This was fantastic! 
This is the first time I've raced here, I finished in P5 (I was the black and teal Ferrari), I'm more than happy with that. The length of the race is phenomenal, I really like this endurance racing. I joined teamspeak 5 minutes before qualifying, but didn't have a microphone at hand, I'll try and get one next time. You guys chatting was another new element for me, really exciting at times. I especially appreciated an aussie accent that sounded just like Mark Webber (for an untrained ear I suppose), I think it was David.
I tried all the cars and felt most comfortable and quickest in the Ferrari, but I didn't develop the setup other than lowering the ride height and setting engine and braking to: 9000 revs (max), high radiator, 55kgf for braking and 20% closed. I have no idea which numbers would be borderline for reliability, I hope to test that for next time.
Qualified P8, I was really careful at the start, and the others were too, which was great to see. In the beginning I was hanging on to the leading pack, with a red BMW (Matt I think) chasing me, and passing me once or twice. With all the talk about 2-stopping and me on an easy one stop (2,1L per lap and tyres which could do at least 50 laps) I was hopeful of a good position in the end. In this phase I made minor contact with David (I think) on the climb to the back straight. David was catching me out of the last corner and got on the inside after the exit. I couldn't judge how far alongside he was, I tried to leave -some- room, maybe a car's width but didn't want to go too much off-line to not lose control and spin into him due to the camber change mid-corner. As I turned in, I think my rear left hit his right front. I wasn't sure what to do, and because I wasn't sure of the blame, I didn't slow down for him, rather I let him catch up with superior pace and let him past on a straight. I hope that was OK.
Coming from F1, the pitstops are really long! :O I went for a 40-36 strategy (with overfueling in the second stint to be on the safe side). In the second stint I was mainly alone on the track, racing with the clock. About 20 minutes from the end, I heard something like "I'm 15 seconds behind, there's 15 laps to go and I'm catching him a second per lap", and it turns out it was David catching me :O. He had the softer and newer tyres for now in the Nissan, so that was to be expected. I tried to drive my race and not overdrive too much.
Some 7 laps from the end, I made a mistake, braking too late into T6 and loosing control on the marbles and locking the wheels for a moment. Luckily no damage, but the tyres were flatspotted. I don't know yet how much that affects laptime. And immediately I heard comments, "number four made an error somewhere, a biig shunt", "you're pressuring him, you'll get past", that was funny because you guys didn't know I was listening. 3 laps later the changing shadows caught me out, I got accustomed to braking at one particular shadow into T4, but all of a sudden they were all over the track. The comments were funny too "oh another error, I caught right up to him" and "bad luck to make an error at the end of such a long race, followed by a sarcastic laugh" . After David caught up to me, within a lap or two I missed the braking completely into T4 again and he got past. I didn't feel pressured, but I didn't like making such silly mistakes. Still, I think I did great for the first time. The funniest quote was probably in the penultimate lap "yeeeah, tell you what, that Ferrari is hanging on to me, pressure my a**" . In the last few corners I was right on his gearbox, his car kicking up dust from the edge of the circuit, but I couldn't get past. A thrilling finish to a great race, thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to the winner.
Also, I hear I'm locking my tyres under braking, can someone share on advice on how to monitor that while driving? In open-wheelers it's immediately obvious from the smoke, but in the Ferrari I had no idea, other than looking at the tyre temps, but I thought they were still in the OK zone (not over 130 °C after braking)
This is the first time I've raced here, I finished in P5 (I was the black and teal Ferrari), I'm more than happy with that. The length of the race is phenomenal, I really like this endurance racing. I joined teamspeak 5 minutes before qualifying, but didn't have a microphone at hand, I'll try and get one next time. You guys chatting was another new element for me, really exciting at times. I especially appreciated an aussie accent that sounded just like Mark Webber (for an untrained ear I suppose), I think it was David.
I tried all the cars and felt most comfortable and quickest in the Ferrari, but I didn't develop the setup other than lowering the ride height and setting engine and braking to: 9000 revs (max), high radiator, 55kgf for braking and 20% closed. I have no idea which numbers would be borderline for reliability, I hope to test that for next time.
Qualified P8, I was really careful at the start, and the others were too, which was great to see. In the beginning I was hanging on to the leading pack, with a red BMW (Matt I think) chasing me, and passing me once or twice. With all the talk about 2-stopping and me on an easy one stop (2,1L per lap and tyres which could do at least 50 laps) I was hopeful of a good position in the end. In this phase I made minor contact with David (I think) on the climb to the back straight. David was catching me out of the last corner and got on the inside after the exit. I couldn't judge how far alongside he was, I tried to leave -some- room, maybe a car's width but didn't want to go too much off-line to not lose control and spin into him due to the camber change mid-corner. As I turned in, I think my rear left hit his right front. I wasn't sure what to do, and because I wasn't sure of the blame, I didn't slow down for him, rather I let him catch up with superior pace and let him past on a straight. I hope that was OK.
Coming from F1, the pitstops are really long! :O I went for a 40-36 strategy (with overfueling in the second stint to be on the safe side). In the second stint I was mainly alone on the track, racing with the clock. About 20 minutes from the end, I heard something like "I'm 15 seconds behind, there's 15 laps to go and I'm catching him a second per lap", and it turns out it was David catching me :O. He had the softer and newer tyres for now in the Nissan, so that was to be expected. I tried to drive my race and not overdrive too much.
Some 7 laps from the end, I made a mistake, braking too late into T6 and loosing control on the marbles and locking the wheels for a moment. Luckily no damage, but the tyres were flatspotted. I don't know yet how much that affects laptime. And immediately I heard comments, "number four made an error somewhere, a biig shunt", "you're pressuring him, you'll get past", that was funny because you guys didn't know I was listening
. 3 laps later the changing shadows caught me out, I got accustomed to braking at one particular shadow into T4, but all of a sudden they were all over the track. The comments were funny too "oh another error, I caught right up to him" and "bad luck to make an error at the end of such a long race, followed by a sarcastic laugh" . After David caught up to me, within a lap or two I missed the braking completely into T4 again and he got past. I didn't feel pressured, but I didn't like making such silly mistakes. Still, I think I did great for the first time. The funniest quote was probably in the penultimate lap "yeeeah, tell you what, that Ferrari is hanging on to me, pressure my a**" . In the last few corners I was right on his gearbox, his car kicking up dust from the edge of the circuit, but I couldn't get past. A thrilling finish to a great race, thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to the winner. Also, I hear I'm locking my tyres under braking, can someone share on advice on how to monitor that while driving? In open-wheelers it's immediately obvious from the smoke, but in the Ferrari I had no idea, other than looking at the tyre temps, but I thought they were still in the OK zone (not over 130 °C after braking)
