[Sven]

Introducing the Teams and Drivers!

Team Jake

Features the newly promoted Mr Chip in the Pro division, one of the premier Pro-am title contenders Offcorsa and veteran Am driver OldEarl for one of the longest living team names around! How will Chip fare after his team title and pro-am title last series, racing a car from his home country?

Hornet Racing

Kuffy again captains a team, this time featuring Stephen_hill and former forum legend Evil Mattress. After a quick change of colors, they will now be running a Gulf colored Lotus! Will this series mark the return of our greatest Nintendo fan to the front of the pack?

Spaak Competition

Previous series' winner Sven captains the first of the Porsche teams. A solid looking line-up with Stewart4444 and Jorius both returning after lengthy and even lengthier hiati. With both of them having less recent history, a difficult outfit to truly estimate!

Team Bernina

A Sleepwalker initiative, also returning from a hiatus. The first rotary powered car of a team featuring a load of i's with iivan004 and Iovenitti. Coupled with Bernina, who said there was no "i" in team? Let's hope they don't end up spinning!

FauxRacing

A team helped by the late comeback of Gcosens93, with title challengers in their respective division Dimavika and Yellowthingy. Last series they were way down the line because of their Am driver being lost in the Canadian snow, and now they might be subject to rotary reliability. Even stranger: how will the Faux name keep up without mr_urlauber on their side?

TBA

..because mr_urlauber is here! A team without a strong leading personality to step up for a team name, but maybe that's what a true team needs. With mr_urlauber and S4b1n (also returning from a long time break) acting in the pro division, they've got solid backup in pro-am with NRTH and the debuting NakedDBA. Emerty just needs to make enough races to get the team to full potential!

Privateers:
Thatdanield, Lotus
Alebanjou, Lotus
Unholy, Mazda

[Sven]

Imola Report

Starting on the only track of the three that wasn't used for testing. A nicely spread field of all cars meant we were hoping for diversity in the results as well!

All three cars were present twice in the top six in qualifying, with Dimavika's RX-7 leading the way just ahead of Stephen_hill's Exige. Mr_urlauber and iivan004 surprised by finishing ahead of their Pro division counterparts Mr Chip and Sven.



Heat 1 saw Offcorsa and Yellowthingy improving on their qualifying run the most, while iivan004 and Mr Chip suffered and ended way down the table. The top three kept their positions in a race finishing less than a second behind each other, where OldEarl and Evil Mattress made a top 10 appearance despite bottom spots in qualifying.

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Heat 2 saw Sven rising through the grid, but not being able to pass Dimavika. On the other end of the field Jorius made up a load of positions, despite having a pretty eventless race. Mr Chip made up ground, but not yet entered the top 10, where the top 5 was closed by Mr. Race Car himself, S4b1n.



Stephen_hill had the hardest day with heat 3 being ended because of extreme lag, causing the race to be suspended and points awarded for positions at the moment just before the lag. A nice debut for NakedDBA, who is expected to hunt down the mid pack soon! OldEarl will be please with the 121 points regarding his 16th time in quali, where Evil Mattress came out well too with a 10th finish twice despite qualifying 17th!



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Recently we've grown closer towards the 24 spots grid limit again. If you have any annoyances regarding other members during our races, please contact those involved first and use phrasing like "I think" and "I feel". They might not even be aware of the tap they gave when side by side or space they didn't leave. If you cannot agree or are not confident about contact the other(s) involved, please let me know,

[Sven]

Red Bull Ring Report

Our most crowded race of 2022, with no less than twenty-one cars on the grid! A serious weight on the shorter layout of Red Bull Ring especially during qualifying!

Dimavika secured his second consecutive pole of the series, where Stephen_hill again had to settle for second, albeit with a larger gap than last week. iivan004 this time completed the top three, while Yellowthingy suprised on fourth place, leaving behind him a whole group of Pro and Pro-am drivers!





An early collision in heat 1 saw Stephen_hill and Dimavika out of contention for the top spots, with Stephen managing to claw back to third in heat 2, where Dima only came in third in the third heat. Sven profited, and our resident race car lover S4b1n also had a great week contrary to fellow TBA team driver mr_urlauber, adding 143 points to the team, the same amount the German brought in last week.

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In heat 2 Gcosens out of nowhere seems to appear in the top 10, clinching seventh after qualifying 18th(!). Further improvement could see him be a more than worthy addition to the FauxRacing line-up, as Yellowthingy seems very competitive, where Dimavika will hope to remain out of trouble.



Offcorsa still had difficulties getting to grips with the Lotus managing thirteenth place in heat 3, and now also sees Hornet Racing ahead of them in the team championship. Evil Mattress on the other hand, showed great progress throughout the race day, which contributes to the Hornet performance!

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[Sven]

Barcelona Report

A much longer track than the short National layout of Red Bull Ring, let's see how the teams and drivers fare at the Spanish track of Barcelona!

Stephen_hill managed to break Dimavika's qualifying streak by taking pole. The Brit from team leaders Hornet Racing made his Lotus do a 2:04.612, just a few hundreds faster than Thatdanield, before the Porsches from Spaak competition came in, with Sven on a 2:04.692, still within a tenth on third. Further down the board there's a whole load of 2:06 timed drivers, with a surprising spread of divisions, as Sleepwalker qualified 13th and hot lapper iivan004 barely kept in the top 10 this week.





Stewart4444 continues to impress, with another Porsche driver, NakedDBA, getting more and more into the groove with an overall mid pack finish this week. Sven extends overall lead in the championship despite a lapse in concentration making him end up off track with a penalty in heat 1. Mr Chip is finally showing some Pro division stature again since his promotion; despite a difficult qualifying he made his first podium finish of the series in heat 2!

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As last week, Team Jake drops down the standings, giving FauxRacing the opportunity to be in second, chasing to series leaders Hornet Racing. Team Bernina is still way down the ladder, and will need their drivers to finish race heats and avoid technical problems!







A more easy going race than last week's Red Bull Ring, with less than half the amount of incidents. It's looking hopeful again for the next races. A hopeful debut as well by Alebanjou, who is about to improve more and more!

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[Sven]

Calabogie Report

Canada's technical track is the backdrop of another week of track prepped sports car racing. How will the Mazda's fare on less favorable terrain?

A rare feat this week with Sven getting a pole! The Dutchman left last week's pole getter Stephen_hill behind on 0.031 of a second, with fellow Spaak driver Stewart4444 completing the qualifying podium, the only three drivers to get a 1:14 lap time in! A nice spread of cars further down, with Dimavika and Sleepwalker putting their Mazda's in the top 6.





Despite Stephen_hill's talk of absolutely nót hitting Dimavika, he may just have jinxed himself, as again a collision between the two rivals took place in the first heat. Where Dimavika's result recovered already in the first heat, he would struggle again in heat 3. Stephen's outright pace brough him closer to the podiums in the remaining heats, but he's definitely looking into his race craft after this weekend!

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Making a very strong impression this week was Sleepwalker. After a disappointing run of races recently the Dane finally clawed back onto the podiums. Where his sixth qualifying position was still not what we're used to seeing, three podiums in three race heats is more like it!

Emerty also showed that even a mighty long absence does not rule him out. Qualifying right in the middle, the Brit never dropped much and takes home a deserved 131 points, even ahead of Dimavika and NRTH, who both had troubled drives. Iovenitti likely shocked the most though. The only one to qualify down into the 1:17's, finishing last in heat 1, but got to grips in heat 2 finishing sixth, and even made up more spots in heat 3 with a fourth(!) place for a smashing 128 points!





A perfect performance from Spaak Competition captain Sven this week, with 150 points showing his dominance on the Calabogie layout. Stewart4444 once again profited from collisions between some of the top rated drivers, and therefore Spaak is finally able to clinch the top spot in the team standings. Despite Jorius maybe ending up as a liability for a team championship, there are strong talks in the organisational camp of ballasting Stewart, as he's consistently outperforming some of his fellow drivers so far which might disrupt the team championship.

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[Sven]

Pittsburgh Report

A series debut for the Pennsylvania based track, a fast and technical rollercoaster in a heavily forested backdrop, where tiny mistakes are very costly.

In qualifying it was Kuffy who surprised friend and foe by taking second place, still almost a second(!) behind team mate Stephen_hill though. The Porsche of Stewart4444 completed the podium, where Pro division drivers Sven and Dimavika settled for fourth and fifth, with Sleepwalker back in eight.





There was drama right away in the first heat as Sven touched with Dimavika onto the back straight of the third lap, sending both into a spin in the middle of the narrow track. Ending up at the back of the grid turned out to be a serious challenge for both, but they managed to claw back into the midfield, mostly held up by FauxRacing's Gcosens93 and Yellowthingy.

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Stewart4444, maybe even as expected in this series, took advantage of the carnage again, and managed his personal best with 146 points out of a race. Despite this top score, he lost three points on Stephen_hill this week in the overall standings, but they're close at 709 vs. 706!





Another PB, this time for Evil Mattress, who had a far from exceptional week, but a solid performance after sixth in qualifying saw him taking sixth in the first heat as well, a solid foundation for a 130 score. The Brit will be chuffed with this, as this decreases the gap with nemesis Yellowthingy to only two points.







The expected dominance of Stephen_hill didn't last through all three heats though, as Sven managed to barely hang on a few times in the first two corners, but the championship leader brought home a heat win to deny Stephen_hill a perfect 150, allowing his team to be still ahead of their rivals Hornet Racing and FauxRacing, but for how long?!

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If you've only raced with us for a short while, you might have missed the mandatory correct FoV (Field of View) rule (only monitor users, VR does this automatically). In sim racing it's very important to be able to judge distances correctly on any monitor setup; not only does this help you to hit better apexes and have more consistent braking performances, but racing side by side will also improve a lot. Some people claim they can't race with a correct FoV because of a low sense of speed or inability to see aside them, but this video by Empty Box explains why that isn't really an issue. For looking right and left, set up the buttons on your wheel. If you'd like a better view on the apex, there are cheap head tracking options available!

[Sven]

Lausitzring Report

Another track debut this week, with the German Lausitzring's 2021 DTM layout being the décor of our racing. One of few Cosy events ran on a part of an oval!

With the Mazda expected to do well here, Dimavika and Sleepwalker didn't disappoint and set the only sub 1:50 laps in qualifying. An armada of Porsches and Lotuses followed soon after with the odd Mazda inbetween. No real surprises other than an unprepared S4b1n being further down the grid than expected.





Stewart4444 couldn't continue his recent run of excellent performances; not only was he not up to the same pace as the earlier races of the series, but technical issues prevented him from running in heat 2 and heat 3. The Brit won't have much to fear as he's still comfortable leading Pro-Am.

Closest follower mr_urlauber didn't have the best of runs last week and will really need to step up to provide some competition, where the only other remaining challenger for the Pro-Am title, S4b1n, hasn't lost his love for race car, but sadly cannot make the final race because of moving and not being able to continue racing anymore.

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Also profiting from the Mazda supremacy was Gcosens93, setting his personal best with 136 points, only slightly behind NRTH, who also had his best run with a near pro performance of 141 points, including a podium for the Dutch Lotus driver. Despite his performance, no changes yet in the team order, with Spaak still leading!







The ongoing Am division battle took a bit hit after one of the involved, Evil Mattress, noticed a slight issue with the point tables that gave him more points than meant. After the correction the gap is now eight points, further helped by Yellowthingy beating Evil by five points at the German track!





The overall championship could be decided in the seventh race of the series already, with Sven only needing a good run, or watch to see Dimavika and/or Stephen_hill get a suboptimal score. Will the Dutchman take his second championship back-to-back after a Sunday trophy drought of three and a half years?

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[Sven]

Okayama Report

The Japanese track makes a comeback after a long hiatus, and provided some of the best racing action in the series so far!

The saddest news was just before the race, where S4b1n announced he would be gifting his wheel away since he doesn't have space for it in a new apartment. At least for a year he'll be away from simracing, so let's hope he'll return and still be on pace!

Stephen_hill took his third pole this series, now the same as Dimavika. Sven followed close behind on only 0.014. No real surprises up the board, but some regular midfielders were caught down the ranks, with Offcorsa, Gcosens93 and mr_urlauber all not yet to grips with the Japanese track, despite all having raced there before.





In the races NRTH kept performing well after last weeks 141 personal best at Lausitzring, but this week the counter stuck at 137 points. Close battles at the front resulted in three different winners in three different cars again, where Sven took a win and two second place finishes to clinch the championship, his second championship in a row on Sundays after a three and a half year drought!

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Despite a less than stellar performance, Sven's team mate Stewart4444 still managed 125 points, enough to secure the Pro-Am title. After a short hiatus Stewart has absolutely stormed the ranks this series, and profited of mistakes of others where possible. Well deserved! His last Pro-Am title dates from December last year, right after he was promoted to Pro-Am, where the series before that he won Am after two series of operating in the middle of the Am category.







Still to be decided: the Am division where Yellowthingy has the best cards, but both Evil Mattress and Iovenitti (needs a slight miracle) could still beat him! Second place in overall/pro is also hotly contested, with Dimavika and Stephen_hill a point apart. Second in Pro-Am is still on between mr_urlauber and team mate NRTH, with the German only leading by a point.







The team championship could also have a very interesting ending, with everything up for grabs next week! Despite Spaak's earlier dominance, FauxRacing has taken the lead, meaning we've now seen four teams in the lead; Jake, Hornet, Spaak and now FauxRacing. And where Jake is out of the running, any of the other three can still win the team championship!

Will Jorius save Spaak, can Kuffy and Evil Mattress bring home one more spectacular result to go retake what they had, or will Yellowthingy take the double next week with an Am and Team championship win? All next week!





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[Sven]

Paul Ricard Report

The final race of the series! Onto France for plenty of laps around the WTCC layout of the high speed, but technical Paul Ricard.

The Mazdas once again did well in qualifying, with Dimavika at the top of the board, the Lotus with Stephen_hill in second and Sleepwalker's Mazda on third, the only three cars to get into the 1:40's.

Dimavika's pole didn't last long, with the American releasing the clutch too early and having to go for a drive through. This resulted in a fierce battle between Sleepwalker, Stephen_hill and Sven, with Dimavika having to settle for sixth place.







A surprising moment in heat 2 was the spin of Stephen_hill. Comfortably leading despite the Lotus not having quite the top speed, the Brit spun out on the entry of the long right hander, effectively ending his chances to finish second in the series.

With Evil Mattress not running at Paul Ricard, and Iovenitti needing an outright miracle, the pressure was off for Yellowthingy. Even with Iovenitti and him both ending the day on 129 points, the Am championship was in his pocket. Congratulations! His third series, but his second Am championship win already!

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Mr_urlauber and Sleepwalker were the revelations of the week. The German has a bit of a track record of sometimes performing outstanding, where other weeks don't show the qualities of the experienced Pro-Am driver. This week he managed to take a few Pro drivers' positions in the third heat!

The Dane has also been performing on and off the past series, and after a year long hiatus his return, despite a Calabogie runner-up performance, went relatively unnoticed so far. But in this race, he showed to still possess the consistency and outright pace to win even two heats, and a minor contact with mr_urlauber kept him from running for a third win!







In the championship deciding race, Jorius forgot that just finishing every heat would most likely see Spaak take the team championship. This means that, after a long and mighty battle in the team championship, it's Yellowthingy's team FauxRacing, with Dimavika and Gcosens93, that takes the team championship! Congrats! The Faux brand was last successful two series ago and has been absent a few series every while, but it seems to have returned in full force!

That's it for this series, thanks very much for participating, and see you in the next one!

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