Day 3-4: The race.

Hey Guys. Had a minor practice session Friday. Wasn't worth noting and Yesterday i was racing of course, so i couldn't make a entry. here's a recap.

Qualifying: First couple of laps were bad. First 2 inlaps resulted in spins and damage. 3rd in lap and flying lap attempt resulted in a 3:40. Fastest time yet and a 2nd place starting position.

Race start/ Hour 1: Great start. Very consistent pace running avg 3:41-42. Lead P2 Cars started pulling away but accidents on the exit of Ford Chicane forced them to take very long pitstops. We move into 1st in Class.

Hour 2: Spin at Porsche curves. Very minor damage. Loss of 1 mph on straights. several laps later i make a attempt at trying to pass a overzealous Porsche GT2 car in the same area and spin. He t-Bones me and we sustain heavy damage. Car begins to top out at only 169 mph and we make 2 different pitstops. One before the accident for fuel and tires and the repair one. Fall down to 2nd in class.

Hour 3: Just leading into hour 3, coming up the front strech and into the esses before dunlop bridge, i snag the rear on the apron and lose the car. Happened at about 140mph... Front nose panel lost and heavy rear end damage. Yet another lengthy pitstop and we are now last in the  running order in our class by 2 minutes. The car handles atrociously and only maxing out at 166 mph on the straights. GT1 cars shove past us when they are a lap down and GT2 Cars challenge us on the straights. The track lighting is broken however and the race is restarted giving everyone a clean slate and will have 20 hours and 30 minutes remaining on the clock.

Hour 4:  The race is restarted. Everyone gets off perfectly. lap 3 (really lap 40ish something) ends badly for Audi and Pug. Both crash out, next lap later, Zytek crashes out. We learn from mistakes and keep the foot planted albeit conservatively and make it through the hour unscathed.


Hour 5: Heading into the Ford Chicanes, and ballsy Aston Martin GT1 bumps into us giving us minor damage. Monitoring the situation a lap and a half later, first reports of no speed loss are overruled.  Near the end of the hour, we spin under dunlop bridge and gain minor rear quarter panel damage. Despite the loss of 2 mph, i set a record time for the team. 3:39 Sitting in 3rd place and playing catch-up to 1st and 2nd.

Hour 6: After driving for about 5 total hours. I take a well need breather and give my mate 2 more stints while i eat up. 2 seconds off my pace, but holding up. We get passed for 1st and never regain it back other than by pitstops.

Hour 7: A foolish error on my part. On reds (highly worn tires) i enter the esses under dunlop too fast and pressed by 2nd in our class and spin. 2nd place passes us into 1st and i give chase only to spin yet again going into tetre rouge. Heavy rear end damage. Rear suspension bent and we have to crawl 7 miles back to the pits. My last stint for a couple of hours.

Hour 8: I monitor my mate drive and scour the rest of the field to see how they are doing. 4th and 5th place in our class are 3 laps back still after all the incidents earlier so they are not a threat. I fall asleep.


Hour 9: Asleep. possibly front end damage caused during this period

Hour 10: Asleep. possibly front end damage caused during this period.

Hour 11: I wake up and find that our driver has passed 2nd place and our sister Acura who was in 2nd is a lap down. Near the end of the hour i take the reins yet again.

Hour 12: The car handles horrifically. Grip level is near zero even with TC on. Pitstop is made and the car is back to normal. Still slow on straights getting 170 instead of 179 like lead p2's.  Nearing the end of the hour, i lose it into indy and smash into the guardrail. Heavy frontal damage. I limp back to pits and switch over to my teammate. He would drive on for the rest of the rest.

Hour 13-16: Asleep.  I wake up with 9 hours and 40 minutes remaining to see "Runtime error, program must be terminated". All the hard work and practice gone. I'm not devastated, angry, depressed (maybe a little after Peugeot not winning the real thing).

It was a great experience i think. Fun racing and i had a blast during the good times of the race. Can only attack the moment with a "We'll be back next year hopefully". So far my original 24 Hours of Le mans with Sports Car GT still stands as my only fully completed Endurance Race that was in sync with the real thing. Yes i'm saddened heavily. I DNF'd in a well prepared race not because of my car, but because of technical difficulties. With all the mishaps that have overtaken us within 15 hours alone, finishing the race alone would have been excellent no matter what position.

But i couldn't have that. Not only did i DNF, but my beloved Peugeots failed to defeat a lone Audi 3 strong at the real event this afternoon in France despite having blocking maneuvers placed on the lone Audi by the peugeots several times.  I felt like crying along with the team, but simply shuddered back into my chair and remembered that the 24 Hours of Nordsclife. May take part in it, may not. It's in the air as of right now. Would take weeks to prepare for as it's a 16 mile massive track consisting of mostly blind turns, sweeping bends and tight areas.



I took today's losses heavily, hope i get through okay.  peace.