Tight, Challenging Races

  • Thread starter ZZII
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I've been enjoying the following race, the Amateur All Japan GT Championship race with a stock Dodge Viper Concept. After trying several times, I finally came in first. It was a blast, as well as a challenge. Give it a try!

Another good race is the Amateur Japanese Championship which is the very first race in Am League. I used a dealer-stock (no oil change, no tires) NSX Type R. Only one AI car was difficult, a NSX Type S, but it was a fun and close battle. I think the AI cars are slightly moded for extra HP because he was able to blow past me on every straight, but I was able to catch up and even pass him on the turns. The other AI cars are nothing to worry about.
 
Here's another one for you, that requires every lap to be near-perfect.

Amateur League Altezza trophy.

Enter in an Altezza RS200, oil changed, sports brakes, racing muffler, racing chip, lightweight 1 & 2 and finally soft tyres. Should give 240HP and PWR of ~5.000.

Its been great fun so far, usually a slender, second or so, margin of victory or loss at the finish line for every race.

*Edit* Tokyo is a bugger, but remove the muffler & the chip for Cote D'azur or you'll win way too easily.
 
Spoon S2000 Race Car in Pro FR Deep Forest II

here's more info of it that i just wrote somewhere else:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1475841&postcount=22




also just confirmed that you can win Amateur League GT World and German Touring Championships in the Spoon S2000 Race Car 👍 . Its very challenging, but once you know the tracks you can cut off lots of time if you know good entry angle/speed and get high exit speeds. I think i have a new favorite car :) . It's very mini like in that its under powered and easy to pass over as junk, but can be a very rewarding sleeper and gem. I even love the extra light on its roof, you can see it on replays of dark courses like deep forest 2.
 
Here's three combinations I've tested and won with that should give close, competitive racing against the AI.👍 :

1. Nissan C-West Razo Silvia with stage 1 turbo and T3 tires in the Grand Valley 300. I ran this one today and won by only 7.3 seconds over the Raybrig NSX after nearly 2 hours of racing. The only time it is possible to stretch out a small lead over the AI is the last 2 laps of a pit cycle. However, they will close the time lost on worn tires during the first part of the run, so there is no margin for error since the Silvia is perfectly matched to the NSX in pit strategy (every 7 laps) and lap times.

2. Dodge Viper Concept with drivetrain and suspension upgrades plus T3 or T4 tires in the Amateur Dream Car Championship. Every race with the possible exceptions of Grand Valley Reverse and SSR11 are guaranteed nailbiters over the ZZII or FTO LM. The other 3 AI are much quicker, but have to pit due to running softer tires.

3. Toyota Altezza RS200 equipped with oil change, racing muffler, sports chip, port polish, triple plate clutch, racing flywheel, carbon driveshaft, racing brakes, lightweight 1, and T4 tires at the Seattle 100.
This may be the best race you'll ever have in GT3 as long as you draw a field with the Mustang, Viper, and Z06. The AI are much quicker down the straights, but you'll be able to outcorner them. Even so, it took me 32 laps before I led for the first time. After the final stop on lap 35 (pit every 7 with the AI), the Mustang was able to repass me up the hill climb. I eventually repassed him and won by a massive 2.3 seconds.
 
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Mind if I bump?

I just did the Amateur GTWC with a completely stock Nissan Calsonic Skyline, and some races late in the season were ultra-fun. The lineup consisted of a Dodge Viper Team Oreca and Corvette C5R, which mainly dominated the straights, a Pennzoil and another Calsonic Skyline, and the Lister Storm.

In Seattle, I had trouble with the Pennzoil for long, and ended up chasing the Viper from a 3.1 second deficit on the final lap. Thankfully, it was running on completely worn out tires, and I managed to turn that loss into a 2.4 second win. The following Midfield race was a bigger toughie, as I was 6-7 seconds down for most of the race until the Viper pitted, and even after that, I kept getting pressure from the other Calsonic (which never pits, by the way) and the Corvette, who had pitted earlier and charged from behind the pack all the way into second, losing only 0.8 seconds to me. The entire field finished within less than 5 seconds.

The finale at Grand Valley was the most awesome, though. Just like normal, the Viper and Corvette escaped early, but the Corvette had grip problems and pitted already on the second lap, leaving me to chase the Viper and focus on holding up the Pennzoil and Calsonic, which were coming pretty close to my tail end. The Viper and Pennzoil pitted on lap 3, but during the fourth lap, when I was making up gap in the lead, the Corvette charged back again, passing the Lister and Calsonic easily, but thankfully it had to do another stop, and my victory seemed to be coming for sure...

...Well, think again. The Viper had now come with a horrific pace from behind, also passing the Lister and Calsonic with ease, and by the first sector of the final lap, the gap was only 0.5 seconds. :scared: The Viper then forced itself past me on the hairpin leading to the left-right-left section before the tunnels. I re-passed him on the final left of that combo, and held him off in the following corners and the bridge too, even on the orangish tires. In the left-right combo right near the end, I managed to make up gap, but I was still afraid that it wasn't enough, and feeling pressured, I slid off the track at the last turn. :ouch: Still I had just enough pace to finish the race in first and earn the full prize for that hard work.

For more experienced drivers, even using the Calsonic may be too easy, but there's always even slower racing cars to use, or even road cars. :sly:
 
Sorry for the bump but I took a stock Nissan Loctite Zexel GT-R and ran the Pro All-Japan Championship. The only thing that I had was super hard tires and an oil change. The other cars are putting out at least 200hp more than you are and you can only win in the corners. The first race at Grand Valley was 15 laps and the ARTA NSX pulled away at the start and it takes so long for the tires to come in and his to wear that I only started to catchg him at lap 10. I eventually passed him and he pitted but it was a close race until then. The next couple of races are pretty much the same but test course is immposible to win with less than 500hp. The best race is Trial Mountain, the Denso Sard Supra rocketed of in the lead but they Ai never pits. When I passed him it was in the first corner on the last lap. Very close race from being 8 seconds behind at one point. I couldn't win rome though as my oil was black. I think that if you used 1 step softer from super hard tires then you could still finish each race without any pit stops but you would be faster. Also it seemed that shifting at 7000 was better than redline ast the cars peak power is at 5500.
 
:banghead:
Car: Calsonic Skyline GT-R (JGTC)
Race: All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, Trial Mountain

It had been while since I played GT3, so it was time to return and hunt the few remaining gold trophies I had missed on previous times. My car for the job was the good old Calsonic Skyline.

In qualifying I just quickly ran one lap which took me to 5th place on the grid.

I chose super hard tyres for the 15 lap race (no pitstops required), which caused the start to go pretty badly. After first lap I was still on the last place, but soon passed the Penzoil Nismo and Raybrig NSX. On lap 6 I passed the 2nd and 3rd place Loctite Skyline and Castrol Supra. The car was feeling better and better, even though the rear wheel spin was nearly uncontrollable, partly because of the awful third party controller, partly because of the super hard tyres which were already turning orange.
On lap 10 I finally reached the 1st place car, the Denso Supra GT, my old arch-enemy from this series. After couple of laps of hard battling for 1st place I finally left the Supra behind and soon the gap was over 5 seconds with just two laps to go. But then I lost my concentration and slipped wide in the last left-right just before the last lap. The car bounced from the infamous bank and skidded over the track into the pit wall. "I can't lose this again!", I thought and desperately tried to block the road, but the Supra flashed through and when I got back into full speed the gap was 5 seconds, this time the other way around. After an absolute 100% perfect lap I reached the Supra again but it was too late and I lost the race by 0,333 seconds.
 
Car: Mazda RX-8
Race: Trial Mountain 2 hour

Being Sunday and wanting to get an endurance race done before going back to school, I grabbed my newly acquired Mazda RX-8 and took it to the famous Trial mountain 2 Hour for a spin.

THE FIELD:

NSX type S
R34 Skyline
Supra RZ
Lancer V Evo
R32 Skyline
Mazda RX-8

So completely ignoring qualifying I hit start and the race was on. The NSX and R34 Skyline pulled into the lead as I finally got past the first 3 guys. After 3 laps, I passed the R34, and the NSX pitted on lap 5, so I had taken the lead relatively easily.

What I did not expect, though, was the NSX to make up his lost time in the short 5 laps between his next pit, just barely passing me before pulling in. This repeated itself until lap 19, when I had to pit. Immediately, I lost about 12 seconds to the NSX. Modifying my pit strategy, I pitted on lap 35, pitting every 15 laps after. During that time though, I had to keep my driving tight, as the NSX rapidly made up his gap. As the race continued, my lead on the NSX got further and further, as my pit strategy had us pitting on the same lap, but nonetheless he still made it to my back bumper on numerous occasions. Finally, after 72 nerve racking laps, I crossed the line, with a 7 second lead on the NSX.
 
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