The car:
Elise 111R; basically fulled modded, without a turbo (but full NA tuning). Wing stuck on the back to eliminate the terrible oversteer.
The competition (for the full race):
(yes, two Calibras!)
The report:
8:45am - started first race. Took 1st after 3 minutes, but was being thorougly beaten by an Audi by the time the first pit stops came round. Didn't look like I had much chance.
9:20 - quit first race. Buy hard tyres for Elise. Start the race again - checking out the lineup. The ASL JGTC car looked the most worrying, but I thought I'd give it a go...
9.25 - started again. Got up to 2nd behind the Alfa. A couple of spins saw me drop to 4th - I'd put hard tyres on the front, and super-hard on the back. This meant the front had more grip, and the oversteer was back! I pitted lap 3 to switch back to super-hards all round, but knew 4-lap stints were possible.
10-11 - Someone came round to view the car I'm selling. Took him for a test drive. When he left, I had a nice deposit cheque left by him!
11am - back at it. Considered taking an easier car, but reckoned I stood a good chance. Took 3rd after a lap. Probably since the Vauxhall pitted.
11:16 - Lap 6 was the first under 7:20. Took 2nd shortly after. Dropped back to 3rd when I pitted on lap 7.
11:45 - catch the Alfa (in 2nd). He spins coming round Eschbach, I plow into him. I realise, if they're spinning, I may stand a chance... Take 1st at the end of the lap, having passed the Alfa, when the Vauxhall pits. Drop to 2nd when I pit a lap later - behind the Alfa, this time.
12:05 - Get 1st when the Alfa pits - then spin, and let the Vauxhall through. A few more spins and the Alfa is close by again...
12:30 - Start driving properly, and catch the Vauxhall as he's on the lap before his stop (he drops a bit of time on that lap, each stint). Pass him just as we both put. The Alfa retakes the lead, but pits the next lap, so I take the lead again.
13:00 - Time for another stop. The Vauxhall comes back through, but had built a nice gap on him, and am out in front of the Alfa. Take the lead back on the next lap, when the Vauxhall pits.
13:30 - Pit stop, and time for some lunch.
14:00 - Back at it! Out in the lead again, that's a good sign.
14:20 - Have nearly a whole minute lead on the Vauxhall. Regularly lapping close to 7:20.
14:50 - A few incidents lets the Vauxhall close back in. Still around 20 seconds lead, though.
15:05 - Another hour done, another short (minute or two) break at the pit stop. The Vauxhall pits this lap as well.
15:35 - Pit in, with about a minute again on the Vauxhall. He has his slow lap and pits, and a lap later the gap is a minute and a half.
16:05 - Break time again. Answer a few questions on my site, get a drink, etc. The lead is still growing.
16:30 - Gap up to 2 minutes.
17:00 - phone call from guy who looked at the car - wants to come by at 10am tomorrow to pick it up! Drive another lap to the pit stop, but have to go and wash and clean the car now while it's still light. Grab a snack as well, to put dinner off to 9pm.
18:05 - Phone call from parents (who don't know what I'm up to!) Takes about 20 minutes.
19:10 - Gap at 2:30 as I pit again..
20:40 - Gap now nearer 4 minutes. Over half a lap advantage! Decide my next goal is to lap them.
21:15 - Dinnertime (coinciding with TV programming!)
22:20 - Back at it. The whole night looms ahead...
23:40 - Gap close to 5 minutes.
00:00 - have now done 10:24 of racing!
00:40 - Lap 89 becomes my fastest lap, a 7:13.831 - with a bit of a tow down the main straight ;-)
1am - While in the pits (luckily) my girlfriend calls. We enter British Summer time, and it mysteriously becomes 2am without an hour passing. Reset the VCR, since I'm checking that for the time.
2:49 - the magic half-way point!
3:00 - Gap hits 6 minutes!
3:15 - The Alfa fools everyone as, on lap 100, he doesn't pit, and takes a 5-lap stint instead! He starts to do this randomly through the rest of the race.
3:40 - Decent sized break, as I have a wash and try to wake myself up.
4:15 - Start getting up at every pit stop, stretching out and making sure I don't doze off.
5:30 - Have the gap pegged at 6 minutes. Stop for first breakfast, hoping it'll wake me up.
6:00 - Nope. Have another bowl of cereal, and more juice.
7:20 - I think it was now that I wander outside, get some fresh air; listen to the birds twittering away for a bit. Decide to bring the speakers for the PC down, and throw together a playlist; hopefully the music will help me keep awake. It's a distraction I can't noramlly put up with, but right now I need it! The gap is still around 6 minutes.
8:05 - open curtains, get some light in. Make a cup of tea. Race a lap, stopping every two minutes until the tea is drinkable. Sit on the floor, to stop myself feeling so comfortable on the sofa.
9:50 - stop to sell the car. Just under three-quarters through. The gap is dropping, though - down to 5:30.
10:20 - Car sold, back to the racing! Big push ahead to get done around 5pm.
10:35 - The gap now down to 4:45!
11:40 - Gap pegged at 4:45. I know that I'm only just keeping up with the Vauxhall, though; my extra pit stop is costing me the time. Well, technically it's all the spinning, I suppose.
12:30 - Time for lunch, with just over 4 hours left.
12:55 - Here we go, the end definately in sight!
13:40 - Gap down to 3:40 now. Eep.
14:50 - Now 3:20. It's not going down quick enough to lose me the race, though.
15:15 - 2 hours left! Gap still around 3:30.
15:40 - Gap coming down again. Turn in what would have been a 7:20 again on lap 179, my in lap.
16:20 - 1 hour left - time for my last break. Have put in enough good, quick laps to keep the gap above 3 minutes. I know I've got 9 laps to do - and pit every 4 - so decide to do 4laps, then 3, then 2.
16:35 - My girlfriend calls. I ignore the call, given the time left (called her afterwards, of course). She tries again, but the phone is now on silent, so I don't jump out of my skin again!
17:00 - Last pit stop coming up - but the gap is down to 2:15!
17:24 - I did it! 192 laps, won by just over 2:20.
Took me 31 hours to complete ;-)
Elise 111R; basically fulled modded, without a turbo (but full NA tuning). Wing stuck on the back to eliminate the terrible oversteer.
The competition (for the full race):
(yes, two Calibras!)
The report:
8:45am - started first race. Took 1st after 3 minutes, but was being thorougly beaten by an Audi by the time the first pit stops came round. Didn't look like I had much chance.
9:20 - quit first race. Buy hard tyres for Elise. Start the race again - checking out the lineup. The ASL JGTC car looked the most worrying, but I thought I'd give it a go...
9.25 - started again. Got up to 2nd behind the Alfa. A couple of spins saw me drop to 4th - I'd put hard tyres on the front, and super-hard on the back. This meant the front had more grip, and the oversteer was back! I pitted lap 3 to switch back to super-hards all round, but knew 4-lap stints were possible.
10-11 - Someone came round to view the car I'm selling. Took him for a test drive. When he left, I had a nice deposit cheque left by him!
11am - back at it. Considered taking an easier car, but reckoned I stood a good chance. Took 3rd after a lap. Probably since the Vauxhall pitted.
11:16 - Lap 6 was the first under 7:20. Took 2nd shortly after. Dropped back to 3rd when I pitted on lap 7.
11:45 - catch the Alfa (in 2nd). He spins coming round Eschbach, I plow into him. I realise, if they're spinning, I may stand a chance... Take 1st at the end of the lap, having passed the Alfa, when the Vauxhall pits. Drop to 2nd when I pit a lap later - behind the Alfa, this time.
12:05 - Get 1st when the Alfa pits - then spin, and let the Vauxhall through. A few more spins and the Alfa is close by again...
12:30 - Start driving properly, and catch the Vauxhall as he's on the lap before his stop (he drops a bit of time on that lap, each stint). Pass him just as we both put. The Alfa retakes the lead, but pits the next lap, so I take the lead again.
13:00 - Time for another stop. The Vauxhall comes back through, but had built a nice gap on him, and am out in front of the Alfa. Take the lead back on the next lap, when the Vauxhall pits.
13:30 - Pit stop, and time for some lunch.
14:00 - Back at it! Out in the lead again, that's a good sign.
14:20 - Have nearly a whole minute lead on the Vauxhall. Regularly lapping close to 7:20.
14:50 - A few incidents lets the Vauxhall close back in. Still around 20 seconds lead, though.
15:05 - Another hour done, another short (minute or two) break at the pit stop. The Vauxhall pits this lap as well.
15:35 - Pit in, with about a minute again on the Vauxhall. He has his slow lap and pits, and a lap later the gap is a minute and a half.
16:05 - Break time again. Answer a few questions on my site, get a drink, etc. The lead is still growing.
16:30 - Gap up to 2 minutes.
17:00 - phone call from guy who looked at the car - wants to come by at 10am tomorrow to pick it up! Drive another lap to the pit stop, but have to go and wash and clean the car now while it's still light. Grab a snack as well, to put dinner off to 9pm.
18:05 - Phone call from parents (who don't know what I'm up to!) Takes about 20 minutes.
19:10 - Gap at 2:30 as I pit again..
20:40 - Gap now nearer 4 minutes. Over half a lap advantage! Decide my next goal is to lap them.
21:15 - Dinnertime (coinciding with TV programming!)
22:20 - Back at it. The whole night looms ahead...
23:40 - Gap close to 5 minutes.
00:00 - have now done 10:24 of racing!
00:40 - Lap 89 becomes my fastest lap, a 7:13.831 - with a bit of a tow down the main straight ;-)
1am - While in the pits (luckily) my girlfriend calls. We enter British Summer time, and it mysteriously becomes 2am without an hour passing. Reset the VCR, since I'm checking that for the time.
2:49 - the magic half-way point!
3:00 - Gap hits 6 minutes!
3:15 - The Alfa fools everyone as, on lap 100, he doesn't pit, and takes a 5-lap stint instead! He starts to do this randomly through the rest of the race.
3:40 - Decent sized break, as I have a wash and try to wake myself up.
4:15 - Start getting up at every pit stop, stretching out and making sure I don't doze off.
5:30 - Have the gap pegged at 6 minutes. Stop for first breakfast, hoping it'll wake me up.
6:00 - Nope. Have another bowl of cereal, and more juice.
7:20 - I think it was now that I wander outside, get some fresh air; listen to the birds twittering away for a bit. Decide to bring the speakers for the PC down, and throw together a playlist; hopefully the music will help me keep awake. It's a distraction I can't noramlly put up with, but right now I need it! The gap is still around 6 minutes.
8:05 - open curtains, get some light in. Make a cup of tea. Race a lap, stopping every two minutes until the tea is drinkable. Sit on the floor, to stop myself feeling so comfortable on the sofa.
9:50 - stop to sell the car. Just under three-quarters through. The gap is dropping, though - down to 5:30.
10:20 - Car sold, back to the racing! Big push ahead to get done around 5pm.
10:35 - The gap now down to 4:45!
11:40 - Gap pegged at 4:45. I know that I'm only just keeping up with the Vauxhall, though; my extra pit stop is costing me the time. Well, technically it's all the spinning, I suppose.
12:30 - Time for lunch, with just over 4 hours left.
12:55 - Here we go, the end definately in sight!
13:40 - Gap down to 3:40 now. Eep.
14:50 - Now 3:20. It's not going down quick enough to lose me the race, though.
15:15 - 2 hours left! Gap still around 3:30.
15:40 - Gap coming down again. Turn in what would have been a 7:20 again on lap 179, my in lap.
16:20 - 1 hour left - time for my last break. Have put in enough good, quick laps to keep the gap above 3 minutes. I know I've got 9 laps to do - and pit every 4 - so decide to do 4laps, then 3, then 2.
16:35 - My girlfriend calls. I ignore the call, given the time left (called her afterwards, of course). She tries again, but the phone is now on silent, so I don't jump out of my skin again!
17:00 - Last pit stop coming up - but the gap is down to 2:15!
17:24 - I did it! 192 laps, won by just over 2:20.
Took me 31 hours to complete ;-)
Have fun bragging on that feat! 
