FRL Update

 As the year concludes, we send it out with a bang running the 6th Forzday Race League event of this season at Brands Hatch GP. This tight, twisty track will likely field the largest number of drivers to participate in the series to date. The competition this season has been intense. This is reflected in the fact that the series points lead is being challenged by three drivers this late in the series. Newcomers to the league have also made their presence felt on the track as well. While rookie driver Bryan Dean may have the rookie points lead all to himself, others are jockeying hard on the points leader board. We've missed a few veterans as well. Though, word has come of late that perhaps a couple will be returning to the track soon.

 All in all things are looking up for the FRL. So in keeping with that sentiment, we are pleased to announce that a new series will be kicking off in January! The Forzday Endurance Championship Series will get started with a 29 lap event on Sunday, January 31st at Circuit of the America's. The FEC will feature GT-R series cars from the modern era. Cars like the Aston Martin DBR9, 458 Italia, McLaren, Lamborghini and more!

 The class will be limited to R-865 and each driver will have to register his selected car and use it for the duration of the season. Events will be spaced out a little further than FRL events, in order to give race teams time to prepare. All this will hopefully give everyone a more realistic race feel. Stay tuned for a full race schedule and a post showing all the eligible race cars for the series. In the meantime, keep checking in for further updates on the exciting FRL season that is still unfolding as we countdown the last 3 events of season 4!

Forzday Race Review - Circuit de Catalunya

 It was a short trip for the haulers to move from the Czeck Republic to southern Spain and the FRL kicked off another event at Circuit de Catalunya. This would be a barn-burner at times and would ultimately change the face of the points race for the season, mainly due to a connection problem experienced by series front-runner Andrew Steppat. The rest of the field connected, but Andrew drew the short straw and the Microsoft gods prevented him from being able to join the lobby for the night.

 B-Class racing started off with several bangs into Turn 1 as ‘up and coming’ rookie Chris Radar and Tim Adkins – Tim, making his FRL debut here – tusseled in Turn 1 (and elsewhere) on several races. Mikey Collins, coming off a solid start at his Prague debut, raced Ethan fairly well in the opening lap of each heat before finally settling into two 3rd place finishes in the class heats. Carter Merkling showed some fire in his Renault keeping mostly quiet in the first two heats, but taking advantage of a late mistake by Mikey and sniping a 3rd place finish in Heat 3.

 Bryan Dean was the front runner for the night, racing sharp as a tack and staying laser-locked on the proper line. He would post a field best 2:01.158 in his psychedelic VW. Ethan followed a short ways behind, posting laps about a half second slower.

 Tim would exit for the night before A-Class racing could begin, leaving a field of 5 to pilot their BAC Mono’s around the F1 course these race whips were designed for. Ethan Maestri gained a stranglehold on 1^st place for the first two heats, leading all six laps. But in the final heat, he and Bryan would tangle through Turn 1 and Ethan ended up out in the grass. Though Bryan valiantly offered up the position, both would have to race from the back in 4^th and 5^th positions. Bryan encountered some trouble getting around Carter early and Ethan was there to pass them both. This setup Mikey, Chris and Ethan running nose-to-tail for about a lap of intense jockeying. Eventually, Chris faded back to 3rd and had to contend with a hard charging Bryan Dean. Mikey and Ethan ran hard through the final lap when Mikey finally slipped up the track enough for Ethan to make a pass to take 1st place. Chris almost gave away 3rd, but held on and beat Bryan in a drag race to the finish line.

 The racing was good, even for a night soured by the absence of a race regular. Mikey, Chris, and Carter, all new drivers in the series, posted at least one 3^rd place heat finish. Bryan Dean demonstrated sheer dominance in the B-Class cars, but closing the gap on Ethan proved to be a wash due to Ethan’s solid A-Class performance. The points shake-up is noticeable as Andrew now drops to 2nd place and Ethan moves up to 1st place, with only 11 points separating the top 3 drivers. Chris continues to lead in the rookie race, enjoying a 20+ point lead over his nearest opponent. However, Mikey gains nearly 8 points on the rookie front runner and closes to within 8 points of Carter Merkling. Both points races will be interesting to watch in these final 3 events. We are headed back to the UK and Brands Hatch for race #6 in the series on Jan. 7, 2016. 

Race Results

B-Class
Driver	Position (Avg.)	Best Time	Points
Bryan Dean	1.66	2:01.158	20
Ethan Maestri	2.00	2:01.488	16
Mikey Collins	2.33	2:06.500	13
Carter Merkling	4.00	2:11.895	10
Chris Rader	5.00	2:10.637	8
Tim Adkins	5.66	2:16.924	6

A-Class
Ethan Maestri	1.00	1:58.880	20
Bryan Dean	2.66	1:59.464	16
Mikey collins	3.33	2:01.434	13
Chris Rader	3.66	2:03.558	10
Carter Merkling	4.33	2:03.563	8

After 5 of 8 events:

Series Points:	B-Class	A-Class	Total
Ethan Maestri	77	84	161
Andrew Steppat	73	80	153
Bryan Dean	82	68	150
Chris Rader	36	40	76
Carter Merkling	26	26	52
Mikey Collins	23	21	44
Paul Maestri	10	8	18
Ross Merkling	8	8	16
Tim Adkins	6	-	6

Circuit de Prague - Race Results & Points Standings

B-Class
Driver	Position (Avg.)	Best Time	Points
Bryan Dean	1.66	2:05.341	20
Ethan Maestri	2.00	2:05.979	16
Andrew Steppat	2.33	2:04.187	13
Mikey Collins	4.00	2:08.621	10
Chris Rader	5.00	2:17.029	8

A-Class
Andrew Steppat	1.66	1:59.094	20
Ethan Maestri	2.66	2:00.230	16
Bryan Dean	2.66	2:02.229	13
Chris Rader	3.66	2:04.488	10
Mikey Collins	4.33	2:03.456	8

Points Standings after 4 of 8 events:

Series Points:	B-Class	A-Class	Total
Andrew Steppat	73	80	153
Ethan Maestri	61	64	125
Bryan Dean	62	52	114
Chris Rader	28	30	58
Carter Merkling	16	18	34
Paul Maestri	10	8	18
Mikey Collins	10	8	18
Ross Merkling	8	8	16