El Capitan Blow by blow for 200 A-spec points

200 easy points for the average driver 💡

For those who dont already know the suzuki GSX r/4 is a great drive. you win this car by completing the Suzuki manufacturers series.

There are other accounts of this race but at the time of racing there was no account of a 200 point win. this is my first 'blow by blow' race diary, if you like it please reply 👍

DONT TOUCH THE CAR!!
Its ready to go once you have won it. Do drive the course a few times if you are unsure that you can complete smooth laps.

First laps...

I got a graet start, but the much faster competition tears down the straigh for the first corner way ahead of me. I come into the bend much faster and pass positions 5 and 4 on the inside of the first left hander, imove right and pass third place just on the exit of that corner.
Second place is just infront of me on the undulating area with the sand trasps on the left, i pull along his right side just before the right left s bend that ascends to the tunnel and have passed him as i straighten, first place, a Lime green lotus elise is going up the rise after the tunnel, i hammer it, gently over the top as the road gets bumpy and swings right and close on him down the hill.
I enter the sweeping left hander that leads into a short straight just meters ahead of him....

Im through. This was my objective, 1.8xx seconds lead at the first lap. To get clear road ahead of me. the drive in this car is great it is handling like a dream. I have sport medium tyres and look forward to the emerging pit strategies of my opponents.
While I try to keep consistent in this first pitting period i have 'slipped a couple of tims coming into the s-bend befor the tunnel a couple of times. I have a small lead and when the Lotus pits I am six seconds ahead.
Keep driving is the go and i do that, tyre wear is good still, the Lotus pitted lap eleven so I want to set up an advantage for the race.
I pit lap 15 (the end of as this course runs). The tyres were yellow rather than orange and I know that I coulkd do mor lap(s), but the timing is good interms of the race duration. I have 40.201 seconds lead when I pit.

I pull out, 27 seconds ahead at the time check, then slipped before the tunnel again, drat. My lead has been cut to 19.xxx seconds at the end of lap 16.

Lap 20 comes up and ther are three cars ahead of me at the end of the lap, I have just under 19 seconds on the Lotus still, slipped again, have to cincentrate when coming up to the s-bend.
Now these guys ahead really pull away down the straight ahead of me. I have no chance of real gaining on any of them untill the first corner, if I reach it quickly enough, I pass a blue car with a white stripe, and then a whit BMW M5? on the inside of the first left hander again and set up about fifty yard or so behind a black Corvette z something. He slows at the s-bend and i get him on the inside. that was better, maybe I just need the competition to smarten up my lap times!
Then he comes back at me.... Just as I enter the sunlight he's beside me... he hameers my left side, the impact is quite tangible on the DFP. this little car is solid on the road though and I lose little from the line I have chosen. I have pulled ahead and leave him behind as I come down off the top of the hill.

I've lost nearly a second on the Lotus. My best lap so far is 1"53.311.
Lap 21/22 and the lotus is surging ahead. I have been watching my times, and while nothing exceptional, they are consistent, but im losing alot of seconds other than two two seconds he seems to gain on me after going down the straight.
I' noticed this before and think that maybe before he pits his tyres get alittle more sticky, or he decides to up the tempo and wear them out, or they stay cold for a while and I make more time there, or... well theres plenty of time to think during and endurance, even a short one like this.
He pits lap 22. He will pit five times to complete 66 laps, I will pit fout, this was the advantage I was sekking. I lap the green Aston Martin at the end of lap twenty five. I come across him after the bridge where the road swings right and undulates before the left that enters the main straight. I ease along side and pass without any contact just befor a small rise that is on the road before the main straight. At the end of lap 26 I have 56.033 seconds lead on the Lotus.

Lap 30 and I pit, about 1'2.xxx seconds lead. turned in a 1'52.848 new best on lap 28.

Lap 33, Lotus will pit, my lead is back to 36.014 seconds and I'm feeling that hes a little close.
He pitted after 12, not 11 laps!!, at the end of the straight I have 1'07.xxx seconds lead, I'm feeling a little more comfortable now and try to resume worry free lapping. I have considered that the new pit strategy could mean Lotus will pit after lap 45, not before.
Its really not necessary to pit every fifteen laps, I just find it fun to do so. You could drive thirteen laps per pit in this car and win the race quite easily.
lap 39 and i slid past the BMW just before the bridge, Lap 41 and I,m past the blue/white car again, 1'27.xxx lead on friend Lotus.
I get beside the black Corvette again. He's a bit argy bargy abuot this race and not afraid to giv you a good whack as you pass him, I get in front just before the sand bunker this time, and starts to notice an odd quirk, i seem to pass the same cars in approximately the same couple of hundred yards each time i come across them!
I pit on lap 46. I didnt notice the lotus pitting, but that doesn't mean he didn't, I guess I'm getting a little tired. what better time to find out when the tyres will go orange, and I do lose a little grip near the end of their sixteenth lap. You could probably do 18 and pit three time for this race if you took it easier than I have.... no point really.
At the end of 46 I have 1'59 seconds lead, down to 1'32 after pitting.

The aston Martin again, but a bit earlier in the lap, in the tunnell, nearly didnt notice him! He comes up behind me on the rise before the right hander and smacks me straight in the rear, must be having a bad day huh1.
I've skewed off int the sand trap on the left of the down hill and take precious moments to recover.

I'll get him I start to hammer around the left hander and pull up to him athe tight right at the end of the short straight. I get on the inside, one wheel on each side of the rumble strip and do it smothly on the AM's right, and I leave him to his bad mood!
My lead has come down to 1'30.xxx seconds. Lap 54 was 1'53.9xxx for me but the Lotus is gaining again, he must bee getting ready to pit. I think i might take my last pit at about lap 55, I refuelled last pit and took on far more that I neede, forgot to press X.

I pit 1'26.442 seconds lead. the DB9 flashes past me as I exit but i get him smoothly on the corner at the end of the straight, my lead is down to a minute and five seconds, time for a last push, see if I can catch the lotus, he will have to pit again by my reckoning.
Lotus pits and my lead goes back to 1'32.xxx, 9 laps to go!
Lap 60. The BMW is ahead in the tunnel and I cant get him untill i crest the rise and pull right over the bumps. I do this and dont lose any time. I keep hammering it in persuit of the Lotus
Lap 62, coming out of the tunnel, was that a Lime Green flash ahead?, 1'5x.xxx behind me?
Im running out of laps and seem to be gaining to slowly, we'll see...

Three laps to go, 64 is it I decide, Ive been fast but alittle loose and will have to improve now to get him!
I come out of the tunnel and crest the hill. He's there! Just enter ing the laft hander, I hammer it, keep tight on the end of the bend, i' not gaining fast enough.

Blue and whit car, in front of him, thats it corvette GS, Lotus cant pass! I gain. I hammer it down the short straight, pull inside line frome the both of them on the tight right hander and get them on the exit.
Smooth man, Smooooth....
Lotus passes him on the bridge, but the game is mine now. I keep it smooth. lap 66 ends...

This was perhaps the most enjoyable endurance I have done. I have three endurance races left before I race some again, both Le Sarthe courses And Suxuka 1000km. I dont use b-speck. i have written up Nurb 24 hour and have another write up ready for motegi...

If you enjoyed this "race diary" Please post a reply.

As the car was not set up please don't ask me how to set it up for an easier win, there is plenty published along that line. Stock this car gives you 200 A-Spec points and costs you almost nothing!

This race is easy enough for an AVERAGE DRIVER to win the 200 points...

Happy racing friends....

Nice job. I had a fun race at El Capitan last week in my Nismo Z. The Zonda and I were never more than 50 seconds apart, and that was the very end.

yeah, i have used the GSX in various states of modification (including unmodded) for the El Cap 200 miles... won every time

have also used the Chevy Corvette Convertible '54 (stage 2 NA, 275 bhp): get 200 "a" points also

(see my posts a few pages back)

Gord

This is no criticism just a question - why didn't you go for a 3 stop strategy or even 2 stop ?

Great writeup. I also Aspec'd this enduro this weekend. My car of choice was a near stock RX-7 Spirit-R. Near stock, being I felt I needed to add a little horse power to get up even with the mid 300 to 400 horsepower range of the AI. It was a proverbial blowout. I took the lead a handfull of laps in and lapped the 2nd place Zonda 3 laps prior to the finish. It was a 190 point matchup, which without the added sport exhaust and chip, may have been 200. The Spirit was one of the most enjoyable stock cars I've driven so far. Power and acceleration was good, but the handling was incredible for stock suspension.

Hey, Just finished this exact race, with the same car. You were absolutely right, it handles awesomely. Before starting off, I tuned the car with brakes and transmission additions ie gearbox, clutch and flywheel. NO horsepower upgrade. Before the race, went to settings, lengthened the gear ratios a bit, dialled in a bit of oversteer ( I prefer it that way!) and was ready to go. Line-up included a Zonda and a Motorsport Elise.
Again, like you had, the other cars teared down the straight, I was trying my utmost to draft. Thing about the AI is, they were blocking each other to a certain extent trying to get on the racing line...oh well, my advantage! This car utterly out-braked everything on that track by a huge margin, making up about 5-6 car lengths at each hard corner. The first few laps, took the lead, the other AI (the TVR T350C, Ford Mustang SVT Cobra and Shelby Series 1 Supercharged were a breeze to get past, they didnt have the grip on the corners or the traction to pull away. The Zonda was fast, but the Motorsport Elise was an even bigger threat, handled really well on corners, but flew past me on the straight. Had to just hang in and make up the defecit on the corners.
Cut a long story short, waited until the Elise pitted to see how I would fare, he did so on lap 13, I was just getting yellow tires, eventually decided 16 would be my pit in. After first round of pits, was 2nd, but by lap 39 had lapped the Elise. Didnt think I'd be going round that quickly!

End result,
1. Suzuki GSK R/4 2.09.08.300 fastest lap 1.52.745
2. Lotus Motorsport Elise
3. Pagani Zondo C12
4. Shelby Series 1 Supercharged
5. TVR T350C
6. Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R

200 A spec points, and a very enjoyable endurance race! To top it off, finished it just at start of Grand Prix (congrats to Raikonnen, commiserations to Renault)

Thanks a lot foghorn, got any other 200 ASpec endurance races??

Thanks a lot foghorn, got any other 200 ASpec endurance races??[/QUOTE]

Well if you enjoyed that you might like to try the same car over Suzuka1000 km. You can add all mods except a wing. you will take the 200 a-spec points if you can be consistant and not come off the edges as at this track in this car mistakes can often wipe many seconds off your lap time. You should test first to be able to lap canstantly at around 2 minutes and four seconds. Be careful, I made a few mistakes and had a patchy period where I would swear that that particular set of tyres was sub standard and I struggled to break 2:08 for a while, this left me with 29 seconds lead (I think) on the 2nd to last lap when second place pitted and I won by less than a minute.

aliraza

Thanks a lot foghorn, got any other 200 ASpec endurance races??

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There's a few more enduros listed in https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1688294 . I've got El Capitan, New York and Tokyo R246 so far in the Suzuki.

Thanks for the tip. I used this car in the El Cap enduro and had a lot of fun.

Wat Car do you earn on that race..... ( I heard its the Minolta Toyota)

Fantastic writeup!

Will have to go back and do a 200p version of this race soon. But... need to find a new car just to be different

I wonder if a spec C would work?

Hmmm.... 💡

Im Tha R8 King!

Wat Car do you earn on that race..... ( I heard its the Minolta Toyota)

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That's correct.

Started this enduro last night with the GSX/R and you're right, what a blast. I left those guys on the first lap and on cold tires pulled out a 5 second lead after only a few laps. Then as the bigger cars' tires started to warm, they slowly (well the Zonda at least) caught up to me. For a few laps i was trading leads with the Zonda driver who couldnt seem to manage the back half of the course, but would eat my lead away on the front stretch.
I had to stop after 15 laps but i will surely be back to show those "sports cars" how its done.

Thanks Banjobear jdw and BenW for you responses.

Yeah this is a great fun race in this car. So is the Suzuka Endurance in this, just put all mods but a wing on, you will need some stamina though

GSXR vs the Pro Hall NA series..........JOKE. For 172 HP this car walks a Cobra, M3, NSX. And with no mods but an oil change.
Balance wise, this car may be one of the best in the game. It is quickly becoming my favorite

Not sure how I overlooked this report for so long! Thanks for alerting me to it's existence with your CLUB 200 entry, and thanks also to G.T for the race report reference thread for easily linking to here!
Sounds like an exciting race. Definitely tick-worthy. 👍

I also ran this enduro 2 months ago with the GSX/R4, and it's true...you don't need to change anything; although I don't remember if I set the Driving aids to 0/0/1 or 0/0/0. It's an enjoyable 200-point enduro.

I pitted every 14-15 laps, and the Lotus Motorsport Elise pitted every 11 laps. The Elise caught up to me towards the end of his pit window the first two times (although driving head-on into the barrier attempting my first pit stop lost me about 8-9 seconds), but by his 3rd pit stop, he seemed to be losing ground.

I added about 5-10 units of fuel on my last pit stop, as I was close to making it with no fuel added, but I figured a splash of gas would avoid a slow final lap, just in case. The MS Elise was down by over a minute by then, anyhow.

Thx, for the write up Foghorn.
Especially your comment about it being achievable for an average driver.

It made me finally look in to endurance races which I've been putting off ever since I got the game a year ago. Still cant handle LMPs and JGTCs

I tackled this race last week (upon reading your report) and had a good battle on my hands till the Elise pitted in lap 11. After that all I needed to do was run consistent laps to keep ahead of the Elise. Finished with 1'40.xxx MOV which is nearly 1 lap.

Thx SH for resurrecting this thread.

edit:

pupik

although driving head-on into the barrier attempting my first pit stop

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Only once?? i did it twice
AMG