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| Ghabe Stouffer #2 |
The FRL takes to the grid for the second time this season! Despite it being the second race of the season, the race was full of firsts! Hakone is a brand new host to the FRL and what a beautiful track it was. It was also the seasons first night race and first Heat Series on the calendar! It has been a month since the FRL's last event so this gave the racers plenty of time to relax or extra time to run simulations. Who would come out the most prepared? After a few technical issues resulting in a delayed start, we found out.
In qualifying we saw a few noticeable call outs! To start was the youngest driver of the grid, Ghabe Stouffer #2, who took pole position in qualifying Sunday night... but unsurprisingly, multi-season champ Andrew Steppat reclaimed his spot at the top during the final hours. Joey Lamothe #23 secured 3rd and also the highest of his Rookie season career. Another rookie who caught the eye of many was Ace Wethan #99 who also set a personal best of 6th.
Now for the races! Heat 1 was an intense race to say the least. Ghabe and Andrew would fight each other for first but Ghabe proved victorious taking the first win of the night! Joey Lamonthe #23 didn't just perform well in qualifying but proved he can fight for his spot as he battled with Steppat and also Preston Liberatore #54 to take 3rd. Sunday we got to enjoy having a longtime familiar face rejoin the grid, Ethan Maestri #3, where he would fight for 7th against his brother, Paul Maestri #8. On the final lap, after exchanging positions throughout the heat, Ethan leaned a bit too hard on his brothers bumper, sending him into the wall. Travis Billingsly would fight for position but in his efforts to avoid contact, he hit a curb that removed all of his downforce, thus causing his car to spin hard into the wall. Fortunately, Travis didn't need medical attention but his car suffered drastically. He then pitted where his crew fixed the damage from the chaos. This resulted in a finish out of the points.
Heat 2 had some shakeups! Preston Liberatore was slated to secure 3rd in a fight with Paul Maestri but due to fuel miscalculations, the car of #54 would begin to stutter and lose power around the hairpin but would maintain enough momentum to cross the line in 4th place. Ace Wethan #99 nabbed 5th again, setting himself up for a solid and consistent race from the rookie! Joey Lamothe #23 tumbled down the standings in this heat after an unforeseen collision with #99. Joey showed excellent poise to fight his way back up to 8th to salvage 4 points for the heat series.
Heat 3 showed a strong and consistent race from all the drivers. Brandon Tretsvan #92 would attain a personal highest by finishing 10th! While not much happened in the standings, there was a 3 way battle for 3rd between Travis Billingsly #18, Preston Liberatore #54, and Joey Lamonthe #23. This battle went on for the final 3 laps of the race all the way up to the finish line! Preston Liberatore #54 made a pass to early in the last lap before the long straight where both Travis and Joey would make their pass on the #54 car. Joey sensed that Travis was playing nice that night and would stick his elbows out to keep Travis behind him up to the finish line! Travis Billingsly #18 did accumulate .70 seconds worth of penalties which was all the Preston Liberatore #54 would need to overtake Travis and secure 4th in the final heat. Paul Maestri, despite having car troubles during the heat, gained two spots after starting behind the field.
We hope all can make it for the next round of FRL action in South Africa!
FINAL SERIES:
Driver Points / Result Points
P1 Ghabe Stouffer #2 75/25
P2 Andrew Steppat #001 54/18
P3 Preston Liberatore #54 36/15
P4 Joey Lamothe #23 34/12
P5 Paul Maestri #8 23/10
P6 Ace Wethan #99 20/8
P7 Travis Billingsly #18 18/6
P8 Ethan Maestri #3 18/4
P9 Matt Smith #12 14/2
P10 Trent Daniel #15 9/1
Season Standings: Driver Points
P1 Ghabe Stouffer #2 - 37
P2 Andrew Steppat #001 - 33
P3 Preston Liberatore #54 - 33
P4 Travis Billingsly #18 - 31
P5 Paul Maestri #8 - 20
P6 Joey Lamothe #23 - 13
P7 Ace Wethan #99 - 8
P7 Matt Smith #12 - 8
P8 Seth Jensen #6 - 8
P10 Ethan Maestri #3 - 4
P10 Jonah Vines #22 - 4
P12 Aaron Vines #89 - 2
P13 Trent Daniel #15 - 1
P14 David Dodson #86 - 0
