SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Feature: The SimHQ 2.4 Hours of Le Mans

Having been mashed in the rear by the AI at the start line, I managed to recover and got back in the race. I had given serious consideration to a re-start, and then thought better of it. It was after all, a long race, and we had just begun. Then, to my absolute amazement, I got clobbered by the AI again, right at the beginning of Mulsanne! Two side-swipes; one after the other! The first was totally unprovoked and absolutely intentional. The impact was so hard it lifted my car up off the track. I got launched off the left side of the track, recovered and immediately got hit again. I gave serious consideration to having a war with that guy there and then, but thought better of it and, giving my superior car a kick in slats, left him behind. I looked in the mirror at the fading AI car and yelled "Bastage!!" – "20mm"

Too close.

While "Chunx", Jens, and Dave were completing relatively error free laps, the rest of us were still feeling our way around the track, bitten by the competitive drive that lures you into making mistakes. I found the mistake I would frequently make was driving my car relative to an opponent instead of driving in relative to the track. After countless laps I knew where and when I needed to start braking in order to make a turn, but that point might be different for my car based on my skill level, brake pressure, tire condition, top speed, etc. If a competitor was in front of me I would often find myself following them into turns under the conditions that THEY were happy with, which wouldn’t necessarily be the conditions that my car (or the driver) could deal with. Time and time again I’d race into a corner behind or in front of another driver and find myself out of control because I was racing their race instead of my own. It definitely takes discipline, judgment, and skill to effectively make it around the race track while being competitive; all traits that are lacking in a rookie like me.

Small mistakes along the way meant that after making good some of the time I’d lost in the initial spin, I’d lose some more time by making another small mistake, and then another. I had difficulty in reading the LCD display due to the tiny read-outs not good for my ageing eyes, and besides, when I had the time to look at the display during one of the long straights the speed was so high that everything in the cockpit was vibrating — so much so that it was really hard to see what the figures were trying to tell me. All that was left to do was to keep racing my own race, minimize mistakes and hope that "Chunx" would lose some time to me by making some mistakes of his own! – Jens

What can I say about "Chunx" and Jens and Dave? Absolutely solid racers with great skills and manners to match. Fierce competitors, and yet, when I screw up and get in their way, they always say "No problem!" I have always subscribed to the theory that the way to get better at something is watch closely how people who are better than you do it. I watch these guys closely. I got passed many times by "Chunx", almost always at a point where it was no problem just to get out of the way. Jens and I had some fun splitting a pass around an AI driver. It almost felt like Top Gun, the part where they go, "You take him down the left, I'll take him on the right", or something like that. I didn't see Dave nearly as much on the track (except for the start!) but I know he's a darn good driver and very smooth. – "20mm"

"guod" leads the second gaggle of cars through the very sharp Arnage Corner where "20mm" brakes a bit late and hits the wall in front of me; a move I would duplicate several times throughout the race.

Still on Lap 1, I found myself in the straightaway just before Indianapolis corner gaining on "guod". As we turned the corner, I took an inside move and made the pass. Good pass! I thought to myself, followed almost immediately by a look of horror and a thought of "Oh NO!" as I failed to brake in time for Arnage and plowed head-on into a wall. I watched "guod" and Beach take the corner in my mirror as I shifted into neutral, then reverse, and got back onto the track. I think at that point I had said something out loud, maybe several things, as I heard "Chunx" say, "Relax, it's 2.4 hours!" To which I responded, "I know, that's the problem!" We had a good laugh about that, and somehow the humor helped me get over my anger at having screwed up immediately after doing something right. – "20mm"

Busy corner.

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