McKeon
Qualifying was very unusual as it was raining, but dries were still quickest. Clearly enough drivers have been crying (myself included) for there to be some dampness on the track, but not enough for the inters. In q3 it was Corey who managed the conditions the best, getting back to back pole positions. mR cOnsiStEncy iN QuAlifyinG. Another driver who was right up there was SLR Jam40 in p2, who was sure to be a factor in the race too.
Now for the race, where everyone started on hards as there was a threat of rain near the end of the race. At the start of lap 2 there was already a massive pile-up near the back of the field, bringing out Bernt maylander’s safety car for the first time. This would not even the last we saw of the safety car. After the restart Corey tried to break away from jam in p2 but couldn’t manage it, so there was a decent train spanning almost the whole top 10. This train would be disrupted as on lap 9 crispy binned it out of the final corner! Jam, semm, jito and midzy decided to pit for mediums under this safety car with everyone else remaining on hards. These medium runners would gain a decent amount until a safety car just a few laps later really changed things.
Everyone else boxed onto mediums under this safety car so it was jam in p2, midzy in p2, semm in p3 and jito in p4 with Corey in p5 the lead runner who had pit under the third safety car of the race.
This phase of the race was fascinating. Jito was using an incredibly low downforce setup and so was keeping the drivers on faster tyres behind him. This gave jam, midzy and semm a bit of a buffer until jam had a dose of incredibly bad luck. He disconnected and his AI car decided ‘you know what, I’d rather pit and be last than in p1’. Thank you codemasters. Inspirational stuff. Speaking about inspirational stuff, this next segment is dedicated to SLR Corey’s lap 21. Corey had spent a few laps trying to work his way past jito, knowing that the haas driver would be the toughest driver to pass due to his high straight line speed. The Williams man set his sights on jito and in sector 1 made an excellent move round the outside of jito! This set him on his way to close up to midzy and semm and try to claim his first victory of the season. You could hear crofty in the distance, AND HERE COMES SLR COR—… OH NO! He binned it! Just 2 corners after passing jito, Corey lost it in the chicane at the start of sector 3 and that was race over for him. Guess what Corey’s crash meant? That’s right! Another safety car!
This safety car gave midzy, semm and jito a bit more time to keep ahead of those on newer tyres and also meant that the rain would be more likely to come. Not only that, but the safety car allowed jam to catch up on his new softs. When the safety car was deployed, ogween looked to be the next driver to challenge jito and co, however this would last literally 1 corner as ogween suddenly found himself beached on the kerb in sector 3. He was forced to reset to track and would face a post race penalty.
Onto the restart, where raceroller had taken the reigns as the next driver to try and make a move on jito. He took a much more ‘hands on’ approach to pass the haas driver, absolutely yeeting it on him in turn 3 and causing chaos. Just because you’re in the red bull again roller, doesn’t mean you can become max verstappen and divebomb someone into narnia.
The chaos had opened things up for one SLR Jam40. The Ferrari driver was on those fresh softs and with rain starting to come down that meant jam had mountains more grip than everyone around him. With raceroller and Jito’s collision this allowed jam to pass the haas driver. Turner also found his way through and became the lead driver on the newer mediums.
Now for the part of the report that I don’t want to write. Just corners after the chaos mentioned above, semm entered sector 2 in an effective p1. Lap 25. 4 laps to go. The rain had made the track slightly moist and semm decided that he didn’t want to take his chance at his first win and yeeted it into a barrier. What made this even more painful is the rain came down heavily at the end of the lap, with the track becoming wet enough for internediates. Was this rain just Semm’s tears? I can neither confirm nor deny that. But anyway, gutting stuff for the alpha tauri driver with his second race of frauding in a row.
The rain that came down shook up things even more. Raceroller made a mistake into the chicane and jam passed him, moving into an effective p2 after semm’s crash behind turner. At the end of this lap everyone except 4 drivers pitted for inters. One of the drivers who stayed out was race leader midzy! He didn’t get the call from his engineer that it was wet enough and lost out massively. Therefore the effective top 3 were turner in 1st, jam in 2nd and elite riskz with a fairly quiet race sitting in effective p3 after raceroller had spun on his intermediates. Would this mean that things would quieten down? The 4 who stayed on dries would surely have to pit. The simple answer to this question is no. Arbon had rear wing damage and lost it in sector 3 and ogween had nowhere to go but into him. The Aston Martin driver would lose his wheel from this and brought out ANOTHER SAFETY CAR. This closed up the field and allowed jam to catch right up with elite.
Now for the final few laps after the safety car. Jam had strong pace in the wet and was hounding turner. His first attempt was going into the final chicane. Turner defended to the inside and that allowed jam to get an excellent run entering sector 3. Turner once again defended the inside but the Ferrari driver saw it coming, making an excellent switchback move! The two were going side by side though so it wasn’t over. They banged wheels a bit but it was jam who was bravest, holding it round the outside of the alpine driver through the penultimate corner! This became the inside line for the final corner and jam took the lead! A superb move that would seal his first victory in the top division since he won the title in season 6 and one that was richly deserved after jam’s disconnection in the middle of the race. Congratulations also to turner for a great drive in p2. His first win is sure to come soon enough. Well done also to elite and arbon, who also both moved up from division 1 at the end of last season along with jam. The former got an excellent podium and the latter scored points despite having rear wing damage for most of the race. Next up is imola for our first sprint weekend of the season, which if it’s anything like that race is sure to be a classic.
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.22.672
1. SLR Corey
2. SLR Jam40
3. SLR Ogween77
4. WTurn3r
5. raceroller22
6. BMidzy
7. Crispy2001
8. SemmF1
9. JitoDV
10. SLR Dylan
11. ELiTE x Riskz
12. bezzas1
13. SLR Stann
14. JibJab325
15. Arb0n EPA
16. Snypz SB
17. CrowdingDoor994
18. V2 x Combat
Race
Fastest Lap: Jam 1:20.916
1. SLR Jam40
2. WTurn3r
3. ELiTE x Riskz
4. Snypz SB
5. bezzas1
6. CrowdingDoor994
7. BMidzy
8. raceroller22 +5 sec
9. Arb0n EPA
10. Jito DV +10 sec
11. V2 x Combat (DNF)
12. SLR Ogween77 (DNF)
13. SemmF1 (DNF)
14. SLR Dylan (DNF)
15. SLR Corey (DNF)
16. Crispy2001 (DNF)
17. JibJab325 (DNF)
18. SLR Stann (DNF)
Snypz vs Jito
Coming into turn 3 jito breaks late hitting the rear of Snypz SB causing him to spin and lose multiple places
Pen - 5 second and 2 lp
SLR ogween 77 - resetting to track
Pen - 10 seconds and 2 lp
Jito DV vs Raceroller
Into turn 3 Raceroller misses his breaking point and collides with the rear of Jito DV thus pushing him deep into the corner and losing places.
Raceroller - 5 second and 1 lp
SLR ogween 77 - qualifying Ban for next race
Division 1
Round 3 at Albert Park ended with the Monday night race for Division 1.
A much changed track on the new game creates new challenges for drivers to face, with its fast nature bringing out more mistakes compared to the previous layout of this track.
Qualifying started and in Q1, due to the 16 driving, one would be out, and unfortunately, DPT Paul crashed out midway through the session which meant drivers only needed to set a valid lap and they are through.
Q2 was more exciting though, with a shock exit from qualifying being Leviking16 out in P12 after setting a lap and a glitch preventing him from setting another lap in the session.
Q3, the top 10 shootout is where all the drivers aim to push the car to the limit and one driver who certainly was driving very well was ETSR Jensen2508, getting pole position by 0.489 seconds! But with almost all the title contenders in the top 5, this was going to be a great race to watch.
The race now, and all got away from the start well, ETSR Jensen2508 keeping his lead and gaining a decent advantage early on showing how hard he will be to beat. Further action down the field though, with SLR Bennett spun at the first corner by contact behind with a few others having to take action to avoid the spinning Red Bull. On Lap 4 we had the first retiree of the race or in this case DSQ with DPT Paul beaching his Alpha Tauri on the exit of Turn 11.
Lap 10 now, the previous 9 laps were all measured and not a lot of movement positions wise as all settled into the race, with the most notable position change being SimbarocksONE half spinning at Turn 11 losing P3 and then resetting to track which may bring him some form of penalty after the race, but rejoined in P5. On Lap 11 though, the first Safety Car would be brought out by a crash from TMG Alfie at the entry of Turn 4. The safety car meant that all of the Medium runners from the start had a free stop to go onto the Hard tyres to the end which they all end up taking
During the safety car, on lap 12 SimbarocksONE, hitting the wall just before Turn 11 and getting significant front wing damage! An incident the Alfa Romeo driver won’t be too happy about but was said to be caused by a controller disconnect which is highly unfortunate. End of Lap 14 is when the Safety Car came in and all stayed the same as ETSR Jensen2508 kept the lead and wanted to try and pull the gap again on the McLaren of UKBeastAssassin behind.
Lap 23 now, not a lot of action from the restart but two drivers looking to get further up the field making some important moves were Leviking16 and SimbarocksONE with the former up to P5 and the latter up to P8 after being last from the restart. But they were to get some help as due to the third retirement of this race, SLR Bennett crashing at Turn 10, there was another safety car! Now came the excitement in the pitlane as almost all drivers came into the pit to take the Soft tyre compound for a sprint to the end, with the one anomaly being LP Smoke who decided to stay out on his Medium tyres.
At the end of Lap 26 when the safety car came back into the pits, ETSR Jensen2508 kept his lead off the restart with LP Smoke spinning off the final corner and going to the back of the field. Lap 28, Ellis 37 going into Turn 5 takes a lot of the inside curb causing him to spin and ruin his race. Just after this, the fourth retirement of the race came with KevinGT9389 crashing on the exit at Turn 7.
The last lap now and there were many battles all over the field with the battle for P5 being separated by just over 2 seconds and also the Aston Martin of Leviking16 looking to try and overtake the Haas of MeRkz47 which he is able to do going into Turn 11 and getting into P3. Exiting Turn 11 though the Ferrari of ShutMedal made a mistake spinning going out of the corner and dropping down to P10 in unfortunate circumstances.
But one man who didn’t make any mistakes at all was ETSR Jensen2508 taking the win in convincing style even with two safety cars which never fazed him at all taking the win by 2.4 seconds ahead of the Aston Martin of Leviking16 taking P2 after penalties during the race capping off a fantastic drive starting in P12 to grab the podium spot. The Haas of MeRkz47 took home the final podium spot capping off a very solid drive from him. One other notable finish, VR46, starting in P13 and finishing in P6 is a great drive from him taking home some well earned points.
Great entertainment this race was this week, Albert Park always brings a fantastic race and this one was no different. Next up is Imola for Round 4. Ferrari’s home race, a track which is tricky for all apart from SLR Corey (make sure to check in on him he will be sweating all week) and I’m sure that race will bring some more entertainment from this Division, so until then have an awesome week!
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.17.175
1. ETSR Jensen
2. UKBeastAssassin
3. SLR Liamm
4. SimbarocksONE
5. MeRkz47
6. SLR Bennett3810
7. Riggsey x
8. ShutMedal
9. ZachIsBeast
10. TMG Alfie
11. KevinGT9389
12. LeviKing16
13. IVR46I
14. LP Smoke
15. Ellis37
16. DPT Paul
Race
ETSR Jensen 1:19.341
1. ETSR Jensen2508
2. LeviKing
3. MeRkz47
4. UKBeastAssassin
5. IVR46I
6. SLR Liamm
7. Riggsey x
8. ZachIsBeast25
9. SimbarocksONE
10. ShutMedal
11. Ellis37
12. LP Smoke
13. KevinGT9389 (DNF)
14. SLR Bennett3810 (DNF)
15. TMG Alfie (DNF)
16. DPT Paul (DNF)
SimbarocksONE - Lap 8 - Reset To Track
Verdict: 10s Penatly + 3LPs
Division 2
In division 2 this week in AUS we were treated with dry weather weekend. Reserve driver Scar b0rga took pole ahead of SLR Jack. Closely followed by menz, GoldenEggFryer and SLR Charlie all of which weren’t in this division last year but really stamping authority at the top of the qualifying timing sheets.
To the race then. Scar was able to hold on to the lead after a lot on contact between a lot of drivers in turn 1 which saw SLR Charlie and primusgaming retire.
We got racing on lap 4 but someone how not with scar leading the way as he lost it under safety car but remained in the race. There was so much change in the order on the restart as McLaughlin found himself up 16 positions in 6 laps.
By the time we reached the end of lap 6 another safety car was needed as legendarydannyd retired.
Back racing again a few laps later saw some good battling between nathyboy, badottertv but cut short again by another safety as SLR Morgan now out of the race. This changed the order again as a lot decided to pit at this stage.
Badottertv lead us off for the 3rd restart in 14 laps. As menz looked to get passed GoldenEggFryer SLR Leah spun and lost his wing.
Lap 17 saw scar making his way back through and up to p7 at this stage. As menz was piling on the pressure for ARL predators and moved up to P2. As that became P1 as badottertv pitted.
Lap 20 saw Adrian lose the car and retire which meant we had our 4th safety car of the race. A lot of drivers decided to pit but McLoughlin and moley stayed out.
We got going again thankfully for the final time for a 5 lap dash for the line. J Lee menz quickly got to the front on some fresh softs. Badotter using his not so warn mediums to follow him through and up to P2. As moley was struggling to heat up the hards.
Drivers pushing at the end saw a few pick up time penalties which would effect the finishing order. J Lee menz took his 2nd race win in a row. ARL predatorz took P2 after a clean race. McLoughlin took P3 making a it a double Ferrari podium.
Look forward to next week and the start of the something new and a sprint race as well as a Grand Prix
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.17.884
1. Scar Borga
2. SLR Jack
3. J Lee Menz
4. GoldenEggFryer
5. SLR CHARLIE1
6. SouthRaptor966
7. CSCMorris
8. ARL PReDaToRZz
9. SLR Moley
10.SLR Morgan
11. NATHYBOYWINNER
12. SLR Leah
13. PrimusGaming
14. BadOtterTV
15. SLR Mash
16. Adrian VIII
17. legendarydannyd
18. MasonGammon05
19. M Mcloughlin x
Race
J Lee Menz 1:21.556
1. J Lee Menz
2. ARL PReDaToRZz
3. M Mcloughlin
4. BadOtterTV
5. Scar Borga
6. CSCMorris
7. NATHYBOYWINNER
8. GoldenEggFryer
9. SLR Leah
10. SLR Moley
11. MasonGammon05
12. SLR Jack
13. Adrian VIII (DNF)
14. SLR Morgan (DNF)
15. SouthRptor966 (DNF)
16. legendarydannyd (DNF)
17. SLR Mash (DNF)
18. PrimusGaming (DNF)
19. SLR CHARLIE1 (DNF)
@Adrian VIII - causing a collision (self report) (turn 3, lap 14)
10 seconds 3 lisence points
Adrian misses his breaking point causing a major collision and effecting two other drivers
@CSCMorris Vs @SouthRaptor966 - causing a collision (lap 1, turn 1)
10 seconds 3 lisence points
South Raptor misses there breaking point and hits a car causing a major collision impacting multiple drivers at the start of the race
@MasonGammon05 Vs @SLR Marsh(Mash) - causing a collision (lap 4, turn 16)
Whilst there is a collision as a result of marsh going of the track, the stewards do not believe there was any foul play involved and it was not an intentional manurer.
@MasonGammon05 - reporting incident (turn 3, lap 14) following on from previously reported incident. Also involving @Scar B0rga and @Nathyboy
This appears to be an unlucky racing incident with the driver being caught at the corner at the wrong time being un able to avoid the collision that has occurred in front of him
@PrimusGaming vs @MasonGammon05 (lap 1)
Whilst there is contact it appears to be nothing more than a racing incident with both drivers not quite knowing where the other was leading to an accident.
Division 3
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.18.074
1. THATGUY691244
2. SLR EVVO
3. SSR Halo
4. TIR JustHaze
5. RRT AdamLee
6. SLR Allen
7. SLR Scopezz
8. Active JMC
9. F1 Warhead
10. dRaSt1k bLazE
11. SLR James96
12. Alpeh
13. bl3in5121
14. TIRCODZILLA
Race
1. Alpeh
2. RRT AdamLee
3. THATGUY691244
4. dRaSt1k bLazE
6. F1 Warhead
5. Active JMC +5 sec
7. SLR EVVO+5 sec
8. SLR Scopeez +5 sec
9. SLR Xhaka
10. SSSR Halo (DNF)
11. bl3in5121 (DNF)
12. SLR Allen (DNF)
13. TIRCODZILLA (DNF)
14. SLR James96 (DNF)
Qualifying incident involving dRaStik bLazE & bl3in5121
Outcome: No Further Action
Reason: bl3in5121 was serving his qualifying ban and so cannot be at fault here - all drivers should wait until after qualifying bans are served before entering the track.
Lap 1 incident involving RRT AdamLee, SLR Scopezz & Active JMC
Outcome: 5s + 1LP to Active JMC
Reason: Active goes too deep into turn 1 and hits AdamLee off the track and into the gravel.
Lap 5 incident involving dRaSt1k bLazE & SSR Halo
Outcome: No Further Action
Reason: there was no reason for a penalty for this move, it is awkward for blaze as there is a slow car on the left however the move from Halo was done very well and would not deserve a divebomb penalty.
Lap 10 incident involving F1 Warhead & dRaSt1k bLazE
Outcome: No Further Action
Reason: there is nothing in this clip that we believe warrants a penalty to blaze. Warhead completes the move on him and so we believe there is no need for a penalty here.
Lap 24 incident involving dRaSt1k bLazE & SLR Scopezz
Outcome: 5s + 1LP to SLR Scopezz
Reason: this is a clear overtake after the safety car has been brought out and does not give this back. Scopezz should have been penalised by the game for this, hence the 5s penalty applied.
Lap 27 incident involving SLR Scopezz & SLR EVVO
Outcome: 5s + 1LP to SLR EVVO
Reason: Scopezz goes cautious into this corner, however the onus is on the car behind in these situations to slow down and not hit the car going into the corner. EVVO does not do this and so spins Scopezz.
Division 4
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.19.690
1. DarkStormQC
2. LenBau84
3. richie chappell
4. I21I Maxwell
5. SLR Russell
6. Beethoven974
7. DTF1 DaZe
8. Adnausium
9. JPPGaming96
10. KOPKIDJACK2005
11. HarveyQC
12. Pazuzu8195
13. NEDKLAW
14. I Cxmzn I
15. SLR St2oH
16. SmitHPDanX01
17. SLR Hicklin
Race
Fastest Lap: 1.21.814 Beethoven
1. NEDKLAW
2. Pazuzu8195
3. JPPGaming96
4. SmitHPDanX01 +10 sec
5. Beethoven +10 sec
6. DTF1 DaZe
7. richie chapell
8. Adnausium (DNF)
9. I21I Maxwell (DNF)
10. Lenbau04 (DNF)
11. I Cxmzn I (DNF)
12. DarkStormQC (DNF)
13. KOPKIDJACK2005 (DNF)
14. SLR Hicklin (DNF)
15. HaryevQC (DNF)
16. SLR St2oH (DNF)
17. SLR Russell (DNF)
Incident 1: l 21 l Maxwell and Pazuzu8195 - Lap 18, Causing a collision
Outcome: Racing incident
Reason: The stewards believe that Pazuzu8195 has left at least one car width on the inside, and thus l 21 l Maxwell understeers into Pazuzu8195 and spins out due to the contact.
Incident 2: Beethoven974 - Qualifying, Retiring on track
Outcome: Qualifying ban and 4 License Points to Beethoven974
Reason: All drivers that participate should know they are not allowed to retire on track in any session. Beethoven974's car was still moving once the notification had appeared indicating it was not a crash or a retirement in the pitlane.
Incident 3: DTF1 DaZe and St2oh - Lap 1, Driving unnecessarily slowly
Outcome: No further action
Reason: St2oh was trying to follow the guidance given to him by the game, of returning the position to another driver as they had briefly overtaken him under yellow flag conditions, then returned the position to St2oh. The stewards believe that St2oh was doing the correct thing by following the in-game instruction.
Incident 4: DTF1 DaZe, JPPGaming96 and SmitHPDanX01 - Lap 6, Causing a collision
Outcome: 10 second time penalty and 3 license points to SmitHPDanX01
Reason: SmitHPDanX01 spins JPPGaming96 around and this causes a chain reaction for DTf1 DaZe to not have enough time to react before making contact with SmitHPDanX01 gaining damage. He receives further damage for contact with JPPGaming96 stricken car.
Incident 5: DTF1 DaZe and JPPGaming96 - Lap 28, Causing a collision/Excessive squeezing
Outcome: A warning for driving standards and 2 license points to DTF1 DaZe
Reason: DTF1 DaZe squeezes and makes significant contact with JPPGaming96 through the left of T4, and they both get locked together with DTF1 DaZe going off track. DTF1 DaZe then dives at JPPGaming96 towards T5 partially cutting the corner before colliding again and spinning himself. The stewards found this driving to be poor quality racecraft.
Incident 6: DTF1 DaZe and HarveyOC - Lap 7, Causing a collision/Spinning another car
Outcome: 5 Second time penalty and 2 License points to HarveyOC
Reason: HarveyOC lightly taps the rear of DTF1 DaZe's car and spins him around.
Incident 7: richie chappell and Beethoven974 - Lap 29, Causing a collision/Spinning another car
Outcome: 10 second time penalty and 3 license points to Beethoven974
Reason: Beethoven974 completely drives into the back of richie chappell into turn 1, spinning him off into the gravel. The pen is larger compared to 6 due to the severity of the impact to the non fault driver.
Stewards note: Beethoven974 has accrued 7 license points and so receives and official warning for driving standards from the stewards as per the SLR license point rules.
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