- 105
- Jamezracer
since we (HondaRacer and myself) realized that gt4 had a 24h race at le sarthe, we knew a 24 hour stint was in order, and it finally happened last weekend. here is how it went...
after hundreds of miles of practice and testing with 8 different lm cars, the r8 showed itself as the fastest, with a record time of about 3:13(can't remember to the tenth), with super hard tires, and no mods. I was sure this was the car to use, but after some practice with HondaRacer, we found my brand new Bentley speed 8 to be the fastest car for its ease of driving and consistentcy, it was able to pull a 3:16 during the test. so we change the oil and start the race at noon, after a good, long night's sleep.
finding ourselves up against a c9, 92cp, 89c, 787b, and a gt-one, we knew a challenge was ahead of us. now, for recreating the real leMans, everything had to be as close as possible, so it was with kinks, and we did 2 hour stints, with 3 drivers (bob was our 3rd driver) like the real race. our set-up was with a dfp mounted to a game-racer coc-pit, hd tv, and surround sound, so no eye strain, no back-ache, and the surround sound kept us awake. we used manual, and asm+tcs to help with tire wear and ease of driving.
we started with bob, so he would pit himself, and told him to pit after 1 lap, then HondaRacer started his 2hr stint, slowly regaining the 35second lost. we started with super hard tires, and did 7 laps per set of tires, but the car was not that forgiving, and lap-times were not that great, so we tried hard, and what a difference, we could do 6 laps on a set, but was far superior as far as forgiveness and overall speed, so we kept that set-up for the rest of the race, but keeping bob on hard front and super hard rear. after HondaRacer's stint, bob went at it, suddenly we are in 3rd after his stint, I am able to regain the lead after 3 pits, and a series of very fast , but conservative laps, pulling consistently between 3:18, and 3:21, on a still conservative pace. as I neared the end of my stint, I forgot about conservative and pulled the 2nd fastest time, of 3:15.8.
i switched of to HondaRacer with a lead of nearly 1min 20sec , and he pulled that up to a 2:15 lead on his stint, pulling between 3:20 and 3:24. then bob lost all of that, and another 20 sec in just 2 hours. I regain this in 2 pit stops, and keep driving, slowly gaining time. Honda Racer took over, and befor long, the chassis goes, thankfully, we had done chassis stiffening befor the race, so we could still drive, but was very very hairy on the straights, and when you first touch the brakes, we have to switch the dfp to 60% feedback, so we wouldn't crash going in a straight line, surprizingly, cornering was not affected. very unrealistic... just 12 hours in, a car designed to run for at least 24hours plus qualifying and practice, will die 12 hours in, and although it can't go in a straight line, I can fly around corners just as it had before, very realistic pd
also, with the chassis gone, we could only do 4-5 laps per set of tires.
this went on for the rest of the night, but it became harder to get back what bob lost, so we started doing 2:15 stints, while bob did 1:30. as for staying awake, caffeine is NOT your friend. the best way is to have a small amount of caffeine while you drive your stint, and try to sleep in your 4 hour break. eating should be done in small snakes, so you don't get bloated, and become sleepy. this worked so well in fact, that I almost got a full night's sleep, and carried on my day almost as if i had never done the race. you will have to ask HondaRacer how he was after, haven't talked to him since. in my 2nd to last stint, I pulled a 3:14.847, fastest lap of the race, despite the chassis, being smooth when driving was all it took to overcome the "disability", and finally finished just over 1 min ahead of the c9, on lap 411.
please comment and ask questions. hopefully HondaRacer will post in this thread and comment as well. good luck to anyone else going to attempt this!!!
after hundreds of miles of practice and testing with 8 different lm cars, the r8 showed itself as the fastest, with a record time of about 3:13(can't remember to the tenth), with super hard tires, and no mods. I was sure this was the car to use, but after some practice with HondaRacer, we found my brand new Bentley speed 8 to be the fastest car for its ease of driving and consistentcy, it was able to pull a 3:16 during the test. so we change the oil and start the race at noon, after a good, long night's sleep.
finding ourselves up against a c9, 92cp, 89c, 787b, and a gt-one, we knew a challenge was ahead of us. now, for recreating the real leMans, everything had to be as close as possible, so it was with kinks, and we did 2 hour stints, with 3 drivers (bob was our 3rd driver) like the real race. our set-up was with a dfp mounted to a game-racer coc-pit, hd tv, and surround sound, so no eye strain, no back-ache, and the surround sound kept us awake. we used manual, and asm+tcs to help with tire wear and ease of driving.
we started with bob, so he would pit himself, and told him to pit after 1 lap, then HondaRacer started his 2hr stint, slowly regaining the 35second lost. we started with super hard tires, and did 7 laps per set of tires, but the car was not that forgiving, and lap-times were not that great, so we tried hard, and what a difference, we could do 6 laps on a set, but was far superior as far as forgiveness and overall speed, so we kept that set-up for the rest of the race, but keeping bob on hard front and super hard rear. after HondaRacer's stint, bob went at it, suddenly we are in 3rd after his stint, I am able to regain the lead after 3 pits, and a series of very fast , but conservative laps, pulling consistently between 3:18, and 3:21, on a still conservative pace. as I neared the end of my stint, I forgot about conservative and pulled the 2nd fastest time, of 3:15.8.
i switched of to HondaRacer with a lead of nearly 1min 20sec , and he pulled that up to a 2:15 lead on his stint, pulling between 3:20 and 3:24. then bob lost all of that, and another 20 sec in just 2 hours. I regain this in 2 pit stops, and keep driving, slowly gaining time. Honda Racer took over, and befor long, the chassis goes, thankfully, we had done chassis stiffening befor the race, so we could still drive, but was very very hairy on the straights, and when you first touch the brakes, we have to switch the dfp to 60% feedback, so we wouldn't crash going in a straight line, surprizingly, cornering was not affected. very unrealistic... just 12 hours in, a car designed to run for at least 24hours plus qualifying and practice, will die 12 hours in, and although it can't go in a straight line, I can fly around corners just as it had before, very realistic pd
also, with the chassis gone, we could only do 4-5 laps per set of tires.this went on for the rest of the night, but it became harder to get back what bob lost, so we started doing 2:15 stints, while bob did 1:30. as for staying awake, caffeine is NOT your friend. the best way is to have a small amount of caffeine while you drive your stint, and try to sleep in your 4 hour break. eating should be done in small snakes, so you don't get bloated, and become sleepy. this worked so well in fact, that I almost got a full night's sleep, and carried on my day almost as if i had never done the race. you will have to ask HondaRacer how he was after, haven't talked to him since. in my 2nd to last stint, I pulled a 3:14.847, fastest lap of the race, despite the chassis, being smooth when driving was all it took to overcome the "disability", and finally finished just over 1 min ahead of the c9, on lap 411.
please comment and ask questions. hopefully HondaRacer will post in this thread and comment as well. good luck to anyone else going to attempt this!!!
At least it shows that yes, you're quite right, don't cut corners anywhere else!
