R.I.R. Build Your Own Car @ Speed Park Raceway

(race of 8/10/12)

And, right after one hour, we're having totally different type of racing, where racers not only show their driving talent, but also demonstrate their artistic skills with the cars they drive.
And again, Saphyre Cyberstar wins the first prize for the originality of her car - yerterday it was a stylish motorized trike that not only looks fantastic, but also set up correctly to win, if there's no... Well, just continue reading.

But before I go on, I'd like to say big thank you to one of the greatest racers, also a very good friend of mine - Grosmanteau DeCuir - for his help with the race analysis. Plenty of facts you'll read in this article I owe to him.
Like it was mentioned, this track has a pretty easy layout to drive, so qualifying round was very important - there was no doubt racers will pile up after the start and keep on going together for, possibly, even a few laps. At first MidnightRambler Frostbite was leading with 14.499 seconds, then DeCuir (last but two in the qualifying queue) got the pole with a very close time - 14.466, but JP Paneer (last but one in the queue) took it from him with 14.317.
But position on the grid works only if you manage to avoid the traffic that promptly surrounds you.
Grosmanteau's predictions were right - it was a really messy race in the beginning, battles occured here and there, racers were trading places in a blink. After the start, it was barely possible to determine who's on which position - the biggest mess took place at the second turn, and at the lap 2, after what DeCuir was pushed onto the pits by ZZ and Market was pushed there by DeCuir. Both dropped on 8th and 9th places.
However, if Market's catching-up skill still needs more experience, DeCuir made no doubt he can make it to the top - and he began making his way through the traffic. First one to pass was Eagle Clawtooth who's qualifying time didn't allow him to make a headstart, and therefore he was pushed back. But he, along with DeCuir, definitely wasn't going to give up, so it was the battle during which they both have passed ZZ, then Sweet, and it turned into the battle for the 5th place. Ought to say, Clawtooth is one hell of an opponent, so definitely wasn't an easy win for DeCuir. Meanwhile, ZZ and Sweet challenged each other for the 7th place.

Right ahead of him, Paneer and Moonites were in a battle for the 3rd place, and even though DeCuir got close to them, they were going with the same speed, so DeCuir stayed back. Opportunity caught him by surprise - at the 14th lap when one fighter crashed against another, DeCuir pass them by without any effort, Clawtooth almost made it through too - and, right before finishing the lap, also took the 2nd place from MidnightRambler Frostbite, who, after a couple of laps, got challenge for (now) 3rd position by Clawtooth.
The only one opponent who's left was Saphyre Cyberstar. An accurate driver, but she does wide turns what, of course, affected her lap time. And DeCuir got it at the 22th lap, but then the traffic appeared - that was ZZ, who chose the aggressive tactics and slowed him down. Cyberstar gained the lead. Not for long though - when ZZ dropped behind, DeCuir regained the lead in no time. Meanwhile, Clawtooth was going 3rd expanding the gap between him and Frostbite.
At the last third of the race, traffic multiplied, gaps expanded and the positions remained till the end of the race.

The moral of the race? Even if you have a bad start, don't give up! - these words are addressed to all of you,  racers, and they're by Grosmanteau DeCuir, the man who, if it comes to racing, doesn't use words lightly. This race's example shows it pretty well - and this is the lesson plenty of people have to learn over and over. Wish you're not one of them. See you at Second Life tracks!

Number of laps: 60
Race length: 15 minutes

The grid:
Pole Position. JP Paneer  14.317
P 2. Grosmanteau DeCuir,  14.466, -0.148
P 3. MidnightRambler Frostbite,  14.499, -0.181
P 4. ⓢ ⓦ ⓔ ⓔ ⓣ (SweetTooth Firehawk),  14.583, -0.266
P 5. Garth Moonites,  14.646, -0.329
P 6. Saphyre Cyberstar,  14.811, -0.494
P 7. 'ZZ Bottom' (foneco Zuzu),  14.837, -0.520
P 8. Clifford Market,  14.849, -0.532
P 9. Eagle Clawtooth,  14.970, -0.653


Final Results:
1st. Grosmanteau DeCuir, 60 laps. Total Time : 885.626
2nd. Saphyre Cyberstar, -8.231 seconds.
3rd. Eagle Clawtooth, -9.045 seconds.
4th. Garth Moonites, -1 laps.
5th. JP Paneer, -1 laps.
6th. MidnightRambler Frostbite, -1 laps.
7th. ⓢ ⓦ ⓔ ⓔ ⓣ (SweetTooth Firehawk), -1 laps.
8th. 'ZZ Bottom' (foneco Zuzu), -2 laps.
9th. Clifford Market, -3 laps.

Fastest race lap: Grosmanteau DeCuir, 13.970