At this point, the Racing Chip wasn't necessary. I only used it during the practice session for Nurburgring, and I increased the Ballast to 135 when I did. I knew I'd still need the chip for the Red Emblem races, so it's not quite a waste of money. I just didn't need it yet.
For these races, I didn't keep track of how many times I lapped the competition. It's safe to say that the only real competitor is the GTA, as the others either make too many stops or run too slowly for them to stay near the front. Because of this, I can't provide the final gaps at the time of the race's end, and I'd have to estimate how they finished based on the partial replays that were saved.
I raced against the first lineup that appeared (NTSC/USA), as there were many who reported victories against them. This lineup includes the Fiat 500F, and perhaps finding a lineup without it would allow for the use of less ballast and/or more power. I didn't care to fish for such, even though it may've allowed for a more pleasant experience...
For more detailed data of how the competition runs, please check this link:
http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=82586
Special thanks to Digital-Nitrate @ GTPlanet.net for the hard work put in to compile this data! It was crucial to my success.
...
Participated in 1000 miles! Battle 1 (Nurburgring Nordschleife). Champion.
Time: 9'41.799
European Events: 1000 miles!: Nurburgring Nordschleife: 25 Laps
Settings: N1/N2; (94 SettingsHP); Nitrous @ 50; 133/133 Rd Ht, 6/6 Shocks, 1.0/0.5 Camber; Auto 5; Triple-plate Clutch; Racing Flywheel; Carbon Driveshaft; Aids 000; 32 Ballast @ 0
My Pits (2): End of Lap 8 (N2/N2, No Fuel); End of Lap 16 (N2/N2, Fuel to 40)
A-spec points: 200
Prize: $150000
| F | S | Car Name | Time (Gap) | Best |
| 1 | 1 | Nissan SKYLINE Sport Coupe (BLRA-3) '62 | 4:05'32.951 | 9'41.799 |
| 2 | 3 | Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA 1600 '65 | +0'30.000 | |
| 3 | 2 | Mini Marcos GT '70 | ? | |
| 4 | 5 | VW Karmann Ghia Coupe (Type-1) '68 | ? | |
| 5 | 4 | Honda S800 '66 | ? | |
| 6 | 6 | Fiat 500F '65 | ? |
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!!! **
For the Practice session, I used S2/S2 tires, added the chip, and upped the Ballast to 135 @ 0. I qualified P1 with a 9'43.397, about 5.5 seconds faster than P2, without using Nitrous. For the race, I equipped the N1/N2 tires, took off the chip, and reset the Ballast to 32 @ 0. Many people have won this event starting on N1/N3 tires, but my driving style is too harsh on the rears for that to work.
While my qualifying run was clean, I employed many Dirty Driving tactics. In addition to blocking A LOT from Bergwerk to Klostertal and between T10/T11, I crash-turned Hatzenbach, Lawnmowed Hocheichen and Adenaur-Forst, crash-turned Karussel, and lawnmowed Hohenrain... for each and every lap. As a reminder, when 200 points are on the line, ANYTHING GOES!
The critical times for this race were Laps 7 and 8, the laps between the Mini and my first pitstops. For these two laps, it's critical to keep a healthy gap to the Mini to ensure that I can exit the pits ahead of it to allow for continued blocking. Letting it get away would likely mean defeat, as it can run much faster than the BLRA uninhibited. After fitting the N2s, the lap times improved and the Mini started to fall back considerably. By the end of Lap 12, it's just me and the GTA.
But for those two laps, I used some juice for the uphill section out of Bergwerk and Galgenkopf, as these are the sections where the competition runs MUCH faster than the BLRA. Staying in front of the GTA is key as well, and running the same pit schedule as it (other than after Lap 24) helps ensure that I can stay in front. Whenever one or more of these competitors slips by, it's critical to retake the lead and slow them down. Not doing so would likely result in defeat.
The S800 is also somewhat of a menace. However, it falls from the lead pack early enough for it to be a non-issue.
As I come to the line for the Final Lap, I try to cross backwards. The Parking Brake is too weak to lock up the rears, and instead of spinning, I crash head-on into the right side wall. I would've posted a 9'36.000 or so, emptying the bottle on the Final Lap, but my idiotic self limped across the line much worse than it should've been. The GTA had just crossed T11, still on the lead lap, with a gap of around 30 seconds...
I ended the practice session with just under 26 miles, and finished the race with 348 miles on the odometer.
Here's a video of my run:
(Practice)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5853096463123763463
(Laps 1-3)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2197348163349083367
(Laps 23-25)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3651858665097185769
Thanks for reading. Thanks for watching. And Have A Great Drive!
RoadHazard
http://www.mygt4diary.com/
