My first ever attempt at the Infineon World Sportscar Race, and it was quite a fun one :)
Infineon World Sportscar Race
Date: 25th August 2007
Car Used: 1998 Nissan R390GT1 (Black Beauty, used, no oil change)
After an entertaining battle at the SuperSpeedway, team FRT headed to California for the Infineon World Sportscar Race. Early testing had shown they would be on pace with their rivals and stood a good chance of winning.
The car was once again the Nissan R390GT1, as it was after it had crossed the line at SS. It had experianced a drop in horsepower to 760hp and for this race was fitted with R1s all round for once again maximum endurance.
The opposition:
Nissan R89C
Audi R8
Sauber C9
Mazda 787B
Jaguar XJR-9
Early testing showed that I should have the pace on the Sauber, Nissan and Mazda, but with 188 A-spec points on the cards this would not be easy...but as OldGeezer says, Id much prefer a challenge than a walkover!
BTW Note to Famine and Smallhorses...apologies if it seems like im ripping off your ideas, but I'm not attempting to give a detailed guide through of the enduro races - as mentioned in the SS thread, I simply enjoy reporting on the races
Besides, I will be the first to tip my hat and admit that you 2 are two of the kings of endurance racing on GT4!
Race starts at approximatly 12:25 GMT, so here we go! Updates will come every halfhour up until 2 hours when I shall simply update when Ive finsihed the final 45 minutes.
SEgment 1: 0-30 minutes
Moved past the Jaguar under breaking for T2 and T3 (the uphill Esses) and then snatched the Mazda under acceleration out of the final hairpin, all on lap1. Lap 2 saw a thrilling 3-way skirmish between me, the Sauber and the Audi. The Sauber went inside of the Audi and I dove inside both of them at T2 only to be barged into the grass at T3 by the Audi who himself was barged into the grass at T4 by the Sauber, all the time the fact I was slowed on the grass meant I could take a tigher line through T4 and I passed both of them! Then 3 laps right up behind the R89C go down the drain when we both run wide going into the final hairpin and he decided to brake to a complete halt in front of me! This incident lets the Sauber by into the lead but at least the R89C is behind me now. Finally manage to pass the Sauber with a lovely crossover move in T1 going up the hill and by lap 11 when the Jaguar makes his first pitstop the Sauber is about 2.2 seconds down. Lap 12 sees the Sauber and R89C making their first pitstops which means the Mazda 787B takes over 2nd place for now. My tires are only beginning to turn yellow on the rear and my fuel tank is still just over half full, so a tiny bit of confidence is beginning to creep in...I managed to outlast everyone to their first pitstop - the Mazda pitted from about 11 seconds behind on lap 14 and the Audi from 20 seconds back on lap 15. By this stage my rear tires were shot to pieces and my car felt more like a D1 racer than a GT car. Put on another set of R1 tires and fuelled up to 70 units and re-emerged from the stop 5.6 seconds ahead of the Sauber
. Half an hour passes 1minute 20 into lap 21 with myself leading the Sauber by 8 seconds.
Segment 2: 30mins-1hour
First activity of the hour is the Jaguar pitting again on lap 23, and a few small mistakes by me mean the gap back to 2nd closes to 5.095 seconds by this time. I need some music...out comes some Queens of the Stone Age (songs for the deaf, Lullabies to Paralyze), Feeder (Singles), Lostprophets (Start Something) and Aphrodite (Urban Junglist) to last me through the race. Lapped the Jaguar at about lap 27, 2nd round of pitstops occur for the Sauber and R89C at lap 24 and the 787B ducks in at lap 29. I follow suit at lap 31 - I could go to lap 33 but the 2 extra laps would be skittish to say the least
this time I had the time to fuel up to the max before leaving and still had a 12-second lead on the Sauber. So far in the race I'd avoided the one thing I said I wouldn't do - making major mistakes. So far Id managed to avoid big stuff-ups. But there is still a long way to go. My lead continues to increase, the Jaguar pits at lap 34 and the Sauber mysteriously pits AGAIN at lap 37, which means as an hour goes up on the clocks I am 22 seconds through lap 43 with a 55-second lead on the Mazda 787B. The R89C also drops a lap by lap 42.
Segment 3:1hour-1hour 30 minutes
Put the Mazda 787B a lap down on lap 44 but this is only temperary as at the end of that lap I come in for a pit stop - full tank, four new tires and I'm away again. From there on nothing of much note happens - I make my first major mistake at the top of the hill at T1 on lap 52, but aside from that I hold a comfortable 1:05-1:07 lead on the Sauber. Another pitstop beckons at the end of lap 59 after a bit of D1-style action through the top hairpin and down through the esses, Full gas tank, four new tires, back out again. The Mazda 787B and Nissan R89C pop out ahead of me as I come out of the pits to gain their laps back - finally, after endless laps of being on my own, someone to duel with! They succumb quickly though - pitstops for the Sauber, Audi AND Nissan R89C come on lap 61, and the 1hour 30minute mark passes 28 seconds into lap 64 with me leading the Sauber by about 1minute 10 seconds.
Segment 4: 1hour 30 minutes-2hours
And so the race goes on...and on...another major mistake at the start finish line as I clip the grass on the right side of the track and spin backwards up the hill to T1 - to say I gave the lapped Mazda 787B a fright would be an understatement! He is lapped again quickly and my lead grows to nearly a lap as the Sauber pits on lap 72 before I have to pit myself on lap 73. Jaguar is lapped and then pits all on lap 79 and my lead remains at around 1 minute back to the Sauber. 2 hours passes 11 seconds into lap 85 with me leading the Sauber by 1:06.351.
Segment 5:2hours-finish
Lapped the Sauber whilst he pits on lap 87 before pitting myself on lap 90. You know the drill by now - four tires, fuel, yadda yadda. Sauber regains his lap and I exit the pits 1:08 ahead of him. I manage to lap the Audi for a 2nd time (I think its a 2nd time, I only remember lapping him once previously) and have now set myself a goal for the race - to attempt to beat OldGeezer's 117 laps in the time. The R89C also falls for a 2nd time, but this too is temporary - I make my final stop on lap 107, with just 15 minutes of the race left - don't think I'll be able to pull out 10 laps in that time
Especially when I pause the game, then hamme the X button impatiently to unpause it and end up pulling out the fuelling rig after barely putting any fuel in! This means I may have to make another pit stop before the race is over to top up on fuel. The Sauber annoyingly unlaps himself during this time too, but I still have a gap of over a minute and a half back to him - easily enough if I do need to top off with petrol before the end of the race. And I eventually did on lap 114, with just 3 and a bit minutes left in the race. 2hours 45minutes is up 41 seconds into lap 116.
Final results:
1. Me - 116 laps in 2hours, 45minutes and 45.086seconds
2. Sauber C9 - 115 laps
3. Mazda 787B - 115 laps
4. Nissan R89C - 115 laps
5. Audi R8 - 113/114 laps
6. Jaguar XJR-9 - 112 laps
Fastest lap:1.21.484
A bit of a dullrace really, I didn't have much competition as I would have liked for 188 A-spec points. Still, it's a race win, and the fact I only made 3 or 4 major mistakes in the race shows that I'm improving with my consistency (I hope). Next stop, Fuji in a few days, before heading off to La Sarthe next week!
Thanks for reading!
Infineon World Sportscar Race
Date: 25th August 2007
Car Used: 1998 Nissan R390GT1 (Black Beauty, used, no oil change)
After an entertaining battle at the SuperSpeedway, team FRT headed to California for the Infineon World Sportscar Race. Early testing had shown they would be on pace with their rivals and stood a good chance of winning.
The car was once again the Nissan R390GT1, as it was after it had crossed the line at SS. It had experianced a drop in horsepower to 760hp and for this race was fitted with R1s all round for once again maximum endurance.
The opposition:
Nissan R89C
Audi R8
Sauber C9
Mazda 787B
Jaguar XJR-9
Early testing showed that I should have the pace on the Sauber, Nissan and Mazda, but with 188 A-spec points on the cards this would not be easy...but as OldGeezer says, Id much prefer a challenge than a walkover!
BTW Note to Famine and Smallhorses...apologies if it seems like im ripping off your ideas, but I'm not attempting to give a detailed guide through of the enduro races - as mentioned in the SS thread, I simply enjoy reporting on the races
Besides, I will be the first to tip my hat and admit that you 2 are two of the kings of endurance racing on GT4!Race starts at approximatly 12:25 GMT, so here we go! Updates will come every halfhour up until 2 hours when I shall simply update when Ive finsihed the final 45 minutes.
SEgment 1: 0-30 minutes
Moved past the Jaguar under breaking for T2 and T3 (the uphill Esses) and then snatched the Mazda under acceleration out of the final hairpin, all on lap1. Lap 2 saw a thrilling 3-way skirmish between me, the Sauber and the Audi. The Sauber went inside of the Audi and I dove inside both of them at T2 only to be barged into the grass at T3 by the Audi who himself was barged into the grass at T4 by the Sauber, all the time the fact I was slowed on the grass meant I could take a tigher line through T4 and I passed both of them! Then 3 laps right up behind the R89C go down the drain when we both run wide going into the final hairpin and he decided to brake to a complete halt in front of me! This incident lets the Sauber by into the lead but at least the R89C is behind me now. Finally manage to pass the Sauber with a lovely crossover move in T1 going up the hill and by lap 11 when the Jaguar makes his first pitstop the Sauber is about 2.2 seconds down. Lap 12 sees the Sauber and R89C making their first pitstops which means the Mazda 787B takes over 2nd place for now. My tires are only beginning to turn yellow on the rear and my fuel tank is still just over half full, so a tiny bit of confidence is beginning to creep in...I managed to outlast everyone to their first pitstop - the Mazda pitted from about 11 seconds behind on lap 14 and the Audi from 20 seconds back on lap 15. By this stage my rear tires were shot to pieces and my car felt more like a D1 racer than a GT car. Put on another set of R1 tires and fuelled up to 70 units and re-emerged from the stop 5.6 seconds ahead of the Sauber
. Half an hour passes 1minute 20 into lap 21 with myself leading the Sauber by 8 seconds.Segment 2: 30mins-1hour
First activity of the hour is the Jaguar pitting again on lap 23, and a few small mistakes by me mean the gap back to 2nd closes to 5.095 seconds by this time. I need some music...out comes some Queens of the Stone Age (songs for the deaf, Lullabies to Paralyze), Feeder (Singles), Lostprophets (Start Something) and Aphrodite (Urban Junglist) to last me through the race. Lapped the Jaguar at about lap 27, 2nd round of pitstops occur for the Sauber and R89C at lap 24 and the 787B ducks in at lap 29. I follow suit at lap 31 - I could go to lap 33 but the 2 extra laps would be skittish to say the least
this time I had the time to fuel up to the max before leaving and still had a 12-second lead on the Sauber. So far in the race I'd avoided the one thing I said I wouldn't do - making major mistakes. So far Id managed to avoid big stuff-ups. But there is still a long way to go. My lead continues to increase, the Jaguar pits at lap 34 and the Sauber mysteriously pits AGAIN at lap 37, which means as an hour goes up on the clocks I am 22 seconds through lap 43 with a 55-second lead on the Mazda 787B. The R89C also drops a lap by lap 42.Segment 3:1hour-1hour 30 minutes
Put the Mazda 787B a lap down on lap 44 but this is only temperary as at the end of that lap I come in for a pit stop - full tank, four new tires and I'm away again. From there on nothing of much note happens - I make my first major mistake at the top of the hill at T1 on lap 52, but aside from that I hold a comfortable 1:05-1:07 lead on the Sauber. Another pitstop beckons at the end of lap 59 after a bit of D1-style action through the top hairpin and down through the esses, Full gas tank, four new tires, back out again. The Mazda 787B and Nissan R89C pop out ahead of me as I come out of the pits to gain their laps back - finally, after endless laps of being on my own, someone to duel with! They succumb quickly though - pitstops for the Sauber, Audi AND Nissan R89C come on lap 61, and the 1hour 30minute mark passes 28 seconds into lap 64 with me leading the Sauber by about 1minute 10 seconds.
Segment 4: 1hour 30 minutes-2hours
And so the race goes on...and on...another major mistake at the start finish line as I clip the grass on the right side of the track and spin backwards up the hill to T1 - to say I gave the lapped Mazda 787B a fright would be an understatement! He is lapped again quickly and my lead grows to nearly a lap as the Sauber pits on lap 72 before I have to pit myself on lap 73. Jaguar is lapped and then pits all on lap 79 and my lead remains at around 1 minute back to the Sauber. 2 hours passes 11 seconds into lap 85 with me leading the Sauber by 1:06.351.
Segment 5:2hours-finish
Lapped the Sauber whilst he pits on lap 87 before pitting myself on lap 90. You know the drill by now - four tires, fuel, yadda yadda. Sauber regains his lap and I exit the pits 1:08 ahead of him. I manage to lap the Audi for a 2nd time (I think its a 2nd time, I only remember lapping him once previously) and have now set myself a goal for the race - to attempt to beat OldGeezer's 117 laps in the time. The R89C also falls for a 2nd time, but this too is temporary - I make my final stop on lap 107, with just 15 minutes of the race left - don't think I'll be able to pull out 10 laps in that time
Especially when I pause the game, then hamme the X button impatiently to unpause it and end up pulling out the fuelling rig after barely putting any fuel in! This means I may have to make another pit stop before the race is over to top up on fuel. The Sauber annoyingly unlaps himself during this time too, but I still have a gap of over a minute and a half back to him - easily enough if I do need to top off with petrol before the end of the race. And I eventually did on lap 114, with just 3 and a bit minutes left in the race. 2hours 45minutes is up 41 seconds into lap 116.Final results:
1. Me - 116 laps in 2hours, 45minutes and 45.086seconds
2. Sauber C9 - 115 laps
3. Mazda 787B - 115 laps
4. Nissan R89C - 115 laps
5. Audi R8 - 113/114 laps
6. Jaguar XJR-9 - 112 laps
Fastest lap:1.21.484
A bit of a dullrace really, I didn't have much competition as I would have liked for 188 A-spec points. Still, it's a race win, and the fact I only made 3 or 4 major mistakes in the race shows that I'm improving with my consistency (I hope). Next stop, Fuji in a few days, before heading off to La Sarthe next week!
Thanks for reading!
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