As I like the
Castelet circuit much, when I first saw the weather forecast for the race I was a bit disappointed; something of the likes: “
Such a nice track wasted with water all over it”.
After a few practices sessions to select the car I noticed that a few of them were quite fun & demanding to drive in these conditions, on top of that the constantly
fast changing track conditions were a very nice and welcome new challenge for a medium distance race.
So I went to the event with a good idea of what likely would come (
I “fully” read the 2nd post and prepared accordingly by practicing a bit in the Tobias server in the 1st & 2nd practice sessions) and knowing this event would be a very good one and a fine
different challenge.
The
PorscheI’ve to admit it, I liked them a lot in GTR2 (many Km in them), and I like them in the mod…
I like the predictability of its “rebel” behavior. RWD, big engine in the back, the rear gives away first, when it does, it takes some fun to keep it under control if not it will bite the light front, spin and send that engine into a wall. A very refreshing behavior when compared with most heavy understeer cars that populate Evo.
With the Porsche (or any other car) it was all a question of balance as the rain implied soft suspension settings (early grip). What was different in it was that softer (and higher) suspension settings implied dangerously hitting the tarmac with the rear (heavy engine in the rear, different from most cars) in the fast S implying a possible high speed spin even with max wing. So in this event I could do the fast S in certain wet conditions flat out, but not most of the times...
I would gladly take the full version (non modified mod) race it among the GTP. I would have no chance of top spots, but I assure you I wouldn’t do a bad show either :wink:
The
Event
Qualifying - Like many of you, didn’t do any prepared qualifying setup, just removed the fuel, wing, lowered it a bit and went for a quick lap immediately after
Tobias (
if the administrator exits early for its quick lap, you better do the same ). Did a
58 wish is ok when compared with
00 the race pace was capable of in the ideal wet situations.
Race - I knew in race I couldn’t reach above 8000 rpm if I wanted to finish the race with a healthy engine, so the 8350 rpm of the lowest rpm limiter setting were only to be reached in sporadic situations. The meaning of the above is that I knew the quicker C6 would have a race pace about .5 of a second quicker per lap if they “wanted” and importantly would be faster in the big straight. So it wasn’t to my surprise that after a typical “heavy“ (fuel) Porsche error (overshot the S entry) in the 2nd S (slow ones) I found myself in a "sea" of C6, 2 or 3 in front and 2 or 3 in the back… I guess me and Tobias really gave a lot of publicity to the car faculties regarding endurance racing in the forum in the last months. But that is thinking too much of it, I guess people just experienced with it and found out by themselves that the C6 & C6R are very honest machines and excel in long distance races.
Followed
Andreas (
1st) &
Tobias (
2nd) early on, always keeping an eye on my early "shadow"
(
Stefan) and in the fast arriving
Xavier.
After Tobias troubles, near the end of the 1st stint the track was too dry for my setup, so was just happy by following at some distance the fight for first between Andreas & Xavier (both C6) and was “secure” from behind as my “shadow” had some trouble exiting a turn (as he already explained in his post).
Andreas was really in difficulty, spinning those wet tyres too much (I bet above 120º) so the rear was all-over the place and with it he was slowing Xavier wish made me catch them. We both overtook him at same time and after that my race was kind "tied" with his until the finish.
The first stop came (2 stop race), with it my biggest and funniest "mistake" of the race. On the first stop I had one of those, let’s call it… “Nature call”, I guess I drunk too much water before the event :eek: So I really had to go… when I got back not surprisingly the Porsche was waiting calm and soundless. The result is that my under 5 seconds difference to Xavier jumped to about 15 seconds after his pit-stop. This distance would sometimes diminish a little or grow a little, but essentially would go until race finish. I knew if I pushed the Porsche to the limiter I would have a pace similar to Xavier, but not only that would be more risky but also similar isn’t sufficient for bridging a 10 to 20 secs deficit down.
So the 2nd stint in the end was all about securing 2nd (with the other s problems, it was more than a minute away) and keep Xavier in a distance of being able to profit of a "possible" mistake from him.
Did a quick final stop, did a few quick laps to test Xavier’s pace for the 3rd and final stint, he lost 2 or 3 seconds, not more, “gave in” and circulated in pace (so I don’t lose concentration) but not risking it until the end.
Came 2nd with the proud achievement of only “losing” the rear of the
Porsche once when exiting the pits in the first fast S (
X in the track, 90º), even that only meant a 2 second and no "proud" lost as no one was around to see me “looking” for the rear
Congratulations to
Xavier (WellC to the club btw), he did a quick & “brain” race and was a more than a fair winner (
starting to the back of the grid also).
Congratulations to everyone who finished the event as alone this as always (
in this conditions more) was an achievement in itself.
For those who DNF due to that bad luck, misfortunes, at least you had the courage to attempt this very interesting event (
my first in this aspect, requiring fast adaptation to W, H, W, AP, W, H, W, AP, W situations), in all a very demanding & refreshing situation, cheers.
Regarding my race, had no troubles giving laps or whatever, everyone did and excellent job balancing speed (self interest) and overall simulation security, thanks:smile:
A final word to
Thomas & his
Sun Red as it’s a car I practice a little for this event. I was unsure about taking the
Porsche or the
SRed, as both love to spin and were fun to do turn after the big straight in the rain in slight power slide. The
SRed was really a handful, in this conditions, but I guess, all others were a bit too.:wink:
Obviously,
Tobias, as usual, impressive "work" organizing this one, thanks :smile: