Laguna Seca 200 Miles

For this race I settled on a Pagani Zonda C12 '00. I bought some Super Hard and Hard racing tyres, fitting Super Hard's and disabling ASM I was ready to enter the race. First I looked at the lineup and immediately identified that the Ford GT and Saleen S7 would pose the biggest threat during the race.

I worked my way up to 1st by the last corner of the first lap with the Saleen S7 in pursuit, by lap 4 the gap was out to 5 seconds and the Saleen with it's tyres now up to heat was able to match my pace more closely. The gap held around 4-5 seconds for the next few laps, I was having to push hard just to maintain the gap and on lap 8 I went wide coming out of the corkscrew and messing up my entry to the following bend. The gap at the end of the lap was down to 2-3 seconds and I really had to get moving without making mistakes. Laguna Seca seems to really punish you when you slip up no matter how small the mistake as you either end up on the grass or you have to get right off the power and brake to get back on track. Either of which ends up costing you a chunk of time. By lap 15 the gap was still hovering between 3-4 seconds with the Saleen S7 managing to keep up with me, the Ford GT had pitted 2 laps earlier on lap 13 and had so far failed to match both mine and the Saleen's pace. My fronts were now yellow but I felt as they were wearing slowly that I could stay out for some distance longer hoping I could at least go the same distance as the Saleen S7. By lap 20 I still didn't need to stop yet, neither did the Saleen, which now dropped off the pace allowing me to pull the 2.5 second gap out to 5. I would need to pit in the next lap or two as my tyres were now worn badly. I finally chose to pit at the end of lap 21, to my annoyance the Saleen stayed out but I could make up some distance once the Saleen pitted as the AI can't seem to cope with cold tyres.

The Saleen finally pitted on the following lap (lap 22) and came out 12 seconds behind myself, to my surprise the Shelby and Ford GT appeared to be ahead of the Saleen S7 10 seconds behind me. I was not overly worried however as I knew they would be pitting more often and probably be less likely to become a threat. Lapping the trailing Pontiac on lap 22 I had a clear road ahead and it was time to put some distance between me and the Saleen S7. A lap or two later I found the Shelby catching me, by lap 25 the gap was down to 6 seconds and I immediately responded putting in low 1m31s it remained like this up to lap 35 until the Shelby pitted, by then the Saleen was a good 20 seconds behind me. The gap was still around 20 seconds by the end of lap 43 and I was needing to pit. After pitting at the end of lap 43 I came out 2.5 seconds behind the Saleen, which seemed to be holding the Shelby off a further 10 seconds back. The Saleen pitted at the end of the lap falling back to 3rd some 28 seconds behind, while the Shelby found itself 2nd again under 17 seconds behind me. By lap 47 the Shelby had reduced the gap to 14 seconds as I re-lapped both the 5th & 6th placed Chevy and Pontiac. It was quickly looking like the Shelby was in this for the long run. The Shelby had dropped off slightly by the time it pitted on lap 52 with a 17 second deficit.

As I finished lap 52 the Saleen S7 was now 33 seconds adrift and a few laps later I found the Ford GT ahead. I managed to lap the Ford GT by lap 58 with the Saleen still over 30 seconds behind me. The Ford GT stayed with me up until lap 62 when it pitted but soon caught up as I pitted the following lap for fuel and tyres. I exited the pits with the Saleen S7 7.4 seconds behind me with the Ford GT in between. The Shelby re-took 2nd after the Saleen S7 pitted on lap 66 and was around 25 seconds behind me putting me in a comfortable position with 23 laps and one stop to go. By lap 70 the Shelby had made another stop putting the Saleen back in the lead with a 45 second gap to myself, I'd probably pit early on lap 80 as it seemed clear to me that I was no longer under any immediate challange for the lead with the Saleen and Shelby so far back. The lapped Ford GT followed me about 4 seconds behind until pitting on lap 75 for the next 5 laps the gap stayed around 45 seconds between myself and the Saleen S7. I pitted on lap 80 as planned and short fueled rejoining 23 seconds ahead of the Saleen S7. On lap 86 the Shelby pitted securing the Saleen S7's 2nd place. Near the end of the race on lap 89 the Saleen, which was 23 seconds behind made it's final stop giving me a hassle free run to the finish line.

Overall not a bad race, shame the Saleen and Shelby dropped off near the end as it was quite close all the way up to midway. I found the Zonda C12 a pleasure to drive and the fact I made hardly any mistakes must say something . I didn't expect the Ford GT to be off the pace so much as it stayed in sight of me for the majority of the last 32 laps, though it's pit window of 13 laps must not have helped when the leaders were lasting much longer.


Laps Completed: 90

1st: Pagani Zonda C12 '00 (Me) Time: 2:19'56.655
2nd: Saleen S7 '02 Time: -57.284
3rd: Shelby Series 1 Super Charged '03 Time: - 1:01.567*
4th: Ford GT '05 Time: - 1 Lap*
5th: Chevrolet Camaro SS '00 Time: - 3 Laps*
6th: Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe '04 Time: - 4 Laps*

* = best guess

Best Lap: 1'30.093 (Lap 36)
A-Spec Points: 160

Good report! 👍
I'm surprised there were so many points on offer with the Zonda, although you did have the 3 fastest AI entries in your lineup which certainly helps!
Just goes to show how difficult it is to predict A-spec points!
Was the Zonda in stock form apart from the tyre change?
If you ran RSH tyres (R1s) the whole distance, it's eligible for the Club 200 list, as the 5th placed entry for this race!

Thanks Yes the Zonda was completely stock apart from the tyre change to R1s.

I was thinking I'd run away with it before starting but it was quite close in the first half of the race. Unfortunately the AI just seemed to fade away towards the end, which I've found common on several other races.