Online, long race, day to night, mixed class.. just a beautiful sim!

I decided to jump into an online race, which is not something I normally do, so my expectations were low lol.
This was at Interlagos, and had two classes racing. GT1 and GT3. I thought "ok I've been driving the GT3 Porsche for quite some time, this will be fun!". So I hopped on. There must have been over 30 total cars, about 25% were AI. Most of the drivers were driving the GT1, but there were a few of us (4-5?) driving the GT3's along with about 4 AI.
The race was set up for 25 laps. I didn't really pay attention to this because most online races are 5 laps and you're done. So I qualified in front of my class, but I don't think that the AI was set very high. The race started, and there were some of the usual first lap wrecks, but it wasn't too bad. The majority of us got through and the race was on.
I gotta say I never fought so hard, for so long.. some cars I raced were AI, some were humans, the faster GT1 cars were constantly coming through, so I had to pay attention and let them by. The person who set this race up really put some thought into it, and I wish I could contact him and thank them. As we began to run lap after lap, and really giving it my best, my spotter came on and said "you have enough fuel for about 4 more laps". This was after 4 laps! But those 4 laps seemed like a full race! I was REALLY pushing myself. Anyway, I realized that this was going to be a marathon and I better get settled in.
I started to pay attention to other drivers pit strategies, and at about lap 8, I came in, got fuel, but forgot to put on tires lol.. By this time, the other human GT3 drivers were back a few laps due to incidents, and I was racing the AI for my class. I was also about #7 overall. I'm not saying I was fast, but it was a mix! As I'm pushing my car now with worn out tires, just trying to stay as fast as possible, without sliding off the track. Now the day starts to turn slowly into late afternoon. It was really, quite beautiful. It didn't just flip to dark... it was this very gradual change over time, lap after lap.. I could see some of that late afternoon "effect".. where you sense the temperature dropping, you start to see shadows on the track.. you could also see the city skyline in the distance.. wow!!.. just beautiful.
Then I had to make one final pit stop, and after that it began to change to early evening. I could see individual lights at the track begin to turn on. You know those portable lights that may light up a corner? Also, I saw the lights in the city buildings begin to turn on. I don't know why, but for me this was just fascinating. From the high points of the track, looking down and seeing all the car headlights, (even some going into the ditch lol!), driving past pit lane which became all lit up. It was such a great experience.
I finished the race first in my class. I'm guessing in the end I was only racing bots, but the GT1 cars had probably 15 humans still running. Those 25 laps were very intense and it felt like a marathon race! I was really worn out after that and had to take a break.
This game has really gotten to me .