Round 13: 4 Hours of Tsukuba

[Beau Albert]

Had alot of fun racing for PrideTEC Motorsport, and can't thank the team enough for the opportunity!
We started 2nd but unfortunately on the parade lap the swift autosport car was a little clueless at what speed was required and damaged our car, i pushed on hard in my opening 40min stint, but there was a long road to the front of the pack. Eventually despite the extra pit stop i was able to get the team back into 3rd just before my changeover with TDZ.
TDZ did seem to struggle a little bit in this car which certainly does not suit this circuit, and a few unfortunate issues with lapped traffic and gravel trap meant we fell a few more laps down, but holding onto 3rd just over the DRR Lexus.
My final stint i knew i needed to produce something special and right from the get go i ignore tyre wear and put in pb lap after pb lap and amazingly, despite pushing harder, my tyre's were actually wearing slower! In my final run i managed to catch and overtake cleanly up the inside the Swift autosport VW driven by a mate of mine, that was great fun, but in the dying laps the car in 2nd place, the VEC car was given a 10min penalty and i was able to put in some really fast times in that couple of minutes and put our car into P2.
Happy with the comeback we were able to make, i'm knackered after so long in the car, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and that race was a huge insight into how to approach a stint when your in the rough. Great race by the SCAR honda guys, untouchable pace!
Thanks again to ITZ for having me on the team for this race, and also Heidi and TDZ for being fantastic helpers and teammates!

 

[TDZdave]

Actually looked forward to driving the Scirocco, one of my personal favorite base model cars in game, very annoyed at how many times I was physically helped off the circuit, though greatful @Beau Albert proved his worth by bringing it back to the front, thanks to all,

Btw, @Famine, I guess TDZdave is much easier on the pallet then TDZ-4-12-14-88 hehehe,

 

[Famine]

Btw, @Famine, I guess TDZdave is much easier on the pallet then TDZ-4-12-14-88 hehehe,

Indeed. I ended up calling you TDZdash4dash12dashetc at one point, and think I settled on TDZ.

 

[TDZdave]

Indeed. I ended up calling you TDZdash4dash12dashetc at one point, and think I settled on TDZ.

I noticed haha, nearly had me well off the circuit in laughter,

 

[Gravitron]

Just caught the last 2hrs of this, great broadcast. 👍 I could listen to @GTP_Dutchy's interview of the "Nismo Nic's" over and over, and @Famine and @JonoStan96 seem to have had fun commentating.

Good race, guys.

 

[mustafur]

I feel really bad for sleeping through Qualifying as we lost soo much time at the start there wasn't much we could do.

Everylap I did felt like a qualifier Doing 53s for basically the entire stint, I knew we had a gap to make up but I didn't really know how much it was and at the end I had no idea where we were in results lol.

Either way good introduction to GTP Racing for me and a Big thanks to JonoStan96 for Excellent 1st stint, as it gave us hope. We will be sure to go for the win at Motegi.

 

[DaGiBUS]

I had fun in the Subaru, final 30 minutes was sloppy driving on my part.

 

[JonoStan96]

That was no endurance race, that was a 4 hour sprint!

With the penalty applied for the qualifying mistake, we were on the back foot the whole race. It would have been easy to assume that the win was gone, but I knew we had a great car and Mus could also extract some serious pace. The car was good enough for pole, surely we could translate that to the race?

Fighting back from nearly two laps down, after an 80 second stop and go, minimising time loss in traffic was critical. This race in particular taught me how critical the optimum racing line is to maintain pace. Slowly but surely I was gaining on the other GT300 cars and I hope this was entertaining on the stream as I felt like I was in that Sierra time rally, overtakes galore!

Eventually I overtook the Swift BRZ in a great move into the final corner while lapping 2 TCN cars simultaneously. To my surprise the Lightning Speed RX-7 received a penalty, and that's when I realised that we were well and truly back in it. My goal was to hand Mustafur the car on the lead lap, and the penalty certainly helped.

Mustafur was driving like a man possesed until he was penalised with half an hour left for track limits which confused us both, I tried to remain calm on the stream with @Famine as I didn't want to yell any expletives! With the stream showing RaceOnOZ in first place I had my doubts, especially after a stop for damage and a penalty, but we can only go off the information we are given.

@mustafur drove an insane 2 hours, a 2nd place on debut for RaceOnOZ is very rewarding. I'm sure those watching the stream could hear I was a little bit emotional! I would also like to thank the rest of the team for inputting on setup, which had it not been for adversity surely would have been a race winning one. I'd also like to extend a thanks to @Heathenpride for getting me onto applying for a team managers position and showing me the ropes, I've learnt a lot from him.

Big congrats must go to @NingDynasty and jasongreeno for the victory, that blue on the RX-7 looks absolutely stunning, what paint chip is that? That was a stirling drive to victory.

Cheers, Jono.

 

[AJ]

Results Publication

The following have now been published;

- Provisional Classification by Driver
- Provisional Classification by Driver Fastest Lap
- Stint Analysis by Team
- Race Control Notices

 

[NingDynasty]

@JonoStan96 Completely agree on it being a 4 hour sprint. Talking about time loss in traffic, I kept trying to find it as the first half hour in traffic was the only way I could shake @GTP Ziggy. Another great battle at the start just like Bathurst!

Was a shame about the penalty, I was being very cautious to lift if I went off. The first warning was on a useless lap in qualifying while I had already set my lap and was just trying to get some practice with the traffic.

I was also in an emotional state nearing the end of the race. Exhausted from my extra long stint due to the penalty, when the broadcast said you took the lead I was in a tizzy. We had done our best to track everything and knew that prior to your penalty you were on the lead lap but once you also got that dose of medicine we had Jason in safe mode making sure to get the car to the finish. He was certainly the faster of the two of us this weekend but it shows his skill that he was able to keep away from the fast lap competition and keep our RX7 prestine.

This tight twisty circuit was always going to be the best shot at victory for our pokey RX7 but we'll show up and grind at the rest!

 

[GTP Ziggy]

@JonoStan96 Completely agree on it being a 4 hour sprint. Talking about time loss in traffic, I kept trying to find it as the first half hour in traffic was the only way I could shake @GTP Ziggy. Another great battle at the start just like Bathurst!

Was a shame about the penalty, I was being very cautious to lift if I went off. The first warning was on a useless lap in qualifying while I had already set my lap and was just trying to get some practice with the traffic.

I was also in an emotional state nearing the end of the race. Exhausted from my extra long stint due to the penalty, when the broadcast said you took the lead I was in a tizzy. We had done our best to track everything and knew that prior to your penalty you were on the lead lap but once you also got that dose of medicine we had Jason in safe mode making sure to get the car to the finish. He was certainly the faster of the two of us this weekend but it shows his skill that he was able to keep away from the fast lap competition and keep our RX7 prestine.

This tight twisty circuit was always going to be the best shot at victory for our pokey RX7 but we'll show up and grind at the rest!

It was a great race, traffic wore me down early and the deficit grew and I couldn't find the pace like in QP. I should have been more agressive with the traffic, but the track is so tight and I kept running into them at the wrong places at the wrong times. At times I was fortunate to bring it back in one piece!

@JonoStan96 was definitly too quick, riding from the pit start to the lead, setting a great pace. We had great battles, Jono catching me close to the end ofmy stint. I had an weird pit lane pass through when I thought that GT6 registered that I was taking a pit, but I was going too fast into pit lane and popped back out and then in because I could not recover a higher speed in time, so that cost me time.

However, by the end of my stint I had second in this fast paced race. My team wound up placing third overall, but I believed it was a good day for me as I look to improve in the future. Probably one of the most exciting races I have been a part of, like most races in the GTP ES...

Props to @NingDynasty and for the early battle and win for his team and @JonoStan96 for excellent racing and heated competition, and @AJ, the stewards, and commentators for making every event special and significant.

 

[HP]

I'd also like to extend a thanks to @Heathenpride for getting me onto applying for a team managers position and showing me the ropes, I've learnt a lot from him.

*blushes*

Thanks @JonoStan96, sounds like you and your guys did a great job! It's not easy being the manager, it may seem easy from the outside but there's a lot to get your head around plus all the queries and the pressure of knowing if it all goes belly-up then it's all going to fall back on you.

It's fun but it can be a headache with one team and you've got two to deal with! Just enjoy it and feel free to sing out if you need anything 👍