A new set of weeklies have arrived and the tricky BAC Mono is the star of the special event this time around.
For these, I decided to give myself a little bit of randomness by using GTPlus’ Race Roulette and used the filters on it to specify what car to drive for the specific events. Even engine swaps can be pulled out of the hat. Let’s hope I don’t get an S70-swapped LFA then.
Race 1 - Euro Sunday Cup 400 @ Alsace Test
This is a very weird circuit with a crazy uphill climb in the middle of the lap. The roulette handed me a Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge. That sounds…really boring. Right off the bat, however, the roulette chose an engine swap: the B18C engine from the 1998 Integra Type R. How lovely. With nearly 200 horses out of the box, it isn’t that much more powerful than the IRL 695 Biposto. So, it should be a joy to work with. Sure enough, the car gave me very little trouble after detuning it to 400PP with comfort medium tires. I took a nice victory after passing the leading Renault Megane on the final lap just before the big hill. I loved the car. I’ll be testing it out at full potential later on today to see how well it performs for me.
Race 2 - Japanese Clubman Cup 550 @ Autopolis
Autopolis. The circuit originally touted to host Formula One races, but ultimately became a venue for mainly domestic racing series instead, bar one round of the World Sportscar Championship in 1991. Everyone will be in tuned road cars for this early-morning event. The roulette handed me another engine-swapped car: the Lancer Evo X with its Gr.B variant’s engine. Obviously, it would blitz the field if I didn’t detune it a bit. With comfort softs and just under 550PP, I passed Gallo’s NSX on lap 2 and took the win as day broke. I love the way it handles, but I can’t say the same about the sound.
Race 3 - BAC Mono Trial @ Barcelona
No roulette for this one, obviously. I had to deal with the sketchy BAC Mono no matter what here. It spins its rear wheels excessively, so you need good throttle control when exiting the corners. It will bite easily if you simply just stamp on the gas. Patience is a virtue. Getting the gold time isn’t too rough as long as you have that in mind. This controller pleb managed a 0:35.601, more than enough.
Race 4 - Schwarzwald League @ Barcelona
We are staying at Catalunya for the next event, but on the full Grand Prix layout this time (sadly with that awkward chicane from yesteryear). The roulette’s choice: another engine-swapped car. This time, we have the Mercedes 190E Evo II with the engine from the highly-successful AMG GT3 Evo. Throwing a modern GT engine in a DTM homologation special from the 1990s is not an ideal thing to do, but it’s very much doable here. At 700PP, it’s actually pretty nice to drive with full downforce and a decent tune…on slicks. On sports softs, it’s a bit more tail happy. Since running it at all 610+ horsepower it comes with stock results in a bludgeoning of the field, I gave myself a handicap: 650PP and 400 horses. I still managed to win by nearly 30 seconds after passing the leader at the start of lap 3. You can easily get away with even less power, weaker tires, and/or more weight. The AI is just poor here.
Race 5 - WTC 800 @ Yas Marina
One of the two most recent tracks to be added to the game, this Grand Prix circuit in Abu Dhabi plays host to our final race, the World Touring Car 800. Usually, I would use something purpose built, like another Gr.3 car or even a detuned Gr.1 or Gr.2 car. However, the roulette assigned to me……a Pagani Huayra. Alrighty then.
Road cars typically perform poorly in the WTC800 events due to their inferior fuel consumption, but this is more of a sprint race than the majority of the other events, which are essentially mini-enduros. So, I believed there was a decent chance of a victory in a maxed-out supercar. I had to run it on hard slicks with the fuel map set to 4, upshifting at the halfway point of the bar. All I ultimately needed was patience, however, and I managed to catch the leaders mid-race and win.
This car can be AN handful out of corners with plenty of torque throughout the majority of the rev range. So, the Huayra will kick the rear out quite easily on power. You must be gentle on the throttle and only go full tilt when the car is in a straight line.
So, that’s this week done and dusted. I will be testing some more souped-up supercars in the Yas WTC800 race. I have already tested the Ferrari 812 Superfast (320/460 downforce, 50:50 weight, detuned to 704 horses) in this race. A good deal quicker through the corners than the Pagani. You can set it to FM2 with half-shifting and it will see you through just fine.
Take care!
