Stay Focus-ed ! A GVS300 race report

[elrousso]

I recently unlocked the endurance events, and I was looking forward to race my first one on GT5 (I've had great races on GT4's enduros, so I was looking forward for more nice and challenging races on GT5), and to my great delight the first one is my all time favorite, the Grand Valley 300. After looking at the potential opponents, I settled on my Ford Focus ST '06 to tackle the challenge. This is actually my second try, as there was a Mazda RX-7 on the first race that I only realized I could not catch up after a couple laps into the race, when trying with Sports Soft tyres (as the competition seems to be using). I also steered clear of the NSXs that popped up in the lineup because from experience, I won't be able to catch them either.

First of all, here's my car for this event, and the set-up I used.

Focus ST '06 (412.3 km on the odometer)
229hp (down to 228hp after the race)
1430kg
Performance Blue

Modifications :
Sports Catalytic Converter
Fully Customizable Transmission
Twin-Plate Clutch
Semi-Racing Flywheel
Fully Customizable Suspension
Racing Hard Tyres

Set-up :
Top Speed : 220km/h
Ride Height : -15 / -10
Spring Rate : 10.0 / 11.0
Dampers (Ext.) : 7.0 / 7.0
Dampers (Comp.) : 8.0 / 8.0
Anti-Roll Bars : 4.0 / 4.0
Camber Angle : 1.0 / 0.0
Toe Angle : 0.00 / 0.00
Brake Balance : 5 / 5

Traction Control is set at 4, ASM is ON and ABS is set at 1

So, basically, I'm heavier and slower than the competition, so I hope I tuned well to help me overcome these shortcomings.

THE COMPETITION (in starting grid order)

IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi spec C '04

Mazdaspeed Atenza '05

Lancer Evolution X GSR P.P. '07

Skyline Coupe 350GT '03

SILVIA spec-R AERO (S15) '02

GTO Twin Turbo MR '95

Fairlady Z Version S (Z33) '07

SKYLINE GT-R V-spec II (R32) '94

300ZX 2by2 (Z32) '98

Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96

Lancer Evolution VIII GSR '03

I'm expecting the most competition from the Impreza and Lancers, though the Skylines could put up a good race as well, with the Atenza (heavy and not so powerful) and GTO (heavy as well) closing the group.

RACE START

From 7th on the grid, I come down to 9th after turn 1 then back to 8th after the first hairpin. No need to brake for turn 4, that puts me right back to 7th, and then 5th on the approach to the second right-hand hairpin. Turn 7 sees me get up to 3rd place, which will be mine until I overtake the Evo X at turn 4 on lap 2.

From there on, it looks like I'll be chasing that white WRX for a while... until I put the Focus' nose past it on the bridge on lap 4 !

The Impreza being faster than me on the straights, it drafts me and gets back in pole position just before turn 1 on lap 5, a position it would hold until I overtake it again in turn 5. The WRX tails me all along the lap but I'm faster coming out of turn 12 and onto the bridge, so I can stay a couple seconds ahead, and I would stay in the lead from lap 6 onwards, with the WRX a couple seconds behind, even though I can put just about a second per lap on it.

It's a heated battle up front, with my lead on the WRX being only half a second starting lap 14, and further back, the Silvia and Fairlady being separated (at times) by just about two tenths of a second, while the battle for 10th place being fought between the GTO and 300ZX, with a gap of about half a second between the two.

Now, as I would learn the hard way during the race, I'm driving hard and at 1430kg, the Focus is far from being a lightweight, so I'm eating up tyres fast, way faster than the opposition. Actually I pushed my luck a good bit, as the WRX took back first place on lap 15 due to my bad driving, as my tyres were extermely worn (I almost couldn't even turn at all during laps 18 and 19). I wanted to get to 20 laps before pitting, as that would have left me with only one more stop at lap 40, but I couldn't get past lap 19, and probably shouldn't have raced more than around 17 laps before my first stop, as I wasn't able to hold on enough speed in the corners.

Standings after lap 19 :
1. IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi spec C '04
2. Lancer Evolution X GSR P.P. '07
3. Lancer Evolution VIII GSR '03
4. Focus ST '06
5. Skyline Coupe 350GT '03
6. SILVIA spec-R AERO (S15) '02
7. Fairlady Z Version S (Z33) '07
8. SKYLINE GT-R V-spec II (R32) '94
9. Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96
10. GTO Twin Turbo MR '95
11. 300ZX 2by2 (Z32) '98
12. Mazdaspeed Atenza '05

So, first stop on lap 19, about 30 seconds back, only replacing the tyres, as I still have enough fuel to last until my next pitstop at least. I get out of the pits in 4th place, with around 1:06 to catch on the leader, who hasn't pitted yet... I set my sights on the 3rd place Evo VIII (which has been racing a solid race, starting in 12th place on the grid and working his way up to third), which is about 10 seconds in front of me, while keeping an eye on the gap between myself and the leader, who (fortunately for me) gets repeatedly caught up behind slower cars, so I'm about 5 seconds back from 3rd and a minute behind the leader at the start of lap 22. I'm consistently lapping 2:13-2:14 laps, with the occasional dip into the 2:12s when I'm lucky drafting another car.

The lead WRX, meanwhile, seems to be lapping consistent 2:16s, and has lapped the 12th placed Atenza, while I catch up to the 3rd placed Evo VIII at the start of lap 23, and overtake the 2nd placed Evo X at the end of lap 23 as well. Onwards from now, I need to be lapping power laps to catch up on the WRX, and hope he gets slowed down by other cars, as the gap is now down to around 45 seconds at the start of lap 25.

While I'm catching up to the leader, I'm checking the gap and lap count to see if he's going to the pits, and hoping he does so before lap 30 so that he's playing a two stop strategy. I'm still lapping 2:13 laps, but he seems to be down on pace as the gap is diminishing faster than it had up to this point, as I'm now gaining around 4s a lap, meaning he either got stuck behind some opposition or his tyres can't keep up the pace (pitstop in the works ?). I'm now starting lap 27 and the gap is down to around 35s. My calculations show that I'll have to stop on laps 35-36 if I want to keep a nice pace, but that will still leave me with another stop after that, so a win will be hard to pull off with a three stop strategy to what looks to be a one stop strategy for the Impreza, as we are now on lap 29 and he still hasn't stopped yet. My laptimes have dropped in the 2:15 range now, but I keep gaining around 3s a lap on the leader, so he must have got stuck someplace.

Starting lap 30, my fear has come true : the WRX still has not stopped, my gap to the leader is now around 28s and seems to keep decreasing steadily, but I'm still waiting for the Impreza to stop, so I devise a new strategy. I'll push up the pace and try to catch him until he stops, then I'll stop at the same time for a fast stop (only tyres), and pace up to put some separation between us, provided I get out of the pits before he does. Lap 32, gap is down to around 20s, but a quick glance at the map shows he likely won't get slowed down for a couple laps, hopefully I can still gain time on him bfore he stops. Lap 33, gap is down to 14s, so he's slowing down now, a pit stop is likely close by. Meanwhile, I'm lapping 5th placed Evo IV, and the gap is now down to 12s by the start of lap 34. I'm steadily gaining ground during the lap, and the gap is down to 9s at the bridge split, so I still have a chance to catch him, when I see him go into the pits on lap 34, and I follow him in.

Standings after lap 34 :
1. IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi spec C '04
2. Focus ST '06
3. Lancer Evolution X GSR P.P. '07
4. Lancer Evolution VIII GSR '03
5. SILVIA spec-R AERO (S15) '02
6. Skyline Coupe 350GT '03
7. Fairlady Z Version S (Z33) '07
8. SKYLINE GT-R V-spec II (R32) '94
9. Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96
10. 300ZX 2by2 (Z32) '98
11. GTO Twin Turbo MR '95
12. Mazdaspeed Atenza '05

My strategy paid off, as I get out in front of the Impreza on the straight, as he's waiting to get refueled, what I didn't do. No I'll need as much separation as possible before my next stop, which I plan for laps 44-45, as that will give me a good amount of laps to catch the leader if I can't put enough of a gap between us before I need to stop for fuel. Starting lap 36, I'm around 13s in front and puching hard, thankfully the tyres are new so the grip is plentiful. I can see on the map some opponents in front of me, hopefully I won't get stuck too much and he will, giving me an even greater gap for my pitstop. Gap has increased, so he probably got stuck behind the last car I overtook, but I don't expect him to get slowed down for too much time, so I keep up the pace, lapping 2:13s and low 2:14s to his 2:15s (as he's full on gas and I'm nearly empty).

I'm already planning to stop at the end of lap 44, giving me 16 laps to play catch up on the WRX once he passes me while I'm in the pits, hopefully the gap won't be too large... I'm about 20s in front when I get into the pits at the end of lap 44.

Standings after lap 44 :
1. IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi spec C '04
2. Focus ST '06
3. Lancer Evolution X GSR P.P. '07
4. Lancer Evolution VIII GSR '03
5. SILVIA spec-R AERO (S15) '02
6. Fairlady Z Version S (Z33) '07
7. Skyline Coupe 350GT '03
8. SKYLINE GT-R V-spec II (R32) '94
9. Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96
10. 300ZX 2by2 (Z32) '98
11. GTO Twin Turbo MR '95
12. Mazdaspeed Atenza '05

Pitstop on lap 44 for new tyres and 30L of fuel, so I don't end up thirsty before the end of the race. The WRX passes me as I pit (as expected), first split into lap 45, I'm 16 seconds behind, with 16 laps to go, fair enough, it'll be easier to calculate, 1s per lap and I win (easier said than done). I've got brand new tyres and I'm not too heavy on fuel, but his tyres only have 10 laps on them and he's done 34 laps on his first set, so I don't expect them to be worn, I know he's heavier than me on fuel but my car is heavier than his (without fuel), and he's faster than me on the straights, so it'll make up for a challenging final stint.

Starting lap 46, gap is down to 14.5s, so I'm gaining a little more than expected there, and a look at the map tells me it's because the WRX got stuck behind traffic a little bit, so I hope it stays that way before my laptimes drop too much. But on lap 47, I realize he's not slowed down anymore, still I gained about 2s on him, so the gap is decreasing more than I wanted. I do have to get through the same traffic that slowed him though, as long as they don't slow me that much I'll be able to catch the leader. I'm still lapping consistent 2:13s, and he seems to be lapping in the high 2:14s-low 2:15s, so I definitely have a chance at catching him before the end of the race, but since he's faster than me on the straights, I don't know if I'll be able to get enough separation from him before he reels me on the straightaways. Gap is now down to 8.5s at the start of lap 49, and to 6.5s on lap 50, enough that I can see the Impreza at the end of the main straight from the pit entrance.

10 laps to go ! I'm 4.5s behind the leader, so the win is definitely possible here, though I'll expect a fierce battle with the WRX when I get near, as it was at the start. I can see possible traffic on the map in front of us, but I can't tell when exactly we'll encounter it, and it turns out the nearest one is going to the pits, leaving only one car to possibly slow us down. I'm still lapping faster than he is, most likely because of the less amount of fuel I have on board. I come within two car lengths of the WRX is the last chicane, but he exits in front of me and pulls away on the following straight. I finally overtake him at the exit of turn 10 on lap 53, as we enter the tunnel, but he pulls back in front when braking for turn 11, and I overtake him again during that same turn because I can take it faster than he does, and increase the gap in turn 12 and on the bridge because I'm faster than him in that section.

As long as I get to the straight with enough space, I'll be able to keep a manageable space between us for the remainder of the race. As expected though, he almost overtakes me at the end of the main straight, but I can still remain in front.

Starting lap 55, I'm roughly 2.5s in front, but I'm getting near the Evo VIII running in 4th place which I overtake at the second hairpin. it seems the WRX is not having the same luck at finding an overtaking point as I did, because he's still behind the Evo all the way until the next lap and beyond, and he fianlly gets past the Evo at the entrance to the tunnel after turn 10, on lap 56, and that gives me a 6s lead as we start lap 57, with me trying to get past the Evo X that I caught up to, and I overtake him at turn 4. Now with 3.5 laps to go, I'm pretty confident I can get the win, providing I don't make any mistakes in the next laps, but I've been driving pretty well up to this point, so I don't think it will be an issue. I catch up to the last place Atenza in turn 8, so that makes another buffer between myself and the WRX, which will likely be pretty harmless until the end of the race. The Impreza finally gets past the Evo X on turn 3, now leaving a 13s gap between us as he passes the Atenza on the main straight for the start of the final lap.

I'm cruising to a victory, with my last two laps being in the 2:17 range, and I stop the timer at 2hours 17minutes 11seconds, with a 12.5s lead over the WRX and at least a lap on every other competitor. Props to the Evo VIII, who started in last place on the grid but managed to finish in fourth place. My best lap in the race was a 2:12.533 (I most likely caught some slipstream, because on the laps I didn't, I was lapping low 2:13s at best).

Final standings (60 laps)
1. Focus ST '06 (2:17:11.766)
2. IMPREZA Sedan WRX STi spec C '04 (+12.515)
3. Lancer Evolution X GSR P.P. '07 (+1 lap)
4. Lancer Evolution VIII GSR '03 (+1 lap)
5. Skyline Coupe 350GT '03 (+1 lap)
6. SKYLINE GT-R V-spec II (R32) '94 (+1 lap)
7. Fairlady Z Version S (Z33) '07 (+1 lap)
8. Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96 (+1 lap)
9. SILVIA spec-R AERO (S15) '02 (+1 lap)
10. 300ZX 2by2 (Z32) '98 (+2 laps)
11. GTO Twin Turbo MR '95 (+2 laps)
12. Mazdaspeed Atenza '05 (+3 laps)

It was an entertaining race to say the least, but I really wondered at some point if I would be able to get back in the lead, with three stops to the competition's 1 or 2 stops, but I was, and quite comfortably when looking at the final results. The Focus was handling quite good, despite being heavier than the main opposition, but it showed in the tyre wear, and it was able to hold its own despite being overpowered by every other car. Next endurance race (not yet available, as I'm not Lv 26) will be the Roadster 4h on Tsukuba, so I'll go from my favorite enduro to the one I dislike the most...

Any comments will be most appreciated !

 

[WuMing77]

Hey, nice report! I never thought I would be interested in someone else's video game race but that was an entertaining read, nice photos too.

 

[Kludger]

Yes thanks for the after action report, definitely interesting to see how the car combo and fuel/tire strategy worked out.

I've only tried the Indy 500 race so far and my car was much faster than the competition (R89) and so it became a bit boring once I had 4 lap lead, though I was pleasantly surprised to see how bad the car feels when you wear the tires out to the point that it almost seems to blow and not able to keep the car pointed straight unless going slow all the way into the pits (I spun and lost a lap from letting one tire wear completely out as a test).

I'll try this particular race one of these weekends when I have some time, and I'll use your report as a basis to pick a car that keeps the race close.

 

[dc16a2]

After using up a certain amount of fuel in your tank, you should add just enough to get you to the next pit on all future pits.

You're going to spend time in the pit anyways to change your tires, so why not add just enough fuel to get you to your next tire change/pit stop... doing this means that after the initial pits of a race, you'll have the least fuel possible to still race and thus be as light as possible.

 

[Knitchy]

Very nice read, I was thoroughly entertained by that.

More please

 

[culturalsnow]

Nice writeup and pics. Some of my fave GT4 threads were in the race reports, especially the oddball cars like the 1886 Motor Carriage. Look forward to writing my own when I unlock the endurance races.

 

[elrousso]

Hey, nice report! I never thought I would be interested in someone else's video game race but that was an entertaining read, nice photos too.

Nice writeup and pics. Some of my fave GT4 threads were in the race reports, especially the oddball cars like the 1886 Motor Carriage. Look forward to writing my own when I unlock the endurance races.

Thanks WuMing77 and culturalsnow !

Very nice read, I was thoroughly entertained by that.

More please

Thanks Knitchy, like I wrote, my next race should be the 4hr Roadster one, but I don't think I'll write a report on this one since I expect it to be a boring race, even if I do my best to pick a car that will make for some challenge (I'm not that much into one-make races), but I'll definitely try my hand at a new report when I race another close one !

Yes thanks for the after action report, definitely interesting to see how the car combo and fuel/tire strategy worked out.

I've only tried the Indy 500 race so far and my car was much faster than the competition (R89) and so it became a bit boring once I had 4 lap lead, though I was pleasantly surprised to see how bad the car feels when you wear the tires out to the point that it almost seems to blow and not able to keep the car pointed straight unless going slow all the way into the pits (I spun and lost a lap from letting one tire wear completely out as a test).

I'll try this particular race one of these weekends when I have some time, and I'll use your report as a basis to pick a car that keeps the race close.

I'm not yet to the level required to tackle the Indy 500, but I look forward to it in the near future, and as for this one, I'll try and use a car that's not too overpowered for the competition, I like close races 👍

You mention how bad the car felt when it had completely worn tyres, that exactly what happened to me on lap 19, and to some extent on lap 18, for example, I was usually going about 75-80 km/h on the second hairpin at Grand Valley, but on those two laps I had to get down to 60-65 km/h just to be able to turn the car...

I'm looking forward to hearing from you when you try that race, let me know what car and set-up you'll be using

After using up a certain amount of fuel in your tank, you should add just enough to get you to the next pit on all future pits.

You're going to spend time in the pit anyways to change your tires, so why not add just enough fuel to get you to your next tire change/pit stop... doing this means that after the initial pits of a race, you'll have the least fuel possible to still race and thus be as light as possible.

That is actually what I did, as I did not refuel until my last pitstop since I had enough fuel to go through the first three stints. Also, I might point out that from my experience (I don't know if it is always the case but it seems to), fuel is added after the tyres are changed, so it is actually faster not to refuel unless necessary, hence why I did not take on fuel until my last stop on lap 44. Since the cars all start with maximum fuel at the beginning of the race, I made a quick calculation at the time of my first stop, I had used 39L of fuel for 19 laps, so roughly 2L/lap, hence I would need about 120L for the entire 60 laps. The fuel tank contains 100L, so I needed to put at least 20L in, but I chose to fill up with 30L, for insurance

 

[marcandre187]

Great read. Nice job

 

[Akmuq]

Brilliant race and a very brave strategy as well. I won this race in gt3(it was supergt then) by 2 or 3 seconds because I had a different strategy which saved me a stop despite being slower.

 

[Bandwidth815]

This was awesome! I especially loved the bit about you driving a focus, I own one in real life (though not the ST).

 

[elrousso]

This was awesome! I especially loved the bit about you driving a focus, I own one in real life (though not the ST).

Thanks, I actually drove a Focus a few years back as my daily car, but since I am in Canada, we don't get the high performance models... Mine was a 2003 ZX5 5-door hatchback

 

[ikarys]

That was a long and rewarding read. Good job!

 

[elrousso]

That was a long and rewarding read. Good job!

Thanks ikarys !

Brilliant race and a very brave strategy as well. I won this race in gt3(it was supergt then) by 2 or 3 seconds because I had a different strategy which saved me a stop despite being slower.

Actually I think it was a SuperGT race in GT4 as well (because I never played GT3), I'm curious as to which car you used in GT3 to get the win... Yeah my strategy was pretty bold, but it is not what I thought I would do, it pretty much unfolded during the race, when I saw what was happening with the competition and especially with my tyres... It would be great if we could see tyre wear and fuel consumption during offline practicing, would give a good idea of how many laps a car can go on a track while making adjustments to the tune...

 

[Harley45]

Thoughly good read , look forward to the next one 👍

 

[Consigliere]

Very nice read! 👍 Excellent to include pics!

Looking forward to many race reports with GT5. There were many fantastic reports with GT4 and I loved them.

Cheers!

 

[Akmuq]

Actually I think it was a SuperGT race in GT4 as well (because I never played GT3), I'm curious as to which car you used in GT3 to get the win... Yeah my strategy was pretty bold, but it is not what I thought I would do, it pretty much unfolded during the race, when I saw what was happening with the competition and especially with my tyres... It would be great if we could see tyre wear and fuel consumption during offline practicing, would give a good idea of how many laps a car can go on a track while making adjustments to the tune...

I think it was more gt300 in gt4. I think it was a Camaro road car in gt3 and I lightened it to go easy on it's tires. I'm not sure if I had to make modifications, I could easily be confusing this with another race. I never did it in gt4. Of course there was no fuel in gt3.

 

[bimmer3002]

any chance you'll run this again with a different car for another write-up? you did such a great job on this one, i would very much like to have another to get me through my work day. cheers mate!!

 

[dc16a2]

That is actually what I did, as I did not refuel until my last pitstop since I had enough fuel to go through the first three stints. Also, I might point out that from my experience (I don't know if it is always the case but it seems to), fuel is added after the tyres are changed, so it is actually faster not to refuel unless necessary, hence why I did not take on fuel until my last stop on lap 44. Since the cars all start with maximum fuel at the beginning of the race, I made a quick calculation at the time of my first stop, I had used 39L of fuel for 19 laps, so roughly 2L/lap, hence I would need about 120L for the entire 60 laps. The fuel tank contains 100L, so I needed to put at least 20L in, but I chose to fill up with 30L, for insurance

Hmm, very interesting. I do feel like the pit stops take longer than they should. I'm going to experiment with pit stop refuels when I get out of work... I too put in a bit extra for insurance =)

 

[variable_chaos]

All of the people out there carrying on about how the piddly 5 lap seasonal races were ruined because they removed the restrictions need to come read this write-up.

I commend you, sir. 👍

 

[raz_10]

Nice report 👍
How many times did you reset to get that line up? I was trying to get one without the faster cars but could not find one.
So I settle with one that had a RX-7 RS. Man that was a fast guy luckily I was in my RX-7 I used in the seasonal events (same set up)
Only thing I don't like is that now GT does not give you the info on who is pitting in or how many laps down they are at the end of the race.

 

[MowTin]

Well written. How long did it take you to write all that? I'm much too lazy to do something like that.

Anyway, it really stimulated my interest in enduro racing. But I think it would be even more fun online against humans.

But how did you know your car was powerful enough to win?

 

[Counter_Z23]

ASM slowed you down man.

 

[McRoflSandwich]

Wow, really enjoyed that, thanks for sharing! It makes me want to try this enduro too. I'll give it a shot tomorrow I reckon.

 

[Bandwidth815]

Thanks, I actually drove a Focus a few years back as my daily car, but since I am in Canada, we don't get the high performance models... Mine was a 2003 ZX5 5-door hatchback

Yeah, same where I live. I have an 03 ZX3. The only higher performance one is the SVT but I never see any in VT.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Very good read thanks for posting.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I did this race in a mildly modified S2000 on sport hard tires, and narrowly beat the AI RX-7 at the line by .6xx of a second.

 

[Patrocles]

Cool report! Makes me wish I did not have to grind so much to try this out!

Have you considered submitting your reports to the other poster who is planning a GT5 fan-made magazine/pdf? the thread is somewhere in here...

What is the HP, tyres, weights, mods in the cars of your opponents? I'm a newb to GT and I do not know how these cars compare with your Focus car and having numbers to compare would be helpful.

 

[parabulla]

All of the people out there carrying on about how the piddly 5 lap seasonal races were ruined because they removed the restrictions need to come read this write-up.

I commend you, sir. 👍

I second that, Amen.

 

[250 GTO]

Very nice report.

Just finished this race myself. I did it in the Mercedes 190 2.5 etc etc. Only gave it a few modifications to bring up the hp a little. I used sports soft tires, manual gear and all aids off except ABS1. It toke me over an hour to catch the RX-7 in the first place, and the rest of the race it was back and forth between him and me. I ended up winning with 12 seconds.
It was a great race!

 

[elrousso]

any chance you'll run this again with a different car for another write-up? you did such a great job on this one, i would very much like to have another to get me through my work day. cheers mate!!

I don't think I'll write another report on this particular race before doing some of the others at least, but I'm definitely going to try that race with a different car and lineup, I'm planning to get something a little more powerful and try to win against the RX-7 that I couldn't catch the first time, and then go even further and find a car that can give the NSXs a run for their money, without spending too much money myself !

All of the people out there carrying on about how the piddly 5 lap seasonal races were ruined because they removed the restrictions need to come read this write-up.

I commend you, sir. 👍

I posted in that thread as well, you gave me the idea I actually think that challenging yourself to win in an underdog car is more satisfying than winning by overpowering the competition, after all we buy videogames to have fun, and I'm getting more fun knowing I can likely lose and finally win rather than knowing I can win and then win by X amount of laps...

And by the way, keep that "Sir" thing for my father, I'm not that old (and I'm no knight either, yet)

Nice report 👍
How many times did you reset to get that line up? I was trying to get one without the faster cars but could not find one.
So I settle with one that had a RX-7 RS. Man that was a fast guy luckily I was in my RX-7 I used in the seasonal events (same set up)
Only thing I don't like is that now GT does not give you the info on who is pitting in or how many laps down they are at the end of the race.

I actually reset the lineup one time, as there were two NSXs in the first one, so I can consider myself lucky it didn't take too long before finding a good lineup... I also liked the fact that the game would tell you who is pitting when, like a race manager would give that info to the driver, but now it is gone, you have to pay more attention to the map and actually look in the pits when you pass by to see who's in...

Well written. How long did it take you to write all that? I'm much too lazy to do something like that.

Anyway, it really stimulated my interest in enduro racing. But I think it would be even more fun online against humans.

But how did you know your car was powerful enough to win?

Let's say it took me a little more than watching the whole replay, with the pauses I took while watching to take some pictures, so all in all, that would be around 3-4 hours...

I'll have to say experience played a major part in knowing the car would be suitable or not, as I had won my share of close enduros in the past, let's take GT4 for example, it was easy to gauge with the A-Spec points, and I won the Laguna Seca 200 (against american muscle cars mainly, and we know that the Ford GT can be a hell of a car to beat in a race) with a TT Quattro 1.8T, and the Nurburgring 24h that I won with a Mercedes 190e EvoII race car, to name a few, those two were 200pts races, and my cars were not or almost not modified, only tuned.

I did this race in a mildly modified S2000 on sport hard tires, and narrowly beat the AI RX-7 at the line by .6xx of a second.

Well that must have been a great race, what was the set-up like for your S2000 ? It's actually in my list of cars to try next time.

Cool report! Makes me wish I did not have to grind so much to try this out!

Have you considered submitting your reports to the other poster who is planning a GT5 fan-made magazine/pdf? the thread is somewhere in here...

What is the HP, tyres, weights, mods in the cars of your opponents? I'm a newb to GT and I do not know how these cars compare with your Focus car and having numbers to compare would be helpful.

I am considering sending it to the GTP fan magazine, but in its current state, the report hasn't got enough "meat", I'll have to beef it up before sending it, and take better pictures...

I don't know the exact HP, weight and mods for the opposition cars, but according to the "Typical opponents" screen before entering the race, they're all in the low 300hp range (about 340hp would be tops IIRC) and they would weight between 1350-1700kg mainly (with the WRX being in the lightest of the bunch, and GTO MR one of the heaviest). I'm in the lower range for weight with 1430kg, but I had only 229hp available under the bonnet, and had to stop three times for tyres, yes I was faster on some parts (and some turns I didn't have to brake at all), but I was still missing some horses on that long straightaway, and that's where I thought I could lose the race in the long run...

Very nice report.

Just finished this race myself. I did it in the Mercedes 190 2.5 etc etc. Only gave it a few modifications to bring up the hp a little. I used sports soft tires, manual gear and all aids off except ABS1. It toke me over an hour to catch the RX-7 in the first place, and the rest of the race it was back and forth between him and me. I ended up winning with 12 seconds.
It was a great race!

Thanks mate ! The Merc was actually one of my first choices, but I saw someone did actually try it with this car, so I wanted to use a different one. What was your set-up like ? How many stops did you have to make ? The power and weight must've been quite similar to my Focus' (you were probably lighter though IIRC), but being a rear-wheel drive car must be quite different from the Ford's FF layout...