12 July 2013
I have spent the last 2 days testing prospective cars, they were the Cusco Subaru race car(too fast), Nissan Silvia RM(too fast), I have however settled on using this car: Honda Civic Type R(EK) RM '97
I have run tests and it laps in the 1:00 to 1:02 range. It is FF and so too much corner speed and throttle leads to massive understeer. I am however running
it completely stock with nor tuning and it is anew car that has had no running in.
My cars specs are 245BHP, 845kg and 478PP-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting grid:
BNR34 Skyline GT-R V-spec N1 base...
CT230R '08
Amemiya FD3S RX-7
S2000 GT1 '04
Stage II R32
G37
ME
IS F Racing Concept '08
Gran Turismo 350Z RS
BNR34 Skyline GT-R N1 '06
FT565 twin turbo Audi TT
Nismo 380RS Super Leggera
Lap 1. I run a 1:03.037 and am in 5th place after diving through from 7th on the first turn. I'm much slower on the straights but quicker through the turns.
Lap 3. 5th place but 10 seconds down already. I did a 1:01.859
Lap 4. 6th place now after running wide, I am now 13 seconds down having done a 1:01.947. I decide to abandon the race as I am just too handicapped IMO.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I will attempt the race again but have added the following to be more competitive:
Race air filter, Sports exhaust manifold and I have adjusted my brake bias to 4:7.
My specs are now 263BHP, 845kg and 488PP. Lets see how this goes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting grid:
Carbon R (R34) '04
BNR34 Skyline GT-R V-spec N1 base...
Lancer evolution VI '00
Nismo 380RS Super leggera
Gran Turismo 350Z RS
350Z '04
ME
Gran Turismo Skyline GT-R '01
Skyline GT-R S-tune(R32) '00
Option Stream Z '04
Amemiya FD3S RX-7
CT230R '08
Session 1, stint 1
Lap 1. I do a 1:01.793, I am 3rd behind the Carbon R and BNR34 but ahead of the Lancer Evo.
Lap 2. I do a 1:01.118, the Nismo 380RS is now in 4th and catching me. I'm 4sec behind the 2 lead cars.
Lap 9. I'm almost 7 sec behind now. Settled into and steady pace at 1:01.1xx, I'm keeping 4th at bay but only just with about a 1 sec gap between us..
Lap 12. The 4th place Nismo is getting quicker. He pulls up along side me on the back straight but I brake later and get on the inside of the last corner to
keep 3rd. My best lap so far is on Lap 10, a 1:00.791. I'm now 10 seconds behind the lead.
Lap 19. I do a 1;01.691 and the Nismo gets me across the start line I brake late and take a wide, outside line trying to carry more corner speed. We exit
side by side but he pulls ahead before the hairpin, I brake late and dive up the inside though and retake 3rd. I'm now 11seconds behind with the 2 lead cars still close together.
Lap 25. i do a 1:02.161, I've adjusted my racing lines to sweep through the turns with more corner speed. i've also adjusted my shifting to 8000rpm instead of 9000rpm as it seems to be better for acceleration and tyre life. Tyres are at about 70% on the front, rears look good for 2 stints at least. We are also starting to catch up to the backmarkers now.
Lap 30-43. We have caught the backmarkers. My laptimes have settled in the low 1:02's and I still fending off the Nismo, we are however catching the 2 lead cars. Now 6.9seconds behind.
Lap 49. 3 seconds behind now. My front tyres are really going at about 40%, fuel just above half. Will aim for 60 laps but not looking good. I'm still in the
mid 1:02's though so thats good.
Lap 51. I take 2nd on the inside on the BNR34 at the first hairpin, get good drive out and get up the inside of the Carbon R at the next right before the
bridge. I'm 1st, but the BNR34 gets me on the back straight. I manage to dive up the inside carrying lots of corner speed and get 1st back.
Lap 55. The Carbon R pulls out in front of me from the pits, I get up the inside of turn 1 though and put him a lap down. I'm 2 seconds ahead of 2nd, my front tyres are done now, running mid 1:03's. Having to deal with massive understeer, will pit on lap 60.
Lap 60, I dive for the pits, overshoot and try to nip back in. They force me through the pits with no pitstop, Damnit!!! I do a 1:09.410 outlap and have to go for the pits on lap 61, down to 6th.
I suspend the race to make Breakfast. Will put on new front, keeping the rears and add maybe 25litres of fuel.
13 July 2013
Session 2, Stint 2 Time on clock is 1:03:18.949
I pit and put on new RH tyres front and rear, top-up with 25 litres of fuel and exit pits in 7th position.
Lap 62, outlap from pitstop was 1:26.554 and I'm now 44seconds down on 1st but they still need to pit so I'm hopeful.
Lap 65, I pass the Gran Turismo skyline while he pits to take 6th
Lap 66, I post the fastest lap so far of 1:00.405.
Lap 67, I pass the Gran Turismo 350Z for 5th position, now 39seconds down
Lap 68, I pass the pits and take 4th, not sure who it is I passed though
Lap 72, I pass the BNR34 for 2nd place while he pits. Not sure who is first though.
Lap 73,I notice I'm only 1second behind first and realize it is the CTR230R who I have been stalking for the last 4 laps
Lap 74, I dive up the inside of the CTR230R on the brakes at the first hairpin and take 1st position.
Lap 78, I lap the Lancer Evo and then the Option Z straight afterwards and the CTR pits behind me, I'm still first now 12seconds up.
Lap 79, My lead is now 26seconds, looks like the backmarkers are holding the BNR34 up. I'm still running consistently in the mid 1;01's.
Lap 90, Mid way through my second stint, running mid 1:01's, 33 seconds ahead now.
Lap 98, I run off at the last corner and post a lap time of 1:08.037. They are catching me at a second a lap, I'm now 22 seconds ahead.
lap 105, My laptimes are now in the mid 1:02's and the CTR is right behind me and determined to unlap himself. It is an intense battle to kee ahead, I'm now
only 4.5seconds ahead.
Lap 109, I get overtaken by the BNR34 and drop to second but still running mid to high 1:02's.
Lap 117, My tyres are shot and I have to pit. Get a fresh set of RH's front and rear and take on 25litres of fuel. I exit the pits in 3rd and am now 48seconds down.
Lap 128, I overtake the Amemiya RX-7 for second place, now 44seconds down.
Lap 144, I pass the BNR34 for 1st place while he pits. He is running 72 lap stints compared to me doing between 55 and 60 laps per stint. We are running similar pace though so it's not looking good. Show me as being 44seconds ahead now.
Lap 171, My tyres are shot and so I pit and suspend the race from 1st position with a 2.6 second lead over the BNR34 in 2nd.
In summary so far:
So far I need to pit more often while running at the same pace on fresh rubber. When the tyres deteriorate I have to fight to maintain a 1:01 laptime to keep the gaps steady, any mistakes and I lose time instantly. So far it doesn't seem good for a win. I will push on though and see how it goes.
The time is now 2:57:28.416 on the clock so it's a little under 1/3 of the way now. By halfway I will reassess and see where I'm at and how to proceed. I don't really want to race a full 9hrs to finish 2nd or worse.
I have spent the last 2 days testing prospective cars, they were the Cusco Subaru race car(too fast), Nissan Silvia RM(too fast), I have however settled on using this car: Honda Civic Type R(EK) RM '97
I have run tests and it laps in the 1:00 to 1:02 range. It is FF and so too much corner speed and throttle leads to massive understeer. I am however running
it completely stock with nor tuning and it is anew car that has had no running in.
My cars specs are 245BHP, 845kg and 478PP-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting grid:
BNR34 Skyline GT-R V-spec N1 base...
CT230R '08
Amemiya FD3S RX-7
S2000 GT1 '04
Stage II R32
G37
ME
IS F Racing Concept '08
Gran Turismo 350Z RS
BNR34 Skyline GT-R N1 '06
FT565 twin turbo Audi TT
Nismo 380RS Super Leggera
Lap 1. I run a 1:03.037 and am in 5th place after diving through from 7th on the first turn. I'm much slower on the straights but quicker through the turns.
Lap 3. 5th place but 10 seconds down already. I did a 1:01.859
Lap 4. 6th place now after running wide, I am now 13 seconds down having done a 1:01.947. I decide to abandon the race as I am just too handicapped IMO.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I will attempt the race again but have added the following to be more competitive:
Race air filter, Sports exhaust manifold and I have adjusted my brake bias to 4:7.
My specs are now 263BHP, 845kg and 488PP. Lets see how this goes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting grid:
Carbon R (R34) '04
BNR34 Skyline GT-R V-spec N1 base...
Lancer evolution VI '00
Nismo 380RS Super leggera
Gran Turismo 350Z RS
350Z '04
ME
Gran Turismo Skyline GT-R '01
Skyline GT-R S-tune(R32) '00
Option Stream Z '04
Amemiya FD3S RX-7
CT230R '08
Session 1, stint 1
Lap 1. I do a 1:01.793, I am 3rd behind the Carbon R and BNR34 but ahead of the Lancer Evo.
Lap 2. I do a 1:01.118, the Nismo 380RS is now in 4th and catching me. I'm 4sec behind the 2 lead cars.
Lap 9. I'm almost 7 sec behind now. Settled into and steady pace at 1:01.1xx, I'm keeping 4th at bay but only just with about a 1 sec gap between us..
Lap 12. The 4th place Nismo is getting quicker. He pulls up along side me on the back straight but I brake later and get on the inside of the last corner to
keep 3rd. My best lap so far is on Lap 10, a 1:00.791. I'm now 10 seconds behind the lead.
Lap 19. I do a 1;01.691 and the Nismo gets me across the start line I brake late and take a wide, outside line trying to carry more corner speed. We exit
side by side but he pulls ahead before the hairpin, I brake late and dive up the inside though and retake 3rd. I'm now 11seconds behind with the 2 lead cars still close together.
Lap 25. i do a 1:02.161, I've adjusted my racing lines to sweep through the turns with more corner speed. i've also adjusted my shifting to 8000rpm instead of 9000rpm as it seems to be better for acceleration and tyre life. Tyres are at about 70% on the front, rears look good for 2 stints at least. We are also starting to catch up to the backmarkers now.
Lap 30-43. We have caught the backmarkers. My laptimes have settled in the low 1:02's and I still fending off the Nismo, we are however catching the 2 lead cars. Now 6.9seconds behind.
Lap 49. 3 seconds behind now. My front tyres are really going at about 40%, fuel just above half. Will aim for 60 laps but not looking good. I'm still in the
mid 1:02's though so thats good.
Lap 51. I take 2nd on the inside on the BNR34 at the first hairpin, get good drive out and get up the inside of the Carbon R at the next right before the
bridge. I'm 1st, but the BNR34 gets me on the back straight. I manage to dive up the inside carrying lots of corner speed and get 1st back.
Lap 55. The Carbon R pulls out in front of me from the pits, I get up the inside of turn 1 though and put him a lap down. I'm 2 seconds ahead of 2nd, my front tyres are done now, running mid 1:03's. Having to deal with massive understeer, will pit on lap 60.
Lap 60, I dive for the pits, overshoot and try to nip back in. They force me through the pits with no pitstop, Damnit!!! I do a 1:09.410 outlap and have to go for the pits on lap 61, down to 6th.
I suspend the race to make Breakfast. Will put on new front, keeping the rears and add maybe 25litres of fuel.
13 July 2013
Session 2, Stint 2 Time on clock is 1:03:18.949
I pit and put on new RH tyres front and rear, top-up with 25 litres of fuel and exit pits in 7th position.
Lap 62, outlap from pitstop was 1:26.554 and I'm now 44seconds down on 1st but they still need to pit so I'm hopeful.
Lap 65, I pass the Gran Turismo skyline while he pits to take 6th
Lap 66, I post the fastest lap so far of 1:00.405.
Lap 67, I pass the Gran Turismo 350Z for 5th position, now 39seconds down
Lap 68, I pass the pits and take 4th, not sure who it is I passed though
Lap 72, I pass the BNR34 for 2nd place while he pits. Not sure who is first though.
Lap 73,I notice I'm only 1second behind first and realize it is the CTR230R who I have been stalking for the last 4 laps
Lap 74, I dive up the inside of the CTR230R on the brakes at the first hairpin and take 1st position.
Lap 78, I lap the Lancer Evo and then the Option Z straight afterwards and the CTR pits behind me, I'm still first now 12seconds up.
Lap 79, My lead is now 26seconds, looks like the backmarkers are holding the BNR34 up. I'm still running consistently in the mid 1;01's.
Lap 90, Mid way through my second stint, running mid 1:01's, 33 seconds ahead now.
Lap 98, I run off at the last corner and post a lap time of 1:08.037. They are catching me at a second a lap, I'm now 22 seconds ahead.
lap 105, My laptimes are now in the mid 1:02's and the CTR is right behind me and determined to unlap himself. It is an intense battle to kee ahead, I'm now
only 4.5seconds ahead.
Lap 109, I get overtaken by the BNR34 and drop to second but still running mid to high 1:02's.
Lap 117, My tyres are shot and I have to pit. Get a fresh set of RH's front and rear and take on 25litres of fuel. I exit the pits in 3rd and am now 48seconds down.
Lap 128, I overtake the Amemiya RX-7 for second place, now 44seconds down.
Lap 144, I pass the BNR34 for 1st place while he pits. He is running 72 lap stints compared to me doing between 55 and 60 laps per stint. We are running similar pace though so it's not looking good. Show me as being 44seconds ahead now.
Lap 171, My tyres are shot and so I pit and suspend the race from 1st position with a 2.6 second lead over the BNR34 in 2nd.
In summary so far:
So far I need to pit more often while running at the same pace on fresh rubber. When the tyres deteriorate I have to fight to maintain a 1:01 laptime to keep the gaps steady, any mistakes and I lose time instantly. So far it doesn't seem good for a win. I will push on though and see how it goes.
The time is now 2:57:28.416 on the clock so it's a little under 1/3 of the way now. By halfway I will reassess and see where I'm at and how to proceed. I don't really want to race a full 9hrs to finish 2nd or worse.