The Yellow Bastard
Not the character in Sin City; this is the story of me getting bullied by the AI at Infineon. Please enjoy.
The second race of the Boxer Spirit series is held at Infineon Raceway. Heres a link to a map of it: http://www.infineonraceway.com/images/2004GeneralMap.lg.jpg
Apparently I arrive at the venue too late for the qualifying stages, so I check my cars settings for the upcoming race. Its a 2004 Subaru WRX STi spec C, with an original suspension from a tuning company, racing brakes, a Stage 3 weight reduction, and some sexy BBS wheels. The engine is grossly underrated at 276 hp by the dealership; mine produces a maximum of 334 hp in stock form and about as much torque. I lower its ride height, stiffen the suspension all around, and give the rear tires some toe-out for a little bit of oversteer.
There is a rolling start. The field is made up of four other WRXes of varying models, none of which should be a challenge for my car, and a 1987 RUF Yellow Bird, which I quickly identify as my prime adversary. This will be a tough race.
The lead car, a late-model WRX sedan, pulls away from the rest of the pack as we race into the second corner, and pays for his boldness with a taste of grass as his car skids off the track. He loses a few valuable meters of his lead. Meanwhile Im moving into fifth place.
I continue to work my way up the pack as we speed through the downhill section of Infineon. By the time I make it to third place, at the seventh corner--the first tight hairpinthe RUF has worked its way up to first place and is accelerating out of the corner at an insane rate. I notice that he took the corner very wide. Still: that guy is fast.
The now second-place guy in the gray WRX screws up again and goes off the track, annihilating some pylons in the process. A real champ. I zoom past him into second place. As we complete the first lap, I am 1.900 seconds behind the RUF.
I chase the RUF throughout the second lap but never come get closer than 1.176 seconds behind him. By the end of the lap he has opened his lead slightly to 1.748 seconds.
The pressure is on as we enter the third lap: I have to pass this overwhelmingly powerful RUF, and the guy in the Yellow Bird can definitely feel my breathing down his neck, waiting for him to screw up. And he does, right after the first uphill corners! I reach the top of the hill and find him struggling to get back onto the asphalt. By the next checkpoint Im .723 second behind him; practically on his tail.
He opens up a small lead on the next straight portion, but he seems to suffer in the corners. Are his tires wearing out? He goes into the dirt on turn 6, the big sweeper, and I smell victory. Just as I move into first, I catch a flicker of yellow in my peripheral vision, and its the Yellow Bird lunging back onto the track. What the-
He cuts me off without a second thought and we both nearly die. Thanks, jackass. Now its personal.
Even though hes having trouble in the corners, straights are no problem and he speeds ahead. Even though his goonery forced me to slow down, I manage to stay in his slipstream and am .437 second behind him on the back stretch. Waitll he gets to the hairpin before the finish line, I think, and hell skid to the outside on his crappy tires.
Yellow Bastard does go to the outside and I slip past him. Awesome! Hopefully I can hold onto the lead long enough to take the win. This WRX pulls itself out of the turns like nobodys business, after all.
I suddenly feel resistance and look to my left. Its something big, yellow and obnoxious. The RUF is RIGHT NEXT TO ME and intent on trading paint! Ahhhhh! I cant outrun him and hes pushing me toward the wall as if his car weighed a ton more than mine! What the hell is going on here?!?! He strongarms his way back into the lead and wins the race by .396 second.
I hope that jerk is proud of himself.
Not the character in Sin City; this is the story of me getting bullied by the AI at Infineon. Please enjoy.
The second race of the Boxer Spirit series is held at Infineon Raceway. Heres a link to a map of it: http://www.infineonraceway.com/images/2004GeneralMap.lg.jpg
Apparently I arrive at the venue too late for the qualifying stages, so I check my cars settings for the upcoming race. Its a 2004 Subaru WRX STi spec C, with an original suspension from a tuning company, racing brakes, a Stage 3 weight reduction, and some sexy BBS wheels. The engine is grossly underrated at 276 hp by the dealership; mine produces a maximum of 334 hp in stock form and about as much torque. I lower its ride height, stiffen the suspension all around, and give the rear tires some toe-out for a little bit of oversteer.
There is a rolling start. The field is made up of four other WRXes of varying models, none of which should be a challenge for my car, and a 1987 RUF Yellow Bird, which I quickly identify as my prime adversary. This will be a tough race.
The lead car, a late-model WRX sedan, pulls away from the rest of the pack as we race into the second corner, and pays for his boldness with a taste of grass as his car skids off the track. He loses a few valuable meters of his lead. Meanwhile Im moving into fifth place.
I continue to work my way up the pack as we speed through the downhill section of Infineon. By the time I make it to third place, at the seventh corner--the first tight hairpinthe RUF has worked its way up to first place and is accelerating out of the corner at an insane rate. I notice that he took the corner very wide. Still: that guy is fast.
The now second-place guy in the gray WRX screws up again and goes off the track, annihilating some pylons in the process. A real champ. I zoom past him into second place. As we complete the first lap, I am 1.900 seconds behind the RUF.
I chase the RUF throughout the second lap but never come get closer than 1.176 seconds behind him. By the end of the lap he has opened his lead slightly to 1.748 seconds.
The pressure is on as we enter the third lap: I have to pass this overwhelmingly powerful RUF, and the guy in the Yellow Bird can definitely feel my breathing down his neck, waiting for him to screw up. And he does, right after the first uphill corners! I reach the top of the hill and find him struggling to get back onto the asphalt. By the next checkpoint Im .723 second behind him; practically on his tail.
He opens up a small lead on the next straight portion, but he seems to suffer in the corners. Are his tires wearing out? He goes into the dirt on turn 6, the big sweeper, and I smell victory. Just as I move into first, I catch a flicker of yellow in my peripheral vision, and its the Yellow Bird lunging back onto the track. What the-
He cuts me off without a second thought and we both nearly die. Thanks, jackass. Now its personal.
Even though hes having trouble in the corners, straights are no problem and he speeds ahead. Even though his goonery forced me to slow down, I manage to stay in his slipstream and am .437 second behind him on the back stretch. Waitll he gets to the hairpin before the finish line, I think, and hell skid to the outside on his crappy tires.
Yellow Bastard does go to the outside and I slip past him. Awesome! Hopefully I can hold onto the lead long enough to take the win. This WRX pulls itself out of the turns like nobodys business, after all.
I suddenly feel resistance and look to my left. Its something big, yellow and obnoxious. The RUF is RIGHT NEXT TO ME and intent on trading paint! Ahhhhh! I cant outrun him and hes pushing me toward the wall as if his car weighed a ton more than mine! What the hell is going on here?!?! He strongarms his way back into the lead and wins the race by .396 second.
I hope that jerk is proud of himself.
THANX too for the Infineon Map! ...O.G. 
It was the only way I could beat him! 
