Le Mans / Sarthe endurance strategy

  • Thread starter smokeydan
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I was chasing down the Tomahawk and knew I was pushing too hard but liked it enough I didn't care. Then swigged beer in the pit stop and added 4 extra gallons of fuel. Whoops.

What I really want is a clean race bonus. I've driven every eligible car now, some more than once, and still haven't got it. I think it's because they lose control and smash into me despite my avoidance swerve. I keep two tires in the white lines always.
 
It's possible to do the daily C endurance race at Le Mans without pitting at all, I've done it multiple times in the Porsche 919, taking the win twice with a 9 second lead and a 2nd place (both races I started from around p6-p9).

It requires a lot of lift/coasting and using fuel map 6 throughout the entire final section of the lap.

I used fuel map 2 for the start until I pass Tetre Rouge, as soon at I hit 295kph I switch fuel map to 6 until the chicane.

Going into the next straight change to fuel map 1 until you hit 295kph, then fuel map 6 until you've hit the apex of the second chicane on mulsanne straight. Change to fuel map 1 again until you reach 295kph, switch to fuel map 6 until you've hit the apex of Mulsanne.

After Mulsanne again fuel map 1 until you reach 295kph, switch to fuel map 6 & stay on it until you've cleared the apex of Indianapolis and Arnage, change to fuel map 1 after the apex of arnage until you hit 295kph and then swap to fuel map 6 throughout the Porsche curves and the rest of the lap.

When crossing start/finish, I then used fuel map 2 or 3 until I reach Tetre Rouge and then I repeated the steps as described above.

If I'm not mistaken you "gain"
about 40-45seconds by not pitting, i used this 40-45second window to base my lap times on, in that 5 lap race I was about 7seconds a lap slower than my qualifying time, out of the two races I've won by using this method, I crossed the line once with an empty tank, I ran out of fuel at the final apex of the lap and finished with a 4 second lead over the guy in p2 - who pitted.

Edit: I might have saved these replays, I'll have a look and upload them if anyone's interested.
 
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I used the Jaguar LJR-9. Fuel map 1 and traction control to control wheel spin and increase tire wear. Stop about every 5 laps for fuel and fresh tires.
 
Amaru
It's possible to do the daily C endurance race at Le Mans without pitting at all, I've done it multiple times in the Porsche 919, taking the win twice with a 9 second lead and a 2nd place (both races I started from around p6-p9).

It requires a lot of lift/coasting and using fuel map 6 throughout the entire final section of the lap.

I used fuel map 2 for the start until I pass Tetre Rouge, as soon at I hit 295kph I switch fuel map to 6 until the chicane.

Going into the next straight change to fuel map 1 until you hit 295kph, then fuel map 6 until you've hit the apex of the second chicane on mulsanne straight. Change to fuel map 1 again until you reach 295kph, switch to fuel map 6 until you've hit the apex of Mulsanne.

After Mulsanne again fuel map 1 until you reach 295kph, switch to fuel map 6 & stay on it until you've cleared the apex of Indianapolis and Arnage, change to fuel map 1 after the apex of arnage until you hit 295kph and then swap to fuel map 6 throughout the Porsche curves and the rest of the lap.

When crossing start/finish, I then used fuel map 2 or 3 until I reach Tetre Rouge and then I repeated the steps as described above.

If I'm not mistaken you "gain"
about 40-45seconds by not pitting, i used this 40-45second window to base my lap times on, in that 5 lap race I was about 7seconds a lap slower than my qualifying time, out of the two races I've won by using this method, I crossed the line once with an empty tank, I ran out of fuel at the final apex of the lap and finished with a 4 second lead over the guy in p2 - who pitted.

Edit: I might have saved these replays, I'll have a look and upload them if anyone's interested.
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I don't need to see the replay, I'm just curious what your laptimes were. Its pretty basic math to figure out if not pitting is truly worth it or not. You'd have to be running 4:12-4:15 laps at absolute most just to be competitive with a competent racer who did pit. And I have my doubts
 
ARTAsean
I don't need to see the replay, I'm just curious what your laptimes were. Its pretty basic math to figure out if not pitting is truly worth it or not. You'd have to be running 4:12-4:15 laps at absolute most just to be competitive with a competent racer who did pit. And I have my doubts
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He's talking about Gr. 1.
But I'd be interested in lap times and DR as well.
 
ARTAsean
I don't need to see the replay, I'm just curious what your laptimes were. Its pretty basic math to figure out if not pitting is truly worth it or not. You'd have to be running 4:12-4:15 laps at absolute most just to be competitive with a competent racer who did pit. And I have my doubts
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How on earth do you drive such a slow lap in a Porsche LMP1 919 Hybrid?

I drive 3:18-22s on fuel map 1 in GR.1 cars depending on which GR.1 car I'm using. 3:28-32s with my mixed fuel map usage.

DR A SR S tyvm

Edit: you're probably referring to GR.3 laptimes... sorry to disappoint but I've only driven GR1 at Le Mans - anything slower is just too slow for my liking (at Le Mans).
 
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I've been avoiding this until I could find an hour to commit to it. Tomahawk, FM-6 entire time, RH, one pit. Actually stopped before the finish line and waited for time to expire so I didn't have to do another lap. Relatively easy win considering it was my first time on the GT Sport version of this track.
 
Amaru
How on earth do you drive such a slow lap in a Porsche LMP1 919 Hybrid?

I drive 3:18-22s on fuel map 1 in GR.1 cars depending on which GR.1 car I'm using. 3:28-32s with my mixed fuel map usage.

DR A SR S tyvm

Edit: you're probably referring to GR.3 laptimes... sorry to disappoint but I've only driven GR1 at Le Mans - anything slower is just too slow for my liking (at Le Mans).
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Oh my bad, you said daily race C and I figured you were talking about the Gr.3 race we just had there on Sunday. So I read 919 as 911.
 
919, RH, fuel map 5, pit as late as possible, back on RH, put in a bit more fuel so I could push in map 1 for the last few laps.
Oh, and go off at Porsche curves once or twice, it's fun.
 
KinLM
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).
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How do we know when the KERS battery is low or fully charged? Does PD show on screen your KERS reserve? As far as I am aware in real life on these cars the KERS works so hard under recovery and does such a large percentage of braking the rear brake balance is minimal on these cars
 
ARTAsean
Oh my bad, you said daily race C and I figured you were talking about the Gr.3 race we just had there on Sunday. So I read 919 as 911.
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I tried that once in the Gr 3 race. Corvette, fuel map 1, shift when the meter starts to build and fuel map 3 for the last section. Additionally fuel map 6 anytime you hit 250 km/h. I was running 4:06 to 4:10 laps which meant that theoretically it should have been quite a bit slower, but being able to drive my own race meant that my finishing position and overall time was comparable to what I was able to do normally.
 
I hope Polyphony add additional endurance races. I never get tired of running at Le Mans! I notice the new PC2 DLC has two full 24 hour races now. I guess that wouldn't really work well in GT Sport without any day/night transitions, but I'd love to see PD add a 4 or 6 hour race.
 
fastone371
How do we know when the KERS battery is low or fully charged? Does PD show on screen your KERS reserve? As far as I am aware in real life on these cars the KERS works so hard under recovery and does such a large percentage of braking the rear brake balance is minimal on these cars
Click to expand...
In cockpit view the Toyota and the Audi have percentage bars to show you their energy level

It's a guessing game for the rest :lol:
 
Porsche 919. No pit stop. RH tire, fuel map 6 the entire time, short shift when you see a sliver of red bar on the meter thing, coasting early and drag the brake for battery charge. 17 laps, and a win.

The Porsche is fantastic.
 
R18 Hybrid - won it with RH tyres on Map 1 and pitting every ~20 minutes.

Also used the same car and ran with RS tyres pitting every 3 laps. Didn't need to add fuel until I pitted with less than 3 laps in the tank and won by more than I did on RH tyres.
 
I did the race with the Toyota TS030 Hybrid, as it was the only Gr.1 car I had at the time. The car seems to be the absolute slowest of Group 1, so some tuning was in order. I didn't spend any Mileage Points, but I brought the weight down to 97% and the power up to 110%. RH tires. Short-shifting most of the time was a big help for fuel savings. The Dodge SRT Tomahawk and the Peugeot L750R are very fast when they start up in the lead of the pack. Yet, the L750R will usually seem to be using RM tires (cannot confirm this 100%; will attempt the race again with another car to verify), so he'll chew through his tires very quickly and make lots of mistakes.

Once ahead, I usually leave the Fuel Map on 4 for most of the race, until I get below 30% and change it to 6. At times, I bumped it to 1 on the straights to maintain the gap, as the other cars were going to catch me with their straight line speed, even with my car's tuning. However, for some reason, the AI seems to kick into gear once you've been in the lead for a while, and will start miraculously catching up by improving their lap times out of nowhere. I averaged a 3:31 with my car, while the Tomahawk was averaging a 3:27, catching me and closing the gap every lap.

I ended up pitting twice during the race. First pit-in, the Tomahawk closed up the gap and did not end up pitting the same time I did. However, as a result, he had significantly worn tires, which allowed me to close the 22 second gap that he gained on me right back up. Once I got to the Porsche Curves and was only 6 seconds behind, I changed my fuel map from 1 to 4 as I watched him pit. Same exact circumstance happened during the 2nd pit, except refueling only took a few seconds for one more lap with only 3 minutes left.

In the end, I only ended up winning by a lead of nine seconds. If I wanted to, I could have tuned my car more for a more comfortable lead, but it got the job done. If you want a challenge, then challenge this event with the Toyota TS030 Hybrid!
 
:sly:

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I used the Toyota TS030. Fuel map 6 to start, RH tyres. Attack smoothly, watching the gap to the lead. After about 10 mins i start increasing the fuel map until my estmated laps kind of mirror the remaining laps in my tyres (mental guesswork). Pitted at about 40 minute mark, medium tyres, fuel map 3/4 to the end of the race. Won by about 30 seconds including a spin at Indianapolis.
 
Do people really have problem to get gold on this one? Ive done it twice and i had fuel map 1 the whole time and RH, pitted 3 times and finished 30+ seconds before p2
 
I went with the XJR9, RH, fuel map 1. Three stops and won it on the first try, even though I made various mistakes that made me have a final lap of fire against the Tomahawk. Could've won more easily without those mistakes though.
 
Tried something new today with the TS050.

Went with RM tires, and decided to pit twice, once on lap 6 and once on lap 12. Was even able to get a 3:23.998 as my fastest lap.

Lap times dropped after the first pit stop, as I could start each stint with 70L instead of a much heavier 100L. This also helped with tire wear.

Won the race after 18 completed laps, by nearly 2ish minutes over the next AI car.

Did the math and determined that the average lap time (including pit stop laps) was about a 3:29, so this strategy should give you the pace to outrun pretty much any AI rabbit the game gives you.

Worth a shot if anybody’s having trouble with this still. I can post my setup for the TS050 if anybody would want it, though I’m sure there’s better setups available.
35EC24AA-E069-4759-815C-48DEAB36924F.jpeg
 

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