Showing posts with label Race Reports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Race Reports. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 January 2011

Race Report - Special Stage Route 5 Endurance (GT2)

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, those of you still hanging around the GT2 forums, I bid you welcome, on this New Year's Evening here in the downtown district.

The sun has gone down, the streetlights are lit, and we are ready to race here tonight, in the first ever...

GRAN TURISMO
RACE OF 1000 YEARS
at
Special Stage Route 5


(The usual thanks for AMG for the track map.)

Race Distance: 50 Laps, 117.35 miles.

Tonight, we will ring in the new year in style - with a fast and furious 50-lap race through the Route 5 highway and downtown streets. This race, contested down the years by some of the fastest cars and drivers GT has ever seen, has had it's fair share of giant-killing moments - and tonight, to see in 2011 with a bang, I aim to add my name to the list of giant-killers.

My weapon? A touring car.

Car: 1998 Audi S4 [R]
Engine: 2.7L V6 DOHC
Horsepower: 496hp
Weight: 1289kg
Drivetrain: 4WD

No, I've not gone completly bonkers. Famously, A.A.Z. pulled off a shock victory with a touring saloon car - in his case, an Alfa Romeo 156. So there is precedent for this. That doesn't stop most of the paddock absolutely howling with laughter as my Audi wheels off the trailer and gets ready to race. The general concensus is that I've been on the New Year's Eve drinks spree too early, and I actually overhear a few people discussing what I've actually been drinking to make me do such an insane thing. Absinthe? Copious amounts of Jack Daniels? I won't deny I might be a little bonkers, but I wouldn't enter if I didn't think I had a chance. Nevertheless, I'd be lying if I tried denying the fact that my heart is racing as I roll onto the grid, to face a fiercesome lineup:

1. 1999 Toyota GT-One LM Race Car
2. 1969 Ford GT40 LM Race Car
3. 1997 Jaguar XJ220 GT Race Car
4. 1994 Vauxhall Calibra Touring Car
5. 1998 Nissan R390 GT1 LM Race Car


So, here we go. I'm bracing myself. The revs rise to a crescendo, wailing, roaring, snarling (and hissing, in my turbocharged case). The crowd, who for the most part probably have been having a little tipple, roar and cheer in anticipation. The Race of 1000 Years is.........GO!!!

Laps 1-25


The field charges towards the turn 1 tunnel, with me struggling to keep pursuit off the line. However, my handling advantage (and bravery/stupidity under braking) means that, as we exit the tunnel, I'm right on the Calibra's exhaust pipes. A ferocious 3-way battle between him, the R390GT1 and the Jaguar is swiftly interrupted by me in paint-swapping fashion, as I squeeze by the Calibra AND the R390GT1 on the rumble strips at T3! With one door mirror already the worse for wear, I leave them behind and hunt down the XJ220, who falls with another audacious move, this time on the OUTSIDE at turn 10! No wonder people think I've been drinking pre-race!!

I can only watch the GT40 and GT-One surge away into the distance as we fly down the frontstretch to complete lap 1, and I end up having to pull off quite the rearguard effort as the XJ220 attempts muscling up the inside at T1, clearly quite upset (and perhaps embarressed) that he got taken on the outside by a repmobile! But I hold my own, and ease away from him through the next few corners. I then set my sights on the GT40, and we end up shadow boxing through the rest of the lap as I catch him at T7, a corner I appear to be quite strong at compared to the opposition. After the usual eating of opposition dust down the front stretch completing lap 2, I stalk the GT40 through the opening corners, and, despite some intimidation, I sneak by at T3!

The GT-One has pulled out a handy advantage at this stage, and I'm 2.9s down at the T7 checkpoint. However, the soft tyres from under me are gripping the road with relentless determination, and my Audi sets about eating into that gap - 2.5s by the underpass checkpoint just before the turn 12 complex, and amazingly it's under a second by the time we reach the checkpoint a lap later (lap 4). I can imagine the GT-One driver doing a double-take in his rear view mirror in disbelief as I swarm all over his rear wing through the T1 tunnel! Instead of coming under pressure from a Nissan LMP car, or a GT car...it's a glorified company car?! What gives?!? I must admit, I'm surprised just how strong my S4 is doing so far, but that doesn't distract me, as I begin a tense duel with the big red Toyota, shadowing his every move and sticking my nose in at every half-gap, much to his annoyance - he's still trying to comprehend being chased by a saloon car, let alone being PASSED by one!

In actual fact, it even surprises me how easily I pass for the lead, snatching it cleanly under braking for T7, and I quickly set about trying to pad a lead. Fresh from being hunted down, the GT-One is now struggling to keep pace! You can almost hear the crowd going wild as they see me leading the high-powered sportscar machinery! However, this period of relative dominance (I manage to build up around a 9-10s lead) ends around lap 11, as my tyres begin to fade badly. This is where the race will be won and lost - I have to match my opponents' tyre strategy, and they pit twice during the race (the GT-One on laps 18 and 36), but on the other hand, my tyres fall off badly after just 14 laps. In ideal circumstances, I'd be pitting every 15 laps, making it a 3-stop race, but that's out of the question here, so I have to strain 17 laps at a time out of my tyres in order to pit at laps 17 and 34.

It's a calculated risk, and could proove to be my downfall - should I have strapped on super-soft tyres to give myself more of a margin? It seems so, as by lap 14, there's a big red shape filling my mirrors ominously... I have a fierce duel with him through lap 15, but I'm powerless to let him blast by on the straight, and I struggle badly through laps 16 and 17, laptimes nosediving (from consistant 1'20s to 1'23s-1'25s), before diving into the pits end of lap 17 with my poor Audi practically begging for new tyres!

It's also worth noting that midnight UK time comes up whilst I'm in the pits, so...
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!



Anyway, with that brief celebration done, I zoom back out onto the track, 26s down on the GT-One. We've already left the rest of the field behind - a dot that I'm assuming is the R390GT1 tails me relatively closely on the map for a few laps until he pits, but after that and for the rest of the race, it's a two-horse race between myself and the GT-One. The GT-One pits at the end of lap 18, right on schedule, and sweeps majestically back out onto the circuit - right in front of me! Time to renew aquaintances methinks

I actually take the chance to relax a little and try to save tyres for the next, crucial stint, but the GT-One appears to be pyschic, and uses that as an invitation to try and run away with the race! That snaps me out of any conservation strategy I had going, I can tell you that!! I swiftly give chase, and snatch back the lead on the outside of T10, in a mirror of my earlier maneuver on the Jaguar! The GT-One driver is getting more and more enraged by the lap, so I decide to try and make good my escape, and I hit halfway with a 3.4s lead over the GT-One.

Laps 26-50

I don't have many laps in order to build up a lead before the tyres begin screaming in pain again and the GT-One sniffs blood, so around 6-7s is the maximum margin I can achieve here, before it's all-hands-on-deck time to try and steer the good ship S4 through the troubled waters of swiftly eroding tyres! I cling on to the lead for as long as possible, but the GT-One breezes by at the end of lap 31, which leaves me with a dilemma. I'm loosing time badly, sacrificing 6s alone on the next lap, so I decide to gamble, and pit a lap early, limping into the pits on tortured rims that I'm amazed actually have any rubber left on them!

With the fresh rubber beneath me feeling like mana from heaven, I tear back out onto the track, and proceed to knuckle down and blaze out my fastest laps of the race, with the zenith being a 1'20.202 on lap 39. In amongst all this, the GT-One pits for the final time on lap 36, and this time, when he rejoins the race, the view in his rear-view mirror is empty - because I'm long gone! I've got a decent jump on him, and we're seperated by around 5s at the end of his outlap. I'm slowly coming to the grim realisation that, unless I put some serious distance between us pronto, the GT-One will hunt me down mercilessly as my rubber disintegrates in the final five laps.

So, with gritted teeth and total focus I rip through the laps, pushing on desperately trying to eke out a lead. I don't think it ever gets any higher than 10-15s, and as my tyres begin to fade around lap 45, I'd wager I have around 12s in hand over my nemesis. Will it be enough?

Quite simply, no. My tyres begin to fall apart at a rapid rate, and as I push on with grim determination, I suddenly realise that, by lap 47, the gap has more than halved back to 2nd. And the game is finally up when the familiar sight of an angry GT-One fills my rearview mirrors with 2 laps still to go. It's a lost cause. There's no way I can hang on for two more full laps.

But that doesn't stop me trying.

My knackered tyres scream in agony as I outbrake him into T1 on lap 49, and I somehow manage to keep him behind me through the rest of the lap, despite my car spending most of the lap skidding and sliding rather than gripping the road. It's not often I resort to outright blocking, but it's the only way I can keep him behind me down the frontstretch. He's veering left and right desperately as we cross the stripe for the final lap, but I somehow - somehow - keep him at bay. Can it really be possible?

No.

We go side-by-side through T1, fenders banging, panels denting furiously. I'm not giving this up without a tooth-and-nail fight. He somehow stays alongside through T2, and finally squeezes through on the inside at T3.

With that, my chances at the race win are gone.

I give chase desperately, but I know it's a lost cause - my car, and more importantly, my tyres, have absolutely nothing left. I try one last outrageous lunge up the inside at the T9 hairpin, but it's hopeless. The GT-One sweeps to victory, and I struggle across the line 5.6s after him.

Final Results
1. 1999 Toyota GT-One LM Race Car 50 laps in 1'11:09.421
2. 1998 Audi S4 [R] +5.621s
3. 1998 Nissan R390 GT1 LM Race Car +36.563s
4. 1994 Vauxhall Calibra Touring Car +58.421s
5. 1969 Ford GT40 Race Car +1 Lap
6. 1997 Jaguar XJ220 LM Race Car +1 Lap


I'm totally drained. It's bad enough that it's nearly 1am UK time here by the time I finish, but to loose on the final lap...I slump back into my chair, toss the controller to one side, and allow the adreneline coarsing in my veins to slowly ebb away. I gave it my all, and it wasn't enough. Just.

However, in spite of everything, I cannot really blame my performance. Despite it being in defeat, that was one of my best races ever in terms of consistant running, with only one or two major mistakes throughout the 50 laps. Not much to celebrate you may think, but I've long been very inconsistant and skittish in my driving, so I'm happy with this run.

I also can't blame the car at all. It performed way above expectations from the get-go. Considering the fact that, despite all it's many modifications, it's still in essence a heavy executive saloon (it started out weighing nearly 1600kg), it performed really well, and stuck it to the prototypes on pretty much an equal footing. For a long time, I've shyed away from the big executive saloons, seeing no use for them before, but now I've stripped one down and taken it racing, the big ol' Audi has entered my affections alongside my other GT2 favourites.

In fact, the only thing I would've really done differently would be tyre selection - I thought wrongly during my testing for this race that super soft tyres would make the race too easy. I'm almost certain that the difference between softs and super softs would have equated to more than the 5.6s I lost the race by. You know what this all means then, don't you? I have the perfect excuse to come back here and settle the unfinished business at a later date!

As Arnie once said..."I'll be back!"

However, for now, I'm off to polish off some Jack Daniels and ring in the new year. Once again, a happy new year to all of you, I hope 2011 is an awesome year for you all, and thanks for reading!

(On an aside - the name of the race comes from a race that was run on December 31st, 2000, in Adelaide as a finale to the 2000 ALMS season. It was named the Race of 1000 Years, and was scheduled to finish bang on midnight. Read more about that race here )

Original Report Thread Here

Thursday, 10 June 2010

Race Report - Nurburgring 4 Hours (GT4)

Nurburgring 4 Hours
Date: 20th February 2008
Car Used: 2004 Amuse S2000 Street Version

Okay, so Im finally back into GT4, and I was looking for a good race at Nurburgring 4 hours race. IVe been browsing all the reports, and decided I wasnt quite up to the superhuman standard of Smallhorses, so a car sub-250hp was out of the question. So instead, I took my Amuse S2000 Street Version along to the 'Ring, for...
The Nurburgring 4 hours
OR
It's No Laughing Matter

As always, thanks to AMG for the track map

Specs:
260hp @ around 8,500rpm, FR, S2 tyres on front, S1s rear. This may change as the race goes on.

So as I cruise onto the grid, Im thinking "thank God there's no NSXs". They would have seriously killed me. Instead, I have the slightly more managable, but no less challenging lineup of:

Renault Clio Sport V6 Phase 2
Mazda RX8 Type S
Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport 1996#
BMW M3 2004
BMW M Coupe 1998


With the average horsepower of the above cars being around 350hp (PD lightly tuned them for this race) this isn't going to be a cakewalk. But with 144 A-spec points - plus a heck of a lot of pride - up for grabs, there is a lot on the line. And, more worryingly, Ive put my faith in a car notorious for it's, er, 'wayward' handling, shall we say

The nerves don't really start going until we're nearing the end of the pace lap. It's a nice, calm day at Norsdchleife today, with not much wind and a warm sun beating down. Ive had some weird looks from the crowd coming around, the usual nay-sayers - 'what's he doing in that hairdresser car? He's gonna get killed!" I make it my mental aim to, if not win, at least prove them wrong. Rounding the corner onto the straightaway, I watch the starter closely. As soon as he drops that flag, Im gone.

The flag drops. I stamp the accelerator to the carpet, the revs climb, the crowd roars - and the bull**** stops, so they say
Updates will come every half hour.

Segment 1: 30 minutes.
Slow-ish start as I get used to the car's tendancy to oversteer at most oppurtunities, allied to the cold tyres means not great speed so far, but I get by the M Coupe by Flugplatz (dont quote me on that, I cant remember exactly). I duel with the M3 for a little while before finally nipping by under braking for the Karussel. From there on its damage limitation - the Clio is racing away, but Im well aware of that car's suicidal tendancies. My main worries are the Corvette and RX8, and for the first half-hour I remain within 10-15 seconds of them. Half an hour passes 4 minutes 38 seconds into lap 4, with me running in 4th place around 42 seconds behind the Clio.

Segment 2: 30 minutes - 1 hour
I mentioned previously the suicidal tendancies of the Clio, and guess who I saw buried in the gravel on the outside of Pflanzgarten KM17? The Clio! And he was facing the wrong way To add to that, the Corvette and RX8 dots are much closer on the map, still not within sight tho I decide to pit at the end of lap 4 - i could go to the end of lap 5, but Id loose more time then id gain with the extra lap. So I pit in, take 4 new tyres but no fuel, and I rejoin 45 seconds behind the leading RX8. The blasted M3 has also retaken me , although he is disposed of in Schwalbenshwanz . Im getting more used to this track, and the nounces of the car now. The gap towards the RX8 is decreasing also, around 34 seconds by the time i get onto the long final straight. Unsurprisingly, the RX8 pits at the end of the lap, and I sneak by him just as he exits the pits - that's the difference taking on fuel and not taking on fuel makes, I guess . The M3 pits also. My outlap is my fastest of the race, strangely - an 8:13.424. On the way I pass the Corvette as he pits, and by half way through lap 7 I lead him by roughly 10 seconds. Yes, you read that right - Im leading 1 hour passes 1:16 into lap 8, with me leading the RX8 by around 20 seconds.

Segment 3: 1 hour-1hour 30 minutes
Pitstop at the end of lap 8 means I relinquish the lead, and rejoin with about a 10-second deficit to the leading RX8. Im also behind the Corvette, and by the end of lap 9 Im chasing his shadow. So begins lap 10, the most adrelined-pumping lap so far, as me and the Corvette engage in what only can be described as a duel. Gearboxes crunch, tyres squeal, fenders get bent and the positions are traded multiple times. I try an audacious outbraking manuevere into Klostertal, I get a wheel on the grass coming out of the corner and the rear end squirrels (twitches) abit, and the Corvette is back by. Onto Dottinger Hohe, and we're side-by-side for most of the straight until he puls slightly in front. Then I glue myself onto his back bumper and we literally go nose-to-tail through Tiergarten. Things cant get anymore tense, right? Wrong - they can! Coming through Hohenrain Shikane, the Mazda RX8 spins out right in front of us!! One heart attack later, and the battle resumes between me and the Corvette. Both of us just about avoided the spinning RX8, and the rotating rotary (see what i did there? ) is now ensconced in the pits. Which means me and the Corvette are now battling for the lead. High stakes? You betcha! If only the replay could have recorded for another half an hour or so... So as I said, the battle resumes. A good Flugplatz means Im nearly side by side with the Corvette on the run up to Arembergkurve, and under braking I make another audacious move up the inside, to be rewarded with a tonne or two of American muscle shoving me up the rumble strip onto the grass - on the inside! I try again on the entry to Adeneur Forst - a tricky enough corner as it is without a blue-and-white V8 sports car banging on your door! Needless to say that failed too, and after a lot of fender-mashing, we were back at square one - him leading, me right behind him. Sigh. Third time lucky, and this time I do it - under braking for Wehrsheifen. Finally!! But then my hard work is undone as I put a wheel on the grass at Mutkurve mean the Corvette slips back by. NOO!! Back to staring at four red lights again. I let my frustrations be known with a few small bumps going through Karussel - nothing vicious, just to vent my annoyance a little. He seems unaffected by it, thankfully - the last thing Id want is to win the battle by barging him off; this ain't BTCC y'know 1hour 30 minutes goes by 6:01 into lap 11 with me about 5 inches behind the Corvette.

Segment 4: 1hour 30 minutes - 2hours.
I pass the Corvette again at Schwalbenswantz in a mirror image of my move on the M3 earlier in the race, but it's not ideal - several corners later we arrive at the Dottinger Hohe straight, and unsurprisingly he blows back by Nothing like abit of perseverance though, and with a determined (and dangerous for me - two wheels on the grass at one point) move through Hatzenbach, I FINALLY take the lead. And hold it. As lap 12 progresses, I begin to etch out a lead, but wait - are my eyes playing tricks on me? I swear the sun is getting brighter...arrgh, damn you Nurburgring! I pit at the end of lap 12, and the Corvette follows me in. I take tyres and top off the fuel - I figure I may as well seeing as the refuel won't add any time to the stop - it is only to replenish 20 units ish. In the next few laps I keep the gap back to the RX8 (who has passed the Corvette) to around 10-15 seconds, and 2 hours comes up 2:20 into lap 15 with me leading the RX8 by 13.2 seconds.

Segment 5: 2hours - 2hours30minutes
Nothing thrilling happens until lap 16 when I pit in at the end of it. I make sure I grab a bottle of Yop (yogurt drink, and also the most delicious non-alchoholic beverage ever ) off the crew members at the pitstop, and with it firmly ensconced in the cup holder, I get back out - to find the Corvette just a matter of seconds ahead of me. Have a guess what happens next...well actually, not what youd think - I put a wheel on the grass on the run-up to Arembergkurve, and in recovering from the gravel trap, I concede 7 seconds However, by 1/4 way through lap 18 Ive just about made up the distance, so here we go again... I get the jump on him coming out of Lauda Links, and I manage to just squeeze by despite his best attempts at nudging me off the track He sticks with me through Kesselchen and Mutkurve but I begin to use my warm tyres to my advantage and from the Karussel onwards, I begin to pull away. 2hours30minutes comes up 7:02 into lap 18 with me leading the Corvette by about 6 seconds.

Segment 6: 2hours30minutes-3hours
On lap 20 I take the oppurtunity to put a few CDs in the 6-CD Autochanger at the pitstop, and as I go back out to start lap 21 I have these on shuffle blasting through the car stereo:

The Killers - Hot Fuss
Feeder - The Singles
Queens of the Stone Age - Self-titled
Lostprophets - Start Something

You may ask "why the hell is he putting a load of rock on when he needs to conentrate?" WEll thats the thing - the music helps me concentrate more. Maybe its the fact that after 2hours 45 minutes of endless 2 litre VTEC engine wailing Im starting to want something else to listen to All this of course belies the fact that this section is the most important one yet. I need to go as fast as possible in order to build up a healthy lead, as by the looks of it, the race will be running to at least something over 28 laps, meaning that the Corvette will need one more stop - lap 24 - compared to my 2 - laps 24 and 28 - so on that reckoning, I need as much of a gap back as possible; about 30-40 seconds should do. It's all to play for with just over an hour remaining... 3 hours comes up 3:34 into lap 22 with me leading the Corvette by 29 seconds.

Segment 7: 3hours - finish
I couldn't be bothered to do 2 more seperate segments, so here it is to the finish. Nothing really interesting happens apart from I discover that if you have third-person camera on, and look behind, the S2000 is exactly the same width across the front as the G-meter... Yes folks, the race really has become that interesting. I shouldnt be mocking though - the race still isn't in the bag yet, not by any stretch of the imagination, although a handy 41-second lead as I come in to pit on lap 24 means I can relax a little. The Corvette pits on this lap too, meaning the RX8 snaffles 2nd place and sits 31 seconds behind me for the duration of lap 25. 3 and a half hours comes up early on lap 26, which means that Ive got roughly 4 more laps to run before 4 hours is up. By the end of lap 28, the clock reads 3hours55minutes. I have a 1minute gap back to the Corvette, so I am faced with this dilemma - go for one more lap without pitting? Or grab some new tyres to avoid the dreaded horror of crashing on worn-out rubber and loosing the race? Choices, choices... in the end I do take the pitstop, as I just cant bear the thought of the rear tyres wearing out, me crashing, and watching helplessly as the Corvette sails by. I don't take on any fuel (i have over half a tank) and I take on S2s all round for the final 1-lap sprint to the flag. As I exit the pits, I ask - where is the Corvette?
Not even close, is the answer He's still showed as being 40 seconds behind. The 4 hour mark passes 4:55 into lap 29 with the Corvette being shown as 39.525 seconds behind, which means I can enjoy a relaxing drive round to the finish line, making sure I don't make any mistakes. I'm tempted to try and race after the hopelessly outclassed M coupe and try and put him a lap down, but Im well aware of how easily this race could still be lost , and in the event I passed him at Schwalbenschwanz anyway (what is it with me and that corner? ) As I fly down Dottinger Hohe for the last time, and the crowds flock to the side barriers to cheer their approval, I know I have done it - Ive proven the doubters wrong. Me and my S2000 have won. Despite my lack of consistancy, despite the car's twitchy oversteer, we took on the toughest track in the world and beat it.

Final results:
1. Amuse S2000 Road Version 2004 - 4hrs3mins17.047
2. Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport (C4) 1996 - about 47 seconds behind
3. Mazda RX8 Type S 2003 - about 1 minute behind.
4. BMW M3 2004 - ???
5. Renault Clio Sport V6 Phase 2 - ???
6. BMW M Coupe 1998 - 1 lap

Photo Album:
Replay cut off after a measly 45 minutes, meaning no footage of my duel with the Corvette, but I grabbed the following pics nonetheless:

Me chasing the M Coupe out of the first corner



The Clio takes an early lead and shows the RX8 and Corvette a clean pair of heals...

The M coupe tries to avenge his loss of place, but to no avail

The other Beemer falls - so much for M Power

The view from Dottinger Hohe
What the replay DID pick up however, was the Clio's spectacular fall from grace on the 4th lap - so here it is in all it's tyre-shredding glory :P



So that's it. 200,000 credits and a brand new Chaparral 2D (one of my all-time favourite cars) I need a beer. Ive already got plans in the pipeline for other races - i have a used Toyota Celica GT-Four 1998 showing 239hp on the dyno, and thats definatly ready for another assault on the Nurb 4 hours. I also have plans for the Laguna Seca 200 and the NYC 200, plus perhaps the Tsukaba 9 hours (if i get the time).