Day 172 (20 SEP, YEAR 1): Professional Events / Tuning Car Grand Prix / Race 1

Next for the Clio is the Tuning Car Grand Prix. The Clio can sweep 200 pointers in this event, and I don't need to spend that much more to get that result. The keys (as with ALL cars) are the R3 tires, which won't increase the Clio's straight line speed, but they allow for much better speed through/out of turns and more effective braking/launching.

So, I headed back to the Tune Shop for a Racing Exhaust/Filter ($4800), a Stage 1 NA Tune ($4900), a Racing Chip ($1500), and an oil change ($50, at GT Auto). This all cost $11250, and brought my SettingsHP to 322hp (the HP value displayed on the Settings screen).

The Opera Performance S2000 is a competitor for this event, and I found it to be nearly unbeatable at Tokyo R246 and El Capitan. I loaded up lineup #5 (NTSC/USA), which allowed for 200 point offers without adding ballast.

And regarding ballast, the replay for the first race shows that I forget to take the ballast down to 0. This keeps my ballast at 127 for the first 3 races, and it's not until Race 4 @ El Capitan that I realize what I've done. It took me around 4 failed attempts before I re-entered the settings screen to check what was different.
...

Participated in Tuning Car Grand Prix Battle 1 (Apricot Hill Raceway). Champion.
Time: 1'27.934

Professional Events: Tuning Car Grand Prix: Apricot Hill Raceway Reverse: 3 Laps
Settings: R3/R3, Racing Muffler, Racing Chip, Stage 1 NA Tune, Oil Change (322 SettingsHP), Nitrous @ 20; Aids 000; 127 Ballast @ 0
A-spec points: 200
Prize: $10000

F	S	Car Name	Time (Gap)	Best
1	1	Clio Renault Sport V6 Phase 2 '03	4'31.571	1'27.934
2	4	HPA Motorsports Stage II R32 '04	+0'00.369
3	3	Mazda BP FALKEN RX-7 (D1GP) '03	+0'01.107
4	5	Spoon S2000 '00	+0'04.557
5	6	RUF RGT '00	+0'06.248
6	2	RUF CTR2 '96	+0'08.611

Please refer to these track maps when looking up Turn numbers/names ** Special thanks to AMG @ GTPlanet.net for the hard work put in to generate them!!! **

I qualified P1 with a 1'29.159, with the CTR2 right on my tail. As with most Practice sessions, the opponents seldom run their quickest laps by the time I complete my first hot lap. However, given enough time, they may post a better result. For that reason, I'll often exit the Practice session immediately after crossing the finish line for my hot lap.

I get a pretty good launch for the start, but the power of the competitors shows through as the CTR2 comes up fast on my right. I try to veer into its path, but I'm too late and it passes me. What's worse is that this puts me in a bad place to block the HPA, who passes me on the left. I'm in third place and we haven't even driven for 10 seconds!!!

But I use the HPA as my brake as we head into the first right hander, which starts to send him wide to the left. I pass him on the inside, and pass the CTR2 on the inside for the entry to the chicane.

You'll notice two things as we all exit the first hairpin: that my tires are better than their tires, and that their straight-line speed is much better than mine. At T2, I'm still only a fraction of a second up, and I've already used 3 bars of Nitrous! I get really sloppy from there, cutting through the grass between Turns J and K, and the CTR2 passes me on the inside of Turn L.

I stay close enough to follow in its draft, and I'm down 0'00.643 at the end of Lap 1. I come into Turn A way too hot which breaks traction, and I have to block the HPA to stay in 2nd. I'm down 0'00.833 at T1 of Lap 2, and then I nearly spinout as I try to get the correct angle for the hairpin. I recover, somehow, and chop an angle for the exit that cuts just in front of the HPA. I secured 2nd place, but the gap to the CTR2 is now growing...

So coming through Turn H, I see the CTR2 go wide to the left. I'm now more than 2 seconds behind when crossing T2, and Mr Offroad (not me, the other one) decides to take another excursion into the junk for his exit at Turn K. It's now all over the place, zigzagging from one sandtrap to the other, and I pass it for good just before crossing T3, 0'00.765 in front of the HPA.
To begin Lap 3, I have 3 bars of Nitrous left. I still can't get the entry correct for Turn A, but I manage to hold the lead from there without much trouble. My lead at checkpoints never got higher than 1 second, but then again, I forgot to take the ballast down to 0. I finish the race with no bars of Nitrous, but I think there was still a spurt or two remaining...

I ended the practice session with 85 miles, and ended the race with 92 miles on the odometer.

Here's a video of my run:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8914214178797815451

Thanks for reading. Thanks for watching. And Have A Great Drive!
RoadHazard
http://www.mygt4diary.com/