My first write-up....
Laguna Seca 200 Miles
Laguna Seca is above and beyond my most favourite track in GT4. I love how deceptive the corners are. They appear to be fast, sweeping corners; when in fact, they are much slower.
In choosing a car for this race, I simply picked the car I was having the most fun with at the time. I never really tried to match it up to the field. After exhausting myself successfully through the F1 Championship, I took my lucrative financial position (4.4M in earnings lost badly at the Ring) on a shopping spree. I purchased everything from a MG TF 160 03 to a BMW M5 05. The crown jewel of my purchases arose out of my obsessive testing of each of my new cars. The HKS Genki Hyper Silvia RS2 (D1GP) 04 was an absolute blast to drive. It was quick and agile, and I absolutely loved how it slides through the turns.
I grabbed the keys to my HKS Silvia and drove on down to my favourite track to match it up against the big American boys. The field consisted in running order:
1. Chevrolet Camaro SS 00
2. Saleen S7 02
3. Ford GT 05
4. Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe 04
5. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C5) 00
6. HKS Genki Hyper Silvia RS2 (D1GP) 04
I entered the race with the car untouched from HKS, right off the showroom floor with red and yellow rimmed S3 tires and all.
Notes: Lead/Behind times coming into the pits are taken from the 3rd stage split time, while Lead/Behind times coming out of the pits are taken from the 1st stage split time (I did not use the Start/Finish line as that would skew results with cars still in the pit lane at that time)
Lap 1
One of the most important laps of the race, this is where I get a feel for the competition. It is quite apparent by the time I hit the corkscrew that my main counterparts are going to be the Saleen S7 and the Ford GT. They are currently running 1-2 with myself in 4th place. At the final hairpin I am able to swing inside on both cars and take the lead. I take off into the distance and start accumulating a comfortable lead.
Lap 10
Due to the wear and tear of my tires, it appears that my pitting strategy will be every 10 laps. That leaves me with 8 pit stops. Currently, I am unaware of the pitting strategy of my rivals. I entered into the pits with an 18 second lead on the Saleen S7. Ive decided to take 4 fresh tires and leave out the gas. I exit the pits in 3rd place 10 seconds behind the S7. The next few laps I make very little progress as I am on cold tires and it appears that the S7 and Ford GT are flying on warm tires
Lap 16
The Ford GT takes his first pit stop and I move into 2nd place. This puts him on a 16-lap strategy, scheduling him 5 pit stops throughout the race. That means 3 less than the HKS. I will be in tough making up that extra time.
Lap 20
Second pit stop. I have used the last 4 laps to put some distance between myself and the Ford GT. By the time I exit the pits, I am clinging on to 2nd place. I now have a 30 second gap between myself and the first place S7. The S7 has yet to pit. At this point, I am unsure if I will be able to win simply based on pitting strategy.
Lap 22
The S7 finally pits. A 22-lap strategy leaves on 3 more pit stops for the S7, 4 less than my strategy. At this point, I pass him while hes leaving his pit stall and I have a 7 second lead on the Ford GT.
Lap 22-29
Now in first place since I lost the lead on my lap 10 pit stop. I now realize the importance of increasing my lead while I have the opportunity. Simply maintaining pace will not amount to a victory. I must overcome my extra pit stops.
Lap 30
I move in for my 3rd pit stop. I am 17 seconds ahead of the Ford GT. I take some fuel and tires and head back out for Lap 31 11 seconds behind the Ford GT. It appears that the S7 has fallen behind a little bit in 3rd place.
Lap 32
The leader, Ford GT, takes his 2nd pit stop. I was not able to gain any time on laps 31 or 32 with my cold tires. The Fords pit stop shuffles the field putting the HKS in 1st place 16 seconds ahead of the S7, while the Ford GT slips to 3rd.
Lap 30-37
I slowly increase my lead lap by lap consistently putting up low 129.xxx laps. This has given me a 28 second lead. On lap 37 I record my first fast lap at 128.597. I have made my second primary objective of the race to get under 128.000.
Lap 40
I make my 4th pit stop with a 34 second lead. At this point I have made 4 pit stops, the Ford GT 2 pit stops, and the S7 1 pit stop. I exit the pits with an 8 second lead on the S7. This is the first time Ive entered and exited the pits with the lead. I am starting to believe that I can win this race despite my pitting strategy.
Lap 44
I record a new fast lap at 128.567 chipping of 3 hundredths of a second. At the end of Lap 44 the 2nd place S7 takes his 2nd pit stop. He was 18 seconds behind the HKS at this point. His pit stop allows the Ford GT to move up into the 2nd spot 20 seconds behind the HKS.
Lap 48
The Ford GT takes his 3rd pit stop. He enters the pits 26 seconds behind the HKS. Remarkably the Ford GT exits the pits still in 2nd place, 54 seconds back. What has happened to the S7?
Lap 50
Making my way around the track for my final lap before my 5th pit stop, the HKS spins out at the top of the corkscrew with a 59 second lead. By the time I make it to the pits my lead has fallen to 55 seconds. Will those 4 seconds cost me? I exit the pits to begin lap 51 with a 29 second lead on the Ford GT. There is still no sign of the S7.
Lap 54
I record a new fast at 128.387. I am starting to make some progress on a sub-128.000
Lap 60
On this lap as I reached the corkscrew, I approached it much more gingerly. I made it through the corkscrew fine, however I was much slower than in prior laps. However, in the previous 10 laps I was able to consistently race laps in the high 128.xxxs. This is a good improvement on the low 129.xxxs from earlier in the race. At the time of my pitstop the HKS was 46 seconds up on the Ford GT. My pit crew made a serious mistake accidentally topping up my gas to the full load as opposed to the usual 50 litres. This mistake costs me around 4 seconds. That is now 8 seconds of lost time. I am already handicapped due to the pit stops. I cant afford any more lost time. Fortunately, I leave the pits with a 15 second lead on the Ford GT and knowing the Ford GT will pit on lap 64.
Lap 64
To no ones surprise, the Ford GT pits while behind 18 seconds to the HKS. The S7 resurfaces to the competition moving into 2nd place 44 seconds behind the HKS. The Ford GT has slipped to 3rd.
Lap 67
The second place S7 pits. This is unusual, as the S7 had been pitting every 22 laps. Does this mean he wont have to pit again? That would leave the S7 with only 3 pit stops to my 8. At the time of the pit stop, the I am holding a 55 second lead. The Ford GT moves into 2nd, 1 minute behind the HKS.
Lap 69
Unbelievably I have lapped the S7. He has really fallen off the pace and appears destined for a guaranteed 3rd place finish.
Lap 70
I make my 7th pit stop with a 104 lead on the Ford GT. While in the pits, the S7 unlaps himself. I have made it my third objective to lap the S7. I leave the pits with a comfortable 36 second lead knowing that myself and the Ford GT both have one pit stop left Lap 80. I am officially in control of the race.
Lap 74
With my big lead in tact, I decide that I am going to really push for my sub-128 lap. I braked late on one turn and I slid hard into the dirt. This mental error cost another 6 seconds.
Lap 76
I am inching closer to 128. I record a new fast lap of 128.082. Only 8 hundredths of a second to go!
Lap 77
I fly down the straightaway quickly approaching the S7 and Corvette. The S7 is battling the Corvette in an attempt to lap him. The S7 makes a move inside. I decide that I will join the battle and made a move outside the Corvette. The Corvette slides to the right in preparation for the 1st turn hairpin. I run out of road and end up sliding off the track. I recover, and by turn 5 I have passed the Corvette and lapped the S7.
Lap 79
The Ford GT makes an unexpected pit stop 1 lap early. At that time he is 47 seconds behind the HKS.
Lap 80
While the Ford is pitting on his 79th lap, I am making my way around the track on bald back tires. I approach the daunting corkscrew attempting to lap the Camaro SS in the process. I brake far too late and slide right into the wall. By the time I reverse and get back on course, I have lost 8 seconds. That is a grand total 22 seconds lost on mental errors. The Ford GT exits the pits, at this time I am entering the pits. My temporary lead is 1:15, while my exit lead time is 43 seconds. With 10 laps to go and a 43 second cushion, I decided the next 10 laps will be focused on my sub 128.000 lap goal.
Lap 82
I successfully knock off 4hundredths of a second on my lap to clock a 128.047 time. Can I push the HKS under 128??
Lap 87
Objective 2 Mission Accomplished. I ripped around the track at a 127.965 time. A truly spectacular lap.
Lap 90
Objective 3 Mission Accomplished. On the last hairpin, I slipped inside the S7 Saleen to put him 1 lap down once and for all.
End
Objective 1 Mission Accomplished! I win the race with a 107 lead on the Ford GT.
Total Time 2:1840.980
Fast Lap 127.965 (Lap 87)
A-Spec Points 46
Laguna Seca 200 Miles
Laguna Seca is above and beyond my most favourite track in GT4. I love how deceptive the corners are. They appear to be fast, sweeping corners; when in fact, they are much slower.
In choosing a car for this race, I simply picked the car I was having the most fun with at the time. I never really tried to match it up to the field. After exhausting myself successfully through the F1 Championship, I took my lucrative financial position (4.4M in earnings lost badly at the Ring) on a shopping spree. I purchased everything from a MG TF 160 03 to a BMW M5 05. The crown jewel of my purchases arose out of my obsessive testing of each of my new cars. The HKS Genki Hyper Silvia RS2 (D1GP) 04 was an absolute blast to drive. It was quick and agile, and I absolutely loved how it slides through the turns.
I grabbed the keys to my HKS Silvia and drove on down to my favourite track to match it up against the big American boys. The field consisted in running order:
1. Chevrolet Camaro SS 00
2. Saleen S7 02
3. Ford GT 05
4. Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe 04
5. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C5) 00
6. HKS Genki Hyper Silvia RS2 (D1GP) 04
I entered the race with the car untouched from HKS, right off the showroom floor with red and yellow rimmed S3 tires and all.
Notes: Lead/Behind times coming into the pits are taken from the 3rd stage split time, while Lead/Behind times coming out of the pits are taken from the 1st stage split time (I did not use the Start/Finish line as that would skew results with cars still in the pit lane at that time)
Lap 1
One of the most important laps of the race, this is where I get a feel for the competition. It is quite apparent by the time I hit the corkscrew that my main counterparts are going to be the Saleen S7 and the Ford GT. They are currently running 1-2 with myself in 4th place. At the final hairpin I am able to swing inside on both cars and take the lead. I take off into the distance and start accumulating a comfortable lead.
Lap 10
Due to the wear and tear of my tires, it appears that my pitting strategy will be every 10 laps. That leaves me with 8 pit stops. Currently, I am unaware of the pitting strategy of my rivals. I entered into the pits with an 18 second lead on the Saleen S7. Ive decided to take 4 fresh tires and leave out the gas. I exit the pits in 3rd place 10 seconds behind the S7. The next few laps I make very little progress as I am on cold tires and it appears that the S7 and Ford GT are flying on warm tires
Lap 16
The Ford GT takes his first pit stop and I move into 2nd place. This puts him on a 16-lap strategy, scheduling him 5 pit stops throughout the race. That means 3 less than the HKS. I will be in tough making up that extra time.
Lap 20
Second pit stop. I have used the last 4 laps to put some distance between myself and the Ford GT. By the time I exit the pits, I am clinging on to 2nd place. I now have a 30 second gap between myself and the first place S7. The S7 has yet to pit. At this point, I am unsure if I will be able to win simply based on pitting strategy.
Lap 22
The S7 finally pits. A 22-lap strategy leaves on 3 more pit stops for the S7, 4 less than my strategy. At this point, I pass him while hes leaving his pit stall and I have a 7 second lead on the Ford GT.
Lap 22-29
Now in first place since I lost the lead on my lap 10 pit stop. I now realize the importance of increasing my lead while I have the opportunity. Simply maintaining pace will not amount to a victory. I must overcome my extra pit stops.
Lap 30
I move in for my 3rd pit stop. I am 17 seconds ahead of the Ford GT. I take some fuel and tires and head back out for Lap 31 11 seconds behind the Ford GT. It appears that the S7 has fallen behind a little bit in 3rd place.
Lap 32
The leader, Ford GT, takes his 2nd pit stop. I was not able to gain any time on laps 31 or 32 with my cold tires. The Fords pit stop shuffles the field putting the HKS in 1st place 16 seconds ahead of the S7, while the Ford GT slips to 3rd.
Lap 30-37
I slowly increase my lead lap by lap consistently putting up low 129.xxx laps. This has given me a 28 second lead. On lap 37 I record my first fast lap at 128.597. I have made my second primary objective of the race to get under 128.000.
Lap 40
I make my 4th pit stop with a 34 second lead. At this point I have made 4 pit stops, the Ford GT 2 pit stops, and the S7 1 pit stop. I exit the pits with an 8 second lead on the S7. This is the first time Ive entered and exited the pits with the lead. I am starting to believe that I can win this race despite my pitting strategy.
Lap 44
I record a new fast lap at 128.567 chipping of 3 hundredths of a second. At the end of Lap 44 the 2nd place S7 takes his 2nd pit stop. He was 18 seconds behind the HKS at this point. His pit stop allows the Ford GT to move up into the 2nd spot 20 seconds behind the HKS.
Lap 48
The Ford GT takes his 3rd pit stop. He enters the pits 26 seconds behind the HKS. Remarkably the Ford GT exits the pits still in 2nd place, 54 seconds back. What has happened to the S7?
Lap 50
Making my way around the track for my final lap before my 5th pit stop, the HKS spins out at the top of the corkscrew with a 59 second lead. By the time I make it to the pits my lead has fallen to 55 seconds. Will those 4 seconds cost me? I exit the pits to begin lap 51 with a 29 second lead on the Ford GT. There is still no sign of the S7.
Lap 54
I record a new fast at 128.387. I am starting to make some progress on a sub-128.000
Lap 60
On this lap as I reached the corkscrew, I approached it much more gingerly. I made it through the corkscrew fine, however I was much slower than in prior laps. However, in the previous 10 laps I was able to consistently race laps in the high 128.xxxs. This is a good improvement on the low 129.xxxs from earlier in the race. At the time of my pitstop the HKS was 46 seconds up on the Ford GT. My pit crew made a serious mistake accidentally topping up my gas to the full load as opposed to the usual 50 litres. This mistake costs me around 4 seconds. That is now 8 seconds of lost time. I am already handicapped due to the pit stops. I cant afford any more lost time. Fortunately, I leave the pits with a 15 second lead on the Ford GT and knowing the Ford GT will pit on lap 64.
Lap 64
To no ones surprise, the Ford GT pits while behind 18 seconds to the HKS. The S7 resurfaces to the competition moving into 2nd place 44 seconds behind the HKS. The Ford GT has slipped to 3rd.
Lap 67
The second place S7 pits. This is unusual, as the S7 had been pitting every 22 laps. Does this mean he wont have to pit again? That would leave the S7 with only 3 pit stops to my 8. At the time of the pit stop, the I am holding a 55 second lead. The Ford GT moves into 2nd, 1 minute behind the HKS.
Lap 69
Unbelievably I have lapped the S7. He has really fallen off the pace and appears destined for a guaranteed 3rd place finish.
Lap 70
I make my 7th pit stop with a 104 lead on the Ford GT. While in the pits, the S7 unlaps himself. I have made it my third objective to lap the S7. I leave the pits with a comfortable 36 second lead knowing that myself and the Ford GT both have one pit stop left Lap 80. I am officially in control of the race.
Lap 74
With my big lead in tact, I decide that I am going to really push for my sub-128 lap. I braked late on one turn and I slid hard into the dirt. This mental error cost another 6 seconds.
Lap 76
I am inching closer to 128. I record a new fast lap of 128.082. Only 8 hundredths of a second to go!
Lap 77
I fly down the straightaway quickly approaching the S7 and Corvette. The S7 is battling the Corvette in an attempt to lap him. The S7 makes a move inside. I decide that I will join the battle and made a move outside the Corvette. The Corvette slides to the right in preparation for the 1st turn hairpin. I run out of road and end up sliding off the track. I recover, and by turn 5 I have passed the Corvette and lapped the S7.
Lap 79
The Ford GT makes an unexpected pit stop 1 lap early. At that time he is 47 seconds behind the HKS.
Lap 80
While the Ford is pitting on his 79th lap, I am making my way around the track on bald back tires. I approach the daunting corkscrew attempting to lap the Camaro SS in the process. I brake far too late and slide right into the wall. By the time I reverse and get back on course, I have lost 8 seconds. That is a grand total 22 seconds lost on mental errors. The Ford GT exits the pits, at this time I am entering the pits. My temporary lead is 1:15, while my exit lead time is 43 seconds. With 10 laps to go and a 43 second cushion, I decided the next 10 laps will be focused on my sub 128.000 lap goal.
Lap 82
I successfully knock off 4hundredths of a second on my lap to clock a 128.047 time. Can I push the HKS under 128??
Lap 87
Objective 2 Mission Accomplished. I ripped around the track at a 127.965 time. A truly spectacular lap.
Lap 90
Objective 3 Mission Accomplished. On the last hairpin, I slipped inside the S7 Saleen to put him 1 lap down once and for all.
End
Objective 1 Mission Accomplished! I win the race with a 107 lead on the Ford GT.
Total Time 2:1840.980
Fast Lap 127.965 (Lap 87)
A-Spec Points 46
Was it fun?
i have yet to try the LaGuna Seca 200.....maybe this weekend once i finish the F1 series....currently on race 10/15 and doing one per day.....
