Four hours with la nonna italiana - Strong as Bull!

[walla]

Ladies and gentlemen,

allow me to present my report of something that started out as a proving ground for an ideal race, but at some point turned serious.

I had the opportunity to finally get my hands on the 15M Miura P400 Prototype, and the best way to try it out - the legendary Nordschleife at the Nürburgring. After a stock lap in the dark of 9:40, I wanted to see what it actually could do. However, let's get one premise straight - I'm not a good driver. I had spent some time on the race report forum earlier in the day, and with growing interest followed the Famine Four-hour thread, so imagine my surprise then, when I hit low 8:50's on the type V track. 8:50 are what the R8 LMS does, according to the page.

I have driven the 4 hour challenge twice before, and I've always disliked having the R8 as an opponent, and I sure as heck didn't want to start now, that I had a car that felt nice to drive for a longer period as well. I therefore re-rolled the starting list once, and got a field that looked very interesting.

Starting grid:

1. J. "Marge" Bouvier (Corvette '60)

	2. A. "With Cheese" Royer (Skyline GT-R R-tune (R34) '99)

3. L. "Melonhead" Meloni (BNR34 SKYLINE GT-R N1 base '06)

	4. I. "Painkiller" Athanasiadis (Carbon R (R34) '04)

5. C. "Headjob" Head (CTR "Yellow Bird" '87)

	6. I. "Highlander Mcleod (G37)

7. Me (Miura P400 Bertone Prototype)

	8. H. "Invisible Man" Vauhkonen (400R '96)

9. R. "The Don" Calabrese (FT565 twin turbo Audi TT)

	10. P. "Fore" Faure (350Z '04)

11. S. "Adam" Lambert (OPTION Stream Z '04)

	12. O. "Ker" Whang (S2000)

I had reckoned that the man to beat here was the Sicilian mobster in the inconspicuous Audi, and figured that de-tuning the car to a sustainable 9:18 - 9:25 range would be OK. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it that de-tuned. In the midst of trying to match the field, I noticed that I pulled away almost immediately, and that's not fun at all. After a while, I got the power down to 248hp with all goodies removed, and the power limited - it still felt a bit too quick, but I thought I'll let it run for an hour and see what my pit strategy would be like.

We join the action at the end of lap 1...

The Yellow Bird took off immediately, and the wiggling rear couldn't even be seen by the time the rest of us got onto the actual Nordschleife. The "headjob" in yellow kept going like a train, and by the time we got back to the finish line, he had racked up a good solid 20 second gap, posting an 8:51,5 ahead of my 9:12,2. I didn't feel that it was a disaster however, as I've seen how the birdie usually twitters around the track. I was sure that I would halve the difference by the next lap... Well - it sort of happened.

Lap 2 9:11,620 against the RUF who stayed just south of the 9 minute marker, and the difference was now 30,5 seconds. I was only able to halve the difference... Oh well... Meanwhile, behind me, the first rumblings of thunder were about to be heard...

The pack behind me for now: Melonhead, Royer, Painkiller, Marge, Highlander, and the Don in 8th. Good - try and keep him there.

On to the third lap, and I'm now gaining on the RUF. The best grip of the tyres must have been worn off, and he's all over the place. Suddenly - at the Opel Hut turn (my naming (around the 4:17 mark)) I see the headlights staring at me through a cloud of burnt rubber. That's him gone then - and me out of there. Ok - now we can cruise easy and figure out the pitting strategy for the actual race - later on. Then - after Döttinger Höhe - suddenly - headlights in the rearview mirror. They don't look Porscheish though. Crikey - it's Melonhead! And he's got the top speed over me. Time to use the whole width of the track. It's neck and neck at the finish line as both cars do a 9:10 flat. Thanks to a better top speed and better exit speed through Hohenrain - the Skyline passes me on the straight - but I get the inside line on breaking and then it seems to be a no-brainer for the rest of the lap. 2 seconds after the GP-part - 4,5 at Aremberg. That 9:10 must have been a fluke, then. 4,9 seconds at Kallenhard. 5,7 seconds at the Opel Hut. Then - disaster! 0,6 seconds after the Senna curve and on to the flat out Kessel run. (it can be run in less than 12 parsecs, you know ) By the Karussell, it's back to around two seconds again - and the technical part seems to favor the lighter Miura. But by Galgenkopf again, there's the Skyline harrassing the living daylights out of me and only 0:00,146 separate us after a 9:08,9 long lap 4. Well - that's good to know (for the actual race that is) - but you'll be pitting soon, and I'll be arrivederci, bye bye. I'm feeling confident - after all, this is just the warm-up for the actual race. Or so I thought...



More?

 

[C-ZETA]

You might want to post your report in the Nurburgring 4h thread we have here in the Race Reports forum. But post it after you finish, keep going in this thread for now. Good luck with your Miura, I was planning on having a go in a Giulia TZ2 eventually myself, so this is sort of like a less challenging equivalent of what I might face

 

[walla]

Part 2 - the Rise and Fall of Melonhead

It's still neck and neck down the main straight - and this time I have the outer line - no matter though - I've got him. The lap is pretty much a repeat of lap 4, but I have a feeling that we'll be parting ways after this lap. Sure enough - I post a 9:12,2 and Melonhead heads to the pits with a 9:15 flat. As the next 5 cars pit, I check the leaderboard. Me in first, Whang, not pitting this lap is up to second in his S2000, before Melonhead, The Don in the Audi and Royer in fifth. Faure in the 350Z is up to sixth but not pitted and Painkiller is before the Highlander Mcleod in the G37. As I hit the end of the GP section, the gap is about 1:10 to Whang, but I'm fairly sure that he won't be able to keep the faster Skyline behind him for very long - also, he's due in soon. Sure enough - Whang from second place pits in on the sixth lap and Melonhead is 57,9 seconds behind, having posted a 10:12,9 out lap. My tires are still in good order, so I decide to push on to lap 7, the previous lap having been a 9:18,0. Lap 7 is pretty normal, with nothing major happening, except the inevitable - Melonhead is slowly catching up on his fresh tires. At this point I'm thinking of pitting quite soon, making the 4 hour session into a 3 stopper - one per hour. By the end of the seventh lap, Melonhead's caught up almost 19 seconds, as I get a disappointing 9:19, him posting a 9 flat - tires still look OK though and the one hour mark has been passed - a strange and fascinating idea suddenly hits me. If I go 1 hour 20 minutes, I can do this in two stops! Let's see if we can do that.

Lap 8, and the front tires are the ones in really bad shape. Corners have to be taken real slow, and now the peloton is up to two cars, the Don has joined the chase - now both cars about 15 seconds back as they chug 9 minuters to my 9:27,4. Whatever - I'm going for broke. Let's start lap 9. The chasers are already fleeting in the rear-view mirror as I get onto the schleife, and the inevitable happens at Schwedenkreuz - too fast and no grip and I'm out, getting nice scores for my 720 degree spin. After Bergwerk it's a three-way at the flat-out section, and I finally have to relinquish first by the Karussell. I watch the timer spin the numbers in fast-forward mode as I inch towards the pits just under 10 minutes, having lost a disastrous 40,2 seconds on that lap.

Fresh tires and a 74 liters of juice later, I'm out of the pit lane in under a minute. I now know how long my stints CAN be, but whether it's worth it remains to be seen. I'm torn between calling this recon mission a success, but maybe, just maybe the situation be salvaged from this point, without having to start all over again. Can it?

I'm down in fourth as lap 10 draws to a close, crossing the line 1:20,4 behind Melonhead, the Don and Royer in the other Skyline. But they're all in the pits! I'm able to get past Royer, and am clearly in the wake of the gruesome twosome. Now - this is a race I'm clearly outgunned in acceleration, but I'm hoping that the nimble Miura could catch up in the third quarter of the track. It does, and lap 11 is a solid 9:02,6 to Melonhead's 10:09,8. Difference now only 13 seconds, but something is rotten in Denmark!

By the first turn, The Don finally gets an offer he can't refuse, and sends Melonhead sleeping with the fishes. The Audi is now out all alone, and he's been waiting for this. He immediately starts building up a gap, 15 seconds by the first Karussell - but back down to 13 by the second. "You can do this!"

Then suddenly at Galgenkopf - cue dramatic music - another puff of smoke, and the frekkin' Yellow Bird is once again staring at me - and as I plow right into his side door - I let loose a barrage of curses! Spinning and trying to keep an ounce of speed to the final straight I watch the gap doubled by the bridge - and up to 35,6 seconds by the finish line. My 9:20,6 is a feeble attempt to catch the mafioso who gets a time north of nine minutes - an 8:58,1.

As I head out to lap 13, I try to keep up with the leaders. The gap fluctuates by a couple of seconds both ways, and by the s/f-line it's 38 seconds. 2,4 seconds slower again, as the Audi does a 9:01. This is why I tried checking the Famine thread, to be able to gauge the opposition - and I wasn't expecting times to be that low. Given, 20 seconds difference is well within the margin of error (3,5%) but it seems like a cartload on the Nürb. Lap 14 is much the same - I keep on pushing, trying not to make any errors - but I lose 5,4 seconds to the Audi, and as we head out to lap 15 - I'm 43,5 seconds behind, with a dilemma.

I know that the race will be won or lost right here, right now. I know that the leaders will be coming in this lap. I could theoretically go for another 3 laps as tire wear permits, but is it worth it? I'm currently paused, so I'm not only leaving you hanging by the edge of your seats, but I honestly don't know how the story will end. As it stands right now, I've extrapolated the following:

I need one more pit minimum (1 minute)
Leaders will probably do 3 more pits (3 minutes)

I'm one minute off (give or take), so that would give me a theoretical one minute advantage. However, the Melonhead averaged 9:23,2 to my current 9:19,9 and it seems that the Audi is quicker. Current average (of only three laps) is 9:01. This would mean that the one minute advantage is shot in five laps.

I'm wondering whether I should pit twice, but only do a quick in and out, only taking the amount of juice (11 liters?) that it takes for the tires to change - or stay out on a two-stop tactic?

Suggestions and comments are welcome.

 

[GTsail]

......
I'm wondering whether I should pit twice, but only do a quick in and out, only taking the amount of juice (11 liters?) that it takes for the tires to change - or stay out on a two-stop tactic?

Great story so far walla!

I have also raced against a wayward Yellow Bird, that just loved to face the wrong way on the track whenever I came near. I had to learn to check ahead on the track map for its frequent appearence!

My advice would be to pit twice.

Either way it will be close, but you just can't afford to have a 10 minute in-lap again, like you did on lap # 9.

Good luck!
GTsail

 

[walla]

Great story so far walla!!

My advice would be to pit twice.

Either way it will be close, but you just can't afford to have a 10 minute in-lap again, like you did on lap # 9.

Good luck!
GTsail

Cheers... I'm definitely not planning a 10-minute lap, and #9 was done with no intention of actually continuing the race - but I agree - it's going to a tight one.

Thoughts on strategy regarding the two pits? Short one first, or fill it up and then just a splash later on? My thinking would go like this:

Lap 15: Audi + Melonhead to pits -> gain 1st (~10 sec lead)
Lap 16: Pit (short one) -> lose 1st (~20 seconds off)
Lap 17-20: Keep up with Melon and the Don
Lap 20: Scream past the cars and increase lead. (~1 minute gained)
Lap 22-23: Pit (~1 minute lost)
Lap 25: Audi + Skyline need to pit (~1 minute gained)

I'll try to check fuel consumption figures (currently 8,2 liters per lap) and need to modify my excel sheet accordingly before continuing. Let's see how this goes...

 

[walla]

Part 3: The contract on the Calabresi family.

We rejoin the action on lap 15. I'm furiously trying to play catch-up, but it seems like a total uphill struggle. The Don and Melonhead are miles away (literally) and to make things worse, the car doesn't handle like it did yesterday. As I scream down the last long straight, the four liter V12 fights against the air in front of it. I see the leaders heading in to the pits, and I get a sudden epiphany as I lose the rear grip in the final Hohenrain chicane. I follow them in - 41 seconds after the leaders!

I fill up with 48 liters of go-juice, and get fitted with brand new tires, and at the first checkpoint the gap is down to less than 30 seconds. Now, let's see what this car can do. 9:50 out lap and the gap is down to 28,8. Then I lay down the law - 9:03.2, 8:57.2, 9:02.3, 9:05.4 and as the leaders pit for the fourth time - the gap is down to 18,3 seconds by the pit entrance and 37 seconds by the end of lap 21 when I decide to go for broke. New tires - as much fuel as you can fit in while changing, I yell through the windows as the pit crew get to work. The map shows the Audi approaching fast - but I'm already out and on my way. The first split shows 9,5 seconds in my favour - and as I know that I'm all done for pit stops - I'm feeling confident. Overly so perhaps, as I really floor it and gain 10 seconds on the Audi. The next two laps are even worse for the Don, as I get three consecutive sub-nine times of 8:57.3, 8:55.5 and 8:59,5 increasing the lead to 41 seconds by the end of lap 25 - when the Audi decides to pit again. The last lap is cruised to the finish line in a forgetful 9:08,7 as time ran out 20 seconds before the lap was finished. The Lambo has done it - second place to the Don, almost two minutes behind at the last checkpoint.

Thoughts on the race:


It seemed close at one point, and I really didn't know whether it would have been possible to win the race - but eventually - the denouement turned out to be a bit of a let down. What annoys me the most, is that the AI fills the tank to the brim, even when pitting on the last lap - let alone the fact that it pits on the last lap. I wish that there would be an adaptive AI that could plan endurance races a bit better. Having said that - this was one of the most enjoyable races in a while. I just wish that there could be even one longer race where the whole field would be evenly matched. I know that this is possible - as many reports have shown - but it takes a whole lot of effort from the player's part, when this could be some sort of option that could be chosen before the race.

Hope you enjoyed - I certainly did.

 

[Borna12345]

I liked your report, interesting, not too long, not too short. Keep it up! 👍