GT7 - Super Formula challenge

 Holy moly these freaking cars are something else to drive. Forget all your old brake points, drive lines change and acceleration and handling are next level. I have had many accidents, spins, crashes and just generally crap driving in the SF19 Super Formula / Toyota '19 it's been wild.

One does have to complete this series though, so I have put myself to the task. At Watkins Glen, racing on medium racing tyres and with the AI set to normal (not easy) I've finally managed to chalk up not only my first podium, but my first win as well! Yes indeed - with a 17:49.888 for the 12 lap race and the nearest rival at +18.749 I am pretty damn happy about that. It was by no means the first attempt, or the within the first 5 and my previous best was 6th place so I'm quite pleased.

Brake late, and brake hard, carry a heap of speed through the corners - easy acceleration and then pounce on it - flog it all the way through to the next braking zone and back the car to handle itself with maximum throttle and inputs. Woohoo! Great fun.

Now on to the remainder of this series - pedal to the metal and all that. Happy racing!

GT7 Race Log - Weekly Challenges

 Ah the weekly challenges - lots of fun and great for topping up the credit balance! This week's had a single vehicle type race - the Tesla Model 3 Performance on the GT circuit at Nurburg, then Kei car racing and finally the 800 PP racecars at Watkins Glen in a 10 lap, tyre wearing, fuel burning race for the cash.

I took the ever reliable and wonderful Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 '16 around Watkins Glen. There's a tune on Reddit to get it down to 799PP and this car is just so enjoyable to drive. The performance and long range are nice, but the handling, braking and speed are altogether excellent. By the 4th lap I was in front and dialled the fuel economy all the way down to 6, cruising home with a 40sec plus win and no pits. 

The Porsche Cup challenge race I took the Cayman GT4 Clubsport '16 for a spin and it's another really enjoyable car to drive. Not quite tearing the doors off performance, but very nice and in for an easy win in that race. I really like the handling and braking of this vehicle and I'll be doing more with it in the future.

Another element of the weekly challenge - the American Sunday Cup 600 at Michelin Raceway was fun too. I too the Corvette C7 Gr.3 Road Car out for it's maiden drive and I was pleasantly surprised. I do enjoy the growl of the big American engines and it's a good car to drive once you lock in the handling. Won handily and enjoyed the race to boot.

Next up I need to grind a bit - nearly finished all the Cafe extras but still have a few white whales to catch out there. Enjoy your racing!

GT7 - many races and lots of fun!

 Ah it's been a fruitful and fun few days. After slogging through racing the Red Bull cars, I needed extra cash to get the Super Formula car and get into that last Cafe ticket. On the way though, I've had a bit of fun with three cars in particular - the Porsche Cayman, the R34 Nissan and the BMW M3 - engine swapping all three. Holy moly that Cayman is a beast with 1199HP - it's drivable, but one needs to add a bunch a extra bits to make this weapon stop! So much fun.... thought I'd try it at Sardegna in the 15 lap race, but the fuel economy is terrible. 2 laps and it wants to refill - that's probably a bit crappy for that race :-)

The R34 Nissan and the BMW are heaps of fun to drive. Took them around the Le Mans 24 hour circuit in the 30 minute 700PP race. The R34 monstered everyone else - especially on RM tyres. I was also lucky enough to get a race on this track with only threatening rain. Stopped once for fuel and powered onwards. Loved it. The race in the BMW 03 was a different story. Same track, same race and it pissed down - swapped to IM tyres after the second lap and probably should have gone to heavy wets - it was really wet! It was probably the 6th lap before I managed to get under 5 minutes - and no-one else was quicker. Crazy wet. Love this car too - make sure you stick front, side and rear spoilers on it - otherwise it floats along a bit and doesn't bite into the corners very well with plenty of power understeer (eww!). Turn the fuel management down on both cars to get plenty of laps in, although this race usually has rain in the second or third laptop so change tyres and top up then. The race in the R34 was notable that there was no rain, so I smashed around the track in great time! Expect 7 laps on this race. Usually I take the Aston Martin Group 3 car with a little bit of detuning on this race. It's $550K to win and an interesting race to run. 

The final race I took on was the 15 lapper at Sardegna in the Porsche 917 "Living Legend". Had to slightly back the ECU off to get under the 800PP (back to 97 or 98%) and then off we went. Set the fuel management to 6 (so leanest possible), turned up the traction control a bit, and then short shifted a bunch - getting 8 laps out of this thing and doing the race on a single fuel stop. Didn't love this car all that much to drive, it was flighty in corners and the nose lifted up a bit here and there under too much power making it hard to really rip through corners. Ordinarily I take a tuned down Nissan GT500 (I think) on this track - the Group 2 one if you're looking. There's a great method to tune it down online somewhere - I'll have to dig it up and link to it. It's a ripper anyway. This is also the car I like to drive in the 60 minute race at Spa.

You can't do engine swaps until Level 50, but once you can it's a lot of fun. I'm aiming to do a few more cars over time. Enjoy! 

GT7: Neo-Classic Competition - Fuji International Speedway

 So I've saved up and got myself the Mercedes CLK-LM, a car I had as a model when I was a boy, although it may have been the CLK-GTR but very close. I've been working through the Neo-Classic competition. It took two tries at the Redbull Ring to get that one over the line - I totally blew the tyre choice as it looked like it was going to rain and then didn't - I had already pitted and came out on IM tyres which buggered me for the rest of the race. Attempt two and I pitted about lap 7 and then just drove the big ole' Merc home.

Here at Fuji Speedway, finishing lap 9 with a very quick XJR-9 in front of me and I thought I was stuffed for first place, but still, happy to finish second. I've got the difficulty turned up a bit and so I reckon any placing is pretty good. Bizarrely though, on that last lap, old mate in the XJR-9 decides to pit with one lap to go, so I sail through into P1 and hold it to the end? I had a bit of extra fuel, he had 14 and was on M race tyres so I don't know what happened there. I had thought I was stuffed - the previous lap I ripped straight up the Supra's backside at 300km/h because I wasn't paying attention and dropped from P1 to P2 with 2 laps left.

I'll take - I'm not saying I won't, but it was a weird way to get the win....

GT7: Le Mans 24 hour track - 30 min race

 I've managed to crack this one with the Aston Martin DB10 Gr3 race car with 95% of power. It's great - the car has long legs so I can comfortably punch out two or three laps. Usually rains around lap 2, or halfway through lap 3 so it's on to Intermediates - not Wets.

Have tried with other cars - no success. The AM is the winner for me on this track. 550,000 credits for a win, but let's try to play nice and get the Clean Race Bonus.

Working on the 800 series - need to pick the right car and bed it in for this. Still struggling a little getting the right vehicle, but it won't be long before I crack it. 

GT7 Race Log - Daytona Gr.1 Prototype Series

 This race continues to elude me from a success perspective. Still racing the Toyota (and it's a beast) and getting solid lap times - but not near the fastest cars. I think I need a fully managed transmission - I'm not hitting the top of 6th gear on the straights, and struggling to get over 300km/h because the gearing is wrong. I'm hitting corner apexes pretty well and the Toyota has the most remarkable braking - I'm picking up places under brakes a lot, it's acceleration while it has battery charge is great - but I'm topping out in 5th around 290km/h - and I still have a gear to go. So, still getting into the top 10, usually about 5th but can't crack the top three. Nailed Suzuka Circuit though - still pretty happy about that (especially during appalling weather). Nothing like that at Daytona though - just car setup needs work.

Hoping to get back to it today and also knock over the weekly challenges. 

GT7 Race Log - Suzuka Circuit Gr.1 Prototype Series

 This one is taking a bit more effort - especially with some dodgy weather during the racing. The TS050 is a great car:

Image from: https://toyotagazooracing.com/wec/cars/2017/

I made a 20th (wow was that a crappy race), then a 17th and then a 12th. My final attempt of last night I scored a 6th and set the fastest lap time, but made a few mistakes early that left me too far from the top 3 to strike. Every run through gets better, and these machines are amazing to drive. I'll have another crack in the next day or so, and see if we can continue improving.

In the meantime, I've been watching the recent Manufacturer's Cup and the Nation's Cup on the Gran Turismo YouTube channel. Some amazing racing. Really felt for the Lambo team in the Manufacturer's Cup getting tagged and dropping back in the field. Those guys were smashing it. Enjoy your racing!