With my weakness for Mt. Panorama it was clear I had to return to Bathurst. After running with the R92CP and the Gallardo on Friday night, I've taken 5 other cars to the race, cars I hardly ever drive. And what can I say, it's been sheer pleasure, it's been relaxation, even meditation spending all these hours there. And btw I couldn't care less that the payout is low - it's GT after all, it's not my job.
In general, I had set them all up on RM tires with a PP level of about 750, enough to fight for the podium without the need to drive like a madman. That's what I thought. Winning every race came as a surprise, I really didn't expect that.
Now the first candidate was the Ford GT LM Test car which has been fascinating me in a special way ever since GT4. The Ford is thirsty.
FM3 throughout the race, two pitstops after 12 and 24 laps. 2.02 - 2.03 laps on average. The car is reliably quick and predictable in most situations, but don't ever get sloppy or it will try to kill you. And what a growl ...
I didn't have any idea what to expect from the Aston Martin DBR9 and the Renault RS 01. To be honest I was a bit pessimistic but both cars have been surprising me positively. The driving is quite different, the lap times however and the race progress were very similar - a one stop race on FM2, 2.00 - 2.01 laps on average. Should I mention that the race with the Renault has been the only one with a nail biting finish ? I had closed up to the leader finally with 12 minutes left on the clock. When trying to overtake him approaching the Chase, the guy spun me out, desperately trying to keep the line, and it took me an eternity to get back on track. Lost 25 seconds - I DiD nOt WAnT tO dRiVe lIkE A maDMaN !
Well now, the Audi RS 5, the only one with a higher PP level of about 790. I had used the car once in a former Weekly Challenge, since yesterday I know why some call it a cheat code. When running down the Mountain Straight for the first time, I was sure to lose the race for the low top end of the car, at Forest Elbow I knew I'd blow them all away. The Audi's got unbelievable performance at the twisty mountain part, there's nothing as stable and planted as this car. If you ever feel like pedal to the metal here you go ... FM 2, a single pitstop. 1.58 - 2.00 laps on average. I've easily lapped everyone btw.
The last car I tried in the morning was the GT by Citroen. Nothing to remember sadly ! Individual preferences I guess. The race went fine, FM3 all the time, a single stop after 30 minutes, laps in the 2.04 - 2.05 range, quite an easy win all in all. But ... the most exciting thing was I got another short glimpse of GT AI greatness when trying to overtake the Genesis at Skyline. My guess is he couldn't decide between keeping the line and keeping it clean, shot straight into the run off, then across the track and into the barrier. Missed me by a meter. Puh !
Here's some photo impressions :
Now, a Happy New Year ! everyone. I'm sure my 2025 will start glorious. With tickets from 2 batches of WCs, 2 login bonus campaigns, completing the MFGT demo and a couple of DMs my garage looks like that :
Has anyone seen my party hat ?