Forzday Race Review - Nurburgring GP - 11/19/2015

  You could practically smell the bratwurst and pretzels from the track vendors as the FRL descended on the hinterlands of the German countryside as Nurburgring GP hosted the 3^rd event in the series. Action started off quick as Andrew Steppat and Bryan Dean both rolled off the line in their Australian Chevrolet’s. Andrew started off at a blistering pace, setting the B-Class top lap of 2:13.099 in the first heat. Bryan capitalized on his Holden’s straight line speed and stayed in front of Ethan Maestri’s VW Bug in 2 of the 3 heats, securing a solid second place finish in the B-Class. Carter Merkling made his return to the track for this event and ran well in his mustachioed Fiat, racing ahead of Chris Rader in the 3^rd heat. But Chris ran steady and came in ahead of his fellow rookie driver, securing 4^th overall for himself.

 BAC Mono racing was even more competitive than B-Class as all drivers got a fell for the class change and began jockeying for position. Front runners Andrew and Ethan pushed their Mono’s hard through all 3 heats, swapping leads and heat wins and finishing each race with very close overall times. In the end, Andrew would out drive Ethan and take a win overall in the class. Bryan, sporting a fantastic Mario Kart livery on his Mono would cruise to a 3^rd place position overall. But he was not all alone as Chris demonstrated some advancement in his Mono driving skills, keeping the top running rookie close for much of the three heats.

 As we conclude the third event in the series, we take a look now at how the points standings are shaping up. Andrew Steppat continues his stranglehold on first place, extending his point lead to 120 points – 27 points over second place Ethan Maestri. The battle for second position shows signs of heating up with Bryan’s challenge on Ethan in the B-Class cars, but he’ll have to shore up his handling of the BAC Mono’s in order to close the 12 point gap between them. With solid runs in 2-3 events Chris Rader and Carter Merkling have raised themselves over Paul Maestri and Ross Merkling who have been unable to make every event.

 We look forward to the next event on Dec. 3^rd at Prague and to the possible debut of two more drivers to the series. 

For video of some of the action, click here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/

Results:

B-Class
Driver	Position (Avg.)	Best Time	Points
Andrew Steppat	1.00	2:13.099	20
Bryan Dean	2.33	2:16.726	16
Ethan Maestri	2.66	2:15.459	13
Chris Rader	4.33	2:26.539	10
Carter Merkling	4.66	2:25.007	8
A-Class
Andrew Steppat	1.33	2:08.109	20
Ethan Maestri	1.66	2:09.063	16
Bryan Dean	3.00	2:13.886	13
Chris Rader	4.33	2:15.293	10
Carter Merkling	4.66	2:19.352	8

Points Standings after 3 events:

Series Points:	B-Class	A-Class	Total
Andrew Steppat	60	60	120
Ethan Maestri	45	48	93
Bryan Dean	42	39	81
Chris Rader	20	20	40
Carter Merkling	16	18	34
Paul Maestri	10	8	18
Ross Merkling	8	8	16

Forzday Race Review - 11/5/15 - Spa

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps – 11/5/15

 The action was intense last night as the field of 5 racers took to the corners and straights of the legendary Spa race course.  After sorting through connectivity problems, and losing Paul Maestri from the field, we got started with Heat 1 of the B-Class series cars. Turn 1 proved to be just as difficult as anticipated. Several altercations would happen here in the opening seconds of nearly every heat that was run. But staying true to form would not be Andrew Steppat’s problem on this inaugural run of Spa on the FRL circuit of tracks, and he would easily best the field securing a solid 1^st place position in the class. Racing between series vet Ethan Maestri and newcomer Bryan Dean would be very close in the opening stages of Heat 3 in the B-Class. Bryan would ultimately win out and placed second with Ethan finishing a ways behind in third.

 In the BAC Mono A-Class, these race machines proved to be a lot of fun. Some very tight racing was seen amongst the front runners as Andrew and Ethan would finish 1-2 in every heat with no more than 2 seconds separating them at the finish line. In the final heat, Bryan would make his presence known as he led most of the first lap, but got his machine out of sorts in the final chicane and pushed out and into Ethan, allowing Andrew to step though the open door. Though Ethan would post the fastest lap of the night @ 2:33.120, Andrew would again take the class win with three solid 1^st place positions.

 It was “experience night” for two others in the field. Newcomer Chris Rader made his debut in the series posting solid 4^th position finishes in each class, and placed him ahead of Carter Merkling and Paul Maestri in the series points. Series veteran Ross Merkling made his return to the ranks of the FRL and posted 5^th position in each class. He’ll be looking to shore-up his stable and make a run for Chris’s position in the coming events.

 The FRL is off to Germany as we take the series to the Nurburgring Grand Prix Circuit on November 19^th for the showdown on the GP-Strecke.  

Results:

B-Class
Driver	Position (Avg.)	Best Time	Points
Andrew Steppat	1.00	2:37.989	20
Ethan Maestri	2.33	2:40.779	16
Bryan Dean	2.66	2:40.916	13
Chris Rader	4.00	2:55.648	10
Ross Merkling	5.00	3:20.297	8
A-Class
Andrew Steppat	1.00	2:33.428	20
Ethan Maestri	2.00	2:33.120	16
Bryan Dean	3.00	2:36.583	13
Chris Rader	4.00	2:42.235	10
Ross Merkling	5.00	3:05.216	8

Series Points after 2 Events:

Series Points:	B-Class	A-Class	Total
Andrew Steppat	40	40	80
Ethan Maestri	32	32	64
Bryan Dean	26	26	52
Chris Rader	10	10	20
Carter Merkling	8	10	18
Paul Maestri	10	8	18
Ross Merkling	8	8	16

Forzday Race Review - Sliverstone GP - Oct. 22nd 2015

  The sun shone brightly over the HD enhanced digital rendering of Silverstone raceway last night, as the Forzday Racing League kicked off its fourth season of racing. We didn’t have to wait long to get the excitement started either. Newcomer to the series Bryan Dean, showed some moxy and raced his 63’ Beetle into the front of the field early. This aided him in being able to avoid a terrific crash in the early stages of the race on Turn 3. Carter Merkling, also a rookie in the series (and late entry as well), forgot where the brake pedal was and plowed his Lancia into Ethan Maestri, spinning his Beetle like a top and caused team mate Paul Maestri to have to swerve like mad to avoid getting collected as well. 

Carter and Ethan would both finish way back in the field of 5, Bryan turned in a solid 2^nd place finish in his first heat as a rookie, and Andrew Steppat finished on par with a heat victory.  

 With ‘first race’ jitters out of the way, things settled into clean solid racing for heats 2 & 3. Ethan recovered nicely to win heat number 2. Andrew would win heat 3 going away with a top lap on the night in B class racing, turning in a lap time of 2:20.094.

 On to A-Class racing and the BAC Mono’s. After a few moments of discussion amongst race officials concerning rookie Bryan Dean’s illegal entry in the race, we got started. Going from B-Class street cars to these mini F1’s proved to be quite an adjustment for the drivers, and the early racing in heat 1 was sketchy at best. Several drivers swapped ends, and passes were often less than clean.  In the end, Andrew would dominate the field with two heat victories and screaming lap times. Both Maestri Bros. Racing drivers experienced technical difficulties and posted last place finishes in all three heats. This benefited rookie Carter Merkling, allowing him 4^th place finishes in all three heats. The closest race of the night was between Bryan and Ethan, both averaged a 2.66 place finish in the class, but due to Ethan’s 2:14.861 lap time in the third heat, he takes the position over Bryan’s best lap of 2:16.139.

 We’re off to Belgium for the next event of the series at Circuit de Spa on November 5^th. And afterward, we’re gonna make waffles!

 Results:

B-Class Driver Position (Avg.) Best Time Andrew Steppat 1.33           2:20.094 Ethan Maestri 2.33           2:21.180 Bryan Dean 2.66           2:23.250 Paul Maestri 3.66           2:24.875 Carter Merkling 5.00           2:39.869 A-Class Andrew Steppat 1.33          2:13.468 Ethan Maestri 2.66          2:14.861 Bryan Dean 2.66          2:16.139 Carter Merkling 4.00          2:23.509 Paul Maestri    4.33 2:22.351 Series Points: B-Class A-Class Total Andrew Steppat 20 20 40 Ethan Maestri 16 16 32 Bryan Dean 13 13 26 Paul Maestri 10 8 18 Carter Merkling 8 10 18

Click Click Vroom!!!

 Here is a bit of action from last Thursday night's Test-n-Tune. It was the last one before the start of Season 4 of the FRL, and a lot of fun was had. Looks like there will be some close-quarters action this season.

 Get your cars ready and come join the fun on the track this Thursday night for the season opener at Silverstone Grand Prix!

Getting Better...

So I've been spending some time in the multiplayer lobbies. I have to say, there are still quite a few jerks out there that would sooner punt you into the wall than race you clean, but it is getting better. Here is a clip from Road Atlanta Club on 10/06/15. Clean racing up front, a few solid passes and the little V-dub was haulin' the mail in first place.

Video

 Playing with video capture still. Here is a sample from a race at Road Atlanta on a Forzday from a couple weeks ago. Andrew out front in the NSX,  Mikey or Bryan (?) in the black Imprezza and Paul in the white.

Season Four Class and Track Information

FRL Season 4 Classes and Schedule

Here are the classes and track schedule for the running of the fourth FRL season of racing.

Class 1: B-Class (600 max) Vintage-Imports. The vehicle must meet these criteria:
Cannot be of North American manufacture.
Cannot have been produced after 1990.
Must be 2-door & RWD.

Class 2: A-Class (699 max) BAC Mono. The vehicle must meet these criteria:
Any adjustment legal so long as it does not exceed the 699 rating.

Schedule:

Oct. 22nd  - Silverstone - Grand Prix Circuit
Nov. 5th    - Circuit de Spa - Full Course
Nov. 19th  - Nurburgring - Grand Prix Circuit
Dec. 3rd    - Circuit de Prague - Full Course
Dec. 17th  - Circuit de Catalunya - Grand Prix Course
Jan. 7th     - Brands Hatch -Grand Prix Course
Jan. 21st   -  Watkins Glen - Full Course
Feb. 4th    - Circuit of the Americas - Grand Prix Circuit