Race of Germany - Recap

 Round 5 of the FRL's WTCC series was held at the renowned Nurburgring. It was a five lap event encompassing both the Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife. At stake was a potentially huge points boost for the winner and the coveted "Lord of the Ring" title.

Green Flag and everyone charges off into the Green Hell

 It would prove to be an interesting start as the dice roll from earlier that morning determined that a reversed grid would be used to start the event. At the green flag, Bryan Dean and Ethan Maestri would benefit from great starts to move up the order and into the lead position at the first corner. There was quite a bit of bumping, and some drivers did get out of sorts, but most of the ten car field came through cleanly. Ethan Maestri led the train through the GP segment of the circuit but swung a little wide into the NGK chicane. This opened the door for Bryan Dean to move around the #85 Audi and into the lead heading onto the Nordschliefe.

 Behind these two, several battles for position were forming. Matthew Smith led Travis Billingsley, Paul Maestri and Andrew Steppat for a number of turns into the Nordschliefe. Eventually Matthew would lose control of his #12 Mercedes, giving up P3 and ending up in the tire wall. Behind them, Drew Dilbeck, Tony Tyree and Nicholas Hargrove were running in fairly close proximity to each other. Drew would have some troubles early on but would recover well enough. Tony would have several close calls on the slick grass which kept his advancement in check. Nicholas played it a bit more safe and while not avoiding the barriers entirely, kept his car clean enough for a time to keep himself in the race. Allen Ruff was less fortunate and found himself in trouble early and frequently. His Audi was often into the grass and damage was heavy enough to bring him into the pit at the end of lap one.

#12 Matthew Smith has a big off just before the Bowl

 Lap 2 would see slight offs from nearly everyone as the field stretched out along the undulating turns of the Green Hell. Bryan Dean would stretch his lead a bit more over Ethan Maestri. Travis Billingsley was able to put some separation between himself and Andrew Steppat after an unsuccessful charge by Andrew ended with a bump to Travis' rear bumper. Andrew would suffer some damage that would slow his second lap significantly. Ethan Maestri would pit on lap 2 hoping that a shorter pit stop would pay off in the long term. Andrew would come in as well needing to repair the damage to his BMW.

 Lap 3 would shape the outcome of the race as Tony Tyree would have trouble and be forced to retire from the race during this lap. At the end of the lap, Bryan, Travis and Paul would all pit allowing Ethan Maestri and Andrew Steppat to get right back in the thick of the fight. Bryan would have a sizable lead still, but Travis - in second place when pitting, would lose that spot to Ethan at the start of lap 4. Midway through the lap, Travis caught Ethan at the Bowl and Ethan pulled over to let the Volvo by. But just a few turns later Travis hit the grass and was into the barrier, giving Ethan P2 back. As the two started the final lap, Travis would pull alongside Ethan in Turn 1 of the GP course and tried to pass. Through Turns 2, 3, & 4 the two cars raced side-by-side. Finally, at the end of the Schumacher S, Ethan finally gave ground and Travis would race on to secure P2. Andrew had been gaining on the two cars as they fought for position in front of him. As Travis made his pass, Andrew was just coming up on Ethan at the start of the Nordschliefe. It looked as though he'd be able to put enough pressure on the Audi and gain P3 at least. But then Andrew touched the grass in a high speed turn in the early part of the course and faded back. Ethan would finish the race in P3.

 Bryan Dean was able to pass for the lead early and never look back. He takes his #808 Audi S3 some 65 miles to victory. His first this season. An important victory because it gives him the "Lord of the Ring" title and 50 points as this was a double-point event. He also benefits from 3 bonus points for having the fastest posted lap time in the event. All of this giving him a much needed boost in the points after failing to show for Yas Marina. Travis Billingsley gets a solid P2 finish and 36 points added to his tally. Ethan Maestri gets a much needed P3 and 2 bonus points for the second fastest posted lap.

Bryan Dean, winner of Round 5 and Lord of the Ring

 The series moves on now to Monza and the Race of Italy, November 27th.

Race of Germany - Results

Heat 1 Results			Heat 2 Results
Driver:	Fastest Lap (Bonus):		Driver:	Fastest Lap (Bonus):		Team Points:
Bryan Dean	8:50.408 (+3)					Apex Racing	225
Travis Billingsley	9:16.134					Millenium Motorsports	51
Ethan Maestri	9:00.812 (+2)
Andrew Steppat	8:47.406*					Privateer Points:
Paul Maestri	8:56.294*					Eight Six Racing	75
Drew Dilbeck	9:18.294*					Independant Racing	53
Matthew Smith	9:13.749 (+1)					Option 13 Racing	32
Nicholas Hargrove	9:36.289					Nicholas Hargrove	23
Allen Ruff	9:33.772*					Matthew Smith	21
Tony Tyree	9:18.953*					Daniel Fleischman	19
						Allen Ruff	4
						Rookie Points:
* = lap infraction (dirty)						Nicholas Hargrove	23
						Matthew Smith	21
						Tom Henderson	2
						Owen Henderson	2
Points Totals:	* - Bonus		Series Points Overall:
Driver:	Points:		Driver:	Points:		Heat Wins:
Bryan Dean	53*		Andrew Steppat	117		Andrew Steppat	4
Travis Billingsley	36		Travis Billingsley	108		Ethan Maestri	2
Ethan Maestri	32*		Bryan Dean	90		Paul Maestri	1
Andrew Steppat	24		Ethan Maestri	88		Travis Billingsley	1
Paul Maestri	20		Paul Maestri	75		Bryan Dean	1
Drew Dilbeck	16		Drew Dilbeck	45
Matthew Smith	13*		Tony Tyree	28
Nicholas Hargrove	8		Nicholas Hargrove	23
Allen Ruff	4		Matthew Smith	21
Tony Tyree	2		Daniel Fleischman	19
			Allen Ruff	14
			Carter Merkling	4
			Tom Henderson	2

Razorback Motorsport Shuttered

 In a suprise announcement this morning, Razorback Motorsport released a brief statement indicating that the team would be ending its efforts in the FRL effective immediately.

 "After several months of exchanging ideas and enjoying the fruits of cooperation, we unfortunately began to recognize limitations of setups vs. driving style among our different drivers. Therefore, Razorback Motorsport as a team has decided to dissolve our partnership in order for our drivers to pursue privateer efforts to finish the WTCC season."

 This announcment comes only four races after one of the founding RZM drivers, Paul Maestri, defected just before the start of Season 5 in order to enter as a privateer effort. Bryan Dean, Ethan Maestri and Allen Ruff will now enter privateer efforts for the remainder of the season.

Forzday Endurance Championship 2017 Announcment

 The FRL's Forzday Endurance Championship series will kick off it's 2017 season beginning Feburary 19th for a 2nd season of endurance type racing. Each event will be roughly one hour in length with the opportunity to use pit strategy and driver skill to compete against the best drivers the FRL has to offer.

 This years cars and schedule will very closely resemble the Grand Sport classes of the IMSA Continental Tire Challenge and the Pirelli World Challenge. The schedule for FEC Season 2 is as follows:



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Feb 19th, 2017	Daytona Int. Speedway
March 19th, 2017	Sebring Int. Raceway
April 2nd, 2017	Circuit of the Americas
April 30th, 2017	Watkins Glen
May 7th, 2017	Lime Rock Park - West
May 21st, 2017	Road America
June 4th, 2017	Virginia Int. Raceway
June 25th, 2017	Mazda Laguna Seca
July 9th, 2017	Road Atlanta

 This seasons GTS car class is as follows:

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2014 Aston Martin Vantage S

2014 BMW M4 Coupe

2015/16 Chevy Camaro Z28/SS

2016 Shelby GT350R

2015 Ford Mustang

2015 Subaru WRX Sti

2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

2010 Nissan 370Z

Rules and limitations:

- All cars will be limited to S-750

- All cars must have a Roll Cage installed

- All cars must run Race Compound tires

- All cars must run with adjustable aero packages (F & R)

- All car powerplants must operate within a horsepower range of 400 - 600 HP. 

 The registration period for teams and privateers will begin January 1st with registration closing Feb. 16th ahead of qualifying for the Daytona event. Last season was an exciting and fun series for everyone involved, we hope to see as many drivers, or more, for this next season of the FEC. 

Race of Germany Qualifying & Schedule Adjustment

 Just to get everyone on the same page for how qualifying will be handled for the Race of Germany coming up this Sunday night @ 9 PM. Starting order will be based on one of two possible grid settings. At 9 AM on Sunday morning, a d20 dice roll will determine if the grid will be descending or reverse ordered (slowest times up front) based on lap times set on the track Rivals leaderboard. Clean lap times will be considered first, followed by lap times that are dirty. 

 The dice roll will be live streamed on the FRL's Facebook page at 9 AM Sunday morning.

 Also, the Race of Italy originally scheduled for Nov. 20th has been moved to Nov. 27th. The schedule on the FRL blog page will be changed accordingly. 

One-Off Challenges for 2017 Announced

 The tradition of Thursday night racing continues in 2017 with the announcement of the FRL One-Off Challenge races for the first half of 2017.

 The year kicks off in conjunction with the new year of auto racing with the 24 Laps of Daytona. Taking place on the Daytona International Night circuit. The cars used will be a nostalgic look back some 30 years to the Endurance Prototypes of the past.

 Additional details on this event will be forthcoming.

 Then on Feb. 9th, there will be an experimantal foray into the Project Cars racing engine with an open ended play night to see how the engine holds up under FRL conditions. We'll try everything from Karts to GT3 & GT4 up to Formula classes as well on a variety of available tracks never seen in Forza.

 Later in the month, "Gentlemen, start your engines" as the FRL rolls back into Daytona for 50 laps on the greatest speedway on Earth. The first running of the FRL's Daytona 125.

 We'll break for a time as another season of the FEC will begin around that same time. Then in May, on the 25th, we will have the 2nd running of the Indianapolis 200. Last year Travis Billingsley scored his first career FRL victory here. Will he be able to defend his title, will someone else score their first win here?

 Finally, as summer gets going and the auto racing world turns it's eye toward France, the FRL goes to Le Mans for a 1 hour race on this historic track. This round will feature the modern Prototypes of today. The Audi R18, Porsche 919 and Toyota Hybrid.

 There may well be other One-Off's announced as the year progresses. But these four main events are going to have one added feature to them. Each race will pay points to participants that will be tallied at the end of the year to name a One-Off Challenge Champion.

 So, get ready to buckle in for another fantastic year of racing in the FRL!

The Takeaway - Bugatti

It was a good night for some, not so great for others. The championship begins to reveal itself a bit more, however, improved performance from some drivers keeps things interesting moving forward. So what do we take away from the Race of France? Let’s take a look.

Andrew Steppat secures his lead in the points by picking up back-to-back heat wins and Apex Racing dominated the Top 5 on the night. Their hold on the lead in Team points looks to be a near lock-out where the other teams are concerned. However, the Nurburgring now looms ominously on the horizon. Double points and a shakeup in the race format means question marks for the outcome of this event. It would not be a dangerous bet to put all your money on Steppat claiming his second straight ‘Lord of the Ring’ title, but things aren’t exactly ‘stable’ under the hood of that BMW and a lag-out is always a possibility. What would such an outcome do to the points standings?

It is quite likely that another Apex Racing driver might fill that void. Travis Billingsley has a Rival lap time that could put him at the front of the field. Paul Maestri has proven himself on the ring in the past as well. Any one of the Top 10 drivers in the points could put themselves in a position to make up a lot of ground here...but that’s looking ahead.

In the here and now, Tony Tyree and Matthew Smith are the two drivers to talk about from the Race of France. Their performances on the Bugatti Circuit were outstanding. Tony exhibited great car control and seems to have settled into the feel of his #47 BMW. Matthew has taken his #12 Mercedes from being an obstruction to avoid at Bathurst to being a legitimate contending driver anywhere in the Top 10. Tony scores a Top 5 on the night and gains a little ground on Drew Dilbeck in the points race. Matthew gains solid ground on Nicholas Hargrove in the Rookie points battle, closing to within 7 points. These two now add to a growing list of threats to take seriously from the top down.

Not to be overlooked is Owen Henderson, he finishes inside the Top 10 for the first time this season and picks up 2 points from a P9 overall finish. This brings him up to tie his brother Tom in the Rookie points. Finally, we look at Bryan Dean. He missed the second round at Yas Marina and looked to be by himself holding down the fifth position in points. But two outstanding heats by this driver secured a P3 podium spot and a much needed 15 point payout. This helps him close the gap on the Maestri brothers, both of whom sit just under 20 points ahead of him.

It is a monster race coming up next. Whether the racing is close or not, either way, the results of the Race of Germany will change the complexion of the series.

Next up: Nordschleife. Who will be the "Lord of the Ring"?