Beating Rome 2 Hours with 253hp ZZ-S (Gran Turismo 2)

I was challenged to beat the Rome Circuit 2 Hours endurance with a car "less powerful than the BP Apex Kraft Trueno" (358hp), so I said I'd give it a go. While the opponents are all 633hp+ LM race cars, they're equipped with medium tyres, making them easier to beat than in Gran Turismo All Stars. I didn't expect to be able to go over 100hp under the target, though.
I've wanted to use the Tommy Kaira ZZ-S Coupe for one of these challenges, as it has insanely good acceleration and handling despite its low power. Its light weight and MR drivetrain make it an amazing choice for endurances, as it's very easy on tyres and drives perfectly fine even when its tyres are worn. It doesn't need as much front camber as the MR-S or Elise to handle well, though a high LSD Decel setting does help with wheelspin while braking.
I did a test run with a fully-upgraded ZZ-S with 279hp, and despite making a lot of mistakes, I still finished over 30 seconds ahead of the GT-One. Unsatisfied, I down-graded the car to 253hp, prepared for another run and hoped for the best. This was the end result.
This was one of the most intense races I've ever driven. I wasn't even sure if it was winnable for the majority of it. Despite driving mostly clean laps, I was unable to catch up to the GT-One until it made its first pit stop. The only feasible way to win was to beat it on pit strategy, while also defending against it whenever it caught up.
I got tripped up by the R390 GT1 on numerous laps as slipstreaming it removed the car's downforce and made it go wide in corners. There were a few other small mistakes throughout, but thankfully nothing too serious that destroyed my chances of winning. I was doing some risky driving to try and keep up the pace, and for the most part, it paid off.
Music used:
Bevel Gearing - Yuto Takei
Electric Fountain - Akitaka Tohyama (from Tekken 6)
Tunnel Visionary - Tetsukazu Nakanishi (from Ridge Racer PSP)
Tek Trek - Hiroshi Okubo (from Ridge Racer PSP)
Messij - CoLD SToRAGE (from WipeOut)
Disco Ball - Hiroshi Okubo (from Ridge Racer PSP)
Down To Earth - Ryuichi Takada (from Ridge Racer 7)
Cardinal Dancer - CoLD SToRAGE (from WipeOut)
Into The Lead - Hiroshi Okubo (from Ridge Racer Vita)
EXH* Notes - Sanodg (from Rave Racer)
Explorers - Hiroshi Okubo (from Ridge Racer 6)
Motor Species Remix - Tetsukazu Nakanishi (from Ridge Racer PSP)
Shut Up Baby - Sampling masters AYA (from Ridge Racer 7)
Pulse Phaze - Hiroshi Okubo (from Ridge Racer PSP)
Night Stream - Kohta Takahashi (from Ridge Racer PSP)
Supercruiser - ESTi (from Ridge Racer 7)
Feisar - DJ Sasha (from Wipeout 3)
The Objective - Koji Nakagawa (from Ridge Racer Vita)
Crimson Sunset - Rio Hamamoto (from Tekken 5)
Massive Stunner - Akitaka Tohyama (from Tekken 5)
Ground Zero Funk - Kohta Takahashi (from Tekken 5)
New Age - Akihisa Yamaguchi
I played NTSC-U GT2 on DuckStation with 60 FPS, 16:9, 'true endurance' and metric conversion codes. See Silent's GT2 blog for more info: cookieplmonste...