Vash's Endurance Companion
- Thread starter Vash666
- 56 comments
- 14,976 views
- 1,531
- ScruffybUK
I think During the first 24 Hour Le-Sarthe Race I remeber seeing a "Stopped Recording Message" at around 11 Hours .
I was checking the Race during TV Commercails to make sure Bob and his B-Spec Buddies wern't sitting in a Sand Trap and just caught the Message by chance .
I was checking the Race during TV Commercails to make sure Bob and his B-Spec Buddies wern't sitting in a Sand Trap and just caught the Message by chance .
- 56
- Rivière-du-Loup, QC
- rousso82
I've just finished, I was using the Mazda Eunos Roadster J-Limited (NA) '91 that I won in the Amateur A-spec Roadster challenge. I'll write a full report on the race shortly, but long story short, I won the race rather easily, I was actually surprised, but maybe not the way you would think...
Destinkeys
(Banned)
- 1,199
- Destinkeys
OK, didn't know the replay would go that far back (but will it SAVE that replay, or is that just for immediate review?)... mind you, with no fast forward, you have to sit through the entire thing realtime just to remember something from the last 20 laps or so? That's lame!
Where's the fast forward and backwards, Kaz?
I am also slightly dismayed to hear that you must be pausing the game frequently to be able to write this stuff down. I am not necessarily a purist (even most RL endurance races allow a driver change every few hours or so, or whatever they can do), but it seems to keep the level of detail and accuracy, you must be pausing a lot more than that?
That sort of turns it from an Endurance into a series of shorter sprints, doesn't it?
Where's the fast forward and backwards, Kaz?
I am also slightly dismayed to hear that you must be pausing the game frequently to be able to write this stuff down. I am not necessarily a purist (even most RL endurance races allow a driver change every few hours or so, or whatever they can do), but it seems to keep the level of detail and accuracy, you must be pausing a lot more than that?
That sort of turns it from an Endurance into a series of shorter sprints, doesn't it?
- 56
- Rivière-du-Loup, QC
- rousso82
I'll speak for myself on this one, but the things I tend to write down are mostly what I do in the pits (what tyres I put on, how much fuel I take), or the lap number when something meaningful happens during the race, takes about 2 seconds while I pase the game (but I don't pause during pitting, it's already slow enough), apart from that I watch the replay afterwards while I write the report and take pictures. And honestly, I don't take pictures of later in the race unless I'm absolutely certain I won't be able to take a shot earlier during the race, even if I'm trying to show something that happened later on, I just try to find a similar situation much earlier in the replay.
It's also easier to remember things that happened at the end of the race and then write them down, so it's mainly the beginning of the race that I watch to refresh my memory about what happened. Anyway, while writing the report, I'm not playing, so might as well leave the replay on and see if I can grab a nice shot of the action while I'm at it.
- 125
- grumblecat
I sort of accidentally ran the Laguna Seca race tonight. Was testing if the Mines Lancer evolution (394hp / 1200 kg) was too powerful and in the first lap I was thinking probably so then my bad driving took over and on back to back laps I went off at the corkscrew and next thing I know I'm down 30 seconds and well that was a challenge so I raced a few more laps and was slowly reeling them in.
After about 10 laps I was in second about 10 seconds back of first so I thought well a few more laps to see if I can take the lead. About lap 20 I found myself in first after passing the Prowler and the 04 Corvette Z06. So now I felt kind of committed kind of committed and so I kept running. Went into the pits about the 32nd lap because the tune on the car was probably a bit off and the front tires were wearing faster than the rears and were mostly gone and I kept overshooting corners.
When I entered the pit I was probably 10 seconds in the lead. I came out behind by almost 40 seconds. For the next 20 laps or so I slowly tried to reel in the leader but at some point I missed him go into the pits and next thing I know I am in the lead by 30 seconds and slowly pulled away. Around Lap 65 I was starting to get close to lapping 2nd place was leading by 1:20 and was running consistent 1:41 laps. But since I was on a 2 stop strategy I pitted at lap 72 came out still 40 seconds in the lead then the 2nd place Corvette pitted and from there to the end I was more than a lap ahead.
I would expect a better driver would have likely lapped the field at least twice in that car and being on Racing Hards was just a bit too much of an advantage. Probably for me if I were on sports softs that car would likely be perfect and it was fantastic to drive.
But that is how I spent just over 2:30 racing a race I was really just testing to see if I had the right car for.
I love your write ups and if i was more motivated would expand to do more but for now just oversharing because it is fresh in my mind.
Keep up the great work
After about 10 laps I was in second about 10 seconds back of first so I thought well a few more laps to see if I can take the lead. About lap 20 I found myself in first after passing the Prowler and the 04 Corvette Z06. So now I felt kind of committed kind of committed and so I kept running. Went into the pits about the 32nd lap because the tune on the car was probably a bit off and the front tires were wearing faster than the rears and were mostly gone and I kept overshooting corners.
When I entered the pit I was probably 10 seconds in the lead. I came out behind by almost 40 seconds. For the next 20 laps or so I slowly tried to reel in the leader but at some point I missed him go into the pits and next thing I know I am in the lead by 30 seconds and slowly pulled away. Around Lap 65 I was starting to get close to lapping 2nd place was leading by 1:20 and was running consistent 1:41 laps. But since I was on a 2 stop strategy I pitted at lap 72 came out still 40 seconds in the lead then the 2nd place Corvette pitted and from there to the end I was more than a lap ahead.
I would expect a better driver would have likely lapped the field at least twice in that car and being on Racing Hards was just a bit too much of an advantage. Probably for me if I were on sports softs that car would likely be perfect and it was fantastic to drive.
But that is how I spent just over 2:30 racing a race I was really just testing to see if I had the right car for.
I love your write ups and if i was more motivated would expand to do more but for now just oversharing because it is fresh in my mind.
Keep up the great work
Yeah the Mine's Lancer is a good ride but likes to eat front tyres a bit too much (problem with FF and 4WD's).
For future enduros you should definitely buy multiple tyre types so when in the race you can adjust the difficulty when in the pits.
Start the the race on harder compound and if the pace is not enough to fight for 1st place then switch to softer tyres.
There is not much difference in durability and taking grippier tyres allows you to catch up.
I've been racing online recently (great fun) but I did the indy 500 a while back and here the report.
Indy 500
The track:
Car used: stock GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '99, (used, old oil, race medium & soft tyres, minimum df 30/50 / MR / 765hp / 900kg / 1.18kg/hp
Lineup:
1. Courage C60 - Peugeot Race Car '03
2. V12 LMR Race Car '99
3. R10 TDI Race Car '06
4. C60 Hybride - Judd Race Car '05
5. Courage - Judd GV5 Race Car '04
6. R8 Race Car (Audi PlayStation Team Oreca) '05
7. GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '99
8. R8 Race Car '01
9. Courage C60 - Peugeot Race Car '03
10. V12 LMR Race Car '99
11. R10 TDI Race Car '06
12. C60 Hybride - Judd Race Car '05
Race:
As seen from the car setup I started the race with race mediums and minimum downforce.
The minimum df is a big restriction here with the R2's as I couldn't take the turns without braking.
I wanted to make it a close race and my strategy seemed to work for the first 15 laps or so
but as the tyres (especially front right) started to wear down I couldn't keep up with the AI's anymore.
I had to slow down too much for the turns and the leading Audis were pulling away.
From laps 15 and onwards I dropped from the pack and by lap 25 I was 9th.
At the end of the lap I pitted in and as the AI's would run much longer it was clear that the race was unwinnable with race mediums.
It would have been nice if I could adjust downforce as well during pitstop so that I could keep racing with the medium tyres.
I didn't want to restart the race so I took race softs and with a half tank left I added 10litres of fuel. After the stop I was on last place about 1,5 laps behind the leader.
Fastest lap of the first stint was 43.703s and this was on par with the AI's.
With new race softs I could take the turns without braking and I started steadily to reduce the gap.
On lap 30 or so I was back in the race and passed easily the 2 Pescarolo 03's whose top speed was only 330km/h. I geared the car to max out at 420km/h and sometimes with good draft reached speeds of +400km/h.
Lap 35, I unlapped myself as I passed the leader R8 Race Car '01 and couple of laps later the AI drivers started to make their pitstops.
Lap 45, by now all of the AI's have pitted and I took 1st place with a fastest lap of 41.680s.
5 laps later the front tyres were shot and it was time to pit again. I pitted every 25 laps for the remainder of the race and I maintainded around 60litres of fuel.
I came out of the pits right before the 2nd place car but with average laps of 42 secs I increased the gap each lap.
After this it was clear that the win is in the bag and I stopped taking further notes. I could have switched between tyre compounds when on the pits to make the race a bit closer
but that seemed like a too much of a hassle I just drove with race softs.
I also had a few wall contacts because of the understeer on worn tyres and near the end of the race my poor GT-ONE looked a bit battered
Lap 200, I completed the race on 1st place and my finish time was 2:33:58.367 about 2-3 laps ahead of the rest.
I recieved 270000cr and 268176xp for the win and a nice XJ13 Race Car '66.
I didn't do too much testing here to try to achieve an even race and the minimum downforce I started the race with produced too slow laptimes with the race mediums.
Altering the downforce so that you can keep more speed through the turns and choosing race hard or medium tyres should provide a interesting race.
After driving around circles for 200 laps its time to head towards Suzuka 1000km next.
This technical circuit will definitely keep me awake or else time consuming visits to sandtraps will happen. I did this race in GT4 with a JGTC300 class car so there is not much room for errors if I want to prevail against the JGTC 500 class cars.
I have some 300hp race cars in the garage but the one I'm most interested in trying out is the elusive Wedssport Celica. I regularly check the UCD and have found many rare cars there but not this one. Lets hope I see one before I get started with the race.
Thanks for the comments and JTSnooks, I'll try to improve with the photos. I know especially the merc shots are quite fuzzy, I still have a lot to learn in photomode. Just prefer the driving side more at the moment...
Here is the next one:
Suzuka 1000km
Last time I did this suzuka enduro I used a RE Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 and using a JGTC 300 class car versus the 500hp cars resulted in some good battles back in GT4. 👍
I had no luck finding the Wedssport Celica in the USD so I returned to my trusty old warhorse Arta Garayia '03 (JGTC300).
I found myself using this car on many races when hunting maximum a-spec points in GT4 and I knew that this car won't disappoint here either.
As the game loads the race I can hear something familiar during the final seconds...is it raining?!
Now at the race menu I can see that its raining and raining hard. This is going to be interesting as I have limited experience driving in wet, only the AMG challenges gave some idea of the low grip levels.
And as usual I am running with all aids off except abs at 1 its going to be easy to spin the car.
I tune downforce to max to help with low grip and shorten gears a bit, select rain tyres and look at the grid for a while. My first endurance in heavy rain conditions... its time to start the race.
The track:
Car used: Arta Garaiya '03 (used, oil changed, race soft tyres / MR / 334hp / 1125kg / 3.37kg/hp
Lineup:
1. XANAVI NISMO Z '06
2. XANAVI NISMO GT-R '08
3. Yellowhat YMS Supra '05
4. TAKATA DONE NSX '06
5. EPSON NSX '08
6. Calsonic IMPUL GT-R '08
7. ARTA Garaiya '03
8. RAYBRIG NSX '06
9. PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 '08
10. ENEOS SC430 '08
11. MOTUL AUTECH GT-R '08
12. ARTA NSX '06
Race:
I start the race cautiously and hang on in the middle of the pack for a while. Despite my slow driving I gain positions quite quickly on the corners and at the end of lap 3 I'm already 1st.
On lap 4 I pull away fast but I'm too eager with throttle at Casio and have my first of many spins.
I lose some seconds there but at the end of lap 5 I have already -10 second lead over 2nd.
Lap 13, my laptimes get quicker each lap as I gain confidence in wet conditions and by now it becomes clear that the AI is horrendously slow on rainy suzuka.
I lap motul gt-r at spoon and tom's sc430 has the same fate at casio. On the next lap I lap a epson nsx, impul gt-r and the yellowhat supra all on the same lap.
Lap 17, approaching degner curve I lap the eneos sc430 and also have a half spin at the end of the lap. On the next laps I have some more spins because of jumping on the throttle too aggressively but it doesn't matter...
It seems I outpace the slow AI decisively on wet conditions so couple of spins here and there doesn't hurt as I'm already lapping cars this early to the race.
Lap 21, raybrig nsx is next in line and I lap him at degner curve, epson nsx falls at spoon and xanavi gt-r is lapped at casio, all on the same lap.
Lap 25, I lap the takata nsx at first turn and xanavi Z before T1. The whole field is lapped now and its only lap 25... so much for close racing, sigh.
Lap 30, the tyres are not fully worn yet with good fronts (still not in optimal temperature) and rears about 60% gone (light blue).
At this point though the car is hard to handle with decreased grip at the rear so I decide to head for the pits and take some new rubber and as I have half tank left some fuel too.
2nd and 3rd unlap themselves during the pitstop, fastest lap of the first stint was 2:22.161 with 1h 15mins on the clock.
Lap 40, around this time the AI's start to pit in and there is not much challenge for me other than keeping the car on track and trying to beat the best lap record.
It's time for a second pitstop on lap 60 as the rears are about 50% worn, I managed to conserve the tyres this far but didn't take enough fuel at the first pitstop.
I ran out fuel half way through the lap
and drove sunday cup style to the pits at 80km/h. Got a impressive laptime of 3:41.232 
and on the pits topped up to 75 litres.
I came out with a one lap lead over the 2nd place takata dome nsx. After warming up the tyres for a few laps I get under the 2:22 mark for the first on lap 65, new best lap now 2:21.437 with 2h 45 mins on the race clock.
Lap 85, my lead has increased to -3 laps and I make my next stop as I cant bear the low grip rears anymore. Not much to report on the following laps,
rain keeps pouring down... it would have been nice for the rain to stop as I wanted some challenge from the AI on dry conditions.
4h 42 mins on clock and its lap 113, still raining and to have a some change in pace I opt for race softs and 65 litres of fuel. I read somewhere at
that race softs are quicker on rainy conditions when grip level is not set real but low as is the case in a-spec races.
First fast lap on the tyres and I instantly set a 2:17.291, 4 secs faster than with rain tyres . Couple of laps later I get under 2:17 barrier and set a 2:16.977.
Lap 123, I have lapped the field 6 times now and with the softs I can run even faster laps than AI's. Whats more is that the tyre wear is tremendously better than with rain tyres.
I have to pit on lap 143 as I took only 65 litres of fuel last time, the soft tyres would have lasted much much longer on rainy conditions. With only 30 laps to go I take 65 litres which is enough to last to the finish and change new soft tyres aswell.
On lap 152 I have a clear track ahead and set a new fast lap of 2:15.127.
In disbelief how that was possible I continue driving but then on lap 153 I switch the camera and notice that it has stopped raining!!!
No wonder I could set that much faster lap. It has rained heavily for over 6hours and 15 minutes and now with a clear sky the track is drying up quickly.
The grip improves drastically each new lap and because of this my best laps also change constantly. For the first time in this race my front tyres also reach the optimal temperature as I can carry more speed through the corners.
Its the last 10 laps and the track is completely dry. 👍 I'm running 2.05's now and because of driving at the limit fronts are pretty worn by now.
As I suspected the AI driver's have woken up of the 6hour slumber they had and are giving me a run for the money.
On the last 2 laps I have to let by by the takata nsx and 2 others as the front are now completely worn and turning is very slow.
I cross the finish line in -9 lap lead just before 7h mark, 172 laps completed and 6:59:45:916 on clock.
Results:
1st ARTA Garaiya '03
2nd TAKATA DONE NSX '06 +9 laps
3rd XANAVI NISMO Z '06
4th RAYBRIG NSX '06
5th ARTA NSX '06
6th EPSON NSX '08
7th ENEOS SC430 '08
8th XANAVI NISMO GT-R '08
9th Calsonic IMPUL GT-R '08
10th MOTUL AUTECH GT-R '08
11th PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 '08
12th Yellowhat YMS Supra '05
It was a good race all in all, especially towards the end as the track got dry. Good learning experience also and now I know what pace to keep if it happens to rain again when I'm running sarthe and nurb enduros later on.
Next up is the 4h enduro at Nürburgring Nordschleife and I'm really looking forward to this one.
No idea for the car though yet. Also I might run the suzuka again at some point but in dry conditions. Judging from the final laps it should be a good race ahead. Thanks for reading.
Here is the next one:
Suzuka 1000km
Last time I did this suzuka enduro I used a RE Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 and using a JGTC 300 class car versus the 500hp cars resulted in some good battles back in GT4. 👍
I had no luck finding the Wedssport Celica in the USD so I returned to my trusty old warhorse Arta Garayia '03 (JGTC300).
I found myself using this car on many races when hunting maximum a-spec points in GT4 and I knew that this car won't disappoint here either.
As the game loads the race I can hear something familiar during the final seconds...is it raining?!
Now at the race menu I can see that its raining and raining hard. This is going to be interesting as I have limited experience driving in wet, only the AMG challenges gave some idea of the low grip levels.
And as usual I am running with all aids off except abs at 1 its going to be easy to spin the car.
I tune downforce to max to help with low grip and shorten gears a bit, select rain tyres and look at the grid for a while. My first endurance in heavy rain conditions... its time to start the race.
The track:
Car used: Arta Garaiya '03 (used, oil changed, race soft tyres / MR / 334hp / 1125kg / 3.37kg/hp
Lineup:
1. XANAVI NISMO Z '06
2. XANAVI NISMO GT-R '08
3. Yellowhat YMS Supra '05
4. TAKATA DONE NSX '06
5. EPSON NSX '08
6. Calsonic IMPUL GT-R '08
7. ARTA Garaiya '03
8. RAYBRIG NSX '06
9. PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 '08
10. ENEOS SC430 '08
11. MOTUL AUTECH GT-R '08
12. ARTA NSX '06
Race:
I start the race cautiously and hang on in the middle of the pack for a while. Despite my slow driving I gain positions quite quickly on the corners and at the end of lap 3 I'm already 1st.
On lap 4 I pull away fast but I'm too eager with throttle at Casio and have my first of many spins.
I lose some seconds there but at the end of lap 5 I have already -10 second lead over 2nd.
Lap 13, my laptimes get quicker each lap as I gain confidence in wet conditions and by now it becomes clear that the AI is horrendously slow on rainy suzuka.
I lap motul gt-r at spoon and tom's sc430 has the same fate at casio. On the next lap I lap a epson nsx, impul gt-r and the yellowhat supra all on the same lap.
Lap 17, approaching degner curve I lap the eneos sc430 and also have a half spin at the end of the lap. On the next laps I have some more spins because of jumping on the throttle too aggressively but it doesn't matter...
It seems I outpace the slow AI decisively on wet conditions so couple of spins here and there doesn't hurt as I'm already lapping cars this early to the race.
Lap 21, raybrig nsx is next in line and I lap him at degner curve, epson nsx falls at spoon and xanavi gt-r is lapped at casio, all on the same lap.
Lap 25, I lap the takata nsx at first turn and xanavi Z before T1. The whole field is lapped now and its only lap 25... so much for close racing, sigh.
Lap 30, the tyres are not fully worn yet with good fronts (still not in optimal temperature) and rears about 60% gone (light blue).
At this point though the car is hard to handle with decreased grip at the rear so I decide to head for the pits and take some new rubber and as I have half tank left some fuel too.
2nd and 3rd unlap themselves during the pitstop, fastest lap of the first stint was 2:22.161 with 1h 15mins on the clock.
Lap 40, around this time the AI's start to pit in and there is not much challenge for me other than keeping the car on track and trying to beat the best lap record.
It's time for a second pitstop on lap 60 as the rears are about 50% worn, I managed to conserve the tyres this far but didn't take enough fuel at the first pitstop.
I ran out fuel half way through the lap
and drove sunday cup style to the pits at 80km/h. Got a impressive laptime of 3:41.232 and on the pits topped up to 75 litres.I came out with a one lap lead over the 2nd place takata dome nsx. After warming up the tyres for a few laps I get under the 2:22 mark for the first on lap 65, new best lap now 2:21.437 with 2h 45 mins on the race clock.
Lap 85, my lead has increased to -3 laps and I make my next stop as I cant bear the low grip rears anymore. Not much to report on the following laps,
rain keeps pouring down... it would have been nice for the rain to stop as I wanted some challenge from the AI on dry conditions.
4h 42 mins on clock and its lap 113, still raining and to have a some change in pace I opt for race softs and 65 litres of fuel. I read somewhere at
that race softs are quicker on rainy conditions when grip level is not set real but low as is the case in a-spec races.First fast lap on the tyres and I instantly set a 2:17.291, 4 secs faster than with rain tyres . Couple of laps later I get under 2:17 barrier and set a 2:16.977.
Lap 123, I have lapped the field 6 times now and with the softs I can run even faster laps than AI's. Whats more is that the tyre wear is tremendously better than with rain tyres.
I have to pit on lap 143 as I took only 65 litres of fuel last time, the soft tyres would have lasted much much longer on rainy conditions. With only 30 laps to go I take 65 litres which is enough to last to the finish and change new soft tyres aswell.
On lap 152 I have a clear track ahead and set a new fast lap of 2:15.127.
In disbelief how that was possible I continue driving but then on lap 153 I switch the camera and notice that it has stopped raining!!! No wonder I could set that much faster lap. It has rained heavily for over 6hours and 15 minutes and now with a clear sky the track is drying up quickly.
The grip improves drastically each new lap and because of this my best laps also change constantly. For the first time in this race my front tyres also reach the optimal temperature as I can carry more speed through the corners.
Its the last 10 laps and the track is completely dry. 👍 I'm running 2.05's now and because of driving at the limit fronts are pretty worn by now.
As I suspected the AI driver's have woken up of the 6hour slumber they had and are giving me a run for the money.
On the last 2 laps I have to let by by the takata nsx and 2 others as the front are now completely worn and turning is very slow.
I cross the finish line in -9 lap lead just before 7h mark, 172 laps completed and 6:59:45:916 on clock.
Results:
1st ARTA Garaiya '03
2nd TAKATA DONE NSX '06 +9 laps
3rd XANAVI NISMO Z '06
4th RAYBRIG NSX '06
5th ARTA NSX '06
6th EPSON NSX '08
7th ENEOS SC430 '08
8th XANAVI NISMO GT-R '08
9th Calsonic IMPUL GT-R '08
10th MOTUL AUTECH GT-R '08
11th PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 '08
12th Yellowhat YMS Supra '05
It was a good race all in all, especially towards the end as the track got dry. Good learning experience also and now I know what pace to keep if it happens to rain again when I'm running sarthe and nurb enduros later on.
Next up is the 4h enduro at Nürburgring Nordschleife and I'm really looking forward to this one.
No idea for the car though yet. Also I might run the suzuka again at some point but in dry conditions. Judging from the final laps it should be a good race ahead. Thanks for reading.
- 161
173 laps. REALLY?!?!?
that seems a tad excessive. looks like i'll be doing this one with the old fgt. 7 hours of that track don't really sound all that fun to be honest.
that seems a tad excessive. looks like i'll be doing this one with the old fgt. 7 hours of that track don't really sound all that fun to be honest.
Yeah its a long race but if you break it down to about 2-3 stints its much more manageable. I left the ps3 running overnight and did the race in 2 days. Besides if you are planning to use something like the FGT, the race can be done much much quicker if in dry conditions.
Awesome write ups
It would be nice if one of the mods could create a race reports sub forum like they have in the GT4 forum so something like this has a place to live
I'm going to have to repeat Suzuka since it didn't rain once during my entire race
(although the sky did get very overcast for a couple of hours making me think it would. The dynamic weather changes in GT5 really make the endurance races like this that use them soooooooo much better )
It would be nice if one of the mods could create a race reports sub forum like they have in the GT4 forum so something like this has a place to live
I'm going to have to repeat Suzuka since it didn't rain once during my entire race
(although the sky did get very overcast for a couple of hours making me think it would. The dynamic weather changes in GT5 really make the endurance races like this that use them soooooooo much better )- 53
- thekiddeluca
if your like me you like to get it done as fast a possible. this is my next race to do so i think im going to save for a f10 or f2007. i have a fgt but i have used that so much its boring and i want something new to play with.
- 446
- MattiDaDude
- V12 Matti Dude
Nice write ups, I like the fact that you're using really well balanced cars, so much so that you're not even winning some of these. Hats off to you, I had a great race around grand valley in my mercedes 190, i finished 2nd in the end.
- 179
- UK
- flyingkillercob
Nice thread I have a Wedssport Celica for trade if you want to run Suzuka again.
I have a Wedssport Celica for trade if you want to run Suzuka again.Awesome write ups
It would be nice if one of the mods could create a race reports sub forum like they have in the GT4 forum so something like this has a place to live
I'm going to have to repeat Suzuka since it didn't rain once during my entire race
Yeah, I think the forum might just happen if more people start writing these. The weather change is very nice feature but as happened in my race it took the competetiveness out pretty fast as I was already lapping cars 15 laps to the race.
Err, use X1 then? Probably takes around 3-4 hours with that car...
Yeah, I'm definitely doing this race again in dry conditions... just need to find a wedssport celica somewhere as I want to try that car out. Strategy wise there is still some things left to discover like the AI pit schedule and how long my tyres will last.
The merc evo is a fun car and a win was possible in my race if I hadn't chosen slower compound for the last stint.
Nice thread
Nice, I sent you a message via psn
Suzuka 1000km take II
Car used: Wedssport Celica '03 (used, oil changed, race medium/soft tyres / FR / 321hp / 1050kg / 3.27kg/hp
Lineup:
1. XANAVI NISMO GT-R '08
2. RAYBRIG NSX '06
3. ARTA NSX '06
4. Yellowhat YMS Supra '05
5. ENEOS SC430 '08
6. DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 '08
7. WEDSSPORT Celica '03
8. EPSON NSX '08
9. WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R '08
10. MOTUL AUTECH GT-R '08
11. Calsonic IMPUL GT-R '08
12. TAKATA DONE NSX '06
Race:
Its a rolling start and as we accelerate towards first corner I don't stand a chance against the 500hp cars and drop to 11th before 1st corner.
This car's strenght lies in the excellent cornering capabilites and I begin to work my way up the field slowly.
Clean passes take some time and coming to lap 4 I'm on 3rd place +12 secs behind the leading NSX's. I chip away the gap slowly on the following laps and on lap 9 I am +8 seconds behind.
Lap 10, the gap stays around +10 secs and as fronts wear out keeping the same pace as the NSX's becomes difficult.
At the end of lap 17 I make my first pitstop and switch to softer tyres for the next stint as it doesn't look likely to catch the leaders with these tyres.
I also refuel 15 litres and come out on 3rd place. The pack behind me is very close and at T1 I am +37 secs behind 1st place... fastest lap so far 2:04.591.
Lap 19, seems like the Arta NSX had a good fight with the Raybrig NSX and he pits at the end of the lap for a new set of tyres allowing me to take the 2nd place.
A lap later the Raybrig and a bunch of other cars pit in and I take the 1st place from him. At T1 my lead is -28 secs. I also clock a new fast lap of 2:02.954 with the fresh soft tyres. 👍
Lap 24, I lap the first cars during their stops (sc430's) and the soft tyres soon prove to be an overkill in this race as my lead has increased already to -50secs.
The 1st hour ends on lap 29, on 1st place and a little over 1 min ahead 2nd place Raybrig.
On lap 30 I lap a SC430 at Casio and 5 laps later its time for another pitstop. I pit at the end of lap 35 and decide to switch back to racing mediums for the rest of the race to make it more challenging.
I also refuel 40 litres and then come out with a -16 sec lead. Lap 38, lapped a Xanavi GT-R and I'm now running a very similar pace with the NSX's as the gap has stayed around -17 secs.
The 2nd and 3rd place NSX's pit on lap 40, the Takata NSX behind doesn't pit yet and takes 2nd place briefly. My lead after their stop is -1min and 20 secs.
Moving on to Lap 48, I notice a car on the trackmap thats been catching me and I first thought that the car was the eneos sc430 I lapped recently but no... its the Takata NSX.
Now with fresh tyres he is clocking some good times and I'm no match for him as my tyres are pretty worn.
My laps are around 2.07's at this point and the Takata NSX unlaps himself as he passes me on the s/f straight. On lap 50 I enter spoon too fast and as the rears touch the grass I spin out for the first time.
I quickly recover though and my lead is around 1 min 15 secs. On lap 52 I pit in again and get a new set of mediums + 35 litres of fuel, come out -33 secs ahead.
Lap 55, I lap a sc430 at S-bends and soon after I hit the 2h mark near T2 with a lead of -37 secs over the Raybrig NSX. On lap 60 both Raybrig and Arta Nsx's pit and I increase my lead to 1min 15secs.
I pit in right after on lap 71 and take a new set of tyres + 30litres of fuel, come out -38 secs before 2nd place Raybrig. Lap 78 sees some action as I lap a Yellowhat Supra at S-bends and a lap later Epson NSX at the same spot.
At the end of my lap 82 the Arta NSX pits in and I just manage to pass him before he comes back to track. My front tyres are worn though and he is quickly on my tail.
Couple of laps later the Arta NSX unlaps himself as he overtakes me before 130R. With 3 hours on the race clock, I have a 1 min 48 sec lead over 2nd place Raybrig.
After some slow laps with worn tyres I make my next pitstop on lap 88, take new tyres and refuel 35 litres. Next checkpoint tells me that the Raybrig is -44 secs behind.
Eneos sc430, Yellowhat supra and a GT-R passed me during the stop but with fresh rubber I lap them again in a couple of laps.
On lap 97 Denso sc430 is about to be lapped at Casio and he almost spinned the car before entering the pitlane. I'm running about 2.05 laptimes and overall the pace is very similar with the NSX's, gap stays at 1min 12 secs.
I can increase the gap during pitstops as I don't refuel to the max and during lapping slower cars but then lose time when on worn tyres and on the straights.
I'm on lap 102 and the 2nd and 3rd place NSX's pit in and I momentarily lap them, I also need to pit after a few laps.
I have a good fight with the Autech GT-R and we overtake each other a couple of times, the nsx's also join the fun around lap 103.
Too bad that my fronts are almost gone by now and it becomes impossible to keep up with them, I make my next stop on lap 105. I take fresh tyres and refuel 40litres.
I come out with a -1 min 30sec lead and I calculated my pit strategy for the rest of the race. I've been pitting in around every 17 laps and luckily I don't have to make any adjustments to that.
For the next laps I manage to increase the gap to -1min amd 40 secs, seems like the nsx's are stuck behind traffic and they are not that far to be lapped anymore.
I reach the 4h mark on lap 112, I'm on first place and only the nsx's remain to be lapped at this point. Lap 113, there is a good 5 car fight going on in front of me and I join the fun near the end of the lap.
Approaching Casio I outbrake a Impul GT-R and Takata NSX at the same time
and barely keep them behind on the s/f straight. Next lap a Woodone GT-R is lapped at Degner.
On lap 115 its the Yellowhat Supra's turn to be lapped an he falls at spoon. Lap 116, finally got past the pack as I lap the Xanavi GT-R at S-bends. I lost some time lapping these cars and my lead is now -1min 28 secs.
There are many cars on the pits when I make my next stop on lap 122. Among us is the 3rd place Arta NSX and he gets out slightly before I do. Hopefully I can lap him on the next stint.
Its lap 125 and the gap stays at -1min 35secs. I cannot quite catch the Arta despite my best efforts and I remain just a bit too far of the drafting range.
On lap 128 I lap the Denso sc430 again at the S-bends and Eneos sc430 at Casio. The 4th hour ends on lap 139.
5th hour begins and I have about -2min lead over the Raybrig NSX. He got stuck behind Xanavi GT-R and Yellowhat Supra for a while allowing me to catch him. I pit at the end of lap 139, new tyres and top up 40 litres.
Arta and Raybrig pit around lap 142 allowing me to finally lap them. The Takata NSX takes the 2nd place again briefly before pitting in on the next lap.
It took me this long to lap the whole field and I still have to drive as fast as possible if I want to keep the NSx's 1 lap behind.
At this stage I'm feeling really exhausted with the track as I have driven Suzuka around for about 400 laps over the past week when counting the previous race and testing included.
Good thing there is a pause button.
I pit again on lap 156, with 5 hours and 37 minutes on the clock. The NSX's unlap themselves but they also need to stop once more. On lap 161 they start to pit in and I barely lap them before 1st corner.
I forgot that with full fueltanks the AI's don't have to refuel anymore on the final pitstops and only take new tyres. Thats why they are quickly back on the track and this means a tough fight for the final stint.
The Raybring catches my slipstream on lap 164 and flys by me at s/f straight. I remain at drafting range though but the Arta NSX is also now close behind.
My worn tyres makes it increasingly difficult to battle them but there is some backmarkers ahead which should slow down the Raybrig for a while. 👍
Lap 165, Raybrig laps Impul GT-R at s/f straight and me and the Arta NSX do the same near Spoon. Arta passes me on the following straight but I outbrake him at Casio.
There is a Supra and another GT-R ahead and the Raybrig cant get away from me just yet. Lap 170, its a great battle with the slower cars in the mix and I manage the pass the Raybrig at S-bends.
Because of our battling the 4th place Takata is now suprisingly nearby also! He quickly emerges in my rearview overtakes me and Raybrig on the straight before 130R.
With 2 laps to go the Arta pushes me wide as we enter 1st corner and with worn tyres I spin.
This effectively ends the fight and sadly I couldn't lap the NSX's afterall. It was a magnificent fight though and all on the last laps!
The race is finished as I cross s/f line for the last time on lap 172, clocks are stopped at 6:12:24.724, with a epic battle near the end. The Raybrig driver must not have been too happy as after being on 2nd place for the majority of the race he finished on 3rd place thanks to our battle on the final laps. For 1st place I'm rewarded with 37600cr and 618185xp.
Final standings:
1st. Wedssport Celica
2nd. Arta NSX + 2min
3rd. Raybrig NSX +2min
4th. Takata Dome NSX +2min
5th EPSON NSX +1 lap
6th WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R
7th ENEOS SC430
8th Calsonic IMPUL GT-R
9th XANAVI NISMO GT-R
10th MOTUL AUTECH GT-R
11th DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430
12th Yellowhat YMS Supra
Car used: Wedssport Celica '03 (used, oil changed, race medium/soft tyres / FR / 321hp / 1050kg / 3.27kg/hp
Lineup:
1. XANAVI NISMO GT-R '08
2. RAYBRIG NSX '06
3. ARTA NSX '06
4. Yellowhat YMS Supra '05
5. ENEOS SC430 '08
6. DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430 '08
7. WEDSSPORT Celica '03
8. EPSON NSX '08
9. WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R '08
10. MOTUL AUTECH GT-R '08
11. Calsonic IMPUL GT-R '08
12. TAKATA DONE NSX '06
Race:
Its a rolling start and as we accelerate towards first corner I don't stand a chance against the 500hp cars and drop to 11th before 1st corner.
This car's strenght lies in the excellent cornering capabilites and I begin to work my way up the field slowly.
Clean passes take some time and coming to lap 4 I'm on 3rd place +12 secs behind the leading NSX's. I chip away the gap slowly on the following laps and on lap 9 I am +8 seconds behind.
Lap 10, the gap stays around +10 secs and as fronts wear out keeping the same pace as the NSX's becomes difficult.
At the end of lap 17 I make my first pitstop and switch to softer tyres for the next stint as it doesn't look likely to catch the leaders with these tyres.
I also refuel 15 litres and come out on 3rd place. The pack behind me is very close and at T1 I am +37 secs behind 1st place... fastest lap so far 2:04.591.
Lap 19, seems like the Arta NSX had a good fight with the Raybrig NSX and he pits at the end of the lap for a new set of tyres allowing me to take the 2nd place.
A lap later the Raybrig and a bunch of other cars pit in and I take the 1st place from him. At T1 my lead is -28 secs. I also clock a new fast lap of 2:02.954 with the fresh soft tyres. 👍
Lap 24, I lap the first cars during their stops (sc430's) and the soft tyres soon prove to be an overkill in this race as my lead has increased already to -50secs.
The 1st hour ends on lap 29, on 1st place and a little over 1 min ahead 2nd place Raybrig.
On lap 30 I lap a SC430 at Casio and 5 laps later its time for another pitstop. I pit at the end of lap 35 and decide to switch back to racing mediums for the rest of the race to make it more challenging.
I also refuel 40 litres and then come out with a -16 sec lead. Lap 38, lapped a Xanavi GT-R and I'm now running a very similar pace with the NSX's as the gap has stayed around -17 secs.
The 2nd and 3rd place NSX's pit on lap 40, the Takata NSX behind doesn't pit yet and takes 2nd place briefly. My lead after their stop is -1min and 20 secs.
Moving on to Lap 48, I notice a car on the trackmap thats been catching me and I first thought that the car was the eneos sc430 I lapped recently but no... its the Takata NSX.
Now with fresh tyres he is clocking some good times and I'm no match for him as my tyres are pretty worn.
My laps are around 2.07's at this point and the Takata NSX unlaps himself as he passes me on the s/f straight. On lap 50 I enter spoon too fast and as the rears touch the grass I spin out for the first time.
I quickly recover though and my lead is around 1 min 15 secs. On lap 52 I pit in again and get a new set of mediums + 35 litres of fuel, come out -33 secs ahead.
Lap 55, I lap a sc430 at S-bends and soon after I hit the 2h mark near T2 with a lead of -37 secs over the Raybrig NSX. On lap 60 both Raybrig and Arta Nsx's pit and I increase my lead to 1min 15secs.
I pit in right after on lap 71 and take a new set of tyres + 30litres of fuel, come out -38 secs before 2nd place Raybrig. Lap 78 sees some action as I lap a Yellowhat Supra at S-bends and a lap later Epson NSX at the same spot.
At the end of my lap 82 the Arta NSX pits in and I just manage to pass him before he comes back to track. My front tyres are worn though and he is quickly on my tail.
Couple of laps later the Arta NSX unlaps himself as he overtakes me before 130R. With 3 hours on the race clock, I have a 1 min 48 sec lead over 2nd place Raybrig.
After some slow laps with worn tyres I make my next pitstop on lap 88, take new tyres and refuel 35 litres. Next checkpoint tells me that the Raybrig is -44 secs behind.
Eneos sc430, Yellowhat supra and a GT-R passed me during the stop but with fresh rubber I lap them again in a couple of laps.
On lap 97 Denso sc430 is about to be lapped at Casio and he almost spinned the car before entering the pitlane. I'm running about 2.05 laptimes and overall the pace is very similar with the NSX's, gap stays at 1min 12 secs.
I can increase the gap during pitstops as I don't refuel to the max and during lapping slower cars but then lose time when on worn tyres and on the straights.
I'm on lap 102 and the 2nd and 3rd place NSX's pit in and I momentarily lap them, I also need to pit after a few laps.
I have a good fight with the Autech GT-R and we overtake each other a couple of times, the nsx's also join the fun around lap 103.
Too bad that my fronts are almost gone by now and it becomes impossible to keep up with them, I make my next stop on lap 105. I take fresh tyres and refuel 40litres.
I come out with a -1 min 30sec lead and I calculated my pit strategy for the rest of the race. I've been pitting in around every 17 laps and luckily I don't have to make any adjustments to that.
For the next laps I manage to increase the gap to -1min amd 40 secs, seems like the nsx's are stuck behind traffic and they are not that far to be lapped anymore.
I reach the 4h mark on lap 112, I'm on first place and only the nsx's remain to be lapped at this point. Lap 113, there is a good 5 car fight going on in front of me and I join the fun near the end of the lap.
Approaching Casio I outbrake a Impul GT-R and Takata NSX at the same time
and barely keep them behind on the s/f straight. Next lap a Woodone GT-R is lapped at Degner. On lap 115 its the Yellowhat Supra's turn to be lapped an he falls at spoon. Lap 116, finally got past the pack as I lap the Xanavi GT-R at S-bends. I lost some time lapping these cars and my lead is now -1min 28 secs.
There are many cars on the pits when I make my next stop on lap 122. Among us is the 3rd place Arta NSX and he gets out slightly before I do. Hopefully I can lap him on the next stint.
Its lap 125 and the gap stays at -1min 35secs. I cannot quite catch the Arta despite my best efforts and I remain just a bit too far of the drafting range.
On lap 128 I lap the Denso sc430 again at the S-bends and Eneos sc430 at Casio. The 4th hour ends on lap 139.
5th hour begins and I have about -2min lead over the Raybrig NSX. He got stuck behind Xanavi GT-R and Yellowhat Supra for a while allowing me to catch him. I pit at the end of lap 139, new tyres and top up 40 litres.
Arta and Raybrig pit around lap 142 allowing me to finally lap them. The Takata NSX takes the 2nd place again briefly before pitting in on the next lap.
It took me this long to lap the whole field and I still have to drive as fast as possible if I want to keep the NSx's 1 lap behind.
At this stage I'm feeling really exhausted with the track as I have driven Suzuka around for about 400 laps over the past week when counting the previous race and testing included.
Good thing there is a pause button.
I pit again on lap 156, with 5 hours and 37 minutes on the clock. The NSX's unlap themselves but they also need to stop once more. On lap 161 they start to pit in and I barely lap them before 1st corner.
I forgot that with full fueltanks the AI's don't have to refuel anymore on the final pitstops and only take new tyres. Thats why they are quickly back on the track and this means a tough fight for the final stint.
The Raybring catches my slipstream on lap 164 and flys by me at s/f straight. I remain at drafting range though but the Arta NSX is also now close behind.
My worn tyres makes it increasingly difficult to battle them but there is some backmarkers ahead which should slow down the Raybrig for a while. 👍
Lap 165, Raybrig laps Impul GT-R at s/f straight and me and the Arta NSX do the same near Spoon. Arta passes me on the following straight but I outbrake him at Casio.
There is a Supra and another GT-R ahead and the Raybrig cant get away from me just yet.
Lap 170, its a great battle with the slower cars in the mix and I manage the pass the Raybrig at S-bends. Because of our battling the 4th place Takata is now suprisingly nearby also! He quickly emerges in my rearview overtakes me and Raybrig on the straight before 130R.
With 2 laps to go the Arta pushes me wide as we enter 1st corner and with worn tyres I spin.
This effectively ends the fight and sadly I couldn't lap the NSX's afterall. It was a magnificent fight though and all on the last laps!
The race is finished as I cross s/f line for the last time on lap 172, clocks are stopped at 6:12:24.724, with a epic battle near the end. The Raybrig driver must not have been too happy as after being on 2nd place for the majority of the race he finished on 3rd place thanks to our battle on the final laps. For 1st place I'm rewarded with 37600cr and 618185xp.
Final standings:
1st. Wedssport Celica
2nd. Arta NSX + 2min
3rd. Raybrig NSX +2min
4th. Takata Dome NSX +2min
5th EPSON NSX +1 lap
6th WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R
7th ENEOS SC430
8th Calsonic IMPUL GT-R
9th XANAVI NISMO GT-R
10th MOTUL AUTECH GT-R
11th DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430
12th Yellowhat YMS Supra
- 1,214
You gave up too soon and put on soft racing tires. Even if you can't catch the leader at the beginning there are two things that often play into your favor later in the race :
1) a good pit strategy. Knowing when to pit is something you can often do better than the AI.
2) Passing lap cars. Often the laps car slows the AI more than you. (at least they should)
This is how I beat this race with a Gtr'08 on hard racing tires against NSX'06. (I thought at first the AI was using Hard tires but I was wrong. They are using Medium.)My race ended up with the NSX on my bumper on the last lap. I wasn't too sure I was going to pull it off.
1) a good pit strategy. Knowing when to pit is something you can often do better than the AI.
2) Passing lap cars. Often the laps car slows the AI more than you. (at least they should)
This is how I beat this race with a Gtr'08 on hard racing tires against NSX'06. (I thought at first the AI was using Hard tires but I was wrong. They are using Medium.)My race ended up with the NSX on my bumper on the last lap. I wasn't too sure I was going to pull it off.
True true, but at that time I had to see that the race was winnable in the first place. I didn't want to waste too much time only to find out that I couldn't fight for the win.
Besides I only did that one stint with the softs and used mediums for the rest of the race. It was still close enough race for my liking. 👍
Besides I only did that one stint with the softs and used mediums for the rest of the race. It was still close enough race for my liking. 👍
- 179
- UK
- flyingkillercob
Nice report there I did Suzuka for the first time just after giving you the Celica, which I duped as I hadn't even driven it myself. I did briefly consider using it, but I thought I wouldn't be good enough, so I went for the FTO Super Touring Car. Like your first Suzuka, mine was also wet, and the 4WD plus the stupid AI in wet conditions made the race ridiculously easy. I think I'll be getting that Celica out next time!
I did Suzuka for the first time just after giving you the Celica, which I duped as I hadn't even driven it myself. I did briefly consider using it, but I thought I wouldn't be good enough, so I went for the FTO Super Touring Car. Like your first Suzuka, mine was also wet, and the 4WD plus the stupid AI in wet conditions made the race ridiculously easy. I think I'll be getting that Celica out next time!
