FRL Garages Merge To Form Razorback Motorsports

This week it was announced that the two FRL teams of Dean & Ruff Racing and Maestri Brothers Racing would merge to form Razorback Motorsports. The reorganization of the two teams comes during the off-season, ahead of the WTCC Championship for the FRL’s Season 5. When asked about the reason for the merger, Ethan Maestri commented on the circumstances that led to the move.

“We had already made moves to bring the two teams closer together in the early part of the off-season. Bryan Dean from DNR had approached us about a partnership between our two teams and a team alliance came out of those talks. MBR and DNR had been working closely together for the past several weeks to develop our WTCC cars for the coming season. But we felt that in order to keep a competitive edge, it made sense to merge our organizations. To pool our resources better and build a more unified team image, something that all our drivers could take ownership of. We look forward to the coming season and have high hopes of remaining at the sharp end of the increasingly competitive field that is in the FRL.”

Bryan Dean commented further on the merger. “Allen and I very much enjoyed getting our team established in the FEC, and I’ve known the Maestri brothers for many years and felt a working relationship would benefit both sides. Ethan and I have handled the technical aspects of car tuning for both our respective teams and we communicate very well when it comes to setups, so I expect that will only get better as we get familiar with RZM as a team.”

In addition to the new team name, logo and livery designed by Paul Maestri, the team also announced their registered entries for the coming WTCC season.

“We are very pleased to announce our partnership with Audi Sport Customer Racing has been renewed for Season 5. MBR had a brief working relationship with Audi Sport, but that was dropped for a time. We have since reestablished our connection with Neuburg and look forward to putting the S3’s into action. For our #85 and #86 cars, Thrustmaster will provide secondary sponsorship along with agreements from Audi Sport and PHP Specialists. We are still in negotiations for secondary sponsorships for our #87 and #808 cars.”   

Additionally, driver Ethan Maestri will be changing his FRL number to 85. Driver Allen Ruff will be changing his number to 87.

Toyobaru Challenge - 7/21/2016

 The sun bathed the rolling hills of Virginia International Raceway for the FRL's July One-Off Challenge. The impressive field of 11 "Toyobarus" took to the track for some intense racing action.

 A problematic qualifying session set the grid for the first heat. Polesitter Travis Billingsley got a great start, but second place Ethan Maestri stalled on the line and was shuffled back early. Andrew Steppat demonstrated that it really does not matter where he starts a race from as he took his near last place start position, all the way to the front, in the opening lap. Things were dicey to begin as the field jockeyed for position and then settled into running order. A great 3-way battle developed in the middle of the order as Bryan Dean, Chris Rader and Tony Tyree ran in lock-step with each other for several laps. Bryan eventually slipped off the track and Chris inherited the 4th position. Tony would remain close for the rest of the heat but would have to settle for P5 at the checkered flag.

 The second heat was supposed to see the field reversed for the next start, however, lobby setup problems kept that from happening and it ended up being more of the same when the green flag waved. Andrew shot out to the lead with Travis in tow. In Turn 6 Travis tried to make a move alongside Andrew but then thought better of it, pulling back in behind the leader. However, Ethan had been lurking behind the two front runners and had a great run off Turn 6 to pull alongside Travis and behind Andrew, but was pushed wide when Travis moved back in line. Travis showed himself to be a real Gentlemen Driver and sacrificed the track position to give Ethan a spot. The two would work nose-to-tail through the field back into P's 2 & 3. Ethan leading the way most of the heat until a last lap clip of the wrong apex turned his car sideways and allowed Travis the pass for P2 at the checkered flag.

 Simon King makes his FRL debut here, and at times looked to be in a bit over his head, but doesn't every rookie when they first jump in? Jaxon Dean co-drove with his father, taking the wheel on the second heat and caused a bit of controversy with an overly aggressive block on Paul Maestri, further souring an already disappointing showing for the FRL veteran. Drew Dilbeck showed incredible improvement in performance and car control this outing, rivaling some of the veterans and taking P4 in the second heat.

 New team, Apex Racing, had their coming out party here and had a great showing for it. They take 3 of the top 4 spots in the order for the night. Ethan Maestri played spoiler for a top 3 sweep, planting his #2 MBR car in the 3rd position overall. Travis Billingsley continues his meteoric rise to the top of the order with a solid P2 here. Andrew Steppat continues to ride high off his FEC Championship and cashes in on a P1 victory here as well.

 The offseason continues, the next scheduled event coming in late August with Abarths at Monza.

Results:
1. Andrew Steppat       -Top lap time - 1:13.088
2. Travis Billingsley    -2nd fastest lap - 1:13.159
3. Ethan Maestri          -3rd fastest lap - 1:13.440
4. Tony Tyree
5. Chris Rader
6. Drew Dilbeck
7. Matthew Smith (R)
8. Paul Maestri
9. Bryan/Jaxon Dean
10. Carter Merkling
11. Simon King (R)

Top FRL Drivers Form New Team

Apex Racing Announcement

Privateer Travis Billingsley along with Steppat Racing and GR Racing have merged to form Apex Racing.

   Andrew Steppat of Steppat Racing: "As the FRL continues its growth, we have seen more partnerships and teams formed as a result. The amount of time, research, and resources needed for a single entity is substantial. With that in mind, we here at Steppat Racing are pleased to announce a new partnership with Tony Tyree and his GR Racing Team and privateer Travis Billingsley. We have taken an equal partnership and have formed Apex Racing Team. We believe that our shared skill, experience, knowledge, and resources will be beneficial for all involved. We began preliminary work on our joint Toyota GT86 and have been pleased with the results. Now we look forward to joint development of a WTCC contender for the next series. We are all excited at the potential for this new venture!"

   Tony Tyree of GR Racing: “After my performance during the FEC series I realized that with the amount of new talent joining the FRL ranks and the skill level of that talent, I had to make some changes if I wanted to compete at the level the league is heading. Now I can concentrate on improving my driving, and learning the tracks, and not be overly distracted by tuning. I look forward to working with and learning from 2 of the most skilled drivers in the league, I’m most grateful to them for allowing me this opportunity.”

  Travis Billingsley: "Racing as a hired driver for Team BMW during the FEC season turned out to be a bittersweet experience in the end.  It was a great privilege to be able to spend that much time behind the wheel of a top notch car.  But, since I was just driving for someone else, I did not get to have much control over the car setup, the buildup of the car, or the direction the team itself sometimes went.  When I had the opportunity to join up with Steppat Racing and GR Racing, it seemed like the next logical step in my career.  While I still have plans of being a full team owner at some point, being able to pool resources is a great way to move closer to that goal.  It is also very nice that all three partners in this team are drivers also.  This will allow much more opportunity to experiment with various car builds, as well as more research & development in less time.  I expect that having three drivers providing feedback on the car setup will help us to not only find the best car tune for each of us, but also help each other find ways to push to the limits of the car, and us as drivers.  WTCC looks to be another interesting racing season."

Chevy Cruze Added To WTCC Entry List

The #4 Chevy Cruze from the latest DLC car pack offered by Turn 10 is being added to the list of elligible cars for the FRL's Season 5 WTCC series.

Season 5 Qualifying Format, Start Grid & Race Lengths

The qualifying format for Season 5 will be a timed session with all participating drivers on the track at once. These will take place on the Thursday evening before posted race dates on Sunday. Qualifying lobby will open at around 8:45 PM and the qualifying race will start at 9 PM. 

All drivers that intend to qualify will line up on a random grid for a 15 minute qualifying session. Fastest lap takes pole, second fastest takes 2nd position, etc.  If you are unable to make a qualifying session, you will be positioned at the back of the Heat 1 grid.

- Race night: A warm-up lap before the first heat will be run. The pole sitter will move to the front of the grid and will establish a pace lap speed not to exceed 70 mph. Positions will be called out and drivers will move into respective positions in single file. As the warm-up lap ends, reduce speed and stop in your start position box. Once all positions are set, the last car in the grid will start the race with a countdown of "3,2,1, Green." The second heat grid will be 'reversed' based on lap times from the first heat, this is done automatically in game and the start will be a standing auto start to resume racing for the second heat.

Note: Anyone leaving the lobby between the first and second heats and then rejoining will have to move to the back of the field before resuming racing at the start of the second heat. 

Race Lengths:

Bathurst - 13 Laps per heat.

Yas Marina (Night) - 12 Laps per heat

Rio Full Circuit - 13 Laps per heat

Bugatti Circuit (Night) -  15 Laps per heat

Nurburging (GP and Nordschleife) - 5 Lap event

Monza Circuit - 14 Laps per heat

Alps Festival - 16 Laps per heat
Road America - 13 Laps per heat

Road America - 12 Laps per heat

The FRL & Forza Motorsport 6 Present - The Toyobaru Challenge

Summer is here, it's hot outside. Might as well sit in the AC and get ready for some heat on the track! The Toyobaru Challenge gets set to pit the FRL's best drivers against each other in these RWD street toys. 

​

Both cars are limited to a B-600 Performance Index rating.  

***No community tunes will be allowed***

The track selected is Virginia International Raceway - South circuit. Daytime, no rain. (You will need the Porsche Pack game add-on in order to participate)

We'll get things started around 9 PM Central time with a qualifying sprint to set the grid (2 laps). Then we will line up for two, 15 lap heats. The grid order will be reversed to start the second heat. Best average position wins!

Join us for some great heads-up racing action on July 21st! Be there!