To commemorate the REAL Nürburgring 24-hour race which begins tomorrow (June 19th), I am uploading this chapter of the first lap!
Chapter thirty-eight
Nürburgring Broadcasting: 3:00 PM
"AND WE ARE RACING!" the English broadcaster yelled. "And it's the Black Falcon SLS who is currently leading the pack –"
Nürburgring GP: 3:00 PM
The green flag at the finish line began to wave constantly and excitedly as the spectators in the stands let out a roaring cheer for the racings. As soon as the Volkswagen Golf GTI leading the grid entered the pit lane, the true power that lay within these fierce-looking race machines had finally burst.
Engines roared.
The sounds echoed through the atmosphere, only to be drowned by the excitement and cheers of the crowds on the side.
Luigi, clad in a racing suit and a helmet providing safe but limited vision, floored the gas pedal and felt the power of the BMW Z4 GT3 increase its speed and power by the second. Already at three seconds, and he was doing over 100 km/h (62 mph).
Gear by gear changed rather quickly. He would have liked to overtake the cars at the first corner (descending into the near 180 chicane of YOKOHAMA/Castrol-S curve, where another two 180 degree turns met the racers). However, at the kind of speed he was going at, he would rather retain his position and control his speed rather than understeer and hit the Marc VDS Z4 in front. Gears were changed by the use of a two plate-like buttons from behind the steering wheel's sides. Pulling the right-side button towards Luigi, thus pulling it with his right fingers, would increase to a higher gear. How Luigi would decrease a gear was to simply pull the left-side button toward him with his left fingers. The need for manual clutch is neglected because it was activated before the race started.
He knew that if he did, neither Team Schubert nor Team Marc VDS would be pleased, and certainly not Michael and the rest of BMW Motorsport. The smooth turning of the car as it curved the YOKOHAMA/Castrol-S chicane smoothly enabled quick recovery and top speed, and the Z4 tried its best to overtake its fellow teammates ahead through the straight.
Now all I have to do is maintain a draft, Luigi thought.
Meanwhile, about ten seconds away, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport was doing its work with the Gadd Science-developed engine inside. While it proved itself to be fast, it just couldn't allow Bowser to avoid collisions, so Bowser had to control his speed.
Worse was the fact that he was dealing with skilled drivers with Nordschleife experience in the competition, such as the Team Phoenix Audis in front of him who did what they could to follow the shortest route.
Bowser, on the other hand, was not following the shortest route and soon fell from his starting 17th place to 21st, where the AF Corse Ferrari overtook him. Some people on the stands even wondered just how Bowser could manage to qualify in 17th place!
Later on, he got used to it and took the Bugatti around its maiden stretch on the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit. With the insane power of the Gadd Science engine combined with typical Veyron power, it didn't take long for him to overtake the AF Corse Ferrari. However, as he was also getting technical, the Ferrari had an advantage with the turns, and quickly overtook Bowser's Bugatti.
But Bowser was totally reliant on the massive power of the Bugatti and did his best to take full advantage of the straights whenever possible. Quite simply, it was the only way for his car (and his team!) to gain ground, because the Bugatti failed when it came to trying the corners.
VMM! VMM! VMM!
To those who were standing still, whether on the sides, supervision, or benches, the sound of powerful engines supported by aerodynamics of the cars zipped past them. To first car they saw was, of course, the Black Falcon Mercedes on pole.
The power of Mercedes Benz in FIA GT3 suit was a smart sight to behold. With the benefit of being on pole, the entire Nürburgring was basically left to it for the first maiden lap. While the Farnbacher Ferrari F458, the Manthey Porsche 911, and the Phoenix Audi R8 LMS ultra were desperately trying to keep up with the pole Mercedes, the three cars supported by BMW Motorsport and the Lamborghini Gallardo FL II were quite farther behind.
BMW Team Schubert: 3:02 PM
After the momentous start, the members of Team Schubert went immediately to work. Engineers fired up their laptops and kept everything up-to-date on a minute-by-minute basis, ranging from conditions of the Z4s to weather forecasts.
The pit crew starting the first shift, but it was impossible to tell if they were relaxed or anxious. They had twenty-four hours, but they knew that success, and possible podium finishes, came down to cooperative teamwork between everyone on the team. If not counting the drivers, the pit crew was the only part of the team that had no room for error.
But the next pit stop wouldn't appear for at least half an hour or so, so they had reason to relax. The problem being that anything could happen during a twenty-four hour race, so there was a very good reason to be anxious, even though Mario would be in sure charge of letting them know what to do.
And the BMW Z4 GT3 wasn't even in the pit yet!
(Mario's headset)
"Weather update: we will be in for rain in two hours estimated," Toadsworth reported. "I'm just glad we bothered to use intermediate tyres before we started."
"You never know!" Skolar responded instantly. "The forecast also says the rain clouds might pass the Eifel in the next hour, so don't be too sure!"
"That's the point! Intermediate tyres will prove their versatility if the rain comes, and Luigi will still be able to make full use of his speed."
Mario alone remained silent for less than a minute, quickly thinking of a plan of action in seconds and reconsidering it.
"We stick with the tyres and stay with the plan," he finally decided.
Aremburg: 3:03 PM
Although Luigi had passed through the sections Hatzenbach and the treacherous Flugplatz in the opening minutes of the race, he felt like he was experiencing tension like never before.
The main difference of the matter lay in the situation. Where Luigi had raced with other cars for lap times in qualifying, he was now racing for the overall win.
He drove the Z4 GT3 through the section of Aremburg, where the curve turned at a sharp right, and Luigi attempted to do his best to travel the shortest distance possible. That being driving on the curbs and staying off the grass.
He drove on the curb and, although he slowed for a second or two, he was gaining quick speed once again with the help of outstanding acceleration.
In the mirrors, Luigi could see dozens of GT cars trying their best to fight to the top. As Luigi had the advantage of starting from eighth, he needn't worry of trying to fight too hard for a podium finish. All he needed to do was to catch up to the GT3 Marc VDS BMW in front of him. As he planned many seconds earlier, he maintained his draft behind the BMW to increase his speed. (to those who aren't race fans or have a basic understanding of physics: drafting is a technique where one car chases another from the back. As the first car encounters air resistance while driving, this prevents the car from achieving optimal speed and acceleration as well as losing energy to air friction. Conversely, this makes a 'slipstream' directly behind him/her in which there is no air resistance. The second car can travel in the slipstream and get a much better acceleration free from air resistance).
However, it wasn't easy to avoid a collision, especially when there were going to be at least two hundred cars sharing the same circuit. For the time being, Luigi decided to make a competitive but steady pace to keep up with the Marc VDS Z4 in front of him.
The other Z4, with Jörg Müller currently at the wheel, was smoothly cruising its way to try to make the climb. Of course, the SLS AMG GT3 that had been on pole for the past minutes wasn't exactly making it easy for everyone in the pack either.
Furthermore, the Lamborghini in front of him proved to be formidable, but Luigi could tell he was getting the upper hand as he passed Fuchsröhre, when the BMW Z4 GT3 neared the corner Luigi quickly edged the turn so that the Z4 would travel on the curb, thus allowing to travel the shortest distance able.
"Very good, Luigi," Mario said. "The time between you and that Marc VDS BMW has been closed by just two-tenths of a second."
But Luigi didn't bother listening too much, as he had to stay his focus on the track.
It didn't help that the severe trembling of the car and rising slopes were taking a slight toll on his body.
Metzgesfeld: 3:03 PM
But when Luigi approached the Metzgesfeld, he had near completely forgotten dangerous the turn could be when approaching at a high speed. Even this was indeed the BMW Z4 GT3, a car manufactured and packed with power from BMW Motorsport and entered by Schubert Motorsport, the turn would not agree. The curve was such that if any car kept going any faster, the car would slip off the track, lose control on the grass, and crash into the barrier.
Fortunately, looking through his helmet, Luigi had the early warning given to him by the BMW Marc VDS Z4 in front of him, and finally remembered how dangerous the turn could be. Fortunately, with effective gear control, Luigi was able to retain a good speed that was fast enough, but not enough to throw the car off the track. Also, the aerodynamic parts on the car proved to be useful, as the rear spoiler kept lots of the car stuck on the tarmac.
Looking at the mirror, Luigi saw the aggressive Corvette hounding down from behind and actually trying to cut onto the curb on his left to pass him.
He wasn't going to let that happen.
Pressing hard on the accelerator, Luigi cranked a higher gear up, to accelerate, and yet trying his best not to let the Z4 GT3 touch the grass.
Because if he did, he would lose control of the car and certainly crash into the steel barrier.
BMW Team Schubert: 3:04 PM
In the pit garage of BMW Team Schubert, everyone's eyes were glued to the TV screen on display where everyone could see; beside the race monitor showing which car was in their respective position and how many seconds separated each car. For BMW Team Schubert, the number 17 car was closing the gap between that and the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini by several hundredths of a second. The Marc VDS BMW was behind the number 17 car by about two seconds, with Luigi's number 18 car not far behind by one second.
Every pit member not on duty, that is, the race drivers, Stefan Wendl, and Michael Fong, simply stood watching. Mechanics including Torque and E. Gadd were on permanent standby and standing behind Michael in case if anything happened. The engineers were, by contrast, worriedly typing away at their laptops for weather updates. It didn't seem like there was going to be any rain for the next hour.
That was unfortunate for BMW Team Schubert, since they opted for both the number 17 and 18 car to use intermediate-grade tyre compounds, which were best used under wet conditions. Clearly, on a dry track, they weren't proving to be optimal, and the GT3 cars using dry-weather compounds were clearly were the quickest in the field.
"No!" Daisy gasped, with her jaw dropping.
On the screen, Daisy saw Luigi enter the Bergwerk section improperly and failed to keep up with the racing line. The Corvette behind took advantage of Luigi's slight error and charged from behind to attempt to overtake.
"Relax," Michael assured, although he himself was a little on edge from the BMW's slight failure following the racing line. "I could arguably say that the GT3 cars from BMW, Audi, Mercedes, or Porsche would be able to handle the kind of endurance the Nürburgring could bring. Besides, that Corvette doesn't have works support, so… Luigi should have a better chance."
Bergwerk 3:05 PM
Darn it! Luigi thought as he saw the yellow Corvette pass him on his right as he made a terribly wide turn on the right curve. Maintaining control of his already fast speed, Luigi found himself driving on a straight, so he switched to a higher gear to try to keep up with the Corvette.
He also was aware of the corner Jörg Müller had warned him about earlier. The one where Niki Lauda had a horrific crash back in 1976. Carefully, Luigi remained on the current gear and steered as close as he could to the turn, whilst drafting the Corvette.
BUMP
The shock Luigi received on his left side, a literal split-second lift off the ground, came from driving right on the curb. It was part of the racing line, after all, so like all other drivers Luigi wouldn't lose a lot of speed to friction and centripetal force.
After that, Luigi floored the pedal and with his right hand pushed the right-side plate-button toward him from behind the steering wheel's right-side to increase to another gear. He felt the net force push him forward and the opposite reaction force rebound. Nevertheless, he remained focused and rammed the throttle down… hard.
More power. More force. More acceleration.
Luigi stepped off the gas pedal with his right foot for a split second, reached two of his right-hand fingers from the wheel to the trigger on the steering wheel's right-side and pressed the right-side double button towards him to blast to another gear, while hearing the sounds of a changing racing plates and the gearbox increasing power to the BMW M3 engine in the car.
Only what was ahead was, from Luigi's eyes, green and pavement. Although at constant velocity, he could see things clearly from the trees to the narrow road ahead. But his focus was on the Corvette in front. So everything around felt like, or appeared as, a blur.
The increasing power, combined with the bonus of a slipstream, meant that Luigi could increase his speed and raise the likelihood of overtaking the Corvette.
GT3 power…
Luigi found himself overtaking the Corvette by Corvette Racing shortly after taking the outside curve in the Kesselchen.
The BMW Z4 GT3 by BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS seemed so far away…
BMW Team Schubert: 3:05
He'd done it! Daisy thought hopefully, as she watched the televised view of the race. Right beside the TV monitor, and well on a high position on the wall, was a live timing monitor that showed the rank positions of all cars in the race, and specifically the team names, number of laps completed, the time gap separating the cars with the leader, the time of the last lap completed, and the class of the car.
From Daisy's view, with Rosalina, Yoshi, Stefan Wendl, and Michael Fong by her side, the number 18 car had overtaken the Corvette and had risen back to 6th place.
Place Number Team Laps Gap Last Class
1 3 Black Falcon 0 N/A N/A SP9 GT3
2 89 Hankook Team Farnbacher 0 0:09.8 N/A SP9 GT3
3 40 Manthey Racing 0 0:12.0 N/A SP9 GT3
4 1 Audi Sport Team Phoenix 0 0:12.9 N/A SP9 GT3
5 12 Reiter Engineering 0 0:15.5 N/A SP9 GT3
6 17 BMW Team Schubert 0 0:16.0 N/A SP9 GT3
7 2 BMW Sports Trophy Marc VDS 0 0:17.2 N/A SP9 GT3
8 18 BMW Team Schubert 0 0:21.8 N/A SP9 GT3
9 99 Corvette Racing 0 0:22.0 N/A SP9 GT3
10 204 Audi Sport Team Phoenix 0 0:24.6 N/A SP9 GT3
But following the rankings was the unmistakable presence of the team 'Bowser Motorsport Racing' picking up the rankings very quickly, but it was sort of annoying to see that the gap times fluctuated from gaps in tenths of a second to entire seconds every so often.
Torque shook his head. He knew enough about racing, and the layout of the Nürburgring enough times, to know that Bowser's Bugatti Veyron simply wasn't built for the demanding corners of the circuit, and certainly not against GT3 cars.
They kept watching, while the engineers including Skolar and Toadsworth were swiping furiously on the laptops and checking on weather updates, while others were watching closely at the conditions of the BMW Z4 GT3s by Schubert.
For the time being, action could wait.
Carraciola-Karussell: 3:05 PM
The grinding of the car against the bank was audible from Luigi's seat. At least ten more cars were visible from the side mirrors, but that wasn't important now. The hairpin turn dipped down and the GT3 cars followed the track through the 180 degree turn.
As much as Luigi wanted to think, he couldn't. Not when there where a dozen more GT3 cars were following behind, and not when he needed to look ahead to see where he was going.
He could see a helicopter moving through the sky like an eagle eyeing its prey from above, just as he exited the banked hairpin. Luigi released the throttle, triggered the right-side button behind the wheel to increase to another gear, and pursued the Marc VDS BMW once more. The Corvette was hot on his heels: just 0.4 seconds behind.
Still, he could still shake them off…
"Hey, Luigi," Mario's voice sounded through the earphones in Luigi's ears. "Just to let you know, at the rate you guys in the GT3 grid are driving, you're going to catch up with the cars from the third racing grid. Try not to damage the car, okay?"
Luigi swerved the car very carefully through the Hohe Acht section, where the track curved a declining right. It was a fast move, but Luigi had no problem with the turn. He owed this move to his skills in the Mario Kart races.
The roaring of the BMW M3 engine told Luigi he was making good progress. Even so, he could feel the butterflies in his stomach as he descended through Hedwigshöhe, where the S-curve declined downward and forced Luigi to slow down drastically, along with the rest of the cars behind.
Pflanzgarten: 3:07 PM
The Black Falcon Mercedes SLS stormed through the ever-narrow road of the Nürburgring. The thing about the Nürburgring was that the entire circuit spanned frequent elevation changes. Where the Black Falcon SLS had just drove downhill earlier at Hohe Acht and Hedwigshöhe, the GT3 car was dipping down and up again in a single stretch of road. The Ferrari F458 Italia was a ways away: over 12 seconds behind!
"The Black Falcon Mercedes is passing through the Pflanzgarten now," the German broadcaster said from the broadcasting office.
"Where are the rest?!" the other German broadcaster said.
"There they are! I can't believe it! That Black Falcon Mercedes SLS is certainly spearing the field!" the first broadcaster exclaimed.
Nine seconds later, a hoard of cars, led by the Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari and Manthey Porsche, appeared in the Pflanzgarten, where they quickly and carefully maneuvered through the dipping stretch of road and trying really hard not to crash, let alone touching the grass on the road.
The three BMWs, the first with Jörg Müller in it, the second being the Marc VDS, and finally the third with Luigi in it, drove to catch up with the cars in front. From the spectators view, it appeared every car was desperate. Then again, who wasn't?
It was tension that Luigi never felt before.
As Luigi could only see through the gap in the helmet and the visor at such a high speed, the effort was probably going to be hard. At least he had practice and qualifying to get used to the sight, and he had the reflex of karting skills to help him.
The BMW squirmed through the bobbing section and eventually began its entry into Schwalbenschwanz. To Luigi, he liked this section of track very much. It was long, smooth, and arguably gentle. There was a little 'Karussell' in the section that reminded Luigi of the actual Karussell, which made the section all the more fun to drive.
The racing field, starting with the Black Falcon SLS and followed by Audis, a Ferrari, and BMWs, began to enter the angled hairpin turn and began their entry into Galgenkopf.
BMW Team Schubert: 3:08 PM
In Daisy's strict opinion, and it wouldn't be any surprise if others agreed, Galgenkopf was one of the most dangerous sections on the Nürburgring. It was narrow, and at the speed the GT3 cars were going at it was incredibly dangerous to enter the inclined right curve at the end of the road – right after the cars had finished with Schwalbenschwanz. The curve turned right, and it was a blind corner. If a car entered Galgenkopf too quickly, it wouldn't have enough time to slow down and enter the curve. It would slide into the grass, lose grip and control, and would effectively crash into the unforgiving barrier.
"This is crazy," Daisy muttered.
She turned her attention to watch another screen monitor. This monitor was in fact televising the third starting grid at the end of the Döttinger Höhe straight. They were still being led by a pace car, and they haven't starting racing yet!
She walked over to a table in the team garage and picked up a pair of headphones.
(Daisy's headset)
"Luigi," she said. "Just to let you know, the third grid hasn't crossed the start line yet, let alone the pace car. You might want to be careful when you're near the Grand Prix circuit."
"Okay," Luigi shortly replied.
Daisy still kept her headphones on and watched Skolar and Toadsworth typing away at their laptops. Skolar in particular looked anxious already.
"Luigi," Skolar said. "The track is still very wet, so you and Jörg might have a bit of an edge when you get to the straight after Galgenkopf. Take advantage of the others who opted for harder compounds. Still, you better be careful when you're right behind the third grid."
"Okay, thanks," Luigi replied, and also in a short tone.
Daisy took the headphones off her head and placed it back on the table. Afterwards, she rejoined Rosalina and Yoshi, who were sitting around waiting and watching. But as she thought of it, Daisy was a little bored, so she walked outside of the garage to see the start line.
Meanwhile, Rosalina and Yoshi, currently dressed in their BMW factory racing suits, continued to watch the broadcast of the number 17 and 18 cars chasing the field at Döttinger Höhe. The cars were driving at a high seed, yes, and everyone watching the broadcast could see water splashing against the car tyres and lightly spraying the grass beside.
"It looks like they're going to overtake someone," Boshi remarked. "Maybe they will!"
Nürburgring Broadcasting: 3:08 PM
"The BMW Team Schubert cars seemed to have made the right decision to start on intermediate tyres," the German broadcasting reported in German (or Deutsche, as it's properly called), "Schubert is clearly climbing up the field now! They've just overtaken a car apiece!"
"The Bugatti Veyron entered by Bowser Motorsport Racing will have its chance to use its full power here at Döttinger Höhe," the English broadcaster said. "However, it seems that Bowser's option was to retain use of hard compounds. That won't help too much on this wet track, but I guess we'll see how the race turns out!"
The six broadcasters, two German, two British, and two French, were still sitting inside the office where real-time monitors, desks, papers, and race reports filled up every part of the office.
"Let's see how much power that Veyron has got," the French commentator said.
Antoniusbuche: 3:09 PM
Now that the two BMW Z4 GT3s by Schubert had each climbed up a place, Luigi was feeling confident that the car would be able make it into a top position. Yet, he was aware of the fact that it was a 24-hour race.
He began to realise the mountain he had to climb.
In his side mirror, on his left, he noticed the red-and-black Bugatti Veyron trying heroically to climb its way up the field. Despite that it was one of the fastest cars on earth (so far!), the GT3 cars appeared to be at equal level with the car or at least beating it.
Still, the Audis and Porsches had no problem defeating the Veyron, even on a straight, which was why the engine inside the Bugatti Veryon Super Sport had a very long turbo lag.
Aha! There's the turbo at last! Bowser thought.
A burst of power propelled the Bugatti Veryon to an immense speed that saw him almost overtaking the car in front of him (the AF Corse Ferrari). However, he ran out of straight road to take advantage of that.
At least I've closed the gap, Bowser thought.
The cars in front of him entered Tiergarten and readied to complete their first lap.
Luigi took his eyes off the road for the briefest moment to look at the speedometer in front of him, and watched the current gear maintained at 6th gear. As Döttinger Höhe was a very long straight, this gave Luigi plenty of time to get to full speed. By the time he approached Hohenrain, he knew that he had to slow down a lot.
Nevertheless, Luigi, and Jörg Müller, had the advantage of intermediate tyres to quickly claw their way up the field. Now, they were running in 8th and 5th, respectively.
The Black Falcon SLS, however, was still tearing up the field!
Hohenrain: 3:09 PM
The GT3 cars had to slow down a lot to pass by the dangerous chicane at Hohenrain, to gears around 2nd or 3rd gear, and safely pass into the Grand Prix circuit.
Argh! The third grid! Luigi thought.
As he had been forewarned, he saw the dozens of lower class racing cars begin their race. BMW M235i Racings, Volkswagen Golfs, Honda S2000s, Renault Clios, and many more cars crowded the race track ahead. Classes like SP10 GT4, SP3, SP3T, V3, V4, and V5 were present and the cars had only started to accelerate.
The first move the Black Falcon SLS AMG GT3 did was flash its high beams to warn the third grid it was incoming. Most cars from the third grid pulled aside to let the GT3 cars pass. Those that didn't pull over… would risk a collision.
BMW Team Schubert: 3:09 PM
"There's a good lap for a first one," a BMW Motorsport engineer reported.
"He's starting to find a rhythm. That's good," another engineer said.
(A BMW Motorsport engineer's headset)
"I should probably warn everyone that we're in for a rain shower again in two minutes," the engineer said. "It'll be light, but there's no telling what happens in the Eifel, anyway."
"That's not what I've got," a second engineer said. "My forecast says the rain might pass by in five minutes. But you're right in saying the Eifel is unpredictable."
"So who is right?" Luigi asked.
"We'll see," the first engineer said.
There you have it! The first lap!