International Gran Turismo Rally - The Grand Tour 79 [FINAL RANKING]

Prium · 2 April 2021 12:21

From my point of view, implicit soft cap rules shouldn’t act as hardcap rules just because you don’t get to acomplish enough of them, mostly because we have no way of knowing them but by asking the organizer for specific details about the ruleset.

But what’s more harming for the competition itself is the decision taken because of this. As I see it, there were other options that could be considered instead of a DQL:

Limit the amount of points that the car can get each stage.
Acknowledge the submitter about this rules and give him the chance to modify his car to fulfill at least some of the conditions (the ones that weren’t revealed to us).

I know this car doesn’t get the criteria for being a true GT car. But the submitter is playing by the rules laid down on this thread, so even though it could potentially beat all of us (after comparing his car to mine, he’d have sent me to the not-winner realm) he deserves a fair treat

karhgath · 2 April 2021 13:55

Yes, and the above was exactly the kind of discussions we were having in private. I woke up this morning with a good idea, I left yesterday saying we should sleep on it because I was not finding a good alternative yet.

The handicap option was harder to do, since I myself saw all other entrants stats, so difficult for me to put a value. So I was amenable this morning, not finding any other good solution overnight, to allow him to tweak slightly his entry and bring in tires into more realistic realms, but be excluded from the Aesthetics poll as it was already started. I thought that would have been fair.

However, when I woke up he had already exploded publicly and I told him yesterday that I would not engage with this behavior. I worked all day yesterday to have not super fun but frank discussion in private with him. I see exactly where he’s coming from, and I will write better entries in the future. Learned a lot from this.

So Mea culpa. I though it was clear it was a themed event, and that there was an amount of subjectivness by the fact even some rules like the specific tire rules talked about hard specs, and recommended specs, and the whole brief. Many people reached out to me and asked me questions or clarify. I clarified multiple time the rules. The scrutineering criterias were there to exactly allow people to have creative freedom, without being stuck in very restrictive rules. All about the spirit of the competition. Hell, this is not even a race, these kind of historic event was about enjoying driving a GT and making checkpoint on time, not even a competitive race. My goal was a fun theme and flavor/lore event. I see that was not even clear enough now, so I will spell it out clearly next time.

But yeah, I am disappointed he felt he had to act like he did above and not sleep on it and wait to reconvene today. So in the end, he did not even allow me to help him, and I have no patience for the kind of behavior above. I think we’re all adult here and really thought we could figure something out between ourselves in the confine of what is realistic to do at this point in time. I will handle these things differently in the future for sure.

Good luck Howler, sorry to see you go, I really respect your skills and rep, I loved your entry, this is a damn fine car, but way overboard for this. I really wanted to figure out a way while being fair to everyone else who also put hard work on theirs. I am really disappointed in how you decided to handle this.

I will not engage the subject anymore in public (I am more than happy to discuss offline), subject is closed now. I apologize to Howler, the whole community and all contestants for this, I do hope the rest of the event will bring more fun and adventures.

HowlerAutomotive · 2 April 2021 14:05

Our PM chain was 3800 words. You kept going on for pages about why my car was ineligible, dismissing every solution that was actually an option (including what you now claim you would have agreed to) and then dangling a vague “maybe we will find a brilliant idea, but otherwise good luck in Exhibition”.

“Acting like I did above” is nothing but a summary of our discussion, and you demonizing me for making it public underlines the bad faith.

I do agree that the topic is done and over. Apologies for making it a spectacle, everybody, but you can’t fight this kind of behaviour from those in power alone.

karhgath · 3 April 2021 07:38

Stage 1 - Highport to Oakridge

Prologue

giorgio_xsmall jacques_xsmall
by Giorgio Diola and Jacques Dupal

Highport, April 10th 1979 - 9:00 AM

Live from the starting line

JD: And we are ready for the start of the race. This is a really exciting moment now. The first stage is from Highport to Oakridge. It starts in the highlands, changes to a more coastal and scenic route still following the ocean, and finally bends inland through a mountain pass up to Oakridge. As a scenic road, it is not expected to be traffic heavy, but might slowdown around Oakridge. However, there are reports on a lot of construction site along the way, and we might have many detours through secondary gravel roads. The layout is not very technical however. No rain and comfortable temperatures are expected. It should be a pretty leisurely ride for this first leg, except for construction which is very common in West Gasmea at this time of the year.

GD: I concur, I do expect drivable and balanced cars to do well here, although with the winding coastal road, sportier car could be very enjoyable. We have 18 contestants waiting to go, with 3 exhibition entries. We have an extremely interesting range of cars. The two Archanian entries are really interesting, they have older pushrod engines, a straight 4 and a V12 respectively, so it will be interesting to see how it unfolds for them.

JD: I had a chat with Duquesne drivers after I saw them driving around Highport. They are unsure about the competition yet and just can’t wait to get on road and see how it goes. They are also pretty eager to get to Oakridge and pay tribute to all past grand tourer and enjoy the city culture and food, after a not so convincing experience in Highport. I’ve grown very fond of the design they have, I saw that many people are curious about the two tone marvel.

GD: I am worried their car is bulkier and more a comfortable boat than a car that can efficiently go through traffic on the winding coastal roads or handle more technical layouts. Still, with their 4.9L V12, they should have enough power to distance anyone in a straight line. It is interesting that most entered engines are V12 and V8, I was expecting many more straight-6. Only Pfeil went with this smooth and reliable engine layout, but for this event the V12 might serve teams better. We also have a few direct OHC engines, three to be exact, but only the one from Brooklands is aluminum made. This 4.5 litre seems to have an interesting versatility and, from the specs sheet, seems to be pretty efficient in applying its power. We’ll see how well it run not later than today

JD: Had a nice talk with Kellstone and Ryan from Brooklands and they are pretty excited to phone home and report on the performance to their HQ after today, but are feeling the biggest competition will be coming from Fruinia. Maybe not from the awfully brown Mons Deimos driven by a secretive young woman, it was just a Fruinian export, like a few car in the competition, but from the professional teams from the lovely south. Everyone seems to expect them to do well, and I would tend to agree G-man.

GD: Of course, we have a long history or car culture and we basically invented the Gran Turismo, so I also expect them to perform well. They will have a lot of pressure for sure throughout the journey. I am worried about Mara, it seems Jakub the mechanic is still MIA and many are looking for him.

JD: I am sorry to interrupt but I have received confirmation the cars are ready to go! And, it seems Mara found their mechanic and he’s getting in the car in extremis. That was a close one. Let’s get these contestants on the open road!

Stage 1 - Results

Stats Breakdown for Stage 1
70% Drivability
20% Sportiness
10% Offroad

How to read:

Each teams are ranked in order according to their total score based on the stats breakdown posted above, including Exhibition entries.
Then, we have 18 competitiors (+3 exhibitions), so in increment from 0 to 8 they are assigned points in order, excluding exhibition entries.
The breakdown penalties are then applied. For reliability, this is a random 20-100 roll done against engine and then car reliability. Yes, we will see a lot of breakdowns for this event. Penalty is -1 for each reliability roll. Then, not applicable for 1st round, but later rounds will have a -2 penalty for wrong fuel octane.

OOC: A few things. This is the format I came up with, is it clear enough for everyone? Second, yeah, with that much contestants, fractions are small and those -1 or -2 have bigger impact - I benchmarked around 10 and hoped for 12, did not expect that many entries. As written, the rules lead to negative points unfortunately, but is serviceable. I already have many modifications in mind for my next big event. Feedback is more than welcome.

Epilogue

giorgio_xsmall jacques_xsmall
by Giorgio Diola and Jacques Dupal

Oakridge, April 10th 1979 - 5:30 PM

A day full of surprises

The bustling city streets of Oakridge are filled with locals and traveller coming to meet and greet the grand tourers at the final checkpoint of the day. The small “gateway to the mountain” is growing rapidly in the last few years and is known for it’s gastronomy, culture and leisure opportunities.

The two Archanian teams definitely caused quite a surprise today, with Mara finishing first with their diminutive straight-4, even though they had transmission issues near the end, and Proletariat finishing dead last as they suffered engine failure and had to stop. Talk about a nation divided. They really struggled on getting enough power down on the throttle with old purshrod tank tech that is still tuned for 85 RON, but seems to be very well balanced and super smooth. Mara on the other had no trouble weaving their way to the finish, but you can see the ride suffered from a lack of smoothness, but you won’t see those stoic characters complain about this.

The ladies caused the second biggest surprise of the day. Michèle and Françoise from LACAM finished second, although they did have issues with their suspension. The young lady with the Mons Deimos finished strong in third, but also suffered a breakdown half-way and had to perform some repairs. This allowed the TransitStar and Silverstone team to finish ahead of them, rounding up the top 5. The Silverstone engine seems super smooth and very responsive compared to the competition, with their 3 litre V12. There are concerns about it lasting through the whole journey tho, being known for shody assembly and faulty plugs.

The two Fruinian entries from amateur and professional racers, Tristella and Cisalpina, finished not far behind with no breakdown. As favorite of the crowd, I think they took it easy today, not wanting to stress the car for no reason and can perform much better. They both seemed to have very grippy brakes and close gearing that might perform better on more technical stages.

The Tiburon driver seems to have had a bad day in the car. He complained about his back and had to take some painkillers - that rides really does not seems comfortable, might have been tuned too aggressively for the track. We’ll see tomorrow.

The three exhibition entries finished right in the middle of the pack. The IVERA team had major issues with their engine, nearly exploding a third of the way in. They were able to make repairs and gain some time afterward, fortunately.

The bottom of the chart had tons of breakdown issues and only Brooklands (to the surprise of their mechanic, who was sure their fuel injection system would give up) and Duquesne made it without any issues, although they are pretty bummed to finish this far from the top.

We were very surprised to see the Zephorus struggling on the open road. It looks like it wants some track or a very technical stage to really use all that power properly. It will most likely do very well tomorrow on the test track day.

Most teams are now converging towards the bars, restaurants and pubs to celebrate, some are pestering against their car and will work on them through the night, others are grabbing a quick bite and going to bed, settling their room for the next two days. The Brooklands fellow as well as others are getting quite tipsy, which might not be the beat idea considering tomorrow is the track day a the Automation Test Track in Wairua, not far from Oakridge.

From what we gathered talking to the teams, it will be a tough day tomorrow, and this special stage will give a big advantage to the top racers.

On this note, good night and we’ll be back live tomorrow for the Automation Test Track day.

Current Standing

score_total_1

Aesthetics Poll

The Aesthetics vote counts for a total of 8 points, please vote for the best looking entries, you will have until Stage 4 to vote.

Topics #3

How good/bad was it today with your car and how would you rate your performance?
What do you expect for tomorrow track day, do you think it will affect the standing a lot?
What was the most surprising moment of the drive to Oakridge today?

AndiD · 4 April 2021 02:48

A Proud Surprise Triumph for Archana!

Workers of Gasmea EXTRA

6th April, 1979

WoG: We are standing here, next to the finish line in Oakridge, where the first stage of the International Gran Turismo Rally has come to a conclusion. The surprise winner is… the Mara Irena GTC of Archana, edging out the TransitStar PanGasmea and the LACAM Malissol GT4, a Gasmeans/Hetvesian collaboration. All the Fruinian entries finished even further down the list. The Mara’s victory is even more impressive since they apparently had some transmission issues towards the end, but let’s hear it from their lead driver, Mara’s chief engineer Rodin Gumprov, himself. Congratulations to your victory! How does it feel?

RG: It’s absolutely fantastic, and having seen our competition on the exhibition yesterday I would not have expected this at all. However, this rally takes place on public roads and even the most complicated engine and the flashiest exterior do not help you to take a detour over an unpaved road due to roadworks any quicker. So, we definitely had a chance, and, as we say in Archana, chance takes you!

WoG: What were the secrets to your success today - at least the unclassified ones? wink

RG: All the countless hours and hard work that my engineers and I have spent in the Mara special project workshop to prepare the car definitely paid off. Anya Mayster, Grigoriy Babich and all the others are definite examples of true Archanan ingenuity. All this, of course, would not have been possible without the generous funding and support from our mother country. There is also my competent - if taciturn - co-driver who always drives like being in pursuit. And lastly, it seems that I myself have not forgotten much from my own test driver days as a young engineer where I helped turning the 2.1m wheelbase Mara Tovarish into a competitor for the BRC World Sportscar circuit back in the 50s. Does anyone still remember these races? Good days, I still have some mementos from each racing circuit in my office.

WoG: I was too young back then, sorry. Where is your co-driver, by the way?

RG: He, uh, had to take care of something, right after we arrived… I think. At least I cannot see him around right now.

WoG: Too bad that he has to miss this interview and will be missing out from the winner’s picture as well! I heard there was something wrong with your transmission today?

RG: Yes, we had to stop briefly, but nothing a careful application of a bit of the right wire - I think no. 8* - can’t fix. And repairs are always easier if you have someone else around who also knows his way around a toolbox.

WoG: Was there anything surprising on your way to Oakridge?

RG: All the roadworks going on. You never see that many roadworks on Archanan roads.

WoG: What are your expectations for tomorrow?

RG: Tomorrow is the single race track event of the rally, and I hope that the Vulpe and Stoica’s Panache can uphold Archanan colours there. But on the day after we will be back on the open road where we definitely feel more at home.

WoG: And your outlook on the entire rally?

RG: Well, as the West Archanan proverb goes, first victory is always cat victory**. And even in Archana, cat hates you! But after today I am confident that we can indeed show the world over the next days that sensible hard work can indeed prevail over excess and ostentatiousness.

WoG: Thank you very much, and I now let you go celebrate!

RG: What? No, I have to take another look at our transmission first, that was just a quick fix on the road. And there is also something off with the rear suspension, the roll noise is not the usual one. And I will see whether Stoica and Vulpe might need a hand fixing their V12 to be ready for tomorrow. I think I had worked on a predecessor of that engine decades ago during my army service days as a mechanic.

WoG: Ok, then I let you get to it. Congratulations again!

* obscure NZ culture reference ** even more obscure German proverb reference

Thanks @HighOctaneLove for the WoG format and @karhgath, feel free to imagine that G-man (or another reporter) stood next to the WoG reporter when talking to Rodin, so you can use bits and pieces for your article if you like.]

HighOctaneLove · 4 April 2021 08:09

Archana Wins Day 1 of The Grand Tour!

Workers of Gasmea

11th April, 1979

Excerpt

WoG: So, engine failure, what happened and how does it look for tomorrow?

DV: Turns out that the Gasmean 91RON has fuel cleaners that the fuel back home doesn’t have. A substantial piece of carbon sediment jammed into our primary fuel jet, cutting fuel flow, so the car would start and run but die when throttle was applied. Turns out the Proletariat 4 barrel isn’t a perfect copy of the Bogliq unit; The Prole carb is a replica of the older Gen 1 unit from the 50’s. So parts were hard to find, the right parts even harder so we ended up having to miss the entire stage and catch up to the pack via the new highway… We’ve got Bogliq pattern 91RON jets now so, hopefully, this will cease to be an issue and we’ll be able to race tomorrow and gain some points!

WoG: How do you think you’ll fare on the racetrack tomorrow? Will it even matter?

DV: laughs It won’t really matter, I am thinking, because the Pananche isn’t built for the circuit. We may do better than last this time but the Pananche is too laid back to hustle for blistering lap times! laughs

WoG: Other than your engine troubles, anything else surprise you and your team?

DV: laughs Other than being beaten by an ex-taxi? laughs loudly Well, when we were on the highway to Oakridge, we caught up to that Chronos that was turned away for being too advanced… Wow, that thing was fast! He toyed with us for a bit, I thought I’d win, then he downshifted. The Chronos just squatted down at the rear then rocketed away, leaving us feeling like we were at a standstill… That car is the future and I’m going to have Proletariat build me one when I get home, shakes head, or I may even have to start my own company; I must have a car like that of my own!

WoG: Well, thankyou for your time and being so candid. Best of luck for tomorrow and we’ll keep our fingers crossed on your behalf.

DV: You’re welcome and thankyou for the support; we need all we can get!

OOC

Without prejudice for or against anyone involved in the decision re: the Chronos, I will miss that car. I think it’s very beautiful and would have been a force to reckon with. Hopefully the next Grand Tour will be able to run more smoothly and with less salt thanks to the lessons learnt from this round!

I also realise that my Pananche hasn’t turned out as good as I hoped. I drove it in Beam.NG and it was fun to drive without any bad manners so I was lulled into a false sense of security due to how it drove and the really positive GT and GT-P scores in Archana (over 300% in sandbox, hahaha). But I will hold onto hope that, somehow, my team will get some score and it won’t be a total washout, hahaha!

SolidSnake · 4 April 2021 13:35

Generational Turismo

Preface: The Father-Son team of Founder and Heir to the Bronx Motors empire had one last look at the beach before the start of the rally. The old man, now aged 50, looked at his son proud knowing his company and the family would be in good hands…

Day 1, Morning:

The team brought a DS5 Signature Edition, one of the last to roll out of the factory in its last year of production, thinking, what better way to properly send off the aging decade-old chassis than with one last ride… just like the old days. It was also the perfect opportunity for some press and testing of the car that will end up replacing the DS5, the DS6, in its home habitat of country back roads and long trips to exotic locations.

Day 1, Afternoon:

With the son at the wheel and old man Bronck playing mechanic, the team was more out on a family vacation with some work on the side than a serious race.

Speeding past the Highlands, the old BX-Series V12 still hauled some serious behind. Despite being rated to 150mph, on just the right stretch of road this baby can ~~fit so much spaghetti~~ hit speeds in excess of 180mph!!

Day 1, Night:

As night fell, the boys raced on - happy to not have suffered any hiccups all day. Smooth as sailing can be. They reached the mountain town of Oakridge 5th… well ahead of most of the cars but not a podium-worthy performance, even. A smooth and uneventful day could prove to be a blessing in disguise, as the top 3 teams each suffered a different type of malfunction - nothing bad enough to keep them off their pace.

“Don’t fuss, my boy, just try to enjoy yourself. She’s an old shell, not much more rigidity we could get out of the poor girl.” Old Man Bronck tried easing his son’s spirits while they mingled at the local pub with some other drivers. “You’ll see, the 6 is coming along nicely - the test crew will be taking their own notes, but anything you can add would be helpful. This is what we do. These are the cars we build and around us are the people we build them for. So, we need to heed their wisdom. The journalists would make or break your reputation only so far, at the end of the day the product will speak for itself.”

“Yes, but with the main brand we build glorified commuters, dad”

“Don’t lose sight of the vision… the engine is the soul of the car, and from the Echis to the DS line, every car we make has one of our engines, in it our souls, and the passion for speed, our commitment to deliver an engaging, driver-focused experience in everything we make.”

cake_ape · 4 April 2021 21:39

Journal entry Tour Day 1

It's me again!

Just a quick entry today. It was the first day of the Tour. Dad would be proud of how well the car held up. If it wasn’t for that fuse, I could’ve come third today! The first day was quite exhilarating. What a beautiful landscape! It does get a little lonely though, hour upon hour behind the wheel and no-one to talk with. Maybe I’ll look for a co-driver along the way. It would certainly kill the time if I had someone to chat with.

Well, that was quite a long drive and I am tired. Tomorrow is a track day, which should be a lot of fun!

I wish I could’ve taken a quick picture of the car with the cow that walked onto the road today, but unfortunately my camera was buried in the back somewhere. I’ll keep it more handy in future stages. So today just a shot of the car in front of my hotel. It still draws crowds with its distinctive paint job!

F.

karhgath · 5 April 2021 16:11

Special Stage 1 - ATT at Wairua

Practice

giorgio_xsmall jacques_xsmall
by Giorgio Diola and Jacques Dupal

Wairua, April 11th 1979 - 8:30 AM

Hopeful morning for many teams

JD: Good morning everyone attending today at the Automation Test Track in Wairua. A beautiful morning today, not too hot or cold, perfect spring conditions for a little race. The backdrop is always stunning here.

GD: Indeed it is Jacques. We have many hopeful teams this morning after a day of joyful (and awful for some teams) scenic driving yesterday. It is time to show how far each teams can push their beautiful machines around this track. Even the currently leading team are more here for tuning and testing more than trying to achieve the fastest lap. I know Mara is hoping Proletariat will showcase it’s pushrod V12 as the straight 4 might not be up to the task today with only 132hp, but the V12 of Proletariat is only around 163hp, so not much more powerful.

JD: Many teams are realistic about their chances today. I think the young lady driving the Mons Deimos expects the more professional team like Cisalpina and Tristella to do well. After a scare on the road yesterday, I think she’s very focus and that car and engine screams performance - everyone, her included, were surprised yesterday.

GD: I heard she had a close encounter of the bovine kind? Holy cow, that must have even scary. She won’t see any animals crossing the tracks today tho, time to focus.

JD: The practices has been going on for over an hour now and we are already seeing some mid-2:20 times. While the usual Fruinian drivers are in that leading group, we have two teams that were at the bottom tomorrow that seems to be tuned for the track. HRV and Zephorus are flying around, tailing the Fruinian teams by a few margins. However, as we know, practice is never a perfect indication on how it will go this PM.

GD: The Mons Deimos is also constantly gaining time each practice lap. I think she, as an amateur driver, is learning the layout very fast, it will be interesting to see if she can crack the 2:30 mark with another hour of practice left. With 340 HP, the HRV car is at the top of the group, and it shows. The Tiburon is the most powerful engine on the track at 390hp, but it seems to be struggling applying all that power on the track. The Zephorus at 380hp is very close to the Arion’s 370 but his top speed is phenomenal, he’s simply a bullet around the slongshot. The Zephorus top speed is rumored to be 340 kph.

JD: That is land record speed. Hopefully it can handle well enough to finish high today.

GD: I am worried about Cisalpina, their engine is only 260hp, but it looks like handling around the track makes it all better, it is simply sticking on that tarmac. It’s not how big your engine is, it’s how you use it! Look at that grip.

JD: Oh, the Silverstone just went wide on Lamb’s hope! There seems to be a very high amount of roll on that car and cornering suffers greatly. A shame, as I had high hope for it. He will need some perfect laps to hope to catch the Fruinians.

GD: Look at the Arion and HRV flying around the track - these are two machines I would love to own, so prestigious, the workmanship is incredible, they would look awesome as posters above a 16 years old bed.

JD: The Archanians on the other hand, while they both surprised us, in their own way yesterday, I guess it will be mandated to be hung over every young man’s bed in Archana, but it won’t make anyone else dream about owning them!

GD: Yeah. Also look at the Tiburon - on paper, it feels so prestigious and has incredible specs, but looking at it going around the track… I do not know. It does not feel like a 390hp 5.0 litre V8 machine. That sport interior is a bit lacking, feels more like a track car.

JD: The HRV and Zephorous seems both to be catching on, and with the Fruinians are clocking below 2:25 now! The Mons Deimos started at 2:50 today but just cracked 2:30!! For such a young girl so far from home, this is incredible.

GD: She did!? Meno Male!

JD: We are getting close to the end of practice, let’s reconvene later, we will have a full report done after the laps.

GD: Ciao!

Special Stage 1 - Results

Epilogue

giorgio_xsmall jacques_xsmall
by Giorgio Diola and Jacques Dupal

Wairua, April 11th 1979 - 7:00 PM

Track day? Annihilation day!

The ATT is now quiet. Lots of rubber were left on this track today. As everyone made their way back to Oakridge to celeberate and tend to their cars, we are left with incredible results.

First off, hats of to the girl with the espresso car. She clocked a 2:24.6 today, under the 2:25 mark, that was something, the crowd was literally exploding at each lap she did. A crowd favorite for sure, a true cinderella story - this 4th place puts her currently in second place in the overall ranking!! Right behind the consummated professionals of Cisalpina, who got the third best time today at 2:22.78. The Tristella team could not improve much and ended up also under 2:25, barely, rounding up the top 5.

However, it is at the very top that things got interesting as well. Coming from the tail of the pack yesterday, both HRV and Zephorous destroyed the competition with 2:21.26 for HRV and a incredible 2:20.8 time for Zephorous! Nearly under 2:20. What a performance from them, their cars are tuned for the track and hopefully they can come back to the competition and do well in the next stages and not remain only track wonders.

All of this means that Arion barely missed top 5 and missed out on some important points. As expected, Mara and Proletariat finished last… with the Mara actually doing better than the old Proletariat tank.

The biggest disappointment of the day however was the Tiburon, barely making it under 2:30. They were quite devastated by that result and I do not thing they are celebrating tonight.

Hopefully, this track day was not very important for many teams that came in with more comfortable rides that are not track friendly. They had a blast today still, being able to get a feel how much they can push their machines for the next stages.

Tomorrow teams will be starting early and leave from Oakridge to the base of the Hetvesian mountains. This will be a slightly longer trek than Day 1, and will be a bit more technical with a longer stretch of the journey on secondary gravel road.

As the light closes down around the ATT, it is time to head back and enjoy a late Oakridge snack.

Have a great night and see you tomorrow.

Current Standing

How to read:

Each teams are ranked in order according to their total score based on the stats breakdown posted above, including Exhibition entries.
Then, we have 18 competitiors (+3 exhibitions), so in increment from 0 to 8 they are assigned points in order, excluding exhibition entries.
The breakdown penalties are then applied. For reliability, this is a random 20-100 roll done against engine and then car reliability. Yes, we will see a lot of breakdowns for this event. Penalty is -1 for each reliability roll. Later rounds will have a -2 penalty for wrong fuel octane.

Aesthetics Poll

The Aesthetics vote counts for a total of 8 points, please vote for the best looking entries, you will have until Stage 4 to vote.

Topics #4

What was the biggest surprise on the track today?
Have you ever stayed in Hetvesia or trekked through the mountains?

Harvester · 5 April 2021 18:02

HRV’s internal report from the company’s test driver to the headquaters of the company:

So far so well. On the first day a car suffered somewhat unexpected breakdown. Fortunatelly things were handled quickly and we did not stay behind. Like the whole team predicted we were somewhere around the middle of the field after the first stage. During that stage there were not many “sporty” sections where we could spread our wings. I think we lacked a little on drivability as it was crucial during that stage. The ride however was quite comfortable. The car also got much attention from the crowd.

Today however everything went as planned. We planned to be in the top 3 and hopped for a win, as the company’s expirience in building sport oriented cars should profit here mostly. I managed to finish second with a small gap to the Zephorus car, which performance was really surprising. It was a good decision to decrease power in favour of a grip. I think our engineers did a great job in creating a GT car that sticks to the performance heritage of the company. Well I hope for more sporty sections on the future stages. This will allow us to stay “in touch” with the best GT cars of the era and build the name for ourselves.

HighOctaneLove · 6 April 2021 00:49

Fruinia Sweeps the Board at the ATT!

Workers of Gasmea

12th April, 1979

Excerpt

WoG: It came as a surprise to no-one that the nation with the strongest history of car racing built the best cars to lap the imfamous ATT. What our readers want to know is if today went exactly as expected or were you surprised at all?

DV: I would love to say that I expected to be the slowest car here and that we sat back and watched it all unfold according to plan, but that would be a lie. We honestly expected to come last but secretly hoped for better than the Mara! The Pananche was out of it’s depth on the track, which we knew, but we were surprised by just how outdated the Pananche really is.

WoG: This will be our last interview before you reach Hetvesia where we’ll hand over to our comrades at Worker’s Voice. Have you ever visited Hetvesia before? Ever done any mountain climbing?

DV: No, laughs we’ve never been to Hetvesia before since my business is centred around the Dalluhan spice trade so this’ll be my first time laughs. Mountain climbing? Not for me, although Garridan might be interested, since I hate heights and much prefer visiting a nice beach! laughs

WoG: Well, thanks for talking with us, hopefully tomorrow will end up providing better luck.

DV: You’re welcome, but as for tomorrow, I won’t be holding my breath! laughs loudly

cake_ape · 6 April 2021 01:05

Journal entry Tour Day 2

So happy today! The Deimos performed marvelously today, much better than I could've ever dreamed! I was worried about competing against professionals in what seems to be much sportier cars. My worries were unfounded - we got a lot of practice time, during which I watched the others and learned new tricks. It was so much fun, and I am very happy with the result. So far this Tour is going better than my most optimistic hopes.

What I am a little worried about though is all this media around. I spotted reporters and photographers from various newspapers, and even a few camera crews! I try to remain anonymous, but it is becoming harder and harder each day. I understand that people have become interested in “the lone fair maiden” who is “leaving the competition in her dust” or some nonsense. In any case, I hope none of this news airs at home and my dad doesn’t see my picture in some newspaper, or worse…

F.

AndiD · 6 April 2021 02:25

“No interviews today, sorry.” Rodin sullenly waved off the Workers of Gasmea reporter as the test track event has come to a conclusion. While they did not end up in last place, second-from-last was hardly better. That the only ones they managed to beat were their Archanan compatriots - surprisingly by quite a margin - did not offer any consolation, and neither did missing out on one further place ahead by a mere .2 seconds.

He was happy to learn, however, that his own test driving skills had not entirely disappeared, and he could tell that his co-driver Jakub was apparently used to driving the Irena’s V8 ~~state security~~ Interceptor version, as he was much more careful than necessary in his first laps when stepping on the gas and the car was not yet pointing entirely straight.

Rodin wished he had at least been able to go for OHC instead of OHV when designing the Perspek engine family over a decade ago but unfortunately back then there were few mechanics outside the Capital area and probably Wazduk who would be competent to fix and tune anything besides sidevalves and pushrods. The other argument was, of course, would Ivan and Ivana Ivanov(a) have really noticed the difference? As top end revs turned out to be a key limiting factor when tuning the engine for the GTC special, he believed that anything else than pushrods would have allowed them to be at least closer to the midfield.

As Rodin stood below the podium and pretended to applaud the winners, he thought about tomorrow’s stage that would take them into mountainous Hetvesia. He had never been to that country, and his only real visit to the Archanan hillscape was a short while ago while putting a pre-production version of the upcoming Irena-based pickup truck through its final paces. Of course he had managed to get it stuck on a tricky uphill passage, and he certainly had not enjoyed the long trek back into civilisation to find someone who either could pull him out or get someone who could.

A pre-production Irena Utilita (scheduled for debut in 1980) stuck somewhere in the Archanan Hinterlands

‘I certainly have learned my lesson from that - I’ll never get stuck on a mountain again!’ he promised himself and added, after looking through the crowd: ‘And where is that chap Jakub again, by the way?’

karhgath · 7 April 2021 18:15

FYI, I had a family emergency in the last 2 days so I wasn’t able to continue this, hopefully I can pick it back up before the weekend.

AndiD · 7 April 2021 23:50

Klassik Motor 05/1979

(page 23 preprint)

Two generations of Archanan racing history

It took our reporters some organising and cajoling, but we from Klassik Motor managed to capture this rare shot of two generations of Archanan racing history on the morning of the 3rd day of last month's Gran Turismo rally.

On the right, you see the Archanan entry into the rally, the Mara Irena GTC 2.5, ready to start the 3rd leg of the rally that would take them into our beautiful Hetvesia. On the left, and we am sure that the seasoned veterans among you will have spotted the car immediately, is a Mara Tovarish BRC in the original racing livery that it sported during the 1950 BRC World Sportscar Championship.

As you know, none of the original cars survived, but this faithful replica is as close as it gets. It is owned by an Gasmean vintage racing enthusiast who plans to enter it into next year’s GT65 Historic Championships. Under the hood is a 1099cc Pchla I4 that - properly tuned - had made over 50kW back in the day, and allowed the Tovarish to punch above its (diminuitive) weight of 570kg. We also got special permission for its owner to take a spin on the Automation test track and he clocked in a time just under 2:50. Oh how the times have changed…

karhgath · 11 April 2021 16:33

Stage 2 - Oakridge to Tannenstein

Prologue

giorgio_xsmall jacques_xsmall
by Giorgio Diola and Jacques Dupal

Oakridge, April 12th 1979 - 8:00 AM

Getting back on the open road

JD: A nice and crisp temperature today awaits our contestant. I hope you had a good night of sleep, cause today is going to be a long day G-Man.

GD: You are correct Jacques. While this stretch is only a slightly longer than stage one, we’ll be diverted to secondary road for a good portion of the way. There will still be major Gasmean construction crews along the way, it’s inevitable, so this will take a bit longer to get to Tannnstein than planned.

JD: This means patience will be important and want to stress to all participants that you must still be careful and obey the rules of the road. We’ve had a lot of surprises out of yesterday’s track day, and the standings have been massively affected. Today is the last leg in Gasmea, and after that we will have a very complex hillclimb/mountain stage and a long overnight stage as we pass in Fruinia. Most likely, by stage 4, the competition tiers will be set and it will become more cutthroat, competing for any small fraction of points possible.

GD: But this is not all. There will be a last judging round at the end, so even the best open roader might lose at that point, but a good showing in the next stages will help immensely.

JD: I’ve tried to talk to many teams this morning, but not many were talkative. Too much alchool or not enough sleep last night puts many teams in a rough spot this morning. Many worked overnight on their cars.

GD: Which I think is a good thing - tonight they will need to be 100% fresh to attack the mountain, and today’s will be long and a bit more technical than Stage 1, but not as complex as what comes. They’ll need to be alert tomorrow.

JD: One of the only lone wolf of the competition, the lovely girl and her Mons Deimos, was very happy from her day yesterday, she learned a lot from the pros.

GD: The fact she’s smiling and seems to have so much fun is contagious and shows in her driving.

JD: I am sorry to interrupt, but we need to get to our Régal Absynthe V12, graciously provided by Régal and official sponsor of this event. Let’s hit the open road!

Stage 2 - Results

Stats Breakdown for Stage 2
50% Drivability
30% Sportiness
20% Offroad

How to read:

Each teams are ranked in order according to their total score based on the stats breakdown posted above, including Exhibition entries.
Then, we have 18 competitiors (+3 exhibitions), so in increment from 0 to 8 they are assigned points in order, excluding exhibition entries.
The breakdown penalties are then applied. For reliability, this is a random 20-100 roll done against engine and then car reliability. Yes, we will see a lot of breakdowns for this event. Penalty is -1 for each reliability roll. Later rounds will have a -2 penalty for wrong fuel octane.

Epilogue

giorgio_xsmall jacques_xsmall
by Giorgio Diola and Jacques Dupal

Tannenstein, April 12th 1979 - 7:00 PM

An eventful day

As the sun sets slowly behind the mountains of Tannenstein, we must conclude one thing: it was pandemonium on the road - many fender benders, many breakdowns, some collisions and minor crashes, everything happened today! Not many teams made it unscathed, and long repairs will be needed for many before the very complex day tomorrow. This is a beautifully quiet town at the foot of the mountains. It is not a bustling resort town like Zeilwies, but they do have great amenities for our weary travellers. It is going to be a short night for many tho.

So what exactly happened today? Well, Mara came back strong today after an awful track day. That I4 and suspensions looks to provide a very smooth ride around traffic and roadblocks. How will it cope in the mountains? We do not know, but they were able to hold their overall lead. Yet, looking at the Rodin after a long day, their driver, it’s probably not the most enjoyable ride. This is a true Archanian wonder. Their counterpart did surprise a bit today, by not finishing dead last this time. Proletariat nearly made it to the positive points, but had some major engine problems along the way. That V12 is hard to tame. Again, we tried to get a few words from their mechanic, Jakub, but he was again nowhere to be found.

LACAM and Mons were right where we expected them to be after Stage 1, and are very consistent on the open road. That will most likely change in the mountains, neither seems to be particularly made for the hard mountain pass. This trio of ladies is doing extremely well. The LACAM seems ultra plush and comfortable, I would gladly take a nap in it. As for the girl with the espresso Mons, she is very excited to try to tame the mountains, having gone very often in Hetvesian ski resorts. Maybe that will help her slightly, and she did not break down today, so she might be well rested tomorrow. Still, finding a copilot might be a good idea for her before tackling the next round.

Some teams did slip down the rankings after a good first stage. Silverstone had a bit of trouble on the open road, but gained a lot of time in the secondary road sections, so this is looking good for tomorrow. TransitStar however dropped even further and really seemed to be having issues on the more technical stretches, the handling is not competitive enough on it, but did very well on the gravel.

As for some, they did much better and climbed up a bit. While the whole bottom half had multiple issues, Cisalpina showed what they were capable of and finished in the top 3, to take a strong position in 3rd in this competition. With their track day yesterday, this puts them in the top tier for sure - hopefully, they will not struggle in the mountains and keep their first place in the standing. After getting the best lap of the day yesterday, Zephorus did much better than on the first day. The car is super responsive and much better on the technical sections. Still, for a GT, it seems to be a bit more nervous and rougher than the Cisalpina, which seems to be gliding out there.

After this pandemonium, the only team without a single breakdown is Tiburon. The shark is still standing and their GT seems super reliable. However, they still managed to finish in the top half, but not high enough to really impact their standing. It just seems to be an average, well made utilitarian GT - it also does not ooze enough prestige, compared to the Zephorous and HRV.

Tristella is like clockwork, they are doing very well but they always seem to be one step behind Cisalpina - for sure, Cisalpina’s professional experience and backing do make a difference here, but this is a knock against Tristella, these are very strong amateur drivers and Tristella should be proud of them. After a great track day, HRV is still not able to stand out from the pack, it just does not cruise smoothly enough on the open road.

Still, the top 9 is all within 5 points of each others, and there is still a lot of room for this to change, especially with TransitStar only slightly on the outside. Competition will be fierce!

We’re not talking about the bottom teams much, so let’s see how they are doing. There are a lot of fierce competition down there too. The Brooklands drivers are really the best of the rest. Sure, they came in with something more like a luxury GT, and really not a very sporty ones at that, but they are consistent. The Brooklands is really not guzzling gas tho compared to the Duquesne especially, who seems to be stopping for gas constantly. The TransitStar and Mistral are not doing much better, and the Arion squeaks by in that department but maybe only because they have a large tank in there. While not leading anything, they are great looking beasts, attracting a lot of photographers everywhere they stops.

As for the bottom, it was a really bad day for ZKF. What can we say, it is simply outclassed by the competition and will compete with the Proletariat for last place, most likely.

Pfeil and Haniyasushin are really not doing great either. However, we’re pretty excited to see how the Hani will do in the mountains, that rally-spec GT should shine there at least and hopefully can regain some ground. As for Pfeil, they will need a better caaaaAAAaaaaRRR next time.

So lets all rest and be ready for the ultimate challenge tomorrow : taming the mountains of Hetvesia. It is already cloudy and windy outside, so we’ll have a rough day tomorrow.

Good night.

Current Standing

How to read:

Each teams are ranked in order according to their total score based on the stats breakdown posted above, including Exhibition entries.
Then, we have 18 competitiors (+3 exhibitions), so in increment from 0 to 8 they are assigned points in order, excluding exhibition entries.
The breakdown penalties are then applied. For reliability, this is a random 20-100 roll done against engine and then car reliability. Yes, we will see a lot of breakdowns for this event. Penalty is -1 for each reliability roll. Later rounds will have a -2 penalty for wrong fuel octane.

Aesthetics Poll

The Aesthetics vote counts for a total of 8 points, please vote for the best looking entries, you will have until Stage 4 to vote.

Topics #5

Conditions will deteriorate in the mountains as it often does in spring time, how ready are you for this next stage?
You will have a whole day off tomorrow at Zeilwies. While a few ski resorts are still opened high up, are you planning to hit the slopes?

OOC : Sorry about the long delay, real life caught on, I will try to be more consistent for the next ones.

SenseiB12 · 12 April 2021 04:21

Ouch! Falling to the bottom half is… honestly what I expected to happen earlier, but with my auto trans and solid axle, I’m surprised I fell so hard on the stage where drivability and offroad were big considerations!

AndiD · 12 April 2021 07:21

Worker's Voice Hetvesia

13.04.1979

Excerpt

WVH: Another day on the road, another victory? Impressive, how did you do it this time?

RG: All an effort of the collective, of course, and a stellar example that workers in unity backed by the state can indeed surpass individual efforts - as brave as these efforts might be. What we have produced has still visible roots in something that every ~~well-off~~ worker can afford and at the same time this been refined in a tireless and collective endeavour to achieve absolute peak performance and quality in any aspect.

WVH: Did the stage hold any surprise for you?

RG: The deviations through - again - massive roadworks were unexpected and the secondary roads perhaps showed a truer face of Gasmea beyond the facade of the main highway which all those workers are forced to maintain. However, we felt quite at home on those secondary roads. And as we say in Archana, road works you!

WVH: Are you ready for the next stage? As someone who has driven through the mountains here in all seasons, I can tell you, it’s going to be tough!

RG: Absolutely - mountainous roads in varying conditions are part of the testing regime that every Mara car has to go though, and Irenas are actually not uncommon sights in Archanan and Fruinian hillclimbs. In fact, our own testing grounds are on the site of an old brickworks industrial area ~~in BeamNG~~. Certainly not as fancy as the race track and testing site we were at yesterday, but most of our routes and circuits on there are quite bumpy and have at least a small gravel or dirt component. Fragile showcars certainly wouldn’t last long there, I can tell you!

WVH: After the next stage, there will be a day of rest. Any plans on how to spend the day in Zeilwies? Some ski slopes may still be open?

RG: Well, after three grueling days on the road - the less movement outside the car the better. I might take a short trip down to Friedheim am Meer and enjoy relaxing ~~my aching rear~~ in the famous volcanic hot springs.

WVH: Thank you, and all the best for the next stage!

(After the interviewer had left, Rodin let out an audible sigh. The first press articles on the rally had also finally reached his home country, and the congratulations on his triumph on the first stage by his contact at the Archanan foreign ministry was accompanied by a reprimand about some of his off-the-cuff remarks that had made it into the various newspapers, that he had declined an interview with Workers of Gasmea after the race track event, that he had praised individual engineers instead of the collective, and that he mentioned them first and the state second. 'If public image is so important for them, they should have sent me a diplomat instead of Jakub…", Rodin thought. 'And where’s he gone again this time?", he wondered after looking around and not seeing him anywhere in sight.)

cake_ape · 12 April 2021 17:26

Journal entry Tour Stage 2

That was a long day! I'm exhausted from the long drive, but also very happy with the day's results. Splitting Tristella and Cisalpina on the road feels good, made even better by not having any mishaps or breakdowns. The car held up great on the Gasmean roads, and I think I've been pretty lucky so far too. Tomorrow is the first mountain stage. Although I know the roads well because my family goes skiing in Hetvesia every year, I don't know how the Deimos will handle the roads. Normally we take the big comfortable family wagon on these trips, not a sporty GT car. At least I don't have to stay up late fixing things and will be well rested tomorrow.

Now that we’re in Hetvesia, the hotel carries the main news channel from home on cable. I watched “Fruinia Today” and saw a long report on the Tour. Although they didn’t show my face on the report, they did have a short clip of the Deimos going around the racetrack and speculated about who might be driving the brown car with Fruinian license plates. If my dad watched the news today, he will know immediately that I took the car! There is no other brown Deimos on the planet! But I can’t worry about this now. I just hope that seeing the great results so far, he’ll be able to forgive me.

I didn’t have time tonight to develop the pictures from the road today. Maybe tomorrow on our day off I’ll get some pictures developed. I do adore the countryside and scenery that we are traveling through!

F.

HighOctaneLove · 13 April 2021 01:51

Archana Dominates Day 3 of the Grand Tour!

Workers Voice, Hetvesia

13th April, 1979

Exerpt

WVH: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Mara team won day three with a comfortable margin. Your thoughts?

DV: My thoughts are that our fellow countrymen are doing Archana proud with their People’s GT. Touring in comfort shouldn’t require a ludicrously enlarged engine to be considered authentic and this is being well proven by the Mara team! laughs

WVH: Not to mention that public transport is more comfortable, convenient and easier on the wallet than driving a coupe across a continent! everyone laughs But enough about Mara; are you ready for the slippery conditions that dominate Hetvesian mountain roads? Black ice, flash flooding and debris dominate up there. This is why the Hetvesian police are so strict on speeding; it’s actually dangerous around here!

DV: We have hearts filled with courage and our fingers resemble plaits! laughs We are prepared as best we can be but the proof will be in the tasting, as they say. We had fixed the carburettor on day one, but the next road stage saw it playing up again; something about rapid pressure changes, I dunno? All I can say is we’ll do our best.

WVH: Fair enough. Tomorrow you’ll be free to do your own thing. Any plans to hit the slopes?

DV: Nope, we’ll be hitting the town to sample as much local culture as humanly possible! laughs We will, how do you say, “paint the town red”. laughs loudly

WVH: Hey, we’ll join you and show you the best sites; not the tourist traps but decent local stuff!

DV: Now that’s an offer worthy of a true comrade! You’ll join us and our party will be glorious!

WVH: rummages in bag OK, this is Worker’s Voice signing off to help fellow workers have a great holiday! Thanks for the interview and best of luck for the Grand Tour.

DV: Thank you my friend, let’s go party!