Elite
Abu Dhabi hosts the final race of season 7, and there was everything to play for in a winner takes all for the drivers championship. Midzy15 and Raceroller22 went into the final round, 23 races in and there was nothing splitting them as they were level on points, and an exciting Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lay ahead
There was mass anticipation in how the event would go, and qualifying was a mixed affair. Midzy15 would take pole with a 1:34:241, which was almost 4tenths quicker than his championship rival Raceroller22, who was starting alongside him on the front row, but crucially, on different tyres, which immediately brings the element of strategy to play. ETE Niki would have a strong quali performance securing P3 in the AlphaTauri
The formation lap would also see an uncharacteristic spin from the Williams, but didn't seem to phase Midzy off the start as he would maintain the lead after turn 1, but crucially as well, Raceroller22 would get a good start on Mediums and maintain P2 for the first sector
ETE Niki went for a brave late braking move on the Red Bull for P2 at the end of the first straight, but roller being wise to it and setting the switch back up, and slight contact would see Niki correcting his steering going onto the second straight
In the midfield, PaRa quick would make the same move, but make the move stick on SLR Jam on Lap 2 in the battle for P9. Up at the front, Midzy was once again looking to break the DRS early, and having a 1.9s gap by the start of Lap 3 and DRS activation
Niki would try his hand once again, but at the end of the second straight into the triple chicane, but Roller once again defending the inside. Niki would have to cut the chicane to avoid contact, but would concede the place just a few corners later.
Lap 4 would see Niki complete the move at the same place, but made sure he had the inside line and took the place. The battle for P2 would be fiercely contested as Raceroller would retake the place the following lap and them both battling only opened the gap at the front for Midzy
Mr Ogween would be the first to pit off the softs and try and trigger the undercut on lap 5, so it would be an interesting development in relation to strategy and how the race would be managed across the grid
Bezzas would be leading a train that started in P4 and spanned all the way down to V2 in P17, so the grid after the top 3 were in their own battle and managing their race in their own train
Bezzas and Corey would be battling hard at the head of the train as Corey would go round the outside of Bezzas into the hotel section, with the Williams getting a bit out of shape on exit and giving the McLaren an opportunity at the move. The pitlane was busy at the end of Lap 8 as a few drivers in the train would pit for mediums.
SLR Jam would lose his wing in a spin and have a tumultuous lap 10 which would see his strategy compromised and an early stop for repairs. Division in the Ferrari would also spin, down at turn 3 and lose a lot of time in the process
Midzy would pit and rejoin in clean air on lap 11, which would give Raceroller the lead of the race as the soft runners would be in and back out in mediums, most likely to the end.
It would be lap 12 before Midzy would come up to racing traffic, with the first car being Merks47, who was locked in battle with V2 x Combat. The Williams would make the move on the Aston Martin under DRS and on the two straights and would then be free to chase the Ferrari ahead
V2 would pit on lap 13 and would give Midzy a run at Albon in the Alfa Romeo, who would concede place relatively easily for the Williams, and it wouldn't be too long before Midzy got past ZyDRAD as well, who was just a bit further up the road
The biggest challenge for the Williams would come soon after, as he would have to pass SLR Griffiths in the other Red Bull, who was tethering on the edge of DRS from the McLaren of PaRa in P2
Griffiths would actually make a move on the McLaren at the triple chicane for P2, denoting PaRa to P3 and into the clutches of the Williams. Para would lose out to the Williams before the hairpin, and would put Griffiths in the crosshairs of Midzy. The defence for Griffiths was over before it begun as Griffiths tyres were significantly older at this point and could put up little resistance for the Williams who was on much fresher tyres.
After the move on Griffiths, it was only 9s the gap between roller who had yet to stop, and Midzy who was on to the end. The push through the field would prompt an early stop by Raceroller, who probably thought about the amount of time he was losing. With the pitstop, crucially it would put the red bull out in front of Bezzas in the other Williams, and just behind Riggs in the Alpine
ZyDRAD and Riggs would repeat their Saudi Arabia movement on Mr Ogween, with the Aston Martin on the outside and the Alpine on the inside, both would make the move on Mr Ogween, who was probably experiencing the worst of the medium tyres after the early stop.
Raceroller would be quick to get underneath the rear wing of the Alpine off the hairpin, and with Riggs keeping the inside line, it was no match for fresh soft tyres on Raceroller as one Scot would make the move on the other.
The move would also allow roller to chase after Niki, who both shared some intense battling at the start of the race. There was 8 laps left in the season, and it was time for Raceroller to get the head down and chase after the leading two on the softer tyres.
The battle for P2 between Niki and Raceroller would resume once again on lap 21, and with Niki having a car set up for less downforce, would mean that the straight line speed is significantly higher, making it harder for those challenging.
Roller would look round the outside, but rather than make the move, would set it up into the second heavy braking zone. Roller would look round the outside, and Niki looking to keep it in the inside, resulted in some contact, and a move that would see Niki spin and lose time, and lose a place to Riggs, who was running a solid race in P4 at the time.
The chase would be on, it would be Roller vs Midzy, 5 laps to determine the winner of this championship. The Red Bull gaining all the time, the Williams managing the medium tyres and probably conserving battery for a final defence, it really would be setting up to be the grand stand finish.
Raceroller would have the DRS down the straight on lap 24, and Midzy would be covering the inside with everything he had left, but the grip on the red bull looks monumental to the push. The defence down the first straight was enough for then, but wasn't enough down the second straight as roller cruised round the outside and into championship winning position, and quickly extending the gap.
There would be one final spin on the season as Para would have an incident under the hotel on lap 25, which would bring out the safety car and bring the cat well and truly among the pigeons for the final laps. Roller would be a sitting duck for the call, whether to stay out or come in, and chose to stay out, and Midzy done the opposite and boxed for fresh softs, but crucially would come out behind Niki and Corey, who elected to stay out on their worn mediums.
The safety car wasn't even out for a lap before it would come back in, 2 racing laps to decide the race. SLR Corey would look to defend from the Williams, but contact at the exit of turn 3 would see the McLaren spinning off and onto the run off areas. Later in the same lap, it would be Niki to get out the way at the end of the first straight and we'd have 1 and a half laps of pure racing to the end of the session, except the roles had been reversed, Midzy the chaser and roller being the chased
The final map would see chaos ensue both in the chats, in the booth, and on the track, as Roller would get a slower exit on his older tyres off the hairpin, and would quickly have to cover the inside, but with midzy already peeping his nose there it would be too late to cover the inside. Roller would continue narrowing the line so Midzy would be compromised, but the Williams would stick with the Red Bull and take the inside line. Roller would look to do the same to Midzy as he did with Niki earlier, and shape up the move for the second straight.
This was what he did, and with a swooping move round the outside, and with both fighting so hard and so fierce, a championship is a defining moment in a racing career, both would bang wheels on the triple chicane, and contact, both would make contact which would send them both off the circuit and let Niki, ZyDRAD, Riggs and Griffiths through, who were all running their own races. Roller would rejoin behind his teammate, and Midzy just behind, but it wasn't finished, as the wheel banging and battle would continue through the slower S3, with both going side by side and rubbing tyres, there would be some off road excursions from both as they would continue to fight hard and put everything on the line for the crown. Roller would go wide and go off after contact with Midzy, but then Midzy would go wide after contact with roller, with neither driver giving an inch to the other, purely the matter of beating their rival to the chequered flag.
Niki would be the first to see the flag in Abu Dhabi as the sun had set on the thrilling S7. SLR Griffiths would see a strong P2 finish after running penalty free all race, and Raceroller, who would be making sure the inside line at every corner in S3 was off limits, would be up in the podium in P3. Midzy getting a last lap track extension penalty would see him finish in P7, behind Bezzas P4, ZyDRAD P5, and Riggs P6.
Provisionally, Raceroller22 is your S7 Drivers Champion, however, at the time of writing, stewards reports will be published with the official standings from the race. Further to this, should drivers feel the need to, this will be sent to the appeals for further investigation. As stated, Raceroller22 is your provisional champion, however this is provisional, and the league stewards, and potentially appeals panel, will inform the community of the official result in due course.
I also just want to pass my congrats to both drivers for providing such an entertaining season and it has definitely been one for the books. S7 Abu Dhabi may have its reminiscence to real life affairs in the 2021 season, but it always has its own twist in the championship story, with the conclusion yet to be fully finalised. Enjoy the break and we shall see you soon for S8
Riggs
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.34.241
1. Midzy15
2. raceroller22
3. ETE Niki
4. SLR Corey
5. bezzas1
6. R1ggs8
7. Mr Ogween 77
8. SLR Griffiths
9. SLR Jam40
10. ShutMedal
11. PaRa Quickz
12. crazygriefer345
13. Jito DV
14. ZyDRAD
15. II Division II
16. MeRkz47
17. SLR Cech
18. V2 x Combat
19. Arb0n EPA
20. II Monkeyy II
Race
Fastest Lap: 01.36.438 SLR Jam40
1. ETE Niki
2. SLR Griffiths
3. bezzas1
4. ZyDRAD
5. R1ggs8
6. Arb0n EPA
7. raceroller22 +5 sec
8. V2 x Combat
9. SLR Corey
10. II Monkeyy II
11. MeRkz47
12. crazygriefer
13. Midzy15 +10 sec
14. ShutMedal +10 sec
15. SLR Jam40
16. SLR Cech
17. Mr Ogween 77
18. Jito DV (DNF)
19. PaRa Quickz (DNF)
20. II Division II (DNF)
ETE Niki vs Raceroller - lap 21
outcome: nfa we feel in this incident Raceroller has made the move around the outside and niki has gone very deep into the corner and is certainly the aggressor in this incident and find it hard to see how we could justify giving roller a penalty
SLR Corey vs ETE Niki -deliberate slowing under the safety car.
Outcome: nfa we see that going around turn one Niki is slow but just seconds prior they were following a delta at the correct speed therefore we don’t believe Niki slowed down long enough to justify a penalty.
SLR Corey vs midzy - lap 27
outcome: 5 second penalty after seeing multiple views from 3 different drivers Corey clearly Doesn’t leave the track and midzy comes across Corey which resulted in Corey spinning.
Midzy vs Raceroller lap 28 (triple chicane)
outcome: 5s penalty we believe roller after being overtaken has made a lunge going into the chicane and leaves his wing in meaning contact was inevitable and spins Midzy
Midzy vs raceroller - lap 28 (squeezing)
outcome: no further action following the divebomb the corner prior midzy has put himself in an awkward position and roller has taken the racing like whilst still ahead therefore we have decided not to award a penalty to roller.
II Monkey II vs Shutmedal - collision under safety car.
outcome: 5 second penalty removed. 10 second pen shutmedal clearly brakes unaware that monkey is behind him and this resulted in monkey picking up a 5s penalty
Raceroller vs midzy - lap 28 (divebomb)
outcome: 5s penalty this is an obvious and clearly desperate divebomb, we have decided 5s is enough as no damage was caused.
Division 1
Finally! It was time to crown ourselves a champion in division 1! Will it be LP Smoke, SLR Connor or Elite X Riskz who will win their first ever championship or will it be SLR Bennett who will be a two time champion across 2 divisions?
After all championship protagonists had put in a lot of practice during the buildup to the race the drivers were eager to get out for qualifying and the wait was finally over!
We didn’t have to wait long before our first big taking point of the night happened, LP Smoke our championship leader was out in q1 and p17! A massive blow.
The other 3 championship fighters made it into q3 and it was p7 for Connor, p3 for Bennett and elite took pole position at such an important time! Semm would share the front row with him.
It was almost time for the race to get underway for the final time this season, the drivers lined up on the grid and the lights went out! Elite got a good start beating semm to turn 1 Allen managed to overtake bennett and Connor after getting a fantastic start jumped up to p5 and hunting after bennett! Lap 3 came and semm who had been following elite closely in p2 took advantage of the enabled drs and made the move into the lead!
Lap 4 and Connor who after having such a fantastic start was chasing bennett and in the first DRS Zone overtook him! But with the next drs zone coming straight after the chicane Bennett came straight back around the outside and made a move around the outside, Connor stuck with him and as they came through the chicane Connor, eager to get past bennett to boost his championship hopes spun! A Huge moment and as it stands with elite in p2, bennett needed p5 meaning he was currently leading the championship!
Lap 6! And SLR Ranga had crashed! This meant the soft runners would pit and smoke after starting p17 was now leading the pack on his mediums! Which meant he was now in a championship winning position but would obviously have to pit at some point in the race, moley also stayed out meaning he was p2.
The safety car came in and semm was straight after moley and found his way through and then devastation for Connor He crashed and was out! Meaning his championship hopes were gone. A hugely disappointing way to end his season but one he will take pride in saying he took it all the way to the last race and he will be looking to come back even stronger next season and fight again. This crash brought out the safety car for the second time.
The second safety car came in and straight away semm and elite managed to pass smoke who was struggling with wheel problems the worst possible scenario for the Aston Martin driver. Lap 14 and bennett who was trying to get past a slow moley on old mediums had to be careful of getting into trouble, ended up losing 3 places in 1 lap and then a slight collision with his struggling team mate dropped him down to p10! This put elite back into championship winning position. Moments later smoke spun! Really not what he needed either which meant unless a miracle happened for smoke it was between bennett and elite for the championship.
A couple of laps later bennett would get his head down and make some moves on the guys ahead and back up to p6 but before he could get himself back up to p5 and in championship position the safety car was out yet again! Clock stayed out meaning he was p1 but everyone else pitted, elite was p3 whilst bennett was p7 meaning elite was still on course to win the championship!
Lap 20, 8 laps left to decide a champion. The safety car was in! And clock was instantly overtaken by semm and elite and then later in the lap he realised his gamble to stay out hadn’t payed off at all, he dropped down to p6 then the following lap bennett overtook him and he would spin the following corner.
With 5 laps to go elite in p2 was on course to win the championship as bennett was p6 but with tooman in p4 with a time penalty bennett just needed to close up and he would be p5.
Lap 25, 3 laps to go and oh my god! The safety car was out again after Liam had crashed. This had closed the pack back up!
The safety car was coming in the following lap meaning we would have a 2 lap shootout to decide the championship!
The safety car came in, semm got a good restart but elite was desperate to get past knowing a win would guarantee him the title at this point of the race, but even more drama as VR46 picks up a penalty! This meant bennett just needed to stay within his 3 second deficit and would be the champion!
The final lap came and elite had one more chance to get past semm but the former was pulling away! And he rounded the lap to take the victory and on the final corner elite picked up a penalty, Allen finished p2 and elite p3! this meant bennett just needed to cross the line and that would be it, that’s exactly what he did!
Bennett crossed the like to take p5 and he is now two time, two division summit league racing champion! I would say congratulations to him but I’m writing this so what I will say is a massive well done to Smoke, Connor and elite as they have been tremendous and it’s been a pleasure sharing a title battle and taking it all the way down to the wire!
So there we have it, the season is now over your drivers champion is SLR Bennett and your constructors champions are Aston Martin.
Thank you to everyone who has joined us over the course of the season and we will be back in just a few weeks to do it all over again!
Qualifying
Pole Time: 1:34.480
1. ELiTE x RisKz
2. SLR Semm
3. SLR Bennett3810
4. SLR Allen
5. Adrian VIII
6. EIIis 37
7. SLR Connor
8. OwenHowell36
9. l VR46 l
10. SLR Liamm
11. legendarydannyd
12. SotierClock110
13. SimbarocksONE
14. ARL Tooman
15. ARL PReDaToRZz
16. SF1 Moley
17. LP Smoke
18. BadOtterTV
19. SLR ranga
20. DPT Paul (QB)
Race
Fastest Lap: 1:36.957 - SLR Semm
1. SLR Semm (FL)
2. SLR Allen
3. ELiTE x RisKz
4. ARL Tooman
5. SLR Bennett3810
6. SimbarocksONE
7. DPT Paul
8. l VR46 l
9. SF1 Moley
10. ARL PReDaToRZz
11. Adrian VIII
12. OwenHowell36
13. SotierClock110
14. EIIis 37
15. LP Smoke
16. SLR Liamm (DNF)
17. BadOtterTV (DNF)
18. legendarydannyd (RET)
19. SLR Connor (DNF)
20. SLR ranga (DNF)
DPT Paul Vs Ellis 37 - unsafe rejoin
Outcome: Racing incident
Reason: We believe both drivers had some faults for this incident. We think Ellis could of been slightly more cautious when rejoining the track however we also think Paul doesn't show enough awareness and doesn't slow down enough instead just trying to squeeze through.
Division 2
The finale of division 2 saw all eyes on the constructors championship with the drivers championship already wrapped up. Qualifying was dominated by the inform SLR Quattro who will be making a go of division 1 next season. J Lee menz joined Quattro on the front row.
To the race then a very clean start and not much change in the order dRaSt1k bLaZe, SLR dosser and Alpeh had a spin the latter retiring from the race.
Couple laps later just as he got himself in to 3rd GoldenEggFryer had a spin. That left Zachisbeast, SLR Jack and SLR Charlie fighting it out as the first round of pit stops started.
A safety car allowed the medium runners and the two remaining soft runners a cheap pit stop. On the restart SLR Leah made use of his softer tyres to overtake SLR Jack. Only managed a lap before another safety appeared. SLR Quattro, GRT Andrew, and SLR Leah deciding to pit for fresh mediums to the end of the race.
On the restart those 3 guys would be the ones to watch to see if the fresher tyres would make a difference. However a 3rd safety car then came out after a couple laps of racing and this meant some guys that chose to stay out last safety chose to come in for softs on this free stop.
SLR Quattro found himself p3 on the restart and free to charge at southraptor and menz in the closing stages.
Meanwhile a bit further behind a 3/4 way battle was coming to a head battling for 4th. A few nudges and wheel bangs but Zachisbeast coming out the better and now on the charge for a podium. Meanwhile out front menz had picked up a penalty so SLR Quattro knew he just had to stay with him in the final laps. Which he did. So he picked up the win. Zachisbeast would also jump menz and pick up 2nd, menz in 3rd. SouthRaptor 4th, SLR Jack 5th. Samlamenace 6th. GRT Andrew 7th. GoldenEggFryer 8th. THATGUY 9th and despite binning it on the last lap SLR Charlie picked up the final point.
Results pre stewards.
Thanks all for participating in division 2 this season and good luck on the new season.
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.35.190
1. SLR Quattro
2. J Lee Menz
3. GoldenEggFryer
4. SLR Jack
5. ZachIsbeast25
6. SLR CHARLIE1
7. SouthRaptor966
8. THATGUY691244
9. SLR Dosser
10. Alpeh
11. dRaSt1k bLazE
12. Samlamenace2073
13. GRT Andrew
14. SLR Hicklin
15. SLR Leah
16. OG James 96
Race
Fastest Lap: 01.38.796 SLR Quattro
1. SLR Quattro
2. ZachIsBeast25
3. J Lee Menz
4. SouthRaptor966
5. SLR Jack
6. GoldenEggFryer -5 sec
7. Samlamenace2073
8. GRT Andrew -5 sec
9. THATGUY691244
10. SLR CHARLIE1 (DNF)
11. SLR Leah (DNF)
12. SLR Hicklin (DNF)
13. dRaSt1k bLazE (DNF)
14. SLR Dosser (DNF)
15. OG James 96 (DNF)
16. Alpeh (DNF)
Incident - GoldenEggFryer vs 5 second penalty
Outcome - penalty removed
Reason - provided correct evidence to have penalty removed.
Incident - Andrew vs 5 second penalty
Outcome - Penalty removed
Reason - provides correct evidence for removal
Division 3
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.35.512
1. LSW L3G3ND44
2. Swinners28
3. SLR Marsh
4. Gregers UK
5. BcfcJosh1232752
6. Kemence61
7. SLR Block
8. I21I Maxwell
9. F1 Warhead
10. SLR Bono
11. ChicknRosery
12. BigBag92
13. Beethoven974
14. SLR Russell
15. SLR Xhaka
Race
Fastest Lap: 01.37.291 SLR Block
1. F1 Warhead
2. LSW L3G3ND44
3. SLR Marsh
4. ChicknRosery
5. SLR Bono
6. SLR Block
7. BigBag92
8. Kemence61
9. Gregers UK (DNF)
10. Swinners28 (DNF)
11. Beethoven974 (DNF)
12. SLR Xhaka (DNF)
13. BcfcJosh1232752 (DNF)
14. SLR Russell (DNF)
15. I21I Maxwell (DNF)
SLR bono vs Swinners - unsafe rejoin.
Outcome - 5 seconds - 1 LPs
Swinners is clearly unaware of Bono approaching and reverses and causes bono to spin
Comments