On the GTP account, I bought some RM and RS tires for the Toyota Supra Racing Concept and did a private test at Grand Valley to determine my strategy for the Toyota Cup. My plan is to qualify and start the race on mediums, hope to miss the carnage, and go to the softs on lap 8. I found just over a second difference between the tires, and set a practice time of 1:49.8 on softs and 1:50.0 on mediums.
I ended up in a room with a bunch of potential wreckers - I was the only one with a S SR, and there were a bunch of drivers with B and C SRs. My qualifying plans went up in too much speed, as I took 7th of the 13 who took time, with most of the drivers around me on soft tires. Fortunately, I did miss the carnage in the first right-hander on lap 1, briefly getting up to 6th, but cooked it going into there on lap 2 to drop to 8th.
On lap 3, I took advantage of somebody's misfortune to being the brake for the pole-sitter (who started the race on mediums) in that turn on lap 3 to take 7th, took advantage of another driver cooking it in the high-speed esses to grab 6th, and shrugged off a PIT maneuver from somebody who cut the last hard right-hander and bounced off the canyon wall to take 5th.
I gave it back coming back from the ocean hairpin a lap later, knowing he had a penalty coming, but put it into the canyon wall in the next set of corners avoiding a spun vehicle, whose driver decided to rage-quit. As I was out of the racing line, I waited until the track was clear before getting myself out of the wall, dropping immediately to 7th and to 8th when I served my 1.5-second penalty. That little incident cost me 13 seconds, and the front 2 had checked out, but I kept going.
On lap 5, one of the serious drivers came down for a set of medium tires, giving me a spot, then on lap 6, I took 6th heading into the first tunnel as that driver went wide. There was a whole lot of blocking for 4th going on ahead of me. Fortunately, the game ghosted the blocker long enough for the second-fastest driver (though not the most-consistent) to take that spot going onto lap 8.
The leader had completely killed his tires, and the pole-sitter wasn't doing well on his mediums, but they had cleared the carnage by plenty by the halfway point. The leader, 3rd, 4th, and 5th all came in to put on fresh tires, though one of them forgot that both soft and medium tires were required, another didn't quite realize until fuel started going in that he didn't need to take fuel, and a third crossed the pit lane line. I also came in for a fresh set of soft tires, and lost a spot to the driver who pitted on lap 5.
The pole-sitter stayed out way too long on his medium tires, only pitting on lap 10. Meanwhile, the driver that pitted on lap 5 was too aggressive in the hairpin going for 4th, going off and, had the game not ghosted him, would have taken out the driver that entered the lap-8 pit sequence in 3rd (the one who cut pit lane). That driver, in turn, was too aggressive in the tricky double-left/double-right combo where I spun earlier in the race, and became my first pass. I got past the other driver for 5th while he served his 1-second penalty for that action.
Disaster almost struck at the coastal bridge on lap 12 - a lapped car had spun to the inside, and by the time I saw it, just before the yellow flag came out, it was too late to do anything. Fortunately, the game ghosted that car.
On lap 13, I ran down the driver who was 5th when the lap-8 pit cycle began (the one who took a splash of fuel), as he was hindered by both lapped traffic and a guardrail slam on the first bridge, passing both him and the lapped car as they served their wall-contact penalties. That got me to 4th
That left the driver who had come in 4th on that pit cycle, the 2nd-fastest driver but also an inconsistent one. He had an 11-second lead at the end of lap 13. The winner, who started 2nd, took the finish flag at the 28:11 mark, 19 seconds ahead of the pole-sitter. Third place at the line came across at 28:44, just under 5 seconds ahead of me. Unfortunately for him, he forgot to put medium tires on at any point in the race, which gave me my first online podium in 4 races (all in the Toyota Cup), so he lost not only 3rd, but 4th (who finished 8 seconds behind me), 5th, 6th and 7th, while another driver who didn't put mediums on went from 6th to 10th.
I will say that the 4th-place finisher had a pretty good charge - he was one of those who didn't take a time in qualifying. All that racing got me a pittance, both from the race (I forgot the amount) and from the 4-star Wheel of Despair (the low-showing 30,000 Cr.), and no change in my ratings. For some real cash, I ground Sarthe with the Gr.4 Supra, almost throwing it away by coming off wet tires on lap 06, expecting 2nd (22 seconds behind) to come off his intermediates.
On the Plus account, it was a boring day at Sarthe with the Renault Megane Sport. The first 3-star Wheel of Despair of the month on this account puked out the low-showing 10,000 Cr.
Money is fine but I also need Aston Martin and/or Citroen invitations !!
