The RTCC 2013 – Stage 3 Write up and Results
Catalunya National Circuit is another track that many of the Ruff racers are familiar with as it hosted the famous and ever so annoying ‘Lotus’ stage of the very first endurance championship, with all drivers taking to the Lotus Exige bar two…one who used the Lotus Elise and some complete and utter idiot who chose an Aston Martin….wonder who that was…..
In the build up to the event, the leader boards give nothing away as everyone was struggling to match pace with their own times set in the lotus so heading into qualifying it was an open book in terms of who had pace and who might struggle. 12 drivers took to the track this week with Pgtips and Boosterdq unable to attend.
Qualifying got underway once Forza sorted out the lobby and everyone connected. The Mehwarrior didn’t make qualifying but managed to get online for the start of the first race so started from the back. The first few laps was plagued by drivers being unable to set a clean lap time, with Darkestfrost and myself leading the pack, having set clean laps early on. It wasn’t long though before everyone began setting their clean lap times and for the first time, every single driver who took part set a clean lap time. As has been the case for the previous 2 stages SMB91 took the pole position lap with a time of 1.20.102, just under a second quicker than his nearest rival Womblemk3. Darkestfrost rounded off the top 3 with the usual suspects filling into rank behind. Full list can be seen below.
Race 5 of the championship was soon ready to get underway, with The Mehwarrior joining the chaos at the back of the grid, 12 cars lined up on the long main straight at Catalunya waiting for the lights to go dark. Lights out and all 12 cars soon were hitting the rev limiter as the raced towards the first right hander at the end of the long straight. Both the BMW’s and the one golf on the track got off to flying starts, with The Mehwarrior making up good ground heading into that first corner. Plenty of bumping and scrapping around the first lap as the cars fought for position, SMB91 had lost out to Womblemk3 off the line but was chasing him down at a high rate of knots. Darkestfrost kept his good performance in qualifying going in the race and was doing his best to hang on to the back of the front two, a decision that would prove vital in the next few laps. Further back down the grid, Ruffian Stew exacted his revenge on me from last week, helping himself to my brakes at the end of the main straight, nearly sending me spinning into the gravel. Up the front SMB91 had managed to squeeze past Womblemk3 and took the lead, but Darkestfrost wasn’t giving up. The turning point of the race was caused by Forza itself rather than any driver error, as Womblemk3 moved alongside SMB91 the game/network thought they had touched and in the words of Darkestfrost ‘It looked like a bomb went off between the two cars, each going in different directions’. SMB91 unfortunately had to retire due to the damage, with Womblemk3 crawling back to the pits and was able to carry on. Darkestfrost was in the prime position to take advantage and held on to the lead for the rest of the race, but I’ve always said you need to be in that position to take advantage, so it was a deserved victory. T3RRAF0RM came home in 2nd with The Mehwarrior rounding off the podium. Womblemk3 did as much damage limitation as possible with an 8th place finish, full results can be seen below.
Race 6 of the championship was set to be an exciting race with SMB91 starting at the front in the 2nd race for the first time this race, with the usual back markers taking their position at the front, ready to cause chaos. Nash Effect unfortunately got disconnected from the race before he even got in so will finish in 12th position for round 6. Lights out and the Golf of Ruffian Stew soon took the lead with a brilliant start, but it wasn’t long before the cars began getting up to speed and filing past. Thetaffman caused upset at the first corner by misjudging his braking point, and straight lining up the inside, which allowed SMB91, Womblemk3 and Darkestfrost breathing space as the rest of the pack began to back up behind me. Team tactics came into play with The Mehwarrior, the faster out of us two bearing down, I allowed him through but quickly shut the door on T3RRAF0RM and thetaffman. I did my best over 2 laps to hold them up as much as I could, giving The Mehwarrior some breathing space to chase down the front runners. An outstanding move into the sharp left hander about half way round the lap allowed T3RRAF0RM through and it wasn’t long before the power of the BMW of thetaffman, blasted past the Chevy’s feeble acceleration attempts on the main straight. Unfortunately we lost Raingod to a connection issue and he wasn’t going to be the last casualty. Mikethemute was pressing hard, trying to get his Focus past the Chevy but I did everything in my power to keep him there. Inevitably it wasn’t long before I ran wide into the right hander before the Chicane, putting me all out of shape, giving Mike the opportunity to get into my slipstream on the main straight and that is all she wrote. Further up the front, it was getting exciting with Raingod and Nash Effect constantly oh and argh-ing in awe. Ruffian Stew was the next victim of the connection issues, soon followed by thetaffman. Points have been awarded in order that they disconnected. SMB91 managed to hold of the advances of Womblemk3, Darkestfrost and The Mehwarrior to take his 4th win of the championship. Full results can be seen below!
Thanks to everyone who took part and we will next be racing on TUESDAY 17th DECEMBER 2013 @ Sebring Short, Qualifying 5 laps and race distance 15 laps.
Qualifying
1. SMB91 – 1.20.102
2. Womblemk3 – 1.21.094
3. Darkestfrost – 1.22.394
4. T3RRAF0RM – 1.22.394
5. Thetaffman – 1.23.293
6. Mikethemute – 1.23.385
7. Raingod Zippo – 1.24.331
8. Wackybar – 1.24.665
9. Iceman D18 – 1.24.958
10. Nash Effect – 1.27.994
11. Ruffian Stew – 1.29.295
12. The Mehwarrior – No time set
Race 5
1. Darkestfrost
2. T3RRAF0RM
3. The Mehwarrior
4. Thetaffman
5. Mikethemute
6. Raingod Zippo
7. Wackybar
8. Womblemk3
9. Iceman D18
10. Nash Effect
11. Ruffian Stew
12. SMB91
Race 6
1. SMB91
2. Womblemk3
3. Darkestfrost
4. The Mehwarrior
5. T3RRAF0RM
6. Mikethemute
7. Iceman D18
8. Wackybar
9. Thetaffman
10. Ruffian Stew
11. Raingod Zippo
12. Nash Effect
Over and Out
Iceman
Catalunya National Circuit is another track that many of the Ruff racers are familiar with as it hosted the famous and ever so annoying ‘Lotus’ stage of the very first endurance championship, with all drivers taking to the Lotus Exige bar two…one who used the Lotus Elise and some complete and utter idiot who chose an Aston Martin….wonder who that was…..
In the build up to the event, the leader boards give nothing away as everyone was struggling to match pace with their own times set in the lotus so heading into qualifying it was an open book in terms of who had pace and who might struggle. 12 drivers took to the track this week with Pgtips and Boosterdq unable to attend.
Qualifying got underway once Forza sorted out the lobby and everyone connected. The Mehwarrior didn’t make qualifying but managed to get online for the start of the first race so started from the back. The first few laps was plagued by drivers being unable to set a clean lap time, with Darkestfrost and myself leading the pack, having set clean laps early on. It wasn’t long though before everyone began setting their clean lap times and for the first time, every single driver who took part set a clean lap time. As has been the case for the previous 2 stages SMB91 took the pole position lap with a time of 1.20.102, just under a second quicker than his nearest rival Womblemk3. Darkestfrost rounded off the top 3 with the usual suspects filling into rank behind. Full list can be seen below.
Race 5 of the championship was soon ready to get underway, with The Mehwarrior joining the chaos at the back of the grid, 12 cars lined up on the long main straight at Catalunya waiting for the lights to go dark. Lights out and all 12 cars soon were hitting the rev limiter as the raced towards the first right hander at the end of the long straight. Both the BMW’s and the one golf on the track got off to flying starts, with The Mehwarrior making up good ground heading into that first corner. Plenty of bumping and scrapping around the first lap as the cars fought for position, SMB91 had lost out to Womblemk3 off the line but was chasing him down at a high rate of knots. Darkestfrost kept his good performance in qualifying going in the race and was doing his best to hang on to the back of the front two, a decision that would prove vital in the next few laps. Further back down the grid, Ruffian Stew exacted his revenge on me from last week, helping himself to my brakes at the end of the main straight, nearly sending me spinning into the gravel. Up the front SMB91 had managed to squeeze past Womblemk3 and took the lead, but Darkestfrost wasn’t giving up. The turning point of the race was caused by Forza itself rather than any driver error, as Womblemk3 moved alongside SMB91 the game/network thought they had touched and in the words of Darkestfrost ‘It looked like a bomb went off between the two cars, each going in different directions’. SMB91 unfortunately had to retire due to the damage, with Womblemk3 crawling back to the pits and was able to carry on. Darkestfrost was in the prime position to take advantage and held on to the lead for the rest of the race, but I’ve always said you need to be in that position to take advantage, so it was a deserved victory. T3RRAF0RM came home in 2nd with The Mehwarrior rounding off the podium. Womblemk3 did as much damage limitation as possible with an 8th place finish, full results can be seen below.
Race 6 of the championship was set to be an exciting race with SMB91 starting at the front in the 2nd race for the first time this race, with the usual back markers taking their position at the front, ready to cause chaos. Nash Effect unfortunately got disconnected from the race before he even got in so will finish in 12th position for round 6. Lights out and the Golf of Ruffian Stew soon took the lead with a brilliant start, but it wasn’t long before the cars began getting up to speed and filing past. Thetaffman caused upset at the first corner by misjudging his braking point, and straight lining up the inside, which allowed SMB91, Womblemk3 and Darkestfrost breathing space as the rest of the pack began to back up behind me. Team tactics came into play with The Mehwarrior, the faster out of us two bearing down, I allowed him through but quickly shut the door on T3RRAF0RM and thetaffman. I did my best over 2 laps to hold them up as much as I could, giving The Mehwarrior some breathing space to chase down the front runners. An outstanding move into the sharp left hander about half way round the lap allowed T3RRAF0RM through and it wasn’t long before the power of the BMW of thetaffman, blasted past the Chevy’s feeble acceleration attempts on the main straight. Unfortunately we lost Raingod to a connection issue and he wasn’t going to be the last casualty. Mikethemute was pressing hard, trying to get his Focus past the Chevy but I did everything in my power to keep him there. Inevitably it wasn’t long before I ran wide into the right hander before the Chicane, putting me all out of shape, giving Mike the opportunity to get into my slipstream on the main straight and that is all she wrote. Further up the front, it was getting exciting with Raingod and Nash Effect constantly oh and argh-ing in awe. Ruffian Stew was the next victim of the connection issues, soon followed by thetaffman. Points have been awarded in order that they disconnected. SMB91 managed to hold of the advances of Womblemk3, Darkestfrost and The Mehwarrior to take his 4th win of the championship. Full results can be seen below!
Thanks to everyone who took part and we will next be racing on TUESDAY 17th DECEMBER 2013 @ Sebring Short, Qualifying 5 laps and race distance 15 laps.
Qualifying
1. SMB91 – 1.20.102
2. Womblemk3 – 1.21.094
3. Darkestfrost – 1.22.394
4. T3RRAF0RM – 1.22.394
5. Thetaffman – 1.23.293
6. Mikethemute – 1.23.385
7. Raingod Zippo – 1.24.331
8. Wackybar – 1.24.665
9. Iceman D18 – 1.24.958
10. Nash Effect – 1.27.994
11. Ruffian Stew – 1.29.295
12. The Mehwarrior – No time set
Race 5
1. Darkestfrost
2. T3RRAF0RM
3. The Mehwarrior
4. Thetaffman
5. Mikethemute
6. Raingod Zippo
7. Wackybar
8. Womblemk3
9. Iceman D18
10. Nash Effect
11. Ruffian Stew
12. SMB91
Race 6
1. SMB91
2. Womblemk3
3. Darkestfrost
4. The Mehwarrior
5. T3RRAF0RM
6. Mikethemute
7. Iceman D18
8. Wackybar
9. Thetaffman
10. Ruffian Stew
11. Raingod Zippo
12. Nash Effect
Over and Out
Iceman
