Polyphony Digital Cup, 100% clean, in a stock '73 Skyline!

[Smallhorses]

Polyphony Digital Cup.

87 A-Spec points per race, unless otherwise stated.​

Car: Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (used, oil changed) / FR / 158HP / 1145kg / 7.25kg/HP
(It has non-stock wheels, since I had to get rid of the pig-ugly stock ones and put on something that complemented the red and black bodywork, but it still runs the SM (S2) tyres that it was purchased with from the Historic Used Car Lot, and had 43502.9 miles on the odometer.)

I had a hard time picking a lineup & car for this series that'll give a reasonable points tally but good racing too.
See here for more details. 👍

This is what I came up with after 21 entries!

1st Peugeot 106 S16 '03
2nd Audi S3 '02
3rd Toyota Supra SZ-R '97
4th Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89
6th Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73

Thanks to LeadSlead#2, KLR142, Der Alta & Laurence5905 for volunteering to verify my replays for this series.

The race reports will appear in their respective slots below, accompanied by photos and an NTSC MAX Drive replay file.

Race 1. Twin Ring Motegi - Road Course. (6 Laps)

Knowing that it'd taken me 21 entries to find this lineup, I was eager to get it locked in with a win under my belt. I knew from my research that the Supra would be my quickest opponent on this circuit, & I decided (needlessly as it turned out) to qualify, (quite forgetting that this circuit has a rolling start) so I wouldn't be left for dead as I imagined from a standing start.

I put in a 2'30.441 lap, leaving me in 1st place, 4.015s ahead of the RX-7 who surprisingly occupies 2nd spot.

As we roll away from the start, I'm startled at this being a rolling start, and it somewhat ruins the race. The Supra which is supposedly the quickest of my AI opponents starts down in 4th place, with the Audi 3rd behind the RX-7.
I'm unhindered and able to pull away from the field despite my HP disadvantage, as shown below.

Thanks to the qualifying laps I did, I'm used to the extremely high ride height and wallowy suspension that the Nissan has when compared to the other runners in this race. Coming out of the final bend of the lap, these two views taken at the same point show just how much body roll this old car has!

The first lap is completed in 2'32.465 and leaves a 3.693s gap to the RX-7 who is hanging on to 2nd place. Out into the 2nd lap and a couple of pictures here show the way the car pitches forward and back under heavy braking or acceleration! (In this case into and out of the sharp right turn before the Dunlop Bridge.)

As the second lap is completed in a wonderful 2'28.931 leaving 6.940s to the RX-7, I've finished 2 clean and incident free laps, and an idea is beginning to formulate itself in my head! Can it be possible to complete the whole PD Cup in 100% OLR standard clean races? Maybe the rays of the twilight sun were getting to me, but the gauntlet had been cast down, and I knew I had to seize the challenge!

As it turns out, the challenge would become the bane of my racing-life for the next couple of months, (although a quick 2 week break and a 12,000 mile journey, during which I attended UKGTP V took care of some of that!) as race after race was entered and exited due to an AI contact or one too many tyres off course!
This race though was going well, and lap 3 finished in 2'28.890 pulls out almost another 2s lead to drop the RX-7 back to 8.744s behind.

Braking for the bend before the Bridgestone bridge and coming out of the Dunlop/Alpine bridge on lap 4 is showcased above in an artistic manner!
The twistyness (?) of this course has now shown that the 3 AI monsters behind me can only make their HP advantage pay in long straights, and this course has turns in abundance. It's a joy to throw the Nissan around here, and the 4th lap falls in a 3rd consecutive sub-2'29 lap of 2'28.941 growing the gap again to 9.561s to the RX-7. 👍
Lap 5 is the fastest of the race, coming in at 2'28.128 and gaining another second over the RX-7 who's now 10.599s down.

The tail-lights of the '73 Skyline are just as formidable as those of its younger bretheren, a styling cue that has been kept going for 30+ years, and it's this view that was all the AI had been given the whole race!
The high intensity of the brake lights just screamed "KEEP BACK!"
The final clean lap, making 6 out of 6 falls in 2'28.581 and affords an 11.199s victory over the RX-7! A nice consistent race for laptimes, although not very exciting due to starting at the front, it could have been made very interesting by starting at the back. However, the prospect of resetting the console and enter/exiting another 21 times just didn't appeal! I kept the result in mind for future races though, so stick around, the real excitement is still to come! 💡

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (10)
2nd Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (6)
3rd Audi S3 '02 (4)
4th Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (3)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (2)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (1)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 2. Seattle Circuit Reverse. (7 Laps)
"Look! A UFO on a stick!"

Having learned from the last race that qualifying wasn't strictly necessary on a circuit without a significantly long straight, I passed the opportunity up at Seattle and began the race from the back of the grid for the rolling start. Needless to say this didn't go cleanly at the first attempt, and it took a while to learn where the AI cars could be safely passed. Several resets later, and I came up with a winner!
Didn't take long for the action to begin, out of the first chicane, and hard on the brakes for the sharp left turn out from underneath Alaskan Way, I nip inside the Peugeot. 👍 1 down, 4 to go!

Through the double chicane between the stadia, and out up the hill I get a good run on the Miata too, and his 4th place becomes mine! Brake hard for the sharp right at the end of this fast stretch, and I get about as close to the barrier as I'll come all race!

Wrap up a clean finish to the lap and I'm gaining on the 3rd placed RX-7. Lap 1 finishes in 2'10.599 and I'm back in 4th place 3.770s behind the 1st placed Audi.
Close up on RX-7 through the twisty beginning to the lap, and get a good run in his draft up the long backstraight, where I'm able to outbrake him into the sharp right turn where I came within inches of the barrier on the first lap!

Pull away cleanly, and it's so far, so good, 3 AI drivers passed without incident, and I'm able to pull away for the rest of the lap to gain on the Supra sitting in 2nd place. Round out lap 2 in 2'03.725 leaving 2.656s gap to the leading Audi.
Once again, I'm able to gain through the twistier section of lap 3, although the Supra and Audi are able to pull away easily down the straight.
Have a great run through the set of turns after the sharp right at the end of the backstraight, and I'm able to gain enough to dive into 2nd place past the Supra under braking for the right turn that brings you back under Alaskan Way after the steep downhill jaunt! It's a close thing, but no contact is made, the Supra accepting there's no way back past before we have to jam on the anchors for the final hairpin out onto the mainstraight again!

The lap is completed in 2'03.642, marginally quicker than the previous one, and the Audi's lead is cut to just 2.208s. Halfway through, the race is still clean, and I've passed 4 cars, with just 1 more remaining!
Cleanly and smoothly negotiate the first 2/3rds of the 4th lap, and by T2 I've gained significantly on the Audi. A great run out of the sharp left into the steep downhill, and I get a great run on him, complete with "Yeehaw!" moment (but what Seattle race would be complete without one?!!! )

The move on the Audi is in the same position as the Supra went down a lap ago, and once again it's clean, but the Audi nearly isn't so careful as the Supra, and there's a "brown trousers & bicycle clips" moment for me as he gets ever so close to ruining my otherwise clean run! Thankfully, the second shot below shows just how near we came, but no contact is made, as he backs off just in the nick of time!

I round out the 4th lap in 2'02.361 leaving me with just a hair over 0.5s lead over the Audi whose 2nd place is now confirmed as I'm able to pull away again, past the Dome with the evening sunlight shining above, and another clean fast lap, dropping the lap record again on lap 5 to 2'02.090 and opening the gap to 1.346s over the silver Audi.

Lap 6 continues the good work of the previous 5 and once again the lap record is dropped as I pull away in clean air, notching up a 2'01.115 and gaining over a full second on the Audi, who is now 2.544s in arrears.
The Nissan on warmed tyres is going like it's on rails, and here it is crossing some midway through the final turn on lap 7, with the double-decker Alaskan Way stretching away into the distance in the background.

Lap 7 is rounded out cleanly with yet another lap record, coming in the 2 minute bracket at 2'00.643 leaving the Audi languishing a distant 4.223s behind at the finish line! A much more exciting and adrenaline fueled race than the first one, and my 100% clean record is still intact, just!

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (20)
2nd Audi S3 '02 (10)
3rd Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (7)
4th Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (9)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (4)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (2)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 3. Infineon Raceway - Stock Car Course. (8 Laps)​

Once again, a close race is expected at Infineon, as I've declined the invitation to qualify and will start at the back of the pack for 8 laps of the stock car circuit, with its bizarrely numbered turns! Since the sports car circuit has the true turns 4, 5, 6 and 7 to bring the track back to turn 7a, the stewards and commentators still like to refer to the turns by number, which would mean re-labelling all the turns after turn 4a, and that'd just be confusing .... so much more logical to go from turn 4a to 7a, without any turns in between, right? With me so far?
No? Ok, well there's a map above, and it's those turn numbers (which you can just about make out in its reduced format) that I'll be referring to!

After the race begins it's not too long before I'm up into 5th past the Peugeot coming out of turn 2, and shortly thereafter into 4th between turns 3 and 3a (round the outside of turn 3 and inside of turn 3a ) taking the Miata's 4th spot. Lap 1 is completed in 4th place in 1'41.341 with 3.469s to leading Audi to overcome.

Capture 3rd place from the RX-7 on the inside of turn 3 on lap 2. Lovely lines through turns 4a and 7a put me on the Supra's tail, and the lap is finished 2.177s behind the leader, in 1'34.301.

Their HP advantage allows the leading 2 cars to pull away on the Start/Finish straight and up through turn 1, under the bridge, beginning lap 3 but I'm able to catch right back up through turns 2, 3 and 3a. I'm swarming all over the back of the Supra through turns 4a, 7a and 8 as I try to figure out where to go for the pass! Backing off in the final hairpin to avoid hitting the slow Supra costs a little time and the lap finishes in 1'35.256 with the Audi hanging on to 1st by 2.344s over me still in 3rd place.

Lap 4 drops in at 1'34.745 as again the lead pair are caught at 3a, and I'm dangerously close to the Supra through 4a and 7a! He's slow through here, and I'm taking notes! The kerb at 4a is big enough to give the stock car course it's very own "Pflugplatz" and I take full advantage, as pictured below! Make a late lunge at the final hairpin and take 2nd, for a fraction of a second, before running wide and letting the Supra who's on a smoother inside line back past. 2.383s is the gap to the Audi at midway.

Lap 5 proves to be the fastest of the race for me, at 1'33.107 as this time I'm close enough to pass the Supra on the inside of turn 3, making 2nd place mine permenantly for the time being. Follow the Audi closely round the rest of the lap and it leaves me 1.112s back at the line.

Follow Audi round lap 6, very close through turns 4a and out of 7a, so maybe II'll see a passing opportunity there, but I'm running out of laps! 1.135s at the line after a 1'33.755 laptime, has given the Audi a couple of 1/100ths back.

Into lap 7 and now the Audi is loose through turn 2, running wide onto the grass, and allowing me the perfect opportunity to line up the pass on the inside of turn 3, into 1st place and away, although the Audi gets his nose alongside me before we brake into 4a, and I take a wide line out onto the huuuuuge kerb to prevent collision. 👍 No chance of putting 4 tyres off track there, as they'll easily all fit on the kerb itself! The Audi also runs wide at turn 10 to allow Supra to catch right up to him. I hold a 0.563s lead into the last lap following a 1'34.584 laptime.

Clean lap in clear air brings me safely home with 1st place on lap 8, 0.648s ahead of the Audi, and a disappointingly slow 1'34.320 laptime. Who cares though, there's a "crossing the line" shot for the scrapbook and the other shows once again how much body roll a curve and a crest combined can induce in this 30-year old joyride!

That's it then, 3 completely clean races so far, the 100% record still intact after 21 total laps of racing! Bring on the next one!

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (30)
2nd Audi S3 '02 (16)
3rd Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (11)
4th Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (12)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (6)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (3)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 4. Tokyo Route 246 Reverse (5 Laps)

I tried starting at the back here, but the combination of a standing start and a massive long straight suited to the higher HP entrants was going to give me no chance of a win here, so I reset and qualified 1st, many times, only to get immediately rear-ended by the Audi or Supra as we launched for the start! For the race that I kept clean and won, the qualifying lap giving me pole was 2'11.075, which was 2.344s faster than the 2nd placed Supra, but as we well know the AI sandbags pretty badly in qualifying!

Start in pole, and hope not to get rear-ended early on by one of the faster starters. Keep right out of the Supra's way, and he pulls right too, blocking the Audi (not for the last time! ) and starts to approach my rear end. Knowing how unintelligent the AI are, I started to move over to the left, and out of his way again. He backs off so no contact occurs, and I keep left, allowing the faster car plenty of room on the right to go by, which he does. 👎 Only for a few seconds though as he's easily outbraked into the first sharp left turn at the end of the straight. 👍 He gets close coming out of the turn, but he seems to know when he's beaten and doesn't nudge the back of the Nissan. The rest of the lap is smooth and clean, finishing 1.480s ahead of the Supra in 2'21.117.

The Supra is quick in a straightline, and it shows on the way up to turn 1 again on lap 2. He grows and grows in my mirror until he's practically right behind me as we get on the stoppers for the bend. Able to pull away on another clean lap and go 2.082s ahead of Supra after what is surprisingly my fastest lap of the race at 2'09.914
The canopy of trees over the fast chicane at the back of the track is one of the nicest views on this circuit, and the view back down Route 246 ending lap 2 shows the battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th behind me.

Lap 3 is a clean but slower lap for me, at 2'10.537, and is matched against a faster 2'10.131 lap for the Supra leaving me just 1.676s ahead by the end of it.
Screaming down the mainstraight to complete the lap I catch a glimpse of ASIMO leaving work and heading for his orange NSX!
This is clearer if it's viewed full-size, so click on the picture for a larger view!

​

Lap 4 is slightly quicker at 2'10.444 and finishes 2.248s ahead of Supra after he suffers from an ill-timed move by the Audi trying to take his 2nd place at the first turn, resulting in a fair amount of paint-trading between them!
Towards the end of the lap I notice this impressive looking building behind me as I turn on the stretch before the sharp left turn back onto the Start/Finish straight.

Just in case you don't believe we're in Tokyo, go ahead and read the roadmarkings! Ok, neither can I, but I'm pretty sure those arrows mean I'm going the wrong way!!! This is on the last lap.

The last lap is clean too, and I barely take the win, just 0.014s ahead of Supra who pulls out a 2'08.559 best lap (5s better than his qualifiying lap! ) to scare the living daylights out of me at the line after my slightly cocky and somewhat more pedestrian lap of 2'10.793!

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (40)
2nd Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (17)
3rd Audi S3 '02 (20)
4th Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (15)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (8)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (1)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 5. Fuji Speedway 2005 (6 Laps)​

Next stop on the PD Cup calender is Fuji, and once again the underpowered Nissan suffers on the long mainstraight, and there's a standing start, so qualifying was a must. Once again the sandbagging AIs let me have pole as I romped around the qualifying lap in 2'12.961 over 4s ahead of the Supra! A map of the course is shown above for reference to the turn names here.
Starting from pole, I launch again without wheelspin, but it's the Audi, starting back in 4th place who uses his all-wheel drive to maximum advantage to surprise us all! He gets by the RX-7 in 3rd, before the RX-7 can turn back across to block him, and since I've kept right and the Supra has stayed left, the Audi is able to pass between us on the run down to Daiichi. I'm holding 3rd place as we brake for the turn, and the Audi is on the inside line alongside the Supra, and neither of them is willing to give way. After a paint exchanging tussle, it's the Audi that sneaks out ahead. Meanwhile, the RX-7 has hit the brakes late and he tries to pass by me on the inside, fortunately his judgement is good, and he backs off, and runs wider to the outside of the turn, just missing my back end as we head down the hill towards Coca-Cola Corner.

I'm not quite close enough in the latter part of 100R to make a move on the Supra, although I do manage to get alongside before we brake for Hairpin Corner. The Supra has a massive wiggle coming out of there and I get alongside him on the left heading for 300R before his 40-odd extra horses drag him away! Closed up again enormously under braking for the Dunlop Corner complex and hang on to his shirt-tails all the way through Netz Corner too. He's slow in Panasonic Corner and I'm able to nick 2nd place around the outside cleanly.

It doesn't last long though as we're back on the mainstraight, and even though I wiggle a little to break the draft, I can't shake him, and eventually pull over to the right to avoid contact as he's about to bully his way by. Stay in his draft as long as possible, but he's pulling away as the lap ends, in 2'21.156, leaving me 2.118s behind the leading Audi, and holding 3rd place.
Close right back up again braking for Daiichi and on the run down to Coca-Cola I'm right on the Supra's tailpipe. Stick close through 100R this time, and pass round the outside before braking hard for the hairpin. I'm on the left of the track on a non-optimal line for the hairpin, and the Supra comes close to taking back his place, as I run wider than is ideal on the exit to the bend, 👎 but he repeats his lap 1 wiggle and drops back.

Out of 300R and all the way down to the braking zone for Dunlop, the Supra gains, but he's just too far back to make a meaningful pass attempt there, thankfully! I'm much quicker through the remaining bends in the lap than he is, so I'm able to put a useful amount of distance between us, bearing in mind the mainstraight is coming up again! The lap ends in 2'12.335 and my Nissan holds 2nd place, 1.267s behind the Audi, whom I've gained on significantly too!
Out into a 3rd clean lap, and I close on the Audi under braking for most of the turns, while he pulls away at any speedy section. He's not as mistake-prone as the Supra, no wiggling out of the hairpin to capitalise on.
I do get pretty close under braking for the Dunlop complex, as pictured below.

Around the rest of the lap, the Audi is as slow into and out of 13th,Netz & Panasonic as the Supra is, and though I can't make it around the outside on the last bend, I'm right on the Audi's rear bumper for the run down the straight! That is until he changes gear and streaks away! Finished the lap just 0.603s behind him in 2'11.959.
Away for another clean circuit on lap 4, I'm able to stay close to the leader, but he's not as cautious as the Supra through 100R and I have to back off to avoid contact as I try for the outside line pass again. Doesn't lose me too much time though, as this picture taken from the Audi's perspective looking back through 300R and up towards the pit complex and grandstands on the mainstraight shows.

I keep close through the turn complexes in the last third of the circuit, and hang back just a little to learn his line for Panasonic so I can try a pass on the next lap. 💡 Sure enough he turns in early for the bend, and dabs the brakes right at the apex, while I can brake earlier and accelerate right out onto the straight. I'm not close enough on this lap, although, at the line the gap is only slightly smaller than the previous lap, at 0.563s, and a marginally faster laptime of 2'11.810.
I stick within spitting distance of th Audi throughout most of lap 5, getting very close under braking at Dunlop. I get a great run out of Netz and as the Audi moves left to start braking for Panasonic I darted up the inside, and hard on the brakes, out across the apex at full throttle, with the Audi turning back in, and braking at the apex, avoiding contact by inches with the Nissan that'd just startled him!

The Audi's got a power advantage though, and it doesn't take long before he's right on my tail. I bob and weave to break the tow, but he stays right there, following my every move. I'm highly conscious of the fact that he's likely to run right into the back of me given the chance, as the Nissan runs out of steam and get ready to pull out of the way as he makes a serious charge, but each time he gets close, he backs down, and we charge across the line, as I set a new lap record of 2'10.900, and have the Audi back there in 2nd place a mere 0.248s behind me!
He's close under braking for the first corner again, but wiggles as he catches too much kerb at the apex, and I pull away from him steadily for the rest of the lap. The Nissan leads the field home majestically, (or should that be Imperially, being Japanese and all? ) as seen here, with Fuji's summit showing above the Skyline's wing-mounted rear-view mirror.

The final lap is slower overall than the previous spectacular laptime, but at 2'11.774 it's still the second fastest of the race, and sees me home safely in 1st place having pulled out a 2.054s winning margin over the Audi.
There we have it, needless to say again, that this race took a lot of patience in qualifying, starting, exiting after being clobbered at the start and doing it all over again, not to mention being nudged on the straight before the finish line while leading on the last lap , before I got my 5th out of 5 completely clean wins!

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (50)
2nd Audi S3 '02 (26)
3rd Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (21)
4th Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (18)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (10)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (5)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 6. Motorland Reverse (19 Laps)​

On to race 6, at Motorland, and who'd've thought that such a little circuit could cause such an enormous headache?!!! This race was started and exited more than all of the others! Passing here without an HP advantage is very tricky, but also in 19 laps it's possible to lap back markers, meaning there's extra potentially hazardous AI encounters to be had. Since there's so many laps and passes were made here, there and everywhere, I decided to include a little map above with the turns numbered! The simple answer would, of course, have been to qualify, and not worry about passes, but that's not what I came for, so I've a race on my hands as I start at the back of the rolling grid.

It doesn't take long before the Miata and Peugeot are displaced, passed together by turn 1, as the Peugeot makes a grab for 5th place too, and the move leaves me in 4th place. I gain on the RX-7 over the twisty section, and closed right up entering turn 5. I go by on the inside of turn 7 when he slows more than necessary to line up for turn 8, and I'm away after the leaders leaving the RX-7 to breathe my exhaust fumes.

The first lap has passed in 52.947s and leaves me in 3rd place, 1.941s behind the leading Audi. I spend lap 2 hanging off the Supra's rear wing while I figure out a way past. He's holding me up though and the Audi extends his lead to 2.503s after my 50.616s lap. The Supra exits turn 1 slowly on lap 3, allowing me to stick close to him through 2, 3 & 4 before cleanly outbraking him into turn 5. Go on to complete the lap in 49.954s holding 2nd place 1.958s behind the leader.

The next 3 laps pass cleanly, and I gain steadily on the leader, as he begins to run wider and wider at every pass of turn 9, and just about squeezes back on track where it tightens to become turn 10, narrowly avoiding the pit wall in turn 11! Lap 4: 48.774s & 1.066s gap, lap 5: 49.092s & 0.315s gap and lap 6: 48.823s leaving just 0.233s to the wayward Audi. As it turns out, lap 4 is the fastest lap of the race. On lap 7, I take advantage of the Audi's small venture into the edge of the turn 9 sandtrap to close up over the start/finish line, and dive through on the inside of turn 1. The Audi doesn't take it lightly and gets alongside, on my left exiting the bend, he backs off before turn 2, but not before getting scarily close to running into my back bumper!

The humiliation of being passed by a car some 29-years its senior is too much for the Audi to take, and he overcooks turns 9 & 10 completely and makes an unplanned pitstop as he fails to miss the pit entry ending this lap, leaving me with a 5.343s lead over the now 2nd placed Supra after a 49.673s lap.

The next 7 laps pass without incident, and I gain the whole time on the 3-way battle for last place between the Miata, Peugeot and Audi who has caught back up to them after his pitstop. The laptimes and gaps are as follows:-

Lap 8: 50.413s (1st place, 4.790s ahead of Supra)
Lap 9: 49.644s (4.711s ahead of Supra)
Lap 10: 49.650s (4.762s ahead of Supra)
Lap 11: 49.300s (5.292s ahead of Supra)
Lap 12: 49.216s (5.704s ahead of Supra)
Lap 13: 49.237s (6.023s ahead of Supra)
Lap 14: 49.987s (5.803s ahead of Supra)​

On lap 15 I catch up the last placed Miata and he holds me up, resulting in the 2nd slowest lap of the race at 52.039s, and it allows the Supra to close to within 3.320s. The Miata is lapped inside turn 1 on lap 16, and the Peugeot, who has to deal with the Audi bulldozering his way past him in turn 2, is lapped under braking for turn 5. Not without giving me more than my fair share of worries as he moves right just before he brakes though, and nearly broadsides me in the process, which I'd have been pretty about, had he made contact at this late stage in the race!

The lap is completed in 50.559s leaving a still smaller gap of 3.042s to the Supra back in 2nd place, but I'm safe in the knowledge that there's 2 backmarkers betweeen me and him! I followed the Audi closely round the last 3 laps, trying to pressure him into repeating his pitstop error, but since there's more risk of contact by trying to pass him, and he's no threat to me in 4th place and almost a whole lap down, I hang back just enough, and as can be seen below, cross the finish line, mere 1/10ths of a second off lapping him! The final laps became worrying as for the first time in this series, tyre wear actually became a factor, my front right tyre being a healthy shade of orange as I crossed the finish line! The Supra meanwhile, having passed the backmarkers is able to gain some time back, but the final laps finished like this, and leave me with a healthy enough MOV:-

Lap 17: 49.114s (6.441s ahead of Supra)
Lap 18: 50.201s (5.908s ahead of Supra)
Lap 19: 50.868s (4.585s ahead of Supra)

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (60)
2nd Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (27)
3rd Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (22)
4th Audi S3 '02 (29)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (12)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (6)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 7. Circuit de la Sarthe I (2 Laps)​

90 A-spec points offered, but not won.

Well, I knew this would be a tough one, and I thought it'd be necessary to qualify to get a bit of a jump on the AI to begin with. I tried starting from the back, and got left for dead, the slight HP loss from a couple of hundred miles already on the new oil becoming apparent in the increased points offering. I tried changing the oil, but it didn't make too much difference, and since the next race was El Capitan where the AI is poor, I was confident I could pull off an increased points win there after sucking up a defeat here. Unfortunately, the Supra was just way too fast to touch around here, and despite my best efforts, and reduced HP, I was still only able to qualify 2nd with a 5'28.592 laptime which left me 3.476s behind the Supra. Worse still, that's with his qualifying sandbags on.

Away from the start in 2nd place and the Supra takes off into the distance. The RX-7 and Audi take the opportunity to close up on me in the run up to the Dunlop Curve and subsequent chicane, though I'm still able to lead them under the Dunlop Bridge and down the hill towards the Tertre Rouge Esses and Tertre Rouge itself.
Passing by the roundabout signpost out of Tertre Rouge I briefly check for directions to Mulsanne to ensure I'm heading in the right direction! The back of the Supra can be seen disappearing yonder to the left of this picture, and this was probably the last time he was sighted!

I make it all the way through the Playstation Chicane before the 2 cars behind me are close enough to make a challenge, but then on Hunaudieres Straight there's little I can do to hold them back, blocking would have inevitably resulted in contact and restarting the race, so past they went! 👎 I'm able to hang with them through the Michelin Chicane, and close right back up to them at the Mulsanne Corner, where I actually have to jump back on the brakes exiting the bend to avoid the Audi cutting right across in front of me. ! They pull away on the run down to Indianapolis but as the picture below shows, I'm hot on their heels as they come through that turn.

The Supra is now a distant 10s ahead of my 4th placed Nissan, so hopes of a win are remote, barring a lengthy excursion into one of the huge sandtraps by the leader and that doesn't seem overly likely. Finished the rest of the lap cleanly, the RX-7 and Audi pulling away through the faster curves but being caught in the final two chicanes, and the view as we cross the line shows the race control centre and a grandstand. The laptime is 5'32.746 and I'm back in 4th place, 12.176s behind leading Supra!

Into the 2nd, and final lap, the RX-7 runs a little wide exiting the Dunlop Curves and holds up the Audi as he rejoins the track. This gives me the opportunity to slide through into 3rd place for a while entering the Tertre Rouge Esses. 👍

It doesn't last too long though, I catch the RX-7's draft out of Tertre Rouge but the Nissan lacks the power to make it count, so I tail him all the way down to the Playstation Chicane, and in the meantime, the Audi skins us both, although the RX-7 is able to get the better of him under braking, and enters the chicane first.

The RX-7 kicks up a cloud of dust exiting the Michelin Chicane and the Audi is right with him, ready to capitalise on any mistake. Sadly I've been left trailing by a considerable distance by now and am not able to make any sort of impression on them. I'm quicker out of the 2nd chicane than both of them, and once again gain a lot of ground at Mulsanne, even getting alongside the Audi exiting the turn this time, until his superior power drags him away. He steals 2nd place from the RX-7 in the run down to Indianapolis a short while after this shot was taken.

I'm not close enough to the RX-7 at Arnage to try anything, and with the fast section through Porsche Curve to come, it probably wouldn't have done me any good anyway! It looks like I'm settling for 4th place then......

But wait, what's this? The RX-7 gets much too wide on the exit of New Maison Blanche as shown above, kicking up dust clouds and skewing violently back onto the track! Screaming up to him at approaching 100mph, it's all I can do to avoid crashing into him as he straightens up, and I hit the brakes hard!

He's slow into and out of the first Ford Chicane and braking for the second, slower chicane I'm able to dart past on the inside, hold a tidy line and stamp myself firmly into the last podium spot, just seconds before crossing the finish line!
My second lap finished in 5'25.971 leaving me in 3rd place, a massive 22.551s behind the victorious Supra.

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (37)
2nd Audi S3 '02 (35)
3rd Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (64)
4th Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (25)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (14)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (7)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 8. El Capitan Reverse (6 Laps)​

94 A-spec points!

After the 2 laps of Sarthe are done, the oil is even dirtier, and some more HP has gone begging, which means more A-spec points are on offer here. I see little need to bring the Nissan in for an oil change just yet, since the AI are notoriously slow through some of the turns on this course and I'm ever so confident that another gold trophy will be headed my way in 6 laps time! Started at the back of the grid for the standing start, and away we went.

It doesn't take more than 10s before the Miata and Peugeot have each been relegated a place and I'm off in pursuit of the RX-7. As the Audi leads us down the hill past El Capitan, the RX-7 is taken on the inside of the double-apex left turn with the huge rock rising majestically in the background.

The Supra is the next target and by the time we exit the hairpin by Yosemite Lodge I'm stuck right on his back end like a "Kick me!" sign on an unsuspecting nerd! He's slow in the uphill left turn before the crest and steep drop down into the tunnel and is duly dispatched as we reach the brow of the hill. The Nissan looking perilously close to lifting its inside front wheel in this picture, dropping off the crest towards the mouth of the tunnel.

The rest of the lap is finished cleanly in 2'28.264 and close to the back of the leading Audi, just 0.403s behind but the Nissan hasn't quite got the legs to make an impression down the straight. The Supra gains massively but isn't quite close enough through the series of sweeping left/right turns that begin the lap to attempt a passing manouever. In the final downhill right before the double-apex left where I passed the RX-7 on the previous lap, the Audi is also passed on the inside, once again with El Capitan looming large in the background. 👍

The Audi gets close out of the tight right turn onto the bridge, but once we enter the set of turns leading down to hairpin by Yosemite Lodge, I'm able to open a small gap, and a nice black and white photo here shows both "The Lodge" and "El Capitan" in the background.

The gap is grown again during the run up to and through the tunnel, which the Nissan can be seen exiting here, with the Audi is just visible inside it. Once again "El Capitan" stands proudly in the distance. Ok, that's enough, no more photos of the rock, I promise!

The lap ends cleanly, as ever, in 2'16.024 holding 1st place and 1.864s ahead of the 2nd placed Audi. 2 laps are down, 4 to go and it's just a matter of staying clean and holding the lead, which doesn't prove too difficult, and I'm able to enjoy racing around the beautiful scenery that Yosemite provides. Lap 3 is ended marginally quicker in 2'15.885 and the gap grows to 3.772s, as this photo looking back through the forest towards the lodge shows, the Audi is nowhere to be seen.

Lap 4 is fractionally slower than lap 3, at 2'15.896, but the big surprise is that the Audi is able to gain almost 7/10ths of a second on this lap! Leaving the gap down at 3.096s. Maybe I'm not so home & dry after all, but I get a picture of the place I'll be calling home tonight on the way past for good measure!

I respond immediately pulling the fastest lap of the race at 2'15.309 which affords the Audi only a single 1/10th gained, at 2.908s behind. The sixth and final lap is no slowcoach either, my nerves have been jangled a little by the Audi's massive gain on lap 4, so there's no way I'm coasting home! The Audi gains a little, precisely 2/10ths on the final lap, leaving me a winning margin of 2.708s after a 2'15.554 laptime. The final photograph here shows Yosemite's full splendour as I race across the 2nd bridge towards the finish line. Gorge-ous, one might say!

Note to self: Do not make any more bad puns like Touring Mars!!!

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (74)
2nd Audi S3 '02 (41)
3rd Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (41)
4th Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (28)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (16)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (8)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 9. Suzuka Circuit (5 Laps)​

Originally on arrival at Suzuka, I was offered 100 A-spec points, and the thrill of grabbing a triple digit score for a PD Cup race without resorting to modifications, NOS or the Dodge Ram looked like a tangible possibility! Sadly not, starting at the back of the grid was fruitless, trying to qualify 1st and win the race when all the while my HP was dwindling was too, and it soon became apparent that the oil change my Nissan was so desperately crying out for would have to be done. 50Cr later and I'm back on the front row of the grid having turned a 2'42.380 lap with5.105s to the RX-7 in 2nd place. It's always different once they drop those sandbags for the race though. The race is now back down to 87 A-spec points like so many of the races before, and as the lights go green, the engine notes which have been screaming, drop as 6 clutches are dropped and the race begins.

The start doesn't go like a dream, as expected! The RX-7 passes to my right, and I keep a close eye on the rear-view mirror as the Supra charges up to me, and then the Audi who started from the right of the grid, unceremoniously barges the Supra left which fortunately takes him cleanly past me on the left! The Audi meanwhile after the collision lurches back to the right, but realising his error, backs off before he contacts the Nissan too, a mistake which would surely have seen him black-flagged! (If only.....) I now enter the unimaginatively named 1st & 2nd Curve in 3rd place, but I'm better through the second apex and exit 1st & 2nd Curve in 2nd place, alongside the Supra. If that makes any sense? Here's a picture just in case you're !

I'm right on the tail of the RX-7 through S-Curve and show him the nose of the Nissan out of Anti-Banked Curve before letting him go through Dunlop Curve and on down to Degner Curve. Under the crossover the Supra gains on me and at Hairpin Curve the first four places aren't separated by very far, as you can see below.

The RX-7 has an enormous wiggle out of the hairpin and I had to lift off for a fraction of a second to avoid clobbering his back end as it weaves around in front of me. This isn't good, as we're coming to the fast section through 300R and I've a Supra breathing hard down my neck! I watch the mirror and see him trying to come by on the inside. When it becomes readily apparent he's going by whatever it takes, contact or not, I move out to left and allow him by. I'm later on the brakes into the first apex of Spoon Curve and take back my place, only for the Supra on the tighter line to go back inside between the apexes. Fortunately my wider line through the first apex has allowed me a faster run through the second one, and as the Supra gets hard on his brakes, I'm back through into 2nd place and off down the backstretch.

This could prove troublesome, as the Supra is far quicker in a straightline than I am! I pull over to the left side of the track, and leave him acres of space to go by again if he wants to. But no. He wants to pass on the left, veering from the centre of the track towards my back bumper as though I'm not even there! It's OK, I've seen him coming in the rear-view, and opt to go right, to get out of his way. For a moment it seems as though he'll go for it, but then the idiot decides he now wants to pass on the right after all! I go back to the left again slightly as he surges up to my rear end again, only this time thankfully he sees sense and backs off, much to his chagrin I'm sure, as the Audi seizes the opportunity to go around him into 3rd place, but only after the Supra moves left into the side of him first. This occurs just before 130R, and I'm able to put a bit of clean air between them and the Nissan by braking later into Casio Triangle and also close right up on the leading RX-7. The lap ends with me swarming about the back of the RX-7, a mere 0.338s behind, after a standing start lap of 2'47.174.
The Audi & Supra are now too far back to be considered a threat and I concentrate my attention on getting by the RX-7. It's harder than I'd thought, and although I'm sitting just a fraction of a second behind him, cat-like reflexes are needed to anticipate his odd braking points and needless wiggles. Contact is a gnats-wing away on several occasions, but thankfully doesn't occur. Though he pulls away a little out of the hairpin and through 300R, I gain it all back through Spoon Curve and am able to catch his draft all the way down through 130R before neatly outbraking him into Casio Triangle. I round out the lap in 2'41.945 with the RX-7 now in 2nd place, 0.970s behind me, and the huge ferris wheel is passed in a blur!

The RX-7 gains a bit back down the start/finish straight, but he's not close enough to do anything about it by the time we brake for 1st & 2nd Curve on lap 3. I pull away easily through the following twisty section and you can just make out the RX-7 in the picture below peeking out from behind the barrier on the apex of the turn. Anti-Banked Curve, with its adverse camber and a naturally soft-sprung car conspire to give a huge amout of body roll, as can be seen here too!

Lap 3 is my first in clear air, and it shows, turning out to be marginally the fastest lap of the race, at 2'40.221 leaving the Nissan 2.032s ahead of the RX-7. Lap 4 is similarly quick, a mere 69/1000ths off my lap 3 pace at 2'40.290 and also gaining me another 5/10ths on the RX-7 who is now 2.569s back. This shot at the crossover bridge shows him in the distance, exiting Degner Curve.

The last lap is a formality, and although it's a second slower than the previous 2, at 2'41.395, I lose less than a 1/10th to the RX-7, as he's now got the Audi and Supra combination breathing down his neck, as this picture exiting Spoon Curve on the final lap shows.

The RX-7 does hang on to grab 2nd place for only the second time in 9 races, 2.473s behind my Nissan, while the Audi rounds out the podium finishers marginally ahead of the Supra in 4th place.

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (84)
2nd Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (34)
3rd Audi S3 '02 (45)
4th Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (44)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (18)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (9)​

 

[Smallhorses]

Race 10. Nurburgring Nordschleife (2 Laps)​

So, it's on to the last race of the championship, knowing I've already secured the title, which is reassuring, but this is the so-called "Green Hell" so who knows what lies in store? There's 2 laps, 5 clean AI passes and 340-odd bends to be negotiated, between me and the championship prize, 200,000Cr and a shiny new Opera Performance S2000 '04! While this track has several high speed sections which will work to the Audi, Supra and RX-7's advantage, there's an inordinate amount of twistiness in between, which is great news for the Nissan!

Starting from the back of the pack again ensures that a good fun race should ensue! The rolling start on Autodrive brings us through T13 Alte Einfahrt, clipping, as ever, the barrier on the inside before we cross the line. The Peugeot lasts under 20s, as he's passed between the first sharp left bend and the fast right at Hatzenbach.

The Miata follows seconds later before braking for the first left/right flick after Hatzenbach going over the first of many fake zebra-crossings, and giant VW logos!

Out through Hocheichen and Quiddelbacher Hohe the leaders seem to pull away, but they slow a little for Flugplatz, while I steam on through there at full throttle, giving rise to this picture!

I gain on the RX-7 and go around the outside at Schwedenkreuz, narrowly avoiding a grassbound, race-ending excursion, as I maintain 3 tyres on the track, and yank the car back to the left before outbraking him into Arembergkurve.

Get away cleanly down the hill and back up the other side, slowing for the quick left hander over the brow of the hill and then hard on the brakes before the slow right hander and left/right combination at Adenauer Forst where the intense battle between the Audi and Supra ahead is holding them both up, and allowing me to gain on them too! Almost catch too much grass on the inside of the fast left before Metzgesfeld, but reacted quickly to straighten 'er up! Safely through Kallenhard and Drei-fach Rechts or "Miss-Hit-Miss" as it's sometimes called, and close right up to the leaders under braking for Wehrseifen. Out down the hill towards Breidscheid I'm right on the Supra's bumper, and cleanly outbrake him for the turn.

Sadly it won't be the only time the Supra has to be passed. He gets close through Exmuhle and after that we've only the Lauda Links and Bergwerk before the fast stretch through Kesselchen and Angstkurve which'll suit the Supra more than the Nissan. I catch the Audi's slipstream out of Bergwerk and he tows me up through Kesselchen, but the Supra gains all the time. Just before the fast right/left flick before Angstkurve I have to touch the brakes as the Audi slows, and a fortunate glance in the rear-view gives me just a fraction of a second to pull over to the left as the Supra plows on through!

Having stolen 2nd place back the Supra goes after the Audi, and their antics slow them down again and I'm able to get alongside the Supra in the run up to Karussell. I back off as brains get the better of bravery and avoid any source of potential collisions! 💡 I stick close to him up through Hohe Acht and Hedwigshohe while the Audi begins to build itself a little bit of a gap. I get extremely close through the first right hand apex at Brunnchen but stay with him through Pflanzgarten, holding my nerve for the turns at Sprunghugel and steal back 2nd place as we brake for the right hander that begins the Schwalbenschwanz complex.

I pull away through the 2 left apexes that follow, especially exiting the oddly cambered 2nd one, where the Supra is tentative on exit, to say the least! I'm miles quicker through, and out of, Galgenkopf than the Audi, and as we pass Dottinger Hohe I'm starting to pick up his tow again! 👍 Just before we crest the hill at Antoniusbrucke I ease out of the slipstream and past!

He sticks close, almost too close for comfort but then gets a little wiggly through Tiergarten and as I brake for Hohenrain Schikane I have a small lead. Cross the line to end the lap in 9'05.770 in 1st place, 0.742s ahead of the Audi.
Out into lap 2, and throughout the lap I edge further and further away from the Audi, while thinking why on Earth is this "Green Hell"? Every bend is more and more like "Green Heaven" as the Nissan handles each turn, or sequence of apexes with aplomb, dragging its 30-odd year old body around in ways that the 5 trailing AI "babies" can only dream of emulating! At Pflanzgarten on lap 2, another airborne pose is struck, showing just how much fun the aging Nissan was having!

By the Dottinger Hohe checkpoint I'd wrung a 7s lead out over the Audi, and a little complacency set in as I was watching the split times and my mirrors to see how much he was able to gain in the long straight. A little over 1s was the answer at the Antoniusbrucke checkpoint, but the major scare was still to come! Pushing on through Tiergarten at full throttle in 5th gear, I temporarily forgot where to brake for Hohenrain Schikane, and screeched understeeringly towards the outside of the track, dropping down to a pitiful 21mph before regaining my composure and guiding the Nissan home for its 9th win in the Championship, with a 8'56.119 laptime and after the error in the final turns, the margin of victory was slashed to 3.160s over the Audi!
However, a win is a win, and a 10th absolutely clean win in a row is a fantastic achievement! Bring on the prizes and the plaudits!!!

Result:- (Cumulative points in brackets)

1st Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (KPGC110) '73 (94)
2nd Audi S3 '02 (51)
3rd Toyota Supra SZ-R '97 (48)
4th Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited (FC,J) '85 (37)
5th Mazda MX-5 Miata '89 (20)
6th Peugeot 106 S16 '03 (10)

THE END!​

 

[Smallhorses]

All race reports, photos and replays are now complete!

This is certainly the longest and most detailled race report I'm ever likely to do and I won't be repeating it in a hurry! It's taken hours and hours, days and days, and months of racing, photography and replay watching to complete! A little longer than I was prepared for!

Hope you enjoy it!

 

[GM]

Very nice Smallhorses 👍
I could never be botherd to write up something this long, but it's brilliant!

+REP

 

[amp88]

Great thread, Smallhorses 👍

Fantastic write-up including the pics and replays. A great example of a quality thread.

 

[G.T]

I was thinking of doing a write-up myself on this very championship. No way on earth would it match this quality...

Great work Smallhorses! 👍

 

[Touring Mars]

Each and every post in this thread deserves + rep , but alas....

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Smallhorses again.

... foiled!

Excellent work! An inspiration to us all, and a great example of just how much you can get out of the game if you try hard enough 👍 Brilliant stuff...

...and Happy Birthday! Hope you're having a great one!

 

[JFM92_GTRacer]

Great thread. Very interesting read. I gotta get a 73 skyline!!

 

[LeadSlead#2]

Just swung by to give some rep, and check out the report, great pics, story, and some more top notch writing, as usual.

 

[De@tthwi§ho0]

I had a blast reading this man,, Great write up mate,, I loved it

 

[scoobyonline200]

Congrats on your win, and I have to say this is an amazing thread. You not only posted pictures of your races, but also the replay file to all of them!!!! great stuff!!! Its sad that you wont do it again. But since it took you that long to do it, its understandable. Great work!!!

 

[260c_h230]

Excellent. You should've waited to find some Watanabes in the used wheel lot. They look perfect on mine! And interesting that you didn't choose the earlier KPGC10 GT-R, -speaking of which, why don't they have the racing version of that???! P.S. They didn't get 'round to making a C110 racer.

 

[bennyrrr]

Awesome write up! And some great pics. I wonder if Asimo can race that NSX...

 

[Smallhorses]

Excellent. You should've waited to find some Watanabes in the used wheel lot. They look perfect on mine! And interesting that you didn't choose the earlier KPGC10 GT-R.....

Thanks, not quite sure what Watanabes are? Any chance of you posting a picture of your car with them on? 👍
The reason I didn't use the '70 Skyline is the same as not using the '71 240Z, which I also tested, I only have them as 0.0mile prizecars, and as such their Power-to-weight ratio is better than the '73 Skyline. While this would have made the races much easier, 💡 they'd have been less exciting, and worst of all worth less A-spec points.

 

[DaveS1138]

Dude...... Just how much respect is due after that write up. Not sure but I'm guessing it's a lot

I cannot beleive anybody can do clean races with the AI in this game. Don't get me wrong I try to pass as honestly as I can but I'm not usually the problem. I have been ramed in the back breaking for turns more times than I care to remember. Not to mention being side swiped by the AI comming out of the pit lane and straight into me

I can't imagine having to restart every time that happened. It must have driven you freeking crazy

Very, Very nice write up.

 

[VEXD]

Of course, once GT5 is available, and we are all racing Smallhorses and Small Fryz instead of AI, we wont have to worry about having people hit you in the back when you brake.... unless we're racing Famine....

Nick, that was absolutely fantastic stuff, and tore me away from the part of the site i was supposed to be spending time at.

well done, and congrats.

David.

 

[DaveS1138]

Having had the honor of not only racing against Smallhorses but even beating him (one time only but it's certainly a race I remember well ) Thanks to head to head play on GT3 I really cant wait for GT5 and FINALLY being able to race against something better than AI again.

Nick. Get that SF race meeting sorted out

 

[Smallhorses]

Thanks for the comments Davids! (DaveS1138 & vexd), you've both had the pleasure of beating me head-to-head!
I remember that Lamborghini Diablo JGTC race in GT3 at Tokyo well! (Although vexd did it repeatedly in various cars in GT4 at UKGTP V! )

I have acquired a network switch recently, just need to get my house purchase sorted out, our huge road-trip in September, and then I'll start looking into arranging a LAN party in SF after that! I'll also have to talk nicely to Famine and see if he'll let me have his LAN race lists and random track picker to work off too!

 

[ßen]

Excellent write-up Smallhorses +REP 👍
Rivveting, kept me reading till the end. An excellent example of what can be done with GT4, kepp up the good works SH!

 

[No_Good_Eclipse]

SUPER Newbie question: How do you take pictures, and why do A-spec points matter?

SOMEWHAT Newbie question: How do you take GREAT pictures, like that?

 

[G.T]

SUPER Newbie question: How do you take pictures, and why do A-spec points matter?

Look in these FAQs or similar threads for simple questions like this. Even more so, the instruction manual that came with GT4 tells you how to take photomode pictures.

SOMEWHAT Newbie question: How do you take GREAT pictures, like that?

Practice mainly. But there is lots and lots of advice and pictures already in our GT4 Photo & Video Galleries Forum if you need any help or ideas.

 

[AMG.]

..... It's taken hours and hours, days and days, and months of racing, photography and replay watching to complete!......

I know EXACTLY what you mean. Writing up race reports takes way longer than racing the race, even more so if good pics are to be added.
But it's fun doing it and even more so if people take the time to respond in writing (hint) and not just reading the report(s).
Gives you energy to do another one.

SH I'm impressed! Sorry to not have read this earlier....
No excuse, probably too busy maxxing A-specs and writing about it. I believe my second & third goal will be to max out on stock and clean races.


AMG.