A few weeks ago, some of the GT6 Duel of the Week crew had what could only be described as an "incredibly close race". That phrase gets thrown around a lot, but this one in particular is worthy of the title.
Following some incidents pre-race with balancing issues (particularily with the M3 GTR), and
@Baron Blitz Red leaving beforehand for reasons aforementioned, we finally got the ball rolling and moved on with the official race.
Into the first corner, all four cars are packed incredibly tight along the flowing section leading up to the first tunnel. Cowboy's Astra was barely visible behind the dirt my M3 GTR kicked up.
Into the first tunnel, I accidentally go wide and leave an opening for Cowboy to slip in and take the third spot. Draggon brakes pretty hard and falls away from Vic a little.
Here's a shot showing the position after the first few sections of the first lap, Draggon and Vic are in close proximity again at this point, as I slowly gain on Cowboy in an attempt for third place.
Down the long straight in the middle of the first lap, Draggon makes a move on Vic down the stretch...
...But he fails and is forced to take a wide apex as Vic reclaims his spot in first.
The rest of the first lap followed the same pattern as the previous half, with Draggon and Vic out in front and me trailing Cowboy for a chance at third place.
So, along the home stretch at the beginning of the second lap, Cowboy speeds ahead of me at full sail, and even catches up to Draggon in the first few gradual curves. However, he took a wide path around Draggon into the first sharp left-hander that didn't pay off. Cowboy hits the grass and begins to spin in front of Draggon.
However, instead of Cowboy spinning out, he just did two complete spins and continued driving like it was nobody's business. Cowboy made the Opel look like a ballerina on asphalt. He secures second place with this radical move.
This move leaves Draggon dumbfounded and I slyly sneak up on his inside into the first tunnel to finally steal third. I'm sure that left a smug grin on Cowboy's face. Draggon may even need a new controller.
Obutwait... Draggon hasn't had enough yet. He slides by the M3 into the tunnel leading up to the long straight, with a superior apex through the previous corner.
But, DJ got this race track on rewind, so I sneak into Draggon's inside during the long left-hander after the straight. In a cruel twist of fate, Draggon is left in last again through a repeat of the previous lap.
Going into the final lap, Cowboy decides to do something about Vic's unchallenged lead thus far. What happens next is an incredibly intense final lap worthy of the highlight reels.
Cowboy slowly makes up ground on his duplicate, the Opel is leading the charge against the undefeated Vauxhall. They may be clones, but they will attempt to claim victory for two different reasons.
Cowboy catches Vic's slipstream down the straight, for the first time in the race Vic's position icon changes to a two. This move looks like it wins Cowboy the race, but will it?
No! In a strange twist of fate, again! Vic is able to take an incredibly wide line around the early-braking Cowboy and cut in close to the perfect apex and blow by him completely. It looked like Cowboy was never in first to begin with! What a pass from Vic to defend the first place like that!
The final few corners consisted of us watching Vic ride away into the sunset with his victory. I pulled off a sweet drift in the background though.
Across the line!
So, that wraps up the bonus stage. Draggon in fourth, myself in third, Cowboy in second and Vic in first.
An incredible display from all drivers, the pack stayed very close throughout the event and the competition was incredibly tight! Each car was pretty evenly matched, this duel was a matter of skill behind the wheel. You'd expect no less from Vic and his driving ability. What transpired here was probably the closest Bonus Stage yet.
So, get your rally car dusted off and head to Toscana. Aim for a time of 1:45 and I'll see you in the next Bonus Stage!
