- 755
Trying to spend as little cash as possible, I originally was going to use the Esperante that I won from the Time Trials. But I never could tune it to run competitively with the other cars. I then tested out the Raybrig NSX, just out of curiousity, to see how it would do. To my amazement, it could handle perfectly normal on stock medium tires with power upgrades. I fiddled with things a bit until I finally decided to give it a Stage 2 NA Kit and an oil change, giving it 566hp.
Race 1 - Grand Valley Speedway
This race was fairly simple. I jumped into the lead entering the left hander right before the first tunnel and acquired a big lead early and ran away from the pack. The GT-One, running on softer tires, was in 2nd, a bit ahead of the 787B and R390, who were in 3rd & 4th. By the time I pitted on lap 5, I had a 15 second advantage over the GT-One. As I looked in my rear view mirror, I saw the GT-One pitting also. As I made my pit stop, I surrendered the lead to the R390, with the 787B following close behind. They were a good bit ahead of me to the point that I thought I may not be able to catch them, but on lap 8 I closed in on the 787B and passed the R390 not much later. I cruised on to the victory.
1st Place Finish |Total Time: 18'07.575
Race 2 - Apricot Hill Raceway II
The dreaded Apricot Hill reversed.... This is probably my worst track in the game, or at least the track that the AI always seem to be tough at. For some reason, I opted to skip qualifying. As the race began, the field left me as usual. The "Big 3" then swept by the Esperante, who started in 1st, on the inside of the first turn, dropping him to 4th. The traffic jam allowed me to close in on the back bumper of the GT40 at the first turn. I decided to move to the outside. As the field slowed for the chicane, I sped by the GT40, Esperante, and the third place R390 on the outside, cutting through the 2nd dirt trap. We raced down to the hairpin where I pulled alongside the 787B. The R390 quickly closed in to make it 3-wide for a brief moment, but it quickly straightened out as I made the outside pass on the 787B to move into 2nd. The 787B maintained 3rd. We remained in that order for the remainder of the lap, but I was able to close in on the lead place GT-One on turn entering onto the front straightaway and caught his draft.
We had to brake heavily to get slowed enough for Turn 1. Through the short straight we went leading to the chicane, and I blew by the GT-One on the outside by cutting through the 2nd dirt trap just as I did on the first lap, putting me in the lead. I was unchallenged until both the GT-One and I pitted on Lap 5. By the time we made it back out onto the track, the R390 & 787B had jumped out to 11 seconds ahead. Right then I thought I would have to settle for 3rd because I just couldn't see me gaining 11 seconds on those two. In fact, I actually lost a second as I completed the 6th lap to drop me to 12 seconds behind.
Even though I figured I had pretty much lost this race, I started racing like a madman. As I headed through the downhill S-turn on the 9th lap, I saw dust that had been kicked up by the 787B, meaning I was not far behind. I closed in on his back bumper as we entered the front straightaway. Just like with the GT-One, I caught his draft, went through Turn 1, and sped by through the 2nd dirt trap on the chicane. Right then I realized I still had a chance at the win. I eventually caught him on the blind downhill S-turn and veered to the right to pass him in the grass, then quickly cross back onto the track to come out in 1st. This race holds my game record for closest margin of victory in a 10 lap race not held on an oval, as I won by only 0.295 seconds.
1st Place Finish | Total TIme: 13'10.334
Race 3 - Special Stage Route 5 II
We go from one of my worst tracks where the opposition is always stiff to one of my better tracks where I always demolish the opposition. This race was no different. I made it by the GT40, Esperante, 787B, and bounced off the GT-One to get me into 2nd by the exit of the first turn. I caught the R390 and passed him at the hairpin, then jumped out to a huge lead. When I pitted on Lap 5, no one else was near me and I went on to win the race by 44.316 seconds over the 787B, setting a new game record for largest margin of victory in a 10 lap race not held on an oval.
1st Place Finish | Total Time: 13'17.986
The next 2 races were pretty uninteresting and went pretty much how the Grand Valley race did, except I didn't have any doubts about me being able to catch the 2 non-pitters, the 787B and R390.
Race 4 - Trial Mountain
1st Place Finish | Total Time: 13'38.942
Race 5 - Deep Forest Raceway
1st Place Finish | Total Time: 12'03.873
Race 6 - Test Course
I had to due some heavy modifying of the gears and downforce settings to make the car competitive for this race. I also turned on the TCS for extra grip off the starting line. I managed to get bumped repeatedly by the 787B during qualifying to get me a 2nd place starting position. At the start of the race, I accelarated a little quicker than the 787B and pulled in some, but his 690hp kicked in and he quickly left the field. The remaining pack stayed pretty close and thundered through the first turn, but the GT40 had lost the draft on the back straightaway and remained out of contention. For the next 8 laps, we raced in a pack of 4, constantly jockying for position. We could do 212mph+ if we got behind each other and drafted. The GT-One peeled off onto pit road on the 9th lap, and as he did this I was faced with the decision of keeping the 3 car battle competitive by moving in front of the Esperante so he could draft, or to leave him hung to dry. I chose to make it competitive. Bad choice. As we were going into Turn 3, I was in front then purposely backed off to let the Esperante pass me. My plan was to stay behind the Esperante until the right time, then go full throttle and let the draft carry me past the 2 cars. The R390 was on the outside. He then slid down and caught a draft off of the Esperante, then ducked to the inside to make the pass. He got back in line in front of the Esperante. I stayed behind the Esperante waiting until I could begin to see the front straightaway, then I gunned it full throttle. I didn't carry as much momentum as I had expected, because the Esperante was drafting off the R390 and therefore was going faster than normal. But it was just enough to get me by the both of them. As I closed in, I ducked to the inside. I wanted to keep as much speed as possible, so I didn't make a hard cut to the left and instead turned slightly. A misjudgment on my part, I ended up nudging the Esperante in the left rear as we were coming off the last corner, which killed my momentum and forced me to helplessly ride to a 4th place finish.
4th Place Finish | Total Time: 19'01.019
Race 7 - Special Stage Route 11 II
Anxious to get back into winning form, I started the race while forgetting to change my settings back. Plus my oil light was on from the Test Course race, which meant I was going to be losing horsepower mile by mile. I didn't realize that I hadn't changed the settings back until the GT-One ran away from me on the first lap and I couldn't catch him. Right then I thought I was screwed and thought I would have to settle for 4th. As the race went on, the margin between me and the GT-One stayed the same, but I was able to make the pass on Lap 6. At this point I started wondering why the GT-One hadn't pitted yet. I found it hard to believe that this would be one of the easier places on tires. Right here I was faced with a decision: to pit with the GT-One and try my hardest to stay in front of him to get 3rd, or try to stick it out for the full race w/o pitting. I knew the GT-One was strong on fresh tires, so I had to eliminate that option. I realized I overestimated when the GT-One came out of the pits running with the 787B, which he easily passed. That means I could of gotten 2nd if I could of managed to stay in front of the GT-One, and third if I didn't. It was too late to worry about that now though. I had a 12 second lead on the R390 by the time the GT-One pitted, which was cut down to 10 by the time I began the final lap. I had a scary moment when I nearly spun out towards the end of the lap, but I managed to save it and went on to win by 5 seconds. My right side tires were just about red by the time I finished. I don't think I could of lasted the full 10 laps on one set of tires if I had moved the downforce back to the way I had it before the Test Course race, because more downforce = more tire wear. Whew!
1st Place Finish | Total Time: 19'09.494
Race 8 - Tokyo R246
Thankfully, I remembered to change my settings back to the way I had them before the race started, but decided to leave the TCS on because I saw where my hp had dropped from 566 to 526 due to me running on bad oil. This was the first race where I got to experience first-hand what all the big fuss is about not being able to change oil during a championship, because the "Big 3" were out of site by Lap 2 and I was actually having to battle the Esperante for 4th. I eventually pulled away from the Esperante to where he was a non-factor. The GT-One pitted on Lap 5, and I decided to stay out an extra lap just to see if I could pass him in the pits and make a desperation attempt at not letting him by me. I didn't even get a chance because I was so far behind that the GT-One came out of the pits in front of me and sped away after the first turn.
4th Place Finish | Total Time: 24'29.451
This is the point that I'm at now. I've had my championship saved at this point since August 8 and haven't made any further progress as of yet. Race 9 is at Cote D'Azur. I'm pretty confident going into that race and look to seek some retribution for my poor showing at Tokyo. Cote D'Azur is my best and favorite track, and it just so happens that it is the track where horsepower plays a less important role. Plus, I did some pre-championship testing before I started the series and saw where I was winning by a wide margin. I wouldn't like to think that a drop in 40hp would be able to narrow the margin by too much, but we'll see.
Race 1 - Grand Valley Speedway
This race was fairly simple. I jumped into the lead entering the left hander right before the first tunnel and acquired a big lead early and ran away from the pack. The GT-One, running on softer tires, was in 2nd, a bit ahead of the 787B and R390, who were in 3rd & 4th. By the time I pitted on lap 5, I had a 15 second advantage over the GT-One. As I looked in my rear view mirror, I saw the GT-One pitting also. As I made my pit stop, I surrendered the lead to the R390, with the 787B following close behind. They were a good bit ahead of me to the point that I thought I may not be able to catch them, but on lap 8 I closed in on the 787B and passed the R390 not much later. I cruised on to the victory.
1st Place Finish |Total Time: 18'07.575
Race 2 - Apricot Hill Raceway II
The dreaded Apricot Hill reversed.... This is probably my worst track in the game, or at least the track that the AI always seem to be tough at. For some reason, I opted to skip qualifying. As the race began, the field left me as usual. The "Big 3" then swept by the Esperante, who started in 1st, on the inside of the first turn, dropping him to 4th. The traffic jam allowed me to close in on the back bumper of the GT40 at the first turn. I decided to move to the outside. As the field slowed for the chicane, I sped by the GT40, Esperante, and the third place R390 on the outside, cutting through the 2nd dirt trap. We raced down to the hairpin where I pulled alongside the 787B. The R390 quickly closed in to make it 3-wide for a brief moment, but it quickly straightened out as I made the outside pass on the 787B to move into 2nd. The 787B maintained 3rd. We remained in that order for the remainder of the lap, but I was able to close in on the lead place GT-One on turn entering onto the front straightaway and caught his draft.
We had to brake heavily to get slowed enough for Turn 1. Through the short straight we went leading to the chicane, and I blew by the GT-One on the outside by cutting through the 2nd dirt trap just as I did on the first lap, putting me in the lead. I was unchallenged until both the GT-One and I pitted on Lap 5. By the time we made it back out onto the track, the R390 & 787B had jumped out to 11 seconds ahead. Right then I thought I would have to settle for 3rd because I just couldn't see me gaining 11 seconds on those two. In fact, I actually lost a second as I completed the 6th lap to drop me to 12 seconds behind.
Even though I figured I had pretty much lost this race, I started racing like a madman. As I headed through the downhill S-turn on the 9th lap, I saw dust that had been kicked up by the 787B, meaning I was not far behind. I closed in on his back bumper as we entered the front straightaway. Just like with the GT-One, I caught his draft, went through Turn 1, and sped by through the 2nd dirt trap on the chicane. Right then I realized I still had a chance at the win. I eventually caught him on the blind downhill S-turn and veered to the right to pass him in the grass, then quickly cross back onto the track to come out in 1st. This race holds my game record for closest margin of victory in a 10 lap race not held on an oval, as I won by only 0.295 seconds.
1st Place Finish | Total TIme: 13'10.334
Race 3 - Special Stage Route 5 II
We go from one of my worst tracks where the opposition is always stiff to one of my better tracks where I always demolish the opposition. This race was no different. I made it by the GT40, Esperante, 787B, and bounced off the GT-One to get me into 2nd by the exit of the first turn. I caught the R390 and passed him at the hairpin, then jumped out to a huge lead. When I pitted on Lap 5, no one else was near me and I went on to win the race by 44.316 seconds over the 787B, setting a new game record for largest margin of victory in a 10 lap race not held on an oval.
1st Place Finish | Total Time: 13'17.986
The next 2 races were pretty uninteresting and went pretty much how the Grand Valley race did, except I didn't have any doubts about me being able to catch the 2 non-pitters, the 787B and R390.
Race 4 - Trial Mountain
1st Place Finish | Total Time: 13'38.942
Race 5 - Deep Forest Raceway
1st Place Finish | Total Time: 12'03.873
Race 6 - Test Course
I had to due some heavy modifying of the gears and downforce settings to make the car competitive for this race. I also turned on the TCS for extra grip off the starting line. I managed to get bumped repeatedly by the 787B during qualifying to get me a 2nd place starting position. At the start of the race, I accelarated a little quicker than the 787B and pulled in some, but his 690hp kicked in and he quickly left the field. The remaining pack stayed pretty close and thundered through the first turn, but the GT40 had lost the draft on the back straightaway and remained out of contention. For the next 8 laps, we raced in a pack of 4, constantly jockying for position. We could do 212mph+ if we got behind each other and drafted. The GT-One peeled off onto pit road on the 9th lap, and as he did this I was faced with the decision of keeping the 3 car battle competitive by moving in front of the Esperante so he could draft, or to leave him hung to dry. I chose to make it competitive. Bad choice. As we were going into Turn 3, I was in front then purposely backed off to let the Esperante pass me. My plan was to stay behind the Esperante until the right time, then go full throttle and let the draft carry me past the 2 cars. The R390 was on the outside. He then slid down and caught a draft off of the Esperante, then ducked to the inside to make the pass. He got back in line in front of the Esperante. I stayed behind the Esperante waiting until I could begin to see the front straightaway, then I gunned it full throttle. I didn't carry as much momentum as I had expected, because the Esperante was drafting off the R390 and therefore was going faster than normal. But it was just enough to get me by the both of them. As I closed in, I ducked to the inside. I wanted to keep as much speed as possible, so I didn't make a hard cut to the left and instead turned slightly. A misjudgment on my part, I ended up nudging the Esperante in the left rear as we were coming off the last corner, which killed my momentum and forced me to helplessly ride to a 4th place finish.
4th Place Finish | Total Time: 19'01.019
Race 7 - Special Stage Route 11 II
Anxious to get back into winning form, I started the race while forgetting to change my settings back. Plus my oil light was on from the Test Course race, which meant I was going to be losing horsepower mile by mile. I didn't realize that I hadn't changed the settings back until the GT-One ran away from me on the first lap and I couldn't catch him. Right then I thought I was screwed and thought I would have to settle for 4th. As the race went on, the margin between me and the GT-One stayed the same, but I was able to make the pass on Lap 6. At this point I started wondering why the GT-One hadn't pitted yet. I found it hard to believe that this would be one of the easier places on tires. Right here I was faced with a decision: to pit with the GT-One and try my hardest to stay in front of him to get 3rd, or try to stick it out for the full race w/o pitting. I knew the GT-One was strong on fresh tires, so I had to eliminate that option. I realized I overestimated when the GT-One came out of the pits running with the 787B, which he easily passed. That means I could of gotten 2nd if I could of managed to stay in front of the GT-One, and third if I didn't. It was too late to worry about that now though. I had a 12 second lead on the R390 by the time the GT-One pitted, which was cut down to 10 by the time I began the final lap. I had a scary moment when I nearly spun out towards the end of the lap, but I managed to save it and went on to win by 5 seconds. My right side tires were just about red by the time I finished. I don't think I could of lasted the full 10 laps on one set of tires if I had moved the downforce back to the way I had it before the Test Course race, because more downforce = more tire wear. Whew!
1st Place Finish | Total Time: 19'09.494
Race 8 - Tokyo R246
Thankfully, I remembered to change my settings back to the way I had them before the race started, but decided to leave the TCS on because I saw where my hp had dropped from 566 to 526 due to me running on bad oil. This was the first race where I got to experience first-hand what all the big fuss is about not being able to change oil during a championship, because the "Big 3" were out of site by Lap 2 and I was actually having to battle the Esperante for 4th. I eventually pulled away from the Esperante to where he was a non-factor. The GT-One pitted on Lap 5, and I decided to stay out an extra lap just to see if I could pass him in the pits and make a desperation attempt at not letting him by me. I didn't even get a chance because I was so far behind that the GT-One came out of the pits in front of me and sped away after the first turn.
4th Place Finish | Total Time: 24'29.451
This is the point that I'm at now. I've had my championship saved at this point since August 8 and haven't made any further progress as of yet. Race 9 is at Cote D'Azur. I'm pretty confident going into that race and look to seek some retribution for my poor showing at Tokyo. Cote D'Azur is my best and favorite track, and it just so happens that it is the track where horsepower plays a less important role. Plus, I did some pre-championship testing before I started the series and saw where I was winning by a wide margin. I wouldn't like to think that a drop in 40hp would be able to narrow the margin by too much, but we'll see.
