9/20/12 Racers Island - Drift Car Series - Round 4 @ Tokyo track

Today's drift race at Racers Island was at the Tokyo track, a very nice looking city track with a nice mix of wide and sharp turns. Ten racers showed up for this race that showed very nice battles during practice. Yuriko Nishi managed to earn the pole position for the second time this season with a 0.228 lead over Doll Kabuki. As there were ten racers, the decision was taken to do two races. Here is the lineup of the 25 laps B race:

Start of the B race

P 5. Eddie Mathieson, 21.101, -0.406

P 6. Biggs Braham, 21.362, -0.667

P 7. Nella Boccara, 21.558, -0.863

P 8. ZeuStorm Resident, 21.689, -0.994

P 9. domilyon Resident, 21.778, -1.083

P 10. 01010100 Resident, 21.804, -1.109

The start proved to be close and fast as Mathieson and Braham maintained their position at the first lap. 01010100, a new racer, managed to make a very good start and moved up to fourth place. Racers battled hard and Boccara managed to take second place from Braham on the second lap, only to lose it on the fourth lap after a crash which moved her down to third place. Following them were Domilyon, Zeustorm and 01010100 in this order, the latter moving down to 6^th place after a few incidents. From that point on, the drivers kept themselves at a safe distance for several laps. On lap 12^th, ZeuStorm caught up with a struggling Domilyon and managed to pass him after a mistimed turn by Domilyon. The drivers remains in that position until the end of the race, albeit a late push by Braham on lap 21, who came within one second of Mathieson, was not enough to shake Mathieson's concentration who kept his pace until the end of the race.

Here are the results of the B race:

Final Results

[18:40] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 1st. Eddie Mathieson, 25 laps. Total Time : 540.809

[18:40] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 2nd. Biggs Braham, -1.667 seconds.

[18:40] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 3rd. Nella Boccara, -18.984 seconds.

[18:40] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 4th. ZeuStorm Resident, -20.764 seconds.

[18:40] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 5th. domilyon Resident, -1 laps.

[18:40] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 6th. 01010100 Resident, -2 laps.

[18:40] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: Fastest race lap, Eddie Mathieson, 20.847

Kabuki and Nishi side-by-side

Here is the line-up of the 30 laps A race:

Pole Position. Yuriko Nishi 20.695

P 2. Doll Kabuki, 20.923, -0.228

P 3. Shaft Laval, 20.958, -0.263

P 4. Brave Ashbourne, 21.006, -0.311

P 5. Eddie Mathieson

P 6. Biggs Braham

Close A race battle after the start

The start of the main event, made of many excellent drivers, proved to be rather surprising and exciting. Indeed, the first surprise came literally at the start where Laval was frozen on the grid, unsuspecting that the race would be started as quickly. That mistake moved him down to last place with a significant gap between him and everyone else. In front of him, drivers passed each other across each turn, with Kabuki taking over the lead on the first lap in front of Ashbourne. The five cars passed the gate within 1.4 seconds of each other, promising many more battles.

Ashbourne trying to shake off Kabuki

Starting lap 3, three groups could be seen in the race: Kabuki, Ashbourne and Braham were battling for the lead while Nishi and Mathieson battled for the fourth place. Laval, alone in his group due to his failed start, picked up the rear. Things wouldn't stay as they were as Ashbourne managed to take the lead for the race, closely trailed by Kabuki, while Braham became chased by Nishi who distanced herself from Mathieson. Braham couldn't resist Nishi's attack and had to yield third position to her on lap 8. Their battle ended on lap 12 with Nishi distancing Braham. Ashbourne, who was still leading the race, could continue to admire Kabuki's driving in his rear mirror. Mathieson and Laval, respectively 5^th and 6^th, were far from the leaders and also far from each other.

Close yet not enough

The positions remained stable until lap 16, where Braham, after chaining a few fast laps, came back on Nishi to try to regain third place. The battle lasted for three laps and ended after Braham crashed into a wall. The positions from third to 6^th seemed at this point set. The last battle opposed Ashbourne and Kabuki, who were still going at it with a small and unforgiving gap staying around one second. This battle went on until lap 27, where Kabuki mistimed a turn, which made her lose two seconds. This gave all the room Ashbourne needed to become the first repeat winner of the season.

Here is the results of the A race:

Final Results

[18:55] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 1st. Brave Ashbourne, 30 laps. Total Time : 636.378

[18:55] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 2nd. Doll Kabuki, -3.046 seconds.

[18:55] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 3rd. Yuriko Nishi, -5.647 seconds.

[18:55] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 4th. Biggs Braham, -8.825 seconds.

[18:55] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 5th. Eddie Mathieson, -13.849 seconds.

[18:55] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: 6th. Shaft Laval, -1 laps.

[18:55] Racers Island New Tokyo Drift gate shouts: Fastest race lap, Yuriko Nishi, 20.668

Victory for Ashbourne!

This race showed us that it is important to follow a rule seen at every racing sim: Click the gate to queue up when you are ready to race. Indeed, the moment a racer queue up, he should be ready to start the race and have all his focus and attention to the upcoming start. Losing a lot of time at the start of a race due to a small but costly mistake is a painful way to be recalled this rule. On this, reader and racers, see you at the next race and practice hard!