GTsail
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Pressing my luck at the 'Ring, I check my garage for another suitable ride for the 4 hour race at Nurburgring. I happen to see a nice, slightly used Toyota Supra 3.0GT Turbo A from 1988 that has about 59k on the odometer. I take the Supra to the Toyota dealership and have them install various upgrades (that I will list after the race). When I take my place on the starting grid in sixth place my black Supra has 297 horsepower, ballast of 154kg and its shod with N1/N3 tires.
The AI competition already on the starting grid is as follows:
Audi S4 '03
Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione '91
Holden Commodore SS '04
Nissan Skyline GTR V-spec II '00
Ford Focus RS '02
I looked for Dotini's linup and could not find it, and I looked for my favorite lineup as well and came up empty-handed,
so I settled to the above lineup. I hope they're not too fast for me.
I start the race on N1/N3 tires. As I begin, the game flashes that I have entered a 200 point race! I drive the best I can in a car out of control, and is sliding everywhere during lap 1. I'm battle the 5th place Commodore down the long straight, but still pit at the end of lap 1 from 6th place. I have my pit crew quickly install N3/N3 rubber and the chase is on!!
I begin lap 2 a full 50 seconds behind the leading Lancia Delta. I struggle for the entire lap to come to grips with the Supra's handling. This enables the Lancia to stretch its lead to 60 seconds by the end of lap 2.
As I drive down the Kesselchen straight on lap 3, I mistakenly put my left side tires on the grass and lose control of my Supra and crash into the armco going about 125mph (I got distracted
because I had just gotten a glimpse of the 5th place Commodore, who was just barely in sight on the straight). This off-roading drops me back so I'm now 1 minute and 11 seconds behind the leading Lancia Delta as I pass the T7 checkpoint. As I drive thru the Kleine-Karussell, the news is flashed that the Lancia is pitting. As I try to get up to speed on the long straight, I see that the Nissan Skyline has taken over the lead of the race. As I get to the Antoniusbuche overpass, I see that the Focus is pitting as well.
On lap 4, when I get to Adenaur Forst, I catch another glimpse of the 5th place Ford Focus, and see that I've reduced the Skyline's lead to 1 minute and 8 seconds. As I drive down the Kesselchen back straight, I can see that the Focus has caught and passed the Commodore. I catch the Commodore as I exit the Karussel. I take over 5th place in the race going up the hill. The T7 checkpoint shows that the Skyline has a 1 minute and 6 second lead over me. The Audi S4 pits as I drive thru the Hohenrain esses, so I'm able to take over 4th place in the race.
I begin lap 5 still a full minute and 7 seconds behind the very strong Skyline. I catch up with the 3rd place Ford Focus as I exit Kallenhard. The Focus gets distracted by my flashing headlights and touches the grass on the right side of the Speigelkurve and then spins out and smacks head-on into the left side armco. I glance over to see that he is ok, but don't stop since I'm now in third place and need every second. When I cross the T4 checkpoint, I'm told by my pit crew that the Skyline has a 1 minute and 3 second lead. I drive crazy fast thru the Pflanzgarten esses and get notice that I've narrowed the Skyline's lead over my Supra to exactly one minute! YEAH! I shortly get the good news that the Skyline is pitting just before I reach the T10 checkpoint at the beginning of the long straight. While the Skyline is taking on fuel and new tires, the Lancia Delta is able to drive by and take the lead of the race. The Lancia has a 50 second lead over me.
On lap 6 as I drive thru Hatzenbach, I get a notice that the Commodore is pitting. Staying focused, I continue on and by the time I reach Adenaur Forst and see the T3 split, I've been able to narrow the Lancia Delta's lead to 46 seconds. I cross the T10 checkpoint 44 seconds back and see the welcome news that the Lancia is pitting from 1st place. I check my tires as I drive down the long straight and see that they have turned yellow. I pit at the end of the lap and increase my fuel to 58. The Focus pits as well while I'm still getting serviced.
As I exit the pits to begin lap 7, right away I'm told that the Skyline has re-taken 1st place in the race, and has a 44 second lead over me. After a crash driving thru Wehrseifen, which was caused by my poor driving and the cold tires, I see that the Skyline has increased its lead to 50 seconds. I soldier on the best I can for the rest of the lap.
1 HOUR MARK --
I begin lap 8 and pass the one hour mark about 20 seconds into the lap. Driving better on green tires during lap 8, I do my best to reduce the Skyline's lead. By the T7 checkpoint, I've narrowed the Skyline's lead to 47 seconds.
The Audi S4 pits from 4th place as I do the "drop" thru Quiddelbache-Hohe on lap 9. I see that the Lancia delta pits from 2nd place as I drive down the long straight.
On lap 10, as I drive around the Kottenborn sweeper,, I'm told that the Ford Focus is pitting again. I also see that I'm still 45 seconds behind the leading Skyline. As I enter the Adenaur Forst, I get a glimpse of the 2nd place Lancia Delta. I drive hard into Breidscheid (too deep!) and lock-up my tires in a effort to stop before the inevitable impact with the red and white striped wall. I just catch the news that the Skyline's lead is now down to 40 seconds. I drive down the Kesselchen back straight pushing hard to catch the Lancia Delta, but never get close enough to benefit from its draft. With the Lancia about 2 seconds ahead of me, I drive thru the T9 checkpoint and see the news flash that the Skyline's lead is now only 34 seconds (the Skyline's tires are starting to go). The Skyline pits from the lead just before I blast under the Antoniusbuche overpass on the long straight. I must have gotten a slight draft from the Lancia Delta down the straight because when I cross the S/F line I can see that I've set a new lap record of 8:16.480
As I start lap 11, the Skyline pulls out of the pits just in front of the Lancia Delta. They are only about 2.5 seconds ahead of me as we all drive thru Hatzenbach. I get a draft going into Quiddelbacher-Hohe from the Lancia Delta which enables me to pass the Lancia just after the Flugplatz right. The Skyline is just ahead!! I softly touch the bumper of the Skyline as we both exit Aremberg. The Lancia Delta sneaks past me as we go down into Fuchsrohre, but I'm able to re-pass the Lancia going thru Adenaur Forst. Just then, the news is flashed that the Commodore is pitting. I follow the Skyline for the next few turns and then out-brake the Skyline going into Breidscheid and take over 1st place in the race for the first time. Race time is 1hour, 28minutes, 42seconds. By the T7 checkpoint as I drive thru Hedwigs-Hohe, I see that I've been able to stretch my lead over the Skyline to 2.6 seconds. As I drive down the long straight, I can see that my tires are solidly yellow, so its time to pit again and give up my hard-won lead. As I drive thru the Hohenrain esses, I can see that the Lancia Delta has drafted past the Skyline and is now in second place behind me. Just as I pull to a stop in the pits, I get to see both the Lancia Delta and the Skyline drive right by me on the other-side of the armco.
On lap 12 as I drop thru the T1 checkpoint at Quiddelbacher-Hohe, I can see that I've dropped back to 3rd place in the race and that the Lancia Delta has a 23 second lead over me. By the T7 checkpoint at Hedwigs-Hohe, the Lancia Delta's lead has grown to 25 seconds because I'm driving slowly on blue tires. The news is flashed that the Lancia Delta is pitting while I'm blasting down the long straight. I still feel that I have a good chance of overtaking the Lancia before it leaves the pits. The T11 checkpoint shows that I'm in 3rd place, 24 seconds behind the Skyline who has taken over the lead of the race.
Just as I begin lap 13, the Lancia Delta pulls out of the pits just in front of me. We battle thru Hatzenbach and Hocheichen, and I'm able to draft past the Lancia as we both exit Flugplatz. I'm now in 2nd place, 24 seconds behind the leading Skyline. The Ford Focus pits as I exit the Fuchsrohre section, and then I see that the Audi S4 is pitting as I drive thru Adenaur Forst. As I drive down the back straight Kesselchen), I see that I've narrowed the Skyline's lead to 21 seconds. Driving thru Schwalbenschwanz at a higher speed than warranted, I leave the paved track and mow grass down the left side for 200-300 feet. I recover quickly so I only lose a few seconds. The T10 checkpoint passes showing that the Skyline still maintains a 23 second lead.
I begin lap 14 resolved to improve my inconsistent driving. At the T1 and T2 checkpoints the Skyline's lead has narrowed to 22 seconds. by the time I've dropped into Breidscheid, I've narrowed the gap further to 20 seconds. YEAH! Pushing hard at the end of the lap, I crash badly while driving thru the Hohenrain esses.
2 HOUR MARK --
Is passed while going thru the Hohenrain esses, perhaps sideways to the track. Watching the clock to see when the 2 hour mark was passed was a contributing factor in my crash. Sadly, the Skyline's lead has grown to 26 seconds as lap 14 ends. Grrrr
I begin lap 15 licking my self-inflicted wounds. I can tell that the Skyline is slowing down on this lap since its tires have worn out. The Skyline's lead has dropped to 22 seconds by the time I get to Adenaur Forst. Driving with renewed focus, I see that the Skyline's lead has narrowed to 19 seconds as I cross the T5 checkpoint at the beginning of the back straight. The T8 checkpoint shows a 17 second deficit to the Skyline. As I begin the long straight, the T10 checkpoint is passed with me 14 seconds behind the Skyline. The Skyline pits from the lead while I drive thru the Hohenrain esses (without crashing this time).
I cross the S/F line to begin lap 16 and drive into 1st place in the race since I can see that the Skyline has not finished changing its tires. The Lancia Delta who has been following me closely, pits as I pass pit-out. I also get the welcome news that my lead over the Skyline grows to a full 10 seconds!!! Perhaps the Skyline had a driver change during the last pit stop. My lead is confirmed at the T2 checkpoint, and is now 15 seconds. That's the good news. The bad news is that my tires are fully yellow and I will have to pit this lap. Just before I reach Drei-Fach Rechts, I'm informed that the Ford Focus is pitting again. Next, as I make the right turn at Bergwerk, I'm told that the Commodore is pitting from 6th place.
During the last lap I've been watching the clock to see the time as each of my competitors cross the S/F line so I can approximately see what my lead is. The following list is what these splits are:
2nd place Nissan Skyline is 10 seconds back
3rd place Lancia Delta is 25 seconds back
4th place Focus is 2 minutes and 45 seconds back
5th place Audi S4 is 3 minutes and 10 seconds back
6th place Commodore is 3 minutes and 45 seconds back
I carefully glide thru Pflanzgarten and see that I've been able to increase my lead over the Skyline to 18 seconds. My Supra, with a mind of its own, puts its right-side tires in the sand at Schwalbenschwanz, and I get badly bogged down and lose many precious seconds I finally drive into the pits at the end of lap 16 for new tires (desparately needed) and see that my lead has shrunk to 15 seconds over the hard-charging Skyline. I can see the Skyline flash by and into the lead
I begin lap 17 about 7 seconds behind the leading Skyline and about 5 seconds in front of the 3rd place Lancia Delta. As I drive thru Wehrseifen I'm told that the Audi S4 is pitting from 5th place. The T4 checkpoint shows that I've continued to fall further behind the Skyline. The Skyline's lead is now up to 9 seconds since my tires are still stone-cold blue. I lose the Supra's front-end going thru Bergwerk and slam the armco going thru the turn. The T8 checkpoint, near Eiskurve, shows that I've fallen 11 seconds back of the accelerating Skyline. Going thru Pflanzgarten I drop my left-side tires off the road surface and spin eleglantly into the armco. While I'm collecting my wits, and wiping my spilled drink off my pants, the Lancia Delta streaks by me and takes over 2nd place. The T9 checkpoint passes showing a 18 second deficit to the leading Skyline. This has not been a good lap!
Chagrinned, I begin lap 18 a full 20 seconds behind the Nissan Skyline, and some 5 seconds behind the Lancia Delta HF. My only excuse for the last lap was the the tires were cold. I must remember to drive more carefully the next time I'm on blue tires.
Pushing hard, I catch the Lancia Delta going thru the 1st left bend in the Kesselchen back straight, so I'm in the Delta's draft for the rest of the K. straight. I dive inside the Lancia Delta going into the Karussel and re-take 2nd place in the race! The Lancia just as quickly, sneaks right back past me as we drive thru Wippermann. I don't mind too much because if worse came to worst, I will now be able to draft the Lancia down the long straight. However, the Lancia slows down going into Brunnchen, and I'm able to easily get by again and re-take 2nd place. I check the T10 split and see that the Nissan Skyline has a 21 second lead over me, and after checking my mirrors, I can see the looming prescense of the Lancia Delta. I let the Lancia streak by and suck up behind to draft down the 2nd half of the long straight (reaching 155mph). I re-pass the Lancia going thru the Hohenrain esses, and then watch my mirrors to see the Lancia pit.
I begin lap 19 without the Lancia Delta's company. The T1 checkpoint shows that my battling with the Lancia ahs allowed the Skyline to open up a 22 second lead.
I get the news that the Ford Focus pits as I drop into Breidscheid. I do a good job thru all the curves on the top-side of the track, so when I get to the T10 checkpoint, I can see that I've knocked 3 seconds off the Skyline's lead. When I cross the S/F line, the Skyline's lead is only 20 seconds (the Skyline re-took a second from me down the long straight where he is always faster).
I'm now on lap 20, which should be a good lap for me and a poor one for the Skyline since his tires will be worn! I check the T3 split coming out of Adenaur Forst and see that I've cut significantly into the Skyline's lead (I'm now only 15 seconds back). Next up is the T6 checkpoint at Klostertal, and I've narrowed the Skyline's lead to 13 seconds!! I continue to drive well for the next few turns, so I get the welcome news at the T9 checkpoint driving thru Pflanzgarten, that the Skyline's is only 10 seconds ahead of me. I drive under the T10 checkpoint at the beginning of the long straight and can just barely see the Skyline further down the track. Just as I enter the Hohenrain esses, the news is flashed that the Skyline is pitting from the lead.
As I cross the S/F line to begin lap 21, the position counter changes to "1", confirming my pass into the lead. YEAH! The T1 checkpoint confirms my position and gives me a 15 second lead. Driving very carefully, but still pushing hard, I get to the T5 checkpoint with a 28 second lead over the Skyline. My tires have turned solid yellow, so I know I'm going to have to throttle back shortly if I would like to prevent further off-roading. I'm told that the Audi S4 pits as I drive into Klostertal. As I leave the Karussel and go up the hill, I'm informed that the Holden Commodore is pitting. I drive carefully on the top-side of the track, so when I reach the T10 checkpoint, I've only been able to add one second to my lead (which is now 29 seconds). I enter the pits at the end of the lap for new tires since mine were quite orange.
As I exit the pits and begin lap 22, the news is flashed that the Lancia Delta is pitting (it must have just finished three very strong laps since it's blue dot was very close to the Skyline's). I'm now on blue and very cold tires. My pit crew reminds me about how much time I lost the last time I was driving on cold tires. The T1 checkpoint says that I have a 3.8 second lead over the Skyline. I expect that the Sklyine will catch me this lap, but I will try to stay on the track to make it hard for the Skyline.
3 HOUR MARK --
The three hour mark is passed as I brake heavily for Aremburg after doing a good job with the Kottenborn sweeper. It brings a big smile to my face when I get thru both Wehrseifen and Breidscheid without any wall-impacts! I check my mirrors as I start the long blast up the Kesselchen back straight, and I can see the Skyline getting ever closer. Right then, I also see that the Ford Focus is pitting again. Checking the news flash about the Ford Focus distracts me, so I mow some grass down the right side of the Kesselchen bend, but do not touch the armco, so I proceed onwards un-scathed! The T6 split is flashed and I see that my lead has dropped to 2.6 seconds. I almost lose control of my Supra as I drop into Brunnchen, but just barely stay on the track. I enter the Pflanzgarten's with the Skyline right on my back bumper (with a 1.1 second lead). The Skyline catches me about half-way down the long straight. I move over and let him by, and then jump in behind him for the draft.
We get up to 155mph before slowing for the Hohenrain esses. I follow the Skyline across the S/F line only about 1 second back. I can see that my pit crew is cheering lustily from the pit wall since I did not crash at any point during the entire lap on the blue tires.👍
The 23rd lap begins with me right behind the Skyline. I stay right on the Skyline's tail, so I get a nice fraft thru the Kottenborn sweeper and chew on the Skyline's bumper when we brake going into Aremburg. I push hard down into Fuchsrohre and pull along-side the Skyline going into the 1st left hander at Adenaur Forst and pass the Skyline! As I start my drive down the Kesselchen back staight, I see that my lead is a full 0.384 seconds! I don't need to check my mirrors, I can hear the Skyline's engine! The cheeky Skyline passes me going into Schwalbenschwanz, so I just pass him back as we go into Kleine-Karussel. As we blast down the long straight, the Skyline taps me on my rear bumper and gives me a shove up to 150mph. I did not move out of the way, but neither did I change my racing line (I just stayed in the middle of the track).
I begin lap 24 with a 1.1 second lead over the Skyline, the Lancia Delta is about 25 seconds back, the Ford Focus is about 4 minutes and 40 seconds back, the Audi S4 is about 5 minutes and 5 seconds back, and the Holden Commodore is about 6 minutes and 10 seconds back. I drive cleanly thru Adenaur Forst and see that I've pulled out to a 2.9 second lead. I can't seem to shake the Skyline, so my T10 split is still only 2.6 seconds.
On lap 25, as I drive thru Hatzenbach, I see that the Lancia Delta is pitting again, and my lead has grown to 2.8 seconds. The Skyline starts to drop back since its tires are worn out (they are on their 5th lap). By the T5 checkpoint, I've pulled out to a 10 second lead. I see that the Ford Focus pits again as I exit the Karussel. This is quickly followed by the news that the Audi S4 is pitting as well. As I finish lap 25 with a 16 second lead, the Skyline pits.
As I reach Adenaur Forst on lap 26, my lead has ballooned out to 45 seconds over the Skyline. I push hard for the entire lap so when I pit to replace my orange tires, I've increased my lead to 55 seconds over the Skyline. The Skyline was quite slow on its cold tires this lap.
On lap 27, as I carefully drive thru Hatzenbach/Hocheichen, I see that my lead has been cut to 34 seconds due to the exchange of pit stops. By the time I exit the Karussel my tires are turning green and my lead over the Skyline has stabilized at 33 seconds. I see the news that the Holden Commodore is pitting as I exit Kleine-Karussel.
As I begin lap 28, I see that I still have a 32 second lead over the Skyline (who drove down the long straight faster than me, and took back a second). I can also see that the Holden Commodore is only about 35 seconds ahead of me on the track. I hope to catch a car before the end of the race, and I hope that another one does not catch me! As I exit the Karussel and drive up the hill, I see that my lead over the Skyline has grown to 38 seconds. I'm then told that the Ford Focus pits one final time. As I drive down the long straight, I look ahead and try to catch a glimpse of the 6th place Commodore. The blue dot is close, but just out of sight. I cross the S/F line and see that I've set a new lap record of 8.14.979 (it was un-intentional, I guess the Supra is finally learning the track!).
I begin lap 29 with only 3 1/2 minutes to go, so the white flag is waving. As I drive into Aremburg, I can finally see the Holden Commodore who is just exiting the corner. I brake hard and late going into Breidscheid and pull up right on the back bumper of the 6th place Commodore. I check the time and see that the 4th hour mark was crossed 43 seconds ago. The Commodore is not moving that fast, so I'm able to make a clean pass going thru Ex-Muhle. I drive thru the Karussel a final time with a 40 second lead over the Skyline.
Hearing cheers from my pit crew, I cross the finish line and get awarded another well earned Chaparral 2D Race Car!
Finishing order:
Toyota Supra (me) -- 4.05.45.541
Nissan Skyline GTR -- 41 seconds back
Lancia Delta HF -- 1 minute, 15 seconds back
Ford Focus -- --- 6 minutes, 30 seconds back
Audi S4 '03 --- -- 7 minutes back
Commodore SS -- 1 lap, and 13 seconds back
Post race tech inspection reveals the following stats for my black Supra:
Horsepower: 297
Weight: 1535kg
Semi-racing exhaust
Sport racing chip
Tiires: N1/N3
Stage 1 weight reduction
Port Polish
Engine balancing
Stage 1 turbo
Sports intercooler
Brake controller: 8/9
Semi-racing suspension
Custom transmission: auto slider: 9
Twin-plate clutch
Semi-racing flywheel
Aids: 0,0,1
1.5-way Ltd slip
Ballast at 154kg
I had great fun with the Toyota Supra at the 'Ring. The Supra does not handle that well on cold tires. I made many mistakes during the first lap of each stint on the blue tires. I actually had two or three more off track mistakes that I don't mention because I didn't write them down because I was working hard to get back the Supra back on the track and pointed in the right direction.
My only excuse is that I did not practice at all in the Supra before the race, so I was caught out quite a few times. Once the tires warm up its relatively smooth sailing.
Happy A-spec racing,
GTsail
The AI competition already on the starting grid is as follows:
Audi S4 '03
Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione '91
Holden Commodore SS '04
Nissan Skyline GTR V-spec II '00
Ford Focus RS '02
I looked for Dotini's linup and could not find it, and I looked for my favorite lineup as well and came up empty-handed,
so I settled to the above lineup. I hope they're not too fast for me.I start the race on N1/N3 tires. As I begin, the game flashes that I have entered a 200 point race! I drive the best I can in a car out of control, and is sliding everywhere during lap 1. I'm battle the 5th place Commodore down the long straight, but still pit at the end of lap 1 from 6th place. I have my pit crew quickly install N3/N3 rubber and the chase is on!!
I begin lap 2 a full 50 seconds behind the leading Lancia Delta. I struggle for the entire lap to come to grips with the Supra's handling. This enables the Lancia to stretch its lead to 60 seconds by the end of lap 2.
As I drive down the Kesselchen straight on lap 3, I mistakenly put my left side tires on the grass and lose control of my Supra and crash into the armco going about 125mph (I got distracted
because I had just gotten a glimpse of the 5th place Commodore, who was just barely in sight on the straight). This off-roading drops me back so I'm now 1 minute and 11 seconds behind the leading Lancia Delta as I pass the T7 checkpoint. As I drive thru the Kleine-Karussell, the news is flashed that the Lancia is pitting. As I try to get up to speed on the long straight, I see that the Nissan Skyline has taken over the lead of the race. As I get to the Antoniusbuche overpass, I see that the Focus is pitting as well.On lap 4, when I get to Adenaur Forst, I catch another glimpse of the 5th place Ford Focus, and see that I've reduced the Skyline's lead to 1 minute and 8 seconds. As I drive down the Kesselchen back straight, I can see that the Focus has caught and passed the Commodore. I catch the Commodore as I exit the Karussel. I take over 5th place in the race going up the hill. The T7 checkpoint shows that the Skyline has a 1 minute and 6 second lead over me. The Audi S4 pits as I drive thru the Hohenrain esses, so I'm able to take over 4th place in the race.
I begin lap 5 still a full minute and 7 seconds behind the very strong Skyline. I catch up with the 3rd place Ford Focus as I exit Kallenhard. The Focus gets distracted by my flashing headlights and touches the grass on the right side of the Speigelkurve and then spins out and smacks head-on into the left side armco. I glance over to see that he is ok, but don't stop since I'm now in third place and need every second. When I cross the T4 checkpoint, I'm told by my pit crew that the Skyline has a 1 minute and 3 second lead. I drive crazy fast thru the Pflanzgarten esses and get notice that I've narrowed the Skyline's lead over my Supra to exactly one minute! YEAH! I shortly get the good news that the Skyline is pitting just before I reach the T10 checkpoint at the beginning of the long straight. While the Skyline is taking on fuel and new tires, the Lancia Delta is able to drive by and take the lead of the race. The Lancia has a 50 second lead over me.
On lap 6 as I drive thru Hatzenbach, I get a notice that the Commodore is pitting. Staying focused, I continue on and by the time I reach Adenaur Forst and see the T3 split, I've been able to narrow the Lancia Delta's lead to 46 seconds. I cross the T10 checkpoint 44 seconds back and see the welcome news that the Lancia is pitting from 1st place. I check my tires as I drive down the long straight and see that they have turned yellow. I pit at the end of the lap and increase my fuel to 58. The Focus pits as well while I'm still getting serviced.
As I exit the pits to begin lap 7, right away I'm told that the Skyline has re-taken 1st place in the race, and has a 44 second lead over me. After a crash driving thru Wehrseifen, which was caused by my poor driving and the cold tires, I see that the Skyline has increased its lead to 50 seconds. I soldier on the best I can for the rest of the lap.
1 HOUR MARK --
I begin lap 8 and pass the one hour mark about 20 seconds into the lap. Driving better on green tires during lap 8, I do my best to reduce the Skyline's lead. By the T7 checkpoint, I've narrowed the Skyline's lead to 47 seconds.
The Audi S4 pits from 4th place as I do the "drop" thru Quiddelbache-Hohe on lap 9. I see that the Lancia delta pits from 2nd place as I drive down the long straight.
On lap 10, as I drive around the Kottenborn sweeper,, I'm told that the Ford Focus is pitting again. I also see that I'm still 45 seconds behind the leading Skyline. As I enter the Adenaur Forst, I get a glimpse of the 2nd place Lancia Delta. I drive hard into Breidscheid (too deep!) and lock-up my tires in a effort to stop before the inevitable impact with the red and white striped wall. I just catch the news that the Skyline's lead is now down to 40 seconds. I drive down the Kesselchen back straight pushing hard to catch the Lancia Delta, but never get close enough to benefit from its draft. With the Lancia about 2 seconds ahead of me, I drive thru the T9 checkpoint and see the news flash that the Skyline's lead is now only 34 seconds (the Skyline's tires are starting to go). The Skyline pits from the lead just before I blast under the Antoniusbuche overpass on the long straight. I must have gotten a slight draft from the Lancia Delta down the straight because when I cross the S/F line I can see that I've set a new lap record of 8:16.480
As I start lap 11, the Skyline pulls out of the pits just in front of the Lancia Delta. They are only about 2.5 seconds ahead of me as we all drive thru Hatzenbach. I get a draft going into Quiddelbacher-Hohe from the Lancia Delta which enables me to pass the Lancia just after the Flugplatz right. The Skyline is just ahead!! I softly touch the bumper of the Skyline as we both exit Aremberg. The Lancia Delta sneaks past me as we go down into Fuchsrohre, but I'm able to re-pass the Lancia going thru Adenaur Forst. Just then, the news is flashed that the Commodore is pitting. I follow the Skyline for the next few turns and then out-brake the Skyline going into Breidscheid and take over 1st place in the race for the first time. Race time is 1hour, 28minutes, 42seconds. By the T7 checkpoint as I drive thru Hedwigs-Hohe, I see that I've been able to stretch my lead over the Skyline to 2.6 seconds. As I drive down the long straight, I can see that my tires are solidly yellow, so its time to pit again and give up my hard-won lead. As I drive thru the Hohenrain esses, I can see that the Lancia Delta has drafted past the Skyline and is now in second place behind me. Just as I pull to a stop in the pits, I get to see both the Lancia Delta and the Skyline drive right by me on the other-side of the armco.
On lap 12 as I drop thru the T1 checkpoint at Quiddelbacher-Hohe, I can see that I've dropped back to 3rd place in the race and that the Lancia Delta has a 23 second lead over me. By the T7 checkpoint at Hedwigs-Hohe, the Lancia Delta's lead has grown to 25 seconds because I'm driving slowly on blue tires. The news is flashed that the Lancia Delta is pitting while I'm blasting down the long straight. I still feel that I have a good chance of overtaking the Lancia before it leaves the pits. The T11 checkpoint shows that I'm in 3rd place, 24 seconds behind the Skyline who has taken over the lead of the race.
Just as I begin lap 13, the Lancia Delta pulls out of the pits just in front of me. We battle thru Hatzenbach and Hocheichen, and I'm able to draft past the Lancia as we both exit Flugplatz. I'm now in 2nd place, 24 seconds behind the leading Skyline. The Ford Focus pits as I exit the Fuchsrohre section, and then I see that the Audi S4 is pitting as I drive thru Adenaur Forst. As I drive down the back straight Kesselchen), I see that I've narrowed the Skyline's lead to 21 seconds. Driving thru Schwalbenschwanz at a higher speed than warranted, I leave the paved track and mow grass down the left side for 200-300 feet. I recover quickly so I only lose a few seconds. The T10 checkpoint passes showing that the Skyline still maintains a 23 second lead.
I begin lap 14 resolved to improve my inconsistent driving. At the T1 and T2 checkpoints the Skyline's lead has narrowed to 22 seconds. by the time I've dropped into Breidscheid, I've narrowed the gap further to 20 seconds. YEAH! Pushing hard at the end of the lap, I crash badly while driving thru the Hohenrain esses.
2 HOUR MARK --
Is passed while going thru the Hohenrain esses, perhaps sideways to the track. Watching the clock to see when the 2 hour mark was passed was a contributing factor in my crash. Sadly, the Skyline's lead has grown to 26 seconds as lap 14 ends. Grrrr
I begin lap 15 licking my self-inflicted wounds. I can tell that the Skyline is slowing down on this lap since its tires have worn out. The Skyline's lead has dropped to 22 seconds by the time I get to Adenaur Forst. Driving with renewed focus, I see that the Skyline's lead has narrowed to 19 seconds as I cross the T5 checkpoint at the beginning of the back straight. The T8 checkpoint shows a 17 second deficit to the Skyline. As I begin the long straight, the T10 checkpoint is passed with me 14 seconds behind the Skyline. The Skyline pits from the lead while I drive thru the Hohenrain esses (without crashing this time).
I cross the S/F line to begin lap 16 and drive into 1st place in the race
since I can see that the Skyline has not finished changing its tires. The Lancia Delta who has been following me closely, pits as I pass pit-out. I also get the welcome news that my lead over the Skyline grows to a full 10 seconds!!! Perhaps the Skyline had a driver change during the last pit stop. My lead is confirmed at the T2 checkpoint, and is now 15 seconds. That's the good news. The bad news is that my tires are fully yellow and I will have to pit this lap. Just before I reach Drei-Fach Rechts, I'm informed that the Ford Focus is pitting again. Next, as I make the right turn at Bergwerk, I'm told that the Commodore is pitting from 6th place.During the last lap I've been watching the clock to see the time as each of my competitors cross the S/F line so I can approximately see what my lead is. The following list is what these splits are:
2nd place Nissan Skyline is 10 seconds back
3rd place Lancia Delta is 25 seconds back
4th place Focus is 2 minutes and 45 seconds back
5th place Audi S4 is 3 minutes and 10 seconds back
6th place Commodore is 3 minutes and 45 seconds back
I carefully glide thru Pflanzgarten and see that I've been able to increase my lead over the Skyline to 18 seconds. My Supra, with a mind of its own, puts its right-side tires in the sand at Schwalbenschwanz, and I get badly bogged down and lose many precious seconds
I finally drive into the pits at the end of lap 16 for new tires (desparately needed) and see that my lead has shrunk to 15 seconds over the hard-charging Skyline. I can see the Skyline flash by and into the leadI begin lap 17 about 7 seconds behind the leading Skyline and about 5 seconds in front of the 3rd place Lancia Delta. As I drive thru Wehrseifen I'm told that the Audi S4 is pitting from 5th place. The T4 checkpoint shows that I've continued to fall further behind the Skyline. The Skyline's lead is now up to 9 seconds since my tires are still stone-cold blue. I lose the Supra's front-end going thru Bergwerk and slam the armco going thru the turn. The T8 checkpoint, near Eiskurve, shows that I've fallen 11 seconds back of the accelerating Skyline. Going thru Pflanzgarten I drop my left-side tires off the road surface and spin eleglantly into the armco. While I'm collecting my wits, and wiping my spilled drink off my pants, the Lancia Delta streaks by me and takes over 2nd place.
The T9 checkpoint passes showing a 18 second deficit to the leading Skyline. This has not been a good lap!Chagrinned, I begin lap 18 a full 20 seconds behind the Nissan Skyline, and some 5 seconds behind the Lancia Delta HF. My only excuse for the last lap was the the tires were cold. I must remember to drive more carefully the next time I'm on blue tires.
Pushing hard, I catch the Lancia Delta going thru the 1st left bend in the Kesselchen back straight, so I'm in the Delta's draft for the rest of the K. straight. I dive inside the Lancia Delta going into the Karussel and re-take 2nd place in the race! The Lancia just as quickly, sneaks right back past me as we drive thru Wippermann. I don't mind too much because if worse came to worst, I will now be able to draft the Lancia down the long straight. However, the Lancia slows down going into Brunnchen, and I'm able to easily get by again and re-take 2nd place. I check the T10 split and see that the Nissan Skyline has a 21 second lead over me, and after checking my mirrors, I can see the looming prescense of the Lancia Delta. I let the Lancia streak by and suck up behind to draft down the 2nd half of the long straight (reaching 155mph). I re-pass the Lancia going thru the Hohenrain esses, and then watch my mirrors to see the Lancia pit.
I begin lap 19 without the Lancia Delta's company. The T1 checkpoint shows that my battling with the Lancia ahs allowed the Skyline to open up a 22 second lead.
I get the news that the Ford Focus pits as I drop into Breidscheid. I do a good job thru all the curves on the top-side of the track, so when I get to the T10 checkpoint, I can see that I've knocked 3 seconds off the Skyline's lead. When I cross the S/F line, the Skyline's lead is only 20 seconds (the Skyline re-took a second from me down the long straight where he is always faster).I'm now on lap 20, which should be a good lap for me and a poor one for the Skyline since his tires will be worn! I check the T3 split coming out of Adenaur Forst and see that I've cut significantly into the Skyline's lead (I'm now only 15 seconds back). Next up is the T6 checkpoint at Klostertal, and I've narrowed the Skyline's lead to 13 seconds!! I continue to drive well for the next few turns, so I get the welcome news at the T9 checkpoint driving thru Pflanzgarten, that the Skyline's is only 10 seconds ahead of me.
I drive under the T10 checkpoint at the beginning of the long straight and can just barely see the Skyline further down the track. Just as I enter the Hohenrain esses, the news is flashed that the Skyline is pitting from the lead.As I cross the S/F line to begin lap 21, the position counter changes to "1", confirming my pass into the lead. YEAH! The T1 checkpoint confirms my position and gives me a 15 second lead. Driving very carefully, but still pushing hard, I get to the T5 checkpoint with a 28 second lead over the Skyline. My tires have turned solid yellow, so I know I'm going to have to throttle back shortly if I would like to prevent further off-roading. I'm told that the Audi S4 pits as I drive into Klostertal. As I leave the Karussel and go up the hill, I'm informed that the Holden Commodore is pitting. I drive carefully on the top-side of the track, so when I reach the T10 checkpoint, I've only been able to add one second to my lead (which is now 29 seconds). I enter the pits at the end of the lap for new tires since mine were quite orange.
As I exit the pits and begin lap 22, the news is flashed that the Lancia Delta is pitting (it must have just finished three very strong laps since it's blue dot was very close to the Skyline's). I'm now on blue and very cold tires. My pit crew reminds me about how much time I lost the last time I was driving on cold tires. The T1 checkpoint says that I have a 3.8 second lead over the Skyline. I expect that the Sklyine will catch me this lap, but I will try to stay on the track to make it hard for the Skyline.
3 HOUR MARK --
The three hour mark is passed as I brake heavily for Aremburg after doing a good job with the Kottenborn sweeper. It brings a big smile to my face when I get thru both Wehrseifen and Breidscheid without any wall-impacts! I check my mirrors as I start the long blast up the Kesselchen back straight, and I can see the Skyline getting ever closer.
Right then, I also see that the Ford Focus is pitting again. Checking the news flash about the Ford Focus distracts me, so I mow some grass down the right side of the Kesselchen bend, but do not touch the armco, so I proceed onwards un-scathed! The T6 split is flashed and I see that my lead has dropped to 2.6 seconds. I almost lose control of my Supra as I drop into Brunnchen, but just barely stay on the track. I enter the Pflanzgarten's with the Skyline right on my back bumper (with a 1.1 second lead). The Skyline catches me about half-way down the long straight. I move over and let him by, and then jump in behind him for the draft. We get up to 155mph before slowing for the Hohenrain esses. I follow the Skyline across the S/F line only about 1 second back. I can see that my pit crew is cheering lustily from the pit wall since I did not crash at any point during the entire lap on the blue tires.👍The 23rd lap begins with me right behind the Skyline. I stay right on the Skyline's tail, so I get a nice fraft thru the Kottenborn sweeper and chew on the Skyline's bumper when we brake going into Aremburg. I push hard down into Fuchsrohre and pull along-side the Skyline going into the 1st left hander at Adenaur Forst and pass the Skyline! As I start my drive down the Kesselchen back staight, I see that my lead is a full 0.384 seconds! I don't need to check my mirrors, I can hear the Skyline's engine! The cheeky Skyline passes me going into Schwalbenschwanz, so I just pass him back as we go into Kleine-Karussel. As we blast down the long straight, the Skyline taps me on my rear bumper and gives me a shove up to 150mph. I did not move out of the way, but neither did I change my racing line (I just stayed in the middle of the track).
I begin lap 24 with a 1.1 second lead over the Skyline, the Lancia Delta is about 25 seconds back, the Ford Focus is about 4 minutes and 40 seconds back, the Audi S4 is about 5 minutes and 5 seconds back, and the Holden Commodore is about 6 minutes and 10 seconds back. I drive cleanly thru Adenaur Forst and see that I've pulled out to a 2.9 second lead. I can't seem to shake the Skyline, so my T10 split is still only 2.6 seconds.
On lap 25, as I drive thru Hatzenbach, I see that the Lancia Delta is pitting again, and my lead has grown to 2.8 seconds. The Skyline starts to drop back since its tires are worn out (they are on their 5th lap). By the T5 checkpoint, I've pulled out to a 10 second lead. I see that the Ford Focus pits again as I exit the Karussel. This is quickly followed by the news that the Audi S4 is pitting as well. As I finish lap 25 with a 16 second lead, the Skyline pits.
As I reach Adenaur Forst on lap 26, my lead has ballooned out to 45 seconds over the Skyline. I push hard for the entire lap so when I pit to replace my orange tires, I've increased my lead to 55 seconds over the Skyline. The Skyline was quite slow on its cold tires this lap.
On lap 27, as I carefully drive thru Hatzenbach/Hocheichen, I see that my lead has been cut to 34 seconds due to the exchange of pit stops. By the time I exit the Karussel my tires are turning green and my lead over the Skyline has stabilized at 33 seconds. I see the news that the Holden Commodore is pitting as I exit Kleine-Karussel.
As I begin lap 28, I see that I still have a 32 second lead over the Skyline (who drove down the long straight faster than me, and took back a second). I can also see that the Holden Commodore is only about 35 seconds ahead of me on the track. I hope to catch a car before the end of the race, and I hope that another one does not catch me! As I exit the Karussel and drive up the hill, I see that my lead over the Skyline has grown to 38 seconds. I'm then told that the Ford Focus pits one final time. As I drive down the long straight, I look ahead and try to catch a glimpse of the 6th place Commodore. The blue dot is close, but just out of sight. I cross the S/F line and see that I've set a new lap record of 8.14.979 (it was un-intentional, I guess the Supra is finally learning the track!).
I begin lap 29 with only 3 1/2 minutes to go, so the white flag is waving. As I drive into Aremburg, I can finally see the Holden Commodore who is just exiting the corner. I brake hard and late going into Breidscheid and pull up right on the back bumper of the 6th place Commodore. I check the time and see that the 4th hour mark was crossed 43 seconds ago. The Commodore is not moving that fast, so I'm able to make a clean pass going thru Ex-Muhle. I drive thru the Karussel a final time with a 40 second lead over the Skyline.
Hearing cheers from my pit crew, I cross the finish line and get awarded another well earned Chaparral 2D Race Car!
Finishing order:
Toyota Supra (me) -- 4.05.45.541
Nissan Skyline GTR -- 41 seconds back
Lancia Delta HF -- 1 minute, 15 seconds back
Ford Focus -- --- 6 minutes, 30 seconds back
Audi S4 '03 --- -- 7 minutes back
Commodore SS -- 1 lap, and 13 seconds back
Post race tech inspection reveals the following stats for my black Supra:
Horsepower: 297
Weight: 1535kg
Semi-racing exhaust
Sport racing chip
Tiires: N1/N3
Stage 1 weight reduction
Port Polish
Engine balancing
Stage 1 turbo
Sports intercooler
Brake controller: 8/9
Semi-racing suspension
Custom transmission: auto slider: 9
Twin-plate clutch
Semi-racing flywheel
Aids: 0,0,1
1.5-way Ltd slip
Ballast at 154kg
I had great fun with the Toyota Supra at the 'Ring. The Supra does not handle that well on cold tires. I made many mistakes during the first lap of each stint on the blue tires. I actually had two or three more off track mistakes that I don't mention because I didn't write them down because I was working hard to get back the Supra back on the track and pointed in the right direction.
My only excuse is that I did not practice at all in the Supra before the race, so I was caught out quite a few times. Once the tires warm up its relatively smooth sailing. Happy A-spec racing,
GTsail
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