Round 12: 24 Hours of Le Mans

  • Thread starter AJ
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Well that was definitely experience to remember! Obviously in my pre-race post my hopes were high and unfortunately it just didn't seem to go exactly as planned but perhaps still a bit of a bang, in the wrong way lol. That was absolutely huge, I'm actually still a little gob smacked from the whole 24 hours. I could go on and on about so many things, but I'll try to not drag on.

Completely caught off by the rain I didn't exactly have the best of starts, quite a few embarrassing mistakes throughout the race in the rain. An unfortunate black flag for @Mikey24 as soon as he completed his first lap caught us completely off guard. I was actually out picking my partner up so had no choice but to put @CodDemon101 back in after an already long stint and from there we were just trying to strategise as the race progressed. A huge shoutout to @CodDemon101 for sticking in there with me.

It was tough, running two drivers as been said by many people, thank you for all the kind words towards our struggles :P. I did 11.5 hours just about, with 5 straight at the end to finish, that was definitely a challenge and the biggest thing I've ever done in my short online racing career.

Considering everything that happened I am so stoked that we still managed 9th overall. Congratulations to ABC Racing for taking out overall and P1, Inferno for their stellar drive in P2, and TWR as always mega consistent, even beating a P2 car overall ;).
Huge props to Avalerion Racing for being in the same boat as us for most of the race running only @Whitetail and @PASM Also a congratulations to every single driver who took part, everybody performed great.

I'd like to thank @AJ, @Peelster1 and @littleregret265 for stewarding and running the show. To all the commentators and interviews who took part, love listening to all of you, it was such a great stream and really looking forward to watching the race over the next week or so. It was just amazing. Without all of you guys it would not be the same realism it provides and I'm so excited for more.

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Well that was definitely experience to remember! Obviously in my pre-race post my hopes were high and unfortunately it just didn't seem to go exactly as planned but perhaps still a bit of a bang, in the wrong way lol. That was absolutely huge, I'm actually still a little gob smacked from the whole 24 hours. I could go on and on about so many things, but I'll try to not drag on.

Completely caught off by the rain I didn't exactly have the best of starts, quite a few embarrassing mistakes throughout the race in the rain. An unfortunate black flag for @Mikey24 as soon as he completed his first lap caught us completely off guard. I was actually out picking my partner up so had no choice but to put @CodDemon101 back in after an already long stint and from there we were just trying to strategise as the race progressed. A huge shoutout to @CodDemon101 for sticking in there with me.

It was tough, running two drivers as been said by many people, thank you for all the kind words towards our struggles :P. I did 11.5 hours just about, with 5 straight at the end to finish, that was definitely a challenge and the biggest thing I've ever done in my short online racing career.

Considering everything that happened I am so stoked that we still managed 9th overall. Congratulations to ABC Racing for taking out overall and P1, Inferno for their stellar drive in P2, and TWR as always mega consistent, even beating a P2 car overall ;).
Huge props to Avalerion Racing for being in the same boat as us for most of the race running only @Whitetail and @PASM Also a congratulations to every single driver who took part, everybody performed great.

I'd like to thank @AJ, @Peelster1 and @littleregret265 for stewarding and running the show. To all the commentators and interviews who took part, love listening to all of you, it was such a great stream and really looking forward to watching the race over the next week or so. It was just amazing. Without all of you guys it would not be the same realism it provides and I'm so excited for more.

Can I ask why @Mikey24 was black-flagged? I didn't know that had happened & just thought you and @CodDemon101 were just hardcore and two-up by choice :odd: :bowdown:
I did 20 hours of the Le Mans 24hr in GT5 until I couldn't go on only for my co-driver to accidentally hit 're-start' instead of 'continue' when he paused a couple of hours from the end :crazy: :banghead: We ended up winning it but that mistake of his made me one nervous co-driver :scared:
 
Can I ask why @Mikey24 was black-flagged? I didn't know that had happened & just thought you and @CodDemon101 were just hardcore and two-up by choice :odd: :bowdown:
I did 20 hours of the Le Mans 24hr in GT5 until I couldn't go on only for my co-driver to accidentally hit 're-start' instead of 'continue' when he paused a couple of hours from the end :crazy: :banghead: We ended up winning it but that mistake of his made me one nervous co-driver :scared:
He was banned for some reason from the forums a couple hours into the race apparently, and when he went to start his stint a bit after that he was immediately black flagged after a lap. Regs state you must have your account in good standings, unfortunate timing.
Haha, certainly after this endeavour I probably won't be doing 2 drivers for anything more than 12 hours lol knowing the struggles!

Luckily you could do that race again ;) added even more to the pressure of recovery in that what was done was done and we had to keep moving forward, and we definitely refused to be DNF's!
 
He was banned for some reason from the forums a couple hours into the race apparently, and when he went to start his stint a bit after that he was immediately black flagged after a lap. Regs state you must have your account in good standings, unfortunate timing.
Haha, certainly after this endeavour I probably won't be doing 2 drivers for anything more than 12 hours lol knowing the struggles!

Luckily you could do that race again ;) added even more to the pressure of recovery in that what was done was done and we had to keep moving forward, and we definitely refused to be DNF's!
Oooookay then. Totally out of your control then. I suspected a serious driving error like trying to win the race at the first corner.
Well done to you both on sticking it out & hanging in there. A lot of people would've thrown the toys out of the pram & rage quit.
 
That was a race to remember! A big thanks to AJ, Heathenpride, Tom, Peelster, littleregret, Beau and any other I've forgotten for organising, commentating and stewarding the race.

A massive well done and thanks to my team for finishing 3rd in our first 24 hour race! The rain added in a welcome strategy element to keep up on our toes.

Congratulations to the winners, including TWR who ran a really good race and Can-Am and Venator for providing close racing as well.
 
I think this was one of the best races in the series in terms of room quality, broadcast and no SC whatsoever in the whole 24H, it's crazy if we think about it and we had plenty of rain.

Every team should be proud for going out until the end, it's not a easy thing and as Heathenpride as mentioned several times in the broadcast, endurance races it's not about putting 2-3 fast drivers on track, there's a lot more to it.

TWR didn't celebrate too much with the provisional results as we were sure that the other teams were a lot closer or even in front, specially after the few problems we had in sunday morning. Anyway we were very happy to see that we still finished 1st in class in such a great race, we wanna thank other team's congratulations and we wanna congratulate all the other teams, our class's as well as the other ones. Hope to see many of you on track soon!
 
I think this was one of the best races in the series in terms of room quality, broadcast and no SC whatsoever in the whole 24H, it's crazy if we think about it and we had plenty of rain.
I absolutely agree, it was a great race with some pretty stellar driving, for the most part everyone's connection was stable, no invisible cars, no red flags, however we did have 1 safety car on lap 1 that everyone forgot about, however that barely counts. Everyone on track did a great job, everyone in the commentary booth kept us up to date and entertained and the guys in the stewards box had the toughest job of all having to try and keep tabs 36 drivers for the entire race on minimal sleep.
Congrats to the winners, the podium achievers, to those that made the race and to the teams who qualified but didn't make the start.
The race was littered with great stories. Huge respect to WRS North America, allowing Avalerion to race. The WRS-Avalerion entry and ORA losing drivers early but winning the hearts of the fans. Success if fleeting, but respect lasts forever.
 
I'd first like to congratulate all the winners and drivers....the level of respect between the classes was evident every turn, every lap, every hour...no bullying.
Also I'd to convey my appreciation to AJ and his cronies for a herculian effort. It's remarkable the level of prior planning this event demands....and to know that this series is just in its sophomore year, remarkable!
I'd also like to apologize to the competitors for the melee I created on Mulsanne, around hour 22, in particular tanky. We talk continually about the grueling nature of endurance racing and it became very evident for me. I drive a controller and my wrists were on fire. The lap before I succeeded in unscrewing the child proof Ibuprofen cap(no small task one handed), next lap, all I have to do is dump a few in my mouth. Eyes off track just a few seconds...sounded simple. Again my apologies to all those effected.
Happy Motoring
 
I must say that this race was probably one of the most difficult and awesome ones I've ever done in my relatively short virtual racing career. I didn't know that I'd even be racing 24 hours before the start. I only got the call the evening prior, so preparation was almost out the window before the largest race of the year.

The start of the race went terribly for the Avalerion team, receiving two pit lane penalties for qualifying technicalities and unfortunately they lost us a lot of ground right from the very start, but it looks as if @PASM had some fun towards the end of his first run. When I got into the car for the first time it was starting to rain once more, and I only had 30 or so minutes of wet practice under my belt for the race, so my first couple of laps were really slow to feel things out and find the right and safe times to be on the throttle. When I hopped out of the car it was @GTPGhost who got in, but unfortunately didn't stick around for very long as he had other, more serious issues at hand, leaving PASM and I to finish the race ourselves.

At this stage in the race we had adopted a new game plan to just get to the finish of the race and get our points. With only two drivers we had to sacrifice sleep and the next day's activities to finish the race and rehabilitate respectfully. The two of us charged through the night with very few mistakes, which I find amazing given the difficulty of the car and the weather conditions we were driving through.

Although it was just PASM and I in the drivers' seat we weren't alone. I must give a big thank you to Avalerion regulars @Animera, @skyline1683, and @Friday_GTRP, WRS North America team manager @Gravitron, and the whole of the Audi squad for the support you provided for the two of us in the race.

We are ecstatic to have finished on the podium, let alone second, given the circumstances we faced and it goes to show that a good team will be successful in any situation they're faced with. I am happy to have been not a liability but an asset for Avalerion Racing, goes to show that a tortoise can be a good thing to have on a team of hares. :lol:

A good majority of my driving was in wet conditions and to be completely honest with you all I was starting to feel right at home in the dark trees of the Mulsanne in the pouring rain, I didn't want to get out of the car at times! It was an amazing experience and I'm happy to have been a part of it. I would like to thank the race director @AJ, and stewards @Peelster1 and @littleregret265 for running the event, broadcasters/interviewers @Heathenpride, @Hayden, @Tom (you'll see your thunder and lightning below, turns out you were right!), @Beau Albert, @JonoStan96, @Famine, Greg, Bart, and @GTP_Dutchy for keeping us all entertained. I was listening to you all in my left ear when I was in the car!

Lastly and wholeheartedly I would like to thank everyone at Avalerion Racing for giving me the opportunity to drive in this great event in your phantom R18. It means a lot to know that a team of your caliber would take a chance on someone who races with a controller for arguably the largest race on the Endurance Series calendar. Thank you!

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

2015 GTP LM24 Thank You Poster.png
 
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I must say that this race was probably one of the most difficult and awesome ones I've ever done in my relatively short virtual racing career. I didn't know that I'd even be racing 24 hours before the start. I only got the call the evening prior, so preparation was almost out the window before the largest race of the year.

I can sooooooo relate to this. I was never scheduled to run the race, only to manage the team and call strategy. Literally 10 minutes before the grid formation @lorddragonKD had severe weather move in to his area and he lost power. Some of you probably even saw him in the room already. I scrambled trying to get the others online, but since both were still sleeping and not expecting to drive for at least another 4 hours, I received no response.

So there I was.... stuck having to take over the starting driver spot, totally unprepared to drive, and only having a dry weather setup in the car with 100% wet conditions at the start. Suck it up and hope for the best I said. Well, my "best" was pretty pathetic. Three visits to pit lane in the first 12 laps...... Thankfully my other 2 drivers (@ogdougynutty and @DCWANTCASH2 ) are top notch and pulled my butt out to the fire once again.
 
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