My first race report
it's kinda long but i added a lot of details,tell me how you guys like it, ill try to make more
Tokyo route 246-300km
After a long night i finally arrive. The pilot announces on the intercom that its 5pm local time. Its kinda chilly, so i slip in my comfortable jacket. I walk slowly, because I'm still a little drowsy, to get my luggage. I walk over to my shuttle that will take me to where my car is.i arrive to a huge carrier plane. Looks sort of like a military cargo plane. I watch as my car is unstrapped and slowly rolled down the huge ramp... It's a R.E. Amemiya Asparadadrink Rx-7 (JGTC) I take a look around and i think to myself,"Finally here at Tokyo".
As i take the taxi to my hotel he talks to me about how there's a whole day of difference between Tokyo and the U.S., So if i had left on Sept. 9th from the U.S. when i arrived here it would be Sept 8th. So i get to my hotel and lay down. Thoughts of cars whizzing by pass through my head, and then I get up go down to the track , where my car was dropped off, and I inspect it to see if anything happened, It looks fine .I see if its o.k. to take it for a test run.
Suspension
I knew the Rx-7 understeered, especially because it was very lightweight. On the plus side it was very low to the ground so i could at least get up to speed on the straight aways. I decided to run the first lap on Soft racing tires, right away i noticed the car bounced way too much. Especially on the straight away. I knew it was too stiff. So i tried to soften it up. I took it into the garage and got under the car... As soon as i got there i noticed why, The oversteer suspension was at 13.9/12.8 so i tinkered with that a bit. 10/10 still too bouncy, but now it oversteered too much. Now i see why they put it the way they did:idea:. I left it at 12/9.5 and i said too myself. Theres alot of other ways to fix the understeer and so i left it like that.Ride Height
I had to get low enough to the floor to were i wont bottom out but height enough to reduce weight transfer. Since i had a relatively low spring rate. I decided to have a little fun 
and put it at 45/45Damper
This is where i would fix the understeer. I lowered the front bound to 6 and raised the back to 7. That took care of the pesky understeer Then i raised the rebound to 7/8Camber
Haha- now this im good at
(only because I'm a drifter) I tried it at 1.5/1 and that worked out great so i moved on toToe
Not many people now about Toe
on the front i set the toe to plus 1 and back to -1 to give me more traction while turning and it reduced my power oversteer.Anti-Roll Bars
Since I'm not bottoming out at all i can soften them up quite a bit, to go with my racing style because i like to get on the racing strips. I set them to 3/3 and that worked pretty good, so i kept it.Brake Controller
Here i changed the brakes so they can lock up at the same time, I did a test run on the straight away, I went to full speed and stopped to see how much weight transfer i had and where the tires lock up. I set it to 6%/4% and that worked fin.Anything else?
Now i figured out my car was kinda high and I'm hitting some bumps at the beginning of the straight away so i lower the spring rate to 9.5/6. That turns out to be a great decisionFinal Setup
The final setup is
Spring rate 9.5/6
Ride Height 45/45
Bound 6/7
Rebound 7/8
Camber 1.5/1
Roll bars 3/3
Brake Cont. 6/4
Aids off
Nos on
Test runs
After that i decided to do some test runs to see what i needed to improve on.*Notice not all the turn i name are the same number as on the map
just in case you need the map again.
The first turn
Was a hard right turn. It's just at the end the straight away. I approach it at about 170-180mph because of my understeer i have to star braking at about 150 meters away and hit at least 50-60 to hit this turn. Sometimes i brake to late understeer and slam into the wall, Lets hope that never happens in the race. This is one of the hardest turns in the circuit i believe. Because at the high speeds you approach it and how slow you have to get to negotiate it.
Turn 2 and 3
Turn 2 is a 90 degree left since i just had the hard right i can wait a little until i have to brake. I come in at a steady 100-120 mph and i start to brake at about 50 meters. I get to about 60-80 mph and negotiate the turn. Immediately after that comes the 90 degree long right sweeper. Here sometimes i forgot to shift back up a gear other than that i can get out of it at around 90-100 mph.
Turn 4
Is a 180 degree sweep pretty simple but again i sometimes forgot to shift up a gear. And on this turn i might oversteer a bit and bottom out on the strips, other than that I'm o.k.
Turn 5
Is another 90 degree left, i can get by this one pretty easily... don't really have to brake much
Turn 6 and 7
-Here's when the course starts getting intriquite
An s turn with a soft right and then a hard left. I can take the first on as a speed turn but the second one i have to let off the gas and even then i scrape the wall on the strips.
Turn 8
Is another 90 degree right, fortunately the track is wide at the end of the turn so i don't have slow down too much.
Turn 9
Another hard right, but again i have a wide track here so i can just let off the gas.
Turn 10
-Now it gets tricky
A wide left, pretty straight forward
Turn 11 and 12
11 is a wide right, again straight forward but 12 is a harder left that I'm coming in at about 100-110 mph so i need to get to 80-90 mph to negotiate this one.
Turn 13
A hard 180 degree eight, kind of a hairpin but not really. I'm coming pretty fast so i have to slow down at about 100 meters to around 60-70 mph (used to be 40 before i fixed understeer
)The straight away
-Right after turn 13 there are a few bumps that i reduced by my sespension tuning
Anyway Turn 14
A wide left. i can hit it without braking
I have everything i need so I go back to my hotel and get a good night sleep for the next day
Race Day
at Tokyo
at Tokyo
I remember the feeling as i stepped on the racetrack. I walked to my card slid my hand over the beautiful yellow paint job. I felt adrenaline pumped, I felt ready to take on 3.8 miles of unforgiving pavement, and another 5 driver with the same prize in mind: To be the Tokyo Route 246 Champ.
And it felt as if almost instantly i was in the cockpit of my Rx-7 with 5 drivers ahead of me,
3...2...1... and the race begins
The Race
The Competition
I'm going up against a Honda Takata Dome NSX '03 (JGTC) right in front of me, a Nissan Pennzoil Zexel GT (JGTC) '01 a Mazda Rx-8 CAncept LM racecar '01. A Toyota AU Cerumo Supra (JGTC) '01, and a 2000 Ford Falcon XR8 in the lead.
Lap 1
As soon as we star i step hard on the gas. I see quickly that this is going to be a close and exciting race
. We're all even, on the hard right i manage not to understeer. I feel my tired warming up The new nematic shifters worked great, and they're fun. As we take the 90 degree left I'm doing good so far. On the right turn i battle it out with the NSX, he wins
. As we take the 180 degree right sweeper i manage to pass him up. I'm in fifth, I'm flying down the course. I take the S without even stopping. The rest of the lap is also smoothe sailing.Lap 2
We hit the straight away, i try to get in front of the Pennzoil Nissan Skyline and i could've done it if i hadn't been too excited to miss a gear shift
. Then i try drafting him. I draft him the whole straight away. When finally with just enough time to brake for turn #1 i pass him up. I'm in forth now... but it turns out i slowed down too much tfor the right turn that the Skyline retook 4th for a bit but i regained the position on a quick battle on the s turns. I find myself in forth trying to find a way to get passed the Rx-8. And i think my chance is here 💡, on the 180 degree sweeper where i passed up the NSX. So i take a deep breath and stomp hard on the gas i take him on the opening of the turn, he gives me the inside. 3rd place, this is starting to look easy, but now i have a supra to get through, But i get too careless and slow down too much for a turn and the Rx-8 takes 3rd. But i have a secret weapon. The s turns. I make great time here so i take the Rx-8 and get neck and neck with the Supra. we have to slow down for the turn and unfortunately he was on the inside so i loose that battle, back in thirdLap 3
I draft the Supra the whole straight away and accidentally bump him 
so we hit the wall...
whats even worst I'm still in third, i take him on the inside of the 180 degree sweeper. Now I'm in second and have to battle the Falcon, He already got a steady 10 second lead, but I'm in luck i hit the apex on almost every turn. 10 seconds turns into 9, I catch up quick. 9 secs. turn into 6. I make up alot of ground on the s. Then to the straight away. 6 secs. turns into 3.Lap 4
3 secs turned into 2, then 1 now i find myself .800 of a sec. behind him. We keep it up like this for a while. I try to take him on the inside of a turn but he cuts me off.Lap 5
We struggle the whole straight away. I keep drafting to keep up but keep getting cut off, and right after that in the left 90 degree i get too excited and for get to brake good, so i understeer and find myself 4 secs behind. I try to catch upLap 6
I Hit the straight away and I'm still 4 secs. behind. I try my hardest to catch up, even though i have to be more careful because my tires are light green almost orange. Then i get hit in the back on turn #1 by the Supra, i hit the wall... the Rx-8, Supra, and Skyline go by...
I find myself in forth place... again. I fight for third with skyline. We hit the last hard right and i try yo take the inside... he pulls out of the turn faster so we're neck and neck, Here i make a risky decision. I slow down to draft him on the straight away... I do.. there's still some hope i get in front of him but i was still 13 secs. Behind the lead carLap 7
Catching up... pfft ya right i miss a shift and go back to 5th
... I really need to work on that... So much for catching up. Passed up forth on the 180 degree sweeper, passed up the skyline on the straight away and now i'm in third... but still 14 secs. behind the lead car.Lap 8
Now i have to catch up. I try to hit the apex on every turn. I can feel the rubber under me. I can feel the pavement. I start to think to myself."If i keep this up, I'll never make it. I have to step up. I have to win this." I push the car into 4th gear. Take the S turns, i'm zooming. I take the apex on everything. The lead Shortens. I start to feel Better about myself. I can feel myself as one with the car, with the shifters, with the tires, the transmission, every portion of the i feel as if i were getting fused with the car. I step on the gas and hit the straight away.Lap 9
I get 12 secs and i'm catching up... I look at my tires, and they start to turn a decent orange... That sucks. Despite the tires i still try my hardest to regain time.Lap 10
Why did i have to start the race with medium tires?!?!? My tires turn a fury red and I've stretched it to here but i can't any further... wow these tires really suck, The NSX even passes me up, and i end up 40 secs behindLap 11
I go into pit and i end up 1'11 behind the lead car, despite all that the new tires feel good... even if i did put on the super hard tires. I put down a heavy foot and start to catch up.Lap 12
The tires aren't bad, even though i have to brake a lot before the turn. I get the time to 1'05 but still not good enough.Lap 13
The tires start turning a green.. they're warming up I need to do something here, and fast. I take every apex, on all the strips take the car to its extremes, after a while i realize 💡 i need to wait until they pit(from here on out ill just write the story and inform you of the laps every once in a while.)
My tires turn a bright green, I start shaving down seconds, I get it to 55 seconds, in lap 14 and 53 seconds in lap 15, by lap 17 i was 35 seconds behind, Lap 18 i caught up with the NSX, Drafted him on the straight away. It took me another lap to catch up to 4th place which i found out was now the Supra I passed him on lap 19 on the s turns. The skyline was next, right ahead of me, But he put up a fight, by lap 20 i was in 3rd, with my tires bright green, i was in luck. On lap 21 the Rx-8 and the falcon Had to put, So the Rx-8 ended in 1st and the Falcon in 3rd, But wait what 3rd? Thats right i was in second
. Now it was a battle for first, I knew i had to pit soon, so i better do it fast. In lap 22 I was 4 seconds behind the leader, That Rx-8 is good.. I made up some time on the s turns and some other ones. By lap 25 we are neck and neck- literally, One time i remember the difference was 0.010. I took him he took me... It was really exciting. The final overtaking was on the straight away, where i let him go by then drafted him and got ahead. By lap 27 i had a decent lead, 3-4 seconds. Here the Supra and the NSX pit, and i knew i would have to soon too. I had orange tires and my tank was halve empty. I almost had a lap on everyone. On lap 28 i had a strong 12 second lead. The NSX pitted here, My tank had 3 bars and my tires were a fury red. I already learned how bad that could be so i decided to pit on lap 29. I put hard tires this time. The Rx-8 got by me and so did the Falcon they had about a 20 second lead on me. I Decided to leave my tank 3/4 full to pit faster. The lead shortly decimated to 20 seconds, which turned into 18, which turned into 10. Here i was only 2 seconds behind second place. By lap 34 I was drafting for 2nd place. on the straight away i took him and once again i was 8 seconds behind fighting for first place. I hit the gas. I thought to myself. "This is what changes the good from the bad, these clutch moments are what changes people. Now am i gonna be a wannabe or gonnabe?" I step on it. I hit every apex. I push my cars to the limits. By lap 38 I was only 4 seconds behind. My tires were just orange. I continue to make good time. I try my hardest to get through the track. I rarely make a mistake and if i do they're little ones. I decide i'm going to be a gonnabe and step hard. On the straight away i hit my fastest speed. By lap 42 i'm half a second behind. My tires are almost red. And start to think: I'm going to have to pit soon. But so is the Falcon and so is the Supra. I just had to find out when. Because if i guess wrong and I pit after them then ill have the lead but ill loose it eventually and if i do it too late then ill be really behind. So in 2 laps by lap 44 i had to pit. But fortunately i see the Falcon pull in too. Then i see that the Supra Starts to pull in behind me. I get so happy. So we have a fresh start. I keep my tank full since we all are pitting. The Falcon gets ahead but only by 3 seconds. I take all the apexes on everything. All three are about the same by lap 48. On lap 50 we're still the same. My tires are a good turquoise colors. I take the inside of the Falcon on the 180 degree sweeper. I get a good 1 second in front. By lap 53 i had yellow-green tires. And i Had 1/4 left of gas. I know i can make it. I start to get to careless and i start not braking as much... Then as soon as i realize it the Falcon passes me up on lap 55. I step on the gas and pass him up on the straight away on lap 56. From there it's pretty straight forward, until the last lap. I feel something different as soon as i head into the first turn of the last lap. I start to get excited my body tenses up, i can feel my heartbeat. By the 180 degree sweeper I feel as if i had accomplished something great. I think about it and i was about to win my first endurance race. As i passed the checkered flag I feel enlightened. I feel so happy. It feels as if the whole world is watching me.The standing
1. Me in my Rx-7
2. The hard fighting Ford Falcon
3. The furious Toyota Supra
4. The Nissan Skyline
5. The Nsx
6. The Rx-8
The Winners Circle
As i climb out of the window of my car in the winners circle i see the fans Watching me. I see the cameras watching me, then They take up to the winners podium. I stand up on the highest step , They hand me the trophy, I raise it in the air and i feel as if a big weight was lifted off my shoulders.
well there it is. I hope you liked it.. i would like comments too. thanx for sticking around
