- 1,202
Having conquered El Capitan, it was time for the Elan to move on to new challenges, and the first port of call was the New York street circuit, home of the New York 200 endurance race. Though this circuit has two long straights, every corner is slow and tight. It should suit the nimble elan rather well. The Elan at this stage had 1698 miles on the clock, and was ready for what was at least its third chassis refresh. In addition, the Elan was treated to a wash and an oil change, so it rolled into the pits at New York in the rudest possible health for its age.
Other contestants in the pits were an AMG SL65, an Aston Martin Vantage, two TVRs and a familiar looking Motorsport Elise. Since of these cars only the Elise had proven any threat at El Capitan, I left the Elan in 129bhp trim (funny, I could have sworn it was 127 for my last run at El Cap) and ventured out onto the circuit. NY has a rolling start, and as we crossed the start line I put my foot hard down on the throttle and..... and I was left in the dust. No problem. I was expecting to be a little off the pace down the straight bits. The trusty Elan will catch it all up in the twisty section and I'll soon be fighting for the lead. This car can do things like that.
Well, that's what I had thought, anyway, but fifteen laps in I found myself defending a lonely 6th place, half a lap behind my closest rival, and with the leading Cerbera threatening to lap me. This would not do.
I pulled out of the race and sulked off in search of some horsepower. When I returned, armed with 150bhp, the competition had changed a little, and I found myself chasing a Corvette Z06, a TVR T350C, two Vipers (a GTS and an SRT-10) and the omnipresent Motorsport Elise for 200 a-spec points.
As it turns out, 150bhp still was not enough to worry the leaders, but it was enough to keep me from getting lonely. The first six laps were a titanic battle between myself, the Elise and the GTS for the last three places. They would scream past me on the straights, and I would zap past them in the twisty bits. It was an epic, no holds barred and no advantage gained three way tussle that had me holding my breath for dangerously long periods. Eventually, as his tyres warmed up, the GTS started to make his horsepower advantage show, and began to pull away. This left the Elise and myself alone to argue over 5th place, which we duly did with enthusiasm, until around lap 14 when the Elise managed to forge himself a tiny bit of breathing space. By this time I was over a minute behind the leading Corvette. Then the GTS pitted on lap 22, and the Elise pitted on lap 23, letting me move up to 4th place. I was 1 minute 40 seconds behind the leader now, and my tyres were going orange, but I wanted to make it to at least lap 27 to turn my strategy into a two-stop event.
I made it to lap 28 before pulling in. Both the GTS and the Elise overtook me while I was stopped, so I found myself in 6th place but pushing hard because I knew I had a pitstop in hand over both those cars, and I wanted to take advantage of that. I managed to catch up to the Elise and we duked it out some more until he eventually pitted on lap 46, letting me through to 5th place. I was by now a lap down on the leader. Thoughts of a victory had long since been dispelled, but 4th place was a genuine target, if I could start making up some ground on the faster GTS, who had managed to complete his second pitstop without me catching him. With this in mind I decided to extend my second stint for as long as possible, and then change to Sports Mediums for a bit more pace, hoping that I had enough life in them to finish the race.
I managed to let my Sports Hard tyres last to lap 60 before I peeled into the pits, and put on Mediums for the ramaining 15 laps. I topped up the fuel while I was there.
The tyres made a difference, as my lap times improved by over a second. I set my fastest lap of the race here (1:50.039), but never managed to get sight of the GTS. By the time the flag fell for me on lap 75 (one lap early because I was a lap behind the winner) I was 19 seconds behind the Viper, but it had been a great, and satisfying race. My position swapping battle with the Elise had lasted for nearly 50 laps of hard, sweaty concentration, and this had been as rewarding as any cup I have won in GT4.
You don't always have to come first to win.
Finishing order:
1st Corvette Z06 - 2hours 19minutes 49 seconds
2nd Viper SRT 10
3rd TVR T350C
4th Viper GTS
5th Lotus Elan S1 (one lap down, race time 2 hours 21 mins 31 seconds)
6th Lotus Motorsport Elise
Other contestants in the pits were an AMG SL65, an Aston Martin Vantage, two TVRs and a familiar looking Motorsport Elise. Since of these cars only the Elise had proven any threat at El Capitan, I left the Elan in 129bhp trim (funny, I could have sworn it was 127 for my last run at El Cap) and ventured out onto the circuit. NY has a rolling start, and as we crossed the start line I put my foot hard down on the throttle and..... and I was left in the dust. No problem. I was expecting to be a little off the pace down the straight bits. The trusty Elan will catch it all up in the twisty section and I'll soon be fighting for the lead. This car can do things like that.
Well, that's what I had thought, anyway, but fifteen laps in I found myself defending a lonely 6th place, half a lap behind my closest rival, and with the leading Cerbera threatening to lap me. This would not do.
I pulled out of the race and sulked off in search of some horsepower. When I returned, armed with 150bhp, the competition had changed a little, and I found myself chasing a Corvette Z06, a TVR T350C, two Vipers (a GTS and an SRT-10) and the omnipresent Motorsport Elise for 200 a-spec points.
As it turns out, 150bhp still was not enough to worry the leaders, but it was enough to keep me from getting lonely. The first six laps were a titanic battle between myself, the Elise and the GTS for the last three places. They would scream past me on the straights, and I would zap past them in the twisty bits. It was an epic, no holds barred and no advantage gained three way tussle that had me holding my breath for dangerously long periods. Eventually, as his tyres warmed up, the GTS started to make his horsepower advantage show, and began to pull away. This left the Elise and myself alone to argue over 5th place, which we duly did with enthusiasm, until around lap 14 when the Elise managed to forge himself a tiny bit of breathing space. By this time I was over a minute behind the leading Corvette. Then the GTS pitted on lap 22, and the Elise pitted on lap 23, letting me move up to 4th place. I was 1 minute 40 seconds behind the leader now, and my tyres were going orange, but I wanted to make it to at least lap 27 to turn my strategy into a two-stop event.
I made it to lap 28 before pulling in. Both the GTS and the Elise overtook me while I was stopped, so I found myself in 6th place but pushing hard because I knew I had a pitstop in hand over both those cars, and I wanted to take advantage of that. I managed to catch up to the Elise and we duked it out some more until he eventually pitted on lap 46, letting me through to 5th place. I was by now a lap down on the leader. Thoughts of a victory had long since been dispelled, but 4th place was a genuine target, if I could start making up some ground on the faster GTS, who had managed to complete his second pitstop without me catching him. With this in mind I decided to extend my second stint for as long as possible, and then change to Sports Mediums for a bit more pace, hoping that I had enough life in them to finish the race.
I managed to let my Sports Hard tyres last to lap 60 before I peeled into the pits, and put on Mediums for the ramaining 15 laps. I topped up the fuel while I was there.
The tyres made a difference, as my lap times improved by over a second. I set my fastest lap of the race here (1:50.039), but never managed to get sight of the GTS. By the time the flag fell for me on lap 75 (one lap early because I was a lap behind the winner) I was 19 seconds behind the Viper, but it had been a great, and satisfying race. My position swapping battle with the Elise had lasted for nearly 50 laps of hard, sweaty concentration, and this had been as rewarding as any cup I have won in GT4.
You don't always have to come first to win.
Finishing order:
1st Corvette Z06 - 2hours 19minutes 49 seconds
2nd Viper SRT 10
3rd TVR T350C
4th Viper GTS
5th Lotus Elan S1 (one lap down, race time 2 hours 21 mins 31 seconds)
6th Lotus Motorsport Elise
