R.I.R. Challenge Cars @ Watkins Glen

R.I.R. website
Watkins Glen in-world

(Race of 8/17/12)

Challenge Cars competition has totally changed since only the non-pro racers are allowed to participate in one. Before, I hardly could see any difference between this one and other races held at RIR - all the same people kept on winning, and the only thing that differed from race to race is last positions. And today, the Top 3 is never the same. Besides, even those who finish behind them, might show a performance that makes you forget about the Top 3 during the race!

Most of the racers have shown the great improvement since the last week - also, the newcomer of the race, Kev Kiranov, has impressed people during the practice and the qualifying round, even though it didn't seem like he practiced a lot. But, if you're good on the clean track, this doesn't necessarely mean you'll manage to go through the traffic... 

There were no problems at the start, so, when the gates were open, the competition began! And - at the same time, racers got enormous lag all over the track. 

JP Paneer, who got the pole position, did a great headstart, but Kiranov, in spite of the 5th place on the grid, made it through the crowd and got into a battle with Panner for the lead. Behind them, Garth Moonites, MidnightRambler Frostbite and Clifford Market started a battle for the 3rd place. Soon, the positions have been established in general: Paneer successfully held the lead, expanding the gap with each lap, the 2nd place was uncertain - both Frostbite and Kiranov were intended to take it, and the battle was so hard that racers couldn't even pass them by. Moonites, being crashed too hard, dropped far behind.
So did Frostbite, at the 18th lap. But then the battle between Kiranov, BanningBairde, Market and Firehawk  began. Kiranov was doing excellent, but in a few laps, with his driving style that was more suited for the clear track, he got into a few accidents in traffic and dropped to the end of the pack. Also, it's possible that he was just getting lag throughout the race.
Closer to the halfway (lap 25) Frostbite caught up with the rest, after passing the battle petween Kiranov and  BanningBairde (for the 4th place, then - for the 5th). He ended up involved in it and, after a while, dropped behind again. In front of them, BanningBairde was holding the 2nd position and Firehawk - 3rd.
2nd and 3rd positions were very lucky not to get involved into their rumble - they just maintained their positions, carefully avoiding traffic... only battling at times with each other. During one of the battles, they traded positions (Firehawk got 2nd, BanningBairde - 3rd) and, after that, traffic came by, so the gap between them was only increasing. That was almost the end of the race, so they've finished in this order.

The race was very messy - I guess it was not without a little help of lag. Nevertheless, racers have showed a great level of the competing ability, and the race itself, with all the battles, was very intensive - I haven't seen such a heat lately. Guess the fact it was a road course had its effect on the race as well... Whatever the case, thank you for the amazing performance racers, and keep on practicing - I can hardly wait for next Friday!


The grid:

Pole Position. JP Paneer  20.663
P 2. Garth Moonites,  20.699, -0.035
P 3. MidnightRambler Frostbite,  21.257, -0.594
P 4. Clifford Market,  21.378, -0.715
P 5. Kev Kiranov,  21.459, -0.796
P 6. ⓢ ⓦ ⓔ ⓔ ⓣ (SweetTooth Firehawk),  21.556, -0.893
P 7. Aangel Cortes,  21.771, -1.108
P 8. BanningBairde,  22.498, -1.834
P 9. unknown Kanya,  23.929, -3.266

Final Results:
1st. JP Paneer, 50 laps. Total Time : 1053.845
2nd. ⓢ ⓦ ⓔ ⓔ ⓣ (SweetTooth Firehawk), -1 laps.
3rd. BanningBairde, -1 laps.
4th. Clifford Market, -2 laps.
5th. Kev Kiranov, -2 laps.
6th. Garth Moonites, -2 laps.
7th. MidnightRambler Frostbite, -2 laps.
8th. Aangel Cortes, -2 laps.
9th. unknown Kanya, -6 laps.

Fastest race lap: Kev Kiranov, 19.061