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It doesn't get bigger than this: The Formula GT World Championship. 15 circuits and a lot of miles of racing to come.
I have won this championship once before in a Nissan R89C Race Car. The margin in the end was 28 points (114-86). I won 10 races, including the first 7. I finished on the podium in 11 out of 15 races.
But now for a new challenge with a slightly slower car than the R89:
Pescarolo Courage C60 Race Car
With a new cars comes new rules in order to make the championship a little more strategic and exciting:
Rules:
Qualifying is 10% of race distance. For example, if the race is 60 laps, then I get 6 qualifying laps.
I must qualify on hard (R2) tyres. If I am more than a second per minute quicker than the opposition, then I must take a 200kg ballast penalty but still keep my pole position. For example, most laps are between 1 and 2 minutes long. If I qualify more than 2 seconds faster than the next car then I will receive the ballast penalty. For the Nurburgring, which is between 5-6 minutes, I will receive a penalty if I qualify 6 seconds faster than the next car.
During the race, I must use all three types of tyre (R1, R2, and R3) for at least 10% of the race. I can start the race on any tyre.
No power boost is allowed in either qualifying or the race.
Round 1: Tokyo R246 (60 laps) - Wednesday, August 4, 2010. 840 hp
Qualifying: 6th
Race: 6th (+2 laps)
My fastest Lap: 1:19.371
A1 fastest lap: 1:20.316
A 1:21 lap puts me 0.7s behind pole position, and the field is so tight that I have to start last on the grid.
I battle for 4th for a while before making a slight error and dropping back to last. I have a couple of average laps and after 8 laps I am 11s down on the leader.
The front 4 cars pit on lap 11, which means they have to make 5 stops. The remaining 2 A1s pit on lap 12, leaving me 22s in the lead. I do a couple of fast laps before pitting for more R2s on lap 14. This car looks after its tyres very well.
I rejoin just behind the battle for 4th and 5th, 13s down on the leading 3 cars. This grows to 21s by lap 20. I am driving as hard as I can but the car is just not fast enough on R2 tyres.
I get faster as the fuel load burns off and after the A1 cars pit again, I hold on to a 15s lead before pitting for R3s on lap 27.
But, disaster!!! At the pitstop, my crew doesn't top up my fuel tank. I don't know why. Maybe, I pushed the button for not fueling, but I can't remember.
As the fuel tank was on empty when I came into the pits, the car runs out of gas just as I exit the pit lane. By the time I rejoin, I am two laps down. I solider on for the rest of the race, testing the car on R3 and R1 tyres.
As two of the A1 cars only do 4 pitstops, they catch up with the other AI cars and the positions 1-5 are covered by 3.5s at the finish of the race. I remained 2 laps down.
Anyway, I now know that the car is a little behind the pace on R2 tyres but is definitely faster than the A1s on R3s. I will try to do the absolute minimum amount of laps on R1s.
Round 2: Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway (127 laps) - Monday, August 9, 2010. Stage 4 turbo (995 hp), 117pts
Qualifying: 6th (27.532)
Race: 2nd
My fastest Lap: 27.205
A1 fastest lap: 26.711
I have more horsepower than the Formula cars but I lose a lot of time on the last corner. But I definitely have more tyre economy so it will be an interesting race!
I decide to start the race on R1s, to get them out of the way and hopefully the race will come to me later on.
After 10 laps I am 23s down and in danger of being lapped. The Formula cars pit on lap 13 and I pass them briefly as they exit the pits. They get back past me when we hit the final turn. I battle for 5th and 6th for a while before dropping back once I lose the slipstream. By the time the Formula cars make their second stop, I am 18s back. This time I take the lead by a comfortable margin. But the Formula cars soon erase their deficit and 4 of them fly past me on the final turn on lap 34 (the 6th place car is now way back). My fronts were just starting to show signs of wear and I was running low on fuel so I pit on lap 36 for R2s. My fastest lap on R1s was a 28.672.
I rejoin a lap down but after the Formula cars pit I am 16s down but with R3 tyres to come and a better tyre durability up my sleeve. After 50 laps I am 25s down and about to be lapped again but the Formula cars pit and emerge 4s behind me. I pit on lap 58 before I lose the lead, changing to R3 tyres for the rest of the race. My fastest lap on R2s was a 28.056.
I rejoin a lap down and this time the Formula cars emerge right in front of me when they rejoin from their 5th stops. I lead the race briefly before my R3s lose their grip and I come in on lap 74. The Formula cars exit from their own pitstops 6s in front of me this time. I actually close the gap by a tiny amount before pitting on lap 89. 15 laps seems to be about the limit on R3s. The Formula cars pit immediately afterwards and this time they come out 8s down the road so they are definitely gaining time on me in the pits. I am trying to put the minimal amount of fuel required into the car to save time in the pitstop.
We all pit again on lap 104 but this time I go back to R2s to try and get through without any more pitstops. The Formula cars are due in again on lap 117. I hope to not lose too much time to them. However, I rejoin 14s down the road and actually I put in much more fuel than I really needed. I am 21s down before the Formula cars pit for the final time. They rejoin 8s behind me! The chase is on with 9 laps to go!!!
With 5 laps to go, the gap is 6.4s. With 3 laps to go, its 5s. My front tyres are worn!!! Entering the last lap I am 2s ahead.
Midway through the last lap the gap is 1.4s. I thought I could hang on through the final turn but one of the Formula cars sneaks past me on the exit!!!! I finish in 2nd, 0.095s away from glory!!!🤬
The fatal mistake was putting in way too much fuel at the final pitstop. I had half a tank left at the end of the race. Dammit.
But, at least the car is competitive and it should be a good championship from here on.
Round 3: New York A (74 laps) - Friday, August 27, 2010. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 2nd (1:21.028)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:20.380
A1 fastest lap: 1:20.653
After the horrible choke at Motegi, Japan, I come to America after a lenghy layoff with fresh hopes.
Decide to start on R2 tyres this time. The heavy traffic at the start means that I would be under too much pressure with R1s and I might make a few mistakes.
I hold onto 2nd for the first 4 laps but I struggle to lap consistently and I eventually drop back into a fierce battle for 3rd place, 9s down on the leader after 8 laps.
The AIs pit on lap 12 and I pit a lap later for more R2s. This means that I can do the race on one less pitstop than the A1s, which could be crucial in the overall scheme of things.
I rejoin 8s down but small errors mean I am 13s down after 16 laps after falling back into the clutches of the 4th-placed car. The deficit grows to 17s by lap 24 and I compound matters by having a huge lose under braking for turn 1 after clipping the wall. After the leaders pit, I inherit a small 6s lead.
I then pit on lap 26 to put on R1s. I was debating whether to save them for later but I realise that it is better to get them out of the way. I hope I don't lose too much time.
I lose 3rd place almost immediately and I lap about 2s slower than the rest of the field. When the AIs pit on lap 36, I regain 3rd, but I am 15s down on the two leaders. The car is lighter on fuel now though, and I only lose 6s in the next 8 laps and when I pit on lap 44, I change to R3s, and hope I can get 3 10-lap stints out of them for the balance of the race. I rejoin in 4th, 44s from the lead.
I begin to lap in the 1:20s, taking time off the leaders and when they pit on lap 48, then rejoin only 11s in front of me!
I get the gap down to a tantalising 4s before pitting on lap 54. I rejoin 26s down in 3rd.
I make up more ground and this time when the leaders pit, they emerge 4s behind me. I am well on the way to my first victory of the championship, providing I don't make any big mistakes.
And so it proves. After making one more pitstop each, I eventually win by some 17s to put myself firmly in the championship hunt. It was a very interesting, strategic race
Round 4: High Speed Ring (77 laps) - Monday, August 30, 2010. 840hp, 200pts
Qualifying: 5th (56.356)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 55.416
A1 fastest lap: 55.403
I qualify 5th after an entertaining qualifying session where all six cars were within 0.7s of each other. It should be a close race full of slipstreaming and pit strategy.
Start on R1s which is why 200pts are on offer. With the simple nature of the track and the ability to catch the slipstreams of cars in front of me, not much time should be lost on the harder tyres.
I hang with the angry pack for the first 4 laps but quickly drop back and after a mistake at turn 2, I am 11s down after 8 laps. I can only lap in the 58s. So much for not losing too much time.
Three of the AIs pit on lap 12 and the other two pit a lap later, leaving me with a 20s lead. One of the AIs goes straight-past his pitbay without stopping and continues to do so. This glitch also happened the last time I did this race in a Nissan R89.
The AIs reduce my lead to 12s before I spin entering the tunnel just before my first pitstop. I pit straightaway for R2s and resume in 5th, but retake the lead as the AIs pit the next time round (lap 25). The AIs are spread-out over 10s now and I fight a two-way battle for the lead before being passed on lap 29. I try to keep up but the AIs have about a 0.5s speed advantage over me when I am on R2s.
The AIs pit on lap 38 this time round and due to my good tyre durability I am able to stay out for 4 more laps before pitting. Meanwhile, one of the other AIs has lost his marbles and is going in and out of the pits.
I rejoin neck-and-neck with the AI I was battling for the lead with before and we resume our duel. But, disaster! I am too wide entering the turn 1 sweeper and hit the outside wall that pokes out. I spin around a couple of times and resume 11s down but still in 2nd.🤬
The AIs pit on lap 51, which makes me wonder if they can indeed do this race with one remaining pitstop? I cut my stint short on lap 55 to chance to R3s with one more stop to go. I put in the minimal amount of fuel and once again resume right with the leading AI.
He pulls away at first as the R3s don't give me the gain I anticipated (as a sidenote, I change the oil after every race so perhaps at this stage the horsepower gain that I get has dropped away). But I get in his slipstream and pass him on the inside of the turn one sweeper on alp 63. I post a 55s lap for the first time. The AI pits on lap 64 for what looks to be the final time.
I myself pit for the final time on lap 66 and I cruise home to finally win by some 16s and take the championship lead!
All-in-all a fairly easy race to win, considering I had one huge spin and two minor mistakes which must have cost me at least 15 seconds in the overall scheme of things.
Round 5: Grand Valley Speedway (62 laps) - Wednesday, September 1, 2010. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: Pole (1:35.622)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:33.326
A1 fastest lap: 1:35.314
Struggled in qualifying until about halfway through the session. On my 7th and last lap I got pole by 0.022s!!! I decide to start on R2s.
As expected, I lose the start and cross the line for the first time in 2nd. I make a pass for the lead at the hairpin on lap 2 but I lose the lead when making a slight mistake under braking at turn 1 on the next lap. I get involved with a few squabbles for position and but soon settle down into 3rd, which becomes 1st when the AIs pit on lap 8.
I stay out until lap 10 but I spin on the outside of the last turn and end up facing the entrance to the pitlane! So, of course I pit and after a short top-up of fuel I emerge just the leader. We stay that way, with the 3rd-placed car giving me pressure from behind, all the way until lap 16, when the AIs pit again. This shows the equality of pace between myself and the Formula cars.
What I am hoping will win the day for me is my tyre durability and I put in a couple of hot laps before I pit again on lap 20. This time I return to the track clear in the lead, with a 8s margin.
The AIs pit again and I am left with a 45s+ lead with 1 less pitstop that the AIs remaining. This is already looking like a canter.
But this game has a strange way of showing you up when you get too cocky. The next stint is horrible, as I begin it by having a massive spin at the hairpin on my outlap and it doesn't get much better. I have about five little spins or offs and lose about 20s on my lead. I change to R1s on lap 40. With the long fuel top-up, my lead is further reduced to 19s. But I still have a one less pitstop to do that my competitors.
The R1s are painfully slow however, and the the AIs quickly catch-up to me. A spin didn't help and on lap 46 I am passed for the lead and momentarily leave the track. When I rejoin, the 3rd-placed car hits me from behind and I am deemed to have impeded him. So I let him through as well. By the time the leading AI pits on lap 48, he is 15s ahead of me! This is getting a lot closer that I expected.
I retake the lead but it is only 15s. It is whitted down to barely a car length by the time I pit for the final time on lap 55 for R3s. My fastest lap on R1s was a 1:38, 4s slower than my fastest time on R2s.
When the AIs pit I regain the lead and I hold my nerve until the end, with the help of the R3s, extending my lead to 18s by the conclusion of the race.
It was messy in the middle of the race and once again I should have won by a lot more. I look forward to a more complete driving performance at Circuit de la Sarthe.
Round 6: Circuit de la Sarthe (23 laps) - Monday, January 17, 2011. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 6th
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 3:17.005
A1 fastest lap: 3:16.187
After a lengthy lay-off, I return to the driver's seat at Le Mans. I am very rusty and this shows in qualifying and in the race itself.
Didn't really get a good lap in during qualifying. The car is lacking downforce compared to the Formula cars through the Porsche Curves so I start 6th.
I start on R2s and have a steady opening lap apart from being hit up the rear in the Porsche Curves whist running 5th. This is compounded by a huge spin at Indianapolis on the next lap. I am now more than 12s down on the leaders.
The next two laps are better and after the Formula cars pit at the end of lap 4, I suddenly have an 18s lead. How long can my R2s last for?
The answer is 7 laps! Even then, I only pit due to my need to top up my fuel. The R2s could have done another lap at least. I maintain the gap to my pursuers, and top up my fuel tank with more R2s to increase my advantage. I rejoin in 6th, 19s down on the leader. I almost kill myself when coming up the Mulsane, I zoom past a striken Formula car who was crawling up the side of the track. I miss him by a couple of inches! He regains his speed behind me, so I don't know what his problem was.
The Formula cars pit on lap 8 and I am in a clear lead but inexplicably I have a huge spin after the Dunlop bridge after getting a wheel off the track. Just a lack of concentration, thinking the race was already won. To compound matters, I rejoin the wrong track and have to reverse back onto the proper circuit, by which time I am back in 4th.
After another small error at Indianapolis, I am pitched into a battle for 4th which resolves, after much passing and re-passing, when the Formula cars pit again on lap 12.
Once again, I have an 18s lead. This becomes 25s when one of the lead cars has a problem with his refuelling and drops back.
I pit on lap 14, switching to R1s but this time I will only do the minimal requirement (i.e. 3 laps) for this set of tyres so I short-fuel and rejoin in 4th. This becomes 5th a few corners later as I am rounded-up by a Formula car with much warmer tyres.
Two of the leaders stay out for an extra lap instead of pitting as scheduled on lap 16. They pit, along with me, one lap later. I change to R3s for what I hope will be the final 6-lap stint. It will be touch-and-go if the R3s can hang-on. I rejoin in 6th, 24s down.
I am up to 5th on lap 19 when an out-of-sync Formula car pits. But I am making no progress on the leaders and my laptimes are only marginally faster than the ones I achieved on R2s. I put this down to a loss of horsepower, which is more noticeable on a track like this.
The leaders pit with two laps to go and I am left with a 10s lead. The R3s hang-in to such an extent that I do my fastest lap on the last lap of the race and win by 13s, which should have been a lot more if not for that horrible mistake on lap 9.
I hope to be back to my best for the next round at Monaco.
Round 7: Cote d'Azur (78 laps) - Wednesday, January 19, 2011. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 3rd (1:25.062)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:21.946
A1 fastest lap: 1:23.670
Improve lap-by-lap in the qualifying session and was on a very good lap at the end but made a slight error at the Swimming pool which maybe cost me pole position.
Start on R2s. I move into 2nd at the Grand Hotel hairpin on lap 2 but by this time the leader is already 4s down the road and flying. The car is handling very well but and I do a high 1:23s on lap 4 but after 5 laps the gap to the leader is 5s, with another healthy gap back to 3rd.
The next couple of laps are not as smooth and I drop another 5s and now have a couple of cars behind me. But the leader pits on lap 9 along with the other AIs. But the leader doesn't stop at his pitbay and instead goes through for another lap and does the same the next time around. I hate this glitch. Spoils a good race.
He spins in front of me, which holds me up momentarily. My rears are also shot and I pit for more R2s at the end of the 11th lap. 10 laps maximum for R2s, it seems. I make the mistake of topping up the fuel tank to maximum so lose time and end up exiting just behind the first 2 cars.
We all past the stricken leader, who still hasn't performed his actual pitstop, but I make a slight error on the final turn and drop back to 4th. I regain 3rd on lap 15 but am now 11s behind the leader. The car doesn't seem to be handling as well on this set of tyres.
I inherit 2nd due to a faster pitstop on lap 21 and now am 9s behind the leading AI. I struggle badly on cold tyres and the deficit grows to 15s by the time the leader pits.
I inherit a 10s lead and pit for R1s on lap 31, wishing to get this phrase over-and-done-with. Of course, I lose time to the leader. So much so, that he emerges with his lead intact after his 4th pitstop on lap 36. I was hoping to get in front of him and hold him off on my R1s until I pitted.
But the leader gets momentarily stuck behind the moving chicane that is the former leader, and I make an opportunistic pass at Portier. This lead only last for one lap before I am repassed. I pull into the pits, having done 9 laps on R1s, and change to R3s, perhaps for the remainder of the race.
I resume 22s behind the leader and actually take a while getting used to the new grip I have available. Once I do, I settle into 1:22s laps. I pass the leader just as he enters the first turn after his pitstop and he is no match for me in the next two laps. Warm R3s vs. cold R2s = a 14s lead for me in the space of 2 laps!
My R3 rears lose their grip and I have to pit on lap 48. 8 laps maximum for R3s. 7 laps, really, as I was sliding all over the place on my in-lap.
I resume in 2nd. There is now quite a large gap back to 3rd. In fact, the entire field is very spaced-out.
Here is the situation: The gap is 12s. The leader and I both have 3 more stops to perform. I will stop on laps 55, 62 and 69. My final 9-lap stint will have to be on R2s.
The leader will stop on laps 54, 63, and 72.
I hope to make up large amounts of time on him whilst he is on cold tyres. We are set for a thrilling last stanza!👍
Meanwhile, I make little impression on the leader. My driving has become somewhat sloppy as fatique sets in. I inherit the lead for one lap before giving it back on lap 54 when I pit. I am putting less and less fuel in the car; this time only topping up to 30/80 units. This means that I have closed the gap to 5 seconds!
The next few laps are some of the best racing of my career. I close right up but can't find a way past. I try a couple of half-hearted moves around the Grand Hotel hairpin and Portier, but my moment finally arrives on lap 60 when I slipstream him through the tunnel and just manage to brake soon enough for the chicane. He doesn't give up, though, and hounds me through the swimming pool section.
The next lap is my fastest of the race and the gap is quickly out to 3 seconds. After we pit on laps 62 and 63, I storm away to a 15s lead whilst my rival is on cold tyres. The gap stabilises and I pit on lap 69 for my final stint on R2s. Incredibly, we are both about three-quarters of a lap ahead of the 3rd-placed car.
I resume 7 seconds behind. When the AI pits, I inherit an 11s lead, which I extend to 13s by race end. With 2 laps to go, I also lap the 3rd and 4th-placed cars. The original leader of the race finishes 12 laps down. I'm not sure if he ever managed to stop at his pitbay.
I cross the line a very satisfied man. After a sloppy, error-ridden comeback drive at Le Mans, I am firmly back in form now. I made no big errors throughout the race and my strategy was about as perfect as it could be.
What won me the race was my speed whilst my rival had cold tyres on laps 46-47. Without that, he would have deservedly won. We were both light-years ahead of the next best.
A very good race. See you at Seoul!
Round 8: Seoul Central (113 laps) - Friday, January 21, 2011. 840hp, 149pts
Qualifying: 2nd (47.460)
Race: 3rd
My fastest Lap: 46.764
A1 fastest lap: 47.185
After a very competitive qualifying session, I end up 2nd, losing out on pole by 0.087s! But, a much better result than what I expected since I struggled at this track the previous time with the faster Nissan R89, in which I finished a lowly 5th. I will start on R3s in an attempt to get a break on the field so I can run my R2 and R1s in clean air. This will all come down to how much tire wear advantage I will have on the Formula cars.
Because I start on R3s, I get less A-spec points. But it's championship points that are the main focus here.👍
I make a pass for the leader on lap 2 after getting more traction out of the hairpin. I pull away to almost a 3 second lead before making a mistake on lap 5 at the chicane at the back of the circuit. This whittles my lead down to nothing and I have to build it up all over again. But I struggle to do so. My confidence is a little down after my mistake and the Formula cars' tyres have obviously warmed up by this stage. After 10 laps my lead is 1.8s and after 15 laps 4.2s.
I pit on lap 20 as I feel my R3 rear just ever so slightly getting past their use-by-date. Amazingly, the other Formula cars all follow me in! My R3s last as long as their control tyres!!! This is massive for me.
I extend my lead to 15s before pitting again on lap 39, the Formula cars pitting a lap later. I am also making up ground due to not refuelling to the max like the Formula cars do.
By the end of my third stint on R3s, I have lapped the bottom 2 cars and my lead is over 30s and I decide that it's time for R2s. I put a little more fuel in the tank this time and set-off on a new phrase in the race.
I lap about a second slower than I did on R3s, and my lead is actually cut to 22s. I stretch out my stint until lap 85, lapping the 2nd-placed car a couple of laps beforehand (or course, the Formula cars performed their 4th stop before I did). I pit for the last time and change to R1s for the long-stint home.
Now the car feels horrible!
No grip whatsoever. I resume with a 12s lead but I have lost it by lap 90! I am basically 3 seconds a lap slower than the Formula cars. I have a crucial decision to make: do I continue on R1s to the end of the race and hope to hold out the Formula cars after they make their one remaining pitstop? Or do I do the minimum amount of laps required for R1s (12 laps) before pitting in and changing back to R3s?
I decide to stay out there and guts it out, for better or worse, knowing that my pace on R1s will only improve as the tyres finally get up to working temperature. I am down to 4th by lap 96, trailing the leader by 13s, but the leader pits the next time around, followed by two other front-running cars on lap 100. I have my lead back, but it is only 12 seconds. In no time at all my pursuer is right on my tail.We have a lapped car between us, and I actually hold them both off for more than 5 laps. By lap 109 I start thinking I might actually win this. Alas, I clip the wall around the back of the circuit and the Formula car sneaks up the inside to pass me. I remain in his slipstream for the long main straight and pull up beside him at the hairpin. I am not giving this up! We bang wheels as we go side-by-side up the back chute towards the chicane. I just get my nose in front. We enter the chicane and my lack of grip allows him to get back up the inside as we exit the corner. Again we bang wheels but this time I spin across his nose and end up facing the wrong way.👎
Just a couple of laps from home. Dismayed, I limp through the final 2 laps, just holding out the 4th-placed Formula car. The top 4 cars finish within 10.6 seconds of each other. An epic race. You win some, you lose some. I think I had the right stragegy. Maybe I should have done one more stint on R3s until lap 80, followed by short, minimum length bursts on the R2s and R1s. Hindsight is 20/20, aye?👍
The winner of the race was actually in 5th place in the championship, so my overall lead was not dented as much as I feared.
Standings after 8 of 16 races:
Pescarolo Courage C60 Race Car 61
Formula Gran Turismo 39
Formula Gran Turismo 31
Formula Gran Turismo 31
Formula Gran Turismo 28
Formula Gran Turismo 19
Round 9: Infineon Raceway: Sports Car Course (76 laps) - Sunday, March 6, 2011. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 1ST (1:13.846)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:14.579
A1 fastest lap: 1:17.311
Back after another lenghty break. Now I enter the second half of the season. I set my gear ratios too low for qualifying and my top speed is capped, which costs me valuable time. I also notice after the session that my ride height was also way too high. I should check them more carefully. The track is also very tricky and it was difficult to get a perfect lap in. I have many offs at first right-hander in particular.
I decide to start on R2s. I am confident I can put up a good showing, with my adjusted settings.
I used my cold tyre pace to make up 2 positions in the first 2 laps and I also gain a bonus position when a leading car spins. By this, however, the front two cars are already 7 seconds up the road and I settle down to consistent 1:18s laps. I gain ground on the leaders when their tyres wear out and they pit on lap 10, as do all the AIs.
I stay out until lap 12 and pit for R1s. I do not refuel, as I will only do the minimum required laps (8) on these tyres.
I rejoin just behind the two leaders but immediately I spin out exiting turn 2. The R1s are a disaster and after another spin I am down in 6th and I am 40s down by the time we all pit again on lap 20. The only option from here is to put on R3s and hope they can last 10 laps per stint until the end of the race.
I rejoin the race and start making up ground. I gain on average about 2 seconds a lap. I pass one car on lap 27 and another two on lap 29. By this time, my rear tyres are shot, but I take it easy on the 10th lap of the stint and make it back into the pits, now only 21s down on the two leaders.
The gap is further reduced to 8s by the time we all pit again on lap 40. During the next stint I have a great battle for the lead which I finally win. However, I used up a lot of my tyres and cannot hold onto my lead on the final lap of the stint. I spin in the long sweeping left-hander in the middle of the circuit and I also spin in the esses. Thus, I lose about 15 seconds and I have to start all over again.👎
I push hard and do good, clean laps for the most part. I regain 2nd on lap 58 and then the lead on lap 59. I have no problems on the in-lap this time and I keep my lead.
I increase my lead to almost 30s by race end and I lap the 6th-placed car and almost one more but I had an off whilst trying to pass him on the final lap. On the penultimate lap, I concentrated on doing an ultra fast, smooth lap and smashed the lap record, bettering my previous best time by almost a second.
So, a good win but I was again unhappy with my effort on the R1 tyres. I hope to rectify this in the next race.
Round 10: Laguna Seca Raceway (60 laps) - Monday, March 14, 2011. 840 hp, 200pts
Qualifying: Pole (1:13.846)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:11.689
A1 fastest lap: 1:14.280
After the big earthquake and Tsunami on Friday I am back on it at Laguna Seca in California, USA; trying to restore some sense of normality after what has been a trying past couple of days.
I struggle to do a clean lap during qualifying. The car has some understeer and I find it difficult to make the apexs of the corners. However, I get my act together with 3 laps to go in the session and on my penultimate lap I get pole by 0.017 seconds!
I soften up my springs a little for the bumps and I decide to start on R1s to get that phrase over-and-done-with as soon as possible.
The first 10 laps are action-packed, as expected. I keep my lead until lap 2 when I run wide and slip down to 2nd. After the AIs' tyres get warm, I drop down to 4th but gradually get quicker. Meanwhile, many cars are spinning off in the corners after the corkscrew. Sigh. They are basically handing the race to me. I actually grap the lead briefly on lap 10, having been as much as 11s behind the leader at one stage.
I gain the lead on lap 11 when all the AIs pit. I cruise along on my R1s but have a spin at turn 5 on lap 14. Turn 5 is by far the most difficult corner for me on this circuit. I lose about 8 seconds and when I pit on lap 20, I have a 21s lead; helped by the fact that once again the AIs cannot stay on the road. My fastest lap on RIs was 1:15.346
I switch to R2s and resume in 3rd place. I have a fierce battle with another AI that last half a lap and ends when we both go off at the corkscrew. However, I regain the lead when all the AIs pit again on lap 22.
My R2s last for 16 laps. Such is my dominance that I almost lap the entire AI field after they pit for the third time.
I cruise along with some incidents due to having the news on in the background but I keep my lead and even lap the whole field before pitting for R3s on lap 66.
Despite huge spins in the final laps I win with well over a lap to spare. A boring race, to be honest, apart from the initial 10 laps.Mainly due to the AI having major problems with the left-hander after the corkscrew.
Round 11: Twin Ring Motegi Road Course (64 laps) - Sunday, March 20, 2011. 840 hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 2nd
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:32.535
A1 fastest lap: 1:33.675
I am back in action and it is strange that my next round is at Motegi, one of the areas hit by the devastating earthquake and tsunami which took place on Friday, March 11, 2011.
Luckily for them, the town of Motegi is located inland so the circuit is unscathed. However, they are very close to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, so a motor race is probably the last thing on their minds right now.
But this is the virtual world so I must race on. I qualify in 2nd, missing out on the coveted pole position by 0.066s! I decide to start on R2s, before changing to R1s for minimum 7-lap stint on a lesser fuel load.
I hold 2nd for 3 laps, but I drop back to 3rd when the Formula cars' tyres come up to temperature. I have a great battle for 3rd for a while, with lots of passing and repassing but I prevail in the end. However, I am now 13s behind the leader. I notice that the Formula cars have a horsepower advantage over me but I have a good braking advantage going into turn 10 at the end of the long straight.
The Formula cars pit on lap 9 and I hold the lead for 2 laps before pitting for those nasty R1s. My best lap on R2s was 1:35.082
My first flying lap on the R1s is a 1:42.9. By this time I have dropped down to 5th, and one corner into the next lap I am 6th. I have no grip whatsover in which to resist. I have another horrible lap soon afterwards and the gap to the leader after 15 laps is now a whopping 41s. Is there anyway back from here? Can I do another Infineon?
The last two laps on the R1s are tidy enough (best of 1:37.9) but by the time we all pit again on lap 18, I am 51s down. It will take a miracle from here. I plan to stick with R3s until the end of the race.
I regain 5th on lap 24 and then 4th 2 laps later. My stint has been very smooth so I decide to take a risk and do an extra lap. My rears just hold on and I am able to do the same number of laps as the Formula cars in one stint on R3s. This may be crucial come the end of the race.
I have reduced the gap to 39s and continue to inch my way back into contention. I move up to 3rd during this stint but I have a minor hiccup on lap 34 when I overshoot at turn 2. I decide to pit a lap earlier because of that. I am now 31s down. 28 laps in which to make up 31 seconds? It can be done!
I press on but have another moment at turn 3 which costs me 6 seconds. I run wide again at the same turn on lap 42, which costs me another 4 seconds. Which means that the gap is still a substantial 29 seconds by the time I pit on lap 43. I have three 7-lap stints left to run. The Formula cars also have the same number of stops to make; the difference is that they will be stopping on the penultimate lap. At least, I hope so!
Since I am now stopping before the Formula cars, I have a huge advantage over them when they start their stints on cold tyres. Thus, after a super-fast 1:32.535s lap, I gain 2nd at the beginning of lap 47 and I am now only 19s behind the leader.
When I pit on lap 51, the gap is 17s. This is despite the fact that I had an ugly half-spin at turn 8 during that stint.
When the leader pits and rejoins, he is 14s in front of me. I grit my teeth and charge. By the end of the next lap, I am only 11s behind. It would have been less if I had not gone too deep under brakes into turn 4.
With 7 laps to go, the gap is under 10s for the first time. The leader is stuck behind the 6th-placed car, which is not helping his cause. Meanwhile, I am struggling to get any real speed out of my tired engine. I pit with 6 laps to go. My crew change the tyres and away I go. I rejoin 33s down in 3rd position. I must get that gap below at least 28s to have any chance of passing the leader on the final lap.
My first lap is a 1:35s. I run wide exiting the final chicane. Not good enough! Meanwhile, the leader has got past the 6th-placed car. My next lap is a 1:33.9, and the gap is down to 31s. I simply don't have the car speed I had in the middle of the race. Probably due to the usual loss of horsepower (I change my oil before every race). My next lap is 1:33.8s. My gap is 31s with 2 laps to go. The penultimate lap is better but such is the tension that I did not note down my time. I am right behind 2nd as he pits. The leader rejoins about 1.5 second down the road! I come up to him immediately and get a huge run on him as we go through the turn 5 sweeper. But I am not sure whether to pass him on the right or the left and in the end I run straight up the back of him! 
There is only one more chance: a deep-braking maneuver into turn 10. I come up to him again in the preceding hairpin and I just close enough to slipstream him down the long straight. I hold my nerve and pull off a cool pass up the inside. I accelerate away, go cautiously through the chicane and speed the remaining 100 meters to the final line with a huge grin on my face. The final margin is 0.628s. Race time 1h44m50s. I have done it!
I dedicate this victory to all the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. It is fitting that it was at the Motegi circuit.
Footnote: my lead is now 34 points. If I had finished 2nd, it would have only been 26 points.
Round 12: Nurburgring Nordschleife (15 laps) - Monday, March 21, 2011. 840 hp, 178pts
Qualifying: 2nd (5:55.863)
Race: 3rd
My fastest Lap: 5:48.726
A1 fastest lap: 5:55.410
Been looking forward to this one for a long time. I couldn't wait to do it, so I am doing it the day after my emotional victory at Motegi. I have to come down from that high and concentrate on the job at hand.👍
What will be crucial here is whether my R3s can last for a 2 lap stint. If I run into trouble with my rears halfway round the second lap, then the race is over.
However, first I must qualify. The session is better than I expected. The car handles the bumps, twists and turns very well, and I qualify 2nd (1.2s from pole). Better yet, my R2s handle the 3 laps (2 qualifying laps + an out lap) without any problem. Which means that my R3s should do 2 laps, and my R1s 4 laps, if I need them too, which I doubt.
I then devise my strategy for the race. I will start on R2s and do a 3-lap stint. Then I will change to R1s for a minimal 2 laps. Then, I will do the rest of the race on R3s. It would be foolish to start the race on R1s because there would be a high risk of an accident with the field tightly bunched.
Here we go!
For some reason, I get an extra point for winning this race then I did in previous races that I started on R2s. (178-177). Has my horsepower gone down after 3 long laps of qualifying?
Disaster strikes on the first lap, when I run wide and spin at Flugplatz. 🤬 I rejoin at the back of the field and carry on as best as I can. However, I am nervous and untidy going through the twisty Pflanzgarten sections (always a weak point). And then, just after going through the kink at the end of the long straight, I run straight into the back of a Formula car that is recovering from a spin! Thus, after a 6:12.954 opening lap, I am 15s down on the leader.
The next lap is a complete, utter disasater. A spin at Fuchsrohre triggers a total loss of concentration and I have at least 4 more spins throughout the lap. At one point, I am 45 seconds down on the lead. This track can burn you hard, once you let your guard down. The result is a 6:26s lap, and I am still in 6th after the Formula cars pit, albeit now 18s from the lead.
I make a pass for 5th at Breidscheid but spin around at the next corner. Very frustrating. I complete my 3rd lap without further incident. My R2 rears hold up remarkabley well considering all the spins I have had. I pit for R1s and rejoin 47s behind the leader.
Despite another half-spin at Fuchsrohre, my first lap on R1s is my fastest of the race so far (6:09.291). The car seems more balanced and less twitchy on these harder tyres. I gain a place when the Formula cars pit, but I lose it when I spin at Hohe Acht and again at Schwalbenschwanz. I pit at the end of lap 5 for R3s, which I will stay on for the remainder of the race. I rejoin 1:02s down on the leader.
Despite two spins, my first lap on R3s is also my first sub-6 minute one (5:57.934). I gain 5th and then 4th momentarily before spinning out once again at Fuchsrohre, my least-favorite corner in the world. This drops me down to last again, 39s from the lead. At this point, we all have 4 more stops to do. More incidents follow and after my pitstop for more R3s, I rejoin 1:04s away from the lead. So, I have made no progress whatsover.👎
I regain 5th when the Formula cars pit and this time I hold onto that position before my own pitstop. I rejoin exactly a minute from the lead, so some progress has been made but obviously nowhere near enough.
The next stint is by far my best of the race so far. I have no spins and improve my fastest lap to 5:50.018. I am on track for a 5:48 but I must pit. By this time I am in 4th and have cut the gap down to 23s. Suddenly, a race win is a distinct possibility. But, I cannot think too far ahead. I must concentrate on doing 4 more mistake-free laps. I rejoin in 5th, 43s from the lead.
Alas! During my next lap I have three huge spins at Aremburg, Pflanzgarten II, and Tiergarten. The result is a 6:07s lap. However, for some reason, I gain 3rd when the Formula cars pit. With 3 laps to go, I am 25 seconds from the lead. Without that bad lap, I could have been a mere 10 seconds.
I have a huge spin at Klostertal before my final pitstop, which means with 2 laps to go, I rejoin in 5th, 48s from the lead.
My penualtimate lap is a 5:52, and the leaders rejoin 16s down the road from me. The lead is too much, and despite doing my fastest lap, I finish the race 15.174 seconds away from glory in 3rd. That is the equivalent of three spins. I had a lot more than that during the race. In the end, untidy driving, and a loss of concentration in parts (one spin was normally followed by another) cost me what could have been comfortable race win.
But, despite all that, I have a big enough points lead to be crowned World Champion once again!
Round 13: El Capitan (64 laps) - Saturday, March 26, 2011. 839 hp, 200pts
Qualifying: 4th (1:26.593)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:23.853
A1 fastest lap: 1:24.808
After four consecutive real-life circuits, I go to the Gran Turismo-created El Capitan at Yosemite National Park. This is one of my favorite circuits. It is a real driver's circuit and there is not many better experiences in GT4 than a hot lap here. I remember winning comfortably against the Formula cars last time I came here in a Nissan R89C. I am looking to do the same again after a disappointing showing at the Nurburgring.
I struggled with traffic and qualifying but once I got clear track space I moved up to 5th, then 4th, and I was on a very good final lap but I made a mistake in the middle section of the track.
I decide to start on R1s and then spend the majority of the race on R3s.
I lose a position on the first lap but I manage to hold onto 5th until lap 5, by which time I am 17s behind the leader. Do I stay out on R1s and gain a pitstop advantage on the Formula cars, or do I come in for R3s as soon as possible?
A trip into the sandtrap on lap 6 persuades me to pit the next lap for R3s. 💡 I rejoin in a lonely 6th position, 53s down on the leader.
Three of the Formula cars pit on lap 8 and the remaining two pit on lap 9. After 10 laps, I am closing in on 5th position, 25s down.
In the next 5 laps, I make up 5 seconds, which shows that the Formula cars are a lot quicker here than at previous tracks.
I stay out a lap longer than I should have done on my R3s and I have to limp around to the pits. At the final corner I get hit in the rear and spin around.
I do my first sub-1:24s lap on lap 25 before running into the outside wall at the first corner, thus losing 3 seconds. I am now 26s away from the lead. Pulling back that gap is going to take some time.
After our pitstops on lap 24, I start making up a massive amount of time on the leaders. I think they are stuck behind a slower car that has not pitted yet. I smell blood and put the hammer down. After 27 laps, I am in 3rd, and the gap is now a mere 7 seconds.
The gap stabilises but I make the pass for second place on the start-finish straight and I am closing in on the leader on our in-laps, but my rears have turned red and I spin around on the last corner before the pits again! I drop down to 3rd but a fast pitstop still sees me resume just behind the second-placed car. I get him a few corners later. The leader pits the next lap and my warm R3s see me into the lead at the chicane before the tunnel.
I push hard in the next 6 laps in order to build a lead before my mandatory stint on R2s. When I pit on lap 40, I have a healthy 14 second buffer. On go the R2s.
I get my lead up to 20s but a mistake exiting the final turn and trouble lapping the 6th-placed car loses me 10s and by the time I pit to change back to R3s, my lead is only 7 seconds.
But apart from that minor scare, once I put R3s back on, it was plain sailing until the finish line, apart from two or three "moments". I win by the margin of 23 seconds.
Round 14: Fuji Speedway 2005F (67 laps) - Sunday, March 27, 2011. 839hp, 178pts
Qualifying: Pole (1:25.271)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:23.702
A1 fastest lap: 1:25.154
Part 2 of this weekend double-header, and I am back in Japan for the final two races of the championship. As oppsoted to El Capitan, this is not one of my favorite circuits. I especially dislke the twisty section in the final part of the lap.
I show impressive form in qualifying. I am gradually work myself up the order before cutting a near-perfect lap on lap 6 which puts me on pole by 0.7s. It should be a good race.
I decide to start on R2 tyres but I lose four positions in the run down to the first corner. However, I am up to 2nd by the end of the opening lap and on lap 2 I make the pass for the lead. I pull away instantly but the Formula cars' tyres warm up to the task and at the end of lap 5 my lead is only 1.7s. However, I make a mistake entering the turn 2 sweeper and this starts a 5-lap battle for the lead in which I lose and lead and regain it at least 4 times. The Formula car is the first to blink and he pits on lap 10.
I stay out for an extra 3 laps and then I pit for R1s. I top up the fuel to the amount that will see me do a minimum of 7 laps on these tyres. I emerge with a clear 5 second lead but the Formula cars chews me up and spits me up and I am in 2nd before the end of my out-lap. My first flying lap on the R1s is a 1:31, and after 15 laps, the margin is already 5.7s.I lose 2nd position on lap 17 and 3rd position on lap 20. By this time I am 18s from the lead, even though my grip has improved a lot. I pit with the Formula cars on lap 20 and switch to R3s. I hope they are good for 10 laps.
I regain 3rd on my outlap and then 2nd on lap 24. I am closing in on the leader at roughly 2 seconds a lap. I am only 4 seconds behind him when we pull into the pits on lap 30. I regain the lead on lap 32 and proceed to pull away to the tune of about 1.5s a lap. By lap 39, I am 11s in the lead. However, I spin out at the first corner after putting a wheel off the track under braking (a very common error for me). I lose a small amount of time but I pit at the end of the lap.
By lap 47 I have lapped the 5th and 6th-placed cars and my lead is 26 seconds. The rest of the race passes without incidents or mistakes and I win by approx. 45 seconds, having lapped the 4th, 5th, and 6th-placed cars.👍
Round 15: Suzuka Circuit (53 laps) - Monday, March 28, 2011. 838hp, 150pts
Qualifying: 6th (1:44.054)
Race: 3rd
My fastest Lap: 1:40.413
A1 fastest lap: 1:40.993
After the long sabaticals in the middle of the championship, I am finishing it off in a rush here. Here is a fact that will stun you: I have never won a major championship event at Suzuka. I have only won here in the All-Japan GT Championship, which I guess you could say is a semi-major series. Suzuka is the most difficult circuit on GT4 for me, apart from the Nurburgring. So this should be a challenging race.
Qualifying shows just what a touch race this will be. I qualify last, 3 seconds away from pole. :tdown:That is a huge margin. My only choice is to start on R3 tyres.
The start is action-packed and I make it up to 4th by the end of the esses. However, I go side-by-side into Degner with a Formula car on my outside and after a slight contact heading into the corner, he spares off into the sand.At the moment I am calling it a race incident. But if the stewards see that I was at fault post-race, then I will lose 30 seconds from my race time. I push on and have a tremendous battle for 2nd place. We are very evenly matched and despite getting close going into turn one, I just cannot find a way past him. By the end of lap 5 we are 4.3 seconds behind the leader.
I finally get a good run onto the start-finish straight and make the pass before we enter the turn 1 sweeper at the beginning of lap 7. We go into lap 8 and I am praying that my rear tyres will hang on. I close to within 2.6s of the lead before we enter the pits at the end of lap 8.
We resume in the same order but this time I use my speed advantage on cold tyres to close right up behind him and I make a pass for the lead at the final chicane. The next 7 laps are the most intense racing of the championship. There is no changing of the lead but he is never more than 2 seconds behind me. I concentrate very hard and do not put a foot wrong. In fact, as we near the end of the stint, I pull away a little so that I have a 3.7s margin as we enter the pits. Alas! I come into the entry too hot and slam the entrance barrier. Luckily it only costs me about 2 seconds and I still emerge in the lead, albeit with a slimmer margin and R2 tyres.
I hold onto the lead until lap 18. We go into 130R and I receive a slight tap in the rear. This unsettles me and I miss my braking point into the chicane. I go straight ahead. I reverse out again and find myself in 3rd position, 9s off the lead. My aim now is to finish on the podium. My lap times on R2s are in the 1:43s, which is much better than in qualifying, mainly due to the lower fuel load I am now running. I hold onto 3rd position for 4 more laps before unbelieveably committing the same mistake again. I lose one position, but I am now 23s behind the leader and even a podium looks a long shot. I pit on lap 23 and go back to R3 tyres. The lead was good while it lasted.
The next 8 laps are amongst some of the best I have ever driven. After regaining 3rd position, I do four consecutive laps in the 1:40s and gradually inch my way towards the 2nd-placed car. The gap to the leader comes down from 20s, to 18s, to 16s...and finally to 11s as I enter my final lap on this stint. However, the car is not using up more fuel per stint and the gauge goes onto empty as I enter the first corner!
I pray for it to keep going and I am worried so much about it that I almost spin out going through 130R. As I exit the chicane, it finally coughs its last! I cruise into the pits at 80km/h and get more R3s. How much time did that cost me?
The answer is that I am back where I started the last, i.e. 20 seconds behind the leader.I push hard again but this time I cannot lap under 1:41 and thus there is still a 18s gap to the leader when I pit in for more R3s. I plan to catch up and hopefully pass the 2nd-placed car in this upcoming stint before somehow defending my positon on R1 tyres in the 6 laps.
Although I make no big mistakes in the next stint, I cannot make up any time on the front two cars. My horsepower or my energy has dropped. Either way, the gap is the same as I pull into the pits to change onto R1s. I have a big margin back to 4th, so I should be safe for 3rd positon.
The last few laps on R1s are difficult. I can only lap in 1:46-1:47s and the 4th-placed car is gaining on me at about 5 seconds a lap! In the end, I make it home for a podium by 2.1s, 44.2s behind the winner.
In the post-mortem, the incident on lap 1 is deemed to be a racing incident and I keep my 3rd place. The car that I made contact with was actually in 2nd place in the championship before this race, but he loses that to the winner of the final round.
Final Championship Points
Pescarolo Courage C60 Race Car 119
Formula Gran Turismo 74
Formula Gran Turismo 72
Formula Gran Turismo 53
Formula Gran Turismo 40
Formula Gran Turismo 32
So, I won 10 races and finished on the podium in every single race apart from the opening round at Tokyo, when I ran out of gas due to a pit error.
In the final analysis, what won me this championship was my tyre durability. My R3s lasted on average the same number of laps on one stint as the Formula cars. Apart from Suzuka and Seoul, I always had the Formula cars' measure for speed on R3s with more than enough to spare. I will look at doing this championship again with a slightly slower car.
Thanks for reading!
I have won this championship once before in a Nissan R89C Race Car. The margin in the end was 28 points (114-86). I won 10 races, including the first 7. I finished on the podium in 11 out of 15 races.
But now for a new challenge with a slightly slower car than the R89:
Pescarolo Courage C60 Race Car
With a new cars comes new rules in order to make the championship a little more strategic and exciting:
Rules:
Qualifying is 10% of race distance. For example, if the race is 60 laps, then I get 6 qualifying laps.
I must qualify on hard (R2) tyres. If I am more than a second per minute quicker than the opposition, then I must take a 200kg ballast penalty but still keep my pole position. For example, most laps are between 1 and 2 minutes long. If I qualify more than 2 seconds faster than the next car then I will receive the ballast penalty. For the Nurburgring, which is between 5-6 minutes, I will receive a penalty if I qualify 6 seconds faster than the next car.
During the race, I must use all three types of tyre (R1, R2, and R3) for at least 10% of the race. I can start the race on any tyre.
No power boost is allowed in either qualifying or the race.
Round 1: Tokyo R246 (60 laps) - Wednesday, August 4, 2010. 840 hp
Qualifying: 6th
Race: 6th (+2 laps)
My fastest Lap: 1:19.371
A1 fastest lap: 1:20.316
A 1:21 lap puts me 0.7s behind pole position, and the field is so tight that I have to start last on the grid.
I battle for 4th for a while before making a slight error and dropping back to last. I have a couple of average laps and after 8 laps I am 11s down on the leader.
The front 4 cars pit on lap 11, which means they have to make 5 stops. The remaining 2 A1s pit on lap 12, leaving me 22s in the lead. I do a couple of fast laps before pitting for more R2s on lap 14. This car looks after its tyres very well.
I rejoin just behind the battle for 4th and 5th, 13s down on the leading 3 cars. This grows to 21s by lap 20. I am driving as hard as I can but the car is just not fast enough on R2 tyres.
I get faster as the fuel load burns off and after the A1 cars pit again, I hold on to a 15s lead before pitting for R3s on lap 27.
But, disaster!!! At the pitstop, my crew doesn't top up my fuel tank. I don't know why. Maybe, I pushed the button for not fueling, but I can't remember.
As the fuel tank was on empty when I came into the pits, the car runs out of gas just as I exit the pit lane. By the time I rejoin, I am two laps down. I solider on for the rest of the race, testing the car on R3 and R1 tyres.
As two of the A1 cars only do 4 pitstops, they catch up with the other AI cars and the positions 1-5 are covered by 3.5s at the finish of the race. I remained 2 laps down.
Anyway, I now know that the car is a little behind the pace on R2 tyres but is definitely faster than the A1s on R3s. I will try to do the absolute minimum amount of laps on R1s.
Round 2: Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway (127 laps) - Monday, August 9, 2010. Stage 4 turbo (995 hp), 117pts
Qualifying: 6th (27.532)
Race: 2nd
My fastest Lap: 27.205
A1 fastest lap: 26.711
I have more horsepower than the Formula cars but I lose a lot of time on the last corner. But I definitely have more tyre economy so it will be an interesting race!
I decide to start the race on R1s, to get them out of the way and hopefully the race will come to me later on.
After 10 laps I am 23s down and in danger of being lapped. The Formula cars pit on lap 13 and I pass them briefly as they exit the pits. They get back past me when we hit the final turn. I battle for 5th and 6th for a while before dropping back once I lose the slipstream. By the time the Formula cars make their second stop, I am 18s back. This time I take the lead by a comfortable margin. But the Formula cars soon erase their deficit and 4 of them fly past me on the final turn on lap 34 (the 6th place car is now way back). My fronts were just starting to show signs of wear and I was running low on fuel so I pit on lap 36 for R2s. My fastest lap on R1s was a 28.672.
I rejoin a lap down but after the Formula cars pit I am 16s down but with R3 tyres to come and a better tyre durability up my sleeve. After 50 laps I am 25s down and about to be lapped again but the Formula cars pit and emerge 4s behind me. I pit on lap 58 before I lose the lead, changing to R3 tyres for the rest of the race. My fastest lap on R2s was a 28.056.
I rejoin a lap down and this time the Formula cars emerge right in front of me when they rejoin from their 5th stops. I lead the race briefly before my R3s lose their grip and I come in on lap 74. The Formula cars exit from their own pitstops 6s in front of me this time. I actually close the gap by a tiny amount before pitting on lap 89. 15 laps seems to be about the limit on R3s. The Formula cars pit immediately afterwards and this time they come out 8s down the road so they are definitely gaining time on me in the pits. I am trying to put the minimal amount of fuel required into the car to save time in the pitstop.
We all pit again on lap 104 but this time I go back to R2s to try and get through without any more pitstops. The Formula cars are due in again on lap 117. I hope to not lose too much time to them. However, I rejoin 14s down the road and actually I put in much more fuel than I really needed. I am 21s down before the Formula cars pit for the final time. They rejoin 8s behind me! The chase is on with 9 laps to go!!!
With 5 laps to go, the gap is 6.4s. With 3 laps to go, its 5s. My front tyres are worn!!! Entering the last lap I am 2s ahead.
Midway through the last lap the gap is 1.4s. I thought I could hang on through the final turn but one of the Formula cars sneaks past me on the exit!!!! I finish in 2nd, 0.095s away from glory!!!🤬The fatal mistake was putting in way too much fuel at the final pitstop. I had half a tank left at the end of the race. Dammit.
But, at least the car is competitive and it should be a good championship from here on.
Round 3: New York A (74 laps) - Friday, August 27, 2010. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 2nd (1:21.028)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:20.380
A1 fastest lap: 1:20.653
After the horrible choke at Motegi, Japan, I come to America after a lenghy layoff with fresh hopes.
Decide to start on R2 tyres this time. The heavy traffic at the start means that I would be under too much pressure with R1s and I might make a few mistakes.
I hold onto 2nd for the first 4 laps but I struggle to lap consistently and I eventually drop back into a fierce battle for 3rd place, 9s down on the leader after 8 laps.
The AIs pit on lap 12 and I pit a lap later for more R2s. This means that I can do the race on one less pitstop than the A1s, which could be crucial in the overall scheme of things.
I rejoin 8s down but small errors mean I am 13s down after 16 laps after falling back into the clutches of the 4th-placed car. The deficit grows to 17s by lap 24 and I compound matters by having a huge lose under braking for turn 1 after clipping the wall. After the leaders pit, I inherit a small 6s lead.
I then pit on lap 26 to put on R1s. I was debating whether to save them for later but I realise that it is better to get them out of the way. I hope I don't lose too much time.
I lose 3rd place almost immediately and I lap about 2s slower than the rest of the field. When the AIs pit on lap 36, I regain 3rd, but I am 15s down on the two leaders. The car is lighter on fuel now though, and I only lose 6s in the next 8 laps and when I pit on lap 44, I change to R3s, and hope I can get 3 10-lap stints out of them for the balance of the race. I rejoin in 4th, 44s from the lead.
I begin to lap in the 1:20s, taking time off the leaders and when they pit on lap 48, then rejoin only 11s in front of me!
I get the gap down to a tantalising 4s before pitting on lap 54. I rejoin 26s down in 3rd.I make up more ground and this time when the leaders pit, they emerge 4s behind me. I am well on the way to my first victory of the championship, providing I don't make any big mistakes.
And so it proves. After making one more pitstop each, I eventually win by some 17s to put myself firmly in the championship hunt. It was a very interesting, strategic race
Round 4: High Speed Ring (77 laps) - Monday, August 30, 2010. 840hp, 200pts
Qualifying: 5th (56.356)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 55.416
A1 fastest lap: 55.403
I qualify 5th after an entertaining qualifying session where all six cars were within 0.7s of each other. It should be a close race full of slipstreaming and pit strategy.
Start on R1s which is why 200pts are on offer. With the simple nature of the track and the ability to catch the slipstreams of cars in front of me, not much time should be lost on the harder tyres.
I hang with the angry pack for the first 4 laps but quickly drop back and after a mistake at turn 2, I am 11s down after 8 laps. I can only lap in the 58s. So much for not losing too much time.
Three of the AIs pit on lap 12 and the other two pit a lap later, leaving me with a 20s lead. One of the AIs goes straight-past his pitbay without stopping and continues to do so. This glitch also happened the last time I did this race in a Nissan R89.
The AIs reduce my lead to 12s before I spin entering the tunnel just before my first pitstop.
I pit straightaway for R2s and resume in 5th, but retake the lead as the AIs pit the next time round (lap 25). The AIs are spread-out over 10s now and I fight a two-way battle for the lead before being passed on lap 29. I try to keep up but the AIs have about a 0.5s speed advantage over me when I am on R2s. The AIs pit on lap 38 this time round and due to my good tyre durability I am able to stay out for 4 more laps before pitting. Meanwhile, one of the other AIs has lost his marbles and is going in and out of the pits.
I rejoin neck-and-neck with the AI I was battling for the lead with before and we resume our duel. But, disaster! I am too wide entering the turn 1 sweeper and hit the outside wall that pokes out. I spin around a couple of times and resume 11s down but still in 2nd.🤬
The AIs pit on lap 51, which makes me wonder if they can indeed do this race with one remaining pitstop? I cut my stint short on lap 55 to chance to R3s with one more stop to go. I put in the minimal amount of fuel and once again resume right with the leading AI.
He pulls away at first as the R3s don't give me the gain I anticipated (as a sidenote, I change the oil after every race so perhaps at this stage the horsepower gain that I get has dropped away). But I get in his slipstream and pass him on the inside of the turn one sweeper on alp 63. I post a 55s lap for the first time. The AI pits on lap 64 for what looks to be the final time.
I myself pit for the final time on lap 66 and I cruise home to finally win by some 16s and take the championship lead!
All-in-all a fairly easy race to win, considering I had one huge spin and two minor mistakes which must have cost me at least 15 seconds in the overall scheme of things.
Round 5: Grand Valley Speedway (62 laps) - Wednesday, September 1, 2010. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: Pole (1:35.622)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:33.326
A1 fastest lap: 1:35.314
Struggled in qualifying until about halfway through the session. On my 7th and last lap I got pole by 0.022s!!! I decide to start on R2s.
As expected, I lose the start and cross the line for the first time in 2nd. I make a pass for the lead at the hairpin on lap 2 but I lose the lead when making a slight mistake under braking at turn 1 on the next lap. I get involved with a few squabbles for position and but soon settle down into 3rd, which becomes 1st when the AIs pit on lap 8.
I stay out until lap 10 but I spin on the outside of the last turn and end up facing the entrance to the pitlane! So, of course I pit and after a short top-up of fuel I emerge just the leader. We stay that way, with the 3rd-placed car giving me pressure from behind, all the way until lap 16, when the AIs pit again. This shows the equality of pace between myself and the Formula cars.
What I am hoping will win the day for me is my tyre durability and I put in a couple of hot laps before I pit again on lap 20. This time I return to the track clear in the lead, with a 8s margin.
The AIs pit again and I am left with a 45s+ lead with 1 less pitstop that the AIs remaining. This is already looking like a canter.
But this game has a strange way of showing you up when you get too cocky. The next stint is horrible, as I begin it by having a massive spin at the hairpin on my outlap and it doesn't get much better. I have about five little spins or offs and lose about 20s on my lead. I change to R1s on lap 40. With the long fuel top-up, my lead is further reduced to 19s. But I still have a one less pitstop to do that my competitors.
The R1s are painfully slow however, and the the AIs quickly catch-up to me. A spin didn't help and on lap 46 I am passed for the lead and momentarily leave the track. When I rejoin, the 3rd-placed car hits me from behind and I am deemed to have impeded him. So I let him through as well. By the time the leading AI pits on lap 48, he is 15s ahead of me! This is getting a lot closer that I expected.
I retake the lead but it is only 15s. It is whitted down to barely a car length by the time I pit for the final time on lap 55 for R3s. My fastest lap on R1s was a 1:38, 4s slower than my fastest time on R2s.
When the AIs pit I regain the lead and I hold my nerve until the end, with the help of the R3s, extending my lead to 18s by the conclusion of the race.
It was messy in the middle of the race and once again I should have won by a lot more. I look forward to a more complete driving performance at Circuit de la Sarthe.
Round 6: Circuit de la Sarthe (23 laps) - Monday, January 17, 2011. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 6th
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 3:17.005
A1 fastest lap: 3:16.187
After a lengthy lay-off, I return to the driver's seat at Le Mans. I am very rusty and this shows in qualifying and in the race itself.
Didn't really get a good lap in during qualifying. The car is lacking downforce compared to the Formula cars through the Porsche Curves so I start 6th.
I start on R2s and have a steady opening lap apart from being hit up the rear in the Porsche Curves whist running 5th. This is compounded by a huge spin at Indianapolis on the next lap. I am now more than 12s down on the leaders.
The next two laps are better and after the Formula cars pit at the end of lap 4, I suddenly have an 18s lead. How long can my R2s last for?
The answer is 7 laps! Even then, I only pit due to my need to top up my fuel. The R2s could have done another lap at least. I maintain the gap to my pursuers, and top up my fuel tank with more R2s to increase my advantage. I rejoin in 6th, 19s down on the leader. I almost kill myself when coming up the Mulsane, I zoom past a striken Formula car who was crawling up the side of the track. I miss him by a couple of inches! He regains his speed behind me, so I don't know what his problem was.
The Formula cars pit on lap 8 and I am in a clear lead but inexplicably I have a huge spin after the Dunlop bridge after getting a wheel off the track. Just a lack of concentration, thinking the race was already won.
To compound matters, I rejoin the wrong track and have to reverse back onto the proper circuit, by which time I am back in 4th.After another small error at Indianapolis, I am pitched into a battle for 4th which resolves, after much passing and re-passing, when the Formula cars pit again on lap 12.
Once again, I have an 18s lead. This becomes 25s when one of the lead cars has a problem with his refuelling and drops back.
I pit on lap 14, switching to R1s but this time I will only do the minimal requirement (i.e. 3 laps) for this set of tyres so I short-fuel and rejoin in 4th. This becomes 5th a few corners later as I am rounded-up by a Formula car with much warmer tyres.
Two of the leaders stay out for an extra lap instead of pitting as scheduled on lap 16. They pit, along with me, one lap later. I change to R3s for what I hope will be the final 6-lap stint. It will be touch-and-go if the R3s can hang-on. I rejoin in 6th, 24s down.
I am up to 5th on lap 19 when an out-of-sync Formula car pits. But I am making no progress on the leaders and my laptimes are only marginally faster than the ones I achieved on R2s. I put this down to a loss of horsepower, which is more noticeable on a track like this.
The leaders pit with two laps to go and I am left with a 10s lead. The R3s hang-in to such an extent that I do my fastest lap on the last lap of the race and win by 13s, which should have been a lot more if not for that horrible mistake on lap 9.
I hope to be back to my best for the next round at Monaco.
Round 7: Cote d'Azur (78 laps) - Wednesday, January 19, 2011. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 3rd (1:25.062)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:21.946
A1 fastest lap: 1:23.670
Improve lap-by-lap in the qualifying session and was on a very good lap at the end but made a slight error at the Swimming pool which maybe cost me pole position.
Start on R2s. I move into 2nd at the Grand Hotel hairpin on lap 2 but by this time the leader is already 4s down the road and flying. The car is handling very well but and I do a high 1:23s on lap 4 but after 5 laps the gap to the leader is 5s, with another healthy gap back to 3rd.
The next couple of laps are not as smooth and I drop another 5s and now have a couple of cars behind me. But the leader pits on lap 9 along with the other AIs. But the leader doesn't stop at his pitbay and instead goes through for another lap and does the same the next time around. I hate this glitch. Spoils a good race.
He spins in front of me, which holds me up momentarily. My rears are also shot and I pit for more R2s at the end of the 11th lap. 10 laps maximum for R2s, it seems. I make the mistake of topping up the fuel tank to maximum so lose time and end up exiting just behind the first 2 cars.
We all past the stricken leader, who still hasn't performed his actual pitstop, but I make a slight error on the final turn and drop back to 4th. I regain 3rd on lap 15 but am now 11s behind the leader. The car doesn't seem to be handling as well on this set of tyres.
I inherit 2nd due to a faster pitstop on lap 21 and now am 9s behind the leading AI. I struggle badly on cold tyres and the deficit grows to 15s by the time the leader pits.
I inherit a 10s lead and pit for R1s on lap 31, wishing to get this phrase over-and-done-with. Of course, I lose time to the leader. So much so, that he emerges with his lead intact after his 4th pitstop on lap 36. I was hoping to get in front of him and hold him off on my R1s until I pitted.
But the leader gets momentarily stuck behind the moving chicane that is the former leader, and I make an opportunistic pass at Portier. This lead only last for one lap before I am repassed. I pull into the pits, having done 9 laps on R1s, and change to R3s, perhaps for the remainder of the race.
I resume 22s behind the leader and actually take a while getting used to the new grip I have available. Once I do, I settle into 1:22s laps. I pass the leader just as he enters the first turn after his pitstop and he is no match for me in the next two laps. Warm R3s vs. cold R2s = a 14s lead for me in the space of 2 laps!
My R3 rears lose their grip and I have to pit on lap 48. 8 laps maximum for R3s. 7 laps, really, as I was sliding all over the place on my in-lap.I resume in 2nd. There is now quite a large gap back to 3rd. In fact, the entire field is very spaced-out.
Here is the situation: The gap is 12s. The leader and I both have 3 more stops to perform. I will stop on laps 55, 62 and 69. My final 9-lap stint will have to be on R2s.
The leader will stop on laps 54, 63, and 72.
I hope to make up large amounts of time on him whilst he is on cold tyres. We are set for a thrilling last stanza!👍
Meanwhile, I make little impression on the leader. My driving has become somewhat sloppy as fatique sets in. I inherit the lead for one lap before giving it back on lap 54 when I pit. I am putting less and less fuel in the car; this time only topping up to 30/80 units. This means that I have closed the gap to 5 seconds!
The next few laps are some of the best racing of my career. I close right up but can't find a way past. I try a couple of half-hearted moves around the Grand Hotel hairpin and Portier, but my moment finally arrives on lap 60 when I slipstream him through the tunnel and just manage to brake soon enough for the chicane. He doesn't give up, though, and hounds me through the swimming pool section.
The next lap is my fastest of the race and the gap is quickly out to 3 seconds. After we pit on laps 62 and 63, I storm away to a 15s lead whilst my rival is on cold tyres. The gap stabilises and I pit on lap 69 for my final stint on R2s. Incredibly, we are both about three-quarters of a lap ahead of the 3rd-placed car.
I resume 7 seconds behind. When the AI pits, I inherit an 11s lead, which I extend to 13s by race end. With 2 laps to go, I also lap the 3rd and 4th-placed cars. The original leader of the race finishes 12 laps down. I'm not sure if he ever managed to stop at his pitbay.
I cross the line a very satisfied man. After a sloppy, error-ridden comeback drive at Le Mans, I am firmly back in form now. I made no big errors throughout the race and my strategy was about as perfect as it could be.
What won me the race was my speed whilst my rival had cold tyres on laps 46-47. Without that, he would have deservedly won. We were both light-years ahead of the next best.
A very good race. See you at Seoul!
Round 8: Seoul Central (113 laps) - Friday, January 21, 2011. 840hp, 149pts
Qualifying: 2nd (47.460)
Race: 3rd
My fastest Lap: 46.764
A1 fastest lap: 47.185
After a very competitive qualifying session, I end up 2nd, losing out on pole by 0.087s! But, a much better result than what I expected since I struggled at this track the previous time with the faster Nissan R89, in which I finished a lowly 5th. I will start on R3s in an attempt to get a break on the field so I can run my R2 and R1s in clean air. This will all come down to how much tire wear advantage I will have on the Formula cars.
Because I start on R3s, I get less A-spec points. But it's championship points that are the main focus here.👍
I make a pass for the leader on lap 2 after getting more traction out of the hairpin. I pull away to almost a 3 second lead before making a mistake on lap 5 at the chicane at the back of the circuit. This whittles my lead down to nothing and I have to build it up all over again.
But I struggle to do so. My confidence is a little down after my mistake and the Formula cars' tyres have obviously warmed up by this stage. After 10 laps my lead is 1.8s and after 15 laps 4.2s.I pit on lap 20 as I feel my R3 rear just ever so slightly getting past their use-by-date. Amazingly, the other Formula cars all follow me in! My R3s last as long as their control tyres!!! This is massive for me.
I extend my lead to 15s before pitting again on lap 39, the Formula cars pitting a lap later. I am also making up ground due to not refuelling to the max like the Formula cars do.
By the end of my third stint on R3s, I have lapped the bottom 2 cars and my lead is over 30s and I decide that it's time for R2s. I put a little more fuel in the tank this time and set-off on a new phrase in the race.
I lap about a second slower than I did on R3s, and my lead is actually cut to 22s. I stretch out my stint until lap 85, lapping the 2nd-placed car a couple of laps beforehand (or course, the Formula cars performed their 4th stop before I did). I pit for the last time and change to R1s for the long-stint home.
Now the car feels horrible!
No grip whatsoever. I resume with a 12s lead but I have lost it by lap 90! I am basically 3 seconds a lap slower than the Formula cars. I have a crucial decision to make: do I continue on R1s to the end of the race and hope to hold out the Formula cars after they make their one remaining pitstop? Or do I do the minimum amount of laps required for R1s (12 laps) before pitting in and changing back to R3s?I decide to stay out there and guts it out, for better or worse, knowing that my pace on R1s will only improve as the tyres finally get up to working temperature. I am down to 4th by lap 96, trailing the leader by 13s, but the leader pits the next time around, followed by two other front-running cars on lap 100. I have my lead back, but it is only 12 seconds. In no time at all my pursuer is right on my tail.
We have a lapped car between us, and I actually hold them both off for more than 5 laps. By lap 109 I start thinking I might actually win this. Alas, I clip the wall around the back of the circuit and the Formula car sneaks up the inside to pass me. I remain in his slipstream for the long main straight and pull up beside him at the hairpin. I am not giving this up! We bang wheels as we go side-by-side up the back chute towards the chicane. I just get my nose in front. We enter the chicane and my lack of grip allows him to get back up the inside as we exit the corner. Again we bang wheels but this time I spin across his nose and end up facing the wrong way.👎Just a couple of laps from home. Dismayed, I limp through the final 2 laps, just holding out the 4th-placed Formula car. The top 4 cars finish within 10.6 seconds of each other. An epic race. You win some, you lose some. I think I had the right stragegy. Maybe I should have done one more stint on R3s until lap 80, followed by short, minimum length bursts on the R2s and R1s. Hindsight is 20/20, aye?👍
The winner of the race was actually in 5th place in the championship, so my overall lead was not dented as much as I feared.
Standings after 8 of 16 races:
Pescarolo Courage C60 Race Car 61
Formula Gran Turismo 39
Formula Gran Turismo 31
Formula Gran Turismo 31
Formula Gran Turismo 28
Formula Gran Turismo 19
Round 9: Infineon Raceway: Sports Car Course (76 laps) - Sunday, March 6, 2011. 840hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 1ST (1:13.846)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:14.579
A1 fastest lap: 1:17.311
Back after another lenghty break. Now I enter the second half of the season. I set my gear ratios too low for qualifying and my top speed is capped, which costs me valuable time. I also notice after the session that my ride height was also way too high. I should check them more carefully. The track is also very tricky and it was difficult to get a perfect lap in. I have many offs at first right-hander in particular.
I decide to start on R2s. I am confident I can put up a good showing, with my adjusted settings.
I used my cold tyre pace to make up 2 positions in the first 2 laps and I also gain a bonus position when a leading car spins. By this, however, the front two cars are already 7 seconds up the road and I settle down to consistent 1:18s laps. I gain ground on the leaders when their tyres wear out and they pit on lap 10, as do all the AIs.
I stay out until lap 12 and pit for R1s. I do not refuel, as I will only do the minimum required laps (8) on these tyres.
I rejoin just behind the two leaders but immediately I spin out exiting turn 2.
The R1s are a disaster and after another spin I am down in 6th and I am 40s down by the time we all pit again on lap 20. The only option from here is to put on R3s and hope they can last 10 laps per stint until the end of the race.I rejoin the race and start making up ground. I gain on average about 2 seconds a lap. I pass one car on lap 27 and another two on lap 29. By this time, my rear tyres are shot, but I take it easy on the 10th lap of the stint and make it back into the pits, now only 21s down on the two leaders.
The gap is further reduced to 8s by the time we all pit again on lap 40. During the next stint I have a great battle for the lead which I finally win. However, I used up a lot of my tyres and cannot hold onto my lead on the final lap of the stint. I spin in the long sweeping left-hander in the middle of the circuit and I also spin in the esses. Thus, I lose about 15 seconds and I have to start all over again.👎
I push hard and do good, clean laps for the most part. I regain 2nd on lap 58 and then the lead on lap 59. I have no problems on the in-lap this time and I keep my lead.
I increase my lead to almost 30s by race end and I lap the 6th-placed car and almost one more but I had an off whilst trying to pass him on the final lap. On the penultimate lap, I concentrated on doing an ultra fast, smooth lap and smashed the lap record, bettering my previous best time by almost a second.
So, a good win but I was again unhappy with my effort on the R1 tyres. I hope to rectify this in the next race.
Round 10: Laguna Seca Raceway (60 laps) - Monday, March 14, 2011. 840 hp, 200pts
Qualifying: Pole (1:13.846)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:11.689
A1 fastest lap: 1:14.280
After the big earthquake and Tsunami on Friday I am back on it at Laguna Seca in California, USA; trying to restore some sense of normality after what has been a trying past couple of days.
I struggle to do a clean lap during qualifying. The car has some understeer and I find it difficult to make the apexs of the corners. However, I get my act together with 3 laps to go in the session and on my penultimate lap I get pole by 0.017 seconds!
I soften up my springs a little for the bumps and I decide to start on R1s to get that phrase over-and-done-with as soon as possible.
The first 10 laps are action-packed, as expected. I keep my lead until lap 2 when I run wide and slip down to 2nd. After the AIs' tyres get warm, I drop down to 4th but gradually get quicker. Meanwhile, many cars are spinning off in the corners after the corkscrew. Sigh. They are basically handing the race to me. I actually grap the lead briefly on lap 10, having been as much as 11s behind the leader at one stage.
I gain the lead on lap 11 when all the AIs pit. I cruise along on my R1s but have a spin at turn 5 on lap 14. Turn 5 is by far the most difficult corner for me on this circuit. I lose about 8 seconds and when I pit on lap 20, I have a 21s lead; helped by the fact that once again the AIs cannot stay on the road. My fastest lap on RIs was 1:15.346
I switch to R2s and resume in 3rd place. I have a fierce battle with another AI that last half a lap and ends when we both go off at the corkscrew. However, I regain the lead when all the AIs pit again on lap 22.
My R2s last for 16 laps. Such is my dominance that I almost lap the entire AI field after they pit for the third time.
I cruise along with some incidents due to having the news on in the background but I keep my lead and even lap the whole field before pitting for R3s on lap 66.
Despite huge spins in the final laps I win with well over a lap to spare. A boring race, to be honest, apart from the initial 10 laps.
Mainly due to the AI having major problems with the left-hander after the corkscrew.Round 11: Twin Ring Motegi Road Course (64 laps) - Sunday, March 20, 2011. 840 hp, 177pts
Qualifying: 2nd
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:32.535
A1 fastest lap: 1:33.675
I am back in action and it is strange that my next round is at Motegi, one of the areas hit by the devastating earthquake and tsunami which took place on Friday, March 11, 2011.
Luckily for them, the town of Motegi is located inland so the circuit is unscathed. However, they are very close to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, so a motor race is probably the last thing on their minds right now. But this is the virtual world so I must race on. I qualify in 2nd, missing out on the coveted pole position by 0.066s!
I decide to start on R2s, before changing to R1s for minimum 7-lap stint on a lesser fuel load. I hold 2nd for 3 laps, but I drop back to 3rd when the Formula cars' tyres come up to temperature. I have a great battle for 3rd for a while, with lots of passing and repassing but I prevail in the end. However, I am now 13s behind the leader. I notice that the Formula cars have a horsepower advantage over me but I have a good braking advantage going into turn 10 at the end of the long straight.
The Formula cars pit on lap 9 and I hold the lead for 2 laps before pitting for those nasty R1s. My best lap on R2s was 1:35.082
My first flying lap on the R1s is a 1:42.9. By this time I have dropped down to 5th, and one corner into the next lap I am 6th. I have no grip whatsover in which to resist. I have another horrible lap soon afterwards and the gap to the leader after 15 laps is now a whopping 41s.
Is there anyway back from here? Can I do another Infineon? The last two laps on the R1s are tidy enough (best of 1:37.9) but by the time we all pit again on lap 18, I am 51s down. It will take a miracle from here. I plan to stick with R3s until the end of the race.
I regain 5th on lap 24 and then 4th 2 laps later. My stint has been very smooth so I decide to take a risk and do an extra lap. My rears just hold on and I am able to do the same number of laps as the Formula cars in one stint on R3s. This may be crucial come the end of the race.
I have reduced the gap to 39s and continue to inch my way back into contention. I move up to 3rd during this stint but I have a minor hiccup on lap 34 when I overshoot at turn 2. I decide to pit a lap earlier because of that. I am now 31s down. 28 laps in which to make up 31 seconds? It can be done!
I press on but have another moment at turn 3 which costs me 6 seconds. I run wide again at the same turn on lap 42, which costs me another 4 seconds. Which means that the gap is still a substantial 29 seconds by the time I pit on lap 43. I have three 7-lap stints left to run. The Formula cars also have the same number of stops to make; the difference is that they will be stopping on the penultimate lap. At least, I hope so!
Since I am now stopping before the Formula cars, I have a huge advantage over them when they start their stints on cold tyres. Thus, after a super-fast 1:32.535s lap, I gain 2nd at the beginning of lap 47 and I am now only 19s behind the leader.
When I pit on lap 51, the gap is 17s. This is despite the fact that I had an ugly half-spin at turn 8 during that stint.
When the leader pits and rejoins, he is 14s in front of me. I grit my teeth and charge. By the end of the next lap, I am only 11s behind. It would have been less if I had not gone too deep under brakes into turn 4.
With 7 laps to go, the gap is under 10s for the first time. The leader is stuck behind the 6th-placed car, which is not helping his cause. Meanwhile, I am struggling to get any real speed out of my tired engine. I pit with 6 laps to go. My crew change the tyres and away I go. I rejoin 33s down in 3rd position. I must get that gap below at least 28s to have any chance of passing the leader on the final lap.
My first lap is a 1:35s. I run wide exiting the final chicane. Not good enough! Meanwhile, the leader has got past the 6th-placed car. My next lap is a 1:33.9, and the gap is down to 31s. I simply don't have the car speed I had in the middle of the race. Probably due to the usual loss of horsepower (I change my oil before every race). My next lap is 1:33.8s. My gap is 31s with 2 laps to go. The penultimate lap is better but such is the tension that I did not note down my time. I am right behind 2nd as he pits. The leader rejoins about 1.5 second down the road!
I come up to him immediately and get a huge run on him as we go through the turn 5 sweeper. But I am not sure whether to pass him on the right or the left and in the end I run straight up the back of him! There is only one more chance: a deep-braking maneuver into turn 10. I come up to him again in the preceding hairpin and I just close enough to slipstream him down the long straight. I hold my nerve and pull off a cool pass up the inside. I accelerate away, go cautiously through the chicane and speed the remaining 100 meters to the final line with a huge grin on my face. The final margin is 0.628s. Race time 1h44m50s. I have done it!I dedicate this victory to all the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. It is fitting that it was at the Motegi circuit.
Footnote: my lead is now 34 points. If I had finished 2nd, it would have only been 26 points.
Round 12: Nurburgring Nordschleife (15 laps) - Monday, March 21, 2011. 840 hp, 178pts
Qualifying: 2nd (5:55.863)
Race: 3rd
My fastest Lap: 5:48.726
A1 fastest lap: 5:55.410
Been looking forward to this one for a long time. I couldn't wait to do it, so I am doing it the day after my emotional victory at Motegi. I have to come down from that high and concentrate on the job at hand.👍
What will be crucial here is whether my R3s can last for a 2 lap stint. If I run into trouble with my rears halfway round the second lap, then the race is over.
However, first I must qualify. The session is better than I expected. The car handles the bumps, twists and turns very well, and I qualify 2nd (1.2s from pole). Better yet, my R2s handle the 3 laps (2 qualifying laps + an out lap) without any problem. Which means that my R3s should do 2 laps, and my R1s 4 laps, if I need them too, which I doubt.
I then devise my strategy for the race. I will start on R2s and do a 3-lap stint. Then I will change to R1s for a minimal 2 laps. Then, I will do the rest of the race on R3s. It would be foolish to start the race on R1s because there would be a high risk of an accident with the field tightly bunched.
Here we go!
For some reason, I get an extra point for winning this race then I did in previous races that I started on R2s. (178-177). Has my horsepower gone down after 3 long laps of qualifying?
Disaster strikes on the first lap, when I run wide and spin at Flugplatz. 🤬 I rejoin at the back of the field and carry on as best as I can. However, I am nervous and untidy going through the twisty Pflanzgarten sections (always a weak point). And then, just after going through the kink at the end of the long straight, I run straight into the back of a Formula car that is recovering from a spin! Thus, after a 6:12.954 opening lap, I am 15s down on the leader.
The next lap is a complete, utter disasater. A spin at Fuchsrohre triggers a total loss of concentration and I have at least 4 more spins throughout the lap. At one point, I am 45 seconds down on the lead. This track can burn you hard, once you let your guard down.
The result is a 6:26s lap, and I am still in 6th after the Formula cars pit, albeit now 18s from the lead.I make a pass for 5th at Breidscheid but spin around at the next corner. Very frustrating. I complete my 3rd lap without further incident. My R2 rears hold up remarkabley well considering all the spins I have had. I pit for R1s and rejoin 47s behind the leader.
Despite another half-spin at Fuchsrohre, my first lap on R1s is my fastest of the race so far (6:09.291). The car seems more balanced and less twitchy on these harder tyres. I gain a place when the Formula cars pit, but I lose it when I spin at Hohe Acht and again at Schwalbenschwanz. I pit at the end of lap 5 for R3s, which I will stay on for the remainder of the race. I rejoin 1:02s down on the leader.
Despite two spins, my first lap on R3s is also my first sub-6 minute one (5:57.934). I gain 5th and then 4th momentarily before spinning out once again at Fuchsrohre, my least-favorite corner in the world. This drops me down to last again, 39s from the lead. At this point, we all have 4 more stops to do. More incidents follow and after my pitstop for more R3s, I rejoin 1:04s away from the lead. So, I have made no progress whatsover.👎
I regain 5th when the Formula cars pit and this time I hold onto that position before my own pitstop. I rejoin exactly a minute from the lead, so some progress has been made but obviously nowhere near enough.
The next stint is by far my best of the race so far. I have no spins and improve my fastest lap to 5:50.018. I am on track for a 5:48 but I must pit. By this time I am in 4th and have cut the gap down to 23s. Suddenly, a race win is a distinct possibility. But, I cannot think too far ahead. I must concentrate on doing 4 more mistake-free laps. I rejoin in 5th, 43s from the lead.
Alas! During my next lap I have three huge spins at Aremburg, Pflanzgarten II, and Tiergarten. The result is a 6:07s lap.
However, for some reason, I gain 3rd when the Formula cars pit. With 3 laps to go, I am 25 seconds from the lead. Without that bad lap, I could have been a mere 10 seconds.I have a huge spin at Klostertal before my final pitstop, which means with 2 laps to go, I rejoin in 5th, 48s from the lead.
My penualtimate lap is a 5:52, and the leaders rejoin 16s down the road from me. The lead is too much, and despite doing my fastest lap, I finish the race 15.174 seconds away from glory in 3rd. That is the equivalent of three spins. I had a lot more than that during the race. In the end, untidy driving, and a loss of concentration in parts (one spin was normally followed by another) cost me what could have been comfortable race win.
But, despite all that, I have a big enough points lead to be crowned World Champion once again!
Round 13: El Capitan (64 laps) - Saturday, March 26, 2011. 839 hp, 200pts
Qualifying: 4th (1:26.593)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:23.853
A1 fastest lap: 1:24.808
After four consecutive real-life circuits, I go to the Gran Turismo-created El Capitan at Yosemite National Park. This is one of my favorite circuits. It is a real driver's circuit and there is not many better experiences in GT4 than a hot lap here. I remember winning comfortably against the Formula cars last time I came here in a Nissan R89C. I am looking to do the same again after a disappointing showing at the Nurburgring.
I struggled with traffic and qualifying but once I got clear track space I moved up to 5th, then 4th, and I was on a very good final lap but I made a mistake in the middle section of the track.
I decide to start on R1s and then spend the majority of the race on R3s.
I lose a position on the first lap but I manage to hold onto 5th until lap 5, by which time I am 17s behind the leader. Do I stay out on R1s and gain a pitstop advantage on the Formula cars, or do I come in for R3s as soon as possible?
A trip into the sandtrap on lap 6 persuades me to pit the next lap for R3s. 💡 I rejoin in a lonely 6th position, 53s down on the leader.
Three of the Formula cars pit on lap 8 and the remaining two pit on lap 9. After 10 laps, I am closing in on 5th position, 25s down.
In the next 5 laps, I make up 5 seconds, which shows that the Formula cars are a lot quicker here than at previous tracks.
I stay out a lap longer than I should have done on my R3s and I have to limp around to the pits. At the final corner I get hit in the rear and spin around.
I do my first sub-1:24s lap on lap 25 before running into the outside wall at the first corner, thus losing 3 seconds. I am now 26s away from the lead. Pulling back that gap is going to take some time.
After our pitstops on lap 24, I start making up a massive amount of time on the leaders. I think they are stuck behind a slower car that has not pitted yet. I smell blood and put the hammer down. After 27 laps, I am in 3rd, and the gap is now a mere 7 seconds.
The gap stabilises but I make the pass for second place on the start-finish straight and I am closing in on the leader on our in-laps, but my rears have turned red and I spin around on the last corner before the pits again!
I drop down to 3rd but a fast pitstop still sees me resume just behind the second-placed car. I get him a few corners later. The leader pits the next lap and my warm R3s see me into the lead at the chicane before the tunnel. I push hard in the next 6 laps in order to build a lead before my mandatory stint on R2s. When I pit on lap 40, I have a healthy 14 second buffer. On go the R2s.
I get my lead up to 20s but a mistake exiting the final turn and trouble lapping the 6th-placed car loses me 10s and by the time I pit to change back to R3s, my lead is only 7 seconds.
But apart from that minor scare, once I put R3s back on, it was plain sailing until the finish line, apart from two or three "moments". I win by the margin of 23 seconds.
Round 14: Fuji Speedway 2005F (67 laps) - Sunday, March 27, 2011. 839hp, 178pts
Qualifying: Pole (1:25.271)
Race: 1ST
My fastest Lap: 1:23.702
A1 fastest lap: 1:25.154
Part 2 of this weekend double-header, and I am back in Japan for the final two races of the championship. As oppsoted to El Capitan, this is not one of my favorite circuits. I especially dislke the twisty section in the final part of the lap.
I show impressive form in qualifying. I am gradually work myself up the order before cutting a near-perfect lap on lap 6 which puts me on pole by 0.7s. It should be a good race.
I decide to start on R2 tyres but I lose four positions in the run down to the first corner.
However, I am up to 2nd by the end of the opening lap and on lap 2 I make the pass for the lead. I pull away instantly but the Formula cars' tyres warm up to the task and at the end of lap 5 my lead is only 1.7s. However, I make a mistake entering the turn 2 sweeper and this starts a 5-lap battle for the lead in which I lose and lead and regain it at least 4 times. The Formula car is the first to blink and he pits on lap 10. I stay out for an extra 3 laps and then I pit for R1s. I top up the fuel to the amount that will see me do a minimum of 7 laps on these tyres. I emerge with a clear 5 second lead but the Formula cars chews me up and spits me up and I am in 2nd before the end of my out-lap. My first flying lap on the R1s is a 1:31, and after 15 laps, the margin is already 5.7s.
I lose 2nd position on lap 17 and 3rd position on lap 20. By this time I am 18s from the lead, even though my grip has improved a lot. I pit with the Formula cars on lap 20 and switch to R3s. I hope they are good for 10 laps. I regain 3rd on my outlap and then 2nd on lap 24. I am closing in on the leader at roughly 2 seconds a lap. I am only 4 seconds behind him when we pull into the pits on lap 30. I regain the lead on lap 32 and proceed to pull away to the tune of about 1.5s a lap. By lap 39, I am 11s in the lead. However, I spin out at the first corner after putting a wheel off the track under braking (a very common error for me).
I lose a small amount of time but I pit at the end of the lap. By lap 47 I have lapped the 5th and 6th-placed cars and my lead is 26 seconds. The rest of the race passes without incidents or mistakes and I win by approx. 45 seconds, having lapped the 4th, 5th, and 6th-placed cars.👍
Round 15: Suzuka Circuit (53 laps) - Monday, March 28, 2011. 838hp, 150pts
Qualifying: 6th (1:44.054)
Race: 3rd
My fastest Lap: 1:40.413
A1 fastest lap: 1:40.993
After the long sabaticals in the middle of the championship, I am finishing it off in a rush here. Here is a fact that will stun you: I have never won a major championship event at Suzuka.
I have only won here in the All-Japan GT Championship, which I guess you could say is a semi-major series. Suzuka is the most difficult circuit on GT4 for me, apart from the Nurburgring. So this should be a challenging race.Qualifying shows just what a touch race this will be. I qualify last, 3 seconds away from pole. :tdown:That is a huge margin. My only choice is to start on R3 tyres.
The start is action-packed and I make it up to 4th by the end of the esses. However, I go side-by-side into Degner with a Formula car on my outside and after a slight contact heading into the corner, he spares off into the sand.
At the moment I am calling it a race incident. But if the stewards see that I was at fault post-race, then I will lose 30 seconds from my race time. I push on and have a tremendous battle for 2nd place. We are very evenly matched and despite getting close going into turn one, I just cannot find a way past him. By the end of lap 5 we are 4.3 seconds behind the leader. I finally get a good run onto the start-finish straight and make the pass before we enter the turn 1 sweeper at the beginning of lap 7. We go into lap 8 and I am praying that my rear tyres will hang on.
I close to within 2.6s of the lead before we enter the pits at the end of lap 8. We resume in the same order but this time I use my speed advantage on cold tyres to close right up behind him and I make a pass for the lead at the final chicane.
The next 7 laps are the most intense racing of the championship. There is no changing of the lead but he is never more than 2 seconds behind me. I concentrate very hard and do not put a foot wrong. In fact, as we near the end of the stint, I pull away a little so that I have a 3.7s margin as we enter the pits. Alas! I come into the entry too hot and slam the entrance barrier. Luckily it only costs me about 2 seconds and I still emerge in the lead, albeit with a slimmer margin and R2 tyres. I hold onto the lead until lap 18. We go into 130R and I receive a slight tap in the rear. This unsettles me and I miss my braking point into the chicane. I go straight ahead.
I reverse out again and find myself in 3rd position, 9s off the lead. My aim now is to finish on the podium. My lap times on R2s are in the 1:43s, which is much better than in qualifying, mainly due to the lower fuel load I am now running. I hold onto 3rd position for 4 more laps before unbelieveably committing the same mistake again. I lose one position, but I am now 23s behind the leader and even a podium looks a long shot. I pit on lap 23 and go back to R3 tyres. The lead was good while it lasted.The next 8 laps are amongst some of the best I have ever driven. After regaining 3rd position, I do four consecutive laps in the 1:40s and gradually inch my way towards the 2nd-placed car. The gap to the leader comes down from 20s, to 18s, to 16s...and finally to 11s as I enter my final lap on this stint. However, the car is not using up more fuel per stint and the gauge goes onto empty as I enter the first corner!
I pray for it to keep going and I am worried so much about it that I almost spin out going through 130R. As I exit the chicane, it finally coughs its last! I cruise into the pits at 80km/h and get more R3s. How much time did that cost me?The answer is that I am back where I started the last, i.e. 20 seconds behind the leader.
I push hard again but this time I cannot lap under 1:41 and thus there is still a 18s gap to the leader when I pit in for more R3s. I plan to catch up and hopefully pass the 2nd-placed car in this upcoming stint before somehow defending my positon on R1 tyres in the 6 laps. Although I make no big mistakes in the next stint, I cannot make up any time on the front two cars. My horsepower or my energy has dropped. Either way, the gap is the same as I pull into the pits to change onto R1s. I have a big margin back to 4th, so I should be safe for 3rd positon.
The last few laps on R1s are difficult. I can only lap in 1:46-1:47s and the 4th-placed car is gaining on me at about 5 seconds a lap!
In the end, I make it home for a podium by 2.1s, 44.2s behind the winner.In the post-mortem, the incident on lap 1 is deemed to be a racing incident and I keep my 3rd place. The car that I made contact with was actually in 2nd place in the championship before this race, but he loses that to the winner of the final round.
Final Championship Points
Pescarolo Courage C60 Race Car 119
Formula Gran Turismo 74
Formula Gran Turismo 72
Formula Gran Turismo 53
Formula Gran Turismo 40
Formula Gran Turismo 32
So, I won 10 races and finished on the podium in every single race apart from the opening round at Tokyo, when I ran out of gas due to a pit error.
In the final analysis, what won me this championship was my tyre durability. My R3s lasted on average the same number of laps on one stint as the Formula cars. Apart from Suzuka and Seoul, I always had the Formula cars' measure for speed on R3s with more than enough to spare. I will look at doing this championship again with a slightly slower car.
Thanks for reading!
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