- 4,209
- Wasilla, AK
Is that how you spell the name of that car? I don't know. Anyway, you may or may not know that I've posted three or four race reports in the GT4 forum, none of them complete. I very nearly posted a complete one, but mistakenly switched off the PS2 out of habit and destroyed all my race progress. Ironic, then, that my first complete endurance report is not from GT4 but from GT2.
Anyway, as the name implies, I still play GT2 occasionally, and this time I decided to do an endurance race. After trying the Trial Mountain 30 laps in a Neon R/T (too slow) and the Seattle Circuit 100 Miles in a Viper RT/10 (too much oversteer), I decided to try my 700hp GTR, which I've had for years and used almost exclusively for moneymaking (mostly to fund the [R] obsession I used to have), at the SSR5 All Night. Maybe it was a little bit of overkill, but it was a very fun race and just the right length too. I've been bitten by the bug, and look forward to (hopefully) submitting many more reports from all the main GT games (including the original if I can find a copy).
Anyway, the AI opponents were '98 and '99 GT-Ones, '97 and '98 R390s, and a Calibra Touring Car, although I don't remember which order they started in.
The start, actually, did not fortell a good, clean, fun race. I bumbled my way through the pack, trading paint partly due to AI incompetence and partly due to my own impatience. In retrospect, I probably cheated myself out of a fun start, but at the time it all seemed like the AI's fault for driving like the unflinching robots they are. At least I tried, although I was undoubtedly at fault in quite a few collisions.
By the time I'd emerged in second, the '99 GT-One had pulled out a couple seconds on everyone else. I set to work chasing him down, and a teriffic fight ensued. But I was either a superior driver or (more likely) had a superior car, because I was gaining slightly on the GT-One every lap until he no longer appeared in my mirror on the front straight. Meanwhile, the car was getting more and more understeery, until, on lap 15 or so, my front tires are pretty much used up. I push them for two more laps before finally pitting on lap 17.
The GT-One pits on lap 19, and I begin running pit strategies through my head. If we'd both held to set patterns, I would have come in on lap 34, while the GT-One would have come in on lap 38. That would make it a two-stop race for both of us, but his tires would still have some usefulness left at the end while mine would be somewhat past their expiration date.
Thus, I decided to be somewhat kinder to the car on the second stint and put off my pit stop for as long as possible (or at least until lap 38). I doubt the somewhat lighter driving helped much (especially since I didn't do a very good job of it), but I managed to stall my pit stop until lap 37, at which point the GT-One caught me and I figured it was counterproductive to delay any further. Fortunately, the GT-One actually followed me in!
Once out of the pits, I left the GT-One behind, chased down the '97 R390 that had passed us while we were pitting, and cruised to victory... although I think it's safe to say that by lap 48, an hour and five minutes into the race, I was feeling the effects of fatigue. At the end, I won (of course
), the '99 GT-One, as expected, came second, and the '98 rounded out the podium. The '97 R390 came fourth, the '98 R390 came fifth, and the Calibra came last, nearly two laps off the pace. Why does it even show up in this race?
Anyway, as the name implies, I still play GT2 occasionally, and this time I decided to do an endurance race. After trying the Trial Mountain 30 laps in a Neon R/T (too slow) and the Seattle Circuit 100 Miles in a Viper RT/10 (too much oversteer), I decided to try my 700hp GTR, which I've had for years and used almost exclusively for moneymaking (mostly to fund the [R] obsession I used to have), at the SSR5 All Night. Maybe it was a little bit of overkill, but it was a very fun race and just the right length too. I've been bitten by the bug, and look forward to (hopefully) submitting many more reports from all the main GT games (including the original if I can find a copy).
Anyway, the AI opponents were '98 and '99 GT-Ones, '97 and '98 R390s, and a Calibra Touring Car, although I don't remember which order they started in.
The start, actually, did not fortell a good, clean, fun race. I bumbled my way through the pack, trading paint partly due to AI incompetence and partly due to my own impatience. In retrospect, I probably cheated myself out of a fun start, but at the time it all seemed like the AI's fault for driving like the unflinching robots they are. At least I tried, although I was undoubtedly at fault in quite a few collisions.
By the time I'd emerged in second, the '99 GT-One had pulled out a couple seconds on everyone else. I set to work chasing him down, and a teriffic fight ensued. But I was either a superior driver or (more likely) had a superior car, because I was gaining slightly on the GT-One every lap until he no longer appeared in my mirror on the front straight. Meanwhile, the car was getting more and more understeery, until, on lap 15 or so, my front tires are pretty much used up. I push them for two more laps before finally pitting on lap 17.
The GT-One pits on lap 19, and I begin running pit strategies through my head. If we'd both held to set patterns, I would have come in on lap 34, while the GT-One would have come in on lap 38. That would make it a two-stop race for both of us, but his tires would still have some usefulness left at the end while mine would be somewhat past their expiration date.
Thus, I decided to be somewhat kinder to the car on the second stint and put off my pit stop for as long as possible (or at least until lap 38). I doubt the somewhat lighter driving helped much (especially since I didn't do a very good job of it), but I managed to stall my pit stop until lap 37, at which point the GT-One caught me and I figured it was counterproductive to delay any further. Fortunately, the GT-One actually followed me in!
Once out of the pits, I left the GT-One behind, chased down the '97 R390 that had passed us while we were pitting, and cruised to victory... although I think it's safe to say that by lap 48, an hour and five minutes into the race, I was feeling the effects of fatigue. At the end, I won (of course
), the '99 GT-One, as expected, came second, and the '98 rounded out the podium. The '97 R390 came fourth, the '98 R390 came fifth, and the Calibra came last, nearly two laps off the pace. Why does it even show up in this race?
