10/18/12 Racers Island - Drift Car Series - Round 7 @ Nitro

Zeustorm, Laval and Yuni321 battling

Mid-season break was over at Racers Island and racing was back for the drift series! Round seven brought racers to the Nitro track, a circuit with plenty of sharp, slow turns, offering drivers opportunities to pass each other and make mistakes. Will anyone stop Brave Ashbourne on his quest for a fourth victory in a row? Ten racers made it to the race on that day. Biggs Braham managed to get pole, in front of Doll Kabuki.





Here are the qualifying results:

B Race starting grid

Pole Position. Biggs Braham  22.057
P 2. Doll Kabuki,  22.140, -0.083
P 3. Yuriko Nishi,  22.149, -0.092
P 4. Brave Ashbourne,  22.244, -0.187
P 5. Shaft Laval,  22.365, -0.308
P 6. Eddie Mathieson,  22.582, -0.525
P 7. ZeuStorm Resident,  22.717, -0.660
P 8. Nella Boccara,  23.116, -1.059
P 9. domilyon Resident,  23.306, -1.249
P 10. yuni321 Resident,  23.753, -1.696

Mathieson trying to pass Laval
in front of Zeustorm

The 25 laps B race went underway and saw a lot of intense action right from the beginning. Zeustorm managed to eek out from the group and take the lead. A newcomer to this series, Yuni321, did surprisingly well on her first lap and moved up from sixth place to fourth place. The positions would however not hold, and on the second lap, a first group made of Laval, Zeustorm and Mathieson battled for the lead while Boccara, Domilyn and Yuni321 were fighting for fourth place. On the fourth lap, Boccara was able to detach herself from the second group but remained far away from the leading group that Laval was leading. Laval at first detached himself, but was caught up by Mathieson on the 7th lap who overpassed him after a few small mistakes. Again, this wouldn't hold as this time, on the 9th lap, Mathieson was the one making a mistake, bringing Laval with him, which allowed Zeustorm to take the lead, albeit not far enough to run away from the two others.

Incoming crash for Zeustrom
and Laval!

While the main group kept on fighting in front, Boccara tried to use the opportunity to catch up but couldn't do so at a rate that would allow her to compete with the leading group. On the 15th lap, while Zeustorm and Laval did an accident together, Mathieson took the lead and left the other two behind him. Laval and Zeustorm would keep on the battle, which Zeustorm seemed to win after Laval crashed on his own on lap 18. Laval was however faster and he managed to pass back Zeustorm on the 22nd lap with fast, consistent laps. The order would stay until the end, with Domilyon passing Yuni321 for the 5th place near the end of the race. Mathieson and Laval moved on to the A race!


Results:

1st. Eddie Mathieson, 25 laps. Total Time : 572.482
2nd. Shaft Laval, -3.030 seconds.
3rd. ZeuStorm Resident, -4.710 seconds.
4th. Nella Boccara, -9.057 seconds.
5th. domilyon Resident, -1 laps.
6th. yuni321 Resident, -1 laps.

A race starting grid

The 30 laps A race went underway with the top 4 from qualifying plus Mathieson and Laval who made it through the B race. Very close driving ensued after the start, where Nishi was able to improve her position to second place while Ashbourne was clearly the loser by moving down to sixth place. Ashbourne wouldn't remain there and moved to third place right on the second lap, while Laval crashed far behind everyone in sixth place. The groups would start to form, and by fourth lap, we would see Braham with a small lead, in front of Nishi and Ashbourne fighting for second place, Kabuki and Mathieson fighting for fourth place and Laval trailing far behind the field. Ashbourne, looking to keep his winning streak alive, passed both Nishi and Braham on the sixth lap on a very fast lap. His speed however fell him and on the next lap, he got into an accident, allowing Braham, Nishi and Kabuki to pass him, with Mathieson close to him.

Intense battle

On the next lap, Kabuki faced a similar fate, however her accident allowed Mathieson and Ashbourne to catch up with her for a furious three-way battle. In front, Braham was distancing himself a bit from Nishi for the lead. Starting lap 11th, an order started to be seen, with Braham having a cushion over Nishi, who herself had a cushion over Kabuki, who was fighting with Ashbourne, while Mathieson trailed a bit behind them and Laval remained far behind. Braham gave himself a scare after a few bad laps starting on the 15th lap which allowed Nishi to catch up. Braham held on in front and Nishi eventually pushed a bit too hard, causing her to get in an accident and fall behind. On the 19th lap, Ashbourne finally passed Kabuki, who however remained close to him in an attempt to get the final podium step.

Ashbourne, Mathieson and Kabuki

One who had been all but forgotten, Laval, slowly gained time after his initial big crash and was set to challenge Mathieson for the fifth place on the 21th lap. By the 24th lap, the gap between Braham and Nishi was big enough that another battle would be unlikely. Nishi herself was far enough in front of Ashbourne and Kabuki, who were literally tied to each other and were almost passing each other on every turn. This furious battle kept on until lap 29, where Ashbourne finally was able to shake off Kabuki after she made a small mistake. Behind them, Laval managed to overtake Mathieson. The positions would remain that way until the end of the race.



Results:

Kabuki stopping Ashbourne

1st. Biggs Braham, 30 laps. Total Time : 676.120
2nd. Yuriko Nishi, -3.799 seconds.
3rd. Brave Ashbourne, -8.828 seconds.
4th. Doll Kabuki, -11.754 seconds.
5th. Shaft Laval, -16.179 seconds.
6th. Eddie Mathieson, -17.400 seconds.

Ashbourne paying back the favor

This race, after the mid-season break, allowed us to see a new winner this time, Braham, who also happened to be the last person who won a race before Ashbourne started his streak. This win will allow him to get closer to Ashbourne, but having missed a race, is there still hope for Braham to catch up Ashbourne in the standings? Stay tuned! For now, racers and readers, race fast and safe!





A few more pictures! :)

Close battle between Braham and Nishi

Braham, Ashbourne and Nishi on the podium

9/30/12 Racers Island - Stock Car Series - Round 6

Racers Island Raceway blog

Racers Island in-world (+TPer to all tracks)

Grid positions, final results and racers' personal stats are available here: Racers Island Stock Car Results blog


I have to say that: GOOD TO BE BACK =)
With RL issues I'm going through now, I barely can find time to write. So, sadly, I can't guarantee you to post articles as frequently as I used to.
But the race we had on Sunday, the last race before the mid-season break, was something I could not skip. It was spectacular. It was intensive. It was full of moments. It definitely is worth to write about.
Enough babbling, though! Oval tracks are something you, as a racer or a spectator or a reader, must be very familiar with. In attempts of making narrow turns, racers make piling up inevitable. The cause and the result of them always differ, though - some end up being small accidents that just distract drivers a bit, but some change the whole competition.

Wetherby attempts to pass DeCuir

We had both and, I dare myself to say, even more. As it usually happens, all began with the qualifying round - let's take a sneak peek how it went!
Times of the first drivers were close, and that was like this until Grosmanteau DeCuir got a huge lead over others - his time seemed to be unbeatable. However, most of the best racers of Racers Island were qualifying after him and were getting closer times, but none were faster than DeCuir's one. The last one to qualify was Miku Hatsune (Doll Kabuki), and that was the last hope for all of us to have something changed... and yes, she's got the closest time to DeCuir's one, just 0.038 second behind. So, positions were determined, and it's time to move to the event itself, especially with the fact that both races had something to impress us spectators!

And first one to go is the Race B. Here's the starting grid:
P 6. Mystic Upshaw (Audion), 7.219, -0.118
P 7. TechBadger (01010100), 7.231, -0.130
P 8. Eddie Mathieson, 7.232, -0.131
P 9. wildrose Bijoux, 7.276, -0.175
P 10. Nella Boccara, 7.393, -0.292
P 11. miller Tomcat, 7.417, -0.316
Number of laps: 75
Huge mess right after the start (when it's a tradition that someone cracks up at the first turn and takes a bunch of drivers with him/herself), in fact, was the one that helped with setting the positions straight. Mystic Upshaw, though, had a nice headstart, and that helped her to avoid it; Eddie Mathieson, who got injured the most, had dropped to the last position. On the next lap, the same story happened with Wildrose Bijoux who, as a consequence, found herself side by side with Mathieson. The rest got busy with battling each other, where Nella Boccara showed a great performance by leading the pack (therefore, being 2nd).
Lap after lap, racers kept on spreading out. However, the gaps weren't big enough to be totally sure in their positions - one mistake could cost one to any driver. That's why Boccara, after a few not the best laps, got Miller Tomcat tailing her and, after a couple more laps, overpassing her. Right behind them, the action took place as well - a certain accident had put TechBadger at the last position, where he and Mathieson began battling each other, letting Bijoux make her way up - she became 4th.
On the 15th lap, Boccara made a little mistake, which turned into an opportunity for Bijoux - and she took it.  Next one to advance was Mathieson, thanks to another mistake Boccara made on the next lap. Here, I'd like to do a stop here for a very quick remark - before the race, I've watched Bijoux practicing a bit, and have to say, the counter of her laps was showing over 1000 laps of practice. And there, it was perfectly paying off!
Up to lap 24, the positions remained - but on this one, wild traffic appeared on Upshaw's way, causing her 2 bad laps, and that allowed Tomcat to get closer to her. Nevertheless, after a few laps, once Upshaw overpassed the traffic, she could enjoy driving with a clear road ahead of her again.
Lap 40 was pretty much the one that changed it all. How? Oh, that was a huge accident (and this time I mean it!) that Mystic Upshaw managed to break out of - and the only another driver who got lucky was Eddie Mathieson! What happened? Lapped drivers (being TechBadger and Nella Boccara), battling hard, got stuck at the inner side at the end of the turn, and Tomcat simply slammed into them. That great piling up cost all the involved drivers about from 1 to 3 seconds - and I'm not the one to tell you what a loss of time at the oval track it is. From that moment on, Mathieson kept on going 2nd - and, even though he was very close to Upshaw and could, in theory, battle for the lead, he didn't do that. The race was close to its end, and indeed it was best not to risk the position your luck brought to you so generously.
However, that was not the end yet - and certainly, we couldn't get along without wild traffic. This time, represented by lapped TechBadger, who began battling Eddie for nothing and was slowing him down. Despite that, Mathieson remained driving firmly, due to the fact that Tomcat was 2 second down from him. But at the lap 61, it happened. It just happened. No one was injured, but Mathieson. Being flipped over, he lost no less than 5 (!!!) seconds to get back to the track. That is obvious that he lost his 2nd position and a chance to compete in the main race along with that.
Miller Tomcat moved up to the 2nd position, and so did Wildrose Bijoux (3rd). The gap between them was not big enough to guarantee the 2nd place to Tomcat - and Bijoux was eager to take that chance. Her efforts kept on taking place till the very end, but... apparently, there was not enough time. Tomcat finished 2nd, and so he and Mystic Upshaw were the ones who have moved up to compete at the main race!

And what a race it was! The grid, first of all:
Pole Position. Grosmanteau DeCuir 7.101
P 2. Miku Hatsune (Doll Kabuki), 7.139, -0.038
P 3. David Wetherby, 7.156, -0.055
P 4. Yuriko Nishi, 7.166, -0.065
P 5. iasos, 7.185, -0.084
P 6. Mystic Upshaw (Audion)
P 7. miller Tomcat
Number of laps: 100
Grosmanteau DeCuir did his best move at the start to save his lead and avoid any chance of being crashed, gaining almost 1 second lead over David Wetherby (who became 2nd). Meanwhile, behind them, an intensive battle for the 3rd position between Mystic Upshaw, Miku Hatsune and Miller Tomcat was taking place; Yuriko Nishi and Iasos were less lucky and dropped far behind.
A few laps after the start, DeCuir's crash up the wall cost him a bit of time, but that still was enough for others to get closer - especially Wetherby, who now was dangerously close. His hope, nevertheless, didn't last too long - DeCuir is not the one who is easy to overpass. The pack had spreaded out (with Upshaw keeping up at the 3rd position, Hatsune at the 4th one, Nishi being 5th and Iasos with Tomcat going side by side at the end) - only Wetherby kept on being the sword of Damocles for DeCuir that was ready to fall any moment now.
That moment had to be postponed, though - since the 26th lap, Wetherby began losing touch with DeCuir. His time came again once the wild traffic appeared on their way, being represented by Iasos and Tomcat. And Iasos kept on tailing DeCuir, allowing Wetherby to get closer again. Wild traffic was left behind after a while, but hasn't left two competitors completely - Wetherby was the next one to be crashed, and that put him 1 second behind DeCuir yet again. Meanwhile, wild traffic kept on fulfilling their task of changing the course of the race - Yuriko Nishi almost wasn't injured by them, but Mystic Upshaw and Miku Hatsune were the ones who got it. What, however, didn't break their competitive spirit - they still had each other to battle for the 4th place!
Experiencing all these adventures, they made it to the halfway. And who could suspect that... no, David Wetherby still wasn't able to overpass Grosmanteau DeCuir. But what kind of race it would be if there wasn't something? That "something" was none other but Iasos. Once DeCuir got close to him and Tomcat again, there was a short series of unfortunate crashes that turned out to be crucial for DeCuir's lead. Meanwhile, Wetherby and Nishi overpassed those three without a single effort. The Top 3 had changed.

Lap 70 - crusial for David Wetherby's
2nd position

But still, the race wasn't over - and now, we had Yuriko Nishi being intended to close up to Wetherby. That goal has been reached pretty soon, not without a little help of external forces (being wild traffic, of course). Let's not forget about DeCuir who kept on closing up to David after that - and, after a great accident for Nishi on the 70th lap, when they were going three-wide for a while, he managed to leave Wetherby behind. They've battled for a while, but then the wild traffic did its job for separating them. Even though Wetherby was closing upon DeCuir from time to time, even with occasional battles - that is never an easy task, to compete with Grosmanteau DeCuir, and doesn't matter at which position he is. And that was the order the Top 3 has finished.

I must say, this race happened to be the brightest example during my very short racing world experience. Probably, this one also can be one of a few most significant ones - at least for the current racing world of Second Life.
If you become traffic, what do you do, racers and readers? Let others pass you or struggle till the end? Just asking, nothing more :)
See you at the grid, guys - drive safe in RL, leave the competition for SL! 

10/04/12 Racers Island - Drift Car Series - Round 6 @ Timberline

Timberline track

Racers Island drift car's season entered its sixth round at the Timberline track, a twisty track with plenty of wide turns, where nine racers joined in to compete for the top march of the podium. Brave Ashbourne, on his quest to his third victory in a row, managed to get pole for a second consecutive week in front of Doll Kabuki, who was closely followed by Biggs Braham.





Here are the results of the qualifications:

Starting grid of the B race

Pole Position. Brave Ashbourne  25.323
P 2. Doll Kabuki,  25.570, -0.247
P 3. Biggs Braham,  25.597, -0.274
P 4. Nella Boccara,  25.855, -0.532
P 5. Shaft Laval,  26.110, -0.787
P 6. ZeuStorm Resident,  26.144, -0.820
P 7. Eddie Mathieson,  26.291, -0.968
P 8. 01010100 Resident,  26.804, -1.481
P 9. domilyon Resident,  26.921, -1.598

Early battle for the lead

The top four racers qualified directly to the main event, leaving Laval, Zeustorm, Mathieson, 01010100 and Domilyon battle in this order in the 25 laps B race for the top two positions to move up to the main event. The race started with everyone keeping their position, except 01010100 who managed to sneak past Mathieson. This wouldn't last long as Mathieson overpassed 01010100 and Zeustorm on the second lap, while Laval built a considerable lead in front. Mathieson would build up a lead while 01010100 and Zeustorm battled for the third place. Zeustorm managed to get away from 01010100 in third place on lap 4, a move which would prove to be greatly beneficial as a big mistake by Mathieson on lap 5 made him move to second place in the process. Mathieson proved to be too fast for Zeustorm, however, and regained the last transfer spot on lap 8. From there, Mathieson went far ahead of Zeustorm, but couldn't get closer to Laval. As the drivers distanced each other, no more change were seen until the end of the race.

Results:

1st. Shaft Laval, 25 laps. Total Time : 654.153
2nd. Eddie Mathieson, -3.344 seconds.
3rd. ZeuStorm Resident, -9.352 seconds.
4th. 01010100 Resident, -1 laps.
5th. domilyon Resident, -1 laps.

Starting grid of the A race

The 30 laps main event went similar to the B race: action-packed at the start then somewhat lacklustre once positions and drivers settled in. Nevertheless, at the start, two groups battled together: Ashbourne and Kabuki for the lead, Mathieson, Laval, Braham and Boccara for third place. The second group was so close to each other that, on the first lap, they all passed the gate within 0.2 second of each other!

Eddie Mathieson P 3 Lap 1,  28.438,  TBL -1.027
Shaft Laval P 4 Lap 1,  28.571,  TBL -1.160
Biggs Braham P 5 Lap 1,  28.593,  TBL -1.182
Nella Boccara P 6 Lap 1,  28.637,  TBL -1.226

Close racing in the A race!

On the second lap, Braham managed to take over third place and build a small cushion, however a big mistake moved him to sixth place, allowing Laval to take over third place. Mathieson, who was at the time fourth, experienced technical difficulties on the fourth lap which left him far behind everyone. This allowed the positions to start to settle in, with Ashbourne leading the race, Kabuki, Laval, Braham, Boccara and Mathieson following in this order. Braham managed to move back up to third place in front of Laval on the eight lap. His time in third place lasted a bit longer than previously, for two laps this time, until he made minor mistakes again which moved him back to fourth place, in a close battle with Laval in front of him. Boccara, with a clear road in front, inched closer but couldn't quite catch up the two racers. The battle would finish on the 13th lap, with Braham passing Laval for the third place, for good this time. The last battle of the race, but nonetheless an intense one, opposed Mathieson, who was still trying to catch up from his previous difficulties, to Boccara, for fifth place. Boccara held Mathieson successfully between laps 15 to 20, until Mathieson, who was clearly faster today, managed to slip by Boccara. With a clear track in front, Mathieson quickly distanced Boccara. For the ten remaining laps, as each racer had built a good cushion in front of each other, drivers remained careful to not make any major mistake and the race ended without any further battle. Ashbourne managed to extend his lead for the season standings with his third consecutive win.

Kabuki trying to gain an edge.

Results:

1st. Brave Ashbourne, 30 laps. Total Time : 776.607
2nd. Doll Kabuki, -7.953 seconds.
3rd. Biggs Braham, -9.445 seconds.
4th. Shaft Laval, -14.833 seconds.
5th. Eddie Mathieson, -21.812 seconds.
6th. Nella Boccara, -1 laps.

Podium! Ashbourne, Kabuki and Braham

This track shows a particularity of long, wide tracks: People's own speed matter a lot. In a small cramped track, cars hit each other, slowing each other down, making traffic management more important. On a track such as the Timberline track, traffic is not seen often and is more or less quickly disposed of. That means an open track to do fast times, and this is what we've seen today. Once drivers were distanced, the gaps, unless mistakes occurred, would slowly increase overtime. In other words, the raw driving skill of a driver will help him more on this type of track.

Mathieson and Boccara fighting it out

This is also the start of the mid-season break, which is a welcome rest for drivers, owners and spectators. While it is important for someone to rest at times to be able to perform at peak status, it is nonetheless important for the drivers to hit the track once in a while to not lose focus. On this, rest well, readers and racers!