On my test gamesave, I went up against the first lineup with a Turbo 4 upgrade and was only awarded 80 A-spec points for it. I completed 417 laps, with a best of 3'17.340 when starting with 926 SettingsHP.
Cutting through the chicanes at Dunlop and Ford, I was able to easily handle lineup #1, which included the R92CP... even after spinning out here and there. So in the hopes of scoring more points, I tested the PITWORK Z again, but this time with a Turbo 3 kit, and found that I could beat Lineup #3 when running laps around 3'29 to 3'30.
With R1 Tires, the Turbo 3 kit, an Oil Change, 138 Ballast, and the downforce maxed out, I found a 200 point offer against this lineup. After a successful test against this field, whose toughest competitor was the R89C, I went for it.
I bought R1 Tires, the Stage 3 Turbo kit, a bottle of Nitrous, and got an Oil Change.
...
Participated in Circuit de la Sarthe 24h I (Circuit de la Sarthe I). Champion.
Time: 3'27.025
Endurance Events: Circuit de la Sarthe 24h I: Circuit de la Sarthe I: 24 Hours
Settings: R1/R1; Turbo 3, Oil Change (757 SettingsHP); Nitrous @ 10; RideHt 50/50; Auto Gearing 17; Aids 004; Downforce 50/70; 138 Ballast @ 0
My Pits (49): End of every 8th lap
A-spec points: 200
Prize: $1200000
| F | S | Car Name | Time (Gap) | Best |
| 1 | 6 | Nissan MOTUL PITWORK Z (JGTC) '04 | 400 Laps (24:00'32.048) | 3'27.025 |
| 2 | 3 | Nissan R89C Race Car '89 | 400 Laps (+1'10.000(?)) | |
| 3 | 4 | BMW V12 LMR Race Car '99 | 395 Laps(?) | |
| 4 | 1 | Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '99 | 394 Laps(?) | |
| 5 | 5 | Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 | 393 Laps | |
| 6 | 2 | Nissan R390 GT1 Race Car '98 | 383 Laps(?) |
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 didn't keep a tally of each time I would lap the competitors. I was hoping to hit the 24 hour mark just after starting the final lap, but in the hopes of conserving fuel, I ran my last stint quite slowly relative to the other ones. This would've allowed the competitors to complete their final laps, but as it was, only the Bentley completed its final lap by the time the race ended. The R89C, who was running in P2, was behind by about 1'15 on the lead lap at the last split, so I estimate that it would've finished about 1'10 behind. The lap counts for the BMW, Toyota, Bentley, and R390 are estimates based on reports by others at GTPlanet.net.
There were numerous spinouts, and I'm sure that if I would've run this race "perfectly", I would've been able to lap the R89C at least once. I spun while entering the pits 3 times, and having to watch the AI correct itself in the sand is an agonizing process, losing a heap of time while doing so. My usual lap times were around 3'29 to 3'31, 3'35 for the in-laps, and 4'07 for the out-laps. This, of course, includes cutting through the Dunlop and Ford chicanes for EACH LAP, and cutting through the sand while entering the pit lane.
I would pit after every 8th lap for fuel, as the tires are still yellow at that point. There would usually be around 7 units of fuel remaining, and except for my pitstops after Laps 112 and 384, I would fill the tank completely. Towards the end of the race, while the car is losing power, fuel consumption improves slightly, and a couple of times there were 9 units of fuel remaining... enough to run another lap. I decided to stick to the 8 lap strategy, regardless.
The closest competitor, the R89C, would pit every 7th lap for a good part of the race. Sometimes it would run 8 laps, and towards the end of the race, it did so more regularly. This worried me, since it would usually manage to take a few seconds from the gap as my car started to wear down. I would still be able to run sub-3'30 laps, but they were becoming more difficult to accomplish as the chassis would also behave in an increasingly unstable manner.
I manage to take the lead at the end of the first lap after cutting through the Ford chicanes. The GT-ONE holds up the R89C for a little while, but it takes me some time to find the best angles for the chicane cuts. There were several times early in the race where the wrong angle would lead to a spinout, and it's not until later that I also get the correct gear selection when travelling through the sand. Eventually, I calm down and work my way ahead of the pack.
On Lap 112, I enter the pit lane with too much speed and a bad angle, and when the AI takes over it spins out. The gap at that time is around 40 seconds, and I exit the pits just as the R89C crosses the line. I manage to block it heading into the first turn, but it passes and breaks away as we head down Hunaudiers. I have around 5 bars of Nitrous at that point, and blow it all trying to keep up with it. Unfortunately, I can't, and I find myself down by about 3 seconds at T1 of Lap 113. Fortunately, it pits on Lap 114, and I manage to retake the lead for good from there.
I also spun in the pits on Laps 192 and 232, but my leads at those times were large enough that I didn't have to worry. Other than that, there were plenty of other off-road incidents and spinouts, but the race was completed without much trouble.
I ended the race with 3384.5 miles on the odometer, and 707 SettingsHP (with the Turbo 3). The Oil Light hasn't come on yet...
Here's a video of my run:
(Laps 1-16)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7024459355282807682
(Laps 192-200)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8240082233132441866
(Laps 312-320)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=37912703909792534
(Laps 386-400)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8116396586962703270
Thanks for reading. Thanks for watching. And Have A Great Drive!
RoadHazard
http://www.mygt4diary.com/
