( and lose the lead.
Lap 53 - after the pit stop I'm half a minute behind the leader. This puts me back where I was three hours ago !!!
I slowly eat away the gap and I pass the BMW as he crashes again on worn tires at the end of lap 54.
Lap 55 Audi and the BWM come out of pits on cold tires again and I able to pass the A4 for the lead again and build a 10 second lead. It feels good to be in the front again.
At the end of the lap I notice something strange. I could only go about 230kph on the back straight. Couple hours ago I could almost hit the rev limiter in 6th gear at 260kph. WTF ???
One more lap and I'll check it out during pit stop. The car seems slow. The lead is down to 5 seconds. Then on the back straight again I figure out I have a problem with gas pedal. Even when pressed all the way down it only gives me about 90% of power.
I pit at the end of the lap and both my mechanics and me go to work :-)
Hour 8.
Gas pedal is fixed (Logitech DFP - known issue) and I come out of the pits 15 seconds behind Audi. Oh my god the car is quick now !!!
It only takes me 1.5 lap to catch up to the Audi who is stuck behind the Nissan Silvia.
Lap 59 - 7:10 I break the lap record by 5 seconds and I wasn't even trying ...
I'm having to learn the track again because the car is so much quicker now, there were some turns I could take flat out and now I have to slow down. I spin out couple of times but I'm still quicker than the Audi !
By the end of lap 60 I manage to pull ahead by 20 seconds and everyone (me A4 and M3) has to pit.
It looks like the rest of the race is gonna be boring. I'm gaining about 15 seonds per lap and at the and of lap 64 I'm 1:20 ahead
I'm going to switch back to R1s and try to stay out 5 laps
Hour 9.
I want my broken gas pedal back !!! This is boring :-)
Right, I decided to stay out for 5 laps but only had fuel for 4 and 3/4 :-) I ran out of fuel on lap 69 and lose about two minutes giving the lead back to Audi. It's not really a big deal now that I know I can catch him in few laps.
On the lap 72 I fight with the Audi at the end of the lap, he bumps me and we both crash. Funny thing is that he misses the pit entrance and runs out of fuel on lap 73 :-)
Hour 10.
That puts the A4 behind the M3 and the BMW takes the lead for the first time.
I'm keeping myself entertained by trying different pit strategies and tire combinations but always stay within 15 seconds of the BMW.
I follow him for couple of laps and find out that he is actually faster than the Audi but always crashes at the end of his 6th laps on worn tires.
Hour 11.
Much of the same. I settled on 5 lap pit strategy and R1 tires. I have no problem keeping the BMW about 20 seconds behind me. I'm not pushing hard at all. Audi doesn't seem to be closing the gap on the 2nd place BMW. I believe the Nissan Skyline is still on the lead lap, Calibra is one lap down and I lost count of the Silvia's laps (about 4 laps down)
Hour 12.
Everytime I decide to put some distance between me and the BMW I usualy end up spinning out. Fortunately I can count on the BMW's tires every 6 laps.
I thought I would be done with the race by now (48 hours elapsed since I started) but I also have a life besides GT4 :-)
