"Devil's Own Races"

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D.Pritchard

D.Pritchard

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DannyPritchard
Ok, race #1 was held at El Capitan. Here is the finishing order and cars used.

1st Leland ------ Loctite Mugen NSX
2nd Nick---------Castrol Tom's Supra '01
3rd Ramon-------Tom's Woodone Supra
4th Kevin--------Calsonic Skyline
5th Will----------Mobil One NSX

Due to a good qualifying run and a lucky roll of the dice I was able to pick one of my favorite cars for this, one of my favorite tracks. With this combination I was able to come from the rear of the starting grid take the lead and never look back. Lapping Will on the last lap was the culmination of a great start to the weekend. For now.

The rest of the guys will have to fill in the details as I believe there was a heated battle for 2nd-4th.
 
Race #2 at Grand Valley

1st Nick------Denso Sard Supra
2nd Ramon----Xanavi Hiroto GT-R
3rd Kevin-----Loctite Zexel GT-R
4th Will-------au Cerumo Supra
5th Leland----Castrol Tom's Supra '01

Not being one of my favorite tracks:yuck: I thought I would use the "super hard tire-no stop" strategy and try and squeak out a 3rd or 4th place finish:tup:. Then screwed up and started on hards, stopped once and came in last:tdown:. So much for the wonderful start to the weekend. Oh well, not every one can call it like Jenson Button can.

Even though I was doing such a good job bringing up the rear I could see Nick absolutely running away with it, and there was again, I believe, some heated racing for the 2nd-4th positions, descriptions of which I will leave to the drivers involved.
 
Race #3 Infineon Sports Car

1st Nick------M3 GTR
2nd Leland----au Cerumo Supra
3rd Kevin-----Castrol Tom's Supra '01
4th Ramon----Mobil One NSX
5th Will-------Loctite Zexel GT-R

This was a great race. Due to the finishing order of the last race I was able to start up front. Nick started in the rear but battled his way up front and caught me just before we pitted together at the end of lap 8. He had the upper hand on the higher speed corner sections and during braking, but then the torquey little Supra would get off the tighter stuff with a bit more ummff. I was able to run a good tight line and Nick was having trouble finding a way around with out flat-out punting me. Good clean racing, don't you just love it?👍 Then came the final lap and sure enough turn 10 reared it's ugly head and bit me on the ***. Giving Nick enough of an edge to get around me into turn 11. The drag race to the finish was a good one with Nick edging me out by .011. Came in 2nd but THAT was good racing!
 
The "Ring".

1st Nick------Takata Dome
2nd Leland----CLK touring car
3rd Kevin-----M3 GTR
4th Ramon----Denso Sard Supra GT
5th Will-------Astra touring car

I was hoping to see all three German cars on this track and with a little cajoling we were able to convince Will that the Opel was the car of choice from the "group" he had to choose from. Guess we should have left well enough alone, huh Will?

This was most memorable due to the fact that the governing console decided somewhere during the 9th lap that it would pour molasses over everything, or as I thought, dropped us to 20 fathoms and said "race in this". Steering got heavy, turn in points changed completely, braking all but disappeared, and acceleration left a lot to be desired. :crazy:

So we started over. Thinking that we had gone on to lap 9, 6 to go, I only had to make one more stop and things were good. Alas it was not to be so.:( Only getting 3 laps out of a set of tires, and the group deciding to go 7 laps, I was going to have to make 2 more stops. Kevin and Nick were running on a 4 lap tire strategy and so were good to the end. I had built up enough of a lead pre-"restart" that I could have held onto my 2nd place finish. Not so I felt with 7 laps to run. So I ran the 🤬 out of the first set of tires, building the lead back up enough so that I could cruise the last 4, adding 8 seconds to my lap times, and preserve the 2nd place finish.

I think Ramon and Kevin had some tight racing there for awhile, didn't you guys?
 
The Astra is a dog. YOu're making me really jealous for our LAN in a couple of weeks.
 
Sureboss
The Astra is a dog. YOu're making me really jealous for our LAN in a couple of weeks.
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You're right, the Astra is not the fastest car on the track. But he had a choice between that, the '01 Tom's Supra and the Xanavi Hiroto GT-R. Our point was that the other 2 cars would be even worse for taking 15 laps around Nurb. The JGTC cars have a tendency to turn the Kerbs into Jumps there. :dopey:

Leland - Nice write ups so far. I'll weigh in on some of these a little later. I'm waiting until you get Opera Paris posted. ;)
 
Apricot Hill

1st Nick-----Pennzoil Zexel GT-R
2nd Leland---M3 GTR
3rd Will------Takata Dome
4th Kevin----CLK touring car
5th Ramon---Astra touring car

Another win for Nick, although not without it's moments. I am sorry to say that on either lap one or two I missed turn 5 and went way wide coming out, knowing full well who was screaming up from behind, and ended up forcing Nick out into the dirt 👍 👎 :indiff: whatever. Like that would stop, or even slow him down. He eventually caught back up and with Will in the Takata, and myself in the M3, made it a good three way battle for the lead. That is right up until the time Will went wide on the final corner, bounced off the outside wall and T-boned himself on the pit entrance wall. Very well choreographed my friend 👍 practice that long? :) Not sure what Kevin and Ramon were up to, but I am sure they could fill in the blanks.
 
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Seattle

1st Leland---Tom's WoodOne Supra
2nd Kevin----Astra touring car
3rd Will------Pennzoil Zexel GT-R
4th Nick-----CLK touring car
5th Ramon---Loctite Zexel GT-R

The Astra is not a dog! If it were not for the extra power I had in the WoodOne, Kevin would have walked away with this one. Home track not with standing. Not sure what went on behind us but I was pleasantly surprised when the WoodOne got good enough tire wear for a one stop race.
 
Let's see, I believe that was it for Saturday. Next up Sunday's races. Gotta go to the Shark's game. See you guy's later.:)
 
Geez, try to yank a guys chain and he doesn't even take the bait. C'mon Kevin you know that Opera House was the last race on Saturday. I know you've been waiting for it. Alright, alright I'll get to it. But first a word from our sponsors.
 
Actually I wanted to talk about the grid shuffling. I don't know how prevalent it is, but I had never seen it before, and I thought we did great. We never ran into each other, things went smooth, and the replays were quite cool to watch. That last one of the Trial Mountain re-run I thought was the best. The perfectly placed computer aided grid, everyone shuffling to a new position, almost like it was choreographed, and then wa-la another perfect grid. OK, OK I'm getting there.

If you want to see the starting positions it was finishing order from the last race, reversed.
 
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Opera House

1st Kevin----Takata Dome
2nd Leland---Denso Sard Supra
3rd Will------Pennzoil Zexel GT-R
4th Nick-----Mobil One NSX
5th Ramon---M3 GTR

I'll let Kevin talk about what he pulled off, but it was something I had hoped to see from this format. What I will say is that prior to the start of the race Nick says "this is such a tight track there's no where to pass". :yuck: After which he and I proceeded to battle for second behind Kevin, sometimes trading positions twice in one lap. Talk about a knock down drag out fight, capitalizing on each others mistakes, attempting passes at the slightest hint of an opening, back and forth lap after lap, and then Kevin and I pitted.

Nick kept going and we thought he was running hards, looking for a win with the "no stop" strategy. No such luck, for him. 👍 He was on mediums like I was and unfortunately they turned red, what was it 2 laps from the end? Next thing he knows he is swapping ends, twice before he can get back for fresh rubber. And, well you can see by his finishing position, sometimes the gamble just doesn't pay off.
 
Iirc, the only good place is under braking down in to the sharp righthander at the end of the long-kinked straight at the back of the circuit. Though it is very bumpy, so you need to threshold a bit under braking, instead of slapping that pedal.
 
Sureboss
Iirc, the only good place is under braking down in to the sharp righthander at the end of the long-kinked straight at the back of the circuit. Though it is very bumpy, so you need to threshold a bit under braking, instead of slapping that pedal.
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Yeah that's one, or if you can catch him going wide in the turns 4/5 chicane complex you can scoot under him through 5 just before the short chute down towards 6 and 7.
 
Motegi Speedway

1st Will-----Loctite Mugen NSX
2nd Kevin---Mobil One NSX
3rd Leland---Xanavi Hiroto GT-R
4th Nick-----Calsonic Skyline
5th Ramon---Castrol Tom's Supra '01

Another example of strategy, nice job Will. 👍 Will Ran off in the NSX and left Kevin, Nick and I to battle it out NASCAR style for 2nd-4th. We actually talked about running this again at the end as an extra, with all participants on equal tires, but ended up re-running a different race.
 
D.Pritchard
Motegi Speedway

1st Will-----Loctite Mugen NSX
2nd Kevin---Mobil One NSX
3rd Leland---Xanavi Hiroto GT-R
4th Nick-----Calsonic Skyline
5th Ramon---Castrol Tom's Supra '01

Another example of strategy, nice job Will. 👍 Will Ran off in the NSX and left Kevin, Nick and I to battle it out NASCAR style for 2nd-4th. We actually talked about running this again at the end as an extra, with all participants on equal tires, but ended up re-running a different race.
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Motegi can be great for LAN's and it can be aggrevating. It's great in the sense that using the right driving line WILL get rewarded (inside, always the inside!). And its poor in the sense that the tight turns just scream, "Hit my rear quarter-panel because you think I'm gonna take the turn wide" :/ But with clean drivers on the track (all y'all I'm sure :)) Motegi is probably in the top 3 places to LAN...along with Grand Valley and Sarthe (chicaned) imo of course.

Jerome
 
Deep Forest

1st Nick------Loctite Zexel GT-R
2nd Leland----Astra touring car
3rd Kevin-----Pennzoil Zexel GT-R
4th Ramon----CLK touring car
5th Will-------Castrol Tom's Supra '00

Another mistake on my part. I was having so much fun battling for the lead with Nick and Kevin that I didn't realize Kevin was ducking into the pits on lap 7 and I was on a lap 8 stop strategy. Not sure if I could have hung with Nick for the win, but oh well, "C'est la vie".
 
Mid Field

1st Kevin----Xanavi Hiroto GT-R
2nd Leland---Pennzoil Zexel GT-R
3rd Will------CLK touring car
4th Nick------Castrol Tom's Supra '00
5th Ramon---Takata Dome

Kevin, Will and I were having a great battle for the lead in this one, until Will had a bobble and it was up to Kevin and I. He kept beating me in turn 3, turn 8 normal as we were running in reverse, finally I stayed behind him long enough to school myself on his line and that was that. He got around me one last time and on the last lap I was running him down only to screw up totally turn 5 into the tunnel and looped it. :grumpy: Screwed up sooooo baaaaad that Will got around me before I could grab a gear and go. No prob, ran him down, drafted down the front stretch, damn that thing seems long sometimes, and got around him to cross the line in 2nd, just barely.
 
Cote d' Azur (pfff Monaco)

1st Leland---Mobil One NSX
2nd Kevin----Loctite Mugen NSX
3rd Nick------Astra touring car
4th Ramon---Calsonic Skyline
5th Will------Xanavi Hiroto

This one was memorable because prior to the start Ramon sitting right next to me says something about knowing that he didn't have much of a chance so he would run soft tires and see if he couldn't pull one over on us. I love this track, tight, technical, and I don't need to tell any of you about the history. Came through the pack and was hunting Ramon down when through Piscine I got a run on him and passed going into Rascasse. He fought back and due to a combination of his patented bonzai move into the turns and my not realizing he was as close as he was, he hit the inside wall going into Anthony Noghes, pushed me into the outside wall and Kevin got around both of us. Spent the rest of the race chasing down Kevin only to have the same thing happen to him in Piscine as Ramon, letting me get on his bumper, he went wide through Rascasse giving me my chance to get inside of him. I believe we went into Anthony Noghes side by side and I came out ahead, my tires were just a little better and got more bite coming off the corner to take the win.
 
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Laguna Seca

1st Kevin----au Cerumo Supra
2nd Nick-----Xanavi Hiroto GT-R
3rd Leland---Castrol Tom's Supra '01
4th Ramon---Pennzoil Zexel GT-R
5th Will------M3 GTR

I believe this is the one where Nick and I were trying to chase Kevin down only to wreck going into the pits, maybe it was just me. :dunce: I do know that not having practiced pitting on this track was a definite mistake.
 
Trial Mountain

1st Nick------au Cerumo Supra
2nd Leland---Calsonic Skyline
3rd Kevin-----Castrol Tom's Supra '00
4th Ramon----Castrol Tom's Supra '01
5th Will-------Denso Sard Supra

Thought I would try running soft tires for this one. Scooted out to a pretty good lead, but not enough for the win. No biggie, the controlling console decided on a premature stop to the festivities, with something like 5 to go. :irked: No one thought there would be any significant changes in the running order so we just went with it as it was.

This race we did re-run at the conclusion of the event. This time I ran medium tires and was able to pull of the win. Not with out tribulations though. Kevin and I ran off and duked it out after Will tried to jump the chicane onto the front stretch on lap one. I scooted under him, and I believe Kevin just got by, but Nick wasn't so lucky. After pit stops I knew Nick was behind me, and the distance would close up, and then lengthen. I could just barely see him in the rear-view coming onto the front stretch behind me. Even though we were a ways apart, watching the separation time changing lap by lap, sector by sector, was a bit nerve racking. I would make a mistake and it would close, then he would flub up and it would lengthen back out. Kind of interesting racing someone who was between 2-3 secs behind who I could see back there, and then knowing on the last lap that he wasn't going to catch me. Unless I pulled another Infineon turn 10, I was good. Shame we didn't count this one, I could have used the points
 
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Sarthe I

1st Nick------Tom's WoodOne Supra
2nd Leland---Takata Dome NSX
3rd Will-------Tom's WoodOne Supra
4th Ramon----au Cerumo Supra
5th Kevin-----Denso Sard Supra

Nick, Will, and I all had good fast cars saved for this one. The memory is getting fuzzy, but I think I ran soft tires again and ended up pitting more often. Anyone got more to add I would appreciate help filling in the details. Need to take more extensive, Larry Mac Reynolds style notes next time.
 
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Tokyo Rt 246

1st Nick-----Loctite Mugen NSX
2nd Leland---Loctite Zexel GT-R
3rd Kevin----Tom's WoodOne Supra
4th Ramon---Loctite Mugen NSX
5th Will------Calsonic Skyline

Another example of how not practicing pit stops prior to the event can hurt you. When I came in Nick was hot on my heels so that when I clipped one of the inner walls he got around me, in pit lane! 🤬 He was able to get away with it because the computer had not taken over pitting procedure yet. Couldn't catch him after but at least I didn't lose any more spots. :dunce:
 
Over all points

1st Nick----60
2nd Leland--58
3rd Kevin---51
4th Will-----30
5th Ramon--26

Congratulations Nick :cheers: Good racing!

I don't think we had as many duplicate car races as I feared. I thought the format worked, and might try it again sometime, with lower horse power race cars or even street cars that match up well. Some people like the idea of a full access pick and mix, but I think adding the groupings brings a little spice and interest to the whole event. You don't always get the exact car you want and have to make do, maybe depend on your driving skill a little more. Tire strategy also found it's way in to the mix. I liked that. As my first go at organizing an event, I'm going to mark it down as a success. Thanks to all who participated, and I look forward to racing you all in person sometime soon. 👍
 
You guys let "HIM" win? It's cause he's a super mod isn't it :p Sounds like you found your groove Nick, way to go mate! I was wondering....whats the policy on packing beer on flights you think? Not as a carry on but in the luggage that gets checked in...course I'd have to wrap them in a bit of bubble wrap :scared: Would love to bring down some of that Ropewalk we had at Bridgeport the next time I come down. Looks like you all had a great time :cheers:

Jerome
 
Leland: First of all, thanks ever so much for organising, hosting and feeding us (Kevin for the Tri-Tip too!) over the Devil's Own weekend. As you've already shown, we had some monumental races, and I know you all appreciate my cleanliness and fairness as a racer, and that I can be an intimidating prescence when parked 6" from your ass at 150+mph!

Sadly, I've hit a really bad patch right now in terms of work, and I can't say all that I want to say about the races you've described. I will be back here and I will do your reports justice, and let the :gtplanet: world know just how damned close you ran me in this event :nervous: but I have to get 1 or 2 real-life things sorted first.
 
Hope all turns out well buddy 👍

Jerome
 

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