Chapter 10: Battle of response, the R34's secret weapon unveils itself.

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Keiichi were watching the two cars getting ready to race with a slightly worried look on his face.
Jane did the countdown and the two cars launched, the R34 had a lot better start than the AE86 thanks to its 4WD system.
As Jane got back, Carlos was wondering a bit.

"Does McClintock stand any chance at all? I mean his R34 is fast but after all it is single turbo, I have twin turbo!" Carlos asked Sweeper.

"McClintock will be allright, you didn't check out his car now did you Carlos?"

"What do you mean Sweeper?" Carlos asked.

"First hint is the steering wheel, there were 2 gauges mounted there, one is the normal and standard boost gauge that even you have installed, the 2nd is the key to this race." Sweeper smiled.

"I don't understand why he has two boost gauges? Surely the both of us don't trust the stock boost gauge in our state of tune but still I don't get it."

"Well the gauges were hint nr 1; hint nr 2 is what he has in the backseat and the trunk."

"You don't mean that he has a…" Carlos stopped.

"Yes, he has a nitrous oxide system installed in his car, but it is rigged in a different way than most other systems and the systems you see used on the track. The basic way that exhausts gasses flow works on a turbo car is that the lag comes when you let off the gas pedal and steps on it again. It is not when the boost comes down; there is a difference between boost threshold and lag. Most people call the low down area where a turbo NEVER will make boost no matter how hard you step on the gas pedal or remain there for lag. That is wrong, that is being outside the boost threshold, and the lag is what occurs in the threshold when lifting off the gas pedal." Sweeper was interrupted

"Yeah, yeah I know that, skip to the point of his modifications."

"Well basically the larger engine you have, the shorter the spooling time for a turbo of the same size will be. That is where McClintock's nitrous system comes in. It is linked to the gas pedal, the moment he lets off in a corner and brakes the turbo begins to slow down on its RPM. But the moment he plant his foot again, that is when the system goes to work, spraying the turbo up to speed using nitrous and the 2nd boost gauge shows the nitrous flow. The moment the turbo is back in its optimal RPM the nitrous flow is cut electronically keeping the car in boost. It is still slightly slower than a NA but the main power of a single turbo is retained. That is McClintock's secret weapon with his R34, many frowned at his single turbo until they were blown at mid corner acceleration even though his opponents had twin turbo."

"Nitrous is considered taboo for mountain pass racing you now." Chang shot into the discussion.

"Oh yeah, that's another aspect of it, constant nitrous boost tends to be kinda bad, especially when triggered in a corner it may cause the tires to lose their grip on the road. But in McClintock's case they don't, his rigging is very interesting, you can somewhat say it is a poor mans anti lag system since he doesn't have to run out and buy a new turbo after each race. All he has to do after some time is refill the nitrous."

"The real question here is if he carries enough." Carlos asked.

"That won't be much of a problem, well not unless this match REALLY drags out, he has ripped out the rear seats of his Skyline to fill it with nitrous bottles, then the trunk is also nitrous storage for him. He should have enough to carry him to the end… I hope." Sweeper replied.

Waturo watched the R34 dive into the corners much slower than his AE86, but at the exit he had no chance of winning.
From mid corner towards the exit, the blue R34 GT-R was the fastest car, the ATTESA ET-S combined with the nitrous system proved to be an enormous advantage.
Waturo began thinking as he chased the GT-R and caught up at the next corner entry.

"I can win on corner entry but he pulls away from mid corner and outwards. But still it is a GT-R, and GT-R's are heavy, judging from his entry, the massive mass from the car is bit much for his tires to cope with, if I can stretch this match out, I will have the advantage!" Waturo stepped on it trying to get closer to McClintock and his R34.

McClintock was keeping it cool, and making sure he had the advantage on the exit by taking a wide line to accelerate as much as possible.
But on every corner entry he kept feeling the lack of grip, the road was wet so to avoid hydroplaning the team had gone with smaller tires, which meant loss of grip and increased tire temperature.
McClintock were also taking it easy, keeping the rear planted while cornering, the AE86 were drifting after him.
On the bottom of the hill Carlos asked Sweeper.

"Do you think he understood anything of my tutoring on drifting?"

"Well, McClintock is a bit like that Sudo Kyoichi from Irohazaka, he likes to play it safe and secure during his races. Well to some point anyways, his main strategy is kinda interesting though." Sweeper replied while smiling a bit.

"What's up with that smile? What is his strategy?" Carlos asked.

"The whole trick to his "safe" driving is just when the opponent thinks the guy is driving the safest and surest way, McClintock will change into a risk taker and greatly increases his speed. While the opponent is dazed, that is when he begins to pull away."

Time drew out in the race and they reached the end of the track where they changed positions and went onto the course again.
McClintock was still keeping up the pace, even though it was raining.
Most drivers would lose concentration at this moment but McClintock was surprisingly cool.
As the two cars launched at the course for the 2nd run, Keiichi began to worry again.

"His strategy is to pull this race out, just like the last time against Takahashi Keisuke! Is McClintock up to it?" Keiichi asked Jane.

"I don't know, but I do know his tires will not last a 3rd considering the way he is using them, he is putting a lot of strain on them with all the acceleration he is doing." Jane replied a bit worried as she kept running the simulations.

"Don't worry, now that McClintock is chasing he is going to attack." Sweeper said.

"How can you say that? There are a lot of corners and that GT-R is heavy, if it was dry and he could have used the wider tires, he would win in corners but the way it is now. It is hopeless there, the course also lack straights to attack on." Jane replied.

"Well he has 2 ways to do it, and knowing McClintock I think he will use them both to win, he will now about his tires at this moment though. He will understand that he needs to finish it now if he hopes to win. So way nr 1 is to use fierce acceleration power at the corner exit by opening the throttle wide and hope the acceleration is enough to put the Levin a bit distance behind him. The other one is to fool the Levin driver." Sweeper replied.

"Fool him? But how?" Keiichi asked.

"You know the strategies; you should understand what I mean, especially if I mention his "safe" way of driving."

"I think I get it." Keiichi said and laughed silently of his own stupidity earlier.

"It is so simple it is something I lost in my calculations. He left the impression on the Levin driver that he wasn't interested in taking chances in the first run. Therefore the Levin will open the inside corner quite a bit but not enough to fit McClintock for his "safe" driving style. However, that is when the risk taker comes out. Right?" Keiichi turned towards Sweeper and smiled.

"Yes, he will attack at such a chance, get ahead and block the Levin from a counter attack. That will be the victory here!" Sweeper said.

McClintock was busy turning the wheel and pumping the brake but the input from the front tires were getting weaker.

"My tires are about to give up, the front tires especially, been putting a lot of load on them up to now, pushing hard in the rain like I do will really wear on the tires. If I don't end it this round and quickly, the race will be over. I hate the rain when I have to run with smaller tires." McClintock thought.

In the Levin in front, Waturo was feeling confident, he had guessed that the GT-R would start running out of grip on his tires, especially the front after pushing so far.
All he had to do was to up the pace, increase the speed he kept through corners, use the outside a bit more than what he had done up till now.
Waturo begun to steer outwards towards the next corner and were preparing for a braking drift into the corner to set the car up for the exit and accelerate away from the GT-R, and end it while it was still struggling with the corner.
On the bottom of the hill Chang was puzzled with a question.

"But tell me, what about late braking, if the GT-R is heavier than the AE86, wouldn't it lose in a braking contest?" Chang asked.

"Well, that depends, the GT-R is said to be a monstrous braking machine, and it will stop quickly despite being as heavy as it is. It's braking force is intense, I can tell that from personal experience." Sweeper said.

"But that wouldn't go for every GT-R would it?" Chang asked.

"Well, each car will act differently pending on how it is tuned, but the GT-R McClintock is driving, I can tell exactly what it will do, because I have owned it." Sweeper replied while looking at his FD.

"You owned a GT-R?" Chang asked.

"Yes, I owned that specific Bayside Blue R Thirty-Four GT-R Vspec. I didn't own it very long though, I didn't like the handling of it and I still don't like it today." Sweeper said.

"That's right; you just cannot leave your rotaries alone eh?" Carlos asked with a grin.

"Hey Carlos, want to repeat that race in Brazil again?" Sweeper asked as a counter question.

"HELL NO! I underestimated rotaries once, and I will not do it again. The car you got is damn fast; I never feared any rotary car up till that race with you. I thought I was going to beat you and your FD in a flash, but I ended up staring at your taillights." Carlos said with a bit softer voice.

"Anyways, McClintock should be able to win on the braking contest into the corner, I am sure he has even improved the brakes since I owned the car." Sweeper commented.

Just as Waturo was slamming on the brakes he looked in his rear view, but the GT-R was gone.
Looking out the passenger window he saw the GT-R pulling up aside him while braking, the GT-R was attempting to out brake him, even though it was a close call as the distance to the guardrail was very low, one miss on the turn in and it would all be over.
The GT-R quickly dumped the speed down to acceptable level for cornering and blew through the corner with the Levin lighting up the passenger door with its headlights.
It was an amazing sight; the GT-R was grip driving with the Levin running sideways in the other lane.

"This is going to be close!" McClintock waited out the corner; the seconds it took seemed like hours, it was now time to bet it all on one card.

Waturo begun accelerating harder for the exit since the outside has more room for reaction but further distance to travel, McClintock were still waiting a few more milliseconds before McClintock slammed the accelerator to the floor.
The heavy GT-R accelerated and did a mad dash out of the corner, taking the grip of the tires to their limit; the AE86 that was on the passenger side of the GT-R was being dusted quickly.
The nitrous valve sprung open and made the single turbo spool up to effective RPM providing maximum power quickly and effectively.
Waturo watched in shock as the GT-R rapidly pulled in front, even though his throttle was wide open, the GT-R was still faster.

"DAMN, the GT-R sure is a traction monster; it is fast as hell, a true toy to the rich kids!" Waturo shouted out and cursed as he had lost the race in that overtaking.

As the 2 drivers got back down the Saitama team had already heard the news and were clearly disappointed.
Sweeper turned towards McClintock and smiled.

"You said I was too close, what about yourself, I heard it all! Mr. I-want-to-play-it-safe."

"Umm, well, what can I say? It just turned out that way, I saw an opening and I had to take it or else it would all be lost." McClintock replied.

"How close to the guardrail?" Sweeper asked.

"About 0.5 mm I guess or 1 Cm didn't look too much at it really." McClintock replied.

Jane went over to the GT-R and checked the tires, she quickly screamed out.

"Who the hell put the soft compound tires on for this race? I think I clearly said we were going with hard compound tires. ESPECIALLY during a race that had every chance of being an endurance race and with these smaller tires. Who was responsible for putting these on?" Jane was screaming out to the mechanics.

One of the guys were a black boiler suit stepped out, McClintock's chief mechanic.

"It was me, Yoko Onagi…" The mechanic was interrupted.

"I told him to put them on! I wanted to run on some compound and try to finish it early." McClintock interrupted Yoko.

"Well, just don't do something like that again! I don't like playing with such close margins, with Sweeper it is ok, because he always knows how to manage his tire grip to catch up after mistakes. But in a situation were your tires are giving up there isn't a lot you can do, is there?" Jane shouted at McClintock.

"I hear you! No need to keep shouting at me. JEEZ!" McClintock turned and walked towards the bus, Jane was about to stop him when Sweeper put an arm on her shoulder.

"Let him go, it turned out well after all, no need to keep yelling at him over it. He will not do it again anyways. Besides I think he did the right thing, I might have done the same thing as he did. He was betting on his image the first round. He saw he couldn't win the safe way so he did it slightly more risky. And he won; there is no need to keep yelling at him for it." Sweeper said.

"Well I have gotten SOMEWHAT used to live with you and Carlos' wildness, I don't feel like having another "rouge" driver like you two." Jane replied.

"Ah, don't worry about that. McClintock is a heavy team player. Whatever he does, do have a reason you know." Sweeper said.

Jane threw off Sweeper's hand and sat back down in her chair again while Keiichi begun to bark out orders to the mechanics.
Saitama area was finally completed, at least for now.
It was time to head back to Tokyo and try to knock down another week.