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!