The 6th annual running of the FRL's Indy 200 will take place on Sunday, May 30th, 2021. Last year's event provided a nail-biting finish as Travis Billingsley went from third place to first place in the final lap of the event. He seeks to repeat in this years event, but a whole new cast of characters may be joining in this years race. Rules and details will be forthcoming. However, mark your calendars now and get ready for the fastest racing on the FRL schedule!
Coming off the heels of a fantastic season of racing in 2020, and with one announcement already done, the FRL is pleased to announce further plans for racing in 2021. Beginning in February the FRL will run a 7 event spec series throughout this spring. The car chosen for this series will be the 2018 Audi Sport RS3 LMS, available in Forza Motorsport 7. This staple of TCR series around the world is a fun and responsive race whip that should foment some great racing for the league.
Events will be held in two stages. There will be a single qualifying event to set the initial grid for the Bathurst race only. Afterwards, the starting grid for Heat 1 will be based on the previous event's finishing order. The grid for Heat 2 will be a reverse grid based on the finishing order of Heat 1. Finishing orders will be determined by taking an average of a driver's finishes in the two heats. Points will be awarded as in previous series (points based on the Indy Car Championship model).
Rules for car setup will be quite simple. At purchase, the car is rated at S-716, drivers will need to make one upgrade to the vehicle, the addition of race brakes will be mandatory. That's it, everything else about the car will be "as is". Tuning will be at the discretion of the driver. Use of general lobby tunes will not be allowed as the upgrade parts cannot be easily verified (use of a fellow FRL drivers tune will be allowed but may be subject to FRL scrutineering).
With race brakes added the final P.I. rating will be S-719. Wheel replacement for weight shaving or aesthetics will NOT be allowed. Also, for this series, we will be eliminating "manual w/clutch" shifting from these races. All drivers will be using manual (or automatic if desired). This is being done to bring the field to as close to spec as possible.
We hope all FRL drivers will join in on this world encompassing TCR series, starting with a monster event at the famed Bathurst circuit on February 7th!
2021 Spring Series - TCR Spec: Audi Sport RS3 LMS
February 7th - Bathurst - 9 laps*
February 21st - Suzuka (West Alt Circuit) - 13 laps*
March 14th - Dubai (Mtn. Circuit Reverse) - 11 laps*
March 21st - Prague Full - 10 laps*
April 4th - Alps (Club - Reverse) - 15 laps*
April 18th - Rio (Full Circuit Reverse) - 8 laps*
May 2nd - Sonoma (GP Circuit) - 12 laps*
*per heat
It has been almost three
years since the FRL last sponsored a FASCAR race and almost four since the last
series was concluded on the Forza 6 engines.
THE DAYTONA 2OO A FASCAR EVENT will be the opening race of
the long-awaited 3rd season.
The Daytona 200 will be an 80-lap event covering 200
miles of the famed tri-oval at Daytona International speedway, qualifying will
take place Sunday January 24th at 8:30 p.m. Central Time with the race
beginning shortly after. The following races grid orders will be taken from
series points standing. All races will be rolling starts with the use of a pace
car.
The cars for this series will be any of the 2017 NASCAR's
found in Forza 7. Cars will be run as stock R833 PI no upgrades allowed. Tuning
however, will be allowed.
Schedule is as follows:
January 24th = DAYTONA 2OO (TRI OVAL) 80 LAPS
January 31st = HOMESTEAD 100 (OVAL) 66 LAPS
February 14th = 100 MILES of ROAD AMERICA (EAST
CIRCUIT) 45 LAP Road course event
February 28th = INDY 150 (OVAL) 60 LAPS
March 7th = DAYTONA 250 (TRI OVAL NIGHT RACE) 100 LAPS
The Catalunya GP circuit hosted the first annual "Preston Ball Run" as the last race of the year and the finale of the 10th season of FRL racing. Travis Billingsley got off to a tough start as he and Andrew Steppat got together during a frantic start to the race. No damage was suffered by either driver, but it set them back a pace. Preston Liberatore got off to a flying start at the front of the line and gapped much of the field of 10 cars early on. Paul Maestri got solid start in the mid-field and picked his way through the fray to set up in pursuit of the Liberatore's F50. Ethan Maestri, Brandon Adkins, and Seth Jensen would each take turns swapping paint and passing in the early going. Seth would suffer a couple of unfortunate "offs" but kept his head down and fought back to insure a P6 finish. Blake Wild makes his return to the circuit after a brief hiatus and while not running at the front, did show top level class in allowing the lead cars by in the late stages of the event.
For the first 8-10 laps, Ethan Maestri, Andrew Steppat and Travis Billingsley set about hunting down Paul and Preston at the sharp end of the field. By lap 10, Ethan was drafting off Preston's rear bumper and Andrew Steppat was closing on the two, but it was not to be for the #001 McLaren as he was booted from the server. Ethan dove hard into the hairpin at Turn 9 and bumped Preston, turning the stricken F50 side-ways. Ethan allowed the Ferrari to recover, which then allowed the #18 Ferrari to close in. The next lap would see Preston slide wide in Turn 2 and open the gap for the two pursuers to exploit.
The final ten laps would see a Herculean effort by both Ethan and Travis as they drove nose-to-tail and around each other, swapping the lead and negotiating traffic. Truly as tight a battle as any this season. In the end, Travis Billingsley drove his Ferrari F50 to victory lane. Ethan Maestri, a close second in the #3 Porsche 911. Preston Liberatore brings his Ferrari home in P3.
Although it was a DNF for Andrew Steppat, his dominance in the league continues to amaze as he had already locked up the championship coming into the race. His 9th FRL title was presented to a non-existent crowd (due to Covid-19 protocols). Still, an impressive achievement, and one envied by most. Travis Billingsley closes out a solid season in P2 points, Ethan Maestri rounds out the Championship podium in P3. Paul Maestri and Tony Tyree finish out the Top 5 positions, respectively. Seth Jensen rightfully deserves the accolade of "Rookie of the Season" by virtue of being there from the start and completing the full schedule. Preston Liberatore showed himself ready to join the top tier drivers at the front of the field and looks to cinch a Rookie Driver title in the next series.
Congratulations again to Andrew, and all that took part in a memorable Season 10 of the FRL!
Andrew Steppat - 400
Travis Billingsley - 341
Ethan Maestri - 323
Paul Maestri - 267
Tony Tyree - 252
Preston Liberatore - 242
Seth Jensen - 238
Blake Wild - 120
Ghabe Stouffer - 112
Bryan Dean - 84
Brandon Adkins - 52
Nicholas Hargrove - 50
Riley Liberatore - 42
David Dodson - 22
The turbidity of the series is becoming far less opaque with just 2 races left, but with an event like the Nurburgring, some things are bound to get stirred up.
The racing at the start of the six lap, 100 mile event on the "Green Hell" started off with a bang, several in fact, in the opening corners of the first lap. Seth Jensen got his McLaren off the line well and screamed into an early lead, only to get banged into by a dive-bombing Paul Maestri in the #7 Porsche 911. His overshoot into the chicane at Turn 1 muddied the water plenty, but Preston Liberatore in the #054 Ferrari lead the group out of the chicane and hurtled on to Turn #3. Here, Seth got a bumper into the #054 F50 and jettisoned the hard-charging rookie into the grass. Seth's comeuppance came moments later as he overcooked the approach into Dunlop-Kehre, swinging wide into the grass and allowing the field to pass. As the group of 8 cars snaked onto the opening segment of the Nurburgring, Ethan Maestri pulled alongside Travis Billingsley, but the two ran out of room quickly and both smacked the retaining wall. Ethan got the worse end of the exchange, being inexplicably stuck to the wall. He was able to throw the car in reverse and extract himself, but many seconds behind the pack.
For Nicholas Hargrove, a strong start to his race would soon come to an end as he would drift into the grass at high speed and loop his #5 F50, losing touch with the main group of racers. But the biggest butcher's bill would not be paid by Hargrove this night. Tony Tyree would share the check with Travis as he drifted his Porsche into the grass and into a tire wall that would utterly maul his 911 and place it directly in the path of the #18 Ferrari driven by Travis. Travis would be able to maintain some semblance of speed for the remaining 14 miles or so before getting into the pits. For Tony, his night was effectively ended as he had to limp the #47 car all the way around the "Green Hell" at barely more than the pace of a retirement home walker.
For Paul Maestri, the race went reasonably well. Despite blowing his line in Turn 1 at the race start, he held the lead during the opening lap for some time. Late in lap one he would lose the lead to Andrew's #001 McLaren. During lap 2 he would drop a spot to Preston Liberatore. Lap 3 would find him battling teammate Ethan Maestri for P3. Ethan would make the pass and Paul would eventually find the finish line in P5 behind a fortunate Travis Billingsley in P4.
With a podium finish, Ethan was able to close the points gap slightly, but still leaves a tall order to fill if he wants to take 2nd in the series from Travis. The real question is: will rookie Preston Liberatore be able to push past series veterans Tony Tyree and Paul Maestri to take a Top 5 place in the standings. We will find out at the series finale at Catalunya, on December 13th!
Event Result:
Preston Liberatore - 50
Andrew Steppat - 45
Ethan Maestri - 40
Travis Billingsley - 35
Paul Maestri - 30
Tony Tyree - 28
Seth Jensen - 26
Blake Wilde - 24
Series Points:
Andrew Steppat - 330
Travis Billingsley - 256
Ethan Maestri - 238
Paul Maestri - 202
Tony Tyree - 198
Seth Jensen - 182
Preston Liberatore - 157
Ghabe Stouffer - 112
Blake Wilde - 96
Bryan Dean - 84
Riley Liberatore - 42
Brandon Adkins - 26
Nicholas Hargrove - 24
Drew Dilbeck - 19
The FRL arrived at Brands Hatch to inclement weather for a two heat event on the Indy circuit. The reverse grid, initially set based on series points standings, meant that rookie Preston Liberatore took a quick lead in the first race as the rest of the 8 car field churned behind him. Ethan Maestri, Paul Maestri and Travis Billingsley all took turns at moving up through the field, but would each suffer setbacks that would force them to start the process all over again. Ethan had quickly advanced to P3 but locked up behind Seth Jensen, swinging wide into the grass at Hawthorn Hill, moving him back to P7. Paul Maestri and Travis Billingsley would both find the grass between Sheene Curve and Stirlings. For Travis, two off track excursions would drop him far afield, which would have consequences in the series points standings. In the final laps of the race, Ethan Maestri was able to secure P3 for his Porsche 911 as Seth Jensen fought valiantly to maintain a Top 3 spot, only to fall victim to the rain slicked Sheene Curve. Andrew Steppat kept his McLaren pointed true and advanced all the way to Preston's Ferrari bumper, but could not pass for the win. The Rookie scored his first victory on the night.
Round two would see the field navigate the course a bit more nimbly. Fewer critical off's ultimately meant less passing. However, a Turn 1 tangle between Ethan Maestri and Andrew Steppat meant that it was Preston's race to lose. Until the closing laps that is, once Andrew caught back up to the rookie and began applying pressure to the F50. However, Preston was able to prevail over both the pressure and the weather to score two straight wins on the evening. Travis Billingsley recovered in the second round well enough to score P3, but with a P6 scored in the first heat, his placement on the podium would take a hit, ending up in 4th overall.
Preston Liberatore took the top podium spot and 50 series points to add to his series run. Andrew Steppat did exactly what he could to maintain his lead in the points with a second place finish. Ethan Maestri was able to take the final podium step and cut into Travis' margin slightly. The series head's to the "Green Hell" of the Nurburgring in Germany.
