Forzanightly Vol.6
- Mar 30, 2017
- 9 min read
Welcome to another instalment of Forzanightly. The past 2 weeks brought a whole host of real world racing as well as a full fortnight of races at Revolution Online Racing.
With the opening rounds of the Formula 1 accompanied by the non-rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship, as well as the MotoGP over the past weekend, we have been getting rather excited. Although, its the season opener of the BTCC that we are personally most looking forward to.
A few mid-season rule changes have come into effect at this point due to the 'carnage' that was the 21 strong grid RTCC around Monza. We decided that in an attempt to neutralise the effect of having a large crash in the race, all drivers must complete 1 mandatory pit stop within the duration of the race. It is up to the drivers which lap to pit and allows those who may have been caught up in racing incidents or crashes to recover and not be completely out of the running.
With that out of the way, lets get straight into it. Hockenheim National Circuit would play host to the penultimate Pre '66 Touring Car Championship race. Being the shortest variation of Hockenheim, the Mini's and the Alfa Romeo's on paper were deemed to have a distinct advantage over the bigger and heavier cars. However, it turned out that the Cortina was equally as strong, seeing Tyronee487163 take pole position for race 1. The action behind however was all there with a race long battle between BakedBean57, FIA LMC Alflo and BoostedPluto unfolding between the title contenders. Tyronee487163 would take the win, with a relatively unchallenged race. The best of the battling pack ended up being BakedBean57 who took the second step on the podium just in front of FIA LMC Alflo and BoostedPluto.
Race 2 was an interesting affair. The reverse grid really spiced things up, with the Cortina's of Tyronee487163 and FIA LMC Alflo starting at the back of the pack. Due to his finishing position in race 1, thebeardyguy and his Mustang started further up the grid, giving him an advantage over the other title contenders and taking the lead early on. The title contenders who were further down the grid had the challenge of making their way through the grid to try and
take home some all important championship points. With pit stops now taking effect in the races, it was interesting to see what strategies the drivers would take. FIA LMC Alflo took an early pit stop to get clear air to set quick laps in the hopes of catching the leader, while Tyronee487163 did the opposite and left it as late as possible to make his stop. Pitting early for FIA LMC Alflo put in consistently blistering lap times and was unmatched for pace, setting the quickest lap of the race on his was to the chequered flag. FIA LMC Alflo was lapping so quick that he was closing in on thebeardyguy, leading to them running together and battling for the lead. FIA LMC Alflo took the position and finished in 1st in front of thebeardyguy in 2nd and Tyronee487163 in 3rd who managed to come from the back of the grid to finish on the podium. BoostedPluto took 4th after an unfortunate event lead to the retirement of BakedBean57.
So, the results after the penultimate rounds of the Pre '66 Touring Cars are as follows; Tyronee487163 is in 1st with 153 points, BakedBean57 is in 2nd with 138 points, and TidalSwifty 23 is in 3rd with 132 points. All is still to play for as any of the top 5 could still take the first championship win with Revolution Online Racing.
Next up was the Scirocco Cup around the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit. The powerful yet nimble Scirocco was an ideal car to test the skill level of the drivers around this flowing yet tight track, as it saw ZeroRumble56844 take pole position for race 1 ahead of BoostedPluto.
It was the car of BoostedPluto who managed to capitalise on his grid position making the better getaway over ZeroRumble56844 and led into the chicane at turn 2-3. Running wide, ZeroRumble56844 took the lead. This race turned out to be the battle of strategies as opposed to racing for position on track. Several drivers took early stops to get out of battles and give them some clean air to set flying laps. BoostedPluto regained the lead after ZeroRumble56844 went in for his stop but it would be BakedBean57 who made the best strategy choice as he pitted early to get clean air and set quick lap times to leapfrog several drivers and eventually take the lead from
BoostedPluto as he left the pits on the dreaded cold tyres. It became a two-horse race for the win between BakedBean57 and BoostedPluto, with BakedBean57 coming out on top and taking the win from BoostedPluto in 2nd. Ralflet finished in 3rd after a great last lap battle with BUCKO VERSUS who tried everything to make the pass stick.
Race 2 saw the grid reversed and it was a start filled with chaos. As the cars hurtled towards the fast kink of turn 1, ZeroRumble56844 took a dive down to the inside of the curb and the pack and when he rejoined the track, he collided with the Gulf liveried Gdad Bilko who was spun around. This spin made the whole field check-up and this caused more issues. With cars going left and right, the points for best crash avoidance clearly go to Ralflet who somehow surpassed the incident in fine form, which can be seen on our video replays on YouTube. Ralflet was able to pull away from the rest of the pack as drivers had to recover from the incident and try and make their way through the field. Ralflet took the win, with the battle of BakedBean57 and ZeroRumble56844 unfolding behind. ZeroRumble56844 would end up finishing in 2nd with BakedBean57 in 3rd.
Now for championship standings. BakedBean57 is in 1st position with 164 points, BUCKO VERSUS is in 2nd with 105 points and BoostedPluto is in 3rd with 101 points.
Next up were the penultimate rounds of the GMC Pick Up Truck Championship and also the return of Indianapolis Brickyard. Going into the penultimate rounds, thebeardyguy was leading the championship by 79 points from second placed BakedBean57 who was the only plausible contender to take the championship. It was off to a bad start for BakedBean57 in his attempt to try and close the points gap as thebeardyguy took pole position for race 1. The start of the race saw little in the way of overtaking action, as you may expect from a track with no braking zones. At the front of the field, thebeardyguy and TidalSwifty 23 both made good starts and both managed to avoid getting bogged down and being swallowed by the pack. Tyronee487163 also made a good start and moved into 3rd position as the front pulled away from the rest of the field. Using the draft, the front 3 managed to keep close together as the pack split off into smaller groups, however thebeardyguy and TidalSwifty 23 eventually pulled away from Tyronee487163 who was slowly being caught by ROR newcomer Xz WULLY. thebeardyguy took the win from TidalSwifty 23 in 2nd.
Race 2 would again be a reverse grid, meaning that ZeroRumble56844 would start on pole, in front of DEADorGONE and H3L xKwAcK4x. Lap 1 turned out to be a little crazy but thankfully, no major crashes occurred. Turns 1-2 were relatively calm with cold tyres, but as soon as people reached the back straight, 3-wide was to be seen everywhere. Going into turn 3, the drivers risked 4-wide and the exit of turn 4 was where the bedlam began. H3L xKwAcK4x got loose into 4 and nudged the wall. In doing so, he came down the track causing cars to check-up in avoidance. This
set of a chain reaction of drivers trying to avoid crashes and collisions, ultimately sending drivers to pile into pit lane earlier than anyone had planned. This put early stop vs late stop strategies to the test. Several drivers had the same idea as leader thebeardyguy choosing to pit early, putting them into traffic and meaning they had to try and make their way through the field. TidalSwifty 23 was one of the drivers who chose to pit later in the race, and while passing lapped traffic, he made contact with another driver which ended his chance of a victory as he had to pit again. This also happened to BakedBean57 as he made contact with a car and the wall in severe fashion. ZeroRumble56844 was making the most of his pole position and had built a healthy lead over the pack, but pitting at the last possible opportunity saw thebeardyguy manage to slip past. But only just. A mere tenth of a second covered the pair over the line. This meant that thebeardyguy took the win and extended his lead in the championship, with ZeroRumble58644 in 2nd and Tyronee487163 came home in 3rd after only just managing to keep BoostedPluto at bay who finished in 4th.
Championship standings after the penultimate rounds are as follows; thebeardyguy is in 1st with 238 points, BakedBean57 is in 2nd with 124 points, and BoostedPluto is in 3rd with 97 points.
Finally in this bumper edition of Forzanightly is the flagship Revolution Cup, this time around coming from Silverstone National Circuit. Qualifying saw a very close affair with thebeardyguy taking pole from GenuineGull095 and BakedBean57, but only 0.3 seconds covered all three cars. The first corner of race 1 was thankfully uneventful apart from GenuineGull095 who ended up sideways and overcorrected resulting in him flying left into the run off at Copse. The front two were pretty much inseparable the whole race, only apart through pit strategy. thebeardyguy lead early on, but BakedBean57 managed to pass on lap 4. Due to not qualifying, several of the high point scoring drivers were placed further down the pack which meant for a exciting racing as they tried to carve their way through the pack. Battles were up and down the field throughout the race. In an attempt to get clean air, both BUCKO VERSUS and TidalSwifty 23 hit pit lane together. Their strategy of trying to avoid battling with each other therefore backfired spectacularly. BakedBean57 hit the pit lane at the halfway mark in order to avoid traffic, which saw thebeardyguy inherit the lead again. A few good laps were not enough for thebeardyguy to keep the lead and BakedBean57 retook 1st position and drove his Mini Cooper GP to a well deserved victory. thebeardyguy finished in 2nd and ZeroRumble58644 took 3rd and a bonus point for fastest lap. 4th to 8th position finished within 10 seconds of each other showing a very close mid-pack finish.
The reverse grid for race 2 saw the racing get very interesting. The opening lap was a rather clean one, with no real incidents, apart from some of the lead cars running wide at turn 1 and dropping down the pack. A large train between 2nd to 8th formed, with many of them not wanting to risk the close quarter racing and dropping in the pits at the end of lap 1. The early stages saw TidalSwifty 23 out front from ZeroRumble56844 and BakedBean57 who were definitely setting the pace. During the race, Pimms UKSF was involved in an incident with another driver so sadly for him, he retired early on in the race. A mistake from TidalSwifty 23 would prove costly in the long run as he gifted the lead to ZeroRumble56844 and BakedBean57, and after pit stops, he dropped down to 5th position. A great battle for the lead between ZeroRumble56844 and BakedBean57 unfolded and spent lap after lap battling with one another. Another
battle saw Tyronee487163 fend off attempts from thebeardyguy to overtake for almost a lap. These two would join on to the back of the ZeroRumble56844 and BakedBean57 battle, along with TidalSwifty 23 making it a 5-way train. The battle really heated up at the front, as when BakedBean57 pulled alongside ZeroRumble56844 on the back straight, ZeroRumble56844 squeezed and squeezed BakedBean57 until there was no more squeezing to be done and proceeded to ram into the side of the Revolution Online Racing liveried Mini. This move from ZeroRumble56844 resulted in a penalty being given for unsportsmanlike actions towards another driver. We are all for close and hard racing here at ROR, but deliberately hitting another driver to try and gain an advantage is not something we take lightly. BakedBean57 took another well deserved win after nearly not finishing at all, with ZeroRumble56844 in 2nd and Tyronee487163 in 3rd.
Standings after rounds 5&6 of the Revolution Cup are as follows; BakedBean57 is in 1st position with 114 points, thebeardyguy is in 2nd with 109 points, and ZeroRumble56844 is in 3rd with 67 points. Only 3 points behind in 4th is BUCKO VERSUS so all is still to play for in our yearlong championship.
In other news, we have a new addition to our racing calendar. We are now proudly hosting the Rookie Raceline Dice Challenge on a Saturday evening at 7pm GMT. This is not a point scoring championship, it is simply a bit of fun where anyone is welcome to join. Our first time hosting showed a dice roll of #364 and we tuned up the '88 VW Scirocco 16v
and had a lot of fun racing around various tracks. Make sure you head over to the Rookie Raceline website to check it out and keep an eye out on our Twitter, Facebook and Xbox Club feed for news on the new number and where you can download the tune we will use each week.
Okay, that's it for this volume of Forzanightly. We hope you have enjoyed keeping up to date with all the racing news from ROR and we hope to see you on a track sometime soon.
Keep the wheels turning,
From the team @ ROR
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