- 1,637
I decided that it was about time I got on my un-lazy butt and drove an endurance race myself. "Sorry B-Spec Bobbeh, but you're out of this one" says I, I looked through my 700 cars to find a decent model to pick, I knew that anything too fast would be boring and anything to slow would leave me picking up the trash after the race. So I settled onto my Jaguar XKR-R Performance, still completely stock and at a little under 420BHP I decided this was the one for me. Equipped with Sports Medium tyres (something I would later live to almost regret) I jumped straight into the race, only settings I fiddled with were the ASM and TCS, turning both off.
So here's how it went, the line up was as follows -
1st - TVR Cerbera Speed Six
2nd - Dodge Viper SRT/10
3rd - Callaway C12
4th - Shelby Series 1
5th - Mercedes SL 65 AMG
6th - Jaguar XKR-R Performance
A pretty tough field over-all, so the countdown began...3....2....1....START! And I did, hit the throttle a little too hard and had to take 3 seconds to just settle the car down, losing a bit of time already. By the first left hander I was right up behind the now 5th place Shelby, jinking down the inside I charged past him, shortly followed by taking 5th from the Merc. I dived up the inside of the C12 at corner 5 before making my charge on the Viper and Speed Six, whom were pulling away and opening a 7 second gap. The Jag seemed a little skittish on cold tires but that soon passed, and by the end of an uneventful 2nd two sectors on lap 1, I was right behind the TVR.
As I struggled to get past what seemed the widest TVR ever, the Viper was making a break for it, but not for long as I broke free of the TVR and chased him down. I took roughly 7 tenths to a second out of him over the next 3 laps, taking his 5 second gap down to just 2 tenths as we began lap 6. I showed my love of the over-taking opportunities at Turn 2, the left hander, once more as I drifted slightly around the outside and shot ahead as my cars rear tires regained grip and snapped back into a straight line. I was finally in first and off I went, building the lead to 12 seconds. This is where the mistake of not selecting Hard sports tires kicked in, by the end of lap 8 my rear tires were wearing quickly, and my front tires were getting close to redline, I pushed it one lap more but this only hurt me. By the time I pulled into the bits it was just 9 seconds, and before I had even got into my box, the Viper sped past...unfortunantly so did the rest of the field, leaving me an eventual 22 seconds behind.
I tore up the tarmac and tried hard to get rid of that gap, trying too hard at times and letting my XKR get the better of me, losing any time I had gained. Finally however, the other cars began pitting over the next 5 laps, allowing me to slowly jump up the field, the only car that didn't was the Viper, but I managed to catch and take him on lap 17. But damnit, my tires were wearing down again already, unprepared to take the risk I did on lap 9 by going longer I came into the pits. But what luck!, so did the Viper, leaving me in first as I came out and the TVR racing right up beside the exitting Viper. I began pulling away and building a good lenghtly gap. Unfortunantly (for both me and this report) the race from lap 20-50 was very uneventful.
I looked set to take the flag with 16 laps to go, with a 33 second gap I pulled into the pits once more, electing not to refuel. I came out around 6 seconds ahead, and continued my leading, as I looked back I could see the TVR and Viper duking it out and laughed. But apparently I laughed too soon, I came out of the tunnel and made the mistake of shifting to 4th as I came over the hill, my Jag jumped and landed, bottoming out and with cold tires I was sent into a spin. I desperately shifted into 1st to try and turn round and get away ahead, but I watched in heartbreak seeing the two black cars shoot through before I had even turned round. Should I quit? I thought...I decided not to and continued ahead, as fast as I could knowing I had just 15 laps to turn the 22 second gap into nothing. I pulled in for my last pit stop on lap 59, having pulled the gap down to 12 seconds, thankfully the TVR pitted on lap 60 and I was able to over-take him. So, there I was, 2nd place and seemingly unable to make any kind of dent in the 14 second lead the Viper had over me. I resigned myself to 2nd best but kept up the hard work.
By lap 65 of 66 my tyres were getting tired, I knew there wasn't much else I could do, but in the last few corners my eyes lit up seeing "Dodge Viper SRT/10 pitting in..." flash up on the screen. This was it, I pushed it into high gear and charged around the last corner and up the straight, taking 1st. My front tyres were practically non-existent, my rear tyres were getting that way, one lap to go. I had pulled out a 14 second gap thanks to the Viper's pit stop, an uneventful but slow last lap saw me round the final corner, blaze up the start/finish straight and handbrake turn the car to drift sideways over the finish line. Voila, 250K, a car to sell for 740K and 168 A-Spec points as I completed my first Endurance race by my own hands.
So here's how it went, the line up was as follows -
1st - TVR Cerbera Speed Six
2nd - Dodge Viper SRT/10
3rd - Callaway C12
4th - Shelby Series 1
5th - Mercedes SL 65 AMG
6th - Jaguar XKR-R Performance
A pretty tough field over-all, so the countdown began...3....2....1....START! And I did, hit the throttle a little too hard and had to take 3 seconds to just settle the car down, losing a bit of time already. By the first left hander I was right up behind the now 5th place Shelby, jinking down the inside I charged past him, shortly followed by taking 5th from the Merc. I dived up the inside of the C12 at corner 5 before making my charge on the Viper and Speed Six, whom were pulling away and opening a 7 second gap. The Jag seemed a little skittish on cold tires but that soon passed, and by the end of an uneventful 2nd two sectors on lap 1, I was right behind the TVR.
As I struggled to get past what seemed the widest TVR ever, the Viper was making a break for it, but not for long as I broke free of the TVR and chased him down. I took roughly 7 tenths to a second out of him over the next 3 laps, taking his 5 second gap down to just 2 tenths as we began lap 6. I showed my love of the over-taking opportunities at Turn 2, the left hander, once more as I drifted slightly around the outside and shot ahead as my cars rear tires regained grip and snapped back into a straight line. I was finally in first and off I went, building the lead to 12 seconds. This is where the mistake of not selecting Hard sports tires kicked in, by the end of lap 8 my rear tires were wearing quickly, and my front tires were getting close to redline, I pushed it one lap more but this only hurt me. By the time I pulled into the bits it was just 9 seconds, and before I had even got into my box, the Viper sped past...unfortunantly so did the rest of the field, leaving me an eventual 22 seconds behind.
I tore up the tarmac and tried hard to get rid of that gap, trying too hard at times and letting my XKR get the better of me, losing any time I had gained. Finally however, the other cars began pitting over the next 5 laps, allowing me to slowly jump up the field, the only car that didn't was the Viper, but I managed to catch and take him on lap 17. But damnit, my tires were wearing down again already, unprepared to take the risk I did on lap 9 by going longer I came into the pits. But what luck!, so did the Viper, leaving me in first as I came out and the TVR racing right up beside the exitting Viper. I began pulling away and building a good lenghtly gap. Unfortunantly (for both me and this report) the race from lap 20-50 was very uneventful.
I looked set to take the flag with 16 laps to go, with a 33 second gap I pulled into the pits once more, electing not to refuel. I came out around 6 seconds ahead, and continued my leading, as I looked back I could see the TVR and Viper duking it out and laughed. But apparently I laughed too soon, I came out of the tunnel and made the mistake of shifting to 4th as I came over the hill, my Jag jumped and landed, bottoming out and with cold tires I was sent into a spin. I desperately shifted into 1st to try and turn round and get away ahead, but I watched in heartbreak seeing the two black cars shoot through before I had even turned round. Should I quit? I thought...I decided not to and continued ahead, as fast as I could knowing I had just 15 laps to turn the 22 second gap into nothing. I pulled in for my last pit stop on lap 59, having pulled the gap down to 12 seconds, thankfully the TVR pitted on lap 60 and I was able to over-take him. So, there I was, 2nd place and seemingly unable to make any kind of dent in the 14 second lead the Viper had over me. I resigned myself to 2nd best but kept up the hard work.
By lap 65 of 66 my tyres were getting tired, I knew there wasn't much else I could do, but in the last few corners my eyes lit up seeing "Dodge Viper SRT/10 pitting in..." flash up on the screen. This was it, I pushed it into high gear and charged around the last corner and up the straight, taking 1st. My front tyres were practically non-existent, my rear tyres were getting that way, one lap to go. I had pulled out a 14 second gap thanks to the Viper's pit stop, an uneventful but slow last lap saw me round the final corner, blaze up the start/finish straight and handbrake turn the car to drift sideways over the finish line. Voila, 250K, a car to sell for 740K and 168 A-Spec points as I completed my first Endurance race by my own hands.
(not to mention the nice A-Spec score!) I'd write more of these myself, but that would mean I'd have to spend less time actually racing 
