- 1,051
- London
- JohnsonCapote
I've finally managed to return to GT2 this week, with the digging up of my dusty old copy of the game on a brand-new save, so after running through the lisences and doing a few races with my first car, I decide to re-visit an old enduro that I've had some fun on in the past. So ladies and gentlemen, welcome to...
Trial Mountain 30 Lap Challenge
30 Laps, 74.1 Miles
Hat tip to AMG for the track map as always
I will be entering in the one car I've bought and used so far on this save - my starter car, a humble, dark blue 1988 Nissan Silvia S13 Q's. Below are the full specs:
Power: 145hp
Weight: 1068kg
Drivetrain: FR
Modifications: Racing Exhaust, Carbon Driveshaft, Racing Flywheel, Weight Reduction Stage 1, Sports ECU.
After a few resets, I find this field ready and waiting, with one car in particular I'm looking forward to duelling with:
1. Lotus Elise 111S
2. Ford Focus Ghia 2.0i Zetec
3. BMW 323ti Compact
4. BMW 328Ci
5. Peugeot 306 S16
So at around 7:30pm UK time, the green flag drops on our rolling start, the revs climb, the field speeds under the start-finish gantry and we are away! I will update as always throughout the race in 10-lap intervals.
Part 1: Laps 1-15
Away from the start I nip by the 306 going into the first series of turns, and I can tell straight away that this will be an area to exploit - the AI seem to brake needlessly during this section, whereas I can take it, if not flat, then with some lifting off as I bounce over the rumble strips. I shadow the 328Ci through most of the first lap before pouncing in Turn 8, before slipping by the 323ti in turns 12 and 13, the final chicane. This is also an area I feel I can perhaps exploit, and it's time to put those to the test as I finish lap 1 trailing the Elise by around 5 seconds. I quickly dispatch of the Focus at the Tunnel Turn (Turn 4), and tear after the Lotus - and I do mean tear after, as he is setting a mean pace.
Remember those areas of strength I noted earlier for me against the A.I.? Well, I've just identified an area of strength for the A.I. - coming out of the Turn 8 all the way up to Turn 11. He manages to pull almost a second and a half of pace on me through this section
I quickly realise that he isn't playing games, so I give it my all through the next few laps, and manage to limit the damage in the last section to around half a second, before pulling up to his back bumper through Turn 7 on lap 4.
A good little battle ensues, with the two of us matching each other stride for stride through laps 5 and 6, before I finally zip by through the final chicane. As we start Lap 7, I lead for the first time, and I attempt to turn the screw a little by putting in a series of strong laps, to extend out to around a 4-second advantage by lap 11.
It is then that I make the race's first mistake - I decide to attempt to conserve my tyres a little, ahead of my potential pitstop at around lap 16 onwards, but all this suceeds in doing is not actually conserving my tyres at all and drawing the Elise right back onto my back bumper, sniffing for the lead
He duly takes the lead into Turn 4, and it's in rather unsubtle fashion - he simply barges by on the inside! I thought I had the heavier car here!? I take revenge for his little bit of intimidation I sneak back by through Turn 7, but his acceleration off the corner means he gets the jump on me coming down into Turn 8. He leads lap 14, but I shadow him through lap 15 and manage to pull off, despite my fading tyres, a decent move on him through Turn 8 and lead as I pull off into the pits at the end of lap 15 for my one and only scheduled pitstop in the race...can anybody say 'in the balance'?
Part 2: Laps 16-30
I exit the pits around 15 seconds down on the Elise, but a couple of rather strong outlaps, combined with his own tyres deteriorating, means that I cut that to around 10-11 seconds by the time he hits the pits at the end of lap 19. With 10 laps to go then, I've got a half-decent 3-second gap on him, but he has seriously got the bit between his teeth, and my lead evaporates out of nowhere in the next 2 laps! 👎
Time for our duel to commence once again, and it does, in earnest, but with an added edge this time - with every lap that passes, the desperation mounts up a notch, as the end of the race draws ever closer. The moves start to get more and more outrageous, with both of us lunging into corners with more and more vigour and wild abandon. He draws close off of Turn 8 on lap 24, and on the approach to Turn 10, he looks to the inside. I block off the line, or so I think - but yet, somehow he manages to squeeze by on the rumble strips in Turn 10!
I respond by absolutely flying through the final chicane and bouncing off his right-side door whilst re-taking the lead, which he then steals back under braking for Turn 4 on lap 25. I then draw level coming through Turn 7, and stalk him down the back straight, before lunging wildly into Turn 8. I re-take the lead briefly, before he executes a perfect crossover move on me! 
I then finally take the lead on lap 26, but he's in no mood to back down, and he swarms literally all over my rear-view mirror through the rest of the lap. The pressure is cranking up literally by the second...who will crack first?!
Answer...me.
Down the backstraight on lap 27, he looks left and right coming into Turn 8, and on worn tyres, I get the line into the corner wrong, and understeer towards the wall. Desperate not to concede anything, I choose not to let up, and instead bounce off the wall much harder than I thought I would. The Elise slips by and in the blink of an eye zooms off into the distance. I finish the lap almost 3 seconds down on him.
Now I'm completly panicking. I'm going mad now, flying across the rumble strips, desperatly trying to coax everything out of my Silvia for one last desperate assault on the lead.
Then, it happens.
I fly across the rumble strips of Turn 1 for the penultimate time, and slide a little.
I then go to hit the rumble strip of Turn 2, and as soon as I've hit it, I know something's about to go wrong.
The car goes up on two wheels, and the steering wobbles.
It starts to veer to the left.
I desperatly counter-steer, but I can't prevent the car veering onto the grass.
The car slides and screeches straight across the entry to Turn 3 and crunches off the Turn 3 outside retaining wall at around 100mph.
I somehow pick myself out of the grass and back onto the track, but after spending about ten seconds or so shouting and swearing repeatedly, I sink into my chair...I've completly, and spectacularly, blown it.
I've chocked.
There's no way I'm going to win now.
Across the start-finish line for the final time, we are seperated by more than 8 seconds. My only hope is that the Elise catches up to a slower car that is showing up on the mini-map and is held up by him. He doesn't, and after just over 50 minutes of racing, he takes the chequered flag, and I follow just 6 bloody seconds behind him.
Final Results
1. Lotus Elise 111S 52'08.358
2. Nissan Silvia Q's 1800cc '88 +6.756
3. Peugeot 306 S16 +33.983
4. Ford Focus Ghia 2.0 Zetec +55.701
5. BMW 323ti Compact +1'24.022
6. BMW 328Ci +1'41.365
The adreneline seeps away, and all I'm left with is bitter disappointment. I was all about to rant at the car, which had a real tendancy just to want to drift all the time when I wanted it to actually attack a corner directly, but in all honesty, I cannot blame the car at all. It performed brilliantly. It was my fault I lost the race, and that's what is so, so galling. If I was geniunely outraced, that would have been perhaps a little easier to take, but I had this one for the taking, and blew it. I need a beer or two...
But on the plus side, what this does mean is that I will come back again, and try to go for victory once more. I know that it's emminently possible in this car, and despite having only 145hp, my humble Silvia could've (and perhaps should've, bar for my errors) won. Common sense says I should simply overkill this race and move on, but I can't do that - not anymore. Therefore, I will be back soon, ready for yet ANOTHER assault on this great race!
For now though...I'm gonna open a bottle of beer...
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you again soon!
Trial Mountain 30 Lap Challenge
30 Laps, 74.1 Miles
Hat tip to AMG for the track map as always
I will be entering in the one car I've bought and used so far on this save - my starter car, a humble, dark blue 1988 Nissan Silvia S13 Q's. Below are the full specs:
Power: 145hp
Weight: 1068kg
Drivetrain: FR
Modifications: Racing Exhaust, Carbon Driveshaft, Racing Flywheel, Weight Reduction Stage 1, Sports ECU.
After a few resets, I find this field ready and waiting, with one car in particular I'm looking forward to duelling with:
1. Lotus Elise 111S
2. Ford Focus Ghia 2.0i Zetec
3. BMW 323ti Compact
4. BMW 328Ci
5. Peugeot 306 S16
So at around 7:30pm UK time, the green flag drops on our rolling start, the revs climb, the field speeds under the start-finish gantry and we are away! I will update as always throughout the race in 10-lap intervals.
Part 1: Laps 1-15
Away from the start I nip by the 306 going into the first series of turns, and I can tell straight away that this will be an area to exploit - the AI seem to brake needlessly during this section, whereas I can take it, if not flat, then with some lifting off as I bounce over the rumble strips. I shadow the 328Ci through most of the first lap before pouncing in Turn 8, before slipping by the 323ti in turns 12 and 13, the final chicane. This is also an area I feel I can perhaps exploit, and it's time to put those to the test as I finish lap 1 trailing the Elise by around 5 seconds. I quickly dispatch of the Focus at the Tunnel Turn (Turn 4), and tear after the Lotus - and I do mean tear after, as he is setting a mean pace.
Remember those areas of strength I noted earlier for me against the A.I.? Well, I've just identified an area of strength for the A.I. - coming out of the Turn 8 all the way up to Turn 11. He manages to pull almost a second and a half of pace on me through this section
I quickly realise that he isn't playing games, so I give it my all through the next few laps, and manage to limit the damage in the last section to around half a second, before pulling up to his back bumper through Turn 7 on lap 4.A good little battle ensues, with the two of us matching each other stride for stride through laps 5 and 6, before I finally zip by through the final chicane. As we start Lap 7, I lead for the first time, and I attempt to turn the screw a little by putting in a series of strong laps, to extend out to around a 4-second advantage by lap 11.
It is then that I make the race's first mistake - I decide to attempt to conserve my tyres a little, ahead of my potential pitstop at around lap 16 onwards, but all this suceeds in doing is not actually conserving my tyres at all and drawing the Elise right back onto my back bumper, sniffing for the lead
He duly takes the lead into Turn 4, and it's in rather unsubtle fashion - he simply barges by on the inside! I thought I had the heavier car here!? I take revenge for his little bit of intimidation I sneak back by through Turn 7, but his acceleration off the corner means he gets the jump on me coming down into Turn 8. He leads lap 14, but I shadow him through lap 15 and manage to pull off, despite my fading tyres, a decent move on him through Turn 8 and lead as I pull off into the pits at the end of lap 15 for my one and only scheduled pitstop in the race...can anybody say 'in the balance'?
Part 2: Laps 16-30
I exit the pits around 15 seconds down on the Elise, but a couple of rather strong outlaps, combined with his own tyres deteriorating, means that I cut that to around 10-11 seconds by the time he hits the pits at the end of lap 19. With 10 laps to go then, I've got a half-decent 3-second gap on him, but he has seriously got the bit between his teeth, and my lead evaporates out of nowhere in the next 2 laps! 👎
Time for our duel to commence once again, and it does, in earnest, but with an added edge this time - with every lap that passes, the desperation mounts up a notch, as the end of the race draws ever closer. The moves start to get more and more outrageous, with both of us lunging into corners with more and more vigour and wild abandon. He draws close off of Turn 8 on lap 24, and on the approach to Turn 10, he looks to the inside. I block off the line, or so I think - but yet, somehow he manages to squeeze by on the rumble strips in Turn 10!
I respond by absolutely flying through the final chicane and bouncing off his right-side door whilst re-taking the lead, which he then steals back under braking for Turn 4 on lap 25. I then draw level coming through Turn 7, and stalk him down the back straight, before lunging wildly into Turn 8. I re-take the lead briefly, before he executes a perfect crossover move on me! I then finally take the lead on lap 26, but he's in no mood to back down, and he swarms literally all over my rear-view mirror through the rest of the lap. The pressure is cranking up literally by the second...who will crack first?!
Answer...me.
Down the backstraight on lap 27, he looks left and right coming into Turn 8, and on worn tyres, I get the line into the corner wrong, and understeer towards the wall. Desperate not to concede anything, I choose not to let up, and instead bounce off the wall much harder than I thought I would. The Elise slips by and in the blink of an eye zooms off into the distance. I finish the lap almost 3 seconds down on him.
Now I'm completly panicking. I'm going mad now, flying across the rumble strips, desperatly trying to coax everything out of my Silvia for one last desperate assault on the lead.
Then, it happens.
I fly across the rumble strips of Turn 1 for the penultimate time, and slide a little.
I then go to hit the rumble strip of Turn 2, and as soon as I've hit it, I know something's about to go wrong.
The car goes up on two wheels, and the steering wobbles.
It starts to veer to the left.
I desperatly counter-steer, but I can't prevent the car veering onto the grass.
The car slides and screeches straight across the entry to Turn 3 and crunches off the Turn 3 outside retaining wall at around 100mph.
I somehow pick myself out of the grass and back onto the track, but after spending about ten seconds or so shouting and swearing repeatedly, I sink into my chair...I've completly, and spectacularly, blown it.
I've chocked.
There's no way I'm going to win now.
Across the start-finish line for the final time, we are seperated by more than 8 seconds. My only hope is that the Elise catches up to a slower car that is showing up on the mini-map and is held up by him. He doesn't, and after just over 50 minutes of racing, he takes the chequered flag, and I follow just 6 bloody seconds behind him.
Final Results
1. Lotus Elise 111S 52'08.358
2. Nissan Silvia Q's 1800cc '88 +6.756
3. Peugeot 306 S16 +33.983
4. Ford Focus Ghia 2.0 Zetec +55.701
5. BMW 323ti Compact +1'24.022
6. BMW 328Ci +1'41.365
The adreneline seeps away, and all I'm left with is bitter disappointment. I was all about to rant at the car, which had a real tendancy just to want to drift all the time when I wanted it to actually attack a corner directly, but in all honesty, I cannot blame the car at all. It performed brilliantly. It was my fault I lost the race, and that's what is so, so galling. If I was geniunely outraced, that would have been perhaps a little easier to take, but I had this one for the taking, and blew it. I need a beer or two...
But on the plus side, what this does mean is that I will come back again, and try to go for victory once more. I know that it's emminently possible in this car, and despite having only 145hp, my humble Silvia could've (and perhaps should've, bar for my errors) won. Common sense says I should simply overkill this race and move on, but I can't do that - not anymore. Therefore, I will be back soon, ready for yet ANOTHER assault on this great race!
For now though...I'm gonna open a bottle of beer...
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you again soon!
Last edited:
