Smallhorses
Staff Emeritus
- 7,260
Back again, an early finish from work today, and I'm going to give my wrist a rest (fnaar, fnaar!) from GT3, as I appear to be getting an RSI from trying too damned hard in the weekly series! 
(Not sure typing race reports helps either!! 
) Maybe I should lay down the D-pad and invest in a wheel? Who knows? I can't even master the analogue sticks, never mind a wheel!!! 
Part 2 of the AI hating write-ups is here, and if you thought the last one was a bummer, just imagine how this one got my blood boiling. I've vowed never to drive a new style Impreza sedan again after this!
So its mid-afternoon at Trial Mountain and I'm up for a spot of competition and I need to win a Lister Storm V12 Racecar, as bad as it is, it'd be another trophy in the garage..... The 2hr enduro is the only place to win one so its got to be there.
I've come out of a fabulous 2hr enduro here, with a 2.3s victory over the NSX in an S2000 so I know close racing is on the cards.
I'm always interested in how an underdog will fare here, so I took ownership of a blue Toyota Celica GT-Four, gave it some new oil, and a bath, leaving it on 255HP and PWR of 5.411. Ran a few laps to get a feel for the car and tyre wear and found that it chews fronts quicker than rears, so I set it up with T2 fronts and T3 rears, and turned off ASM & TCS.
Had a run through the race and lost by 15s to the RX7 RZ, but felt good that with a few more clean laps, shave a 1/10th off here and there, that over the course of 2hrs I could make a winning finish out of this, and by only slender margin which is all the more fun.
I exited and reloaded until I came up against the same field. (no NSX as the GT-Four isn't as quick as the S2000, and wears tyres quicker, so it can't challenge the Honda, much like all the other entrants in this race.)
The Grid looked like this....
1) Mazda RX-7 Type RZ
2) Impreza WRX STi
3) Skyline GT-R VSpec II (R32)
4) Skyline GT-R VSpec II (R34)
5) Lancer Evolution VII RS
6) Celica GT-Four (ST205)
Green light, and they're off!
.....& once they all got back on again, the racing began!!!
4 laps gone and I've made my way past the older Skyline, the Evo and the WRX into 3rd place when the leading R34 pits and leaves the RX-7 to snatch 1st place and a 7s lead over me.
For the next 8 laps I chipped away at the RX-7's advantage as he began an affair with the wall outside the righthand turn before the 2nd tunnel. For several consecutive laps he'd kissed the wall at each pass, and on lap 13 I was able to pass him going into tunnel 2 as he recovered the speed he'd lost from the collision with the wall. I pitted at the end of the lap having posted a series of low 1'41s laps as the tyres wore out.
Lap 14 was the outlap of 1'47.108 and a gap of 14.556s at the beginning of the lap had become 19.096s by the end of the lap, giving the RX-7 the upper hand.
I'd also dropped back to 3rd place as the R34 was able to pass while I was taking on new rubber.
Lap 16 I was back in the low 1'40s again as the tyres warmed, and the RX-7 was continuing to reshape his front end on the same wall, so I'd come back to a 14.5s gap. I also retook 2nd place as the R34 pitted for the 4th time.
Lap 20, and every lap since lap 15 was 1'40.7xx and under, but the RX-7 had decided to leave the wall alone for a while and was maintaining a 13s lead.
Lap 23 and after the tyres on the Celica have started to go past their best again I'm back into the 1'41s. The RX-7 eases ahead by another second, but makes his first pitstop, while I'm fast approaching my 2nd! I finish the lap in 1st place for the 1st time.
By lap 26 the RX-7 is back on the pace and is 4.7s back from me at checkpoint 3 when I have to pit for new tyres, and I hand over the lead to him again.
I exit the pitlane 10s behind him, and there's a charging R34 closing up on me...
In typical Skyline fashion he opts for the "punt into the wall" rather than the clean pass and nudges me into the wall outside the sharp right after tunnel 1. I surrender 2nd place to him and finish my outlap in 1'47.838s and a 16.6s gap to the RX-7
After lap 30, I'd taken back 2nd place from the R34 when he pitted on lap 28 and taken advantage of some uncluttered track space to post a 1'39.750 lap and bring down the gap to 14s to the RX-7.
Lap 35, a series of low 1'40s and another high 1'39 had dropped the gap by 7s or so to the RX-7 as he began to rub off paint on his favourite wall again, lap after lap. Begin to think he might be trying to get some illegal weight reduction done to improve his laps later in the race!!!
Lap 36 and I catch a glimpse of the RX-7 exiting tunnel 3 as I round the corner into the tunnel. I pass through the 2nd checkpoint just under 4s back, but his superior speed down the back straight pulls the gap out to 5s by the end of the lap.
Lap 39 and I'm ready for new tyres again, despite still gaining on the RX-7 and sitting just 0.4s back through checkpoint 3. I pit from second and exit the pitlane +16.105s to the leader.
I got a nice outlap this time with no bumping or nudging, and post a 1'46.684 lap time with a 22s gap to RX-7, but knowing even though he's ended the wall games again and is lapping cleanly, that he's due into the pits in 6 laps time.
Lap 45 and I'd posted 3 1'39.9xx's in the past four laps as the tyres came up to racing temperature, and I'd reduced the gap by 3s to the leader. I managed to avoid the Evo VII bouncing off the wall before tunnel 2 as I lapped him and took another second from the RX-7.
RX-7 pitted on lap 46 and I finish the lap 3.1s behind him over the S/F line. He exits the pits and pulls over straight back into the racing line, just as I'm lining up to take the fast esses before tunnel 1. Can't avoid touching the back end of the RX-7 and he gets a nice outlap boost, while I have to live with the speed reduction, and I hang onto his coat-tails round the rest of the lap to cross the line again just 0.854s behind him, in 2nd place.
Lap 48 sees me take the RX-7 into tunnel 2 again as he reacquaints himself with his beloved wall. I finish the lap with a 0.7s lead and set about building an advantage in the next 4 laps before I'll need to pit again.
I pit on lap 52 having held a 6.1s lead at checkpoint 3 over RX-7. He takes back 1st place and I emerge from the pits +9.629s behind him.
My outlap is a clean one and I post a low 1'47 again to hold a gap of 14.8s to RX-7 by the end of it. And so we enter the endgame.... I know we both have 1 more stop to make. Me on lap 65 and him on lap 69. As he's going to be playing footsie with the wall again for the next few laps until his tyres are fully warmed, I have to be able to whittle his lead down as much as possible....
Lap 55 and I'm right at it! Fastest lap of 1'39.587 and the gap is down to 10s.
By lap 57 and 2 more consecutive high 1'39s I'm down to 5.5s to the leading RX-7. The Celica can see him, and boy is he hungry for a win....
Lap 59 and I'm side-by-side with the RX-7 out of the yellow-chevroned hairpin after the long back straight, but his higher HP gets him up the hill quicker and I finish the lap 1s back.
Snatched back 1st place round outside of the turn before tunnel 2 as he bounced off the wall, and finished lap 60 with a 0.4s lead.
My tyres are showing signs of the extra wear from the 1'39 laps and I post low 1'41s from lap 60 to 64, but am still able to pull away from RX-7 slightly to end lap 64 with a 2.3s lead, but the RX-7's fascination with wall-banging has come to an end again temporarily and he's starting to pull time back without this distraction.
I head for the pits again at the end of lap 65 with the RX-7 right on my tail. He shoots past into 1st again and I exit the pitlane 14.5s behind and have it all to do now.
My outlap is another low 1'47 and the gap to the RX-7 is up to 21s. This is going to the wire....
Lap 68 and I surpass my previous fastest lap by 4/100ths! A 1'39.547!
Lap 69 I'm gaining on RX-7 who is heading for the pits at the end of the lap on worn tyres. I'm 17.3s back by checkpoint 2, and that should be close enough to snatch the lead from him as he exits the pits, with 2 laps remaining until the 2hr mark. Can I hold onto the lead then though?
Lap 70, he emerges from the pits and pulls the same trick as before, the Celica spitting flames once again can do nothing to avoid giving him the boost he's after and is left to run the rest of the lap trying to catch up. 👎 We begin lap 71 and the timer is already past the 1:19'15.xxx mark , so I know its the last one... I start the lap with a 1.7s handicap.....but he's catching the WRX to lap it a second time....
and he's back to his old tricks as both he and the Impreza touch the wall before tunnel 2....it looks like they're holding a conversation of some sort?!!! Why I can only guess.... I hold a gorgeous line round the outside of them and carry speed into tunnel 3 to show a 1.2s lead at checkpoint 2. Its really going to the wire.... I'm ahead on the last lap, 1.2s up, but knowing the RX-7 is quicker than me through the latter part of the lap.... I see a close finish on the cards, one way or another....
So I brake for the hairpin at the end of the back straight and the RX-7 is still some way back. Easy money, hold the line & I'm golden.... 👍
Not so... the dumb idiot
in the Subaru comes charging into the hairpin at full pelt and forgets what brakes are for.... 
T-bones the Celica shoving me sideways up into the barrier at the outside of the hairpin, 
as the RX-7 holds his slower but beautiful line out and up the hill. As I disentangle myself from the very bent passenger door of the Celica and take up the chase, I know that MY victory has just been blown apart. 
I finished the lap with a 1'45.252 and 3.5s behind the RX-7 thanks to the 🤬 in the Subaru.
As I leave the track with my 2nd place trophy an 70000CR, I glance into my mirror and I see some of the RX-7 driver's 150000CR first prize being handed over to the driver of the Impreza..... So that's what they were talking about into tunnel 2, huh?
I'm fuming.....and that's why the Impreza WRX STi will find very little space in my garage from now on....
Another defeat from the jaws of victory.
Hope you enjoyed it....
I'll go now, too much typing and not enough GT3 makes Smallhorses a dull boy!!!
(Not sure typing race reports helps either!! ) Maybe I should lay down the D-pad and invest in a wheel? Who knows? I can't even master the analogue sticks, never mind a wheel!!! Part 2 of the AI hating write-ups is here, and if you thought the last one was a bummer, just imagine how this one got my blood boiling. I've vowed never to drive a new style Impreza sedan again after this!
So its mid-afternoon at Trial Mountain and I'm up for a spot of competition and I need to win a Lister Storm V12 Racecar, as bad as it is, it'd be another trophy in the garage..... The 2hr enduro is the only place to win one so its got to be there.
I've come out of a fabulous 2hr enduro here, with a 2.3s victory over the NSX in an S2000 so I know close racing is on the cards.
I'm always interested in how an underdog will fare here, so I took ownership of a blue Toyota Celica GT-Four, gave it some new oil, and a bath, leaving it on 255HP and PWR of 5.411. Ran a few laps to get a feel for the car and tyre wear and found that it chews fronts quicker than rears, so I set it up with T2 fronts and T3 rears, and turned off ASM & TCS.Had a run through the race and lost by 15s to the RX7 RZ, but felt good that with a few more clean laps, shave a 1/10th off here and there, that over the course of 2hrs I could make a winning finish out of this, and by only slender margin which is all the more fun.
I exited and reloaded until I came up against the same field. (no NSX as the GT-Four isn't as quick as the S2000, and wears tyres quicker, so it can't challenge the Honda, much like all the other entrants in this race.)
The Grid looked like this....
1) Mazda RX-7 Type RZ
2) Impreza WRX STi
3) Skyline GT-R VSpec II (R32)
4) Skyline GT-R VSpec II (R34)
5) Lancer Evolution VII RS
6) Celica GT-Four (ST205)
Green light, and they're off!
.....& once they all got back on again, the racing began!!!
4 laps gone and I've made my way past the older Skyline, the Evo and the WRX into 3rd place when the leading R34 pits and leaves the RX-7 to snatch 1st place and a 7s lead over me.
For the next 8 laps I chipped away at the RX-7's advantage as he began an affair with the wall outside the righthand turn before the 2nd tunnel. For several consecutive laps he'd kissed the wall at each pass, and on lap 13 I was able to pass him going into tunnel 2 as he recovered the speed he'd lost from the collision with the wall. I pitted at the end of the lap having posted a series of low 1'41s laps as the tyres wore out.
Lap 14 was the outlap of 1'47.108 and a gap of 14.556s at the beginning of the lap had become 19.096s by the end of the lap, giving the RX-7 the upper hand.
I'd also dropped back to 3rd place as the R34 was able to pass while I was taking on new rubber.
Lap 16 I was back in the low 1'40s again as the tyres warmed, and the RX-7 was continuing to reshape his front end on the same wall, so I'd come back to a 14.5s gap. I also retook 2nd place as the R34 pitted for the 4th time.
Lap 20, and every lap since lap 15 was 1'40.7xx and under, but the RX-7 had decided to leave the wall alone for a while and was maintaining a 13s lead.
Lap 23 and after the tyres on the Celica have started to go past their best again I'm back into the 1'41s. The RX-7 eases ahead by another second, but makes his first pitstop, while I'm fast approaching my 2nd! I finish the lap in 1st place for the 1st time.
By lap 26 the RX-7 is back on the pace and is 4.7s back from me at checkpoint 3 when I have to pit for new tyres, and I hand over the lead to him again.
I exit the pitlane 10s behind him, and there's a charging R34 closing up on me...
In typical Skyline fashion he opts for the "punt into the wall" rather than the clean pass and nudges me into the wall outside the sharp right after tunnel 1. I surrender 2nd place to him and finish my outlap in 1'47.838s and a 16.6s gap to the RX-7
After lap 30, I'd taken back 2nd place from the R34 when he pitted on lap 28 and taken advantage of some uncluttered track space to post a 1'39.750 lap and bring down the gap to 14s to the RX-7.
Lap 35, a series of low 1'40s and another high 1'39 had dropped the gap by 7s or so to the RX-7 as he began to rub off paint on his favourite wall again, lap after lap. Begin to think he might be trying to get some illegal weight reduction done to improve his laps later in the race!!!
Lap 36 and I catch a glimpse of the RX-7 exiting tunnel 3 as I round the corner into the tunnel. I pass through the 2nd checkpoint just under 4s back, but his superior speed down the back straight pulls the gap out to 5s by the end of the lap.
Lap 39 and I'm ready for new tyres again, despite still gaining on the RX-7 and sitting just 0.4s back through checkpoint 3. I pit from second and exit the pitlane +16.105s to the leader.
I got a nice outlap this time with no bumping or nudging, and post a 1'46.684 lap time with a 22s gap to RX-7, but knowing even though he's ended the wall games again and is lapping cleanly, that he's due into the pits in 6 laps time.
Lap 45 and I'd posted 3 1'39.9xx's in the past four laps as the tyres came up to racing temperature, and I'd reduced the gap by 3s to the leader. I managed to avoid the Evo VII bouncing off the wall before tunnel 2 as I lapped him and took another second from the RX-7.
RX-7 pitted on lap 46 and I finish the lap 3.1s behind him over the S/F line. He exits the pits and pulls over straight back into the racing line, just as I'm lining up to take the fast esses before tunnel 1. Can't avoid touching the back end of the RX-7 and he gets a nice outlap boost, while I have to live with the speed reduction, and I hang onto his coat-tails round the rest of the lap to cross the line again just 0.854s behind him, in 2nd place.
Lap 48 sees me take the RX-7 into tunnel 2 again as he reacquaints himself with his beloved wall. I finish the lap with a 0.7s lead and set about building an advantage in the next 4 laps before I'll need to pit again.
I pit on lap 52 having held a 6.1s lead at checkpoint 3 over RX-7. He takes back 1st place and I emerge from the pits +9.629s behind him.
My outlap is a clean one and I post a low 1'47 again to hold a gap of 14.8s to RX-7 by the end of it. And so we enter the endgame.... I know we both have 1 more stop to make. Me on lap 65 and him on lap 69. As he's going to be playing footsie with the wall again for the next few laps until his tyres are fully warmed, I have to be able to whittle his lead down as much as possible....
Lap 55 and I'm right at it! Fastest lap of 1'39.587 and the gap is down to 10s.
By lap 57 and 2 more consecutive high 1'39s I'm down to 5.5s to the leading RX-7. The Celica can see him, and boy is he hungry for a win....
Lap 59 and I'm side-by-side with the RX-7 out of the yellow-chevroned hairpin after the long back straight, but his higher HP gets him up the hill quicker and I finish the lap 1s back.
Snatched back 1st place round outside of the turn before tunnel 2 as he bounced off the wall, and finished lap 60 with a 0.4s lead.
My tyres are showing signs of the extra wear from the 1'39 laps and I post low 1'41s from lap 60 to 64, but am still able to pull away from RX-7 slightly to end lap 64 with a 2.3s lead, but the RX-7's fascination with wall-banging has come to an end again temporarily and he's starting to pull time back without this distraction.
I head for the pits again at the end of lap 65 with the RX-7 right on my tail. He shoots past into 1st again and I exit the pitlane 14.5s behind and have it all to do now.
My outlap is another low 1'47 and the gap to the RX-7 is up to 21s. This is going to the wire....
Lap 68 and I surpass my previous fastest lap by 4/100ths! A 1'39.547!
Lap 69 I'm gaining on RX-7 who is heading for the pits at the end of the lap on worn tyres. I'm 17.3s back by checkpoint 2, and that should be close enough to snatch the lead from him as he exits the pits, with 2 laps remaining until the 2hr mark. Can I hold onto the lead then though?
Lap 70, he emerges from the pits and pulls the same trick as before, the Celica spitting flames once again can do nothing to avoid giving him the boost he's after and is left to run the rest of the lap trying to catch up. 👎 We begin lap 71 and the timer is already past the 1:19'15.xxx mark
, so I know its the last one... I start the lap with a 1.7s handicap.....but he's catching the WRX to lap it a second time....and he's back to his old tricks as both he and the Impreza touch the wall before tunnel 2....it looks like they're holding a conversation of some sort?!!! Why I can only guess.... I hold a gorgeous line round the outside of them and carry speed into tunnel 3 to show a 1.2s lead at checkpoint 2. Its really going to the wire.... I'm ahead on the last lap, 1.2s up, but knowing the RX-7 is quicker than me through the latter part of the lap.... I see a close finish on the cards, one way or another....
So I brake for the hairpin at the end of the back straight and the RX-7 is still some way back. Easy money, hold the line & I'm golden.... 👍
Not so... the dumb idiot
in the Subaru comes charging into the hairpin at full pelt and forgets what brakes are for.... T-bones the Celica shoving me sideways up into the barrier at the outside of the hairpin, as the RX-7 holds his slower but beautiful line out and up the hill. As I disentangle myself from the very bent passenger door of the Celica and take up the chase, I know that MY victory has just been blown apart. I finished the lap with a 1'45.252 and 3.5s behind the RX-7 thanks to the 🤬 in the Subaru.As I leave the track with my 2nd place trophy an 70000CR, I glance into my mirror and I see some of the RX-7 driver's 150000CR first prize being handed over to the driver of the Impreza..... So that's what they were talking about into tunnel 2, huh?
I'm fuming.....and that's why the Impreza WRX STi will find very little space in my garage from now on....Another defeat from the jaws of victory.
Hope you enjoyed it....
I'll go now, too much typing and not enough GT3 makes Smallhorses a dull boy!!!
