It’s about damn time I got through these last four endurance races left for me on the Power Pack DLC. With two days off Thursday and Friday, it was the perfect time to start knocking them out.
We start with the shortest of the four races on offer in the Power Pack: the six-hour Gran Turismo 500 race at Suzuka. This race pits you against machinery that you would have seen on a JGTC grid throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. From the domestic icons like the Supra and Skyline GT500 to the foreign challengers like the McLaren F1 GTR and Viper GTS-R (well, a race-modded Viper GTS in GT7’s case). Nostalgic fans of both Gran Turismo and the JGTC are well-catered to here.
First things first, I had to pick my weapon of choice. Knowing myself, I had to pick something period and series correct. I also had to pick something that would be able to survive long stints at a time. So, the road cars that have RMs (Viper, Porsche, F40, etc) were out of the question. They are fun in the main Gran Turismo 500 race events, but their poor fuel economy compared to the purpose-built stuff will not give you an strategical advantage if you want to stay within the real-world regulations. You will be pitting for fuel more often than the Supras, Skylines, and the like.
So, my choice was obvious: a proper race car. I decided to not use any of the three Japanese GT500 heroes like the majority of players would and instead opted for something British: the original McLaren F1 GTR that won the GT500 title in 1996 with Team Lark (livery credit to Van-Ellen). You can use anything you wish, barring you don’t finagle your way around the regulations. This was what I wanted to use.
I made sure to limit the car to 500 horsepower exactly in order to keep it in line with the real-world regulations at the time. I also made sure to have all the necessary tire compounds for the race: all three slicks, intermediates, and wets. Suzuka has dynamic weather conditions and a downpour may rear its ugly head at some point in your race. Nailing that pit stop for the correct tire is crucial.
It was time to finally enter the event. I did skip free practice, but I did qualify for the race, of course using the softs. I set a time of 1:58.902, forcing myself to do a one-shot quali. I would qualify third for the race behind both Drumont and De Bruin’s Supras. I had my work cut out then…or so I thought.
For the race, I started on mediums with fuel map 2. At the start, not only did the Supras get a flying start, but Lopez’ McLaren also passed by to drop me to fourth. By lap 3, I overtook all of them and took the lead anyway. It didn’t take long for my first incident: on lap 5, I went into the first corner too hot and got sucked off by the astroturf and spun. Thankfully, the gap was 10+ seconds at that point because the AI sucked, so I didn’t lose the lead. I built a massive gap from there, staying on FM2 with some lifting and coasting to make the stint last.
On lap 25, I made my first stop for fresh mediums and a full tank of fuel. Rinse and repeat on lap 51, 76, 102, 128, and 154. However, on lap 171, I would deviate from the normal strategy and pit for softs to try and snag the fastest lap of the race at the end. Sure enough: it was a 1:57.991. After 175 laps, 1,016 kilometers (or 631 miles), and constant aggravation from the backmarkers that are oblivious to the concepts of “leaving a space” and “blue flags”, I dominated the race with a six-lap margin to second. That was both absolute pain and absolute fun at the same time.
Off to Spa in GT1 cars next.
