Pagani Zonda LM racer - suggest a venue

[Duke]

Having just completed the slipstreaming missions, I was awarded the Pagani Zonda LM racecar. Aside from the CLK-GTR and the ubiquitous Toyota 88-CV, it's the only really fast car I have (I assume it's fast; I haven't driven it yet).

Can you folks make some suggestions on races where it will be competitive but not too dominant? Thanks.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

Wow, Duke making a post like this, seems wierd. Anyway, I can't think of any where this will be fast enough and not dominant. It would best compete with cars like the CLK-GTR, Gillet Vertigo and Nissan R390 LM car. These cars don't have a league of their own (too slow for the Le Mans cars and too fast for the GT cars). The best place I can think of is the Dream Car World Championship (I think that's what it's called). There you will vs other Zonda LMs, Nissan GT-R LM cars, RX-7 LM cars, Camaro LM cars etc.

 

[Ignignoc N Err]

Wow, that's a tough question, Duke. The Zonda (as Holden pointed out) is in a strange class that has little standard competition in most races. The only races where it won't totally outclass the competition are those where it will itself be totally outclassed by GT1's and prototypes. I would think that if you were able to secure an "easy" enough lineup in the GTWC or Sarthe 1 24hr, you may be able to use it there. Otherwise you'll have to pick between races featuring GT-500 and GT2 machines or races featuring GT1, LMP and Group C machines, neither of which really appeal to me personally.

That said, if you're just interested in running the machine for a regular, no points, no-holds-barred race, the Grand Valley 300km and Tokyo 300km enduros may be what you seek.

 

[Duke]

OK, guys, thanks. I ran GV in an M3 racecar, but perhaps I'll run the Tokyo enduro in it. The Dream Car championship sounds great, too. Thanks for the suggestions, gentlemen.

 

[alhajoth]

I used that car in the Fuji endurance race. Can't remember the exact lineup, but the main competition was a Pescarolo and the Nissan R92CP.

I ran it in stock form, no oilchange and R1-tires(Possibly R2 for some stints, I can't remember).
Very hard race, I matched the Nissan's pit-strategy, but had problems with his pace. The Pescarolo was slower, but he did twice as many laps between stops. He fell off the pace a few hours in after leading most of the race, but keeping the Nissan behind me was far from easy. Won by less than 10 seconds in the end..
So if you're going for an endurance race, that's my recommendation.👍
You'll get 200 points for it too.

 

[Smallhorses]

^ Great suggestion alhajoth! 👍
Plus it'd put Duke in the CLUB 200 list!

I'd definitely say the Zonda LM was overkill against DTM & JGTC, and even the odd Mazda or Nissan Z LM cars that appear in the Tokyo or GVS enduros.
If you could get a Dream Car Championship lineup against another Zonda LM, both Ford GT LMs and the Nissan GTR LM along with the Camaro LM, I'd say that'd be a great competition for it.

Other than that I'm not sure, I've only used mine once, in stock form, but it was a relatively easy 200 point race, Tsukuba Wet : Hard Difficulty vs. Mazda 787B.

 

[Tornado]

For races where there just isn't enough oomph (I'm thinking Le Sarthe, mainly; but I'm thinking it might apply to the Sears Point 2.5 enduro, based on how the similarly powered Viper GTS-R does in AI hands), you could probably get by with a stage 3 turbo if need be. Though the AI isn't particularly good at Infineon, so that may be a winnable race as well.
I don't remember if the Zonda LM is particularly nice to tires, but if it is you could probably try GTWC with R2/R3 F/R and squeak by with some wins.

 

[Smallhorses]

^ That's also a helluva suggestion Toronado! 👍

I'd forgotten about that race!
Having won it in a Nissan 350Z LM Race Car myself, I'd imagine that given the right AI lineup and tyre combination it'd make an awesome venue to give the Zonda LM a great run out!

 

[Ignignoc N Err]

If only you could choose your competition, this would be a MUCH easier machine to match. Driven against the AI, it could probably hold its own against GT1 machines (like the McLaren F1 GTR, CLK-GTR, R390 GT1 and Esperante GTR-1). However, good luck getting a lineup like that.

If only there was an available race that selected the modern GT1 class (550 - 650bhp, 1100 - 1200kg), then this car would shine. I'd love to run it against the Panoz, C5-R, both of the Ford GT LM's and a Dodge ORECA Viper.

 

[Duke]

I was thinking about the Sears Point enduro myself. It's one of my favorite tracks, and I usually have no trouble beating the AI there. I may qualify in the Zonda and see how it goes - I have no sports racers at all, and as I said the 88-CV is my only really fast car, and I'm bored with it after running the GTWC.

 

[Smallhorses]

Sooooooooooooooo, any news on what you did with your Zonda LM, or is it a closely guarded secret?