A legend's return
Yes, it's the GT40.
No, it's not the GT40 Race Car.
It's the Mark I.
The GT40 is one of my favorite cars, so after driving it around and realizing that it was pretty quick, I decided to run it at LM24. Its specs after modifications were as follows:
PP: 638
HP: 845
Weight: 1093 kg (994 + 99 kg of ballast)
Tyres: Racing Soft
My first task was to find a grid without the C60 Hybride, because that thing would demolish me no matter what. So after a few tries, I was pitted against the following grid:
1. L. Marty - Toyota 7
2. S. Nishida - MINOLTA Toyota 88C-V
3. M. Barthelemy - Peugeot 905
4. F. Kok - Jaguar XJR-9
5. B. Díez - Pescarolo Courage C60 - Peugeot
6. F. Martins - Pescarolo Courage - Judd GV5
7. W. Dietrich - Mazda 787B
8. J. Philippe - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - Team Peugeot Total
9. D. Janssen - Audi R8 Team PlayStation
10. P. Hansen - Toyota GT-One TS020
11. K. Rothstein - Audi R10 TDI Stealth Model
12. N. Jansson - Nissan R390 GT1
13. E. Theissen - Audi R10 TDI
14. U. Williams - Ford Mark IV Race Car
15. B. Larsen - Jaguar XJ13
16. GT5Power - Ford GT40 Mark I
Lap 1 - 3:40.449
I slip past the XJ13 at Dunlop Curve and pass the Mark IV while accelerating into the Esses. I catch the draft of the R10 and swiftly overtake him on the straight before the first chicane. The pack of the R390, R10 Stealth and GT-One is too far away for me to be in their slipstream but I still outrun them and after the second chicane I'm right behind them. I go round the outside of the GT-One at Mulsanne Corner, draft past the R390 and pass the R10 Stealth at Indianapolis. I get wide coming out of the Porsche Curves and the R10 sneaks by and then dives into the pits, as do most of my opponents, including the Minolta in first. I pass some pitted cars before the end of the lap and finish the lap in 8th place, 11 seconds behind the now-leading 905.
Lap 2 - 3:40.725
The rest of the pitted cars are passed and I'm suddenly 3rd, closely followed by the R390. I slipstream past the R8 before the second chicane on the Mulsanne Straight, however knowing that braking for Mulsanne is hell for the GT40, I ease off and let him by; indeed, I get sideways and lose quite a bit of ground. I outrun him on the straight and slightly punt his back at Indianapolis, but he is much faster accelerating out of Arnage and I lose him. Meanwhile, the Minolta is battling the XJR-9 for 6th and they have yet to catch the Pescarolo Judd GV5 who apparently came out of the pits earlier than everyone else. I catch back up to the R8 at the Ford Chicanes and find that he's very close to the inexplicably slow 905, who ran a 3:49 lap
I end the lap in 3rd place, 2 seconds behind the leading 905.
Lap 3 - 3:48.362 - Pit In
A battle for the lead ensues between the 905, R8 and me from Tertre Rouge all the way to Arnage, but I hang back on the straight because if I get them behind me they'll ram me into next week in the braking zones
Again I lose them after Arnage and make up a bit of time while entering the pits (sadly I won't make a 4th lap on this fuel), ending the lap in 3rd, 4 seconds behind. Further back, the Minolta, Pescarolo and XJR-9 catch the 4th place R390 and it is the Minolta that comes out on top after the R390 drifts into the sandtrap at the entrance of the Porsche Curves (so do the 908 and 787B, what is wrong with that place?
). I fill my tank to the brim, preparing for a short stop on the next lap.
Lap 4 - 4:22.222 (
) - Pit Out, Pit In
The R8 barely overtakes me in the pits and a weird glitch (?) occurs in that I only accelerate to 20 km/h and keep going at that speed until the exit. The 905 comes out right behind me and I'm shown as being 7 seconds behind the leading R8 at Tertre Rouge. During the lap I slightly pull away from the 905 on my new Softs we both gain on the R8. I dive into the pits again and put in a bit less than what I'm offered. Knowing from a previous failed run that the Softs would be as good as flat on lap 7 I switch to Mediums. I end the lap in 2nd, 5 seconds behind the R8.
Lap 5 - 4:10.692 - Pit Out
I emerge from the pits in 7th (no slowdown glitch this time, did the pit crew fix it?
) and battle the Pescarolo Courage C60 for position throughout the lap. In the meantime, the 905 chips away at the gap to the R8 and is only 2 seconds behind at the end of the lap. The Minolta closes in as well, but he has to pit. Me and the Pescarolo catch up to the 5th place XJR-9, who enters the pit lane as well. I end the lap in 6th place, 27.5 seconds back.
Lap 6 - 3:47.722
The fight against the Pescarolo continues until the exit of the first Chicanes of the Mulsanne Straight, where the Mediums start to lose grip and I spin out, hitting the wall and losing some 7 seconds. Suddenly the 6th place 787B is on my bumper. As per usual, I lose him after Arnage and re-pass him while he pits along with every other car in front of me. The 905 manages to get past the R8 on the Mulsanne Straight and ends up pitting from the lead. With 16 seconds to go, I begin lap 7 in 5th place, with the 905 32 seconds up the road. The 8th place Minolta is the last car to cross the line before the 24-minute limit elapses, doing so 10 seconds after me.
Lap 7 - 3:46.123
The GT40 takes the lead for the very first time in the whole race, barring the lap 3 pitstops. I was already worried about the Minolta managing to cover a 10-second gap until the end with me on worn tyres, however the 905 adds to my worries by coming out of the pit lane while I'm only at Dunlop Curve!
The Tertre Rouge checkpoint shows us as being a mere 4.3 seconds apart, with the Minolta another 4.7 seconds further back. Fortunately I can still reach speeds of about 375 km/h on the Mulsanne Straight, so my lead is up to 5 seconds at Mulsanne Corner. I begin to hope that this will not be as hard as I thought.
Only for all that hope to evaporate as the 905 shaves off 2 seconds between Mulsanne and Indianapolis alone. F:censored:.
The Minolta is now only 4.9 seconds behind me and the Porsche Curves are torture on these hot tyres. The final checkpoint shows my lead as 1.351s from the 905 and 2.732s from the Minolta. By the Ford Chicanes the 905 is on my rear bumper and the Minolta is on his. The 905 punts me, making me briefly lose control and almost toss the race out the window. But I keep it together and there's nothing they can do as the little GT40 crosses the finish line and the crowd goes wild!
Final Standings:
1. GT5Power - Ford GT40 Mark I - 27:31.078
2. M. Barthelemy - Peugeot 905 - +0.350s
3. S. Nishida - MINOLTA Toyota 88C-V - +1.191s
4. D. Janssen - Audi R8 Team PlayStation - +8.743s
5. F. Martins - Pescarolo Courage - Judd GV5 - +12.151s
6. B. Díez - Pescarolo Courage C60 - Peugeot - +28.144s
7. W. Dietrich - Mazda 787B - +34.211s
8. J. Philippe - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - Team Peugeot Total - +58.455s
9. L. Marty - Toyota 7 - +1 lap
10. P. Hansen - Toyota GT-One TS020 - +1 lap
11. N. Jansson - Nissan R390 GT1 - +1 lap
12. K. Rothstein - Audi R10 TDI Stealth Model - +1 lap
13. F. Kok - Jaguar XJR-9 - +1 lap
14. E. Theissen - Audi R10 TDI - +1 lap
15. U. Williams - Ford Mark IV Race Car - +1 lap
16. B. Larsen - Jaguar XJ13 - +1 lap
Post-race notes:
This was absolutely crazy. The sheer oversteer on the GT40 made this one of the hardest races I've ever completed. Even though I had a spin, I don't think the GT40 can go any lower PP-wise, as the 905 and Minolta had bad moments as well. I didn't expect the 905 coming 2nd and instead anticipated a last lap with mirrors full of Minolta, but I was pleasantly surprised. Having a decent lead at the beginning of lap 7 was crucial, as any contact would have resulted in me crying in the sandtrap
Overall a really nice race
