FRL 2013 Season 2 In Review

 When the 2012 FRL season concluded in November of last year, everyone involved was excited about the prospects of what the next season would look like. There was much discussion about what cars and classes that would be run. In the final days of December, decisions were reached on the cars and classes, and all race teams began to prepare for the coming challenge. Teams would be following the previous season format of preparing two cars for two classes. The 2013 S2 season would feature the Mazda Miata’s again, though they would be bumped from E to D class, and everyone would be driving an equally equipped car. The other class would feature 60’s and 70’s era muscle cars with a Trans American race pedigree in a B class - Outlaw format.

 During this time when drivers were getting their garages assembled, two drivers, Ethan Maestri  and brother Paul Maestri, announced that they would be combining garages into one race team for the 2013 season as Maestri Bros. Racing. So, with cars ready and anticipation at fever pitch, all teams were ready for S2 to kickoff with the first event at Road Atlanta on January 10^th.    

 The first race at Atlanta quickly set the tone for the season as Andrew showed his chops in the Mazda class and most everyone else’s dissatisfaction with it showed. Despite spinning off the track in the first heat, Andrew would recover nicely with back-to-back wins in the next two. The lack of cooperation in the MBR garage led to a low placing for last season’s runner-up Ethan Maestri, in the Trans Am series. Season 1 veteran Ricky Wilborn Jr. made an appearance at this race, the only one he would make for the year, and did quite well. He scored 62 points in the one event, and looked to be a contender for a top 5 position for the season. His good score would put him 4^th after Atlanta, and would keep him ahead of the rookie drivers for several weeks. Rookie Ben Gilstrap was the first of 3 rookie drivers to make a debut this season. He also made the Road Atlanta highlight reel by flipping spectacularly on the front stretch in his first and only heat run.

 The next race on the list was Suzuka East. There would be a bit of delay as the first of many network problems to plague this season would delay the action. Ultimately, new driver Tim Adkins would not make his debut here, or any other track this season. With the field set at just five, racing commenced. Mazda Miata racing went much as it had at Road Atlanta, with Andrew dominating two of the thee heats. He did suffer a bad spin in the second heat, but was able to charge back into second place, behind Ethan Maestri. Racing in the TA class was far more interesting as Brandon led laps in his T-Bird, but quickly got sent through the spin cycle when contact was made with Paul Maestri in some very close quarters. Andrew would take the overall win here as well for the night and Ethan Maestri gave some ground to his brother Paul, the race for second was getting close.

 Action next took place on Mugello Autodromo in Italy. This was a highly anticipated race for the #2 and #3 point leaders as they were only separated by 7 points total. The two MBR cars knew they needed good finishes, but had to be careful not to knock their teammate out to get there. Complicating this further was the addition of two new rookie drivers to the field. As the flag dropped on the first heat, Turn 1 of the track became a graveyard for some and the promise of victory for others. Once more Andrew held serve at the front of the field. Ethan gained a few points on Paul by the end of the MX-5 class, but lost too much ground to Paul’s 73’ Firebird in the TA class. After Mugello, the argument in the MBR team garage over which vehicle the team should race, was settled. Pontiac trumped Plymouth. Josh Michels and Ross Merkling both made their rookie debuts for the season here. Driver Ben Gilstrap made another appearance for this series as well and came in 1 point shy of Josh Michels. Michels would be the rookie of the night, finishing in 6^th place behind veteran Tony Tyree.

 The series would move on to Spain for the next event at Circuit de Catalunya. Catalunya was a problem for series champion Andrew Steppat as he never made it to the track last season. Despite overcoming that setback and winning the series, he was looking forward to proving himself at the event in Season 2. It became apparent early on that this would not be the case. In the second heat of the evening , Andrew’s Xbox began locking-up on him and he would drop out of the race after just a few laps. Although he was able to score points for showing up at the start of heats, ultimately he gave a lot of ground up to Paul Maestri, who did surprisingly well for the evening. He extended his points lead over a fading Ethan Maestri, and closed the gap on Andrew. But this would be Paul’s only Forzday Night victory for the season.

 The next event at Maple Valley would be a very good event, one that showed what FRL racing could be all about when multiple teams were on top of their games. Coming into the event, Ethan Maestri had been setting blistering lap times in both the MX-5 and Trans Am classes. He was settling into the Pontiac team car and was hungry for a Forzday Night win. Racing in the MX-5 class was tight, with close racing and mixed results throughout the five car field. Tony Tyree would score his first career top lap time at this event. For the night, Ethan converted his practice time at Maple Valley into a solid win. Paul did well also, finishing second on the night and made additional gains on Steppat’s #1 position in the points race.  

 Heading into the final stretch of the season, equipment failure would spell disaster for another Forzday driver. The event at Tsukuba was one Ethan Maestri was looking forward to in order to make further gains on his MBR team mate Paul. This wouldn’t be possible as network connection problems plagued the event and prevented him from racing with the group. Despite the field being down one, the track still felt crowded with spins and wrecks prevailing on the night. This worked to Andrew’s advantage and he capitalized on Paul’s misfortune in getting caught up in several accidents on the track. With a solid win and 118 points gained, Andrew Steppat all but guaranteed his second straight FRL championship win.

 Hockenheim Ring offered some interesting racing with lots of door-to-door action. Paul Maestri did well at this track and solidified his hold on second place for the season.  The season then wrapped up with a final race at Mazda Laguna Seca. Andrew had the points championship in the bag, and the race for second and third were settled as well. However, fourth and fifth were still up in the air, though Tony Tyree was in the enviable position of only having to avoid a mediocre performance in order to keep the spot. Brandon made it an interesting race as he scored a solid Heat win in the Trans Am class and consistently finished ahead of Tony. However, Tony benefited from another Top Lap time and finished the night only four points back from Brandon.

 The rookie battle this season showed potential for great contention. After a class leading performance at Mugello Autodromo, the front prospect appeared to be Josh Michels. However, he failed to make an appearance again and quickly faded behind Ross Merkling and Ben Gilstrap.  Ben appeared to be the top driver, but showed at the track less regularly. Ross Merkling did show at the track, and though placed no higher than 5^th in any event, showed that slow and steady can and will win races. For his determination, Ross wins the Rookie of the Season award.

 With Season 2 concluded, the FRL looks ahead to next season. The class selections have been made and the tracks to be run on the schedule are in committee at this time. We look forward to seeing all you drivers back for Season 3 of the FRL!