Another GTWC report. Stock Bentley Speed 8.

Hello again,
this time I'm attempting the Professional Hall GTWC in a stock Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 (No oil change and R2 tyres).

I've gone all out to find a good hard lineup to race against, and this is what I've pulled out.

1st Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89
2nd Nissan R89C Race Car '89
3rd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89
4th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88
5th Mazda 787B Race Car '91
6th Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03

Race 1 Tokyo R246 (10 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Tinkered a little with brake, suspension, transmission and LSD settings. Turned off ASM and left TCS at 1.
Declined qualifiying and started 6th, aiming for clean as possible races with minimal AI contact. Left behind briefly off the line, but soon catch up to the back of the Jaguar. Use caution while the tyres warm up and don't attempt any rash passing moves. Hang back in 6th until the Jaguar slows unexpectedly going into the narrow section near the end of the lap, and I'm able to get by cleanly and finish lap 1 in 5th, but swarming around the back of the Mazda.
Nice lines through turns 1, 2 & 3 give me a good run on the Mazda up to the long looping turn by the Stadium, he's cleanly outbraked and I progress into 4th. Stay there until the end of the lap, the Minolta leads by just over a second. Pull the same move into the same turn on the Sauber on lap 3 and go up into 3rd place. Forced to slow into twisty section to avoid the Nissan who is going slower than perhaps he should. Sauber is right on my tail. Get a run on Nissan out of the last bend and pass him before finish line, into 2nd, but then overcooked the braking for turn 1 and while I avoid wall or Nissan contact, I lose the place again.
Stay 3rd for the rest of the lap and take Nissan down the mainstraight again, he tries to go round the outside at turn 1 as I hold a tight line, and thanks to the Sauber shunting me in the rear, he nearly makes it. I've got on the power quicker though and head down to turns 2 & 3 in 2nd place. The Minolta has pulled away a little. Keep the rest of the lap clean, and the whole of the 6th lap too, holding 2nd place although the Minolta pulls away by another second.
Rear ended again into turn 1 on lap 7 by the pesky Sauber, and it's all I can do to slow down in time to avoid contact with the wall, which is mercifully avoided, but the Silver Arrow has bullied his way into 2nd again and I'm back in 3rd, and it's cost me 2s on the leader.👎 Lose 3rd place towards the end of the lap when I caught too much kerb out of the righthander before the narrow section and made contact with a barrier for the 1st time. Take the position back before the finishline though!
Lap 8 is superclean and quick too, the fastest of the race. Lap 9 is also clean, and I gain a little on the leader, but then the Minolta, Sauber, Nissan and Jaguar all pit with only a lap remaining, leaving the Mazda & I to the top 2 spots! Come home 1st by 3.2s over Mazda. 👍

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts
2nd Mazda 787B Race Car '91 6pts
3rd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 4pts
4th Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 3pts
5th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 2pts
6th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 1pt

Fastest Lap 1'23.269.
Position 1st
MOV -3.237s.

Race 2 Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway (21 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Settings left as before and starting grid the same as race 1.
Once again started from the back and hoped that the tyres would last the whole race without a stop. Bide my time in 6th place for the 1st lap, and the Minolta maintains the lead spot about 4.8s ahead. Took 5th briefly before braking for turn 2 on lap 2, but lost it again. Not pushing hard as the pack aren't pulling away and I want to avoid any sliding or other tyre wear. Take 5th from the Mazda and then 4th from the Jaguar around the outside of turn 1 on lap 3. Keep lap 4 clean and pull away from the back 2 a little. Gap to leader is still about 4.6s, so it's consistent, and I'm not having to drive the wheels off the car. 👍
More clean laps and consistent gap maintained, although the Jaguar is close behind and I've pulled up to the back of the Nissan by the end of lap 7. Take 3rd briefly before turn 2 on lap 8, but lose it again, a gentle touch of the wall on the exit while avoiding the Nissan, (it will be the only wall contact of the race), but the Jaguar takes advantage of the tiny loss of speed and passes into 4th again. 👎
Beginning lap 10, Sauber has taken over top spot and has a 5.8s lead, while I'm back in 5th place. Awesome move out of turn 1 on lap 10 takes 4th off the Nissan, around the outside before dropping down and under the Jaguar stealing 3rd place from him! More clean laps, the Minolta back in the lead beginning lap 12, and gap still 5.6s. Lap 12 is fastest lap. Catch up to the Minolta in turn 2 of lap 14, he's very wiggly and slows me down as I avoid contact while he tries to dive into the pits. Jaguar takes back 2nd for a while but runs wide on turn 2 of lap 15, and I take it back, the Sauber dives into the pits ahead of me while the Nissan pits behind me and I'm up into 1st place.
Lap a very slow moving Minolta beginning lap 17, and I'm holding a 4.7s advantage over the Mazda. The only AI contact of the race is made when the now very fast moving Minolta rams the back of me into turn 2 on lap 17! The Mazda pits at the end of this lap, as does the Minolta. Complete the remaining laps cleanly to win by 26.681s from Sauber.

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts (20pts)
2nd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 6pts (9pts)
3rd Nissan R89C Race Car '89 4pts (6pts)
4th Mazda 787B Race Car '91 3pts (9pts)
5th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 2pts (3pts)
6th Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 1pt (5pts)


Fastest Lap 28.210.
Position 1st
MOV -26.681s.

Watching the replay again from the Minolta's perspective, he goes high through turn 2 on lap 13, and then comes down too low and sideswipes the pitwall, losing tonnes of speed, which explains why I caught him! Out of turn 2 he then makes a very wiggly attempt to dive in the pits and hits the pit entry wall head-on, while the Jaguar & I fly past. Then he does something inexplicably dumb, he reverses away from the wall, and just when it looks like he'll turn away and enter the pit, he accelerates straight back into the wall, and further along the wall! And not just once, but 5 times! Until he realises that he's not going to get in and accelerates off down the pitstraight! Meanwhile, I've been round and taken 1st place as the Sauber pits followed by the Nissan & Jaguar, and as the Minolta enters turn 1 he's lapped by me!Then he makes a desparate lunge to unlap going into turn 2 and the contact with the back of my Bentley spins him out into the top wall as the Mazda laps him too! He then manages to enter the pits, and by the time he exits I'm passing him for the 3rd time! As he rounds turn 2 on his 18th lap I'm taking the chequered flag! Not a good race for him!

Race 3 Hong Kong (18 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Starting lineup:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03
2nd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89
3rd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89
4th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88
5th Mazda 787B Race Car '91
6th Nissan R89C Race Car '89

Settings unchanged from previous race. Works out nicely to a 5 gear setting for this track, no use for 6th gear. Qualified 1st, since in my early experiences here, passing is tricky. Starting from an unfamiliar 1st place, but not relishing this race as much as the first 2, due to a lack of experience with this circuit.
Starts well with a clean lap to begin with and have a 1.7s cushion into lap 2. Clean through laps 2 & 3 and build to a 2.3s cushion, before grazing the wall outside the 1st hairpin on lap 4, though despite this, the lap is considerably faster than the previous 3.👍 Laps 5 & 6 are good, and at some point in lap 6, the Minolta takes over 2nd place from the Sauber. Fastest lap on lap 6 leaves a 3.3s gap to 2nd.
Clean but slower laps on 7 & 8 allow the Minolta to claw back some time, so I begin lap 9 with a 1.6s lead. Another lap in the 1'11s helps to keep the Minolta at bay, and the Jaguar pits at the end of lap 9. Pit in at the end of lap 10 from 1.6s lead. Minolta, Sauber and Nissan also pit, leaving the Mazda in 1st place for a lap as he pits ending lap 11. Back into 1st for me, 1.6s ahead of Minolta, although he's pushed wide and down to 3rd by the Mazda exiting the pits. Some car pinball happens at the 2nd hairpin, but not affecting me as I'm out in front. The Minolta plows into the Mazda, pushing them both wide, and the Sauber sitting just behind takes full advantage to nick 2nd place, albeit some 4.6s back.
Lap 13 is mostly clean too, the most minor of touches exiting the turn before the start/finish line, but still a low 1'12 lap, like the one before, has increased gap to 5.8s to Sauber. On lap 14, my clean enough for stock car thread submission is lost, as inevitably, but thankfully the only time it happens, I fall victim to the stupid little bit of wall that sticks out on the inside of the first fast righthand turn on the waterfront, and it bounces me across the track into the harbour wall. A 1'15 lap is the damage and the gap is reduced to 2.9s. Following the mistake I've become overly cautious in trying to keep things absolutely clean, and slower lap follows, allowing the Sauber to gain a little. Lap 16 is back in the high 1'11s, lap 17 in the 1'12s and the Sauber has dropped back a little on wearing tyres. The Minolta, unsatisfied with 4th place pulls a heinous ramming move on the Mazda at the 2nd hairpin, ensuring he nabs 3rd place as the Mazda recovers. A final lap in the 1'12 arena sees me home in 1st place.

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts (30pts)
2nd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 6pts (15pts)
3rd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 4pts (9pts)
4th Mazda 787B Race Car '91 3pts (12pts)
5th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 2pts (8pts)
6th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 1pt (4pts)


Qualified 1st 1'12.918
Fastest Lap 1'11.188.
Position 1st
MOV -2.695s.

Not too happy that I had to qualify here, nor that I had to make a pitstop, and that I had a nasty wall contact. But from having entered this race numerous times it was clear that the Minolta would walk this race if allowed to start from Pole position, and that passing would be a nightmare. Soon figured out that R2 rears still wouldn't last 18 laps and a pitstop was necessary. Abandoned race many times early on due to catching the aforementioned stupid bit of sticky out wall, but decided that this time it was too late in the day to start over, and I'll deal with the guilt!

Race 4 Seoul Central Reverse (19 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Back to the normal starting lineup from race 1 for this one, again starting from the back. Settings still unchanged, works well for this track, all 6 gears used. 👍
Cleanly through 1st lap, taking 4th and 5th from the Jaguar and Mazda respectively out of the circular turn before the mainstraight. Minolta is leading by 5.5s at the end of the lap. Pinch 3rd briefly from Sauber towards the end of lap 3, but he's faster through turn 1 than me, and takes it back. Make no mistake in taking and keeping 3rd place at the end of lap 4 in a similar position, and set about catching Nissan in 2nd place.
Take 2nd from him at the end of lap 6, and resist the challenge to take back the place into turn 1. Bullied back into 3rd through the circular turn when he nudges me wide under braking. Make no mistake drafting and passing down the mainstraight, and hold on well through turn 1 this time to cement 2nd.
Minolta has pulled out to 9.7s lead by end of lap 9. Fastest lap on lap 11, but Minolta continues to pull away until he pits ending lap 14. Breeze by into 1st place and Nissan takes over 2nd, before he pits ending lap 15 and allows the Sauber into 2nd place. The Sauber pits ending lap 16 and the Minolta resumes 2nd place. Jaguar pits ending lap 17 ensuring he'll take last place. Finish cleanly through the last couple of laps to seal the victory.
Overall a good race, and only a couple of very slight wall touches during the course of the race, and the only AI contact that of the Nissan hitting the back of me.

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts (40pts)
2nd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 6pts (15pts)
3rd Mazda 787B Race Car '91 4pts (16pts)
4th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 3pts (11pts)
5th Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 2pts (17pts)
6th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 1pt (5pts)


Fastest Lap 49.784.
Position 1st
MOV -14.045s.

Race 5 El Capitan (11 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Same story for the start here. Settings once again unchanged.
Good start from back of the grid, and I'm on the tail of the Jaguar and past cleanly into 5th place out of turn 1.👍 Nifty footwork and despite a lunge from nowhere by the Jaguar which leaves my Bentley wearing a lot of purple paint on it's left hand side , I'm able to cleanly squeeze by the Mazda into 4th in the downhill right turn after the tunnel. Cleanly outbrake the Sauber into the first tight hairpin and take-off after the Nissan, into 3rd place already. Go by into 2nd before the right/left combo that brings you back onto the start/finish straight, although he does nudge the back of me in going into the left part of that turn. Finish lap 1 in 2nd place and only 1.579s behind the Minolta.
He's passed round the outside of the downhill right after the tunnel, and it's Goodnight Vienna! Build a 2.259s lead by the end of lap 2 after a great squeaky clean lap. Lap 3 is similarly squeaky, but a fraction slower, affording the Minolta a 0.2s gain. Lap 4 has an almost indiscernable touch on the wall on the left hand side after the tunnel, and I come frighteningly close to the barrier inside the last turn, but the lap overall is faster than before, and shows 0.8s gain on the Minolta. Tyres are a perfect green colour entering lap 5, the fastest lap so far reflects this, and it's readily apparent there'll be no need for a pitstop here. A full second gained on this lap.
Another completely clean lap follows, and the consistency is good, under a 1/10th second off the previous laptime, but the gap to the Minolta has stabilised. Lap 7 is also clean, and this time a mere 18/100th second quicker than the previous lap. Gap to Minolta is still 3.7s. Lap 8 is notched up cleanly too, but 4/10ths off the previous 2 laps pace. The Minolta pits, followed by the Nissan, then the Sauber, and finally the Jaguar, which leaves the Mazda in 2nd place and all hope of a close finish gone.
Lap 9 completed cleanly, 2/10ths quicker than the previous lap, and since tyres are now bright yellow, and entering orange territory with 2 laps remaining, it's time to nurse the car home for the win, the 2nd placed Mazda is some 16.3s back so I've no worries there.... or so it would seem!
My nursing lap actually turns out to be the quickest of the race, almost a half second clear of my previous best! The Mazda in a fit of total duncitude denies himself a 2nd placed finish by pitting at the beginning of the final lap! After a clean final lap, I finish ahead of the Minolta who has taken back 2nd and the Mazda in 3rd.

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts (50pts)
2nd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 6pts (21pts)
3rd Mazda 787B Race Car '91 4pts (20pts)
4th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 3pts (14pts)
5th Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 2pts (19pts)
6th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 1pt (6pts)

Fastest Lap 1'29.620.
Position 1st
MOV -40.517s.

Race 6 New York (15 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Same story for the start here. Settings once again unchanged.
Rolling start from back of the grid, and I know from past experience here (NY Streets 200 mile enduro) that the 2 corners after the 2 long straights require early braking to take the bends properly, but that this isn't a great idea if an AI driver is sat on your tail, as they'll ram you without fail!
I'm fairly certain, after an abortive attempt at this race where I was used as the demolition derby b(female puppy)itch by all the AI cars, that my tyres will last the race, while they'll all have to pit, so I'm not too worried about passing on the track, and am happy to bide my time until clear cut opportunities present themselves.
Close up on the field on lap 1 after an easy start to warm the tyres, and through the 90 degree section up to the circle I'm holding on to the back of the Mazda. Stay just far enough back to slipstream, but not too close to react if he suddenly jumps on the brakes unexpectedly as the AI have a nasty habit of doing. Slip by him cleanly into 5th place before the double 90 degree apex turn by the Empire State Building, and hold the place. Get alongside Jaguar towards the circle, but back off as he moves back across the track to avoid contact. Slipstream and pass him for 4th place just before the end of the lap, and the Minolta leads by 6.7s.
Brake late for turn 1, to avoid the inevitable shunting of the Jaguar and still negotiate the turn cleanly, and there's no contact at all, the race is still 100% clean up to now. There's now a slight gap to the 3rd placed Nissan and some catching to do, as they're getting faster on warming tyres.
Lap 3 is finished cleanly, followed by another clean lap 4, and another on lap 5, which means there's a 1/3rd of the race gone and its still 100% clean. The Minolta has stretched the lead to 8.9s though. Lap 6 is also clean and the fastest of the race, 👍 and puts me right on the tail of the Nissan, who has a tremendous straightline advantage on the Bentley, and I'm forced to follow him round the next 2 laps backing off frequently to avoid contact, and concentrating on avoiding the walls, which affords the Minolta the chance to further extend his lead to something like 12.5s before he pits on lap 9.
The laps behind the Nissan are still 100% clean, but slower than the could have been without the holdup. Thankfully the Nissan also pits ending lap 9 and allows me to take both him & the Minolta in the pits, so that I begin my 10th lap in 2nd place behind the new leader, the Sauber. The Jaguar also pits at the end of lap 9, but from last place, ensuring he'll remain there!
The Sauber pits from his 7s lead at the end of my 10th clean lap out of 10 and allows me into 1st place. The Mazda takes up 2nd place, and I'm left with nothing but 5 laps in clean air between me and the finish line. This time there'll be no worn tyre heroics, it's just a matter of keeping off the walls for 5 more laps and I'll have me a 100% clean race.....can I do it? Well, unless the Mazda has a late surge and rams me, I think it's possible..... and fortunately the Mazda pits from 3.5s behind ending lap 11. So, 4 more to go.....Minolta is back into 2nd place but 13.7s back, so not really a threat. So, Bugger the suspense, let's just say the last 4 laps are maintained cleanly, on rear tyres that finished in the mid-orange arena, and got progressively slower from about 1 - 2s off the pace of my fastest lap, but still I romp home in 1st place, maintaining a 100% clean race. (for the 1st time this series, despite many attempts at each venue. )

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts (60pts)
2nd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 6pts (27pts)
3rd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 4pts (23pts)
4th Mazda 787B Race Car '91 3pts (23pts)
5th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 2pts (16pts)
6th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 1pt (7pts)

Fastest Lap 1'23.697.
Position 1st
MOV -12.516s.

Race 7 Opera Paris Reverse (18 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Starting lineup:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03
2nd Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88
3rd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89
4th Mazda 787B Race Car '91
5th Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89
6th Nissan R89C Race Car '89

Settings unchanged from previous race. Works out nicely to a 5 gear setting for this track, no use for 6th gear. Qualified 1st, since in my early experiences here, passing is tricky.
Such a nice track for street cars, but such a ballache in a high powered Group C racer! Cobbles? Do you ever see real-life racers like this running on cobbles? No! There's a good reason for that too!
A startling starting grid sees the perennial backmarker elevated to 2nd, and the usually quick Minolta suffering in 5th.👍 Start is good, get away clean and head on down to the fast righthander in the main straight, what the hell is in the middle of the track before the 100m braking marker? Every lap it'd upset the back right corner of the car, meaning the car is unbalanced heading into the fastest bend on the track! I even stopped to inspect the track during practice, but there's nothing there! Almost clean (slight touch on barrier outside the square at the end of the long straight would've left a little bit of green paint) 1st lap taking it easy to warm the tyres, in the 1'17 arena sees a 3s gap to 2nd placed Jaguar already. Laps 2 and 3 are completed mostly cleanly (there's a very minor wall kiss exiting the chicane around the Bastille column.) and from watching the replay I find the source of my wobbles through the fast turn.💡
It appears the Zebra crossing on the track just after the 100m marker slopes down very sharply for the last couple of lines towards the left of the track, but bumps up where the yellow line begins just after the crossing. What I was mistaking for feeling like a bump in the right-rear tyre was actually the left rear clearing the bump and making the car wobble!
Lap 4 is clean too, and the gap to 2nd has extended to 6.4s. Lap 5 is clean, but around 1.5s slower than my best, and affords the Jaguar a gain, back to 4.8s behind. Follow it up with the fastest lap of the race though, on a clean lap 6. Maintain about a 4s lead cleanly through laps 7 & 8, and during lap 9 the Jaguar's tyres go away, meaning as I complete another clean lap, he pits from about 6.5s back, leaving the Sauber to take up the chase.
Pretty certain that since my rears are bright yellow at the end of lap 10, that they'll not last full distance, so I pit in from 7s lead. The Sauber, Minolta and Nissan all pit too, leaving the Mazda out on the track in 1st place. The Sauber gets out in 3rd ahead of the Jaguar who takes the Minolta and Nissan in the pits. A tentative, but clean lap to warm tyres follows, and the Mazda pits in ending lap 11 from his 13s lead, and he's able to exit in 2nd ahead of the Sauber, leaving me 1st with an 8.5s cushion, just got to stay clean for another 6 laps.
Mission accomplished quickly on lap 13, and slowly, back in the 1'17 arena on lap 14, after running wider than usual at the 1st hairpin bend. The Mazda on colder tyres has slipped back and is passed for 2nd place by the Sauber during lap 14. He has a 10.9s deficit starting lap 15, so barring huge mistakes I should be home & dry. There's another barely noticable kiss on the same barrier I clipped on lap 3 and a clean-by-a-whisker lap follows on lap 16, as I misjudge the braking for the last chicane, and come within inches of touching the barrier with the Peugeot advert on them. Slowed enough to avoid it though, but the Sauber is catching, down to 6.6s lead now. Complete lap 17 cleanly in the mid 1'16s and probably against my better judgement, risk everything, but thankfully come away with a clean final lap which is only a 1/10th second slower than my fastest lap! The Sauber was gaining pretty quickly in my defense, so I had to go for it! He finishes 4.6s back, with the Mazda 3rd. Jaguar comes in 4th for his best finish yet!👍

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts (70pts)
2nd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 6pts (29pts)
3rd Mazda 787B Race Car '91 4pts (27pts)
4th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 3pts (10pts)
5th Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 2pts (29pts)
6th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 1pt (17pts)

Qualified 1st 1'18.654
Fastest Lap 1'15.548
Position 1st
MOV -4.612s.

Overall a good race, don't think I could win from the back since passing opportunities are scarce, and the AI won't hesitate to ram you under braking for most bends. Hence, I qualified and despite 3 very minor wall brushes, there was no AI contact whatsoever! 👍

Race 8 Suzuka Circuit (9 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Back to the usual starting lineup for a standing start at Suzuka, everyone is away cleanly and I'm at the back of the pack. Figure this'll be a race of tyre attrition like New York, and I don't have to go for rash passing moves, just let the pitstops take care of the finishing order.
Back off a little to avoid contact with the Mazda after he either runs wide, or is pushed wide by the Jaguar, in the sharper righthander before the crossover bridge. He regains the track in a cloud of dust either way! Easily hang with the pack to the end of the 1st clean lap, only the Minolta out in front seems to be making any significant headway, pulling out to a 6.7s lead over my 6th placed car.
Mazda does the same thing unaided at the same bend on lap 2, and once again, I don't feel I'm close enough to pass without contact, so I ease off. Hang out on his tail, not more than about a 1/10th behind for the rest of the clean lap. Both the Jaguar and the Mazda fall foul of the same sandtrap on lap 3, and I sneak by the Mazda for 5th place, but ease back from the Jaguar.
This means the Mazda who is still recovering from his sand-induced wiggle tags the back of the Bentley, but not hard enough to make me shunt the Jaguar under braking for the tight hairpin. Take 4th from the Jaguar as I slipstream him up through the fast looping righthander that follows and hold it braking into the double apex left. It's the first time I've taken the fast left at the end of the straight in clean air, and I missed my braking point, running wider & slower than normal, but still keeping 4 tyres firmly planted on the track. The Jaguar races by into 5th again, before the Mazda who is also way offline tags the back of the Bentley once again! Good job I was there or he'd've been off over the run-off area and into the tyrewall! Cheekily he uses the fact that my car is unsettled to outbrake me into the slow chicane, and I finish the lap in 6th place again.
Take 5th back through turns 1 & 2 and trudge off after the Jaguar again, eventually going by him before we get to the first (and faster) of the 2 righthanders before the crossover point. Pull away enough so that even being cautious through the fast left again (nearly cut it too fine this time and get 2 wheels up over the inside rumble strip! ) the Jaguar & Madza aren't able to challenge for their places back. The Minolta holds a 11.9s lead beginning lap 5, which turns out to be the fastest of the race in clean air, and is completed cleanly.👍
Lap 6 follows, also clean, and only 2/10ths slower than the previous lap. The Minolta has pitted in ending this lap, and I've also gained ground on the 3rd placed Nissan. Go into 3rd as I pass Minolta in pits, and the Jaguar pits in from behind me too. Sauber and Nissan, who I've gained on tremendously following his enormous slide out of the 2nd of the double apex left turns onto the backstraight, both pit in ending lap 7 and I take over the lead!
Just 2 more clean laps between me & the chequered flag! Tyres are bright yellow all round and lap 8 is dispatched with ease, a little slow, but I'm being cautious. The Mazda pits at the end of his 8th lap meaning he'll relinquish 2nd place, which is taken back by the Minolta but he's over 10s behind, so no threat to me. Bring it home cleanly through lap 9 to take the victory.

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts (80pts)
2nd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 6pts (35pts)
3rd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 4pts (33pts)
4th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 3pts (20pts)
5th Mazda 787B Race Car '91 2pts (29pts)
6th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 1pt (11pts)


Fastest Lap 1'46.631.
Position 1st
MOV -13.967s.

Overall, an excellent and enjoyable race, nice to be out on an open circuit again after the confines of Hong Kong, New York, Seoul and Paris! Track-wise, the fact that no more than 2 tyres are ever out of contact with the circuit or the rumble strips mean it's OLR standard clean, the fly-in-the-ointment as far as 100% cleaness is the 2 tail end rammings from the hapless Mazda!

Race 9 Grand Valley Speedway Reverse (11 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Business as usual here, starting in 6th place for the standing start, but it's Grand Valley, and I love this track! Forwards, backwards, makes no difference, it's still one of the best circuits in the game, wide open with plenty of passing opportunities.
Off to a good start, and being as it's the first time I've raced really quick cars here in GT4, I'm pleasantly surprised to find that PD have fixed the AI so that they don't plough head on into the double hairpin everytime! That said, I capitalise on the Jaguar slowing down after touching the back of the Mazda, and go around him cleanly into 5th place.👍 Stick close to the inside of the 2nd of the 2 hairpins and accelerate out into 4th place ahead of the Mazda.👍 Get a good run through the right hand turn between tunnels 2 and 3 and I'm able to drag by the Nissan cleanly into 3rd place.👍 Cross the line in 2nd place, just a nose ahead of the Sauber, and 0.956s behind the Minolta.
See the Sauber's power advantage begin to take effect and he starts to come back past before the braking zone for turn 1. Back off and let him go or I'm sure there'd be contact as he pulls across, as it is he pulls across sharply anyway and he grazes his left rear side on my front right, for a fraction of a second. The contact is so minor though that it doesn't affect either of us, but bang goes the 100% clean race I was hoping for here. Hang back and play a watching brief as I complete laps 2 & 3 cleanly, maintaining just over a second gap to the Minolta. Ending lap 3 I'm able to pass the Sauber properly this time, and can get back across to the right side of the track a couple of car lengths ahead of him this time to brake cleanly for turn 1 holding onto 2nd place.
An identical move follows on the Minolta ending lap 4, an it's very refreshing to be able to brake properly for the hairpins without worrying about being shunted from behind like the GT3 AI would do! A little over 4 laps gone and I'm first already, the draft assist from passing the Minolta has also resulted in the fastest lap of the race. The rest of the race is a formality from here, as I build a 2s gap by the end of my first clean lap in clear air.
Clean laps on lap 6 & 7 follow and the gap extends to 3.6s. The Jaguar pits from last place ending lap 7, ensuring he'll remain there! Rear tyres are fully yellow ending lap 8, as Minolta, Sauber and Nissan pit in. With a little careful nursing, I think the tyres should last the distance, but not much more. The Mazda who has taken over 2nd place is over 11s back, so there's no need to go hell-for-leather anyway, and the race is definitely sewn up when he pits at the end of lap 9, allowing the Minolta to resume the, now futile, chase some 36s behind. Lap cleanly but some 2s off my fastest lap pace for lap 10, and out into the last lap. Ease right back on rear tyres that are distinctly orange now, and finish with a 1'41 lap, which is kept clean and still sees me victorious by 35s from the Minolta.


Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts (90pts)
2nd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 6pts (41pts)
3rd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 4pts (37pts)
4th Mazda 787B Race Car '91 3pts (32pts)
5th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 2pts (22pts)
6th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 1pt (12pts)

Fastest Lap 1'36.362.
Position 1st
MOV -35.322.

Overall an excellent race, on a circuit that is still really special! A bit gutted about the contact with the Sauber when I'd made so much of a concious effort to predict what he was about to do, and backed way off (Slowed to under 100mph when he touched me!) but at least the 11 laps were completely clean aside from that.

Race 10 Circuit de la Sarthe I (4 Laps) - 131 A-spec points.

Once again, settings remain unchanged, and my position at the back of the grid will prove a challenge. We've only 4 laps here, and I know from 48 hours of A-spec experience in the 2 Sarthe 24hr races that unless the cars are wearing stupidly soft tyres, pitstops are unlikely. However, I'm thankful for the chicanes in the Hunaudieres straight which should negate some of the 900HP+ racers straightline advantage.
As we roll up to the start and the 5 AI cars scream off into the distance like the fighter jets do at the beginning of the Enduros, I'm thinking this could be a considerably harder task than I thought! Not so, I'm able to gain through the Dunlop esses and Tertre Rouge esses before a good line through the Tertre Rouge bend itself, allows me to slipstream the Mazda, and put a silky passing move on both him and the Jaguar before braking for the Playstation chicane.👍 Ride the kerbs nicely and then catch up to the back of the Nissan just before we brake for the Michelin chicane. Hang back a little since the Nissan is swarming around the back of the Sauber, and could do lots of unpredictable things! Follow them through the Mulsanne hairpin and hare off down toward Indianapolis, where the Nissan and Sauber get side-by-side under braking, but the Sauber holds firm. I'm still hanging back to avoid contact, and hoping to take advantage of any mistakes their enthusiasm might cause! Safely around Arnage and down to the Porsche esses, the Sauber stretches it's legs, and the Minolta is nowhere to be seen. Still hanging with the Nissan and we reel in the Sauber again through the tighter Ford esses, before crossing the line.
The Minolta holds a 3.9s advantage over my 4th placed Bentley at this point. The 2 cars directly ahead of me pull away a little before the Dunlop esses but I gain on them in the turns and I'm back in touching distance exiting Tertre Rouge for the 2nd time. The Nissan succumbs before the Playstation chicane, and I'm able to cleanly take 2nd from the Sauber before the Michelin chicane. So far so good!👍 Pull up to the back of the Minolta at Mulsanne, but can't match his acceleration away so I don't get to use his slipstream down to Indy. Follow him safely through there and Arnage before the Sauber, somewhat audaciously goes round the outside of me under braking for the Porsche curves with 2 wheels on the grass, somehow he stays on the green tarmac strip and avoids dipping what would be a catastrophic wheel into the sand, and he nabs back his 2nd place! I take it back from him cleanly before braking for the first set of Ford esses, and he dips a tyre in the sand just before the finish line which buys me a little breathing space down to the Dunlop bends again. The Minolta's gap is reduced to 1.7s by this fastest lap of the race too!
The Sauber's HP advantage has him within striking distance by the Dunlop turns and when I myself dip a tyre in the sand exiting them, and he surges past, and sadly there's contact as I straighten out and he pulls over to negotiate the downhill left that follows, my front left hits his left rear, but only in a minor way, and there's no loss of speed or line for either of us. Grab 2nd for good after gaining on the Sauber out of Tertre Rouge again and pulling out of his slipstream before the Playstation chicane. The Minolta ahead of me now has dipped a tyre or 2 in the sand on the right hand side of the track exiting the chicane and it's slowed him down a bit. Pass him before the Michelin chicane and take it cleanly to maintain 1st place. He gains in my slipstream before braking for Mulsanne, but he manages to avoid touching me under braking, which is a novelty for the AI! He's not so careful at Indianapolis, after slipstreaming me all the way down to the turn and bumps my rear. Fortunately I'm able to correct and hold a clean line through there and keep him at bay. Through Arnage safely and the Minolta starts to gain again towards the Porsche curves, where it all goes horribly wrong for him. He tries something akin to what the Sauber managed on lap 2, only he touches the sand, and a huge dusty spin ends with a massive rear first impact into the tyre wall behind the sandtrap. The Sauber takes over 2nd place and I complete the lap with a 1.7s advantage heading into the final lap.
The Minolta pits, and being the only car to do so ensures he'll finish dead last! A clean lap follows which sees the lead extend to 4.9s over the Sauber by the checkpoint between Indianapolis and Arnage, his tyres are clearly suffering. He seems to be home and dry in 2nd place when he spins out exiting the first of the Ford esses, which allows the Mazda through to claim the spot, and the Jaguar to post a podium finish grabbing 3rd place after they pass the Nissan who also spins out exiting the last of the Porsche curves!

Result:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 10pts
2nd Mazda 787B Race Car '91 6pts
3rd Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 4pts
4th Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 3pts
5th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 2pts
6th Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 1pt

Fastest Lap 3'20.528.
Position 1st
MOV -13.804.

Final Standings:
1st Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 100pts
2nd Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 42pts
3rd Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 40pts
4th Mazda 787B Race Car '91 6 38pts
5th Nissan R89C Race Car '89 24pts
6th Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 16pts

Winnings:
10 x 25,000Cr 1st place prizes
250,000Cr Championship prize
Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II ('04)

HEY! your no allowed to post 10 post within 5 mins.

Master_Yoda

HEY! your no allowed to post 10 post within 5 mins.

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Of course you are, you just can't post more than once in a 20s timeframe!
I didn't do it to spam, although 10 consecutive posts is frowned upon!
I merely reserved the next 9 posts for the next 9 reports, so they don't get lost amongst the comments from other users. All your comments belong below the 10 reports and now that's where they'll be! Sneaky huh?!!!
Race 2 coming up shortly....

Nice report (as always). Good line up, I would stay away from qualifying. The Mazda can do a lot of races on 1 set of tires so it's good that he starts in the back.

Added races 3 & 4 in their respective slots.

Added races 5 & 6 in their respective slots. All going well so far. More to come.....

And Master_Yoda you're not allowed to spell you're meaning an abbreviation of "you are" as your meaning "belonging to you" anywhere else in this thread, thank you!
There's a huge difference, and it'd be as well to learn it if your aspirations as a wannabe moderator are to be realised, young Jedi!

Smallhorses

Added races 5 & 6 in their respective slots. All going well so far. More to come.....

And Master_Yoda you're not allowed to spell you're meaning an abbreviation of "you are" as your meaning "belonging to you" anywhere else in this thread, thank you!
There's a huge difference, and it'd be as well to learn it if your aspirations as a wannabe moderator are to be realised, young Jedi!

Click to expand...

I AM a Jedi, you guys just don't see my 1337 speeling, gramm3r, and PuN';cuTAti0n!

Master_Yoda

I AM a Jedi, you guys just don't see my 1337 speeling, gramm3r, and PuN';cuTAti0n!

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All I see is a random collection of letters, numbers, spelling mistakes and symbols that say to me:-
"Wow, this guy has a long career ahead of him......cleaning toilets at McDonald's if his typing doesn't improve!"



More reports coming soon, I'm temporarily distracted by spending a week in Idaho, WRS week 44 and other things!

CRXnut

I would stay away from qualifying.

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Struggling a bit on these races myself, why stay away from qualifying?

bluedot

Struggling a bit on these races myself, why stay away from qualifying?

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If you're struggling, go ahead and qualify, it'll give you an advantage starting in clean air. What car are you using & what cars are you racing against. If you can let us know, I'm sure there'd be some suggestions. Try searching for GTWC and look out for the thread that has about 17 pages of info on helping with this contest.

However, if you're like myself and CRXnut and enjoy hyper-close racing with the AI, then not qualifying and using a slightly sub-standard car will get you all the thrills & spills you want.
Personally I hate blowing away the AI field, it's purile to take a stage 4 turbo'd Minolta here, and then claim to be a mighty driver 'cos you finished every race 1/2 lap ahead. I understand though that some people don't have my patience or skill, and want to get on with the rest of them game, so each to his own.

Thanks Smallhorses. I think its just more practise I need because I am getting the hang of it a bit now. I will check that thread you mention. I am in the black R92 but just to see if I could win, I tried the Formula One and won easily. I will keep practising with the LMP's!

nice report man
keep it up

bluedot

Thanks Smallhorses. I think its just more practise I need because I am getting the hang of it a bit now. I will check that thread you mention. I am in the black R92 but just to see if I could win, I tried the Formula One and won easily. I will keep practising with the LMP's!

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You should do a rigidity refresh (50,000 credits) on the black R92CP. Being used, it has a warped chassis which will make it unstable, especially at high speeds. If you have bought one already, you just need practice.

Ebiggs

You should do a rigidity refresh (50,000 credits) on the black R92CP. Being used, it has a warped chassis which will make it unstable, especially at high speeds. If you have bought one already, you just need practice.

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Yeah, did the refresh, presently practising like mad, but thanks all the same!

Race 7 is in the relevant slot now. 7 down, 3 to go!

bluedot thanks for the comments here, and in the PM you sent me. Nice to know I've been an inspiration to someone! Keep up your hard practicing and you'll soon have this series licked!

Off to Suzuka.....

Great reading 👍 as always!! Opera Paris do have an effect that makes slower cars faster than the others. Weird...
Looking forward to see more races! Keep it up man.

Smallhorses

All I see is a random collection of letters, numbers, spelling mistakes and symbols that say to me:-
"Wow, this guy has a long career ahead of him......cleaning toilets at McDonald's if his typing doesn't improve!"



More reports coming soon, I'm temporarily distracted by spending a week in Idaho, WRS week 44 and other things!

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No actually it really isn't my typing, i have a 7 year old screwed up keyboared, the keys arn't straight, and there a little hard to press. They have food underneath. Also i type really fast, so i really don't go back and fix my mistakes. But i see plenty of people here with worst typing then me.

Wow Master_Yoda, we have to get you on the defensive more often!
That's the longest and least irrelevant post I've ever seen you make!
Certainly out of your last 100 posts! I'm impressed!
I'm only kidding with you! Thanks for bumping this topic up over & over though!
Races 8 & 9 have been added in the appropriate slots.

Final race and overall standings are all up now in post #10!

That's all folks!

Off to see what's unlocked in the Extreme hall.....

Wow!! All those races were great and the reports were awesome!! Congrats Looking forward to see another champ. like this or an update on the Endurance Companion

Say, did you restart those races a few times or it was "do or die"?? On the last race I tought it would be very difficult to do, the most difficult. Was it??
I admire your efforts to race cleanly, withou any offs and AI contact with them being so stupid! 👍
Keep it up!

dkstz

Say, did you restart those races a few times or it was "do or die"?? On the last race I tought it would be very difficult to do, the most difficult. Was it??

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I'd love to have been able to race each one cleanly right off the bat, as it would've saved me a lot of time, but unfortunately that just wasn't possible! I think with the exception of Suzuka and Grand Valley Speedway, that I was into double digits for the number of starts and aborted attempts. Each time I had what I deemed to be a severe enough collision with AI or a barrier, or an off track moment, I'd reset and restart. Takes a lot of patience, especially when the AI rams you off track in the penultimate lap of a race!

With the exception of Hong Kong, which I got too frustrated with, I stuck to that all the way through. Sarthe was tricky due to the relative speeds of the cars, the unintelligent AI and the lack of AI pitstops, but not the worst race by far.