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It shouldn't, couldn't have been done, the papers said. But somehow, yesterday, flyingkiwi put in the drive of his life to overcome an extra pitstop and pass the Opel Astra three laps from the end to record the closest victory of his endurance race career: 4.781 seconds., thus beating the 5.736 victory margin recorded up the road at Tsukuba yesterday.
The car: Spoon S2000 LM Race Car 2001. 320 hp, R1 tyres.
Grid:
Opel Astra Touring Car 484 hp
Toyota au Cerumo Supra 495 hp
Nissan Pennzoil Zexel GT-R 505 hp
Honda Mobil 1 NSX 516 hp
Opel Calibra Touring Car 448 hp
Spoon S2000 LM Race Car 320 hp
200 a-spec points
Flyingkiwi had this to say after the race:
"What a race! That was the most intense drive of my career. I thought we were gone after seeing the Astra pit on lap 30, thus putting itself on a one-stop strategy compared to the two stops the rest of the field were doing.
"I had gained the lead by lap 5 and started building it to around 4 seconds. I was doing 1:45s at that stage, but soon got into the 1:44s as the Astra started closing in bit-by-bit. We were trading lap times and the gap hovered between 2-3 seconds for about 15 laps, before my tyres went off on lap 20, and I pitted on lap 23, as I had lost the lead and dropped down to 3rd at that stage."
"I knew my only chance was to push as hard as I could to build a gap in the middle of the race when I passed (just!) the other cars as they came out of the pits after their first pitstops between laps 28-30. I had a small lead over the field now and I pushed very hard to build it up to around 23 seconds whilst they warmed up their tyres. We miscalculated the fuel, however, and I had to pit on lap 40.
"I came out of the pits about 5 seconds behind the Astra (who was now in
3rd, behind the Honda NSX and the Pennzoil). However, the Astra started pulling away as I warmed up my tyres. He was about 10 second ahead on lap 45, as my tyres finally got some heat into them. And I began to push. Hard. I was in the 'zone', concentrating on getting every corner perfect. I was lapping in the mid 1:43s, but i didn't seem to be catching the field.
It looked to be all in vain.
"Then, all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of the Astra as I was coming out of the sweeper around the Shuto Ko Expressway. I was catching him at about half a second a lap. This carried on for about 8 laps, inching ever so closer, pushing harder and harder, asking everything of the car and of myself. Then, the Astra's tyres started going off, as I started to catch him at about 1 second a lap (the other two cars were about 12 seconds down the road, but it didn't matter, I hoped
)
"I was on the Astra's bumper on lap 56. I passed him on the outside before the fast kink at Marunouchi. But he came back and passed me back up the main straight!! This wasn't over. I passed him again up at Marunouchi. We were side by side up the back straight, but I managed to outbrake him this time at the first corner. My tyres were passed their best too. I had to hang on, somehow. In this period I did my fastest lap of 1:42.800, but I didn't even notice, so focused was I on battling the Astra.
"We were by this time battling for the lead, as the NSX and Zexel pitted on lap 58.
"With one and a half laps to go, I nearly had a heart attack as I noticed my fuel gauge was right on empty. NO!!!!!!!
"I had no experience running this empty before and didn't know how long it would last for. All around the final lap, with a 3-4 second lead, I was pleading with the car to hang on. I thought I even heard a cough coming out of the final turn, but I was okay and I did my signature burn-out as I crossed the finish line 👍
Result
Spoon LM Race Car 60 laps 1:46:18.324
Opel Astra Touring Car + 4.781
Honda Mobil 1 NSX lead lap
Nissan Pennzoil Zexel GT-R lead lap
Toyota au Cerumo Supra lead lap
Opel Calibra Touring Car +2 laps (what's the point in having this snail in the race??)
The car: Spoon S2000 LM Race Car 2001. 320 hp, R1 tyres.
Grid:
Opel Astra Touring Car 484 hp
Toyota au Cerumo Supra 495 hp
Nissan Pennzoil Zexel GT-R 505 hp
Honda Mobil 1 NSX 516 hp
Opel Calibra Touring Car 448 hp
Spoon S2000 LM Race Car 320 hp
200 a-spec points
Flyingkiwi had this to say after the race:
"What a race! That was the most intense drive of my career. I thought we were gone after seeing the Astra pit on lap 30, thus putting itself on a one-stop strategy compared to the two stops the rest of the field were doing.
"I had gained the lead by lap 5 and started building it to around 4 seconds. I was doing 1:45s at that stage, but soon got into the 1:44s as the Astra started closing in bit-by-bit. We were trading lap times and the gap hovered between 2-3 seconds for about 15 laps, before my tyres went off on lap 20, and I pitted on lap 23, as I had lost the lead and dropped down to 3rd at that stage."
"I knew my only chance was to push as hard as I could to build a gap in the middle of the race when I passed (just!) the other cars as they came out of the pits after their first pitstops between laps 28-30. I had a small lead over the field now and I pushed very hard to build it up to around 23 seconds whilst they warmed up their tyres. We miscalculated the fuel, however, and I had to pit on lap 40.
"I came out of the pits about 5 seconds behind the Astra (who was now in
3rd, behind the Honda NSX and the Pennzoil). However, the Astra started pulling away as I warmed up my tyres. He was about 10 second ahead on lap 45, as my tyres finally got some heat into them. And I began to push. Hard. I was in the 'zone', concentrating on getting every corner perfect. I was lapping in the mid 1:43s, but i didn't seem to be catching the field.
It looked to be all in vain.
"Then, all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of the Astra as I was coming out of the sweeper around the Shuto Ko Expressway. I was catching him at about half a second a lap. This carried on for about 8 laps, inching ever so closer, pushing harder and harder, asking everything of the car and of myself. Then, the Astra's tyres started going off, as I started to catch him at about 1 second a lap (the other two cars were about 12 seconds down the road, but it didn't matter, I hoped
)"I was on the Astra's bumper on lap 56. I passed him on the outside before the fast kink at Marunouchi. But he came back and passed me back up the main straight!! This wasn't over. I passed him again up at Marunouchi. We were side by side up the back straight, but I managed to outbrake him this time at the first corner. My tyres were passed their best too. I had to hang on, somehow. In this period I did my fastest lap of 1:42.800, but I didn't even notice, so focused was I on battling the Astra.
"We were by this time battling for the lead, as the NSX and Zexel pitted on lap 58.
"With one and a half laps to go, I nearly had a heart attack as I noticed my fuel gauge was right on empty. NO!!!!!!!
"I had no experience running this empty before and didn't know how long it would last for. All around the final lap, with a 3-4 second lead, I was pleading with the car to hang on. I thought I even heard a cough coming out of the final turn, but I was okay and I did my signature burn-out as I crossed the finish line 👍
Result
Spoon LM Race Car 60 laps 1:46:18.324
Opel Astra Touring Car + 4.781
Honda Mobil 1 NSX lead lap
Nissan Pennzoil Zexel GT-R lead lap
Toyota au Cerumo Supra lead lap
Opel Calibra Touring Car +2 laps (what's the point in having this snail in the race??)
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