Famine's Endurance Companion

  • Thread starter Famine
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Hello Famine.
Congratulations on your write-up, it is great. :D

I started doing the enduros today.
I went for the Grand Valley 300 Km.
Using the RX-8 LM Prototype, just like you, I finished in 1:54'47:699 with a best lap of 1:47:411.

My problem is tyre life, starting with RH tyres I had to do 6 pit stops. A stark contrast to your 4.
Before turning orange I only got 6 laps from RH tyres and 10 laps from RSH:

Lap 6 : RSH/RH
Lap 16 : RSH/RH
Lap 26 : RSH/RH
Lap 35 : RSH/RH
Lap 44 : RH/RH
Lap 50 : RSH/RH

I believe this costed me a lot of time. :s

Is it my car setup or the driving method? Can you provide tips to improve tyre life?
Or should I stick with the tyres even after going orange (I tend to crash a lot with bad tyres)?


BTW, the car setup was the following:
Brake controller: 12 / 10
Driving aids: ASM: 0, TCS: 1
Downforce: Maximum
Suspension: Spring rate 17.0 / 14-4, Ride height 50 / 85, Dampers (bound and rebound): 10 / 10, Camber: 2.4, 1.3, Toe: 0, Stabiliser: 7 / 7

Handling was great BTW.

Thanks in advance!
 
Quick update - managed to fit in the Nurburgring 4 hours last night. I don't have all the accurate information to hand, but I'll update this post this evening...

26/07/05

Nurburgring 4 Hours

Player car: Opera Performance S2000 '04, 270hp. Using S2 (Sports Medium) tyres I pitted once every 4 laps using 29/30 fuel units per stint. This effectively worked out to a pit every 32 minutes - not terribly efficient for the last session, but it worked.

I added 200kg of ballast, since the stock weight car would just walk away with it (after a few tests showed this to be the case).

Opponents:
AI 1: Honda NSX Type S '01 - Pitted at the end of every 5th lap. Finished just over 6 minutes 30 back.
AI 2: Honda NSX Type R '02 - Pitted at the end of every 5th lap. Finished 1 lap behind
AI 3: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR - Pitted at the end of every 4th lap. Finished 2 laps behind.
AI 4: Chevrolet Camaro SS - Pitted at the end of every 5th lap. Finished 2 laps behind.
AI 5: Pontiac GTO 5.7 - Pitted at the end of every 5th lap. Finished 2 laps behind.


My final finish time was 4hr 06'38.443. Fastest lap was 7'45.128. I was awarded 97 A-Spec points.


From the off, the NSX Type-R streaked away - I eventually caught and passed him at Adenauer Forst - though the other NSX and the remainder seemed rather sluggish. Cold tyres and heavy cars, I guess. By the time my first pit stop came round (end of lap 4) I'd only pulled a little over 20 seconds' lead and JUST managed to leave the pitlane ahead of the NSX Type-R. Then (well, not immediately then, but in the terms of the 'Ring it was fairly soon) something odd happened. The NSX Type-R just wasn't there any more - yes, he pitted at the end of the next lap, but that should only account for about 30s. After keeping one eye on his dot I later discovered that, every time on his pit-in lap, he'd stuff it just outside the pits and spend 30s straightening it out. This handed second place to the slower NSX Type-S, which had managed to escape the muscle cars by now.

So, although the NSX Type-S is slower than the Type-R, it's the Type-S you'll have to match. The Opera S2000 was whupping them on the bends, but losing nearly 4 seconds on Dottinger, every lap.

It took until lap 11 - well over an hour and a half gone - to lap the Pontiac, and I managed it again on lap 22. The Camaro took until lap 15, with the Evo VIII on lap 16 - but both were dispatched for the second time on my final lap. The NSX Type-R got lapped on #24, but the Type-S, despite my best efforts, remained resolutely unlapped - however, being 6 minutes behind, he technically only completed 30 full laps - the 4hr mark dipping past on his 30th.

With 200kg and on the 'Ring, the S2000 becomes quite skittish. Hints of understeer crop up, but great buckets of oversteer - maybe altering the weight bias to the back will help a little.
 
Famine
Then (well, not immediately then, but in the terms of the 'Ring it was fairly soon) something odd happened. The NSX Type-R just wasn't there any more - yes, he pitted at the end of the next lap, but that should only account for about 30s. After keeping one eye on his dot I later discovered that, every time on his pit-in lap, he'd stuff it just outside the pits and spend 30s straightening it out.
Click to expand...
This is what he does every lap
 
Nice going Famine! Do you realise that between us we've A-Specced all bar 5 enduros? (You've obviously done a few more than I have though!) We're missing Suzuka, Motegi, Tsukuba, Sarthe II and Fuji!
I'm attempting Tokyo in something unconventional at the moment. Will see how it goes.....Also the wife is off back to Blighty in September for about 8 days, so I'll probably get Sarthe II out of the way then!
 
@ El Gigante - The Chappi 2D is very good but also very unusual... It has a ridiculous 3-speed gearbox but this does mean fewer shifts... From standing starts it's hopeless as well but it can reach 270MPH after a while. It's handling's pretty good too, because it's so light. It's worth the 4 hours I would say, but then again if I just wanted the car I'd buy it, its only 1,000,000. (only :lol: )

Back on-topic, awesome write-ups Famine, big 'spect to you for A-Speccin everything.
 
Smallhorses: Nice going Famine! Do you realise that between us we've A-Specced all bar 5 enduros? (You've obviously done a few more than I have though!) We're missing Suzuka, Motegi, Tsukuba, Sarthe II and Fuji!
I'm attempting Tokyo in something unconventional at the moment. Will see how it goes.....Also the wife is off back to Blighty in September for about 8 days, so I'll probably get Sarthe II out of the way then!

Hey keep going. good to read a few updates. Must submit my a-spec reports, have a-speced them all now :) :) 👍
 
*cracks knuckles*

15/08/05 - 24hr La Sarthe I... :eek:

I roll out in a "fresh" Nissan R89C (barely 900 miles on the clock) - R1 tyres, front and rear. These are quickly changed after the first stop - on lap 4, 38 fuel units later - for R2 on the front. The bad guys look like this:

Opponents:
AI 1: Nissan R89C
AI 2: Nissan R92CP
AI 3: Audi R8
AI 4: Pescarolo C60
AI 5: Chevrolet Corvette C5-R

Currently the C5-R is SOOOO last it's obviously going to end up there and, unless the Pescarolo can push on MUCH further on a set of tyres and gas than the Audi, they'll be 5th and 4th in that order. The two other Nissans have come in on lap 7 - they can't have been able to go much further with their fuel, given the rate mine's sucking it down - but at this early stage it's tough to tell which of them will end up in first - the R89C seems to handle the pit-in lap worse than the newer R92CP as it slipped from constantly leading (other than me) to 5s behind just on the last few corners before they pitted.

Should be... "fun".

Hour 1
Nothing to report. I pit in on 4 (tyre change, swap to R2s on the front, 42/80 fuel left [38 used], topped up to 45). I dropped the lead until the end of my pit-out lap, then wrenched it right back again, passing the R8, R92CP and R89C in the same lap.

R92CP and R89 have pitted on lap 7, and that's it so far (25' down, 23h35' to go)...

R8 and C60 dip into the pits on lap 8, as expected. What wasn't expected was just how much of a lead the R92CP had over the rest after the first tranch of pitstops...

I switched to R3/R1 after stop 2, though it rapidly became apparent that this combination was crap. Upon pit-entry on #12 though, the menu came up just as I was accelerating again in the pit lane, so I'm stuck with them until lap 16. Hurrah!

Lapped the C5-R on lap 10, whereupon he pitted (HIS lap 9)... Still 16 minutes left in this hour too...

Another round of pittings on 14 and 16 saw the AI pack really shuffled - R92CP from Audi R8 from R89C from C60. Wierd!


The hour closed out with 16 laps completed, no crashes at Indianapolis yet (having just passed it for the 17th time) and me hot on the tail of the C5-R for a second time...

Hour 2
Nothing terribly exciting thus far. C5-R lappage occured on 17 and 24 and I decided to switch to a 5-lap strategy from my previous 4 lap one. I note though that it takes ~10s to fill the car from empty to 55 units (roughly 47 units are needed for the 5 laps, plus a little reserve). We'll see how it pans out.

Lap 24 saw a new fastest lap of 3'20.635. Lap 27 saw a new new one of 3'19.702. Lap 28 finally saw me catch and lap the Pescarolo, with the Audi R8 following soon after - both it and the R89C (due to a pit stop) were dispatched during Lap 29. Then I pitted at the end of Lap 30 and they all trotted past again. Gah!

By the end of Lap 31 I'd got both the R89C and Pescarolo - the R89C now in a resounding FIFTH place - and the C5-R got his 4th lapping while he was pitted on lap 32. The Audi R8 resisted until lap 33.

The hour closed out with 33 laps completed and me just 6s shy of the line to finish the 34th. The R92CP is within touching distance of his first lapping...

Hour 3:
...and, as I finish lap 35 and dive into the pitlane, I didn't quite make the lapping. On the first lap out, however, I caught him just as he dipped into the pit lane. So that's a little over 3hr 6 minutes to lap the field...

Lap 37 saw the C5-R get a lapping, followed by him again on lap 44. I took the Pescarolo - now running 5th - on lap 45, but lost the lap advantage when I pitted. Soon snagged him back - on 47 - though.

The Audi R8 and Nissan R89C are running fairly close together now, so I managed to tag them both on lap 51 - the Nissan as he pitted, but since I'd pitted a lap earlier, I felt I had a moral victory. The hour closed out more than 30s into lap 52, meaning I'm now completing a full 17 laps every hour, so I'm expecting a final count of 409 completed laps inside the 24 hours and 410 when I take the flag...

Hour 4:
First action of hour 4? Lapped the C5-R again, on lap 52. Hurrah! The Nissan R92CP got dumped two laps down on lap 54 and, despite pitting at the end of the next lap, I made it stick. So currently everyone's down 2 laps, at varying degrees, apart from the 7-lapped Vette... Who was then lapped again on lap 58... And lap 64. Though this time he was tussling with the Pescarolo who was also trying to lap him. Lap 68 saw the Audi R8 lapped while in the pits, and the R89C taken on braking into Indianapolis (where, despite 4 hours of driving, I've still not crashed). The hour rolled up olver 2 minutes into lap 69.

Hour 5:
First action of hour 5? One lap out of the lap 70 stop, I lapped the C5-R again, on lap 71. Next thing I know, it's lap 75 and I'm putting a third lap on the R92CP, but I have to pit soon after, so that's buggered that idea...

Lap 78 sees the Corvette lapped yet again, swiftly followed by the Pescarolo (79) and the R8 (79, then unlapped as I pitted, then 81). The R92CP is lapped for the third time on lap 84 - we both pit at the same time, so the lead is preserved. Then, for the final action of the hour, the C5-R is lapped at the very beginning of lap 86, entering the Porsche Curves.

Hour 6:
Nothing happens for 7 laps... then I lap a C5-R... :D Nothing happens for 7 laps more... then I lap a C5-R. I'm beginning to spot a theme developing here.

As an aside, Lap 100 = 5:50'02.501

Man alive I'm knackered... :D

The most uneventful hour of the race so far ticks by with 35s left on lap 103.

1/4 Distance Standings
1: Famine, Nissan R89C, 102 laps completed
AI 1: Nissan R92CP, +3 laps
AI 2: Nissan R89C, +4 laps
AI 3: Audi R8, +4 laps
AI 4: Pescarolo C60, +4 laps
AI 5: Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, +13 laps.

(I'm beginning to think, from the position of the other R89C on the track, that I've lapped it while it was in the pits, or without noticing some other way. So I've added a lap to its count)

Hour 7:
Got past the Pescarolo then R92CP on laps 104/105 but they unlapped themselves upon pitting. So I got them again on laps 106/107, along with, YES, the C5-R. The Audi R8 followed on lap 109.

Lap 113 saw the R89C dispatched for a fifth time, with the Corvette following soon after on lap 114. On lap 119 I lapped the Corvette again, while he was being lapped by the Pescarolo but, as I pitted on the next lap, they unlapped themselves soon after.

For the first time I managed to complete 18 laps in an hour - the hour ticked by just after I left the pits on lap 121. Hurrah!

Hour 8:
First action? Lapped the C5-R on 121. The Pescarolo and R8 followed in succession on laps 123 and 124... Then I pitted and they got their places back. Swine! The Pescarolo, R8, C5-R again and a surprised-looking R92CP all re-lapped between 128 and 132. The R89C was gobbled up again on 133, with the C5-R again again on 134. A quick pitting saw me come back out in front and in clear air until, halfway down the Hunaudieres on lap 138, the hour ran out.

The car is starting to move a little under braking. Nothing much - just a little squirm. This makes Indianapolis in particular MUCH fun...

Hour 9:
Reasonably uneventful hour, but for a near crash at Indianapolis - I ran a little wide, but caught it before disaster struck.

The C5-R got nabbed on 142 and 148, with the R8 and C60 both lapped while they napped in the pits on 143. The R92CP got another lap put on him - the sixth, for those keeping count - along with the R89C and, as the hour ran out on Mulsanne corner on lap 155, the very last act was to lap the C5-R. Again.

Hour 10:
Though, since I pitted at the end of the lap, he got it back again. Swine!

Not that it lasted long - lap 156, lapped the C5-R again... :D Lap 161 saw me pass the C60 while we were both in the pits - kinda hard to make that one stick, but I DID get him again later in the lap, before Indianapolis. Lap 162 saw me lap the R8 while he was lapping the C5-R coming out of the middle Hunaudieres chicane...

That was pretty much it for the hour - except another C5-R lapping on 169.

The car is becoming pretty shaky. Straightline stability is questionable at best. Balance under braking is... marginally worse than that... Should be a fun 14 hours... :eek:

Hour 11:
18 minutes of absolutely bugger all. Then I lapped a C5-R... :D (go on, act shocked). The R89C and R92CP got lapped again on 178, though the R92CP got it back again when I pitted. Re-lapped him on 181, followed by the Pescarolo and C5-R tussling again on 183. Dived into the pits mere yards behind the R8 and lapped him during the stop on 185/186.

Then bugger all happened for the next 12 minutes. The hour passed just 25s from the line on lap 190.

Hour 12:
First duty? Lap the C5-R, as he sticks his nose out of the pit exit, first lap into hour 12... :D

This was punctuated by a barely noticeable 28 minutes in which nothing at all happened. I'm bored. Anyone know any good jokes? Oh, wait, I've got one... I'm approaching Indianapolis at 223mph in a car made from flumps and pipecleaners... Hahaha! Oh bugger...

And then, on lap 198, I lap the C5-R again, in exactly the same place I passed him 28 minutes earlier... The R89C followed on 199 when he was too busy getting rubbers and gassing in the pits and, on my pit-in lap (200) I lapped the R92CP again and the C60 - though they both regained their places as I nosed into the entry lane. Which reminds me:

Lap 200 = 11:38'36.365 - about a minute quicker than the first 100 laps. Now that's consistency! :D

Laps 203/4 saw a bit of a flurry of activity. I lapped the pitted R8, the not-so-pitted C60 and the not-even-vaguely-pitted C5-R all on the same lap, then had to take serious avoiding action as I lapped the R92CP on 204, as he binned it under the Dunlop bridge. Nice going, numbnuts.

And that was it for the next 10 minutes. Hour 13 ticked up just 0.3s into lap 207, meaning I'd just done another 18 lap hour...

1/2 Distance Standings
1: Famine, Nissan R89C, 206 laps completed
AI 1: Nissan R92CP, +8 laps
AI 2: Nissan R89C, +9 laps
AI 3: Audi R8, +10 laps
AI 4: Pescarolo C60, +10 laps
AI 5: Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, +29 laps.

Hour 13:
Not a terribly eventful hour, as hours go. Lapped the R89C and C60 on a pit-out lap (221), followed by the R8 on 222. That pretty much covers it...

Hour 14:
First duty? Lap the C5-R on 224... The R92CP followed soon after as he emerged from the pits on 227, followed by the C5-R yet again on 232.

Then nothing at all happened until I encountered the C60 lapping the C5-R, side-by-side, halfway down the Hunaudieres. That gave me a brown trouser moment, I can tell you. The C60 unlapped himself as I pitted, and with that, the hour was over on 241.

Hour 15:
Lappings in quick succession - C60 on 242, R89C on 243, R8 on 244, C5-R on 245 - though I pitted soon after, so he got the lap back - and 246...

The car is becoming really quite disastrous now. I've encountered better-handling hurricanes, and someone appears to have replaced the rear suspension components with Q-Tips glued together by breast milk. Every Indianapolis is different from the last one... Yikes.

On with the show... The R92CP gets lapped on 248, just as he's emerging from the pits and, despite my own pit-in on 250, he stays 10 laps behind. Next up? Why C5-R, of course! Lap 253 for him... And that was that for Hour 15 - it ticked by at Mulsanne Corner on lap 258...

Hour 16:
First order of business... Lap the C5-R (260). I also nabbed the C60, but as I had to pit at the end of the lap, they both got their positions back (just). The C5-R went down at the top of Hunaudieres on 261, Pesky-Rolo nabbed a lap later.

Clearly I've done some lapping without noticing, but at this point I could be driving around in a large, green ice cream van without noticing so I'm not exactly shocked. What I DO know is that I lap the C5-R again on 274 and the R92CP on 275, though as I...

Hour 17:
...pit he regains that lap. Git. I soon re-took him though, on 278, swiftly followed by a C60 on 279, an Audi R8 and a C5-R on 280, though the latter two got their laps back as I pitted. I re-re-took them both on 281 (at Mulsanne corner, oddly).

The R89C and the C5-R followed next, both on 287, and that was it for the hour - no more encounters for the next 20 minutes...

Hour 18:
A little flurry of activity - lapping the C5-R on 294, the C60 on 297, the R8 on 298, The R92CP on 299 (just as he ducked into the pits, so he won't regain the lap when I pit next lap) and the C5-R again, for good measure, on 300. Which reminds me...

Lap 300 = 17:27'45.169

The C5-R unlapped himself, but got disunlapped on 301, followed by the R89C on 303. And the C5-R again on 307. The hour finished off with 309 properly completed laps under my belt (nearly 2,500 miles gone!)

3/4 Distance Standings
1: Famine, Nissan R89C, 309 laps completed
AI 1: Nissan R92CP, +12 laps
AI 2: Nissan R89C, +14 laps
AI 3: Audi R8, +15 laps
AI 4: Pescarolo C60, +15 laps
AI 5: Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, +41 laps.

Hour 19:
Another exciting 20 minutes of nothing, quickly followed by three lappings - the C5-R on 315, the C60 on 317 and the Audi R8 in a pit-lane leapfrog on 321. Another C5-R moment on 323 and the hour ticked out peaceably, 40s into lap 327, hot on the tail of the R92CP. Again.

Hour 20:
And he doesn't stay ahead long. The C5-R and R89C follow suit, both getting lapped on the Porsche Curves on 329. Mwaha!

The next few laps see the C5-R (336), C60 (337) and R8 (338) all lapped and staying lapped, with the C5-R getting another good, solid lapping on 343. The hour trots by just after the second Hunaudieres chicane.

Hour 21:
Nothing, nothing, nothing, lapped the R89C, R92CP, C5-R all on lap 349... The R89C regained his spot when I pitted on 350 though. Swine! Got him back on 352, with the C60 following on 356, the C5-R on 357 and the R8 on 358...

The hour leaves us with 360 completed laps and a 361st Mulsanne Corner.

Hour 22:
Lots of nothing. Then lapped the C5-R on 367. Then lots more nothing. The R89C got lapped again on 374, quickly followed by the C5-R again on 376 and a rather interesting tussle with the R92CP which saw the hour out and is, as yet, unresolved. 377 completed laps...

Hour 23:
First duty - lap the C5-R on 379, followed immediately by the R92CP (ha! Stitch that!), then the Pescarolo and Audi R8 on lap 380.

In other news, with 4164 miles on the clock (all but 991 of them in this race), my oil light has just come on for the first time. Hurrah!

After that, not an awful lot happened. I nabbed the C5-R again on lap 392 and the hour ended 30s from the line on lap 395...

Hour 24:
More lappings! C60 and R89C on 396, C5-R on 398, R8 on 399 and then a pit-in on 400. Which, of course, reminds me...

Lap 400 = 23:17'52.455

And the R8, needless to say, unlapped himself in the course of this stop. I decided to run 6 laps for the next pitstop, on the grounds that I'm aiming for 412 laps...

The R92CP goes down again on 402, followed by that Audi on 403 and, amazingly, the C5-R on 405... That was pretty much it - though to add insult to injury I lapped the C5-R AGAIN on 411...

As I approached the finish line on 412, I had about 15s to spare, but I couldn't be bothered, so I went for a grandstand finish and crossed the line 1.101s after the 24hr was up...

Final Rankings
1: Famine, Nissan R89C, 412 laps completed
AI 1: Nissan R92CP, +16 laps
AI 2: Nissan R89C, +18 laps
AI 3: Audi R8, +20 laps
AI 4: Pescarolo C60, +20 laps
AI 5: Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, +55 laps.
 
We're rooting for you! :D
Did this one myself, the only 24hr one I've done yet, didn't turn off the PS2 for over a week! Strangely enough I used the exact same car too. Took a while to get used to, but was an easy enough win in the end. Hope you're ready for some serious wheel wobble in the last 4 - 6 hours when the chassis goes off! :nervous:
 
I'm more concerned about the front tyres right now. Not one combination works...
 
I stuck at it with R1 Rears and R2 fronts. The rears would still wear quicker than the fronts though, I had ASM 0 and TCS 1 as I recall. On those tyres I could get 8 laps before pitting using 74 - 76 units of fuel per stint, although the last lap was always a little oversteery! Good luck....
 
Wotchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? I'm updating more-or-less every time I lap someone...
 
Famine
Wotchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? I'm updating more-or-less every time I lap someone...
Click to expand...

I took a look, and it didn't appear to be any different than yesterday. Sorry.
Guess you're doing it in 1 hour slots! That'll take you close to a month to complete!
Just noticed its gone up from Hour 3 to Hour 4. Keep at it, hope the PS2 & the power last for you.
 
I just don't have the patience. I'm dropping off after 30 minutes.

I've got a big, fat, empty weekend though and a large thermos flask.
 
I know what you mean! Its certainly a marathon!
Myself I'm waiting until my wife is away for 8 days at the beginning of September before I have a dig at Sarthe II 24Hr. Wanted to get those two boring-ish Sarthe races out of the way before I enjoy the 24Hrs on the 'Ring! :D
 
Yo Famine,

Hope that thunderstorm doesn't fry your nipplenuts, and I hope you're Able to finish those enduros! Make sure you remember your thermos and lunchbox!

Sorry, I just wanted to reference Red Dwarf with a really crap post.

Am I right in assuming you also like Black Adder, as you said "Hurrah!" earlier, or is one word not proof enough?
 
I do like Blackadder, though that's SOME leap you made there... :D
 
Hurrah! 👍

Just a 'stab in the dark'...
For the thunderstorm: "Looks like some kind of hat is in order then".

Edit: sorry for being horribly horribly horribly off topic!
 
Phew! Thank *insert expletive here* for that...

2 24hr races down, one to go... :D
 
Well done!👍
So where's the next stop for the "Famine Enduro Circus"?

Think James2097 may have been hinting that we're waiting for a response from you in the Red Dwarf Quiz Thread, when he put in a Dwarf quote! ;)!!!
 
Next up is La Sarthe II in a stock CLK-GTR (or really a CLK LM)...

That'll be next week though.
 
*cracks knuckles again*

5/11/05 - 24hr La Sarthe II... :eek: (again)

My steed for this race is a Mercedes CLK-GTR 1998, pushing 797 horsies through ropey old R1 tyres. A little tweaking with weight and downforce settings and this grid:

Opponents:
AI 1: Sauber C9
AI 2: Mazda 787B
AI 3: Nissan R89C
AI 4: Toyota Minolta 88 C-V
AI 5: Jaguar XJR-9

gives me a points paying potential of 200 A-spec piggies. Lovely.

Aaaaand, they're off!

Hour 1
Whoops.

I didn't take account of the extra ballast and understeered off the Esses. D'oh. That put me 9s down heading onto the Hunaudieres but I passed a confused - and wall-hugging - Sauber C9 halfway down it. A respectable - accounting for the nerfing - 3'28.708 for the outlap. By the end of the 2nd lap I'd turned that 9s deficit into a 1s advantage and started turning the thumbscrews from there. A very good 3'12.643 appeared on lap 4. As lap 5 passed I noticed that the rear tyres were yellow-tinged and half the fuel had gone, so I'm not going to be pitting much later than lap 9/10, and I'll probably have to pick up both gas and rubber at the same time. Depending on the Group Cs' pit strategies, this may be rather close for as much as the entire first half of the race... Eep.

The 787B had its own "senior moment" on lap 7, which led to the Minolta taking the advantage (some advantage - 27s down as opposed to 21s down), and then we entered pit-land. The Minolta, R89C and Sauber all dived into the pits at the end of lap 7, the Jaguar XJR-9 ducked in at the end of lap 8 - 37s behind me, and I did the same thing, filling to 75/80 (after using 68 units) and switching the fronts to R2 - allowing the 787B to close right up to within 5s, before he sneaked in on lap 9.

All was going well until it was nearly time to pit again on Lap 18. Suddenly, the rear tyres just went off, coming into Indianapolis. A goodly dose of death followed, with 30s being wiped off my advantage as I tried to navigate back to the pits. When I came out, the long-stopping 787B was only 3s back, though I managed to extend this a little, and when he dived in again at the end of lap 18, I was 47s up on the Minolta. The hour closed out 17s from the end of lap 18.

Hour 2
Nothing happened.

Oh, alright then. I set a new fastest lap on #27 of 3'12.127, lapped the R89C on #31, but then had to duck into the pits at the end of #32, allowing him to unlap himself, before taking the place back on #36. On this topic, I have one thing to say to PD...

Blue Flag Rule Please!

The R89C had no clue how to be lapped and, after I'd managed to get myself past (off the racing line), he nailed me twice, coming into corners far too fast. I call it "The Real Villeneuve Simulator"...

Anyway, I closed the hour out with two consecutive 3'12.1 laps, finishing 18s from the line on lap 36.

Hour 3
Relatively uneventful until another lapping. Lap 44 and I got the XJR-9 nicely into Indianapolis (brave, I know) and the Minolta nicely out of Arnage. Then I got totally and utterly Jacqued by the Minolta into the Porsche Curves. Bastard. After digging myself out of the kitty litter, I gave chase, taking the Minolta again on #45 halfway down the Hunaudieres, setting the fastest lap in the process - 3'10.660, wind-assisted. The XJR-9 followed again on #46, with the Sauber being lapped as he sat in the pits on #47. I ducked in for fresh rubber and some petrol on #48, allowing all three to unlap themselves. Bugger.

#49, #50 and #51 saw me relap the Minolta, XJR-9 and Sauber in turn, setting a blistering 3'10.7 on #51 (only the third sub 3'12 lap of the race). The hour closed out just at the Dunlop Curve on lap 55.

Hour 4
At the end of Lap 55 the lead 787B pitted, giving me the chance to lap him and pull out a gap before I pitted in on #56. I didn't quite make enough to get in and out and preserve my lap advantage, but he was quickly re-lapped at Tertre Rouge, followed by the R89C's second lapping at Dunlop on #58.

Nothing else happened for the next 14 laps, and the hour closed out quietly 40s into #73

Hour 5
Again, whole acres of nothing, until I happened across the XJR-9/Minolta pairing on the Hunaudieres on #78. Much speed was gained and a 3'10.290 lap was the reward. The R89C was lapped while in the pits on #79 but unlapped itself while I pitted on #80 - allowing the XJR-9 and Minolta past. Or so I thought...

Relapping my victims on #82-#84 I encountered only the XJR-9 then the R89C (again, paired neatly on the Hunaudieres, to suck me up to 242mph from my usual 233mph peak) - the third dot, lapped on #85, turned out to be the Sauber C9, not the Minolta, so it appears the Minolta has had a blonde moment out on track and dropped into 5th behind the XJR-9...

And nowt else of note happened before the hour passed at Tertre Rouge...

Hour 6
Not an awful lot happened for the first 10 minutes or so. Then I suddenly lapped the 787B on lap 94 coming into Indianapolis. In a desperate attempt to stay ahead of him and not get clattered into the first Porsche Curve, I found a new line which allowed me to preserve more momentum through the first two corners. Putting it to use on #96 I recorded a 3'09.645. Lawks! Diving into the pits on #98 I thought the 787B would pass me instantly, but I almost had enough time to get in and out and preserve my 2 lap advantage. For some reason though it took another lap and a half to get past and stay past again. Which reminds me:

100 laps = 5hr 32'22.518

I made another stop on #104 - allowing the Minolta I'd just lapped to unlap itself - then lapped the Minolta on #107, the XJR-9 on #108 and, 5s before the hour finished, the Nissan R89C - at 242mph on the Hunaudieres - on #109

Quarter Distance Standings
1st Mercedes CLK-GTR; 108 laps completed
2nd Mazda 787B; 106 laps (+2 laps)
3rd Sauber C9; 105 laps (+2 laps)
4th Jaguar XJR-9; 105 laps (+3 laps)
5th Minolta 88C-V; 104 laps (+3 laps)
6th Nissan R89C; 104 laps (+4 laps)

Hour 7
MAMBA.

No word of a lie. Not one thing happened. I didn't even see a single car in hour 7 of the race. Bizarre, eh?

Hour 8
Well, after another 19 minutes of nowt, I finally lapped the Sauber C9 on lap 130, followed by the Nissan R89C again on lap 134. The Minolta followed on 138 with the 787B entering lappy-town (population: him) on 140. I couldn't quite make it in and out ahead of him on 144, but got him on the Hunaudieres on 145 with scarcely fractions left before the hour ticked over.

Hour 9
Another great heap of not a lot. Lapped the XJR-9 on 149, and nowt else.

I was a little disappointed with this hour as I managed "not-quite" the full 18 laps - finishing it further up the Hunaudieres than the previous hour - but it wasn't that bad when taking into account the slightly ropey chassis (1340 miles covered...) and the fact that, due to maths, 3 pit out laps fell in this hour.

Hour 10
And again... All the cars seem to be spaced out and not really making any progress compared to one another. Still, got the R89C again on 165, the Sauber on 170 and the Minolta on 174 (though he unlapped himself as I pitted on 176, but it didn't take too long to relap him).

A better hour this one - I finished precisely at T4 (just after Mulsanne) on 181.

Hour 11
Lots of nowt, until I happened across a trio - Jaguar XJR-9, Mazda 787B and Nissan R89C, who I lapped on 185 and 190 (both) respectively. A quick round of pitstops later and the 787B, who'd been stuck behind the R89C for three laps, comes out stuck behind the XJR-9. Laugh? I nearly farted.

The hour closed out soon after on lap 199.

Hour 12
Well, I'm kind of in no-man's land again. The C9 is about a minute "ahead", and the XJR-9 is far enough behind not to bother me when I pit-in on lap 200. Which, of course, reminds me:

200 laps = 11hr 05'09.223

The Sauber gets his lapping on 206, though reclaims his place when I pit 2 laps later, but gets recaptured on 209, while he's sitting in a wall on Hunaudieres. The Minolta follows on 214, and follows me into the pits on 216. And so we reach half distance...

1/2 Distance Standings
1st Mercedes CLK-GTR; 216 laps completed
2nd Mazda 787B; 212 laps (+4 laps)
3rd Sauber C9; 211 laps (+5 laps)
4th Jaguar XJR-9; 211 laps (+5 laps)
5th Minolta 88C-V; 210 laps (+6 laps)
6th Nissan R89C; 208 laps (+7 laps)

Looks like I'm aiming for 432/433 laps then...

Hour 13
The spacings of the cars had now un-evened themselves out... Errr... Whatever. I lapped the R89C on 218 and the XJR-9 on 220, followed by an artificial lapping of both Sauber C9 and 787B before I pitted. Then, when I came out of the pits, I followed that up with a genuine lapping of both Sauber C9 and 787B on 234 - the former whilst he was in the pits and the latter whilst he was recovering from a brief spell in the barriers on the Hunaudieres...

Hour 14
13 hours down - and over 2,000 miles - and the chassis is beginning to suffer. Every time I enter Indianapolis, I do it sideways - which is an interesting way to approach that corner...

Still, the car "behaves" (after a fashion) enough to allow me to lap the Minolta and R89C, both on lap 245, and see the hour out on entry, sideways again, to Indianapolis on 253...

Hour 15
A few astonishing laps... The XJR-9 fell victim to me again on lap 261, then on 262 I broke my lap record... I just got a great drive through Mulsanne, hitting the split at 1'40.0, and kept it mashed and, but for a wobble in Ford Chicane, nailed every corner for a 3'09.088 lap. But then, even stranger, I encountered the 787B and Sauber C9 on the Hunaudieres on 263 and turned a very ordinary 1'01 T2 and 1'40.2 T4 into a 2'07 T5 and a 3'08.495 lap. Lawks.

Of course, then I pitted on 264, so the 787B and C9 got back in front again... Didn't take long to get them back though - the C9 pitted at the end of (my) 266, and I lapped him, the 787B and the R89C within a matter of mere yards of each other. The Minolta was dispatched soon after on 270 and the hour trickled past just 15 seconds from the end of lap 271.

With hour 15 finishing, I've only got 9 hours left to go too - single digits!

Hour 16
I. Saw. No-one.

Hour 17
Slightly more eventful... The XJR-9 met with Mr. Lappy on lap 293, followed by the R89C (again) on 294 and the pitted 787B on 296 - though since I had to pit at the end of that lap, he regained his position, but got relapped on 298. The Sauber C9 got lapped on lap 300, just as he was poking his nose out of the pitlane, followed by the Minolta in the Ford Chicane at the end of lap 300. Which, needless to say, reminds me...

300 laps = 16hr 36'42.096

And not a lot else happend - but the hour close out 4.1s into lap 308. Oh yes. That's 19 laps this hour, rather than the usual 18...

Hour 18
First came the R89C (314), then the XJR-9 (320, then 322 as he unlapped himself in between), then the C9 (322 while he was in the pits), then the Minolta (324) and finally the 787B (325). Full house - nice!

3/4 Distance Standings
1st Mercedes CLK-GTR; 325 laps completed
2nd Mazda 787B; 317 laps (+8 laps)
3rd Sauber C9; 316 laps (+9 laps)
4th Jaguar XJR-9; 316 laps (+9 laps)
5th Minolta 88C-V; 315 laps (+10 laps)
6th Nissan R89C; 312 laps (+12 laps)

Hour 19
Lapped the 787B on 331 - though it didn't count as he'd unlapped himself while I was pitted on 328 - then the R89C on 338. Dull, really. But, by my calculations, only 90 laps left...

Hour 20
After a short spell of nowt, I lapped the XJR-9 again on 346, followed by the pair of the C9 and Minolta (one as he emerged from the pits, the other on the Hunaudieres) on 349, but both unlapped themselves as I pitted on 352. No matter, as I relapped them both - and lapped the R89C - on 356. As the hour rounded out, I nipped past the 787B on the Hunaudieres for another full house.

Hour 21
Not a tremendous amount of excitement. A lapped XJR-9 on 373, followed by a lapped R89C on 379. Wow!

Hour 22
Up to the present time, nothing exciting apart from lapping the Minolta and Sauber within yards of each other (one in the pits, one on the track) at the start of 382 has happened. Ho hum.

This was followed by the lappings of the R89C (396), Jaguar (397) and 787B (398) and the hour finished just 1.6s into lap 399, meaning this was another 19 lap stint. Hurrah!

Hour 23
With the coming of lap 400 comes a change of pit strategy. I figure I'll finish around 432-434. With 8 laps per pit, that means I'll be making a stop at the end of lap 432 - the 4th in that hour - and finishing the race on blue tyres. By cutting my pit schedule to 7 laps I'll STILL make only 4 stops after lap 400, but finish the race on going-away tyres, having made the best use of all 5 sets - and saved 10 litres of fuel-putting-in-time per stop too.

Speaking of lap 400, that reminds me:

400 laps = 22hr 06'26.778

A brief experiment with R3 front tyres for laps 400-407 didn't work - too much grip at the front combined with a naturally oversteery car, with no TCS and a knackered chassis made it a bit tricky and rather slow, so I switched back to R2/R1 for the remainder of the race.

Nothing else particularly exciting happened, except the lapping of the Minolta on 412 and my oil light finally coming on, 22hr 07' into the race at 3371 miles... The hour trundled by just 11.5s from the line on lap 416 (paying the price for those R3 tyres).

1st Mercedes CLK-GTR; 415 laps completed
2nd Mazda 787B; 405 laps (+10 laps)
3rd Sauber C9; 404 laps (+11 laps)
4th Jaguar XJR-9; 403 laps (+12 laps)
5th Minolta 88C-V; 402 laps (+13 laps)
6th Nissan R89C; 399 laps (+16 laps)

Hour 24
*bites nails repeatedly*

Lapped the Sauber on 418, followed by the pitted-R89C on 419. As I pitted on 421 the XJR-9 went in directly in front of me and, because I didn't fill to the brim, I got out just fractions behind him, but the C9 and R89C had both just unlapped themselves. All three cars were dispatched during 422.

During the stint I managed to get right onto the tail of the 787B before pitting and when I came out I faced a 40s chase to lap him before the end. As stupidity would have it, both he and the Minolta pitted on lap 434 - 45s from the end of the 24 hours and so I lapped them at the start of my 435th, and final lap...

Hour 25
Started at Tertre Rouge, ended at 24h 02'38.233...

1st Mercedes CLK-GTR; 435 laps completed
2nd Mazda 787B; 423 laps (+11 laps)
3rd Sauber C9; 422 laps (+12 laps)
4th Jaguar XJR-9; 421 laps (+13 laps)
5th Minolta 88C-V; 420 laps (+14 laps)
6th Nissan R89C; 417 laps (+17 laps)

Final Race Time: 24h 02'38.233
 
Good luck man. Tough competition. Why didn't you use a Minolta car or something better?
BTW, you did the EC200 faster than i did in my XJR-9.
 
I want the 200 points. And I don't want to have to go back and do it again... :D

The CLK is 5s quicker down the Hunaudieres than the Group C cars. They can't make it all back on the rest of the track and, first chance I get, I'm going to put R2s on the front so they can't make any of it back... :D
 

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