An Englishman in New York.

Smallhorses

Staff Emeritus
7,260
New York Streets 200 miles. (181 A-Spec points)

Driving a used stock Lotus Esprit V8 SE '98 (Oil changed, Sports Hard (S1) Tyres) / MR / 353HP starting, (336HP at end), 1380kg / 3.909kg/HP for 181 A-Spec points

Grid Lineup:-

1st Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C4) '90 Pitted every 20 laps
2nd Callaway C12 '03 Pitted every 26 laps
3rd Mercedes SL 65 AMG (R230) '04 Pitted every 18 laps
4th Ford MUSTANG SVT Cobra R '00 Pitted every 19 - 20 laps
5th Lotus Esprit Sport 350 '00 Pitted every 24 laps
6th Lotus Esprit V8 SE '98 Pitted every 19 laps

The race events:-

Took 1st place from Corvette on lap 2, begin to pull away.
Between lap 4 and 8, the Corvette and Esprit 350 swap place throughout the lap, Esprit 350 gains on the straights and goes behind again through the 90 degree section.
Start lap 9 with a 14s advantage over Esprit 350.
Start lap 19 with a 7.3s advantage over Esprit 350, but know I'll be pitting at the end of the lap as the front right tyre is starting to go orange.
Pit from 3.9s lead as Esprit 350 crosses S/F line. Tyres, no fuel. Exit in 2nd. 20.3s behind at end of outlap.
Esprit 350 pits from 20.1s lead on lap 24 as I cross the line for a fastest lap of 1'48.725.
Take back 1st place and pull a 7.5s lead by the end of his outlap. Continue to push and extend lead to 18s starting lap 32, as he adjusts to his cold tyres.
Go into lap 38 on the back of a new fastest lap of 1'48.479, holding a 15.8s advantage over Esprit 350.
Pit from 15.1s lead as Esprit 350 crosses S/F line. Take tyres and top up to 41 units of fuel. Exit in 2nd place. 10.7s behind at end of outlap.
Esprit 350 pits from 13.3s lead on lap 48 as I cross the line. He trails by 13.4s at the end of his outlap.
Start lap 57 with a 15s advantage over Esprit 350 as he's caught up while I get stuck amongst the Corvette, Merc & Ford.
Pit in from 13.3s lead as Esprit 350 crosses S/F line. Take tyres and top up fuel to 41 units. Exit in 2nd place. 12.2s behind at end of outlap.
Esprit 350 pits from 20.9s lead on lap 72 as I cross the line. He trails by 4.5s at the end of his outlap, with 3 laps remaining. :nervous:

Result:-

1st Lotus Esprit V8 SE '98 2:20'09.067
2nd Lotus Esprit Sport 350 '00 +4.917s:scared:
3rd Callaway C12 '03 On lap 76
4th Mercedes SL 65 AMG (R230) '04 + 1 lap
5th Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C4) '90 + 1 lap
6th Ford MUSTANG SVT Cobra R '00 + 1 lap

Prize:-

250,000Cr and Dodge Charger Super Bee 426 Hemi '71 in white with a black stripe & spoiler. :)
 
Jetboys427
Congrats close one! :cheers: Did you think from the start that you would win?

I knew it would be close! I've actually run this race twice today! Lost by 8s first time around :guilty: , but having got to know the track and tidied up my lines a little I knew a narrow MOV would be there for the taking! :cheers:
 
*classic, unbelieving, shaking head expression* Incredible... Think the Bathurst RX-7 would be too much?
 
Jetboys427
*classic, unbelieving, shaking head expression* Incredible... Think the Bathurst RX-7 would be too much?

I auditioned a great many cars & lineups for this race to find one that'd be fun & not a walkover in stock form. The Bathurst was one thing I did try, and I found it certainly couldn't keep up with the cars in the lineup I was against, the TVR Speed Six was trouncing it as I remember. Then again with a few minor tweaks here & there I think it could be competetive, if you can get 19 laps out of a set of tyres you can do the race with only 3 stops, whereas the TVR will take 4. If you can be within 20s of him on or around lap 72 the race should be yours by a small distance.
 
Yet ANOTHER Fantastic Race & Write-Up Smallhorses!!! :cheers: Hope you don't mind that I've added it to my "Close Races" thread which can be found HERE ...O.G. :D
 
Nice write-up horses... 👍 Not done this race yet, but I'll be looking for a close race too, so may give this set up a bash...

...but you do realise that I've now got that song stuck in my head for the rest of the day, don't you? :irked: For that you will pay! :sly:

*i'm an alien, i'm a legal alien*
 
Touring Mars
For that you will pay! :sly:

*i'm an alien, i'm a legal alien*

Uh-oh! Doesn't pay to :irked: the moderators!
But surely as a "Wal-Martian" the "alien" bit is true!!!!
Do you work for Asda by any chance?
 
Touring Mars
Nice write-up horses... 👍 Not done this race yet, but I'll be looking for a close race too, so may give this set up a bash...

...but you do realise that I've now got that song stuck in my head for the rest of the day, don't you? :irked: For that you will pay! :sly:

*i'm an alien, i'm a legal alien*

Damnit... just reading the title of this thread had me doing the song over and over in my head when I went on my rounds a while ago... ARRRRGHHHH!!!!

Close race!
 
Nice writeup smallhorses, Nail biting stuff... And yeah, thanks for the song stuck in my head now too!!! lol...

Musta been helleva frustrating loosing by 8 seconds after 2h 20mins of racing... I'd be pissed off... lol...

I'm busy working on a similar close enduro @ the Grand Valley 300, I'll make sure to write up about it once it's done... ;)
 
ViXeN
Musta been helleva frustrating loosing by 8 seconds after 2h 20mins of racing... I'd be pissed off... lol...

Not really, it's the fun of racing that keeps me coming back, not the results!
I've posted several write-ups back on the GT3 board where I lost by less than 8s! Its a bit of a bummer, but it just means I get the enjoyment of going back & doing it all again! Just hope it doesn't happen with some of the 24hr races!!!!
 
Great write-up. Enjoyed reading it and it picked my interest with the comical title of the thread. Always love to hear about some close races, especially one between two Esprits.

Looking forward to reading more of your stuff in the future, have fun. 👍
 
Smallhorses
Not really, it's the fun of racing that keeps me coming back, not the results!
I've posted several write-ups back on the GT3 board where I lost by less than 8s! Its a bit of a bummer, but it just means I get the enjoyment of going back & doing it all again! Just hope it doesn't happen with some of the 24hr races!!!!

Now wouldn't that be a major bummer.... racig for 24hrs and finishing 2 seconds behind.... I would absolutely freak... hehe
 
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