Learnt early on in practice that the GT LM feels slippery around the technical sections of Fuji, a missile down the straight and more settled on brake balance 0. Was a bit more confident going into Manufacturers this time than with the Gr.4 round on the short circuit, but the race itself was, to put it kindly, an interesting one.
15:20 Manufacturers
Entered the 15:20 slot alongside
@Ashthebash 'wi-fi password' and my Swiss teammate. Bottled my first lap at the first corner, but reset and put in a respectable 1:39.304 with no slipstream (Dutch Audi was in front, but pulled over before we even got to the timing line!
). Stayed out to attempt a second lap, which would have probably given me at least 1 tenth up had I not overcooked my entry into the Dunlop chicane. Reset a second time, but felt it was too late at that point to start another flier. While I was only four-and-a-half tenths off the polesitting Corvette and my 2nd-placed teammate, my solitary lap would wind me up in 15th.
The first lap didn't help my frustration, either. Had sought to take a cautious approach from the start, which a Greek Porsche and the Dutch Audi were eager to capitalise on with passes at Turns 1 and 6 respectively. Outbraked myself going into Dunlop and somehow clipped the back of the Audi as I took avoiding action. It was the lightest of touches, and the Audi didn't seem too badly affected, but it was enough to slap me with a 1-second penalty which put me down to 19th. For a while, I genuinely believed there was no contact as I didn't notice the 'thump' until going through my onboard capture afterwards. It seemed like this was turning out to be another wasted run, but the penalty, as it soon turned out, was only a temporary setback.
At Turn 1, 'Wifi password' spin offs after outbreaking and colliding with a Subaru. Next, a chain reaction of events leading up to Turn 6 results in a Porsche rage-quitting and causing a hold-up which leads to a teammate and the Subaru picking up penalties as well. Yellow flags throughout the third sector. Another Porsche crawls along pit entry with a penalty of his own. Just like that, we slingshot into 13th, clocking purple first sectors in pursuit of a British Porsche. Could see a long train of cars stretching as far up as 4th place, and made further gains on Lap 4 as the Porsche dived down the inside of Panasonic and cruelly nudged ashthebash out of 10th. What followed was a hunt for the two Ferraris and Dutch Audi up ahead, although not without a brief challenge from ashthebash at Dunlop. Clocked a 1:39.880 (just under two-tenths off the provisional fastest set by the Corvette), and came close to slipstreaming my way past the Frenchman soon after.
Witnessed a new train for 6th forming by the half-way mark, and sensed a new opportunity to fight when both Ferraris got held up by a struggling BTCC-liveried M6. This, though, allowed a Spanish Porsche and ashthebash to catch up; the Spaniard lunges up the inside at Turn 13, but I hang on and get clear while ashthebash gets biffed into oblivion again. Next lap through the third sector was even more tense. Followed the red Ferrari and saw the silver one go wide after he and the Dutch Audi make contact coming out of Dunlop. The Audi goes very wide through Turn 13, and in avoiding the silver Ferrari I lose two places to both the Spanish and British Porsches at 14 and 15. Reclaimed 12th on the exit of Panasonic and while in the slipstream of the distant BMW. The last thing I wanted was for the Dutch Audi to cut me off down the straight, which thankfully never occurred as I briefly pulled ahead of him as well. Audi was more adventurous on the brakes, but that didn't matter; he had to serve a track limits penalty and the silver Ferrari had gone wide at Turn 1 anyway.
Just managed to stay in front of the Ferrari as he re-joined, which put me up to 10th as the Audi slowed. The battle wasn't over, however. Started Lap 13 lightly bump-drafting the BMW, having set a new personal fastest of 1:39.872 in the process. In my mirror, I spot the Ferrari making a very late lunge down the inside of Turn 1; still, I get a better drive and he has the courtesy to back out before we reach Coca-Cola. Next few laps were spent trying to maintain the gap between myself, the Ferrari and the Dutch Audi, while also avoiding the BMW as he twitched his way out of Turn 15. Earlier on, I had almost lost it myself on the kerb between Coca-Cola and 100R, and did the very same thing again on the penultimate lap. First time I just about got away with it, but the second, it was enough for the silver Ferrari to sweep past me. Kept the pressure going on him and his Slovenian teammate until the end.
Can't say I enjoyed this run much with mediocre qualifying (again) and shabby manoeuvres up and down the pack. On the whole, however, the Ford worked very similarly to how it did in the test runs I mustered during the recent heatwave. Plus, it looked after its tyres as well as the silver Ferrari and was still fairly stable providing I didn't get greedy with the kerbs. 10th place and 172 points. Thought about going again in the 20:40 slot, but it occurred to me while preparing this write-up that I now have enough top-10 finishes to cover me when the final scores are tallied up. Really want to try and get a podium or two before Stage 3 wraps up, but with the way things have gone I don't think I'm the strongest Ford driver to do it this year. It's possible, though... my Swiss teammate followed the Corvette home exactly where he started.
Apologised afterwards so better than nothing I guess)
Also if you're side by side through the squiggly bit after the backstraight, best to back off because if you touch and the other guy even touches the sand with 2 wheels, you will get a penalty
). Pretty much held station the whole race and finished 3rd. Not bad for Slowbaru considering I lost 0.3 sec on the main straight alone
