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