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Here is my narrative for the Formula GT World Championship. I did the whole thing in A-spec, mainly because I love driving the F1 cars. The GT3 version of this series was fairly challenging. I was hoping this would be too. I ran it using a DF (not pro) wheel and a completely stock F1 car except I changed the toe to -2 from -6 to get better tire wear. I never change the gearing or suspension except as noted below.
Tokyo:
Started out OK but missed the first turn and wound up in 6th 5-6 seconds back. Not a very good start. Not to worry as I caught the pack, passed them and had a 3 sec lead at the end of 1 lap. I pitted at ten laps on pretty orangey-red tires, but the car still handled like a dream. Eleven laps was under-steer city, however (The GT3 version would have been all squirrelly before then). The pack pitted at 11 laps (and then alternated with 11 or 12 laps). The 2nd place car at 12 laps consistently. I lapped everyone on lap 18, 38 and 60. Ho hum
Results:
Winning Margin: 2.75 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 19 minutes
Best lap: 1:13.659 - Average 1:19.000
Observations: Some of the easy corners in GT3 become challenging, especially the little kink on the back straight.
Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway:
And now for something completely different! I was worried about this one as I had heard horror stories. I got to 1st in the 4th lap but couldnt pull away much. I was only 3 seconds up after 8 laps. I expected to have tire problems and needed a cushion. I was surprised when the whole pack pitted at 14 and I could go 18 or more. And I never wall rode to extend the tires Lapped them in the pits on lap 14. Came out of my 18th lap pit still ¾ lap in the lead. Piece of cake! Decided to see how far my tires could go. Went to lap 40 (22 laps) before I started noticing .5 to 1 second increase in lap times. Still was able to go flat out the whole way, though. Changed to a 21 lap pit strategy and had no problems.
Results:
Winning Margin: 8 laps
Total time: Just under 59 minutes.
Best lap 25:794 with a draft. Low to middle 26s with out a draft. - Average 27.874
Observations: Flat out all the way. Never lift. May as well tape down what ever you use for an accelerator to save some muscle.
New York:
First track I dont know really well. Spent the first 10 laps just finding break points. !0 laps was one too many as my rears were red and I was sliding all over. 9 laps is best. The pack didnt pit until lap 11 so I was 17 seconds back till then. Kept the lead after the 19 lap stop, though, so I was home free, even though my lap times were still inconsistent. Didnt catch the last place car until lap 24, then it took till lap 36 to lap the field.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2.5 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 38 minutes
Best lap: 1:14.640 Average 1:19.459
Observations: Watch out for some of the corner curbs! You tend to lose a bit of traction when a wheel is 3 feet off the ground
High Speed Ring:
Not one of my favorite tracks. Maybe Ill learn how to take the slow switch back by the end I was in 1st place by the first turn, then went in the grass and hit the rail on the second turn and was still in 1st! If the 6 cars are identical I shouldnt be able to rush to the front like that??? With 77 laps 11 seemed a good pit strategy. Had one red tire but it still handled OK. I was able to keep the lead after the first stop. The whole pack pitted on lap 12, so I wasnt far off. Lapped the pack on the 15th lap. Where oh where is the competition?
Results:
Winning Margin: 5 laps
Total time: just under 1 hour 22 minutes
Best lap: 50.236 with a good draft, about one second more without a draft Average 1:03.896
Observations: It is possible to make it to the switch back without lifting if you hit the second corner perfectly, but there is no point is tempting fate. You dont need the extra few seconds anyway.
Grand Valley:
Now one of my favorite tracks. Another standing start so I was in the lead after the first corner, then spun at the first hairpin and ended up in 6th. Got back in first by the bridge and was 2.2 seconds ahead after one lap. Took 2-3 more laps to get in the 1:20s and start pulling away. I was hoping to get 6 laps before my first pit stop and that was about it. The pack caught me and I wound up in 6th until they pitted on lap 8. Fewer off course excursions allowed me to make 7 laps the second round. Good thing as a 6 lap strategy left me with 2 oddball laps left. Lapped all but the 2nd place car on lap 20 but then had to stop so they all got the lap back, temporarily.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2.25 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 38 minutes
Best lap 1:26.544 Average 1:34.838
Observations: First track with grass shoulders. F1 cars dont like driving on grass. Because of the speeds and tight corners braking points come earlier than you would expect. Unless you like ice racing, dont let your back tires get full red
Five down and 10 to go. So far the competition has been disappointing.
Sarthe 1:
Now here I expected a challenge because Im not very good at Sarthe, and I was sort of right. I took the lead at the 2nd chicane only to blow the Mulsanne hairpin and wound up in 6th 4 seconds behind after the first lap. Bad driving not good competition Much better 2nd lap up by 6 seconds so I am feeling better. The pack pitted on the 4th lap and I was still on yellows! I was hoping to make 5 laps, but I made it to 6 on bright orange. Looks like a 6,6,6,5 is it. The pack will do 4,4,4,4,4,3 giving me 2 stops in hand! If I had back all the gravel excursions and spins I would have lapped the pack easily. The pit strategy is what did it, although I would still have had had a narrow victory if I pitted on their schedule.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2:25 minutes
Total time: just over 1 hour 15 minutes
Best lap 3:06.635 Average 3:15.652
Observations: Hard to be consistent on such a narrow track. One tire in the grass or gravel and spin-city. Probably should have lifted the car a bit. Lots of sparks on the replay, but the pack was doing the same.
Cote d'Azur:
Not much to say about Monaco that hasnt already been said. Ive probably run 1000 laps here in GT3, 100s in an F1 car. Wasnt expecting to have any trouble at all here. Caught the pole sitter 2nd time through the Loews hairpin and never looked back. Ive always used an 8 lap pit strategy in GT3 but could only make 7 here. Rears were red and fronts barely yellow! Pack made it to 9 laps, so I am down a stop if I can stretch one to 8 laps, but already made that up.
Results:
Winning Margin: 4 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 45 minutes (actual time: 1:45:41.568 Winning time in the real 2005 GP of Monaco was 1:45:15.556 pretty darn close)
Best lap 1:15.204 Average 1:21.538
Observations: If you get bored during this race try running it as if it were the real GP of Monaco. Touch one wall or another car while passing and you are OUT, Sorry, better luck next year. Doing that adds 2-3 seconds per lap to my times. How many could run all 78 laps like that? I know I couldnt. Also remember the real race lap record is 1:14.439! Qualifying is in the high 1:13s
Seoul:
From a real track to this made-up excuse for a track Oh well half way through this and Ill be half way in the championship. I was hoping to get 14 lap intervals for an 8 stop strategy. Wound up getting 16 for a 7 stop strategy. More than that didnt pay. Kept the lead by 4 seconds so Ive made up one extra stop already. Pack lasted until 19, 20 or 21 the widest spread of AI strategies yet. But I lapped the leader on lap 23 so, no problems Got bored later and decided that I didnt want the packs points leader to win another race, so I harassed him back to 3rd or 4th.
Results:
Winning Margin: 4.25 laps (would have been 5 at least if I didnt fool around)
Total time: just over 1 hour 28 minutes
Best lap 43.104 Average 46.726
Observations: Took me 5 laps to find the pit entrance. Seems it would be dangerous to pit just after a high speed curve like that in real life. Also why does that roundabout shrine, or whatever it is, have those pieces protruding. I hit them at least once each race
Infineon:
Again quite a switch from the two city courses in the last two races to wide open racing. Lots of places to get in trouble here. Took the lead early in the 2nd lap only to have a nasty shunt in the esses, which put me back to 4th. Back in the lead for good (I thought) on lap 4. Looks like I can gain 3-4 seconds on a reasonably clean lap. Tires were used up on lap 8 but I couldnt find the pits! Lost 10 seconds at least motoring slowly through the esses by what looked like pits on red tires. Wound up in 6th 23 seconds back after my stop. Pack pitted on lap 10 and I got a slim lead back. Turned out a 9 lap strategy to start was better than 8 anyway. Looks like 9,9,9,9.8,8,8,8,8 is best, 8 stops to their 7. Kept the lead by 6 seconds after the second stop, so the suspense is over.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 38 minutes
Best lap 1:10.442 Average 1:17.368 (more fooling around with 2nd place)
Observations: Make sure you know where the pit entrance is before you need it!!! You can gain a lot of time by taking the right-hand sweeper before the final hairpin at full speed.
Laguna Seca:
My home track in GT3. Tested every car there so I think I know this track! Surprised that I didnt take the lead until lap 2 and then hit the inside curb on lap 4 on the corner after the cork-screw that threw me into the gravel and cost me most of my lead. I was hoping for a 7 lap strategy but wound up staying out 10 laps, one too many as I had an interesting time in the cork-screw. Decided to do a 10,10,10,10,9,9,9,9,9 anyway to even out the laps. I was over 35 seconds ahead by the first stop so I stayed in 1st easily. The whole pack pitted at 11 laps. I lapped the pack at the end of lap 15. I expected it to be easy but this is ridicules. I followed the pole sitter (who had dropped to 4th) a couple laps to see what was going on. He was running 1:21s to my 1:09s but was faster on some sections than I was. Then he went wide right on the corner past the cork-screw and did a nice 360 across the track into the gravel on the left. Guess that explains it Turns out all of them do that at the same place.
Results:
Winning Margin: 6.5 laps
Total time: just under 1 hour 44 minutes
Best lap 1:06.449 Average 1:12.706
Observations: The pit exit takes some getting user to. Im going 130 let me back on the track!!!. I remember almost breaking a minute with the F1 in GT3, so the changes for GT4 slowed it by 4-5 seconds.
Ten down and five to go. At this point I could already stop and win the championship being ahead 100 to 40 for my nearest opponent. But you gotta do the last 5 sometime
Twin Ring Motegi Road Course
I was not looking forward to 64 laps of this monster. Didnt know the break points so I watched the blinking light for the first few laps. Wound up only 3 seconds in the lead after 4 laps. Not enough to make up extra pit stops Made 8 laps on red rear tires and lost the lead going into the pits, not knowing you had to slow waaaay down to make the turn. Maybe I found my competition? Nah, mostly my bad driving so far The pack stopped at lap 9 so they should have the same number of stops, assuming they are dumb enough to pit on lap 63. From then on I started making fewer mistakes and started pulling away 1-2 seconds a lap, at least every lap I stayed out of the gravel.. For the first time I was behind after the second pit stop, but only in 2nd a couple seconds back. Started hitting my stride at lap 22 or so, going from 1:33s down to 1:28s. I think you can win with consistent 1:30s, but its lots easier with 1:28s.
Lapped the 6th place car on lap 31 just before my pit stop so it didnt stick. It took until lap 45 to finally lap the pack.
Results:
Winning Margin: 1.75 laps
Total time: just under 1 hour 41 minutes
Best lap 1:27.396 Average 1:33.750
Observations: Watch out for the pit entrance, you have to be around 40mph to make it. And the pit exit is much closer to the first corner than it looks. Very easy to miss your brake points. Look for the rubber marks on the pavement, they are pretty good indicators.
Nurburgring:
I have been looking forward to this one since the beginning, even though I expect to spend much of the race in the grass On my one lap test that I do for every car I ran a 5:46. Interesting to see how much I beat that in 15 laps. Decided to lift the car 5 mm (10 probably would have been better looking at the repay, lots-o-sparks) and soften the springs 5 clicks to take the bumps a bit better. After a disastrous 1st lap (6:05) I was 18 seconds out but caught them on the 2nd lap in the final straight. Unfortunately I had red tires already, but so did everyone else! I was up 3 seconds after the 1st stop and 9 seconds after the 3rd lap (a 5:43.361 that was far from clean). If I stay out of major trouble it should be an easy win. After a 5:33.xxx 5th lap I was 50+ seconds ahead and I knew I had them. Woo Hoo a 5:29.943 on the 7th lap. Too bad I only get 1 green lap each stop. Ive seen a 5:14 video posted here Dont know if I can find 15 more seconds On the last lap I was on an under 3 minute pace approaching Klostertal only to put a tire in the grass and lose 6-7 seconds and get a 5:33.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2:55 minutes The pack was in Kesselchen when I finished, about ½ lap back.
Total time: just under 1 hour 28 minutes
Best lap 5:29.943 Average 5:52.000
Observations: You had better know the track cold or youll be smoked. Best to have gold in both licenses and passed M34 before trying this. Even so I was backwards more here than all the other tracks combined so far. If I had half the incidents Id probably take 15-20 seconds off my average lap.
El Capitan
Another of my favorite tracks, but Ive never driven a fast car there so it could be interesting. El Capitan can be a bit rough too so I decided to leave the car raised up. Phooey another gravel trap on the first lap, but this time the AI punted me into it. No big deal as I was in the lead at the end of the first lap anyway. Hoped to make 8 laps but at 7 I was bright orange. Decided to try 8 any and wound up ice skating on the last few corners. Lost the lead, but the pack pitted at 8 also, so it could have been worse. Tried 8 again on the 2nd stop and I must have driven smoother as I had no trouble this time. Only 6 seconds in the lead, though. Finally figured out that the brake points are a lot further back than I was used to, after that it was smooth sailing. Had a 30 second lead at the 3rd stop Finally lapped the pack at lap 41. Only took 18 more to lap them again. Guess I got faster.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2 laps.
Total time: just under 1 hour 29 minutes
Best lap 1:17.745 Average 1:22.345
Observations: Lots of places to get in trouble and lose a lot of time. The AI takes the big hill and the following left hander badly. You can make up a lot of time there.
Fuji 2005
If there is any track Ill have trouble with it is this one. It doesnt come up in the rotation very often so it will be a learning experience. I bet the run-off area at the end of the long straight will see me more than once Surprised myself by being 2 seconds in the lead after two laps, even though I used several of the run-off area, but not the above mentioned one. May not be that hard after all. Made it to 9 laps on red rears and all but one of the pack also pitted at 9. Looks like a 9,9,9,8,8,8,8,8 is the best. Wound up in 3rd after the second stop as the leaders went 10 laps. If that holds I may have to make up a stop, my 7 to their 6. Lapped the 2nd place car on lap 48 and would have lapped him again on lap 69 or so.
Results:
Winning Margin: just under 2 laps.
Total time: just under 1 hour 37 minutes
Best lap 1:19.970 Average 1:25.970
Observations: Very easy to overrun the brake points as there is almost no landmark info to use. I had to rely on the blinking light. I think this is a track that is a work in progress. No corner countdown markers, for example.
Suzuka:
Last race! I like this track even though there are endless places to get in trouble. BTW the real life F1 record is 1:32.730. Always interesting to see how close the game can come. Not doing so well at the start. I pitted at 7 (was hoping for 8, see if I can stretch it on the next stop) and the pack just motored on by. Pack stopped at lap 8 and I regained the lead by 9 seconds. At least well have the same number of stops. Made 8 on red, but not uncontrollable, tires so it will be a 7,8,8,8,8,7,7. Took until the 3rd stop on lap 23 before I kept the lead for good. Nearly a disaster as I missed my pit stop on lap 39 and had to run the next lap on full red tires. Lost a good 30 seconds but still retained the lead. But, for the first time in 15 races I was not leading after the last stop! I just could not stay out of the gravel consistently. After the leaders final stop I had a whopping 14 second lead with 5 laps to go. Ran 5 clean conservative laps in the 1:38.xxx range and won by around 25 seconds.
Results:
Winning Margin: just under 25 seconds.
Total time: just over 1 hour 32 minutes
Best lap 1:33.556 Average 1:44.151 (obviously a lot of gravel time)!
Observations: This track requires more concentration than any other. Even the Ring is more forgiving since you lose much less time on grass excursions than gravel. There is a gravel trap on almost every corner and I was in most of them.
Well its done, nearly 21 hours of racing I won 150 to 60 for my nearest opponent. Not much competition to say the least. But I got 900 A-spec points and a cool 4.5M credits. Gives me 8.8M credits at 31% done. A bit of trivia, it would take about 5 hours to click off the 3M credits if you didnt speed it up!
Well time for something different. Maybe the 2CV race will get me back to earth.
Tokyo:
Started out OK but missed the first turn and wound up in 6th 5-6 seconds back. Not a very good start. Not to worry as I caught the pack, passed them and had a 3 sec lead at the end of 1 lap. I pitted at ten laps on pretty orangey-red tires, but the car still handled like a dream. Eleven laps was under-steer city, however (The GT3 version would have been all squirrelly before then). The pack pitted at 11 laps (and then alternated with 11 or 12 laps). The 2nd place car at 12 laps consistently. I lapped everyone on lap 18, 38 and 60. Ho hum
Results:
Winning Margin: 2.75 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 19 minutes
Best lap: 1:13.659 - Average 1:19.000
Observations: Some of the easy corners in GT3 become challenging, especially the little kink on the back straight.
Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway:
And now for something completely different! I was worried about this one as I had heard horror stories. I got to 1st in the 4th lap but couldnt pull away much. I was only 3 seconds up after 8 laps. I expected to have tire problems and needed a cushion. I was surprised when the whole pack pitted at 14 and I could go 18 or more. And I never wall rode to extend the tires Lapped them in the pits on lap 14. Came out of my 18th lap pit still ¾ lap in the lead. Piece of cake! Decided to see how far my tires could go. Went to lap 40 (22 laps) before I started noticing .5 to 1 second increase in lap times. Still was able to go flat out the whole way, though. Changed to a 21 lap pit strategy and had no problems.
Results:
Winning Margin: 8 laps
Total time: Just under 59 minutes.
Best lap 25:794 with a draft. Low to middle 26s with out a draft. - Average 27.874
Observations: Flat out all the way. Never lift. May as well tape down what ever you use for an accelerator to save some muscle.
New York:
First track I dont know really well. Spent the first 10 laps just finding break points. !0 laps was one too many as my rears were red and I was sliding all over. 9 laps is best. The pack didnt pit until lap 11 so I was 17 seconds back till then. Kept the lead after the 19 lap stop, though, so I was home free, even though my lap times were still inconsistent. Didnt catch the last place car until lap 24, then it took till lap 36 to lap the field.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2.5 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 38 minutes
Best lap: 1:14.640 Average 1:19.459
Observations: Watch out for some of the corner curbs! You tend to lose a bit of traction when a wheel is 3 feet off the ground
High Speed Ring:
Not one of my favorite tracks. Maybe Ill learn how to take the slow switch back by the end I was in 1st place by the first turn, then went in the grass and hit the rail on the second turn and was still in 1st! If the 6 cars are identical I shouldnt be able to rush to the front like that??? With 77 laps 11 seemed a good pit strategy. Had one red tire but it still handled OK. I was able to keep the lead after the first stop. The whole pack pitted on lap 12, so I wasnt far off. Lapped the pack on the 15th lap. Where oh where is the competition?
Results:
Winning Margin: 5 laps
Total time: just under 1 hour 22 minutes
Best lap: 50.236 with a good draft, about one second more without a draft Average 1:03.896
Observations: It is possible to make it to the switch back without lifting if you hit the second corner perfectly, but there is no point is tempting fate. You dont need the extra few seconds anyway.
Grand Valley:
Now one of my favorite tracks. Another standing start so I was in the lead after the first corner, then spun at the first hairpin and ended up in 6th. Got back in first by the bridge and was 2.2 seconds ahead after one lap. Took 2-3 more laps to get in the 1:20s and start pulling away. I was hoping to get 6 laps before my first pit stop and that was about it. The pack caught me and I wound up in 6th until they pitted on lap 8. Fewer off course excursions allowed me to make 7 laps the second round. Good thing as a 6 lap strategy left me with 2 oddball laps left. Lapped all but the 2nd place car on lap 20 but then had to stop so they all got the lap back, temporarily.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2.25 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 38 minutes
Best lap 1:26.544 Average 1:34.838
Observations: First track with grass shoulders. F1 cars dont like driving on grass. Because of the speeds and tight corners braking points come earlier than you would expect. Unless you like ice racing, dont let your back tires get full red
Five down and 10 to go. So far the competition has been disappointing.
Sarthe 1:
Now here I expected a challenge because Im not very good at Sarthe, and I was sort of right. I took the lead at the 2nd chicane only to blow the Mulsanne hairpin and wound up in 6th 4 seconds behind after the first lap. Bad driving not good competition Much better 2nd lap up by 6 seconds so I am feeling better. The pack pitted on the 4th lap and I was still on yellows! I was hoping to make 5 laps, but I made it to 6 on bright orange. Looks like a 6,6,6,5 is it. The pack will do 4,4,4,4,4,3 giving me 2 stops in hand! If I had back all the gravel excursions and spins I would have lapped the pack easily. The pit strategy is what did it, although I would still have had had a narrow victory if I pitted on their schedule.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2:25 minutes
Total time: just over 1 hour 15 minutes
Best lap 3:06.635 Average 3:15.652
Observations: Hard to be consistent on such a narrow track. One tire in the grass or gravel and spin-city. Probably should have lifted the car a bit. Lots of sparks on the replay, but the pack was doing the same.
Cote d'Azur:
Not much to say about Monaco that hasnt already been said. Ive probably run 1000 laps here in GT3, 100s in an F1 car. Wasnt expecting to have any trouble at all here. Caught the pole sitter 2nd time through the Loews hairpin and never looked back. Ive always used an 8 lap pit strategy in GT3 but could only make 7 here. Rears were red and fronts barely yellow! Pack made it to 9 laps, so I am down a stop if I can stretch one to 8 laps, but already made that up.
Results:
Winning Margin: 4 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 45 minutes (actual time: 1:45:41.568 Winning time in the real 2005 GP of Monaco was 1:45:15.556 pretty darn close)
Best lap 1:15.204 Average 1:21.538
Observations: If you get bored during this race try running it as if it were the real GP of Monaco. Touch one wall or another car while passing and you are OUT, Sorry, better luck next year. Doing that adds 2-3 seconds per lap to my times. How many could run all 78 laps like that? I know I couldnt. Also remember the real race lap record is 1:14.439! Qualifying is in the high 1:13s
Seoul:
From a real track to this made-up excuse for a track Oh well half way through this and Ill be half way in the championship. I was hoping to get 14 lap intervals for an 8 stop strategy. Wound up getting 16 for a 7 stop strategy. More than that didnt pay. Kept the lead by 4 seconds so Ive made up one extra stop already. Pack lasted until 19, 20 or 21 the widest spread of AI strategies yet. But I lapped the leader on lap 23 so, no problems Got bored later and decided that I didnt want the packs points leader to win another race, so I harassed him back to 3rd or 4th.
Results:
Winning Margin: 4.25 laps (would have been 5 at least if I didnt fool around)
Total time: just over 1 hour 28 minutes
Best lap 43.104 Average 46.726
Observations: Took me 5 laps to find the pit entrance. Seems it would be dangerous to pit just after a high speed curve like that in real life. Also why does that roundabout shrine, or whatever it is, have those pieces protruding. I hit them at least once each race
Infineon:
Again quite a switch from the two city courses in the last two races to wide open racing. Lots of places to get in trouble here. Took the lead early in the 2nd lap only to have a nasty shunt in the esses, which put me back to 4th. Back in the lead for good (I thought) on lap 4. Looks like I can gain 3-4 seconds on a reasonably clean lap. Tires were used up on lap 8 but I couldnt find the pits! Lost 10 seconds at least motoring slowly through the esses by what looked like pits on red tires. Wound up in 6th 23 seconds back after my stop. Pack pitted on lap 10 and I got a slim lead back. Turned out a 9 lap strategy to start was better than 8 anyway. Looks like 9,9,9,9.8,8,8,8,8 is best, 8 stops to their 7. Kept the lead by 6 seconds after the second stop, so the suspense is over.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2 laps
Total time: just over 1 hour 38 minutes
Best lap 1:10.442 Average 1:17.368 (more fooling around with 2nd place)
Observations: Make sure you know where the pit entrance is before you need it!!! You can gain a lot of time by taking the right-hand sweeper before the final hairpin at full speed.
Laguna Seca:
My home track in GT3. Tested every car there so I think I know this track! Surprised that I didnt take the lead until lap 2 and then hit the inside curb on lap 4 on the corner after the cork-screw that threw me into the gravel and cost me most of my lead. I was hoping for a 7 lap strategy but wound up staying out 10 laps, one too many as I had an interesting time in the cork-screw. Decided to do a 10,10,10,10,9,9,9,9,9 anyway to even out the laps. I was over 35 seconds ahead by the first stop so I stayed in 1st easily. The whole pack pitted at 11 laps. I lapped the pack at the end of lap 15. I expected it to be easy but this is ridicules. I followed the pole sitter (who had dropped to 4th) a couple laps to see what was going on. He was running 1:21s to my 1:09s but was faster on some sections than I was. Then he went wide right on the corner past the cork-screw and did a nice 360 across the track into the gravel on the left. Guess that explains it Turns out all of them do that at the same place.
Results:
Winning Margin: 6.5 laps
Total time: just under 1 hour 44 minutes
Best lap 1:06.449 Average 1:12.706
Observations: The pit exit takes some getting user to. Im going 130 let me back on the track!!!. I remember almost breaking a minute with the F1 in GT3, so the changes for GT4 slowed it by 4-5 seconds.
Ten down and five to go. At this point I could already stop and win the championship being ahead 100 to 40 for my nearest opponent. But you gotta do the last 5 sometime
Twin Ring Motegi Road Course
I was not looking forward to 64 laps of this monster. Didnt know the break points so I watched the blinking light for the first few laps. Wound up only 3 seconds in the lead after 4 laps. Not enough to make up extra pit stops Made 8 laps on red rear tires and lost the lead going into the pits, not knowing you had to slow waaaay down to make the turn. Maybe I found my competition? Nah, mostly my bad driving so far The pack stopped at lap 9 so they should have the same number of stops, assuming they are dumb enough to pit on lap 63. From then on I started making fewer mistakes and started pulling away 1-2 seconds a lap, at least every lap I stayed out of the gravel.. For the first time I was behind after the second pit stop, but only in 2nd a couple seconds back. Started hitting my stride at lap 22 or so, going from 1:33s down to 1:28s. I think you can win with consistent 1:30s, but its lots easier with 1:28s.
Lapped the 6th place car on lap 31 just before my pit stop so it didnt stick. It took until lap 45 to finally lap the pack.Results:
Winning Margin: 1.75 laps
Total time: just under 1 hour 41 minutes
Best lap 1:27.396 Average 1:33.750
Observations: Watch out for the pit entrance, you have to be around 40mph to make it. And the pit exit is much closer to the first corner than it looks. Very easy to miss your brake points. Look for the rubber marks on the pavement, they are pretty good indicators.
Nurburgring:
I have been looking forward to this one since the beginning, even though I expect to spend much of the race in the grass On my one lap test that I do for every car I ran a 5:46. Interesting to see how much I beat that in 15 laps. Decided to lift the car 5 mm (10 probably would have been better looking at the repay, lots-o-sparks) and soften the springs 5 clicks to take the bumps a bit better. After a disastrous 1st lap (6:05) I was 18 seconds out but caught them on the 2nd lap in the final straight. Unfortunately I had red tires already, but so did everyone else! I was up 3 seconds after the 1st stop and 9 seconds after the 3rd lap (a 5:43.361 that was far from clean). If I stay out of major trouble it should be an easy win. After a 5:33.xxx 5th lap I was 50+ seconds ahead and I knew I had them. Woo Hoo a 5:29.943 on the 7th lap. Too bad I only get 1 green lap each stop. Ive seen a 5:14 video posted here Dont know if I can find 15 more seconds On the last lap I was on an under 3 minute pace approaching Klostertal only to put a tire in the grass and lose 6-7 seconds and get a 5:33.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2:55 minutes The pack was in Kesselchen when I finished, about ½ lap back.
Total time: just under 1 hour 28 minutes
Best lap 5:29.943 Average 5:52.000
Observations: You had better know the track cold or youll be smoked. Best to have gold in both licenses and passed M34 before trying this. Even so I was backwards more here than all the other tracks combined so far. If I had half the incidents Id probably take 15-20 seconds off my average lap.
El Capitan
Another of my favorite tracks, but Ive never driven a fast car there so it could be interesting. El Capitan can be a bit rough too so I decided to leave the car raised up. Phooey another gravel trap on the first lap, but this time the AI punted me into it. No big deal as I was in the lead at the end of the first lap anyway. Hoped to make 8 laps but at 7 I was bright orange. Decided to try 8 any and wound up ice skating on the last few corners. Lost the lead, but the pack pitted at 8 also, so it could have been worse. Tried 8 again on the 2nd stop and I must have driven smoother as I had no trouble this time. Only 6 seconds in the lead, though. Finally figured out that the brake points are a lot further back than I was used to, after that it was smooth sailing. Had a 30 second lead at the 3rd stop Finally lapped the pack at lap 41. Only took 18 more to lap them again. Guess I got faster.
Results:
Winning Margin: 2 laps.
Total time: just under 1 hour 29 minutes
Best lap 1:17.745 Average 1:22.345
Observations: Lots of places to get in trouble and lose a lot of time. The AI takes the big hill and the following left hander badly. You can make up a lot of time there.
Fuji 2005
If there is any track Ill have trouble with it is this one. It doesnt come up in the rotation very often so it will be a learning experience. I bet the run-off area at the end of the long straight will see me more than once Surprised myself by being 2 seconds in the lead after two laps, even though I used several of the run-off area, but not the above mentioned one. May not be that hard after all. Made it to 9 laps on red rears and all but one of the pack also pitted at 9. Looks like a 9,9,9,8,8,8,8,8 is the best. Wound up in 3rd after the second stop as the leaders went 10 laps. If that holds I may have to make up a stop, my 7 to their 6. Lapped the 2nd place car on lap 48 and would have lapped him again on lap 69 or so.
Results:
Winning Margin: just under 2 laps.
Total time: just under 1 hour 37 minutes
Best lap 1:19.970 Average 1:25.970
Observations: Very easy to overrun the brake points as there is almost no landmark info to use. I had to rely on the blinking light. I think this is a track that is a work in progress. No corner countdown markers, for example.
Suzuka:
Last race! I like this track even though there are endless places to get in trouble. BTW the real life F1 record is 1:32.730. Always interesting to see how close the game can come. Not doing so well at the start. I pitted at 7 (was hoping for 8, see if I can stretch it on the next stop) and the pack just motored on by. Pack stopped at lap 8 and I regained the lead by 9 seconds. At least well have the same number of stops. Made 8 on red, but not uncontrollable, tires so it will be a 7,8,8,8,8,7,7. Took until the 3rd stop on lap 23 before I kept the lead for good. Nearly a disaster as I missed my pit stop on lap 39 and had to run the next lap on full red tires. Lost a good 30 seconds but still retained the lead. But, for the first time in 15 races I was not leading after the last stop! I just could not stay out of the gravel consistently. After the leaders final stop I had a whopping 14 second lead with 5 laps to go. Ran 5 clean conservative laps in the 1:38.xxx range and won by around 25 seconds.
Results:
Winning Margin: just under 25 seconds.
Total time: just over 1 hour 32 minutes
Best lap 1:33.556 Average 1:44.151 (obviously a lot of gravel time)!
Observations: This track requires more concentration than any other. Even the Ring is more forgiving since you lose much less time on grass excursions than gravel. There is a gravel trap on almost every corner and I was in most of them.
Well its done, nearly 21 hours of racing I won 150 to 60 for my nearest opponent. Not much competition to say the least. But I got 900 A-spec points and a cool 4.5M credits. Gives me 8.8M credits at 31% done. A bit of trivia, it would take about 5 hours to click off the 3M credits if you didnt speed it up!
Well time for something different. Maybe the 2CV race will get me back to earth.
Keep 'em coming! ...O.G. 
