The Indianapolis 200 - "One Off" Challenge - May 26th

 On Thursday, May 26th, the FRL will host the first running of the Indianapolis 200. This 80 lap event around the most storied track in North America will add a new chapter to the FRL as well. The challenge of holding your line around a 2.5 mile track at speeds in excess of 220 mph should make for an exciting event!

 Here are the eligible Forza 6 cars for this event:

All entries must be equipped with Drag Compound tires for this event.

Tunes will be in-house/team developed only. No Community tunes allowed.

We welcome all FRL drivers, past and present, to participate in this historic event to take place just before the 100th running of the actual Indy 500 the following Sunday. It's a celebration of speed and fun, don't miss it!

*Updated* - Laguna Seca 66 Presented by Age of Geek - Results/Recap 4/24/16

 It would be an historic event at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway as 12 drivers made the grid to start the 5th FEC event of the season. Not since August 2013 at the 1.2 hours of Sebring had there been an FRL sanctioned event with at least 10 drivers entered. The entry list last night shatters that old record and put the biggest field of drivers on the shortest, tightest course on this year's FEC circuit. How did things shake out in the hills outside Monterey, CA?

                                              Field of 12 sets off at the start of the Laguna Seca 66

 First lap action looked to be intense, but instead of mayhem, it was a quiet and clean rolling start. Into Turn 1, there was a little bumping and jockeying, but no major catastrophe's. The #3 Porsche of Ethan Maestri did bump into the back of the #001 Corvette of Andrew Steppat. The bump opened the door for Daniel Fleischman, making his debut in the FRL here, to move his #43 Ferrari 458 into P3. Further back, The #303 McLaren driven by Chris Rader carved a clean line through the turn only to have the #9 Porsche  of Chris Dilbeck get into his right rear quarter panel on exit. This resulted in an incident that put both cars off track and at the back of the field. Chris would collect himself and go on to make a solid run, climbing as high as P5 at one point, before settling into P7 for the finish. Dilbeck would have a little more trouble than Rader and brings his car home P9.

                                    Chris Dilbeck (Porsche) and Chris Rader (McLaren) tangle in Turn 1

 There was some serious battling taking place toward the front of the field here. The tight confines of the track made passing difficult. Bryan Dean, driving the #81 Aston Martin DBR9, made as much use of the close quarters to run some very fast laps and kept Andrew Steppat at bay in the early going. At around lap 6, Andrew got a good run coming out of Turn 11, but Bryan was able to get the power down faster and retook the lead diving down into Turn 1. A couple of laps later though, Andrew would again make a run for the position. As both drivers braked into Turn 5, Bryan would drift wide and allow Steppat the preferred line. Bryan tried to move in close and possibly scrub some speed off Andrew, but the contact resulted in Bryan slipping up the berm and into the sand, dropping him from P1 back to P4 as Daniel and Ethan were right there to take advantage of Bryan's off.

 Ethan Maestri and Daniel Fleischman, already embroiled in a hotly contested battle for P3, set their sights on P2 from this point on. While Daniel led early, eventually he would get off Turn 11 a little more slowly than Ethan. This allowed the 911 RSR to plant the power down and get alongside Fleischman's Ferrari in a few places. Around lap 8, Daniel got a little wide in the corner and dragged the tires on the sand allowing Ethan to move into P2. He'd hold onto that position until pitting on lap 13. Daniel was there to pass him in Turn 1 and the battle was joined again, until Ethan was once again able to take advantage of a wide corner and take back P2, this time for good.

                        Battles could be found all over the track, but P1 thru P6 were most hotly contested throughout

 Travis Billingsley and Paul Maestri had a strong battle developing early on for P5, but glitch-contact getting into Turn 11 forced Travis to pit the #18 BMW early for repairs. Despite going from front to back, and having to pit extra in two consecutive races, Travis fought back hard and climbed into P6 before the checkered flag waved. Paul would bring the Porsche across the line to round out the top 5.

 Mikey Collins in the #7 Corvette had not been on the track since the January opener at CotA, despite a rough start to the race, he was able to pilot his C7.R to P8. Allen Ruff, Tony Tyree and Andrew Capshaw would round out the field at the flag. Tyree's #47 Bentley, though not placing high on the list, did turn in the last full point score for fast lap in the field with a 1:28.859.

 Not a lot of shakeup in the points standings. Most positions held, with some extending leads and some drawing a little tighter. the rookie Fleischman makes a big splash with 21 points in his race debut, and joins Bryan Dean in being one of only two rookie drivers to podium in their first FRL event. The manufacturer points battle heats up to a boil as Aston Martin now holds a very narrow lead over Chevrolet, and Porsche closes to just under 50 points from the top spot. Bentley and McLaren are separated by only 3.5 points and Ferrari makes its debut in the series with 21 points, immediately putting it over Nissan and within striking distance of the British duo.

 We are off to France for the 1 Hour of Le Mans on May 15th.

Results:

Position:	Driver:	Points:	Lap Time:	Lap Points:	Total:
1	Andrew Steppat	25	1:25.075	10	35
2	Ethan Maestri	18	1:25.519	8	26
3	Daniel Fleischman	15	1:26.065	6	21
4	Bryan Dean	12	1:25.294	9	21
5	Paul Maestri	10	1:26.851	5	15
6	Travis Billingsley	8	1:25.849	7	15
7	Chris Rader	6	1:27.751	4	10
8	Mikey Collins	4	1:28.095	2	6
9	Chris Dilbeck	2	1:27.880	3	5
10	Tony Tyree	1	1:28.859	1	2
11	Allen Ruff	0.5	1:30.490	0.5	1
12	Andy Capshaw	0.5	1:30.568	0.5	1

 Points:

Position:	Driver:	Points:
1	Andrew Steppat	165
2	Ethan Maestri	140
3	Bryan Dean	110
4	Paul Maestri	84
5	Travis Billingsley	69
6	Allen Ruff	39
7	Tony Tyree	38
8	Chris Rader	34
9	Andy Capshaw	23
10	Mikey Collins	23
11	Daniel Fleischman	21
12	Carter Merkling	11
13	Chris Dilbeck	9

Manufacturer Points:	Points:
Aston Martin	189
Chevrolet	188
Porsche	141
Dodge	88
BMW	56
Bentley	38
McLaren	34
Ferrari	21
Nissan	11

One-Off Challenge Night

 It was an evening for fun racing as the FRL returned to Thursday night racing roots and offered up a One-Off Challenge in the B-class Mazda MX-5's at Laguna Seca. A wide variety of liveries and tunes were on display as 7 drivers took to the track in fun, but at times, contentious racing action.

 By far the biggest rivalry to play out was between Bryan Dean and Paul Maestri. What turned out to be playful jostling in the first of three heats, turned into blood by the start of the second. But, it was all for charity and the drivers had a good time.

We set our sights on the main event for Sunday night. The Laguna Seca 66 presented by Age of Geek. Qualifying begins tonight and runs through Saturday night to set the grid.

One-Off Challenge Tonight

 The return of an FRL favorite takes place tonight at 9 pm as the B-Class Mazda Miata's take to Laguna Seca. Practice Wednesday night was well attended and drivers were able to get a feel for how the action will play out tonight.

 Lobby opens at 8:45 pm with invites going out shortly thereafter.

Race Week - Laguna Seca 4/18 - 4/24

 It's another week of excitement and action in the FRL as the Forzday Endurance Championship makes its next stop in the hills outside Monterey, California. This Sunday will be the first running of the Laguna Seca 66 presented by Age of Geek. But, there is plenty of action on the track in the days leading up to the event Sunday night. Here is the itinerary for the week. 

Wed. 4/20 - Practice - Starting at 9 pm there will be a practice session to test tunes and run the MX-5 & GT-R cars on track with other racers. We'll run two 5-lap heats per class.

Thur. 4/21 - FRL "One-Off" Challenge (94' Mazda MX-5 only, B-600 max P.I.) We'll run three 5-lap heats. Come on out for an evening of heads-up racing fun. Lobby starts @ 9 pm. 

Also, Thursday evening will mark the beginning of qualifying for the Laguna Seca 66 grid. Beginning around 8 pm, and running as late as necessary after the One-Off Challenge. Message Ethan when you are ready to run your qualifying laps and the lobby will be ready to go.

Friday 4/22 - FEC Qualifying continues starting at 9 pm. 

Sunday 4/24 - FEC Laguna Seca 66 Presented by Age of Geek

Lobby will open around 8:30 pm - invites @ 8:45. Parade/grid lap @ 9:00 pm. 

Forzday This Week Episode 1.1

Pleased to present the first episode of Forzday This Week. A podcast to keep you informed on what's happening in the FRL. Click the link to hear the episode hosted over on Soundcloud and enjoy!

forzdaythisweek1-1

24 Laps of Spa 4/4/16 - Results

 The sun shone through the conifers surrounding the beautiful track at Spa-Francorchamps for the FEC's running of the 24 Laps of Spa.

 After some trouble getting the grid set, Ethan Maestri got an early jump on the field and headed into Turn 1, getting bumped by Andrew Steppat in the process. Steppat bounced of the #3 911 and around into the path of Brian Dean in his Aston Martin. The resulting pile-up ruffled a few feathers and held up the eventual front runners. After a few laps to sort out damage and positions, the race ended as expected, with points leader Andrew Steppat at the sharp end of the field. Followed by Ethan Mestri in P2. Rookie Travis Billingsley overcame a very poor start to the race and brought his BMW home in P3 for his first FEC podium finish.

 Further afield, Bryan Dean suffered damage to his car in the opening lap and had to spend extra time in the pits. Still, he would come up to P4, salvaging a little from a poor start. The #86 Porsche driven by Paul Maestri finished in P5, after chasing Chris Rader's startlingly fast McLaren GT3 for most of the race. Chris suffered a momentary lapse in judgement and allowed the 911 to flash by him on the closing lap.

 Andrew Capshaw, after suffering through an abysmal performance at Sebring, bounced back quite nicely in his DNR backed DBR9, finishing P7 and keeping his nose clean throughout. Tony Tyree would sooner forget this race even happened as he struggled to keep his line on the track and brough the #47 Bentley across the line P8. Another rookie joined the grid briefly here, Chris Dilbeck in a rented Aston Martin, finished a single lap before engine failure ejected his entry from the race. He was scored in P9.

 We are off to the west coast of North America for the FEC's Laguna 66 Sponsored by Age of Geek on April 24th!

Results:

Position:	Driver:	Points:	Lap Time:	Lap Points:	Total:
1	Andrew Steppat	25	2:16.510	10	35
2	Ethan Maestri	18	2:18.140	9	27
3	Travis Billingsley	15	2:18.602	8	23
4	Bryan Dean	12	2:17.306*	4	16
5	Paul Maestri	10	2:20.008	7	17
6	Chris Rader	8	2:20.832	6	14
7	Andy Capshaw	6	2:24.298*	3	9
8	Tony Tyree	4	2:24.949	5	9
9	Chris Dilbeck	2	2:30.837*	2	4
10	-	1	-	1
	* - indicates dirty lap posted

Points:

Position:	Driver:	Points:
1	Andrew Steppat	130
2	Ethan Maestri	114
3	Bryan Dean	89
4	Paul Maestri	69
5	Travis Billingsley	54
6	Allen Ruff	38
7	Tony Tyree	36
8	Chris Rader	24
9	Andy Capshaw	22
10	Mikey Collins	17
11	Carter Merkling	11
12	Chris Dilbeck	4

Manufacturer:	Points:
Aston Martin	166
Cheverolet	147
Porsche	95
Dodge	88
BMW	41
Bentley	36
McLaren	24
Nissan	11

24 Laps of Spa Set For Tonight

 Weeks of practice have come down to tonight as the FEC rolls through the hills of Belgium at the 24 Laps of Spa-Francorchamps.

 After a disappointing last-lap loss at Sebring, Points leader Andrew Steppat hopes to get his championship run back on track tonight. While Ethan Maestri, and Bryan Dean are joined by rookie Travis Billingsley near the top of the leaderboard, promising a tight race for the top three positions.

 Conditions will be good as the weather roll was a 14, assuring sunny weather on the track.

Starting Grid will be set according to leaderboard postions below: