FormulaForza.com - Latest News and Updates

LLBM Merger Signals New Era

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:04:00 -0400

(10/209)
   After many months of planning and development we are extremely pleased to announce that we have officially completed the merger between LLBM and Formula Forza. LLBM and Formula Forza have had a partnership for nearly a year and have enjoyed the fresh ideas from both sides of the table, but we both feel that this union makes us one of the greatest online racing organizations available to race fans and drivers. We have plans for making Formula Forza cover a full range of racing series, including the incorporation of the wildly popular LLBM Le Mans Series next year. The endurance one-off events will also be cataloged and run through FormulaForza.com.

   What does this mean for those of you racing in what were previously LLBM events? Now all LLBM activity for the V8 Supercars championship (and any future championships) will run through FormulaForza.com. The qualifying is quite similar to LLBM with the exception that times must be entered on the FormulaForza.com website when you sign into the site using your gamertag. The live qualifying on the site allows you to instantly see where your results have placed you on the grid for the race, thanks to live qualifying timing. If you're not already a FormulaForza.com member, not to worry. We've taken the liberty of importing your gamertag to the site. Please contact and administrator privately to get your password. There are many other improvements including the overall structures of our league and many other details. The LLBM websites will remain open for now and there will be further information on the websites in the near future. As for the LLBM facebook page and the LLBM twitter feed, we will be releasing more details regarding those shortly.

   If you are one of the newly imported LLBM drivers, you may find the above tutorial useful. It was made by Lukas Brunzema (BTR Raikkonen), co-founder of LLBM and now one of the Formula Forza administrators. If you have any issues, suggestions, or other thoughts about the website, be sure to leave a comment below and let us know how you feel. To do this, you'll need to sign in with your gamertag first.

   Welcome new LLBM drivers to Formula Forza. This is certainly an exciting time to be a Formula Forza or LLBM race fan!

   The Formula Forza crew

Bulin Dominates in America

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 05:16:00 -0400

(4/138) American GP Qualifying

   The track opened for qualifying on Thursday March 21st to begin 3 day qualifying for the American GP. Pennzoil-Zexel Racing captain The Bulin Wall5 wasted no time and played no games as he posted a time (1:42.723) that absolutely crushed pole from 2012 (1:43.760) by a full second. Twelve more drivers would jump in for scouting laps on the first day of qualifying, submitting 27 laps total before the day was done. Caterham Team GB captain Xy101 was next nearest to pole, just half a second behind the 2012 pole time. The second day of qualifying saw 7 more drivers set their first laps, while others were already starting to improve their times. Late on the second day, Aces Wild Motorsport driver II ALEX P II was able to go second quickest with a 1:43.360, also beating the previous year's pole, but was still half a second adrift of The Bulin Wall5. As is usually the case, the third day of qualifying was the most active, seeing 67 laps submitted from 25 drivers. Right as the 3rd day began, The Bulin Wall5 managed to go 3 tenths quicker than his already mind-blowing lap, making him nearly a full second quicker than the competition. A fierce battle for top 5 started emerging, with several drivers beating each other by just thousandths of a second before they headed back to improve. JET Lotus captain WennaJ surprised many with a blistering time that sent him to 3rd in qualifying. FMS SENNA and x InFlamess struggled to extract everything they could from their power restricted cars, but both were able to make it into the back of group A's grid, the latter managing to out-qualify his teammate by just half a tenth. II ALEX P II improved his time in the Panoz to a 1:42.907, closing the gap to the pole sitter to 4 tenths. As qualifying came to a close, Pennzoil-Zexel Racing teammate HMR Motorsport shocked the field by submitting a massively quick time in the final hour, then went on to improve with just 4 minutes to go to put himself 3rd overall. The Bulin Wall5 also managed to go another tenth quicker to set the final pole position time to 1:42.352. In total, 101 times were submitted from 33 drivers, with newcomer JRM driver slamont24 just missing group B by 2 hundredths of a second. During validation, however, HMR Motorhead was verified to have not run 2nd gear, as its declared in the transmission regulations. While the race officials agreed that his time was representative of his pace, even without this mistake, a correction for the infraction needed to be realized. HMR Motorhead would start the race in group A from pit lane (rather than face full disqualification), and would not be granted passing points for overtaking cars lower than his qualifying position.

Qualifying Progression of Top 5 and Any Drivers That Had Pole Position At One Point
American GP Race

   The American GP got off to a late start after severe weather delayed the arrival of Midnight Performance Development driver j0hnny2shoes. Due to the late start, HMR Motorhead would be unable to complete the race, so he withdrew from the grid. With the additional absense of Aces Wild Motorsport lead scorer II ALEX P II, this meant JET Lotus captain WennaJ was starting on the front row of the grid in 2nd place behind The Bulin Wall5. At the start, FMS SENNA (11th) got a brilliant start and was up several places into the first turn. Unfortunately for Midnight Performance Development driver godass3d3plomb (8th), the field pushed him to run 3 wide into the first turn, sending him with even less room on the exit. He opted to take the sand rather than cause damage, but fell to the back of the field in doing so. XPR Roadrunner (10th), Magnum278 (11th), and x InFlamess (13th) all got great starts and moved up several positions (into 6th, 7th, and 8th) in the first few laps, thanks to mistakes from others and early pit strategy from some. By lap 4, JET Motorsport captain magnum278 (7th) had lined up a pass on XPR Roadrunner into turn 13, but a mid-turn tap by XPR Roadrunner left himself with minor damage to the front aero that began causing understeer and braking distances to grow. On the straight, XPR Roadrunner lost another position to x InFlamess (8th). On the very next lap the Serpent Racing captain dove into the pits. He emerged 11th, but had TLR Eclipse (12th) barrelling down the straight as they met into turn 1. XPR Roadrunner took the inside line and held it tight. Fearful of contact with a car already claiming to understeer, TLR Eclipse went wide and made the pass completely on the outside rumble strip. At the front, The Bulin Wall5 was clearly growing legs, setting laps faster than his astonishingly quick qualifying time. BTR Villeneuve (3rd) ended up making the move to get around WennaJ (2nd), while BTR Blazin climbed his way back through the field after a lap 1 pit stop.


   Mid-pack, AVR's FMS SENNA (5th) was trying to close in on j0hnny2shoes (4th), while magnum278 (6th) and x InFlamess (7th) battled it out for several laps. XPR Roadrunner (12th) was trying to regain a few positions, not far behind RRUK Shadow (10th) and TLR Eclipse (11th) coming out of the carousel of turns 9 and 10 on lap 12. TLR Eclipse lagged out just on the exit, which meant XPR Roadrunner was now gunning for RRUK Shadow. What he didn't realize is that MPD driver godass3d3plomb had snuck up behind the Ferrari and had planned his own overtake down into turn 12 (Canada Corner). Out-braking a Ferrari would be near impossible on any other scenario, but with the damage he had already sustained, XPR Roadrunner couldn't brake with full efficiency. Sure enough, godass3d3plomb pulled off the overtake, but did not call out the pass. The swift maneuver caught the Serpent Racing driver by surprise on the exit, causing the Ferrari to accellerate right into the back of the Midnight Performance Development Toyota. XPR Roadrunner was significantly worse off, with his front aero now with severe damage just shy of forcing him to retire. After the pit strategies had played out, Caterham R1 driver BTR Blazin found himself just behind 2nd place BTR Villeneuve for LLBM Motorsport. RRUK Shadow and godass3d3plomb were able to get just ahead of magnum278 when he emerged from his pit stop, but a mistake from both around turn 1 caused the JET Motorsport driver to reclaim the positions, but ultimately couldn't make the gap back up to race rival x InFlamess (7th) for BoshTech Racing. As the race came into the closing laps, FMS SENNA (6th) simply couldn't overcome the 5% power restriction to make up ground on j0hnny2shoes (5th) while The Bulin Wall5 (1st) never stopped pulling away from the rest. At one point, he ran a 1:42.017, a full 3 tenths quicker than his qualifying form. At the checkered flag, the gap was 47 seconds to BTR Villeneuve (2nd - LLBM Motorsport) with BTR Blazin trailing just 3 seconds behind to pick up 3rd for Caterham R1. JET Lotus captain WennaJ picks up his best result yet with 4th place. Midnight Performance Development's j0hnny2shoes (5th) finished just 2 seconds ahead of FMS SENNA. The x InFlamess (7th) and magnum278 (8th) battle had largely defused by the close of the race, with 5 seconds separating the once-tense fight. AVR, Midnight Performance Development, and Caterham Team GB drivers did quite well rounding out the finishers in group A, with XPR Roadrunner bringing home his damaged Ferrari to cross the line 12th.

   The group B race review is brought to us by Lukas Brunzema, co-founder of LLBM Motorsport and series. It was another fantastic week of racing in the 2013 Formula Forza R1 championship. In the B lobby, BTR Snakie was on pole in his Bentley with a solid lap time of 1.44.328 followed by AdamWatson99 and scurry76. The race began with BTR Snakie pulling away from the rest of the field. In turn 1, BTR Raikkonen(4th) and BTR Kanaan(5th) got into a major accident taking them both out of the race, however the rest of the field managed to stay clear of the wreckage. A last minute corner dive by AdamWatson99 (3rd) on scurry76 (2nd) into turn 5 caused major problems for both drivers, and ultimately resulted in a 4 point penalty issued to AdamWatson99 for an uncalled, unsafe overtake maneuver. The damage to both cars was certainly good news for the cars behind. Morbidtacos gained one position of the accident and was able to finish 7th. Other drivers also capitalized BLoodYCaiN, ChickenMchagard, ChaosinAction, and BTR Ascari all gained an impressive 4 positions during the race (6 positions better than their qualifying position). In the end BoshTech Racing captain BTR Snakie stole the show by pulling out some very fast lap times and pulling away from 2nd placed BLoodYCaiN for Rising Sun Racing. JamesHall94 brought home the final spot on the group B podium for JET Motorsport, with a pretty staggering performance from BTR Ascari landing him 4th in group B in his first race with Formula Forza. Unfortunate lag outs for BTR Kanaan (Team Repsol) and HundredthTie70 (Caterham R1), and damage related retirements from BTR Raikkonen and AdamWatson99 meant the race would finish 4 drivers short of where they started. The race finished with most drivers happy with their performances, leaving people wondering what will Silverstone have in store for the 2013 championship.


   Another victory for Pennzoil-Zexel and The Bulin Wall5 marks the return of his power restriction. He'll have a 10% power restriction for the upcoming race at Silverstone, and a minimum 5% power restriction for the race at Infineon. The repeat podiums for BTR Villeneuve and BTR Blazin mean they will both be running 5% less power for qualifying and race in the British GP. X InFlamess off-podium finish secures 5% relief in restriction for the BoshTech Racing driver, making him the 3rd driver to be running 5% down at Silverstone. Even running alone, The Bulin Wall5 puts Pennzoil-Zexel Racing atop the points earners at Road America, raking in 120 points for a pole-to-win. AVR take second honors by securing 6th and 9th for 105 points, while Midnight Performance Development nip at their heels, earning 104 points after a spectacular performance from both drivers. The absense of Aces Wild Motorsport entirely from the American GP meant that Serpent Racing stepped up into 2nd in the team championship, but the gap to the championship leaders (Pennzoil-Zexel Racing) extends to a massive 218 points. Seeing as its technically possible for a team to earn 205 points (or perhaps slightly more with overtake points) per race and 5 races to go, this still means that all teams are capable of winning the championship...though the odds of significant movement are slimmer with each passing race. BoshTech Racing currently sits 5th in the team championships after storming their way back from a points reset after Road Atlanta, but just 56 points from 2nd place Serpent Racing. This race marks the best results of the season for the following drivers: BTR Villeneuve (2nd - 87), WennaJ (4th - 68), magnum278 (8th - 51), godass3d3plomb (10th - 42), BLoodYCaiN (14th - 34), BTR Ascari (16th - 30), ChickenMcHagard (17th - 28), and slamont24 (31st - 9). Congratulations to all the drivers that beat their personal bests.


American GP Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

American GP Group B Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

British GP

   Ideal conceeding zones on Silverstone are on the straights between turn 1 and 2, between turn 6 and 7, and between turn 10 and 11. As a reminder, conceeding can happen anywhere, but communication should always be used to make sure that no contact happens.

   Power Restrictions for the British GP: 1st) The Bulin Wall5 - 10%2nd) BTR Villeneuve - 5%3rd) BTR Blazin - 5%existing) FMS SENNA (6th) - 0%existing) x InFlamess (7th) - 5%    For those that follow motor racing, they'll know that this circuit layout is no longer the Grand Prix layout, but rather a variant called "Bridge Grand Prix". In 2010, the track began changing to the current layout, called "Arena Grand Prix", part of a larger effort to completely relocate the pit lane to the straight between turn 10 and 11 on the Bridge layout. Known for being a high downforce track, we suspect cars will have trouble reaching 200 mph here, yet averaging about 125 mph around the 17 turn circuit. Last year during the R1 championship, RRUK Shadow (formerly "a Suicidal Pear") took pole position here for Team Tricycle Motorsport in an Acura ARX-01b. Even though it wasn't required in the 2012 season, he opted for a transmission setup that is legal by the 2013 regulations. Watch below as he lays down a 1m 32.524s lap around Silverstone.

   Qualifying opens this Thursday at 12:00 AM EST, and will be open until Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. A reminder that times must be certified, and they must take place in multiplayer mode with a set number of laps, during the qualifying period. Times will not be accepted after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday. Drivers should put the replay on their storefront for validation. The replay for this event should be saved as FFR1132Q7. Browse to the Event Page for the British GP to post your times, and to watch the other drivers post up their qualifying times. FMS SENNA is favored to get pole position here, with our estimates at somewhere in the 1m 31s for pole. Just a rough guess that the group A cutoff will be around a 1:33.500 to 1:34.000. Good luck to everyone during qualifying and in the event, which is scheduled for this coming Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

   The Formula Forza crew

   For reference, the track detail for the upcoming event is listed below.

Silverstone Circuit - Gran Prix Layout Group A Target: 1:32.500 Group B Target: 1:34.500

Located an hour and a half Northeast from London, this British track is one of the oldest circuits still in use. Originally constructed around an idle Royal Airforce airfield in 1948, the circuit has undergone 11 alterations to the original course layout. We will be racing on the 9th revision, known as the Bridge Grand Prix Circuit. Despite the number of straights, this is not a high speed course. With an untuned transmission, our LMP cars will struggle to find any straight long enough to get into top gear. Key tips for improving your times: Late apex turn 1 while coasting. Do not cut this corner, as the grass on the inside will kill your lap time right off the bat.Line up your entry for turn 2 and 3. You should be able to make it to turn 4 before any braking is applied.Absolutely critical is turn 5. Execute this turn while carrying enough speed out of the corner and you have the longest straight to safely pass.(manual only) Shift up early when entering turn 9 and you should be able to accelerate through to turn 11.Line it up and take turn 13 with the slightest hint of pre-turn in lift off throttle. It may be possible to take this turn at full throttle without sacrificing your line for turn 14.

Tactical Warfare

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:16:00 -0400

(1/113) Motegi GP Qualifying

   The lights went green on Thursday March 7th to signal the opening of the track for 3 day qualifying for the Motegi GP. Caterham R1's BTR Blazin put up a time that just barely got under the 1:40 mark to take the provisional pole. AVR driver RRUK Shadow and Midnight Performance Developement driver j0hnny2shoes would snag pole away from BTR Blazin until late in the day the Caterham driver would sieze pole back for himself, pushing the bar now to a (2012 pole beating) 1:39.234. Then with just moments to go on the first day of qualifying, Pennzoil-Zexel juggernaut The Bulin Wall5 ripped around the track at a mind-numbing 1:38.189, taking pole by 1.1 seconds, and with that, the pole from 2012 had been utterly smashed. As light cracked on the second day, x InFlamess went 2nd quickest with a 1:38.829, but was still more than half a second lagging behind pole. As the 2nd day winded down, the BoshTech Racing driver was able to shave a few tenths to close on The Bulin Wall5, narrowing to just under half a second gap. Teammate BTR Snakie was more than a second adrift of x InFlamess, but would go on to improve dramatically before the weekend was done. Just before Friday came to a close, The Bulin Wall5 notched the bar a few rungs higher, setting what would ultimately be the pole lap of the weekend at 1:37.925. The new time made the gap to next closest x InFlamess more than 7 tenths, and it appeared that there was no hope for a change of pole sitter. As the 3rd day of qualifying got into stride, x InFlamess was able to tremendously improve, now just a tenth or two behind pole. By the close of qualifying, there simply wasn't enough improvement, his 1:38.083 was astonishingly quick, but was still one and a half tenths away from glory. Even with a 5% power restriction, II Alex P II was able to drag the Aces Wild Motorsports Panoz to 3rd on the grid. XPR Roadrunner, consistent as always in the top 5 qualifiers made him a credible threat at the start of the Motegi GP. BTR Blazin picks up A5, and while j0hnny2shoes narrowly misses out on beating pole from 2012, does manage one of his better qualifying positions of the season, putting him on the dirty side of the third row, but well poised for any mayhem that might happen right off the start. Teammate godass3d3plomb secured his return to group A for Motegi, picking up the last spot on the grid after just outqualifying BTR Raikkonen by just a tenth. Roc Lewis S returned to the driver's seat as a reserve driver for FMS SENNA, assuming his 10% power restriction for qualifying and the race.

Qualifying Progression of Top 5 and Any Drivers That Had Pole Position At One Point
Motegi GP Race

   Aside from technical issues that prevented the administration from being able to communicate with the drivers directly, the race got started without drama. Qualifying order prevailed through the first few turns, as XPR Roadrunner's (4th) start left him in a shrinking zone into the first turn, so he had to concede to on-line traffic, granting BTR Blazin 4th place. Into the 5th turn on the first lap, BTR Villeneuve (7th), j0hnny2shoes (6th) and XPR Roadrunner (4th) were going 3 wide until a tap between j0hnny2shoes and XPR Roadrunner granted j0hnny the slight advantage. The field spaces out a bit after the first few laps, with a couple of notably close calls by BTR Villeneuve attempting passing on XPR Roadrunner. The Lolas of BloodYCaiN (12th) and RRUK Shadow (13th) both picked up damage early in the race, preventing them from climbing any higher than 13th and 8th, respectively. At the front, The Bulin Wall5 handily lead the race until coming in for fresher tires on lap 11, signaling the maneuver to be tactical. Typically front runners will stretch out their stint until the last possible moment to come into the pits because they are running clean air, and do not have to contend with slower moving traffic. Pitting from the lead early usually signals a strategic plan to either finish off the podium to dodge power restriction or it could simply be trying to extract the most from the tires at a critical point during the race. The Bulin Wall5 comes out of the pits into 9th behind Xy101 (8th). With x InFlamess now in the lead, he proceeded to set absolutely banzai laps. At one point he was able to set a 1:37.788, destroying his personal best during qualifying. This lap would have put the BoshTech Racing driver on pole and would end up being the fastest lap of the race by roughly 2 tenths, but in the end its the race where pace matters most.


   As the race continued and pit strategies began running their course, BTR Blazin (3rd) was still locked behind II ALEX P II (2nd) trying to claim another position, and with it, his personal best for the season. On lap 20, Alex comes in for his pit, granting the position temporarily to the Caterham R1 driver. By lap 22, The Bulin Wall5 had reclaimed 4th position, potentially where he planned to finish all along. X InFlamess came into pit lane the same lap, emerging back on track in 2nd! Thanks to his immense pace at the front, BoshTech Racing legitimately claimed the lead of the race with BTR Blazin entering the pits to make his stop on lap 25. Strategy engaged, The Bulin Wall5 now in 3rd comes back into the pits to ensure a hassle free way to 4th and with it, zero restriction at power hungry Road America. BTR Blazin (3rd) still fighting for 2nd with Aces Wild's II ALEX P II (2nd) finds grace when Alex also decides to pit again to follow Pennzoil-Zexel's strategic lead. At the end of the race, there was a massive group of cars covering 3rd through 8th, as The Bulin Wall5 (3rd) and II ALEX P II (4th) jockey for handing off the final podium position to anyone who would take it. Right there and able to capitalize was Midnight Performance Development driver j0hnny2shoes, making a brilliant slip passed them both into turn 5 to take 3rd. x InFlamess picks up the victory with a sizable gap to 2nd place BTR Blazin. Another 18 seconds to j0hnny2shoes (3rd) to round out the podium, also a personal best result for him. XPR Roadrunner (6th) was justsqueezed out by the others to finish off podium, which will also drop his 5% power restriction for the next race. Throughout the entire race, there was a great battle over what would be 6th place between XPR Roadrunner (6th) and BTR Villeneuve (7th). Further back in group A, a clash for 13th ignited in the last few laps between BloodYCaiN (13th) and scurry76 (14th) that caused them to finish less than 1 second from each other. x InFlamess victory here means he'll be facing a dreaded 10% power restriction in the American GP at Road America. Both BTR Blazin and j0hnny2shoes will consume their immunity to continue running unrestrcited as this is their first podium. Truly a great race to watch and some brilliant driving up and down the grid!

   The group B write up is brought to us by Lukas Brunzema, one of the Formula Forza administrators and co-founder of the LLBM championships. It was a wonderful race in the B lobby at Motegi. The race began with a few lag issues that prompted a few race restarts. When the green flag was finally given, the top drivers of the grid began to pull away form the field. BTR Raikkonen and JET Motorsport Lotus Driver Wennaj set the pace for the opening laps of the race. With a few minor race incidents in turn 1, the field began to spread out. JET Motorsport Lotus driver adieshibbyn began to find his speed during the race gaining a respectable 3 positions to finish on the podium. Other divers also found their speed HundrethTie70, Ferrari Fanactic9 and El Wombo Combo all gained positions during the race. Unfortunately not all drivers had a good race or much luck. ChickenMcHagard and TLR Eclipse both lagged out of the race. The stage was set for a good clean race. The middle of the flied consisting of JamesHall94, ChaosinAction and HundrethTie70 all raced cleanly and with great speed. After pits stops where compleated Wennaj had closed most of the time gap between him and race leader BTR Raikkonen, finding some new speed in his Mazda 787b. AVR veteran Roc Lewis S (filling in for FMS SENNA) really did the best he could given the massive restriction on his Lola, and the steering failures he was reporting. The final laps of the race where truly exciting with the new found speed of the field most of which beat their qualifying laps times during the race. The race at Motegi was fast clean racing form start to finish, leaving drivers excited for Road America.


   With grabbing pole position and finishing a place ahead of II ALEX P II, The Bulin Wall5 claims the lead in the driver championship by 18 points as Pennzoil-Zexel stretches its legs on Aces Wild Motorsports with a 101 point gap in the team championship. It's BoshTech Racing that truly shines here though, one of three teams to bring home more than 100 points this weekend. They net 143 points after a very strong performance not just from race winner x InFlamess, but also from captain BTR Snakie (10th), launching them to 5th in the teams championship, and with that, they are now in the winnings. Its clear they are still headed upward, just 27 points shy of taking 4th from LLBM Motorsports R1. x InFlamess is now 5th in the driver championship, but could be 3rd and unrestricted by Sonoma, given strong finishes with power restriction. Midnight Performance Development picks up the 2nd most points of the weekend with j0hnny2shoes (3rd) and godass3d3plomb (12th) with skills on full display around the Japanese circuit, raking in 116 points. Caterham R1 brings home a season best 104 points with BTR Blazin (2nd) and HundredthTie70 (21st) doing quite well for themselves. This race marks the best results of the season for the following drivers: x InFlamess (1st - 101), BTR Blazin (2nd - 88), j0hnny2shoes (3rd - 78), Xy101 (9th - 45), godass3d3plomb (12th - 38), BTR Raikkonen (15th - 28), adieshibbyin (17th - 25), and El Wombo Combo (23rd - 14). Congratulations to all the drivers that beat their personal bests.


Motegi GP Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

Motegi GP Group B Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

American GP

   Ideal conceeding zones on Road America are on the straight between turn 14 and 1, the straight between turn 3 and 5, and the between turn 11 and 12. As a reminder, conceeding can happen anywhere, but communication should always be used to make sure that no contact happens.

   Power Restrictions for the American GP: 1st) x InFlamess - 10%2nd) BTR Blazin - 0% (immunity)3rd) j0hnny2shoes - 0% (immunity)existing) FMS SENNA - 5%existing)The Bulin Wall5 (4th) - 0%existing) II ALEX P II (5th) - 0%existing) XPR Roadrunner (6th) - 0%    Ah Road America. What's not to love about the flowing nature of this track? Very few technical corners, this circuit focuses on low downforce, brute power, and braking control. This track will have drivers running their cars at the highest speeds yet of the season, the average lap speed is second only to Le Mans. This speed comes with a price though, as mistakes are much more costly here than at any of the tracks we have visited this year. Last year during the R1 championship, BATMAN LMP1 took pole position here for Wheeling AFD in an Acura ARX-02a. Although this time was set using effectively a 3 gear setup with clutch popping, you do get a sense of where the optimum line is. Watch below as he lays down a 1m 43.760s lap around Road America.

   Qualifying opens this Thursday at 12:00 AM EST, and will be open until Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. A reminder that times must be certified, and they must take place in multiplayer mode with a set number of laps, during the qualifying period. Times will not be accepted after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday. Drivers should put the replay on their storefront for validation. The replay for this event should be saved as FFR1132Q6. Browse to the Event Page for the American GP to post your times, and to watch the other drivers post up their qualifying times. x InFlamess won't stand a chance of pole here with his 10% restriction, and FMS SENNA is hindered enough already with the Lola here, let alone his remaining 5% power restriction. Expect pole to be in the low 1m 42's with a group A cut off just a touch under 1m 45. Good luck to everyone during qualifying and in the event, which is scheduled for this coming Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

   The Formula Forza crew

   For reference, the track detail for the upcoming event is listed below.

Road America - Road Course Group A Target: 1:43.400 Group B Target: 1:45.000

Nestled in the United States Mainland just off Lake Michigan's west coast in Wisconsin, Road America is one of only a handful of road courses that was originally part of a highway system. After a 1950's US ruling that banned racing on highways, the roads were re-routed around the existing course. Opened in 1955, Road America is also one of a very few current courses that have remained unaltered since their opening. Key tips for improving your times: This track's corners are littered with enbankments or sweet spots that help you carry more speed through the turns. They are typically on the inside of the turn, just before the rumble strip. Catch these just right and you will be much more stable through the turns.Brake early for turn 5 (and longer than you might think), and get on the throttle before the turn to come out with consistency.Turn 6 has the trickiest braking zone of the entire course, but you should be braking on the way up the hill, then careful on the throttle coming out of turn 6.Turn 6 to 8 should be full throttle.Turn 8 to 12 and turn 12 to 14 should be made with the slightest hint of throttle lift.

In the Wake of Hockenheim

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:53:00 -0500

(6/279) European GP Qualifying

   Serpent Racing driving captain XPR Roadrunner wasted no time putting in a qualifying time at Hockenheimring, posting a 1:25.925 just moments after 3 day qualifying opened on February 21st. Within the hour, he had improved his time by nearly half a second. FMS SENNA snagged the top spot with only a few hours remaining on the first day by going just a little over a tenth quicker than XPR Roadrunner. By the end of the first day, 18 times had been submitted from 13 drivers. On the second day of qualifying, 10 more drivers joined the battle, and another 23 times submitted. x InFlamess put in a recon lap that net him 3rd at the time. With that time 1st, 2nd, and 3rd qualifiers were within a tenth of a second, just 4 thousandths of a second separating XPR Roadrunner and x InFlamess. Many drivers were improving their time as the division between group A and B was becoming more clear. Surprisingly quick times came out of RRUK Shadow of AVR, TLR Eclipse from Tech Life Racing, and cp sk8 from Team Repsol, while Drake Hellspawn and BTR Villeneuve struggled to match the top pace. Mid-day on the second day of qualifying, FMS SENNA went on to improve his pole time by 2 tenths to a 1m 25.195, but was quickly overtaken by x InFlamess with a 1m 25.148. The final day of qualifying was by far the most active, with nearly half of all the times submitted coming in on the final day. The last day of qualifying saw the field fill out, as well as FMS SENNA and x InFlamess battling for attaining or maintaining pole position. x InFlamess stamped his authority down with a 1:24.839 with 4 hours left to go, and FMS SENNA was simply unable to run his 1:24's clean. Pennzoil-Zexel Racing recruit HMR Motorhead posted well for his debut race, qualifying 10th, just behind teammate The Bulin Wall5. XBR Eggy Dog Biscuits announced their retirement from the R1 season in the final stages of qualifying. XBR Mad Dog cites that they underestimated the time necessary to remain competitive at the very top, and still had XBR events to organize. We wish them well, and hope they find time to come back to Formula Forza some day. With the team's leaving, Aston Martin is now back on the table as an available manufacturer. Interested teams should contact the administration for more details on making the switch.

Qualifying Progression of Top 5 and Any Drivers That Had Pole Position At One Point
European GP Race

   When race day finally came, the grid was amped with anticipation. An incredibly close launch saw x InFlamess (1st) and FMS SENNA (2nd) maintain their lead, but just barely keeping the Serpent Racing Ferraris at bay. On the run down into the hairpin, the leaders were side-by-side, with some of the pack going 3 wide. Pennzoil-Zexel new hire HMR Motorhead (10th) found himself spun out in the hairpin due to lag issues, crippling his Bentley for the remainder of the race. The fight at the front was closer than ever. On the 2nd lap, The Bulin Wall5 made slight contact with TLR Eclipse into the hairpin, luckily without any damage. On lap 3, the pressure hadn't let up any, and into turn 2, FMS SENNA (2nd) made the move down the inside of race leader x InFlamess. He made the pass stick, and on the very next turn x InFlamess went wide, getting into the grass a bit. This mistake sacrificed a good chunk off the top speed he would reach going down into the hairpin. The Ferraris behind him didn't make the mistake, as XPR Roadrunner positioned himself on the outside for the hairpin, in hopes of being able to out brake the Bentley. Braking perhaps just a tad too late, XPR Roadrunner sailed deep into the hairpin, but since x InFlamess (2nd) did not move over to the exit apex, the Serpent Racing Ferrari was able to out-accellerate him to the next turn, grabbing the position. Into turn 6, x Inflamess made his second crucial mistake, going wide, allowing XPR Overdrive (4th) to slide by into 3rd. In the mid-field, Tech Life Racing drivers were running 7th and 8th, until a connection issue dumped TLR Eclipse from the race. RRUK Shadow (formerly Crazy X Creeper, formerly ix Overtake xi, formerly Fruit on Fire, formerly a Suicidal Pear) driving the other AVR Lola chassis was also doing quite well for himself in 5th place, maintaining a moderatly short gap between himself and 4th while The Bulin Wall5 (6th) was trying to shave the margin to the Lola. x InFlamess would finally get around the first of the two Ferraris on lap 9 after a small mistake from XPR Overdrive (3rd) into turn 6. Not long after, another position change for 5th as The Bulin Wall5 gets a good run out of turn 13 onto the front straight and takes the inside line to make the pass around RRUK Shadow. Early pit strategies from BTR Blazin for Caterham R1 and BTR Villeneuve for LLBM R1 meant that they wouldn't know their true placement until much later in the race, but they stayed glued to each other the entire race.


   Lap 25, x InFlamess (3rd) still stuck behind XPR Roadrunner (2nd) tried a bold pass into the hairpin, but the massive accelleration of the Ferrari recovered the position before the very next turn. In frustration, he came into the pits that very lap, hoping to get some clean air to make the overtake with a pit strategy. XPR Overdrive (4th) and RRUK Shadow (6th) follow the BoshTech Racing driver into the pits, promoting The Bulin Wall5 up into 3rd, with his 5% power restriction. This also meant that The Bulin Wall5 now had some clean air to try to run some quick laps before making his own stop. x InFlamess emerged 4th, XPR Overdrive 5th, and RRUK Shadow was just barely passed by BTR Blazin (7th) and BTR Villeneuve (8th), putting him 9th. The very next lap, FMS SENNA and XPR Roadrunner pit from the lead, actually handing the race lead to The Bulin Wall5 for a short time. with XPR Roadrunner pitting just a single lap after x InFlamess, there wasn't enough time for a clean air strategy to work out for him as XPR Roadrunner emerges from pit lane still ahead of x InFlamess. Just past the half way point of the race saw a connection induced collision between Drake Hellspawn (12th) and HMR Motorhead (13th) that simply solidified their positions toward the back of group A. With 15 laps to go, The Bulin Wall5 (1st) comes in for new tires, and emerges right in the middle (6th) of the BTR Blazin-BTR Villeneuve-RRUK Shadow battle for 5th. Just 10 laps to go, x InFlamess (3rd) finally capitalizes on quick laps and consistency to make the pass on XPR Roadrunner (2nd) into turn 6. x InFlamess would spend the remainder of the race trying to do anything and everything he could to chop out the significant gap to race leader FMS SENNA. By the end of the race, he was able to take an 8 second lead and trim that back to finish just two and a half seconds behind FMS SENNA. XPR Roadrunner claims 3rd another 8 seconds behind them, with teammate XPR Overdrive collecting 4th moments later. XPR Roadrunner's podium means he'll face his first restriction of the season in the Motegi GP at Twin Ring Motegi. The battle for 5th finished in the same order it was with 15 laps to go. That pack maintained an incredible battle for a third of the race to finish all within a second or less of each other.

   The group B write up is brought to us by Chris Becker, team owner for Midnight Performance Development and primary administrator for the Midnight Le Mans Series. Our gratitude goes out to him for taking the time to capture the events and emotions of the fantastic group B race at Hockenheim. After a significant time waiting for LMR Posimosh, Fish2197, and FerrariFanatic9, the group B race got underway without them. At the start, MidnightRacerX, BloodYCaiN, WennaJ, Godass3d3plomb, and BTR Raikkonen each got a good launch, keeping it clean through the first turn. A lag incident between Fire dragon6685 and Scholesyslash46 forced a restart. After another incident, the race was now officially underway. A near repeat of the first start (sans accident this time), the drivers were able to make the 3rd start count. Midnight Performance Development owner and reserve driver for j0hnny2shoes, MidnightRacerX (1st) was able to create a small gap to BloodYCaiN (2nd). He was able to stay consistent, allowing for the gap to the race leader to grow. Rising Sun Racing driver BloodYCaiN was committed to not let the lead slip away, but had problems of his own, with the Mazda 787B from JET Lotus breathing down his neck. MPD driver godass3d3plomb (4th) was also keep the LLBM Toyota (driven by BTR Raikkonen - 5th) at bay. The battles between WennaJ and BloodYCaiN over 2nd, and between godass3d3plomb and BTR Raikkonen over 4th provided the distraction needed for race leader MidnightRacerX to simply pull away from the pack, running clean air. On lap 15, BTR Raikkonen was able to capitalize on a lock-up into the hairpin by godass3d3plomb, claiming 4th for LLBM Motorsports R1. The French Midnight Performance Development driver tried to stay close, to perhaps take the spot back, but within a few laps, he succumbed to his connection and lagged out of the race, promoting Scurry76 to 5th. Back near the front, BloodYCaiN was still holding WennaJ off, and continued to do so for more than half the race, before BloodYCaiN decided to come in for a fresh set of rubber and a splash of fuel. He had hoped that perhaps without WennaJ right behind him, he would be able to lay down some consistent laps to put a nail in the coffin over 2nd place. This strategy proved to work against BloodYCaiN, with WennaJ and BTR Raikkonen coming in for their stop the very next lap. The pair came out of the pits with BloodYCaiN splitting the two but not able to complete the pass to get around WennaJ (now 2nd). With intensified battling over the remaining podium positions, MidnightRacerX was able to amass a 40 second gap before he felt it safe enough to come in for his pit stop. With only 8 laps to go after the pits were sorted, MidnightRacerX switched strategies and began running conservative, consistent laps to ensure the group B victory. "I've learned from past Formula 1 championship races that I lost due to pushing to the limit even at the end of the race I was already winnning", says Chris Becker (MidnightRacerX). WennaJ pushed his Mazda to the limits of what he was capable of, trying to narrow the 11 second gap between us. There simply wasn't enough in it. He did manage to put down a 1m 25.570 (albeit a dirty lap) that had it been clean, would have qualified him A4. The last minute push allowed him to shave 3 seconds off the gap to collect 2nd place just 8 seconds shy of the leader. Right before the finish, BTR Raikkonen was able to make the pass on BloodYCaiN for 3rd place, claiming the group B podium position by less than a second. Slightly further back, JET Motorsport reserve driver CookieMahnster was able to bring home 8th just 1 second behind HundredthTie70 in 7th.The most exciting thing was listening to Bloody and WennaJ battle it out. Great clean, fast racing from everyone.


   Pennzoil-Zexel Racing extends their lead to Aces Wild Motorsports with their 6th and 13th place finishes, now at a 75 point gap between 1st and 2nd in the team championship. AVR picks up the most points this race with 1st and 8th place finishes raking in 150 points, and the team's first victory of the season and a marked step up in performance from their time in the Audi. Serpent Racing wasn't far behind though with 143 points gained over the weekend from a 3rd and 4th place from its drivers. BoshTech Racing was the only other team to attain over 100 points, gathered solely by x InFlamess' pole position and 2nd place. After just 2 races, x InFlamess finds himself 7th in the driver championship, sure to move up a few more positions with a good result at Twin Ring Motegi. BoshTech Racing is now in 6th place in the team championship, just 3 miniscule points behind JET Motorsport and being "in the winnings". This race marks only the 4th driver in Formula Forza history to have won back-to-back races, so congratulations to FMS SENNA, amid the pressures of learning a totally new car with the switch to AVR's Lola. This race marks the best results of the season for the following drivers: x InFlamess (2nd - 105), BTR Blazin (5th - 62), RRUK Shadow (8th - 49), ChaosinAction (11th - 41), HMR Motorhead (13th - 33), MidnightRacerX (14th - 30), BTR Raikkonen (16th - 26), CookieMahnster (20th - 19), and fire dragon6685 (22nd - 14). Congratulations to all the drivers that beat their personal bests.
European GP Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

European GP Group B Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

Motegi GP

   Ideal conceeding zones on Twin Ring Motegi are on the straights between turn 14 and 1, between turn 2 and 3, between turn 4 and 5, and between turn 10 and 11. As a reminder, conceeding can happen anywhere, but communication should always be used to make sure that no contact happens.

   Power Restrictions for the Motegi GP: 1st) FMS SENNA - 10%2nd) x InFlamess - 0% (immunity)3rd) XPR Roadrunner - 5%existing) II ALEX P II (10th) - 5%existing)The Bulin Wall5 (6th) - 0%    The so-called "Twin Ring" track at Motegi is lesser known, but has a somewhat interesting history. In 1996, IndyCar (IRL at the time) had just split from CART. Honda saw an opportunity to become an engine supplier, and a dominant force in the American open wheel series. To attract IndyCar events to its home soil in Japan, Honda began construction of the road course at Motegi. With the debate as to whether IndyCar was going to gravitate toward oval courses or more grand prix style courses, Honda ultimately chose to build both. The egg shaped super speedway is actually above the road course, supplying the road course with two tunnel sections. Because of the height difference in the courses, two seperate pit lanes and garage facilities had to be constructed. The road course was thought to be a masterpiece, borrowing several corners from other historic tracks, such as turn 6, which is a mirror of Suzuka's 130R (taken at slower speed). Honda envisioned the JGTC using the road course, with IndyCar using the oval, thus the "Twin Ring" name. When lower class racing series complained to Honda about the road course being too long, Honda built the two shortcuts through the road course which made a segregated section of track with no pit lane. Honda constructed a third pit lane along the straight after the hairpin, turn 10. Perhaps their plan worked, because just a few years after the track was built, Honda engines dominated the IndyCar series, ultimately becoming the sole engine provider. Motegi's full circuit layout sees high powered bikes more than high powered cars. Last year during the R1 championship, BloodYCaiN took pole position here for Rising Sun Racing in an Acura ARX-02a. Watch below as he lays down a 1m 39.300s lap around Twin Ring Motegi.

   Qualifying opens this Thursday at 12:00 AM EST, and will be open until Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. A reminder that times must be certified, and they must take place in multiplayer mode with a set number of laps, during the qualifying period. Times will not be accepted after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday. Drivers should put the replay on their storefront for validation. The replay for this event should be saved as FFR1132Q5. Browse to the Event Page for the Motegi GP to post your times, and to watch the other drivers post up their qualifying times. FMS SENNA is undoubtedly out of contention for pole position with his 10% restriction, but with The Bulin Wall5 now freed from restriction and x InFlamess having used his immunity, we could very well see a Bentley on pole. Qualifying has been quite surprising this year, but we estimate pole will likely be a low 1m 38s, with a slight possibility that the front runners push that to a very high 1m 37s. Just a rough guess that the group A cutoff will be somewhere around a 1:40.000. Good luck to everyone during qualifying and in the event, which is scheduled for this coming Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

   The Formula Forza crew

   For reference, the track detail for the upcoming event is listed below.

Twin Ring Motegi - Full Circuit Group A Target: 1:39.000 Group B Target: 1:41.000

This extreme grip course is quite demanding of tires and lateral G setups. Cars will have trouble surpassing 200 mph, but there are plenty of stop-and-go sections, so keeping heat in the tires and brakes won't be a problem. Since the track borrows many corners from other tracks from around the globe, it takes a good mix of skill sets to do well here. This track favors nimble, agile cars with good steering balance. Smooth driving and a steady foot has lead many to take the checkered flag at Motegi. Key tips for improving your times: If you aren't using a tune with full downforce, you're already a step behind.This course features several double turns, where one turn leads right into the other, without room for changing your placement before the next turn. It is critical that you get your entry angles right, otherwise the whole turn is spoiled.Brake earlier than you would expect for turn 5, and get back on the throttle sooner.Be patient with getting back on the gas in the hairpin, turn 10. Too early, and you'll see either oversteer or understeer, based on how close you are to the apex.

Surprise in Sebring

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:55:00 -0500

(4/149) Florida GP Qualifying

   The gates opened at Sebring International Raceway on February 7th, but things were eerily quiet. It wasn't until half way through the first of the three day qualifying period that scurry76 of Caterham Team GB ran his Peugeot 905C for the first official submitted time, a 1:44.443. Not long after, the rest of the field began setting times. Pole was nudged nearly a full second faster first by Drake Hellspawn, and again by another tenth from FMS SENNA with a 1:43.467. At the end of the first day of qualifying, 20 times had been submitted from 14 drivers. Day 2 saw pole reclaimed by Drake Hellspawn, dipping down to a 1:43.146. Only 6 more drivers posted up times on Friday, but many of the drivers from the first day were able to improve upon their times. Late Friday saw x InFlamess (fastest ranked R1 driver) join BoshTech Racing to fill the 2nd driver seat. BTR Tekkerz needed to take some time away from racing, so x InFlamess was willing to fulfill the role for the remainder of the season. The final day of qualifying was the most active qualifying day in Formula Forza history with 53 times posted. With just 6 hours remaining in the final day, Formula Forza announced that Lola would be made available as a manufacturer with the Mazda powered Lola B09 chassis as its sole offering. Audi dedicated teams AVR and Rising Sun Racing both lept at the opportunity, claiming the manufacturer's two team slots within an hour of the announcement. AVR had taken the more bold approach by switching to the Lola B09 immediately, and started qualifying with just a few short hours left. Rising Sun Racing opted to stay with the Audi R8 for Sebring, officially switching to the Lola after the race weekend. A mass of drivers flocked to the track to log their best times on Saturday, including the new BTR driver, x InFlamess. He would just barely take pole by 0.014 seconds, but by the end of qualifying improved to a 1m 42.971s (just 0.175s ahead of Drake Hellspawn). What's more interesting is that both Drake Hellspawn (2nd - 1:43.146) and FMS SENNA (3rd - 1:43.329) had each been able to run sub-1m 43s laps, albeit uncertified. So the fastest ranked R1 driver had entered the championship amidst grumbling of his superior pace, but had only just out qualified the next fastest drivers. A great performance from Caterham Team GB, with both drivers able to find their way into the top 15; much needed after scurry76 was disqualified at Road Atlanta. The Bulin Wall5, struggling with a 10% power restriction had been looking like he was going to race in group B, when he posted an improved time that just barely got him into A14. JET Lotus driver WennaJ also had a phenominal showing, managing to sneak into the last grid spot in the top group. This comes just one race after WennaJ was unable to find appropriate pace in the Mazda 787B, falling into the drop zone at the Atlantic GP. When the dust settled and qualifying closed, A15 was only half a second adrift of the pole position from the 2012 season. All top 30 times were faster than A15 from 2012's visit to Sebring.

Qualifying Progression of Top 5 and Any Drivers That Had Pole Position At One Point
Florida GP Race

   After a pair of lap one incidents that forced officials to call for a 30 foot grid space gap (rather than the traditional 20 feet), the cars roared to life as the Florida GP officially started. The launch of the Ferraris from Serpent Racing has been noted as nothing short of ridiculous. Despite his face-peeling launch, XPR Overdrive (7th) was boxed in by the Panoz of BTR Blazin (5th) and the Toyota of BTR Villeneuve (6th). XPR Overdrive tried to play it smart by falling into line behind BTR Villeneuve into the 2nd turn, but the draft pulled him right into the back of BTR Villeneuve. While the damage wasn't significant enough to ruin the race for BTR Villeneuve, it did cause some front end aero damage for XPR Overdrive that may have upset the balance of the car for the remainder of the race. Caterham Team GB's Xy101 had a bit of a lockup and corner dive into turn 3, making contact with the left rear quarter panel of XPR Roadrunner's Ferrari F333 SP. Misfortune would haunt Xy101, as he would go on to lose connection on lap 4. FMS SENNA (3rd) slipped up the inside on the run down to the sharp turn 7, seizing 2nd from Drake Hellspawn. FMS SENNA continued to try to hunt down race leader x InFlamess, until a scrape of the inside wall at turn 1 on lap 6. The damage was mostly superficial, but it produced enough breathing room that x InFlamess was able to start running consistently faster laps. After this point, the race began spacing out. x Inflamess (1st) was pulling a gap from FMS SENNA (2nd) who was adding space between himself and Drake Hellspawn (3rd), also pulling away from his 5% power restricted teammate, II ALEX P II (4th). The only real action was from The Bulin Wall5 (14th) and WennaJ (15th) who had carved a path up through the field and were running 9th and 10th by lap 9. Contact caused by a hit from the rear into turn 7 from magnum278 on scurry76 caused next to no damage to the Peugeot, but effectively handicapped the JET Motorsport captain for the remainder of the race. Big surprises were in store however, as Drake Hellspawn voluntarily retired from the race on lap 12 from 3rd place, citing a frustration with the car's pace after many brake markers had been mowed down by off-track traffic. Not long after on lap 14, leader x InFlamess downshifted once too many times, sending his car spinning into the tire barrier at the end of turn 1. Moderate rear aerodynamic damage meant that he would be nursing the car for the remaining 21 laps of the race. By the time he had rejoined the track, the gap to FMS SENNA had all but withered away. In just 2 laps, FMS SENNA takes over the lead of the race. Meanwhile BTR Blazin (4th) was reeling in the handicapped II ALEX P II (3rd), and Midnight Performance Development driver j0hnny2shoes (6th) was trying to close the gap to BTR Villeneuve (5th). What once was shaping up to be a fairly predictable race had just been turned on its head.


   What was once looking very promising for the lead Caterham driver BTR Blazin, turned sour as he also lost connection to the race from 4th. II ALEX P II (3rd) was now making up ground to the damaged Bentley of x InFlamess, and at the half way point of the race Alex was able to make the maneuver into turn 17 to take 2nd place. Just a little further back, The Bulin Wall5 and WennaJ had continued making a run up through the field, now running in 6th and 7th. WennaJ was actually running faster laps than The Bulin Wall5, but anytime the pair of them got close enough to think about a pass, mistakes on WennaJ's behalf would create a gap. One of the mistakes was big enough that BTR Snakie (captain of the BoshTech Racing team) got around WennaJ for 6th. The JET Lotus driver would go on to struggle with consistency for the remainder of the race, never actually able to make the pass on BTR Snakie. Toward the end of the race as BTR Villeneuve (4th) was coming out of the pits, it became clear just how close the battle between him and j0hnny2shoes was. Just a couple hundred feet (and less at times) separated the two Toyotas as they fought for position. On lap 27, still wrestling with his damaged Bentley, x InFlamess (3rd) caught the rumble strips in turn 15 at an odd angle and it spun the car around into the barriers. No further damage, but it did allow the tight battle between BTR Villeneuve and j0hnny2shoes to get by. This made their struggle now over the final step on the podium, rather than just for 4th place. A late mistake from j0hnny2shoes with only 2 laps to go sealed the fate of that race, finishing just a second apart. FMS SENNA claims his first Formula Forza victory on an exceptionally challenging track in one of the most sensational virtual races we've ever watched. II ALEX P II picks up 2nd place not far behind, with BTR Villeneuve just edging out j0hnny2shoes for 3rd. XPR Overdrive (10th) and Scurry76 (11th) had been having a pretty good race in the closing laps of the race, but with just a few laps to go, scurry76 manages to squeak by the damaged Ferrari for 10th. Apparently only marginally hindered by a 10% power restriction, The Bulin Wall5 rocketed up to 6th place from 14th, picking up 6 overtake points (less the 2 lag out drivers) to win the 4 million credit wild card for the event (most overtakes without a penalty).

   Group B started off quite spectacularly as well, with CD 195 absolutely launching up into 8th place from 14th by the end of the 3rd lap. Unfortunately he had contact with ChaosinAction in turn 17, causing his voluntary retirement. Crazy X Creeper (formerly ix Overtake xi) and HundredthTie70 were also victims, but of their own connections, losing connection to the race from 2nd and 15th respectively. BTR Raikkonen also retired from the race after a mid-race collision crippled his chances of a safe race. XBR EGGY was able to pilot his Aston Martin to victory in group B, pulling out a 10 second gap to TLR Eclipse (2nd) after he had moved up onto the podium from 4th on the grid. 3rd on the podium was Team Repsol's cp sk8, just getting a little over a car length on BloodYCaiN by the finish. Collecting a group B podium on his debut race means life breathed back into Team Repsol, after some absenses from owner SAMsferrari had left the team with no points scored at the last outing at Road Atlanta. Rising Sun Racing captain morbidtacos brings home 6th, an impressive feat coming from 11th on the starting grid. CookieMahnster (13th) was able to collect 9th (21st overall) in group B, filling in for injured JET driver JamesHall94. An incident between lap down traffic THAToneDUDE511 (15th) and godass3d3plomb (7th) over conceding the racing line caused a mistake from godass3d3plomb; damage incurred would eventually lead to his voluntary retirement from the race. The incident involved godass3d3plomb requesting THAToneDUDE511 to concede his line through the 2nd sector of the track, where there are no obvious concession zones. The delay promted action from the Midnight Performance Development driver, but in the end proved to hurt more than help. While lap down traffic is required to concede the racing line on designated straights, drivers cannot force lap traffic to concede outside of these areas.


   Pennzoil-Zexel Racing moves up to 1st in the team championship with this win, pulling a 62 point gap to Aces Wild Motorsport. The race also represents the best result for FMS SENNA (1st - 102), BTR Villeneuve (3rd - 77), j0hnny2shoes (4th - 71), BTR Snakie (7th - 54), WennaJ (8th, 54), scurry76 (10th - 43), TLR Eclipse (14th - 31), ChickenMcHagard (19th - 20), FerrariFanatic9 (20th - 20), and THAToneDUDE511 (22nd - 17). BoshTech Racing earned more points this race than they had in the previous 2 outings at Suzuka and Road Atlanta combined, launching themselves to 9th in the team championship. Despite starting on pole and falling to 5th, x InFlamess' results were good enough to put him 12th in the driver championship, just 2 points ahead of Xy101.


Florida GP Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

Florida GP Group B Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

European GP

   Ideal conceeding zones on Hockenheimring are on the straights between turn 13 and 1, between turn 1 and 2, between turn 3 and 4, between turn 4 and 5, and between turn 7 and 8. As a reminder, conceeding can happen anywhere, but communication should always be used to make sure that no contact happens.

   Power Restrictions for the European GP: 1st) FMS SENNA - 0% (immunity)2nd) II ALEX P II - 10%3rd) BTR Villeneuve - 0% (immunity)existing)The Bulin Wall5 (6th) - 5%     The circuit at Hockenheim, Germany has been an evolution over several decades. Back in the 1930's, the ring was much bigger, less technical, and was used as a test track for Mercedes and Auto Union (now Audi). In 1965, the circuit was officially designed, but was massive. Nearly double in size from the Grand Prix circuit we drive on now, it had 4 long straights, with the same stadium section we have now (turns 8 through turn 1). The only real spectator spots were in the grandstands near the start finish line, while most overtaking happened on the long straights in the obsured forrest. Pressure from fans boiled over in 2000, as they demanded better facilities and a better view of the spectacle. The current layout was finished in time for the 2002 German Grand Prix, and was a huge success. Gone were the massive straights, but at least race-goers could see the action, and safety had been improved tremendously. Today, the track shares the Formula One German Grand Prix with Nurburgring, alternating the host each year. Last year during the R1 championship, The Bulin Wall5 took pole position here for AVR in an Acura ARX-02a. Watch below as he lays down a 1m 25.272s lap around the German circuit.

   Qualifying opened Thursday at 12:00 AM EST, and will be open until Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. A reminder that times must be certified, and they must take place in multiplayer mode with a set number of laps, during the qualifying period. Times will not be accepted after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday. Drivers should put the replay on their storefront for validation. The replay for this event should be saved as FFR1132Q4. Browse to the Event Page for the European GP to post your times, and to watch the other drivers post up their qualifying times. The Bulin Wall5 has speed here, for sure, but with a 5% power restriction, he is likely out of contention for pole. With all the new driver changes, qualifying will be unpredictable, but we will take a guess that pole will be a mid to high 1m 24s, with only a handful of drivers able to surpass the pole lap from last year. Just a rough guess that the group A cutoff will be somewhere around a 1:26.500 to 1:27.000. Good luck to everyone during qualifying and in the event, which is scheduled for this coming Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

   The Formula Forza crew

   For reference, the track detail for the upcoming event is listed below.

Hockenheim - Hockenheimring Group A Target: 1:25.500 Group B Target: 1:27.000

This track is all about learning when to get back on the throttle. Many of the turns leave the car in low traction on exit, either due to camber or because the car is already making another turn. Mastering how to maintain traction and getting on the throttle sooner after each lift point will definately drop your lap times. With a few long straights, downforce levels will be definately play a factor into how quick your lap times are. Key tips for improving your times: Your right two tires should actually cut turn 1, leaving your left two tires on the track to keep you certified.Turn 2 is a keyhole, so take a line on the first turn that lines you up for early accelleration through turn 3.Braking points will be across the board for the different cars into turn 4, but most cars should be braking hard when the braking line starts red or a touch before that mark (if you're using braking lines).Turn 7 is also a keyhole, so line yourself up on the first part of turn 7 for a better exit into the 2nd part of the turn.Turn 8 is best taken with a downshift, then planning your throttle-on point. If you continue to go wide into the sand, use two downshifts, but really hug the inside rumble strip.

Battle at the Atlantic

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:19:00 -0500

(5/164) Atlantic GP Qualifying

   Action began at Road Atlanta with a flurry of times submited early Thursday morning, January 17th. Perhaps the highlight of the entire race weekend was how incredibly close the qualifying was. First to grab pole was AVR captain and Formula Forza veteran Roc Lewis S with a 1:07.021. He would go on to improve the pole time to a 1:06.603 in less than an hour, but was bumped off the top grid spot by mid-day by a 1:05.696 from titan II ALEX P II, nearly a full second quicker than the rest of the field by that point. By the end of the first day of qualifying, 17 drivers had submitted times and The Bulin Wall5 had taken pole for himself with a 1:05.481. The second day of qualifying saw much of the rest of the grid fill in, with another 8 drivers posting their times, and several more made improvements to their own times as the battle for group A was beginning to take shape. On the final day of qualifying, 11 more drivers put up times to fill out both lobbies. By the middle of the final day, ALEX P just barely skimmed pole position from The Bulin Wall5 with a 1:05.478...just 3 thousandths of a second faster. It wouldn't be until just an hour and a half to go before qualifying closed that The Bulin Wall5 laid down the pole lap with a 1:05.421. In total, 100 times were submitted acrossed 36 drivers, and was by far the closest overall qualifying we've ever had, which is saying something considering the qualifying at Suzuka. Group A was just 1.1 seconds from front to back, with Group B just 1.2 seconds separating 16th from 30th.

Qualifying Progression of Top 5 and Any Drivers That Had Pole Position At One Point
Atlantic GP Race

   Group A actually got an early start on race day, and after a quick restart, the race was on. Right off the line, XPR Overdrive (13th) had a great start and was able to claw his way up into 9th, falling one place to BTR Villeneuve (formerly clementelithe) by the 6th lap. The Aces Wild and Pennzoil-Zexel drivers at the front were just gone. Between The Bulin Wall5 and II ALEX P II fighting for 1st, and Drake Hellspawn defending 3rd from FMS SENNA, the rest were competing for 5th, it would now seem. After a disappointing connection issue prevented his race from becoming reality at Suzuka, TLR Eclipse had made significant gains and was running 8th, trying to reel in XPR Roadrunner (7th). With just 9 laps to go, TLR Eclipse lost connection to the race, dashing his hopes for a strong group A finish. Not long after, XPR Overdrive lost connection from 9th, after starting 13th. Caterham R1's lead driver BTR Blazin (formerly TheOneNamedJack) also lost connection from 5th place while trying to make up time to the front runners. These 3 lost connections mean that while we're sure they aren't quite happy with the result, the winner of group B actually moves up to 13th from 16th. The only contact reported was between Serpent Racing captain XPR Roadrunner in the Ferrari F333 SP and the Aston Martin Lola of XBR EGGY. After a long straight, the Ferrari of XPR Roadrunner stepped out, sending him off track then back on, causing a front/side collision with the XBR Aston. The damage did not seem to hinder XBR EGGY too terribly bad, as he managed to claim 5th, as well as picking up an overtake point. At the checkered flag, The Bulin Wall5 successfully converted his pole position into a victory, with II ALEX P II not far behind in 2nd. The battle over the last step on the podium was quite fierce, attested by both Drake Hellspawn and FMS SENNA. As they crossed the line, Drake Hellspawn managed to just eek out 3rd by 29 hundredths of a second. AVR driver ix Overtake xi was really the star of group A, however, managing to move up to 8th after just barely squeaking into group A's 15th slot.



   Group B was a fairly straightforward affair. Despite incredibly close qualifying, few drivers made mistakes, and most of the passing was due to either pit strategies, or the 3 retirements from the race: WRC CAPE31 (called up from the drop zone), CD 195, and JamesHall94. JET Motorsport boss magnum278 managed to finish within 1 second of LLBM R1 driver BTR Raikkonen (formerly Pipen629). AdamWatson99 managed to vault from 6th to 2nd, while also setting the fastest lap of the group attempting to hunt down group B leader j0hnny2shoes. In the end, Midnight Performance Development driver j0hnny2shoes was able to hold on to his lead, finishing at the front of group B with a 7 second gap to JET International's AdamWatson99, with HundredthTie70 from Caterham R1 nipping at his heels a mere 3 seconds behind that. LMR Posimosh had a brilliant race for BAR, managing to convert his 9th place start to a 4th place finish, collecting the most overtakes of the race. The same success was found by BTR Raikkonen (formerly Pipen629), who was able to pilot the Minolta LLBM Toyota to 7th after starting 12th. ChaosinAction marked his return to the sport at Road Atlanta, managing to pick up 2 overtakes with his BMW before finishing 6th, or 18th overall, a season best for Tech Life Racing. BoshTech Racing also manages to up performance at the Atlantic GP, bringing home 5th and 11th.


   The Bulin Wall5 was able to pick up the 4 million credit Wild Card Bounty of the event for setting the fastest certified race lap with a 1:05.415. With his pole position and victory here at Road Atlanta, the driver championship is now tied for a leader with The Bulin Wall5 and II ALEX P II at 205 points. In the team championship, Audi Vitaphone Racing jumps up 5 positions to 7th with an outstanding performance, and is the biggest relative gain. Not to sell them short, JET Motorsport International was bolstered by similar success at the Atlantic GP, earning more than double the team points they did at Suzuka. Thanks in part to strong finishes from both drivers with no retirements, both Aces Wild Motorsport and Pennzoil-Zexel Racing slide past Serpent Racing's early lead. BoshTech Racing and XBR Eggy Dog Biscuits also had significantly improved form as a team, vaulting their positions in the standings. On the other end of the spectrum, JET Motorsport plummets from their previous 4th place position to 8th after rough qualifying results paired with an unfortunate retirement from JamesHall94 left the team with nearly empty hands after the race weekend. JET Lotus struggles to find pace in qualifying with the Mazda 787B, actually entering the drop zone, slumping their standing 4 positions also. If not for the loss of connection for XPR Overdrive, Serpent Racing would have still been within reasonable striking distance of the juggernaut teams at the top, but they find themselves trailing 2nd place by 74 points; a margin that may prove difficult to recover. Both Caterham teams also find themselves scratching their heads over a mixed bag of fortunes. Xy101 was able to improve on his group B podium from Suzuka and convert that into solid placement into group A, and HundredthTie70 was able to bounce back from his first round penalty to land on the group B podium, but their teammates had no such luck. Scurry76 was disqualified for a mismatch of his submitted qualifying time to his replay, and BTR Blazin was subject to a loss of connection after an improved run in 5th place. Caterham R1 and Caterham Team GB find themselves 9th and 10th in the team championship.


Atlantic GP Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

Atlantic GP Group B Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

Gearing Rules Clarified

   We noticed that several drivers are pushing the limits of what is deemed legal in regards to running detuned transmissions. For sake of not disqualifying a large group of drivers for misinterpreting the meaning of the ban on running detuned transmissions, we allowed the qualifying times to stand. To be clear, on your qualifying lap, you must use gears 2 through 6. 1st gear can be used, but isn't required. For gears 2,3,4, and 5, drivers must rise 1000 rpm in each gear. 6th gear is exempt from the 1000 rpm climb, but the gear must be reasonably engaged (with throttle applied) at some point during the lap. The purpose is to ensure drivers are experiencing the correct number of shift delays and torque maps. In a real car, if you skipped a gear, you would bog and your car would lack the optimum horsepower and torque that it would have if you used all the gears. To be clear, it is unacceptable to downshift into 2nd, then back up into 3rd before applying throttle, as this would violate the 1000 rpm rise per gear rule. If you have any further questions about the rules and regulations, do not hesitate to contact an administrator or lobby official and ask for clarification. If you would rather, you can email us your question as well, RaceOfficial@FormulaForza.com.

Florida GP

   Ideal conceeding zones on Sebring are on the straight between turn 17 and 1, the straight between turn 5 and 7, and on the straight between turn 16 and 17. As a reminder, conceeding can happen anywhere, but communication should always be used to make sure that no contact happens.

   Power Restrictions for the Florida GP: 1st) The Bulin Wall5 - 10%2nd) II ALEX P II - 5%3rd) Drake Hellspawn - 0% (immunity)    Like many post World War 2 race tracks, Sebring International Raceway started life as an air base. Its original owners had dreams of becoming the American version of Le Mans. Plans for the first race was penned as a 6 hour endurance event scheduled for New Year's Eve, 1950. Only 2 years later, the 12 Hours of Sebring came to life. After 5 revisions from the original squared-corner layout brings us to the latest layout, completed in 1999. The course is known for its unusual blend of track surfaces, transitioning from concrete to asphalt and back to segmented concrete all within a few hundred feet. The circuit is currently owned by Panoz, made evident first in 2002 by the large Panoz logo just before the finish line. Last year, pole was set by Drake Hellspawn with a 1m 44.168. Lets take a quick look at his lap from the 2012 R1 season. As we watch it, it is surprising to us how much control he had over the BMW, despite its sometimes tail-happy nature, especially on a flat, bumpy track.

   Qualifying opens Thursday at 12:00 AM EST, and will be open until Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. A reminder that times must be certified, and they must take place in multiplayer mode with a set number of laps, during the qualifying period. Times will not be accepted after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday. Drivers should put the replay on their storefront for validation. The replay for this event should be saved as FFR1132Q3. Browse to the Event Page for the Florida GP to post your times, and to watch the other drivers post up their qualifying times. Last year, Drake Hellspawn stood on the top step, taking the win from pole...achieved by a 1m 44.168s qualifying lap. Just a rough guess that the group A cutoff will be somewhere around a 1:45.000 to 1:45.300. Good luck to everyone during qualifying and in the event, which is scheduled for this coming Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

   The Formula Forza crew

   For reference, the track detail for the upcoming event is listed below.

Sebring International Raceway - Full Circuit Group A Target: 1:43.500 Group B Target: 1:45.500

This non-traditional track and its 17 corners stress braking stability and consistency. Mastering low to medium speed cornering, early braking, and a challenging final turn will reward the driver with impressive lap times. Although there is no banking in the turns and very little elevation change, this track has proven to separate the true drivers from those that would underestimate the track's heritage for being a car destroyer. If you can keep your car out of the tire wall that surrounds the 3.7 mile track while pushing hard, be proud of yourself. Key tips for improving your times: Every single turn that requires braking is an early brake zoneDon't be afraid to cut the corner on turn 1. The fastest drivers are just skimming the inside wall, so feel free to go well to the left of the yellow line, your lap will not be uncertified.It is critical that you carry as much speed and stability through turn 5 as possible, then full throttle till breaking early for turn 7You'll have to experiment on turn 17, there are lots of different theories about how to take this turn the fastest. Once you find a line that works for you, locate a marker in the road or on the side of the road for braking into turn 17, and just stay consistent through here.

Suzuka Showdown

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:11:00 -0500

(5/208)    The 2013 R1 season ignited when qualifying opened at Suzuka on January 3rd. In total, 107 times would be submitted from 36 different drivers representing all but 2 of the 22 team entries this season. Right out of the gate, JET Motorsport captain magnum278 snagged the pole position with the first time entered. By the end of the first day of open qualifying, 20 drivers had set qualifying times, The Bulin Wall5 had taken pole position with a 1:41.478, and to get into group A, drivers would need to best magnum278's once pole position time of 1:43.231. By the end of the second day, 5 more drivers had set times, while others improved their times in an attempt to move up the grid. Pole position had been nudged faster by FMS SENNA with a 1:41.272, with II ALEX P II responding within 30 minutes with a better still 1:41.188, only to be outdone again by The Bulin Wall5 (1:41.165) before the day was done. Drivers wishing to get into group A would now have to run faster than TLR Eclipse's 1:42.584. Although drivers could not see the exact times of the other drivers, teams were abuzz with fears over how amazingly quick the entire field was, when they realized that the mighty Drake Hellspawn was sitting in A7, and the known-to-be-fast BTR Snakie was seated in B3. The final day of qualifying is when the gauntlet dropped and we saw the most furious and aggressive time gains over the whole weekend. Another 11 drivers set times on the final day of qualifying, with II ALEX P II setting pole position 4 tenths faster at a 1:40.711, more than a second faster than pole position from the 2012 season, set by his Aces Wild teammate, Drake Hellspawn. The Bulin Wall5 responded with just 4 hours remaining, and was able to come within a tenth of earning pole, but couldn't quite top Alex's time. When the dust settled, AVR's ix Overtake xi was sitting in B1 with a 1:42.431, a time that just a year ago would have been good for 4th fastest qualifier even against Acuras, but this year's stiff competition meant he missed group A by just a bit more than a tenth of a second. BLoodYCaiN had tied with AdamWatson99 at 1:42.768. TLR Eclipse was just a thousandth of a second behind LLBM boss clementelithe, BoshTech Racing qualified within 2 thousandths of a second of each other, and several others were within an amazingly close margin to another driver. In fact, only 2 drivers in the top 30 weren't within 2 tenths of another driver, and just 5 drivers in the top 30 weren't within a tenth of another driver.

Qualifying Progression of Drivers That Had Pole Position At One Point
   After two restarts and a lobby crash, group A was underway, after a lagout from TLR Eclipse before the action could get started. Into turn 1, XPR Roadrunner (5th) got an impressive start and was up into 2nd, while The Bulin Wall5 (2nd) had a stalled start and had fallen several positions. What appears to be a racing incident found j0hnny2shoes (14th) from Midnight Performance Development into the rear of Drake Hellspawn (8th). Drake picked up some significant rear damage from the otherwise light tap, and spun off into the barriers as the field entered the esses. The damage was severe enough that Drake Hellspawn limped back into the pits and declared his race a retirement. Clementelithe (9th) also had a light bump into the rear of XBR EGGY (6th), but did not appear to have affected their races enough to cost them positions. Trying to regain position, The Bulin Wall5 was hot on the heels of Caterham R1's TheOneNamedJack, and also made contact into the esses. This set both drivers back considerably, but it would seem that they would learn to extract the most from the car with the damage. JET Motorsport driver JamesHall94 also got tangled in the first lap frenzy, picking up moderate damage but still drivable enough. The early exchange of places left II ALEX P II running out in front, clear of the confusion, followed by XPR Roadrunner and FMS SENNA. As the race progressed, FMS SENNA was able to work his way up into 2nd, after the Serpent Racing Ferrari of XPR Roadrunner went wide into turn 1. Quickly recovering, the Serpent Racing drivers were now 3rd and 4th.


   On lap 19, FMS SENNA (2nd) looked like he had a clear lock on his 2nd step podium position when he announced his pit entry. Then the unthinkable transmission came over the radio, "I've stuffed the car into the pit lane barrier, I'm out." In a fluke case of understeer, it appears that FMS SENNA was entering the pits at near full speed, went just a touch wide, getting the front left tire of his Bentley onto the grass that seperates pit lane from the front straight. This pulled his car further left, and ultimately, into the pit lane wall divider. His car was totalled causing him to retire from the race, adhering to new regulation this year that if a driver sustains 90% or more damage to front or rear aero components, they must pull into their pit stall and retire from the race. On the flip side, this was a stroke of brilliant luck for Serpent Racing. They found themselves now 2nd and 3rd after starting 5th and 7th. The plan was going well for the Ferrari outfit until The Bulin Wall5 (4th) began to get faster and faster as he acclimated himself with the damage he had sustained. Further back, an intense battle was raging over 7th between TheOneNamedJack, magnum278 (8th), and RoC Lewis S (9th). All 3 cars were running within a second of each other, and had exchanged positions cleanly several times. RoC Lewis S snatched 7th and looked as though he might have a chance at pulling away from the other two, but on lap 25, he lost connection to the race, and would fall to 22nd overall. J0hnny2shoes and JamesHall94 were trying to make the most of their damaged races to bring home 9th and 10th-- solid points for a damaged race. Back at the front, The Bulin Wall5 (4th) was taking a few tenths out of the gap to 2nd and 3rd each lap. After another misstep from XPR Roadrunner into turn 1, The Bulin Wall5 was able to move up into 3rd and could zero in on xOverdrive99x (2nd). Bulin Wall was the first of the two into the pits, xOverdrive99x following suit just 2 laps later. As Overdrive came out of the pit lane, it appeared that he would maintain his 2nd place into turn 1, but just barely. No sooner than Bulin Wall5 backing off to give some space, xOverdrive99x went wide in the 2nd part of turn 1, gift wrapping his 2nd place to the Pennzoil-Zexel driver. XPR Roadrunner was also able to pick up 3rd from this incident, From that, there was no catching The Bulin Wall5. XBR EGGY (5th), however, was notably gaining on the Serpent Racing pair, and clementelithe (6th) within striking range behind that. There simply wasn't enough time left for the gaps to diminish by the time II ALEX P II crossed the line for the win. The Bulin Wall5 (2nd) finished just 4 seconds behind, with XPR Roadrunner (3rd) trailing another 11 seconds. The battle over 7th place raged right to the end, with Caterham R1's TheOneNamedJack finishing less than 1 second ahead of magnum278 for JET Motorsport.


   Group B wasn't short on action either. Team Repsol driver SAMsFerrari was called up to race in group B, after Midnight Performance Development driver godass3d3plomb was unable to make the race, and other, faster qualifying drivers in the drop zone were unable to join. Into turn 1, BTR Tekkerz (6th) got tapped in turn 1, in what looked like a racing incident, but no penalty was pursued. The damage was severe enough that the BoshTech Racing driver was forced to retire his Honda. His teammate, BTR Snakie (5th) got away brilliantly, and moved up into the lead. The field was smoothing out, and the real battles were starting to take shape, but on lap 19, BTR Snakie lagged out from the lead. Rising Sun Racing driver BloodYCaiN moved up into the lead, with Xy101 (2nd) on his heels. All the while, CD 195 (started 13th) was collecting positions left and right. He ran a smooth and consistent race, moving up into 3rd by the race's end. Both JET Motorsport International drivers FerrariFanatic9 and AdamWatson99 lagged out of the race after BTR Snakie. Not long after, ChickenMcHagard and Pipen629 also lost connection to the race, but were able to finish their races alone for 20th and 21st places overall. Caterham R1's HundredthTie70 was penalized 5 points for some negligent driving this event, as he impeded overtaking cars and caused avoidable collisions with ix Overtake xi and SAMsferrari. BloodYCaiN picked up the win in group B, good for 11th overall. Xy101 (2nd) and CD 195 (3rd) stood on the remaining steps of the podium. Disappointing results for some drivers, but in the end, unpredictability is part of the ebb and flow of racing. Hats off to CD 195 for the best drive of the weekend, starting 27th overall, finishing 13th overall. A staggering achievement that he should be quite proud of. Several drivers have vowed to redouble their efforts and come back quite stronger for the Atlantic GP at Road Atlanta.


Japanese GP Qualifying

Japanese GP Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

Japanese GP Group B Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

Atlantic GP

   Ideal conceeding zones on Road Atlanta are on the straights between turn 12 and 1, between turn 1 and 2, between turn 5 and 6, and between turn 7 and 10. As a reminder, conceeding can happen anywhere, but communication should always be used to make sure that no contact happens.

   Power Restrictions for the Atlantic GP: 1st) II ALEX P II - 0% (immunity)2nd) The Bulin Wall5 - 0% (immunity)3rd) XPR Roadrunner - 0% (immunity)    Built on 750 acres of farmland just outside of Braselton, Georgia, Road Atlanta stands as one of the most active short tracks in the United States. Currently owned by Panoz Motorsports, the circuit is home to the Petit Le Mans (1000 miles or 10 hours) endurance race held each fall since 1998. The Petit Le Mans is the marquee event in the American Le Mans Series, with the class winners getting an automatic invitation to limited grid of the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The track is known for its hilly nature, a grippy first sector, a high speed back straight, and an inside tire's worst nightmare for grip in the 3rd sector. There are no grid spots on the track, so we will be using the 20 foot rule. 1st place will start on the left just a few feet from the start line, with 2nd place 20 feet back on the right. 3rd place will be 20 feet behind 2nd place, but on the left positioned behind 1st. This grid pattern will continue backwards, around the final bend, if we need to. The best comparison we could find of real world cars around the twisty Road Atlanta was an onboard lap from Patrick Dempsey (Dempsey Racing) in an open wheel Star Mazda from 2009. He apparently claimed a 1m 19.4s during practice, but our LMP cars will be something on order of about 12-14s faster per lap.


   Qualifying opened Thursday at 12:00 AM EST, and will be open until Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. A reminder that times must be certified, and they must take place in multiplayer mode with a set number of laps, during the qualifying period. Times will not be accepted after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday. Drivers should put the replay on their storefront for validation. The replay for this event should be saved as FFR1132Q2. Browse to the Event Page for the Atlantic GP to post your times, and to watch the other drivers post up their qualifying times. The R1 championship has never been here, but we expect pole to be dipping into the 1:04s before qualifying closes. Just a rough guess that the group A cutoff will be somewhere around a 1:07.000 to 1:07.500. Good luck to everyone during qualifying and in the event, which is scheduled for this coming Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

   The Formula Forza crew

   For reference, the track detail for the upcoming event is listed below.

Road Atlanta - Full Circuit Group A Target: 1:05.500 Group B Target: 1:07.000

The small nature of the track means that drivers need to do all they can to keep the speed up. Downforce levels can vary here, but the idea is to allow for top end on the straight into turn 10, while still having enough grip to navigate turns 1-5 quite quickly. Early throttle on points and keeping your foot in it are critical to achieving those extra tenths. Top speed along the back straight will prove more effective on race day, as passing elsewhere on the track will mostly come down to mistakes. Key tips for improving your times: Stay far left on the entry to turn 1 and brake early, letting off then a momentary coast while the car points towards the apex, then back on the throttle and riding it all the way out to the left rumble strips on the exit.Cut turn 3 with two tires, careful not to disrupt the car too much. Lose too much speed here and you'll have a hard time making it back up.From the exit of 3 to turn 5 should be taken at full throttle.Turn 5 is similar in nature to Turn 1...early brake, early gas, driving out to the rumble strips on the right.Turn 7 is the most important corner of the entire track. The exit speed on this corner dictates your top speed on the track, and will have a significant impact on your ability to pass and set those fast lap times.

2013 R1 is here!

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:38:00 -0500

(28/698)    If you are new to the Formula Forza site or just haven't participated in our R1 championship, let us give you a quick overview of exactly what we're about. Formula Forza aims to provide the absolute best environment for a competitive, realistic, and balanced championship. Our vision is to create a framework for organized console racing that is unmatched by any other. The pinnacle of our racing is the R1 championship. Being at the top comes at a premium, mostly in the form of very committed and talented drivers. Teams are put to the test by trying to select the very best car at an R1 998 specification. The catch is that we limit manufacturers to 2 teams. Those teams are expected to compete for points over a 6 month season, racing in 11 races - each over an hour long. To even enter this competition, teams were expected to show their commitment through a 10 million credit buy-in to the season, which is later completely divided out to the top teams and top drivers. The price for choosing the wrong car, the wrong teammate, the wrong tune, or making a big enough mistake at any point could mean disasterous results in the standings. Fiercely competitive, our R1 championship has been a great success and is here again, ready to start a new season in 2013. We would love to see Formula Forza's racing community continue to grow, and maybe you can join our ranks.

The Basics

Teams 2 drivers work together to compete for points in both a Driver and Team Championship Any R1 998 capable car is available to be used (with the exception of the Mercedes Sauber C9), but teams must choose a manufacturer in the draft or during post-draft Both driver's cars use the same livery, so team identification on track and in pictures is very easy Standings updated right here on FormulaForza.com 10,000,000 Forza Credit buy-in to the season
Car Choice / Fall Draft 2 teams per Manufacturer, regardless of how many chassis that manufacturer has Teams choose manufacturers during the Fall Draft on November 11th, or after the draft directly after being accepted to the season Teams pick their manufacturers in order of slowest to quickest Picking order is determined by totalling the R1 leaderboard times of the team's fastest driver from 12 specific track layouts. Sandbagged times are detected and teams are penalized for "deceptively slow" times Once a manufacturer is chosen by the team, the team must decide on a team car from that manufacturer Payouts in the millions to the top 10 drivers and top 5 teams
Point System Competitive, graduated scale for finishing positions out to 30th place 20 Points for pole position 1 point per overtake (based on starting grid to finishing position, not number of re-overtakes during the race)
Qualifying 3 full days of open, live qualifying (live results visible on the site) prior to each race (which allows all time zones and schedules to participate) Drivers set their fastest certified times in Multiplayer mode (not necessary to have other drivers in the private race) Times validated by Formula Forza crew from driver saved replays Top 30 qualifiers move on to Sunday's race 31st and lower qualifiers will be "Cut", but still awarded points for participation (31st = 9, 32nd = 8, 33rd = 7, minimum 1 point) 31st qualifier will also be awarded 250,000 credits as consolation and encouragement for cut drivers to keep trying for next event
Races Over 1 hour long endurance races with limited damage 11 races over a 6 month schedule Every other Sunday at 3 PM EST Two race lobbies (A/B) ordered based on qualifying Tire / Brakes Warm Up and Grid Formation Lap 1 mandatory pit stop (2 stops for finale at Le Mans)
Balancing Power Restrictors imposed on repeat top finishers or those that far exceed the pace of others to ensure competitive racing Penalties awarded for causing collisions or other unsportsmanlike conduct Use of clutch is banned Drivers are required to use all available gears, further increasing the realism (this means de-tuned transmissions that make gears obsolete are not permitted)

Fall Draft

   In the 2012 R1 season, nearly half the grid were driving Acuras, while the Mazda 787B and Peugeot 905C were excluded as options. While the liveries still made for an interesting looking field, we thought the grid could stand some variety. To prevent this, we put a limit of 2 teams per manufacturer, regardless of the number of different chassis or cars that manufacturer has (Cadillac has one chassis, while Audi has five). Excluding Mercedes Sauber C9 (due to worry over the difficulty of not driving it like a projectile) and Porsche (due to complete uncompetitive pace, even at R1 998), it left 13 manufacturers to choose from, some clearly more desirable than others. To prevent the absolute fastest cars from going to the already top performers, we proposed a draft, where picking order was determined by ranking teams slowest to fastest, with the faster teams picking last. Ranking the teams was accomplished by looking at R1 leaderboard times from 12 specific track layouts. Teams were given a time based on their fastest driver's total time across all 12 tracks. Deceptively slow times or inconsistent pace was scrutinized and penalized so that teams were encouraged to post realistic times on the leaderboard. The draft would happen live on our facebook page on November 11th, and would be open to all committed teams (filled teams that have paid the buy-in). By the time the draft came, there were 19 committed teams. Below is the draft order and pre-draft ranking of teams:

   The draft format was fairly simple: we would call each team in order, and teams were given 5 minutes per pick to make their decision or they would be pushed back in the draft. The results of the draft are below, and full transcript of the draft can still be found on the draft event.

   After the draft, we have accepted one more team, Wheeling AFD, which chose Cadillac. We now have another pending team, SLZ, which once they buy-in, will make our 21st team. This also means we will potentially have 42 drivers.

   We only run two official lobbies of 15 drivers: group A (1-15), group B (16-30). This means with 42 drivers, we could potentially have a cut off of 12 drivers for the race. While this sounds like a horrible likelihood, we strongly encourage 31st and lower qualifiers to form their own lobbies and have a race to keep their skills sharp. Because the season is 6 months long, participation plays a big part of the standings. Even if you are middle or back of the field, missing a race is like missing a win, in terms of points swing. You gain no points, but your rivals soak up your position. We issue finishing placement points out to 30th place, 1 additional point for each overtake made during the race (starting to finishing position), and 20 points for pole position. The spread of points keeps things tight, 1st earning 100 points and 30th earning 10. Compared with F1, where 1st is 25 times as many points as 10th, and there is no points for anything lower. We do monitor the race and deduct points for causing avoidable collisions or other violations of the rules. We start with a warm-up lap that is between 90-100% pace, that allows drivers to get heat into their brakes and form up in the proper grid order. After all drivers are properly in their grid box (or 20 foot staggered position on tracks that lack grid boxes), a start time is called out so drivers have time to prepare for the standing start.

   If you plan on earning a few podiums (group A only), you'll want to pay close attention to the rules regarding our power restriction system. To ensure that no single driver simply runs away with the season, we have implemented a success balast that has proved to make for some very interesting race strategies. It also really tests the tuning ability and adaptability of the front runners. 1st place gets 10% for the next qualifying and race, while 2nd and 3rd get 5%. The restriction is stacking, so if you win two races, you are faced with a 20% power restriction. For each race you are not on the podium, your power restriction is reduced by 5%. Your first time on the podium is considered immunity, provided you didn't pull a significant gap to the rest of the field to completely dominate the event. There are additional power restriction instances for cases of out qualifying the next fastest driver that isn't your teammate when you are on pole position or for dominating the race by a significant margin.

   The banning of the use of clutch and detuned transmissions means that clutch popping and 3 or 4 gear set ups are not something you need to worry about in our championship. While we wish we could allow clutch for starts, it proves to be too much of a gray area on what is allowed with the clutch and what isn't, so use of clutch at all is banned for the 2013 season. Transmissions must use all available gears every lap, climbing at least 1000 rpm in each gear to ensure drivers are not trying to circumvent the regulation. The only exception is 1st gear, which is not required on laps after the start. The car must launch from 1st gear at the start.

Winnings

   If glory isn't enough incentive, currently the winnings pool stands at 200 million credits, and there are 9600 Microsoft points up for grabs for various achievements.

4000 MS Points - Winner of the Driver Championship 1600 MS Points - Team owner of the best livery (voted in a FormulaForza.com poll) 1600 MS Points - Good Sportsmanship Award (voted in a FormulaForza.com poll) 800 MS Points (800 MSP x2) - Both drivers of the highest ranked team with perfect attendance from both drivers 800 MS Points - Most improved driver of the season (pre-season vs season-end ranking)    The credit winnings are paid out to the top 10 drivers and top 5 teams at the end of the season. The winnings are weighted to payout more to the team championship than the driver championship. Last year's R1 championship saw Team Champions Rising Sun Racing take home 61.75 million credits between the two drivers...and this season's winnings pool is even bigger.
But wait, what if I'm not the fastest guy in the world?

   While its true that the Driver Championship and Team Championship only payout to the very top performers, all hope isn't lost. The good news is that Formula Forza is filled with experienced drivers and owners that are more than willing to run practice sessions with less experienced drivers. Tuning help, line following, and turn-by-turn coaching is available to those that want it. Anyone that has actively participated in Formula Forza can tell you that no matter where your skill level is, at the end of the season you are made into a better driver as a result. That being said, there are some special incentives being added this year that ensure that the grid stays competitive from front to back. As a consolation of 250,000 Cr will be awarded to the 31st qualifier of each event as a way to help ensure that qualifying remains active. For those that regularly find themselves in group B, we have some interesting incentives. Each race, the top 5 positions in group B will be paid.

Group B: 1st - 250,000 Cr Group B: 2nd - 200,000 Cr Group B: 3rd - 100,000 Cr Group B: 4th -   90,000 Cr Group B: 5th -   60,000 Cr
   Although we have finishing placement points out to 30th (10 points), we will be awarding participation points to those that qualify 31st or lower. 31st qualifier earns 9 points, 32nd 8 points, 33rd 7 points, and so on with a minimum of 1 point for posting up qualifying times. This lets qualifiers still be ranked, rather than be completely dropped after qualifying 30th.

   For all the details, and the full list of rules and regulations, browse over to Rules and Regulations in the menu at the top. Any other questions can be asked in comments below. Administrators watch the comments very closely and make an effort to respond to any direct questions to us.

How to Join

   If this entices you, then join us for what is sure to be an epic season. Do join us:
Register on FormulaForza.com Sign in and accept all the rules and regulations of the season by going to each rule category and accepting each rule. This makes you an eligible driver for the season As an eligible driver, you can either join an existing team or form your own Once you are part of a filled team, the team owner can request to join the season. These teams show up as "pending teams" on Teams page We'll contact the team owner about when they are ready to pay the 10M Cr buy-in. When they are ready, we will list a Mitsubishi Starion with Formula Forza logos on it for 10M Cr for 24 hours. Once the token car has been purchased, the team is accepted into the season and can declare their manufacturer

   We really can't wait for the season to begin, and there may yet be a few more surprises before the season starts with the Japanese GP season opener at Suzuka on Sunday, January 6th. We hope you like what we have set up here, and by the end we think you will agree that Formula Forza is home to the most rewarding, competitive, and clean racing available. We would love to hear what you think in the comments below!

   The Formula Forza crew

The Game Changer

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:03:00 -0400

(0/115)    Points leader II ALEX P II was first in on day 1 of qualifying around the Circuit de Catalunya for the Spanish GP. He set an early benchmark of a mid 1m 37s. Alex set this time with his 10% power restriction, and isn't known for progressing much throughout the qualifying weekend. Within a few hours, top contender mopar4t4 had snatched the lead after a few successful progressions with his own 5% power restriction, setting a lap 3 tenths quicker than Alex's. Since the early predictions were for a 1m 37 pole, mopar4t4 likely thought his 1:37.202 was fairly safe. Another regular pole contender, HundredthTie70, set his time just half a tenth behind Alex's time. His Lotus Racing teammate and previous race winner, Xy101 surprised many by setting 2nd quickest time, narrowly edging above Alex. Scurry76, XBR JamesHall, magnum278, posixmosh, and FerrariFanatic9 all set their times in the 1:38+ range on the last day of qualifying. With less than 4 hours remaining in qualifying, II ALEX P II jumped right back to the top of the times after setting a blistering 1:36.645; nearly a full second faster than his previous attempt, and half a second faster than mopar4t4, now sitting A-2. With this being his 4th pole position, II ALEX P II breaks the previous record for career poles, and stands alone as the only Formula Forza driver to achieve 4 career poles, let alone 4 poles in a single season. This also means that as AVR claims its is 11th pole position, it is far and away the quickest team franchise in Formula Forza history -- RoC Lewis S (3), The Bulin Wall5 (3), TheOneNamedJack (1), II ALEX P II (4). With Alex back at the top, Lotus Racing locks out the 2nd row. According to race officials, Rising Sun Racing driver posixmosh was disqualified for not providing a replay to validate his time; though he was absent at Sunday's race, so it wouldn't matter in the end.

   On race day, the race officials urged drivers to be cautious in the final stages of the season, especially in the first couple laps, so that restarts wouldn't be needed. APX Caramel, WennaJ, AdamWatson, and CD 195 joined the grid at the back with no qualifying time posted to make a solid 12 car race around the grip centric circuit. On the official start, CD 195 jumped the start by nearly half a second, while at the front, Lotus Racing drivers both had delayed starts. The run down into the first turn was a wild exchange of positions, at one point going 4 wide by use of the pit lane exit -- remarkable stuff. WennaJ had to swerve off track to avoid a collision with APX Caramel in the braking zone for turn 1. It was a smart, quickly executed maneuver that shows just how far the Jet Lotus driver has come. Into the first turn, mopar4t4 had taken the lead, followed closely by II ALEX P II, with magnum278 (3rd), FerrariFanatic9 (4th), APX Caramel (5th), HundredthTie70 (6th), WennaJ (7th), XBR JamesHall (8th), Xy101 (9th), CD 195 (10th), AdamWatson99 (11th), and ScholesySlash46 (12th) all gnashing for position behind. A small bump between CommonWealth Mazda Racing Team drivers CD 195 and AdamWatson99 sent Adam out into the runoff of turn 1, and as Adam attempted to rejoin the track, WennaJ had to make another evasive move which put him back to 12th. By turn 3, CD 195 (10th) had cut up the inside of several drivers to get just ahead of APX Caramel (5th), but entered turn 3 with too much speed, running wide, simultaneously running APX Caramel off track. APX Caramel dropped back to 8th, just behind HundredthTie70 (6th) and Xy101 (7th). Jet AMG drivers were battling over 3rd place yet keeping a safe barrier between the two cars. On the run down into the hairpin at turn 10, CD 195 (5th) caught the draft of the two JET drivers, and slipped right between the two. Over the comm channel, you could hear magnum278 call out that they had to let off to avoid collision, so CD 195 should call out his overtaking maneuvers, especially risky ones. After all the excitement of the first lap, things settle down a bit.


   Lap 4, Xy101 (6th) caught the draft of FerrariFanatic9 (5th) on the front straight, and made the pass under braking into turn 1. A little further up the pack, magnum278 (4th) was making gains on CD 195 (3rd), and after a mistake by CD 195 in turn 7, magnum278 slipped up the inside and gained the position. Just behind, HundredthTie70 (7th) makes a similar mistake, allowing AdamWatson99 up into 7th. Trapped in tight traffic, HundredthTie70 made a quick decision to come into the pits early to hopefully exit into clean air. He emerged from pit lane in 12th, but with no traffic around. Just a lap later, Xy101 (5th) caught CD 195 (4th) in turn 9, just before the back straight. Xy101 stayed close, and called out a pass on the inside into turn 10. CD 195 moved over to the left before the turn blocking Xy101's line, causing an avoidable collision. Xy101 connected with CD 195's rear left quarter panel, causing very minor aero damage to both (less than 10% each) with no mechanical damage. Throughout the incident, Xy101 was able to maintain the overtake to 4th. A few turns later at the right hander that leads into the final chicane, CD 195 (5th) was attempting to follow close enough to take back the position recently lost, but rear ended Xy101 with enough force to cause significant rear aero damage to the Lotus Racing chassis, along with moderate front aero damage to himself. Xy101 came into pit lane that lap to repair the minor mechanical damage suffered during the incident as well as getting his mandatory pit stop out of the way. CD 195's teammate AdamWatson99 (6th) had also been closing the gap, and on lap 6, was able to get a good exit off turn 3 to line up an inside move on CD 195 (5th) into turn 4. However, mid-turn CD 195 turned in on his teammate from the outside line causing yet another collision. On the front straight of the next lap, WennaJ (7th) and AdamWatson99 (6th) line up and make a side-by-side pass on CD 195 (5th). A late block attempt allowed WennaJ to move up two positions into 5th, while AdamWatson99 still made the pass into 6th.

   APX Caramel (8th) and XBR JamesHall (9th) came into the pits just before the 1/3rd race distance, emerging 10th and 12th behind HundredthTie70 (9th) and Xy101 (11th). FerrariFanatic9 pits from 4th on the next lap, coming back out on track in 9th, behind HundredthTie70 (8th) and just ahead of APX Caramel (10th). Race strategies start becoming more clear as WennaJ (4th) and AdamWatson99 (5th) come in on lap 9, threading back into traffic in 7th behind HundredthTie70 (6th) and 10th behind Xy101 (9th). Magnum278 had been running a clean race in 3rd and had made a significant gap to CD 195 (now 4th) when he decided to come in for fresh tires on lap 10. The gap wasn't quite big enough, as CD 195 went through to 3rd just as magnum278 was rejoining the circuit. JET AMG captain magnum278 applied consistent pressure for two laps before CD 195 locked up the brakes into turn 5, allowing magnum to reclaim 3rd. ScholesySlash46 pit on lap 12 from 5th, coming back out 12th. CD 195 (4th) had been running 1:40-1:41 laps, which allowed HundredthTie70 (5th) to close in, and on lap 13, HundredthTie70 went round the outside of CD 195 through turn 3, despite a valiant attempt by CD 195 to close the door. The leaders had been running a close race that really wasn't far ahead from the pack, but it was also notable conservative. Neither wanted to make a mistake that could jeopardize the entire race. On lap 14, they both came into their pit stalls. They emerged 3rd and 4th, giving the lead to magnum278 and HundredthTie70. The only strategy at play now was to not incur additional power restriction for the season finale at Le Mans, which meant that neither mopar4t4 (3rd) or II ALEX P II (4th) wanted to finish on the podium. By lap 15, both APX Caramel (6th) and WennaJ (7th) were able to catch CD 195 (5th) on the front straight. Going into turn 3, APX Caramel tried to overtake on the outside, similar to how HundredthTie70 passed, but was ridden off the track by a block from CD 195. WennaJ siezed the opportunity and took 6th. WennaJ followed closely behind CD 195, waiting for a mistake, but he simply wasn't making anymore.

   As the pack approached the slowing points leaders mopar4t4 and II ALEX P II, Alex fell back to 8th by letting a herd of them go by on the back straight between turn 9 and 10. Since CD 195 had not made his pit stop yet, mopar4t4 knew he'd have to let CD 195 and one other go by to not end up on the podium, and Alex had already made his move...now back on the attack to get to 4th again. In desperation to get back on the attacking foot, mopar4t4 attempted to let CD 195 go by in first turn of the chicane where he could shut the door quickly on other cars. The plan was better conceived than executed, as CD 195 slammed full force into the back of mopar4t4's car. WennaJ immediately dodged the incident and went through to 3rd. The damage was severe enough that race officials called for the forced retirement of mopar4t4 and CD 195. Mopar4t4 complied on the very next lap, but CD 195 stayed out on track, perhaps because he didn't understand the new rules concerning forced retirements if damage exceeds 90% on front or rear aero. XBR JamesHall was quicking closing on CD 195's limping car. As James attempted a pass into turn 7, CD 195 turned in to block, but his car didn't comply as quickly as he likely wanted, resulting in a side swipe of James' car that spun him out into the sand trap, ultimately making contact with the barriers. CD 195 was directly instructed by officials to enter the pit lane to retire from the race due to excessive damage. A dejected James Hall also voluntarily came into the pits to retire. With only 5 laps to go, it looked as if magnum278 (1st) would finally get his race win after having race ruining incidents at both Mugello and Road America that stripped him of an otherwise clear win. Fate interviened, however, when magnum278's batteries died, sending his car off in turn 9, lightly touching the barriers. By the time he was able to recover, the position was already lost to HundrethTie70 (2nd). II ALEX P II was able to fight back to 4th place, and when the checkered flag fell, HundredthTie70 collected his 3rd win and 4th podium of the season. Magnum278 finished just 7 seconds behind, with WennaJ crossing the line 3rd another 13 seconds back. AdamWatson99 (7th) lined up behind FerrariFanatic9 (6th) on the final turn, and as they raced wheel to wheel to the finish, Adam just edged out FerrariFanatic9 to the line securing 6th place by just a tenth of a second.


   As a result of the number of complaints, violations, and collisions that CD 195 was involved in this race, race officials have decided on a one-race suspension rather than attempt to tally the penalty. With mopar4t4's retirement from the race, he falls to 3rd in the Driver Championship, trailing points leader II ALEX P II by 74 points. HundredthTie70 moves up to 2nd, but with a 15% power restriction going into the season finale, it'll be a salvage game for the Irish driver to not lose too many points to the rest of the field at a circuit that is arguably the worst track to have a power restriction. The double retirement from CommonWealth Motorsport drivers meant they only earned their lowest points of the season, and fell to 2nd in the Team Championship. Including their most recent win in Spain, Lotus Racing has been on the charge for the past two races and rises to lead the Team Championship by only 16 points. With HundredthTie70's hefty power restriction, its unlikely, but still possible for Lotus Racing to hold the Team Championship. WennaJ's battle from the back to 3rd was an incredible feat, earning him 6 passing points in just this race. With these overtakes, WennaJ becomes the Formula Forza driver with the most career passes at 34 overtakes. This is a milestone he's had his sights on since the beginning of the Mazda Cup season. Our congratulations to him for earning this achievement. R1 driver ChaosinAction had previously held the record at 31 overtakes, and still holds the record for highest average overtakes per race.

Overtaking Hall of Fame

Rank	Gamertag	Overtakes	Races	Avg Per Race
1	Wennaj	34	14	2.43
2	ChaosinAction	31	10	3.10
3	posixmosh	23	10	2.30
4	morbidtacos	23	20	1.15
5	FerrariFanatic9	22	13	1.69
6	SAMsferrari	21	22	0.95
7	magnum278	21	14	1.50
8	Qr25deSpecV	19	11	1.73
9	ANDR0MEDA1	15	5	3.00
10	xOverdrive99x	14	11	1.27

Rank	Gamertag	Overtakes	Races	Avg Per Race
1	ChaosinAction	31	10	3.10
2	ANDR0MEDA1	15	5	3.00
3	Wennaj	34	14	2.43
4	GoldenSkulls13	12	5	2.40
5	posixmosh	23	10	2.30
6	APX Caramel	13	6	2.17
7	Qr25deSpecV	19	11	1.73
8	FerrariFanatic9	22	13	1.69
9	HundredthTie70	13	8	1.63
10	magnum278	21	14	1.50

Spanish GP Qualifying

Spanish GP Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

French GP

   Ideal conceeding zones on Le Mans are on the straight into turn 1, the straights between turn 7 and 8, between turn 8 and 9, between turn 9 and 10, and between 10 and 11. As a reminder, conceeding can happen anywhere, but communication should always be used to make sure that no contact happens.

   Power Restrictions for the French GP: 1st) HundredthTie70 - 15% (max power ~561) 2nd) magnum278 - 0% (immunity) 3rd) WennaJ - 0% (immunity) existing) II ALEX P II (4th) - 5% (max power ~627) existing) APX Caramel (5th) - 0% existing) mopar4t4 (12th) - 0% IMPORTANT NOTE: There are going to be 2 mandatory pit stops and the race is about an hour and a half long, rather than our usual 1 pit stop in an hour long race.

   Infamous Le Mans ("Leh Maw") circuit is best known for its incredible size and its back straight, Mulsanne ("Mules-zahn"). Home to the oldest and most popular event in endurance racing, it is also one race in the so-called "Triple Crown of Motorsport" (Indianapolis 500, 24 hours of Le Mans, Monaco Grand Prix). The track carries with it a prestige and racing heritage that no other track on our race calendar can compete with. The course is loaded with straights followed by heavy braking zones, which will test the brakes and grip levels of anyone who dares push the limits. In track analysis, major Le Mans Series teams have stated that over 85% of the time is spent at wide open throttle. This spells doom for anyone with mechanical, aerodynamic, or simply not enough power to reach the top speeds made available by the numerous straights. Concentration and pit strategy will be key for any driver to succeed. Hosted in early summer since 1923 (pardoning the 10 year break during World War 2), the epic race naturally has loads of history. The formula was simple: 24 hours of racing on a huge track that tests drivers' ability to focus with lots of manufacturer and privateer teams to make things exciting. Despite their current absense from the top LMP1 class, Porsche lays claim to the most number of wins as a manufacturer at Le Mans, with 16 victories to its name, 7 of them consecutively (1981-1987). German manufacturer and parent company to Porsche, only Audi remains as the clear dominant force in Le Mans, achieving victory nearly every year since 2000. Rather than have you watch a complete lap of Le Mans, we hope you find this video from Audi to be more fulfilling. If you were with us for the R1 finale, then you've likely already seen this video. It's over 13 minutes long, but it is worth it...and for a race this legendary, a 2 minute video would not have done it justice.

   Qualifying opens this Thursday at 12:00 AM EST, and will stay open until Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. A reminder that times must be certified, and they must take place in multiplayer mode with fuel and tire wear on, a set number of laps, and during the qualifying period. Times will not be accepted after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday. Drivers may send their replays to the Formula Forza crew or put the replay on their storefront for validation (if you'd like to make things easier on us). If you plan to put your replay on your storefront for validation, the replay for this event should be saved as FFMC12Q8. Browse to the Event Page for the French GP to post your times, and to watch the other drivers post up their qualifying times. With a track this long, there are lots of spots for lap time improvement, so start practicing early, and race with others to try to push each other. Focus on running clean laps first, then get faster. Predictions are going to be difficult, and the gap between times are likely going to be larger than at other tracks. The key thing is to be consistent. We could see a few forced retirements at Le Mans, so stay out of the barriers and you should do well. Will Alex get his 5th pole position of the season? Will it be a new pole contender? Either way, the fight for A-1 will prove to be quite important. No strategies left, this race is simply flat-out. Good luck to everyone during qualifying and in the event, which is scheduled for Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

   The Formula Forza crew

   For reference, the track detail for the upcoming event is listed below.

Le Mans - Circuit de Le Sarthe Group A Target: 3:36.500 Group B Target: 3:39.000

This 8 and a half mile French road course was the original test of a team's will to win. 24 hour races meant that the highest focus was required from everyone on the team. Now converted into a mix of top speed with a few grippy corners means that the car setup must be well balanced for top times. The track lap record is a 3:18.513, set by a Peugeot 908 during the event's 2008 qualifying. For reference, the fastest race lap is a 3:19.074, also set in a Peugeot 908. Key tips for improving your times: Experiment with downforce levels on this track. You should aim to be able to navigate the grip sector (turn 14-18) without too much worry, yet still be able to hit acceptable top speeds before turn 8.Be careful not to lift during turn 11, or you may spin out. If you need to let off the throttle for this turn, do it before the turn, otherwise wait till after 11, but before braking for 12.Be patient, fast lap times are often spoiled by trying to push too hard, resulting in running off the track...or worse, damage.Test different braking points for turn 10 (use rewind in hot lap mode if you need to repeat it several times) to ensure that you aren't braking too early that your time suffers, or so late that you are off track and uncertified.

Silverstone Strategies

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:45:00 -0400

(8/171) CommonWealth Motorsport driver XBR Doughnut was the first to set a qualifying time as the 3 day period opened for the British GP. This qualifying period would prove to be somewhat uneventful, as far as battles for the pole...as there was no back and forth between drivers. In the end there were 4 pole position holders, XBR Doughnut (1:40.782, improved to 1:38.890), HundredthTie70 (1:38.464) with a 10% power restriction, mopar4t4 (1:38.101, improved to 1:38.017) also with a 10% power restriction, then II ALEX P II (1:37.401) with a 5% power restriction. Mopar4t4 was the 2nd driver to get into the 1m 37's, but was unable to surpass the AVR star. The real surprise from qualifying was AVR driver Scurry76 ending up in A-2 with a 1:37.813. Up to this point, he was averaging a final qualifying position somehwere around 9th, with a previous best qualifying result at Mugello (6th). Congratulations to Scurry76 for a remarkable qualifying performance here at Silverstone. By the end of qualifying, all but 4 drivers were within a tenth and a half of another driver. Many drivers were able to shave significant time throughout the qualifying period, the most notable examples are listed: FerrariFanatic9 (-2.742s), XBR Doughnut (-2.338s), Xy101 (-2.265), posixmosh (-1.205s), Scurry76 (-1.125s), mopar4t4 (-0.949s), APX Caramel (-0.947s). With this 3rd pole position, II ALEX P II joins the select few Formula Forza drivers that have earned 3 career pole positions.

Gamertag	Pole Positions	Last Pole
Cyphon68	3	Apr 10, 2011
Roc Lewis s	3	May 1, 2011
TLR Eclipse	3	May 15, 2011
The Bulin Wall5	3	May 27, 2012
II ALEX P II	3	Sep 23, 2012
BATMAN LMP1	2	Feb 12, 2012
Drake Hellspawn	2	Mar 11, 2012
ix Overtake xi	2	Mar 18, 2012
HundredthTie70	2	Aug 26, 2012
A WOLVES FURY	1	Mar 27, 2011
kart51	1	May 29, 2011
TheOneNamedJack	1	Feb 26, 2012
clementelithe	1	Apr 1, 2012
BLoodYCaiN	1	Apr 15, 2012
mopar4t4	1	Aug 5, 2012

After several attempts to start the race properly, too many incidents into turn 1 caused the Race Officials to declare a 1s roll off start to the race, to avoid any further delay of the race. While Race Officials were certainly not happy with a non-standard start, it did not appreciably alter the results of the race. There was still ample amounts of overtaking and close racing. As a result of restart grid penalties, the starting order wasn't the same as qualifying. XBR Doughnut started 9th, posixmosh started 10th, ScholesySlash46 started 11th, and HundredthTie70 started 12th. On the second lap, under heavy pressure from APX Caramel (formerly Volkswagen Yo) WennaJ (5th) pushed a little to hard into turn 3 and went wide into the grass, allowing APX Caramel to snatch up the position. Then into turn 16 on the same lap, mopar4t4 (3rd) notably let off the throttle and made plenty of room for 4th place Lotus Racing driver Xy101 to pass, which he did. Although this pass may have gone unnoticed during the race, in retrospect, it was a fairly apparent strategy for mopar4t4 to finish 4th. A pivotal placement that earns the driver the highest points possible, without encurring any further power restriction, as well as reducing any current power restriction by 5%. Coming into the British GP race weekend, mopar4t4 had a 15 point championship lead over AVR rival II ALEX P II. With Alex already claiming the pole position (worth 20 points), Alex had taken the championship lead by a mere 5 points. Mopar4t4 and II ALEX P II both came into the weekend with power restriction (10% and 5% respectively), and with only 2 races left in the championship after the British GP at Silverstone, strategies will count for more than ever. Since Alex was already off to an early lead, surely CommonWealth Motorsport reasoned that a 4th place finish would keep mopar4t4 close enough to fight for the championship, yet set him up for the best possible chance of success at Catalunya for the Spanish GP. A 1st place finish for II ALEX P II would mean 15% power restriction for him at Catalunya, and (at best) a crippling 10% power restriction at the season finale at Le Mans. Conversely, a 4th place finish for mopar4t4 meant a 5% power restriction at Catalunya, and potentially his pick of positions there would dictate power restriction at Le Mans.

Fight for the Championship: projection of strategies (pre-race)

British GP

Spanish GP

French GP

Driver

Pwr Res. %

Before

Qual

Race

After

Pwr Res. %

Before

Qual

Race

After

Pwr Res. %

Before

Qual

Race

After

II ALEX P II

351

1st (100)

471

15%

471

4th (68)

539

10%

539

???

mopar4t4

10%

366

4th (68)

434

2nd (85)

539

10%

539

???

   We're sure that something similar to this projection was racing through mopar4t4's head during the race, trying to figure out the best possible scenario for coming out on top, come French GP. If Alex won the British GP, and mopar4t4 could execute the above projection...they'd be tied for points and have the same power restriction going into the finale, making for one pretty incredible ending to the season. If anything went wrong, the strategies would have to change, almost immediately. The other unknown, and perhaps a variable to the formula that could tip the scales are the overtaking points. Both Alex and mopar4t4 are very consistent drivers that even with power restriction, should finish well in races, so overtaking points are certainly a possibility at Le Mans. Before we completely get lost in championship projections and strategies, let's get back to the action at Silverstone.

   Mopar4t4's CommonWealth Motorsport teammate, XBR Doughnut (8th), had been closing in on magnum278 (7th) and on lap 3, attempted a move on the inside of turn 8. Magnum278 was still on the inside for turn 9, so XBR Doughnut kept a wide line through turn 9, putting a rear tire on the painted surface on the exit of turn 10. Posixmosh capitalized on the mistake, moving up into the mid-field battle. WennaJ (6th) had been back on the heels of APX Caramel (5th), when on lap 4, APX Caramel goes wide in the same corner that WennaJ went off just two laps prior. The JET Lotus driver quickly reclaimed 5th, but on the very next lap, WennaJ went wide again-- in the exact same corner, handing the position back to APX Caramel. Xy101 (3rd) came into the pits early on lap 5, emerging in 10th on the exit. Now in 3rd, mopar4t4 came into the pit on the next lap to ensure that the strategy to land 4th is still on course. On lap 7, WennaJ (4th) was pushing hard to close the gap to 3rd, and goes wide into turn 9 sending his rear tires out onto the slick painted pavement. He spun and came nearly to a stop on the inside exit of turn 10. Although this was still a safe spot to be, the spin out allowed magnum278 (5th) and XBR Doughnut (6th) to get by. Magnum278 now feeling the pressure of two drivers behind made a mistake by going off on the exit of turn 1 on the next lap; both XBR Doughnut and WennaJ slipped past. WennaJ (5th) appeared to have faster outright pace than XBR Doughnut (4th), and lined up to follow him close into turn 11, in hopes of making a maneuver in the final sector. Distracted or otherwise, WennaJ failed to brake in time and ended up in the back of XBR Doughnut's car, causing catastrophic rear aero and moderate mechanical damage to XBR, as well as massive front end damage for himself. Both drivers were forced to retire because of the damage.

   At the mid-point of the race, the field started getting a better idea of the result, because the pit strategies were playing out. FerrariFanatic9 came into the pits from 5th on lap 10, moving Xy101 up to 5th, mopar4t4 up to 6th, ScholesySlash46 7th, and HundredthTie70 8th. II ALEX P II (1st), Scurry76 (2nd), APX Caramel (3rd), and magnum278 (4th) had yet to make their mandatory pit stops, but on the very next lap, both APX Caramel and magnum278 came in for new tires. Xy101 (5th) moved up to 3rd, and mopar4t4 to 4th -- all was well with the strategy. By lap 11, the AVR drivers had pretty solidly secured their 1-2 positions, II ALEX P II in 1st with a 6.7s gap to Scurry76, and then a fairly massive 32.1s gap to Xy101...keeping in mind that both AVR drivers had yet to make their stops. Then a wrench got thrown into the cogs...Scurry76 lost connection to the race, effectively moving the whole field up a spot. This meant Xy101 was now running 2nd, with mopar4t4 dangerously teedering on getting more power restriction by running in 3rd. To set the strategy right, on the very next lap, mopar4t4 coasted on the hangar straight (between turns 6 and 7) until APX Caramel slid by into 3rd. With the racing order pretty much set, the field waited for the race leader to make his pit stop. However, with a 43 second lead on lap 14 when he did finally pull into his stall, it was clear that it wouldn't matter. Alex emerged from the pit lane with a 14 second lead, but the interesting thing is that lap over lap, his lead was whittled down by Xy101. On the very last lap of the race, Xy101 (2nd) overtook Alex and went on to win the race. Post-race, Alex declined comment as to whether the maneuver was strategy, but regardless, the result works in Alex's favor, and puts another dent into the strategy mentioned earlier. There were several good battles, and although it would have been the best points result for Scurry76 in his Formula Forza career, he can be proud of the amazing drive he had up to the point he lost connection. APX Caramel snagged 3rd, his 4th podium in the 5 races he's been able to attend- a pretty amazing feat. This race also marks the highest earned points for the following drivers: Xy101 (1st - 103), and ScholesySlash46 (9th - 47). One last thing to note is II ALEX P II set the bar higher this season for most points earned under restriction with 105 points, previously held by mopar4t4 with 101 points at the German GP.

Fight for the Championship: projection of strategies (post-race)

	British GP					Spanish GP					French GP
Driver	Pwr Res. %	Before	Qual	Race	After	Pwr Res. %	Before	Qual	Race	After	Pwr Res. %	Before	Qual	Race	After
II ALEX P II	5%	351	20	2nd (85)	456	10%	456		4th (68)	524	5%	524	???	???	???
mopar4t4	10%	366		4th (68)	434	5%	434	20	2nd (85)	539	10%	539	???	???	???
mopar4t4*	10%	366		4th (68)	434	5%	434	20	1st (100)	554	15%	554	???	3rd or better	???

   Looking at the two different strategies mopar4t4 could use to try to unseat II ALEX P II as championship leader after what happened at the British GP, you can see that perhaps its wiser to only take a 2nd place at Catalunya. Taking 1st at Catalunya, if possible, grants him a 30 point lead into the final race, but plagues him with a 15% power restriction for the longest, most power hungry track of the entire calendar. The thing to remember here is that anything can happen on race day. Le Mans is no stranger to crashes that cause retirements. It may all come down to who can survive at Le Mans. The only other thing to be said is that the book isn't shut on other competitors. As unlikely as it seems, there are still 240 points on the table within the last two races, so that means that its mathematically possible for 10th place Scurry76 to sweep the top points to win the championship by 10 points. Of course this is unlikely, and would mean front runners like II ALEX P II and mopar4t4 not score another point. But for HundredthTie70 (only trailing mopar4t4 by 39 points) or APX Caramel (another 30 points back of that), its not a huge stretch to see a scenario in which they could still win the driver championship. Good luck to all drivers in the upcoming events, and here's to hoping for some exciting races as the season heats up approaching the finale.

   As we come into the final two events of the Mazda Cup 2012 season, one thing we would like to address is the comm channel. We understand that some communication is necessary for clean racing, but please make all attempts to keep any non-critical communication for after the race. Our races demand a lot of focus from drivers, and we love that it does. Communication can be distracting, even if it is critical, so please help us keep our races cleaner by cutting the chatter, or by helping to stop chatter that is not necessary if you hear it.


British GP Qualifying

British GP Podium

2nd

1st

3rd

Spanish GP

   Ideal conceeding zones on Circuit de Catalunya are between turn 16 and 1 and between turn 9 and 10. As a reminder, conceeding can happen anywhere, but communication should always be used to make sure that no contact happens.

   Power Restrictions for the Spanish GP: 1st) Xy101 - 0% (immunity) 2nd) II ALEX P II - 10% (max power ~594) 3rd) APX Caramel (formerly Volkswagen Yo) - 5% (max power ~627) existing) mopar4t4 (4th) - 5% (max power ~627) existing) HundredthTie70 (6th) - 5% (max power ~627)    Spain has a history of passion and excitement. Their whole culture exemplifies intensity. With any luck, that's exactly the kind of race we'll see at the Circuit de Catalunya. The twisting 2.9 mile ribbon of tarmac sits just outside Barcelona, and was constructed at the same time as the Olympic stadiums for the 1992 games. The track is known for being a very techinical track, testing the driver's ability to enter turns at precisely the correct angle and speed to accomplish amazing lap times. Even the smallest changes when approaching the corner can result in massive reductions in time. For an idea of how the track looks today, let's ride onboard with Fernando Alonso in his F2012 Ferrari in a lap around the Circuit de Catalunya. His time on this race lap was roughly a 1m 27.500s-- nearly 10 seconds faster than we'll be seeing in qualifying.

   Qualifying opens this Thursday at 12:00 AM EST, and will stay open until Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. A reminder that times must be certified, and they must take place in multiplayer mode with fuel and tire wear on, a set number of laps, and during the qualifying period. Times will not be accepted after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday. Drivers may send their replays to the Formula Forza crew or put the replay on their storefront for validation (if you'd like to make things easier on us). If you plan to put your replay on your storefront for validation, the replay for this event should be saved as FFMC12Q7. Browse to the Event Page for the Spanish GP to post your times, and to watch the other drivers post up their qualifying times. Pole position is largely dependant on how much time drivers are willing to spend honing their laps. We predict a 1m 37s or so for the fastest lap. This season, we've only had 3 drivers that have earned the pole, but ALL of them have restriction this week, so we could see a 4th pole position driver. Either way, the fight for A-1 should be quite fierce. Good luck to everyone during qualifying and in the event, which is scheduled for Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.

   The Formula Forza crew

   For reference, the track detail for the upcoming event is listed below.

Circuit de Catalunya - Gran Prix Layout Group A Target: 1:38.000 Group B Target: 1:40.000

Catalunya has long been regarded as a training course. The track is littered with a series of technical corners that will test any driver's consistency. Built in 1991 to coincide with the olympic games in Barcelona, the track has become a proving grounds and benchmark for Formula One, GP2, and MotoGP drivers. Because of its proving grounds nature, most drivers have more experience on this track than any other. Key tips for improving your times: Brake more than you think you should for turn 1. It is better to be early on the throttle with a good angle for turn 2 than it is to be sliding off to the right on turn 2.Be patient with the throttle around turn 4 and 5. Early throttle in either of these corners can send you wide. If you must use the throttle, gradually build to full throttle, rather than feather it.Line up turn 7 to make sure your exit angle allows you to carry speed all the way up to turn 9. Slipping here will compromise your lap until you get to turn 10.There are lots of strategies for how to take turn 10 the fastest. All of them include coasting for a time while making the turn. Be careful of other drivers trying to dive to the inside on this turn.Just like the last few turns of Suzuka, be careful if you decide to use the rumble strips in turns 14 and 15. These rumble strips can send the car into a slide, but the rumble strip on turn 15 can be marginally cut with 2 tires if you use very little steering input.