Big "Mac" Attack!!!

I've won this race series previously with the MERCEDES-BENZ CLK-GTR Race Car '98, GILLET Vertigo Race Car '04 & the BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97 (with HP Upgrades). I also had a failed effort using the TOYOTA "WedsSport" Celica (JGTC) '03, report found HERE. This time as part of my quest to WIN as many races as possible with "STOCK" Prize Cars, report found HERE, I used another BMW McLaren F1 GTR, but withOUT HP upgrades. When I first got GT4 I was VERY disappointed that PD had chosen to give this great ride "Limited" Downforce! In GT4 Prolgue it was "Super!" But during this series I really came to appreciate it's FINE handling traits. Just a little more DF & it would be a truly Outstanding Ride!

The opposition I drew for this round included:

NISSAN R89C Race Car '89
AUDI R8 '01
NISSAN R390 Race Car '98
MERCEDES-BENZ CLK-GTR Race Car '98
FORD GT LM Edition Spec-II '04

These figures: Finish = Place / Race Time - Fast Lap. MOV = Margin of Victory (Where applicable!)

Race #1 High Speed Ring (181 Points)
Qualified 1st / 1'00.488
Finished 1st / 7'08.999 - 54.954 (Lap #3)
MOV +7.629 👍

Qualified 1st but not by much. Due to the tall gearing I got a terrible start & slipped to 2nd briefly. Caught & passed the leader by the Bridge on Lap #1. The R89C closed a bit on the final Lap but I still WON by a comfortable margin. 15,000 Credits awarded & I take an early lead 10-6 pts.


Race #2 Fuji Speedway '80s (181 Points )
Qualified 1st / 1'07.362
Finished 1st / 6'49.048 - 1'07.285 (Lap #3)
MOV +00.126 👍

Another standing start & they put me back to third by Turn #1! Even on BLUE Tyres I was able to regain the lead by T-2. The "Mac" was MUCH quicker theu the "Twisties" but the R89C closed a bunch down the front straight EVERY Lap! Wasn't sure I'd hold off his charge the final go-around & indeed he shot past me right after the Start/Finish line...but too late for him!
15,000 Credits awarded & I stretch the lead 20-12 pts.


Race #3 Laguna Seca Raceway (181 Points)
Qualified 1st / 1'18.137
Finished 1st / 9'09.020 - 1'16.995 (Lap #5)
MOV +02.010 👍

FINALLY a "Rolling Start" & a track that doesn't favor their huge HP advantage! Still managed to let the R89C lead me into Turn #1! Caught him at the "Screw" though & kept him at bay for the remainder.
15,000 Credits awarded & I stretch the lead 30-18 pts


Race #4 Autumn Ring (Reverse) (181 Points)
Qualified 1st / 1'13.338
Finished 1st / 10'39.545 - 1'09.771 (Lap #2)
MOV +0.982 Seconds 👍

Another "Rolling Start" & this time I led from "Wire to Wire"!!! Was on glowing RED Tyres by Lap #7 however & lost enough time so that the R89C was able to keep it interesting!
15,000 Credits awarded & I stretch the lead 40-22 pts


Race #5 Test CURSE (200 Points)
Qualified 1st / 1'39.924
Finished 2nd / 5'06.724 - 1'38.071 (Lap #4)
MO"Loss" -0.017 Seconds 👎

From experience running here in the "Dream Car Series" I knew "Catching the Draft" would be Crucial. Did so in qualifying & again in the race. "Bump Drafted" the AUDI all the way around twice, tried to "Slingshot" him at the finish but just like with the Wedsport I didn't have enough HP. He also slid into Second Place for the first time.
7,500 Credits awarded & I keep the lead 46-28 pts


Race #6 Grand Valley Raceway (Reverse) [Reverse] (181 Points)
Qualified 1st / 1'40.954
Finished 1st / 10'09.974 - 1'39.071 (Lap #4)
MOV +4.180 👍

Another Standing Start & another poor showing! FOURTH into Turn #1 but I regained the lead by the final Tunnel. I REALLY wanted to win here to exact a little retribution for my poor showing in the Wedsport.
15,000 Credits awarded & I stretch the lead 56-32 pts


Race #7 Suzuka (157 Points)
Qualified 1st / 1'49.114
Finished 1st / 9'04.986 - 1'47.999 (Lap #2)
MOV +4.289 Seconds 👍

I switched to R-4 Tyres for this race. I'd tested them @ Fuji as well & knew they'd go the distance but forgot to fit then there! Fairly uneventful as this is NOT one of the "AI's" better venues.
15,000 Credits awarded & I stretch the lead 66-36 pts (For both the R-8 & R89C)


Race #8 Infenion Raceway (Stock Car Course) (181 Points)
Qualified 1st / 1'05.778
Finished 1st / 8'41.812 - 1'04.290 (Lap #6)
MOV + 4.524 Seconds 👍

Back to R-3 Tyres & although I "Tested" on the Sports Car venue the final drive was O.K. Got a fine "Rolling Start" was never seriously challenged.
15,000 Credits awarded & the lead stands at 76-42 pts w/the R89C back in Second.


Race #9 Circuit de le Sarthe I (157 Points)
Qualified 1st / 3'30.239
Finished 1st / 7'03.599 - 3'31.750 (Lap #2)
MOV + 0.932 Seconds 👍

Back to R-4s for the second time as I ascertained they'd last both laps during qualifying. Typical race vs these guys...get 'em in the twisty bits & hope to hold 'em off on the straights! My mirror was all full of R89C near the finish but the final chicane is NOT where the "AI" shines & I was able to add a little space between us!
15,000 Credits awarded & the lead stands at 86-48 pts


Race #10 Nurburgring (181 Points)
Qualified 1st / 6'19.092
Finished 3rd / 12'30.266 - 6'19.965 (Lap #2)
M.O."Loss" -9.933 Seconds 👎

The "Ring" is NOT my favorite venue & the "AI" REALLY "Sandbag" here during qualifying. I'd obviously Won the Series a couple of races back & could have "Opted" out...BUT I wanted to see what the "Mac" could do here. NOT too surprisingly both the R89C & R-8 motored past me as I did my best to keep them in sight. had one slight "Off" that cost me a couple of seconds but NO way was I capable of besting them here!
5,000 Credits awarded & the Final Tally stands at 90-54 pts


FINAL RESULTS:

BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97 // 90 Points
NISSAN R89C Race Car '89 // 54 Points
AUDI R8 '01 // 54 Points
MERCEDES-BENZ CLK-GTR Race Car '98 // 29 Points
NISSAN NISSAN R390 Race Car '98 // 22 Points
FORD GT LM Edition Spec-II '04 // 11 Points

132,500 Credits & 1400 more A-Spec Points...plus 100,000 Bonus Credits & ANOTHER BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97Prize Car!

EDIT: Forgot to include a little info ...HP @ start = 642 & 637 @ end 👍

I think with this particular Line-Up "Perhaps" the TOYOTA "WedsSport" Celica could win this series. Sounds like another project for a rainy day!

As always...THANX for wading thru this & hope it will help someone out. Let me know if you spot a mistake, I'm VERY adept at using the EDIT Function! ...O.G.

Again a very nice write up, it's always easy to read and there's a huge amount of information in it

The only downside is that this isn't really a difficult line up (you concluded the same thing ). I would be interested how well you will do it in the GTAS with the R92CP and the Minolta in the line up

Btw, I have one question:

Old Geezer

I've won this race series previously with the MERCEDES-BENZ CLK-GTR Race Car '98, GILLET Vertigo Race Car '04 & the BMW MacLaren F1 GTR Race Car '97 (with HP Upgrades).

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Do you mean with this that the GTAS has been won previously with an HP upgraded Gillet and hp upgraded CLK-GTR as well? Or did you only need hp upgrades in the McLaren when you used this car for the first time? This line was not 100% clear to me

Excellent!! I've been trying to find a car for this series myself. Well done on a good series win.

Sjenk

Again a very nice write up, it's always easy to read and there's a huge amount of information in it

The only downside is that this isn't really a difficult line up (you concluded the same thing ). I would be interested how well you will do it in the GTAS with the R92CP and the Minolta in the line up

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THANX Sjenk! 👍 The report isn't as well writen as it should have been since I wrote it up over a week after running the races. I kept rather "Cryptic" notes but I'm sure something got left out.
I did a "Cut-n-Paste" from the report I filed doing this series in the Wedsport Celica & noticed I found a MUCH tougher liner-up there! This time thru I just raced whichever line-up showed up & didn't consider finding a better race!

Sjenk

Btw, I have one question:

Do you mean with this that the GTAS has been won previously with an HP upgraded Gillet and hp upgraded CLK-GTR as well? Or did you only need hp upgrades in the McLaren when you used this car for the first time? This line was not 100% clear to me

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Sorry I still have all three Rides in my Garage & they featured HP as follows: Vertigo = 1008 / Merceded = 918 / "Mac" = 877. AT least it took me less HP every time! 👍 Down to 642 in the most recent attempt! ...O.G.

Ah ok Well, if I'm not as busy as I'm right now, I'll do some quick cash races and buy a Panoz to see how competitive it would be (and after that I copy the old game save from my back up memory card )

KOOL! 👍 Let us know how you do. I've driven the Panoz only a little in GT3 & NEVER in GT4 so I have no advice to offer. Good Luck!...O.G.

Hey, OG, great to see you around and kicking AI booty as well, my friend. An exciting writeup as always!

I'm about 20% complete and looking for some interesting competition. I'm thinking of the Speedster series but by all means PM me some interesting combos. This early in the game I'm low on race cars.

Cheers!

Excellent work OG.
I don't think I would be able to replicate your work.

The line-up you had did look killer though. 👍
When I ran this in a R390 (stock), both the R89 and R92 were in the races as well as the Bentley.
That bentley managed to get me at Autumn Ring too!
Just like you, I ended up on red hot tires by the last lap and the best I could do was control the damage and fend off third.

Also, that High speed ring fast lap isn't bad. 👍
I recall running in the 56 second range.

In anycase, excellent write up as always O.G.

as always, very good race reports, nothing to add.

Kudos to you my friend,

cheers.

McLaren F1GTR

No offence at all man, but it just irks me sometimes when they spell McLaren MacLaren....

But awesome review! 👍

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THANX McLaren F1GTR: 👍 I did a "Cut & Paste" off an "Official" List I found somewhere complete with the mis-spelling! I'll get it corrected ASAP!!!...O.G.