Christian_C
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- Stoke, UK
- GTP_Christian_C
Well I'm about to attempt the race after finally reaching level 35 and I plan on attempting it in a Mazda 787b all on my own 
I'll be only using racing hard tyres but I'll have a set of mediums just in case I need an extra boost in the dying laps to gain a good result.
I hopefully will win but using a car that is around 15 years older than the opposition is probably unlikely to help me
Anyway, I'll be putting up an addition to the report for every hour I complete of the race.
The AI I will be facing are:
Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Oreca No91
Pescorolo Courage C60 '03
Bentley Speed 8 '03
McLaren F1 GTR '97
Nissan R390 GT1 '98
Audi R8 Team Playstation '04
Mazda 787B '91 (Me)
Audi R10 TDI '06
Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Oreca No51
Mercedes CLK-LM '98
Audi R8 '01
Toyota GT-ONE '99
wish me luck oh and I'm using the PWTS and I'll be using the H pattern shifter and clutch so long stints will be challenging I think.
After the one hour mark
At an hour in I'm 32 seconds off the lead currently sitting in 4th place. The reason mainly for this is due to that I am running 8 lap stints and the main rival (presumably the R8) is running 11 lap stints thus I have completed two stops whilst he has only made one.
I believe I can overcome this slight issue due to the AI always taking a full tank of fuel at each stop whereas I've worked out I only need to carry 62 (I put in 65 just to be safe) litres of fuel for a stint, thus I spend less time in the pits and make up time as I carry less fuel and put in faster times.
At this stage it's looking good for me to be placing high at the finish however it's not been without incident, I've had a few spins, messed up a rear wing endplate in early contact with the GT-ONE and this cars just damn difficult to drive with no aids once the tyres are pretty tired. Ideally 7 lap stints would be best for the tyres and physically me but I just can't be doing nearly half as many laps as the main rivals per stint. Currently it works out at about 30 mins between each pitstop so I estimate 48±2 pitstops for the race.
Just passing the two hour mark
2 hours in now I lead by ±30 seconds after 33 laps
, Mainly due to having to drive on the limit 100% of the time which is pretty tiring at 3am
Anyway, the 2nd placed car is the Audi R8 '01 which when me and him have the same amount of fuel and tyre wear run relatively similar lap times. The Audi has a faster overall pace on a full fuel load but I've been running right to the edge with only 1 litre remaining in the tank at the time of the stop (lucky I chose to be conservative at my first stop as 62 litres like I predicted would be 2 short yet my 'safe' is pretty much dead on correct).
I'm running good laptimes ranging between a fastest of 3:27.469 up to 3:33.475 the lap before my in lap at my last pit stop. This seems to be in a similar bracket to the Audi although in the first part of the Audi's stint after its stop I'm much faster due to him carrying 35 litres of fuel more than I do.
I've managed to build a sufficient lead (my shorter stints mean I have to make nearly 2 stops for the audi's 1) to retain my lead after each pitstop, hopefully this now means I will gradually pull away over the race distance but I believe the time difference at the finish will be close by Le Mans standards and my lead might diminish during the night if I'm not able to keep up good pace.
It's safe to say I'm quite enjoying this race although I'm going to call it a night now and return again tomorrow, I hope to cover another 8 hours tomorrow although like today that might not go to plan but I want to cover at least 6 if possible.
3 hours and 49 laps complete
3 hours have now past and 49 laps complete, my lead is up to around 50 seconds now I'm starting to consistently match or better the pace of the 2nd place car even though I'm having to run right at 100% due to me having to make more pitstops. This has caused some 'interesting' slides and spins including a relatively hefty but not race ending impact at the end of the porsche curves when the backend stepped away from me 
At the three hour point the sun is also starting to go down and shadows are becoming longer, it's still not dark enough for the cars to be running round with lights on though.
4 hours/66 laps complete
I'm now 4 hours (65 laps) into the race and I've somehow stretched my lead to 2 minutes 18 seconds over the past hour. I'm not sure how it's happened but it has.
I've had a close call where during one of my stops I entered the pits and the amount of fuel I could have filled the tank with was a full 100 litres
plus a trip through the gravel at the start of the porsche curves trying to lap one of the Vipers for the millionth time
The sunlight is diminishing rapidly now and hopefully soon the lights will come on It's quite a spectacle to see and I'd tell anyone to do the race just to see the transition into the night.
To answer bonobo4's question, It's due to a combination of: the time the audi spends in the pits, the time I spend in the pits, the length of the stint, the outright pace of the car and the average lap time over a stint.
The Audi has better outright pace but due to it staying out longer and running around on terribly worn tyres for quite some time I'm able to put it a faster more consistent average lap time over a stint so I'm pulling away because of that. I'm also pulling away because the length of time it takes to fill 65 litres in my car is a lot less than the time it takes for the Audi to (presumably) fill his tank with 90 to a full 100 litres. So that's how I'm managing to pull away, the Audi gains a lot of time on me though on my in lap (around 10-15 seconds) as I fight the car back to the pits, the same happens when the roles are reversed though although I think the Audi is a lot easier on it's tyres.
I also have a question, to anyone who knows the 787B, what is the counter that counts down from 99:00 to 00:00 in the center of the dashboard all about?
I'd like to thank everyone for there interest in reading this and there encouragement
5 hours/81 laps in
Just passed the 5 hour mark (81 laps), I now have a 3minute 17 second lead, I seem to be pulling out a minute every hour now, I'm quite certain this is due to gaining around 50 seconds in the pits and 10 on track judging by how the gap changes over time.
It's properly dark now (well except the sky) I expect I'll start to run a few seconds a lap slower when the darkness reaches it's maximum but I'm still lapping around the 3:30 mark, It's looking good for victory
Oh and I ran out of fuel at the end of my last stint luckily I was at the end of the Porsche curves when it happened so I coasted back to the pits. I put in 66 litres at the stop this time just to be sure it doesn't happen again.
6 hours (1/4 of the way in)/ 98 laps
I've reached the 1/4 way marker of 6 hours now I've completed 98 laps so far, So I think the finishing lap will be lap 392. I have a 3 minute 20 second lead as of writing although that's not truly representative as I have been 1 Lap ahead (before my last pitstop on lap 96).
The night has well and truly fell now and it's pitch black all around the track, I've only been caught out once though at Indianapolis where a firework distracted me They do look truly spectacular though
7 hours /114 laps
7 hours/114 laps in now, my lead has grown to 1 lap and I've also achieved my fastest lap in the dark of a 3:26.661 which I was quite pleased with I think I'll squeeze in another hour or two today and then leave it until tomorrow as my arms need a bit of a rest I think
The 787B is running well now, I've managed to lessen the wear on the tyres by upshifting early however it is suffering some mild panel damage due to spins, scrapes and contact with traffic (primarily in the Ford chicane).
8 hours /131 laps
8 hours have now passed/131 laps (1/3 full distance) and I still hold a laps lead over the Audi R8, The fireworks stopped pretty much bang on the hour (which I presume would be 12 midnight if the race started at 4 like I think it does ) and the sky has turned ominously cloudy
Anyway that's a problem for me to worry about tomorrow as I'm off to bed now having achieved my objective of covering 6 hours today. It's fair to say my thumbs and arms hurt from the wheel but that should be gone by tomorrow. I've had fun doing this race and writing up so far so I'll be sure to continue tomorrow
9 hours /148 laps
Just passed the 9 hour mark/148 laps, I still have a lead of over a lap, other than a few minor spins and brushes with the wall I have little else to say I'll maybe do another hour tonight but I'm quite tired so there's the possibility that I wont manage it.
10 hours /163 laps
10 hours/163 laps in now and that's definitely me done for the night. I've made good progress though extending my lead (as far as I can tell) I'm nearly at the half way point that I will hopefully reach tomorrow night, anyhow, I'm off for the night and I'll continue once more tomorrow
11 hours /180 laps
11 hours have now passed /180 laps I've had the usual re-acustomising accidents/spins this past hour but it's to be expected as usual. It's still dark and shows no sign of morning (it is probably about 3am though to be fair ).
My lead has grown to nearly 2 laps on the Audi R8 behind me and to illustrate the differences in pit times I came across a good example. I entered the pits and passed a Viper that had just finished having its tyres changed (maybe about 10-15 seconds he'd already been stationary) so as I pulled into my pit box I saw the Viper drop to the floor to finish refuelling. I then proceeded to have a full tyre change and fill 65 litres of fuel, exit the pits and it was only by the time I'd reached the Dunlop bridge (another 10 seconds or so) that I saw the Viper start to move out of the pitlane. This shows how much of an advantage I'm gaining by taking on less fuel than the R8 in second place and explains my lead of nearly 2 laps over an 11 hour period (for those that were wondering earlier)
12 hours /196 laps (Half way point)
12 hour mark (196 laps) has been reached! I am now past the halfway point which I'm very happy about I'll be continuing on to do another hour tonight (maybe 2 if I feel up to it).
Not much to say apart from that it's still very dark and I had a slight incident with the McLaren as it left the pits (he swerved across my line and I clipped him sending me into a spin).
Oh and my lead has reached 2 laps so I have a decent lead but for a 24 hour race to only be separated by 2 laps at 12 hours is pretty close I think really.
13 hours /214 laps
13 hours and 213 laps have now passed and I'm pleased to say... The sun is coming up Dawn began to break around 30 minutes into the hour and by the end of it it's pretty light now, still no sign of the sun but the sky is blue and visibility is good.
I had a slight coming together which has put quite a dent in the front left corner (I was overtaking the Pescorolo). I tried to go up the inside of him but the gap was too small and I did some damage to both cars, the Pescorolo's wing and diffusor is bent and the left headlight area on the 787B is out of shape
14 hours /229 laps
14 hours /229 laps complete. It sounds odd to say with 10 hours remaining but I believe the end is in sight
I still lead by 2 laps and set my fastest lap during the first minutes of the hour of 3:24.238, due to trying to set a quick time I did however run out of fuel midway through the porsche curves
The sun is now visible in the sky at the lights on the cars have gone out so it's pretty bright now
15 hours /245 laps
15 hours / 245 laps complete now, seems like these last hours are going pretty fast
My lead is now up to 3 laps too
16 hours /262 laps
16 hours /261 laps completed now, no sign of rain as far as I can see, no real headaches this hour apart from that it was a bit fragmented and took a long time to do (I was busy). I've only done a few hours tonight but I'll probably make it to 20 hours tomorrow night and the final 4 will be done on friday.
17 hours /278 laps
17 hours /278 laps complete. Not much to say apart from the track is fully in the sunshine now, no sign of rain up ahead and my lead is still around 3 laps or so. I'll be trying to complete the race today but I still have another 7 hours to go
18 hours /294 laps
18 hours /294 laps complete, the end is getting near, not much to say this hour apart from that, oh and a frightening incident at the first porsche curve where I just clipped the grass and span into the tyre wall
19 hours /310 laps
19 hours /310 laps completed now. If I'm honest I just want it to end now I'm definitely going to try and get it finished tonight although that might be a big ask to do.
I still lead by 3 nearly 4 laps now and no sign of rain so I'm hopeful of making it to the end without rain
20 hours /327 laps
20 hours /327 laps complete! only 4 more hours to go now
The lead is up to 4 laps, no rain in sight, no real events this hour apart from managing to stretch the lead to 4 laps.
The end is in sight now though The poor 787B is looking a bit battered now though
21 hours /343 laps
21 hours complete and 343 laps, I set my fastest lap during the last stint of a 3:22.896
I'm quite impressed by that as I didn't think the 787B would be capable of such a time on Racing Hard tyres
22 hours /260 laps
22 hours /360 laps complete now, I had a terrible first stint in this hour where I lost a full 2 minutes on 2nd place due to overdriving the car.
I'm glad this is nearly at an end though I have to say, I want to play more of the game than just this race
23 hours /376 laps, Only 1 hour remains!
23 hours /376 laps complete! 1 hour remains and it's a joyous sight to see that counter counting down on the screen
The oil light came on about 10 minutes into the hour (which took a lot longer than I expected) nothing to worry about though.
I still hold a 4 lap lead heading into the final hour which I will complete now
24 hours /392 laps THE FINISH!
24 hours /392 laps FINISH!!!
Well I've made it to the end of what was an epic race to say the least.
The 787B did me proud and took me to a 5 lap victory over the nearest rival ('01 Audi R8)
I'll do a proper writeup of results tomorrow but I'm off to bed now as I'm knackered
I'd like to thank all the support I've received from everyone on here for embarking upon this race, you've all kept me going even during the dull hours when I wanted to give up
I'll be only using racing hard tyres but I'll have a set of mediums just in case I need an extra boost in the dying laps to gain a good result.
I hopefully will win but using a car that is around 15 years older than the opposition is probably unlikely to help me
Anyway, I'll be putting up an addition to the report for every hour I complete of the race.
The AI I will be facing are:
Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Oreca No91
Pescorolo Courage C60 '03
Bentley Speed 8 '03
McLaren F1 GTR '97
Nissan R390 GT1 '98
Audi R8 Team Playstation '04
Mazda 787B '91 (Me)
Audi R10 TDI '06
Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Oreca No51
Mercedes CLK-LM '98
Audi R8 '01
Toyota GT-ONE '99
wish me luck
oh and I'm using the PWTS and I'll be using the H pattern shifter and clutch so long stints will be challenging I think.After the one hour mark
At an hour in I'm 32 seconds off the lead currently sitting in 4th place. The reason mainly for this is due to that I am running 8 lap stints and the main rival (presumably the R8) is running 11 lap stints thus I have completed two stops whilst he has only made one.
I believe I can overcome this slight issue due to the AI always taking a full tank of fuel at each stop whereas I've worked out I only need to carry 62 (I put in 65 just to be safe) litres of fuel for a stint, thus I spend less time in the pits and make up time as I carry less fuel and put in faster times.
At this stage it's looking good for me to be placing high at the finish however it's not been without incident, I've had a few spins, messed up a rear wing endplate in early contact with the GT-ONE and this cars just damn difficult to drive with no aids once the tyres are pretty tired. Ideally 7 lap stints would be best for the tyres and physically me but I just can't be doing nearly half as many laps as the main rivals per stint. Currently it works out at about 30 mins between each pitstop so I estimate 48±2 pitstops for the race.
Just passing the two hour mark
2 hours in now I lead by ±30 seconds after 33 laps
, Mainly due to having to drive on the limit 100% of the time which is pretty tiring at 3am Anyway, the 2nd placed car is the Audi R8 '01 which when me and him have the same amount of fuel and tyre wear run relatively similar lap times. The Audi has a faster overall pace on a full fuel load but I've been running right to the edge with only 1 litre remaining in the tank at the time of the stop (lucky I chose to be conservative at my first stop as 62 litres like I predicted would be 2 short yet my 'safe' is pretty much dead on correct).
I'm running good laptimes ranging between a fastest of 3:27.469 up to 3:33.475 the lap before my in lap at my last pit stop. This seems to be in a similar bracket to the Audi although in the first part of the Audi's stint after its stop I'm much faster due to him carrying 35 litres of fuel more than I do.
I've managed to build a sufficient lead (my shorter stints mean I have to make nearly 2 stops for the audi's 1) to retain my lead after each pitstop, hopefully this now means I will gradually pull away over the race distance but I believe the time difference at the finish will be close by Le Mans standards and my lead might diminish during the night if I'm not able to keep up good pace.
It's safe to say I'm quite enjoying this race although I'm going to call it a night now and return again tomorrow, I hope to cover another 8 hours tomorrow although like today that might not go to plan but I want to cover at least 6 if possible.
3 hours and 49 laps complete
3 hours have now past and 49 laps complete, my lead is up to around 50 seconds now
I'm starting to consistently match or better the pace of the 2nd place car even though I'm having to run right at 100% due to me having to make more pitstops. This has caused some 'interesting' slides and spins including a relatively hefty but not race ending impact at the end of the porsche curves when the backend stepped away from me At the three hour point the sun is also starting to go down and shadows are becoming longer, it's still not dark enough for the cars to be running round with lights on though.
4 hours/66 laps complete
I'm now 4 hours (65 laps) into the race and I've somehow stretched my lead to 2 minutes 18 seconds over the past hour. I'm not sure how it's happened but it has.
I've had a close call where during one of my stops I entered the pits and the amount of fuel I could have filled the tank with was a full 100 litres
plus a trip through the gravel at the start of the porsche curves trying to lap one of the Vipers for the millionth time The sunlight is diminishing rapidly now and hopefully soon the lights will come on
It's quite a spectacle to see and I'd tell anyone to do the race just to see the transition into the night.To answer bonobo4's question, It's due to a combination of: the time the audi spends in the pits, the time I spend in the pits, the length of the stint, the outright pace of the car and the average lap time over a stint.
The Audi has better outright pace but due to it staying out longer and running around on terribly worn tyres for quite some time I'm able to put it a faster more consistent average lap time over a stint so I'm pulling away because of that. I'm also pulling away because the length of time it takes to fill 65 litres in my car is a lot less than the time it takes for the Audi to (presumably) fill his tank with 90 to a full 100 litres. So that's how I'm managing to pull away, the Audi gains a lot of time on me though on my in lap (around 10-15 seconds) as I fight the car back to the pits, the same happens when the roles are reversed though although I think the Audi is a lot easier on it's tyres.
I also have a question, to anyone who knows the 787B, what is the counter that counts down from 99:00 to 00:00 in the center of the dashboard all about?
I'd like to thank everyone for there interest in reading this and there encouragement
5 hours/81 laps in
Just passed the 5 hour mark (81 laps), I now have a 3minute 17 second lead, I seem to be pulling out a minute every hour now, I'm quite certain this is due to gaining around 50 seconds in the pits and 10 on track judging by how the gap changes over time.
It's properly dark now (well except the sky) I expect I'll start to run a few seconds a lap slower when the darkness reaches it's maximum but I'm still lapping around the 3:30 mark, It's looking good for victory
Oh and I ran out of fuel at the end of my last stint
luckily I was at the end of the Porsche curves when it happened so I coasted back to the pits. I put in 66 litres at the stop this time just to be sure it doesn't happen again.6 hours (1/4 of the way in)/ 98 laps
I've reached the 1/4 way marker of 6 hours now
I've completed 98 laps so far, So I think the finishing lap will be lap 392. I have a 3 minute 20 second lead as of writing although that's not truly representative as I have been 1 Lap ahead (before my last pitstop on lap 96). The night has well and truly fell now and it's pitch black all around the track, I've only been caught out once though at Indianapolis where a firework distracted me
They do look truly spectacular though 7 hours /114 laps
7 hours/114 laps in now, my lead has grown to 1 lap
and I've also achieved my fastest lap in the dark of a 3:26.661 which I was quite pleased with I think I'll squeeze in another hour or two today and then leave it until tomorrow as my arms need a bit of a rest I think The 787B is running well now, I've managed to lessen the wear on the tyres by upshifting early however it is suffering some mild panel damage due to spins, scrapes and contact with traffic (primarily in the Ford chicane).
8 hours /131 laps
8 hours have now passed/131 laps (1/3 full distance) and I still hold a laps lead over the Audi R8, The fireworks stopped pretty much bang on the hour (which I presume would be 12 midnight if the race started at 4 like I think it does
) and the sky has turned ominously cloudy Anyway that's a problem for me to worry about tomorrow as I'm off to bed now having achieved my objective of covering 6 hours today. It's fair to say my thumbs and arms hurt from the wheel but that should be gone by tomorrow. I've had fun doing this race and writing up so far so I'll be sure to continue tomorrow
9 hours /148 laps
Just passed the 9 hour mark/148 laps, I still have a lead of over a lap, other than a few minor spins and brushes with the wall I have little else to say
I'll maybe do another hour tonight but I'm quite tired so there's the possibility that I wont manage it.10 hours /163 laps
10 hours/163 laps in now and that's definitely me done for the night. I've made good progress though extending my lead (as far as I can tell) I'm nearly at the half way point that I will hopefully reach tomorrow night, anyhow, I'm off for the night and I'll continue once more tomorrow
11 hours /180 laps
11 hours have now passed /180 laps
I've had the usual re-acustomising accidents/spins this past hour but it's to be expected as usual. It's still dark and shows no sign of morning (it is probably about 3am though to be fair ). My lead has grown to nearly 2 laps on the Audi R8 behind me and to illustrate the differences in pit times I came across a good example. I entered the pits and passed a Viper that had just finished having its tyres changed (maybe about 10-15 seconds he'd already been stationary) so as I pulled into my pit box I saw the Viper drop to the floor to finish refuelling. I then proceeded to have a full tyre change and fill 65 litres of fuel, exit the pits and it was only by the time I'd reached the Dunlop bridge (another 10 seconds or so) that I saw the Viper start to move out of the pitlane. This shows how much of an advantage I'm gaining by taking on less fuel than the R8 in second place and explains my lead of nearly 2 laps over an 11 hour period (for those that were wondering earlier)
12 hours /196 laps (Half way point
) 12 hour mark (196 laps) has been reached!
I am now past the halfway point which I'm very happy about I'll be continuing on to do another hour tonight (maybe 2 if I feel up to it). Not much to say apart from that it's still very dark and I had a slight incident with the McLaren as it left the pits (he swerved across my line and I clipped him sending me into a spin).
Oh and my lead has reached 2 laps so I have a decent lead but for a 24 hour race to only be separated by 2 laps at 12 hours is pretty close I think really.
13 hours /214 laps
13 hours and 213 laps have now passed and I'm pleased to say... The sun is coming up
Dawn began to break around 30 minutes into the hour and by the end of it it's pretty light now, still no sign of the sun but the sky is blue and visibility is good.I had a slight coming together which has put quite a dent in the front left corner (I was overtaking the Pescorolo). I tried to go up the inside of him but the gap was too small and I did some damage to both cars, the Pescorolo's wing and diffusor is bent and the left headlight area on the 787B is out of shape
14 hours /229 laps
14 hours /229 laps complete. It sounds odd to say with 10 hours remaining but I believe the end is in sight
I still lead by 2 laps and set my fastest lap during the first minutes of the hour of 3:24.238, due to trying to set a quick time I did however run out of fuel midway through the porsche curves
The sun is now visible in the sky at the lights on the cars have gone out so it's pretty bright now
15 hours /245 laps
15 hours / 245 laps complete now, seems like these last hours are going pretty fast
My lead is now up to 3 laps too
16 hours /262 laps
16 hours /261 laps completed now, no sign of rain as far as I can see, no real headaches this hour apart from that it was a bit fragmented and took a long time to do (I was busy). I've only done a few hours tonight but I'll probably make it to 20 hours tomorrow night and the final 4 will be done on friday.
17 hours /278 laps
17 hours /278 laps complete. Not much to say apart from the track is fully in the sunshine now, no sign of rain up ahead and my lead is still around 3 laps or so. I'll be trying to complete the race today but I still have another 7 hours to go
18 hours /294 laps
18 hours /294 laps complete, the end is getting near, not much to say this hour apart from that, oh and a frightening incident at the first porsche curve where I just clipped the grass and span into the tyre wall
19 hours /310 laps
19 hours /310 laps completed now. If I'm honest I just want it to end now
I'm definitely going to try and get it finished tonight although that might be a big ask to do.I still lead by 3 nearly 4 laps now and no sign of rain so I'm hopeful of making it to the end without rain
20 hours /327 laps
20 hours /327 laps complete! only 4 more hours to go now
The lead is up to 4 laps, no rain in sight, no real events this hour apart from managing to stretch the lead to 4 laps.
The end is in sight now though
The poor 787B is looking a bit battered now though 21 hours /343 laps
21 hours complete and 343 laps, I set my fastest lap during the last stint of a 3:22.896
I'm quite impressed by that as I didn't think the 787B would be capable of such a time on Racing Hard tyres 22 hours /260 laps
22 hours /360 laps complete now, I had a terrible first stint in this hour where I lost a full 2 minutes on 2nd place due to overdriving the car.
I'm glad this is nearly at an end though I have to say, I want to play more of the game than just this race
23 hours /376 laps, Only 1 hour remains!
23 hours /376 laps complete! 1 hour remains and it's a joyous sight to see that counter counting down on the screen
The oil light came on about 10 minutes into the hour (which took a lot longer than I expected) nothing to worry about though.
I still hold a 4 lap lead heading into the final hour which I will complete now
24 hours /392 laps THE FINISH!
24 hours /392 laps FINISH!!!
Well I've made it to the end of what was an epic race to say the least.
The 787B did me proud and took me to a 5 lap victory over the nearest rival ('01 Audi R8)
I'll do a proper writeup of results tomorrow but I'm off to bed now as I'm knackered
I'd like to thank all the support I've received from everyone on here for embarking upon this race, you've all kept me going even during the dull hours when I wanted to give up
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