Le Mans / Sarthe endurance strategy

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Hi all - has anyone got any tips for pit/tyre strategy for the Le Mans Endurance race? Just wasted an hour trying different things - keep running out of tyres well before I need to pit for fuel, but can't run competitive lap times with the RH on - what are you guys doing? (I'm using the Porsche 919 - but I ran time trails with the Toyota 50 and the Audi, and they all seem to be within a second of each other.)

ALSO- there doesn't seem to be any slipstream effect in this race? - would have thought it should be more apparent on the long straights here than just about any other track. Anyone else noticing this?
 
RH, fuel map 1. Don't always add fuel if you don't have to, and drive until the car slides around more than you're comfortable with.

And the FWD Nissan GTR is great.
That's my strategy for the Gr. 3 enduros.
 
Used the Sauber C9 with fuel map 3 and RH. 2 stop strategy around 20 mins apart, this can be pushed further if the tyers have good wear. If you can relax into a good consistent rythem this helps alot.
 
RH, fuel map 1. Don't always add fuel if you don't have to, and drive until the car slides around more than you're comfortable with.

And the FWD Nissan GTR is great.
Same here except I main the V12 Vantage on TCS 3...Somehow I drive faster with it.
 
Hi all - has anyone got any tips for pit/tyre strategy for the Le Mans Endurance race? Just wasted an hour trying different things - keep running out of tyres well before I need to pit for fuel, but can't run competitive lap times with the RH on - what are you guys doing? (I'm using the Porsche 919 - but I ran time trails with the Toyota 50 and the Audi, and they all seem to be within a second of each other.)

ALSO- there doesn't seem to be any slipstream effect in this race? - would have thought it should be more apparent on the long straights here than just about any other track. Anyone else noticing this?

You should be able to complete the race with the Porsche 919 but the Dodge Tomahawk will have better straight line speed. Stay with RH and fuel map 1 and you should be good to go.
 
If you’re driving any of the hybrid cars, do some trail braking before you start your heavy braking into the chicanes, end of Mulsanne, etc.

Not only is this how they drive these cars in real life, but it will:
A) save fuel
B) recharge your hybrid system more, allowing for better acceleration out of the corners
C) in many cases (and if done right) will result in an even faster lap time than trying to drive flat out.

I use this strategy with the Porsche 919, RH, play around with the fuel map and can win the race on one stop with tons of time to the next car, averaging around 3:30 laps (using a controller since my G27 doesn’t work obviously).
 
I wanna know how to do this...
It helps that Le Mans is my favorite track and that I lap it for fun, much the same as some people do with the ‘ring.

In Time Trial mode I can scoot the 919 and R18 Hybrid around in the 3:18 range and the TS050 in 3:20 (the car’s setup needs some work). I wish my wheel worked because I’m sure I could bring that down another second or two.

It just takes lots of practice and knowing where, when, and how to save fuel. For instance, if you’re behind somebody on the Mulsanne, go ahead and throw it down into a lower power fuel map, not worth the fuel usage to go back and forth with somebody if they’re just going to pit more times than you anyways. Stay behind them and use the draft as much as you can and it’ll help your fuel savings immensely.

On top of that, the lower power fuel map settings help with tire wear, and also allow you to put the throttle all the way down without spinning away your hybrid power when the tires are nearing the end of their life, making it even easier to stretch the life of the tires.
 
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Damn there is so much I don't know about this game. Thanks for the great tips. I am going to try them out as I too love lapping Le Man's, especially at 7am time trial. I saw that Kobayashi braked a lot earlier than me and now your story explains it. The only downer with the Hybrids is that they are so fast and my old brain finds it hard to keep up. My favourite lap yet was with the 66 GT40 in cockpit view at 7am with the sound turned up, absolutely glorious drive in the country. One for when you fancy a relax after the group 1s.

CJ
 
This will really help. I won first try in the XJR-9 but I cant remember how. I know I was full power unitl the last stint where I drop the fuel lap to make sure it lasted the time.

You are welcome.

If you’re driving any of the hybrid cars, do some trail braking before you start your heavy braking into the chicanes, end of Mulsanne, etc.

Ok Im confused as trail braking is using the brakes past the turn in point for the corner (unless I have missed some new meaning for it). Do you mean lift and coast?
 
Used the Sauber C9 with fuel map 3 and RH. 2 stop strategy around 20 mins apart, this can be pushed further if the tyers have good wear. If you can relax into a good consistent rythem this helps alot.

I did the same with the Nissan R92.

I'm not the quickest driver. I came out from my second pit stop literally side by side with the Tomahawk brushing against me, just got ahead of him then held him off for a few laps due to the rubber banding and won by about 1.5 seconds. Was an intense finish, hard work and really had to concentrate under pressure but a lot of fun also.
 
Just had a go with the 919, RH, and fuel at 1. Stopped at laps 5 and 11 and won by more than half a minute. The rabbit in my race was 3 stopping and spent the second half of the race sitting about 10 seconds behind me. It took on 100% fuel in its final stop, despite there only being about 2 laps left.

Fun race.
 
I used the TS050, RH, Map 1. Had at least three spins as I was still learning how to ride the Porsche curves kinda decently. Did not tune the car at all (so dismal straight line speed) and had power and weight on 100%.

After the second pit stop, I had three laps to go and changed to RS.

I still won. Maybe because of luck or maybe because the AI reacted to me being so bad over the first laps.

My fastest lap was a 3:28,something.

Edit: Will do the race again at least twice, once with the Mazda or Hyundai VGT and once with one of the Gr. C cars.
 
Toyota TS050 (as it came), racing hard tyres, 1 stop (fill it to the brim and fresh boots) finally added two spins to the mix :dunce:

Some use of map 2 to get me where I needed to be.

I’d try to avoid the spins next time though :lol:
 
Ok Im confused as trail braking is using the brakes past the turn in point for the corner (unless I have missed some new meaning for it). Do you mean lift and coast?
Lift a little early and touch the brake very slightly to charge the battery before the brake zone. And do trail braking past the turn in point.
 
Another strategy that I’ve just tried out is actually going the entire distance of the race without stopping.

To do this, I used the TS050, lowered the wings a bit, RH tires and stayed in power mode 6 for most of the race.

The difficulty of this is that, at least for me, the lack of a pit stop means that you’ll likely end up doing 17 laps, versus the 16 I know some people end up doing.

This is made harder by the fact that even the RH have a hard time lasting this long. By the end of the race you’ll be lucky to lap under 3:40 unless you’re corner cutting or something.

I averaged anywhere from about 3:35-3:43 laps depending on the condition of the tires.

As for fuel, the same strategy mentioned above of coasting at the end of straights/ (very) lightly using the brakes near the end of straights before starting your full braking, is essential to make sure that you keep generating hybrid power and compensating for the lack of engine power and keeping the lap times down.

This strategy is beneficial because the stops at Le Mans are extremely long due to the length of the pit lane and the amount of re-fueling required if running without conservation in mind.

This strategy definitely isn’t for everybody but if you’re good at fuel conservation then this is an easy way to get to the lead. The AI cars will likely pit 3 times, which takes an immense amount of time in the pits for them.

Likely wouldn’t work at most other tracks with shorter pit lanes, but Le Mans is definitely an exception. The fact that there’s so many areas which are so well suited to harvesting electricity also helps with keeping the car cometitive on lower engine power maps.

I have only tried the TS050 but see no reason why it wouldn’t also work on the 919 and hybrid R18. Not sure about the TS030 since I believe it has less hybrid power capacity and a larger, more thirsty engine.

If anybody decides to try this, let me know how it goes!


Lift a little early and touch the brake very slightly to charge the battery before the brake zone. And do trail braking past the turn in point.

Edit: thanks for getting to this before me. Meant to reply exactly this. Glad I’m not the only one who uses this driving style for these cars.
 
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HI Guys

So im realy looking forward to do this race but will have to wait a bit before I can get myself this much time to do it justice, and I can currenlty lap La Sarth in 3:20 ish when I do single races, this race it gona take over 3 hours OMG 60 LAPS!!!!.

I was thinking to use the Mazda VGT as I used it in the Nurb Endurance race and it performed well, or should I use a R18, 919 or Toyota? but the SRT is really fast and east to drive.

Also what speeds are you topping out at on the mulsanne? so I can work on my gearing and some for the draft. also are default setups ok.

What cars where in the top 3 when you raced as this I feel will be a good indication of what car I should pick also, I have tryed the Hyundai N2025 but I dont like its handing or breaking at all but when I do a single race it is always up on top.

also anyone have a tip for a breakng point for the entry into the porsche curves, as this is my weakest part of the track i always loose time at this point the camber in this part of the track also does not help.

Has anyone done this on a DS4 controller?

I think the prize money is a bit low for this race they should give us a a few mill come on PD?
 
HI Guys

So im realy looking forward to do this race but will have to wait a bit before I can get myself this much time to do it justice, and I can currenlty lap La Sarth in 3:20 ish when I do single races, this race it gona take over 3 hours OMG 60 LAPS!!!!.

I was thinking to use the Mazda VGT as I used it in the Nurb Endurance race and it performed well, or should I use a R18, 919 or Toyota? but the SRT is really fast and east to drive.

Also what speeds are you topping out at on the mulsanne? so I can work on my gearing and some for the draft. also are default setups ok.

What cars where in the top 3 when you raced as this I feel will be a good indication of what car I should pick also, I have tryed the Hyundai N2025 but I dont like its handing or breaking at all but when I do a single race it is always up on top.

also anyone have a tip for a breakng point for the entry into the porsche curves, as this is my weakest part of the track i always loose time at this point the camber in this part of the track also does not help.

Has anyone done this on a DS4 controller?

I think the prize money is a bit low for this race they should give us a a few mill come on PD?
You'll be glad to hear that it's 60 minutes, not 60 laps.
 
It would be so awesome if it were 60 laps :eek:. Disappointed that the official endurance races are only about 60min long. I'd like some 2-3h races.

I used the standard tune in the TS050 and I think it could be made much quicker for the course, but the race isn't very hard.
 
I just finished this race. Stock Toyota TS050, as was interested by what @KinLM said about driving hybrids so I gave that a go, I had never thought of braking just a little earlier, but it pays dividends. I wonder if that strategy will work around a more standard circuit, certainly looking forward to the next GR1 daily now!

Anyhwo, race was great fun, won by more than 1 minute, I figured i'd use it as a test session as I wasn't expecting much from the AI. 18 laps, Racing Hards, single stop on lap 9 with a 3:24.3 as best lap. I want to do it again, try a group C car, try for more laps etc, fun race.

EDIT - lap time was a 3:24, not a 1:24, I'm not that quick
 
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Has the new Toyota LM Cars Livery been shown yet, really hoping Fernando Alonso can win Lemans I think it would be great for Sports Car Racing as a whole if he does.
 
TS050 stock. Fuel map 6 the entire time. Had to pit for a splash of gas at the end of lap 15. No tire change. 17 laps, as usual. Works.

image.jpeg


Could probably short shift it more to go the entire distance. Maybe.
 
TS050 stock. Fuel map 6 the entire time. Had to pit for a splash of gas at the end of lap 15. No tire change. 17 laps, as usual. Works.

View attachment 742857

Could probably short shift it more to go the entire distance. Maybe.
Coasting a bit at the ends of straights and short shifting allows you to go the whole way without stopping, yes. The tires won’t be very happy regardless, but it is possible.
 
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