Legends: TWF1 Zandvoort Report

For the first time this year the F1 field was split into it's divisions as the field numbers continue to grow.

In Division one 17 drivers lined up for their race with Lotus's continuing to prove to be the best cars in the field as the front 3 rows of the grid were locked out by the Chapman creations. 

Turn 1 saw a bit of jossling as Bento squeezed Berti as the lead pair headed into the famous Tarzan turn.  Jef and Dave Hawt also rubbed wheels a bit but all 17 cars made it through the first few corners in one piece.

Further round the lap Ronny Nunez was the first, of many drivers to clip the chicanes curbs and lost his rear wing against the armco barriers. Towards the end of the lap a little more jossling, including some contact between Rouke and Rick Stratton finished off an action packed start to the race.

Stratton was struggling a little in the T4 Ferrari and down the main straight Rouke was able to pass him. Into Tarzan Dave Hawt had a small spin but up front the three Lotus 80's were battling hard.

Lap 2 and Timo made a lovely move on Berti to move into second and the lead 3 already looked to be clear of the battle for 4th. Mike Perray, having recently taken delivery of a BT48, had made an excellent start and was running fourth ahead of two more Lotus's.

Perray's race fell apart two laps later, however, with a hefty off that removed his rear wing. He would run near the tail of the field for the next 10 or so laps before retiring. Langford was the next driver to lose his wing, having taken fourth from Perray he spun in Tarzan.

Fourth place would appear to be a 'bogey' position in this race, Ronny had been running fourth when he went off, Ales was next in the position and he retired on lap 14. 

Ales was very vocal about his retirement. He had been fully alongside Berti approaching Tarzan but for some reason decided to back out of the pass. Roberto turned in early, catching Ales unawares, who spun. Contact wasn't made by Ales made it clear he felt the crash was Berti's fault.

Meanwhile up front Timo had caught Bento and on lap 9 he went past after the latter lost it in the chicane. 

The front 8 drivers were fairly stable by now but behind drivers were in all sorts of trouble. the pits becoming a busy place with several drivers making multiple pit visits.  Lap 33 and things started to hot up with the leaders again. Peltola was clear but increasing pressure on Miguel caused him to go off.

Berti tried to take advantage but unfortunately contact was made and her dropped to the dreaded fourth position. Bret Metcalf had been running there and benefited moving up to 3rd. At the end of the next race Miguel spun in Tarzan and in doing so upset Rik Walker with what was probably a poorly judged recovery.

Nigel took the place but once again was another 4th placed 'victim' binning it at the chicane. 

The rest of the event was fairly uneventfull and Timo came home winner by an impressive 25.4s.

Zandvoort was clearly proving a challenge and thirteen Division 2 drivers faced the same challenges. How would they cope?

Ligier's locked out the front row and a 3rd lined up in 4th on the grid with the Brabham of Corrado adding a splash of red to the front two rows.

Simon Baggett made a terrible start dropping several places and allowing Don to take the lead ahead of the Brabham. Baggett clung onto third. Behind the places were a little strange as a pre-race restart caused by technical issue had muddled the grid. 

Phillipe Marot, who had qualified last, was thus 6th with the Pink Pig of Martin Cooper just behind. Don made it '2 from 2' as both front grid drivers had a bad start by spinning in Turn 3 and thus Corrado led as the field headed into the countryside.

Cooper was all over the back of Marot as the three drivers, starting from the pitlane serving a qualifying penalty, joined the race. Marot made a small mistake approaching the chicane and Cooper went for the pass. The two made contact and Cooper was forced to pit for repairs to his car due to damage caused when he hit the armco.

The opening lap was less dramatic than for the Div 1 drivers, although one last bit of drama saw David Pym having to take avoiding action as a driver rejoined.

At the start of Lap 2, Sal Tallini went for a pass on Kat into T1. From a long way back he went for a gap which Kat fortunately let open as she saw him coming. Tallini spun narrowly avoiding hitting the Ferrari.

Baggett went for a pass to take the lead in the same position at the start of lap 2, ran wide and rejoined in fourth after a light kiss off the barriers. Corrado thus continued to lead ahead of Eric and Gigi. David K in 6th was ahead of David Pym.

Eric became the next victim of the chicane, sliding along the barriers and dropping to 4th.  Corrado continued to lead while the Ligiers battled hard behind. Their battle became one for the lead on lap five when the leader became the latest chicane victim. He was a bit robust in his defence after squeezing Don very hard two corners later and continuing in sixth.

Eric was looking mighty impressive keeping more or less out of trouble and holding third ahead of Don who was putting a lot of pressure on the Tyrell.

Simon took the lead on Lap seven into Tarzan and wouldn't look back but behind Gigi was under pressure from Eric. He would absorb the pressure lap after lap as 2nd thru 4th battled hard. DK was holding well onto 6th with David Pym unable to keep up at this stage.

Two drivers had retired by now with Ivor and Tallini retiring well before half distance. Cooper was starting to close on Scott as she closed in on Marot in 8th. Marot was lapping mainly in the 1m22's while Scott was in the 1m19's and on lap 15 the two were nose to tail.

Marot was very slow in the chicane and thus the Ferrari was all over him, into the penultimate term Scott went for the pass, the two touched, spun and Cooper was through. 

On Lap 19 Don became the next victim of the chicane, this strange corner seeming to serve little purpose. Normally chicanes are there to slow drivers but this one is a flat in 4th corner and as such cars approach it at around 150mph. Get it wrong and the accident WILL be big. 

David K, Corrago, Scott and Gigi all got caught out by this tricky corner and most of the pitstops were caused by this one section of the circuit. 

Don provided the last of the drama losing a wheel.. yep you've guessed it in the chicane.. on the last lap and limping round to finish 7th. 

Simon Bagget won impressively by over 30s from Eric and David Pym. His Time would have been enough to finish on the lead lap of the Div 1 race in around 6th place.

Racer of the day would probably be Martin Cooper who showed how to drive with minimal mistakes and a great recovery drive. 

G1:GP Trucks - When tyres go wrong..

Those little black round things, often forgotten, but vital to any racing car were a bigger factor this week than ever influencing the outcome of both races.

Mansfield was the first of the two events and when Yuriko squeezed Katier exiting Turn 2 it was clear that this was going to be a long night. Katier spun 90 degree's, slid down the track and was back racing within seconds.

So quick was her recovery that the tail of the field was still in sight entering Turn 3 and she made no contact with the wall. The first yellow of the night flew so for 4 laps the field circulated behind the pace car. On the restart and just 2 laps later, on lap 7, Katier nudged Crippy. 

Again the spinning car recovered promptly.. and again the yellow flew. Katier decided to pit for a Right side tyre change as a precaution as she was so far down the field. The theory being that it would allow her to run to about lap 32 of 50 before needing to stop. Thus allowing flexibility without compromising position on the road.

The precaution probably wasn't required as time after time the field failed to go racing for more than 2 laps. By around half distance the field then started complaining about tyres. Some reporting extreme wear on their rear tyres and hot brake temps. Other drivers, perhaps not using their brakes under caution, reported no problems.

The tyre issues therefore forced others to pit and, with 7 laps to go Katier found herself leading from Jafo. One final yellow and the field was released with three to go, Reitveld unfortunatly over-accelerating for one last twist to the race.

Turned out in order to maintain position with respect to the Pace Car one has to accelerate.. accelerate too much, however, and a drive through penalty is the result. Reitveld beat Jafo to the line, in the best racing all night, but dropped to 6th with the penalty.

The field once again had tyre tactics to contend with as they moved to Rockingham. This race was a 50 lapper run without yellows and two drivers put the effort in to do race length runs.

Crippy Oh, however, advised that a stop would be required but clarified it was optional when asked. This was going to be crucial as Sulla led the field from green ahead of Suku and Suzy who were embroiled in a battle. 

Behind them with a few seconds gap between each, Crippy and Jafo battled, with Yuriko and Katier also fighting just behind them. 

Kiboe was looking strong just behind them in 7th with the biggest loser being Zaria who unfortunatly spun on lap one. Zaria recovered well from her initial problems and by lap 10 was the only driver improving their position.

By Lap 18, shortly after Kiboe had retired after a crash, Zaria was up to 7th but unfortunatly a mistake put her out of the race a few laps later.

The pitstops started on lap 25 and cost around 2 laps on average in time. By Lap 31 everyone had pitted.. except Jafo and Katier who now were running at the head of the field.

Sulla was a lap down comfortably ahead of Suzy and Suku. 2 laps down were Crippy and Yuriko was three. Being on new tyres, all the drivers were quicker than the lead duo, but only by 1s at best. 

Sulla unlapped herself and for a while looked like she might even catch Reitveld. Her tyres soon 'went off' as her uncompromising setup and driving style wore them down. With 5 laps to go it was clear she wouldn't manage it as her times were down to 24.6 while Reitveld and Jafo were able to maintain 25.0's.

Jafo won, comfortably by 13s from Reitveld with Sulla the only unlapped runner 6s further back.

Post race some drivers said they didn't realise stops were not compulsory although most, especially Sulla, admitted they had no choice but to stop. Overall an interesting and fun race where, as Crippy put it, those who prepared for the race did best.

Legends: Oschersleben Report

The TWFA field, for the second time this season, arrived at a different layout to the GP 1979 drivers. In this case, however, they arrived in a completely different country. This round of the championship would be run at the go-kart like surroundings of the little known Oschersleben circuit in Germany.

A poor start by Rouke, on pole, caused the start of the race to have several position changes. He Dropped to fourth while Berti took second ahead of Huarte and Marco. Behind Paul Langford, Graham Palfreyman and myself, now running under my new name, all made similarly bad starts.

Huarte soon found himself under pressure and on lap 2 had dropped two places as the slow starters recovered. Behind Maiph was in 5th ahead of Baz and Langford and already the race seemed to have 3 sections. The lead four followed by a group of three then the battle for 8th.

Tallini was an early holder of that position but was under pressure from Metcalf with a furious scrabble behind. Palfreyman crashed out on lap 2 while Cooper spun away a bad start to drop to 14th just ahead of me.

Ted Ball was driving superbly and making his way up the field. By lap 5 he was 8th, aided by the retirement of Marco from the lead but then pushed to hard and retired on the next lap.

Lap 6 marked the last of most of the passing. In 10th place, however, Scott and Johnson were engaged in a monumental battle. The swapped places on laps 9, 10, 11 and 12, the final being an unfortunate accidental nudge where Kat's car was on the power when Johnson was still sorting his car out mid corner. He was unable to control the slide despite her backing off and she took 10th from Johnson but was quick to apologise.

Revenge would have to wait, however, as a late incident would cost him several places near the end of the feature race. But before that Rouke would improve his start as he only dropped one place at the start. 

Some barging and boring occured in the lower reaches of the grids as cars had minor incidents and it therefore took a few laps for the field to settle down. 

Not, however, before Rouke having retaken the lead had a big off at the end of lap 4 forcing an early piststop just before the pit window opened for him. The result was a long pit stop, a heavy car, and an extra stop. 

Marco thus led at lap 4 from Berti and Huarte. Behind Tallini and Baz West were embroiled in a ferocious battle for 4th with Maiph holding start just behind.

David Kadlcak, who had gained the most places after a smooth drive in the first race, was already looking to do it again and was running an impressive 8th just behind the recovering Metcalf.

Tallini and West continued to battle until the former had a big accident halfway around  lap 10 cost him nine places, dropping him to 13th. West continued unimpeded but was soon battling hard with David and Maiph. 

Casedi pitted on lap 16, one of the first to make a regular stop, at the same time as Metcalf's recovery came to an end after crashing on his out lap.

The Pitstops were coming thick and fast by now but Kat stayed out. She was now running 7th but on lap 20 came accross the spinning Maiph.

Ralph had touched the grass approaching the T5 kink and spun. Kat had to junk right to avoid and ended up in the gravel, she lost about 12s in the gravel and with it any chance of coming out ahead of Graham after her stop.

With most of the field having stopped Marco continued to lead ahead of Berti, Juan and Baz. The latter was on huge charge, however, and he took the final podium spot on lap 26 with nine to go.

Kat dropped to 9th after her stop, the last scheduled, on lap 30 while Rouke was forced to pit again after an off a few laps earlier. Neill Johnson provided the last drama having incidents that dropped him to an eventual 12th.

Despite a circuit with few hard braking areas this was a race with plenty of action and good passing. Driver of the day was undoubtedly David Kadlcak after two superb drives from 14th on the grid. 

Overall an excellent event at a unique circuit.

G1:GP LMP Monza Report

Excellent tactics and a fast clean race earned Sulla Looming a deserved win ahead of champion elect Jafo.

Despite the ending of his 3 race winning streak, Tendaze, is still odds on favourite to win the title. Looming looks likely to take second but is still far from secure in a series that has had as many twists and turns as the current Formula 1 season.

Looming, starting from Pole, elected to run with hard tyres in a circuit where grip levels are low the extra loss of grip probably wasn't very noticeable. 

Both drivers, Looming in a new, LC equipped, Dome made good starts. Behind Oh mad a good start. She jumped from 5th to take 3rd into turn 1 while Suzy's start was terrible as she dropped to almost last on the opening lap.

 On Lap 2 Crippy had to take avoiding action in T1 and dropped down the order then further round, exiting the penultimate corner, Katier made the first a several mistakes.

She spun and lost her front splitter as well as dropping down the order to finish the lap in 8th place. Her car was now hampered by understeer but she would stay out figuring the long stop to fix would be a lot worse than the time lost. 

These problems had placed the two leader well out front with Yuriko now in third but slightly back ahead of a battle between Ming and Suzy. 

This was partly down to another collision involving Reitveld. She was innocently involved after a T1 collision between Crippy and Rattra. Crippy had just nudged the back of the R8 but he spun as he got the power down. Unsighted, Reitveld struck the back of the stationary Oh and removed her wing.

The pitstops started on lap 11 with Reitveld pitting to change tyres, top up her tanks and trim out the rear wing. Her laptimes improved as a result by around 1s/lap and she continued to chase and catch Suku.

Suzy and Yuriko continued to battle for 3rd and 4th while Jafo just couldn't find a way to close down Sulla effectively. After the sheduled stops, therefore, Looming led from Jafo and the Suzy/Yuriko battle. Fifth was ming ahead of Reitveld, Oh, Rattra and Nella.

Then came the next big collision. At the time to the drivers it felt like a big crash, looking back, however it wasn't quite so bad. On the run to T1 Ming had started left, drifted mid track to probably protect her line as Reitveld closed in. She then appeared to open the door so Reitveld went to outbrake her.. at about the same time as again Ming drifted right. The collision initially removed Mings rear wing but it also put Reitveld into a spin which turned into a roll. 

Both cars pitted, although afterwards Reitveld remarked that she shouldn't have, and ultimatly ended well down the field. A last lap spin costing Reitveld a further place.

Looming won well from Jafo with Suzy winning the battle for third.

The field moves onto Donnington Park, a challenging racetrack very different to the fast straights of Monza.

Legends - TWF1 Suzuka Report

For the first time this season two drivers dropped out of the race due to a full field. This believe it or not is good news as it probably means Round 4 of the championship will have two races, one per Division.

So 31 cars qualified for the race of which 29 started the race. With so many in the field the start was likely to be a few laps of survival for many drivers before settling down and racing.

Starts were very mixed, up front wheelspin cost Rik time and at one point four cars where spread accross the track but into T1 they sorted themselves out. Ales leading from Berti and Rik Walker through the turn with the next 10 cars getting through without any incident. At the back of the field chaos reigned, however.

Monticelli, 19th and Dave Pym  were fairly slow away with Eric Fulghum making a better start behind sliding between them and creating a 3 car wall accross the track. I made a lightning start from 24th on the grid to sit behind Eric as we approached T1.  The effect of all this was seven cars in little over 3 car lengths (above) that condensed as the field ran towards the pit exit. 

Div 2 championship leader, John Wallace ( red car to right of above ) had got a run on the Ligier so as the track widened the field fanned out with four abreast and myself just behind. Then the inevitable happened, funnelled by pit exit Wallace moved left intoMonticelli.

He pushed him across my bows so I moved left in response then suddenly found the effect was for me to run out of room.  Despite hitting the brakes I bounced off Pampagnin half spun and bounced off Wallace. In a flash Wallace was out of the race while Corrado ran wide into the litter but rejoined.

A bit more jostling as the effect was the concertina the field and as others lifted in response to Mike also having a minor off sorted the field as it approached T2. The final excitement on the opening lap happened at the infamous Degner. Eric had gone off in Dunlop and thus rejoined off the pace and thus when Myself and Marcus arrived her was 20mph down on our pace. In braking to avoid Eric's overly slow car approaching Degner I spun and Marcus was fortunate to avoid me.

At the end of Lap one therefore Ales led from Berti and Rik Walker. Nigel Metcalf and Paul Langford rounded out the Div 1 top 5. Martin Cooper was the early Div 2 leader from two Dave's, Eric and Corrado. 

Up front the lead three settled down but behind there were several intense battles already developing in a race that was expected to see plenty more incident. Four cars had retired already and the next to see trouble would be fifth placed Rouke.

He was involved in one of the intense battles with the two Metcalfs until, at the end of lap 5, he lost it under braking for the chicane. Nigel couldn't avoid him and hit the Brabham firmly in the sidepod and rear suspension, after a slow lap he retired.

The Main battle at this stage were for fifth between Baz, Nigel and Paul; with a second battle being led by Pampgnin just a few cars back. Also noticeable at this stage was the progress of Marcus Adams who was steadily passing cars after starting at the back of the grid.

By half distance a further three cars had retired and a fourth retired a lap later. First Costa scattered his car comprehensively against the Turn 1 armco. Then Ivor retired with an ill handling car, possibly as a result of some robust defence a few laps earlier.

Rick Stratton had been looking strong for a good finish, running 9th, he did a Costa when he missed his braking point. Finally Bento, who had spun initially a few laps earlier, collided with Raiph when trying to pass him into T1 and added his Lotus 80 to the T1 carnage.

Nigel Metcalf had also dropped well down the field as several incidents left him with an ill handling car. He would have to learn how to drive around it and threatened drivers such as Martin Cooper and myself before retiring on lap 23.

Ales was well out in front by now, leading by several seconds from Berti who was able to maintain a cushion of a couple of seconds back to Rik Walker.

Eric was leading Div 2 with Marcus Adams breathing down his neck. Gigi and David Pym rounded out the top 3.

Behind them a battle was brewing between Martin and I. His car, damaged earlier, was handling in a manner appropriate to his paintscheme. Like a pig, especially in right hand corners. I closed in and by lap 16 was right with him. Passing him for 17th in Spoon.

Lap 23 had the races 'comedy moment'. Paul Langford spun approaching the chicane. Lost his bearings and rejoined via the cut through to Dunlop. In Reality due to then re-doing half a lap he would probably not have been penalised, however because sims are 'black and white' he got a drive through costing him probably close to a minute or more and dropping him behind Martin Cooper. Corrado had a hefty off in Denger doing a 'weber' and retiring two corners later at about the same time.

As the race wound down most of the field was concentrating on the finish but Paul Langford was on a charge. With two to go he caught the struggling 'pig' and took the place between the Degners. 

Excellent win for Ales although Div 1 Driver of the day I think must go to Marcus. He finished over a minute behind the winner but had to fight through from last on the grid and do so with style and consistancy to finish just 7s behind 6th place.

Div 2 driver of the day.. I'd like to give it to myself. Not sure if that's allowed so I'll let Rick Edit this bit and give his Div 2 driver of the day here when he does the official report :).

Overall an awsome race, challenging and hard work but exciting and action packed. 

G1:GP LMP Brands Hatch

Gambles, Driving Styles and a dose of luck, bad or good, were the hallmarks of the 40 minute race around Brands Hatch.

Prior to the event several drivers commented that they felt they would need to stop twice as fuel didn't seem to be quite lasting 20 minutes. This quandry soon turned out to be influential as drivers went into the event in different mindsets.

When the Lights went green, at the 3rd time of asking due to various issues, the lead trio got away well but behind Katier made a lightning start.

Into Druids she was alongside Crippy but felt she pushed her wide so relinquished the place. (right) 

So at the end of the first Lap Yuriko led from Jafo, Crippy and Katier.  Over the first few laps the lead three quickly built up a lead over Katier who was off the pace but under little pressure from Looming behind.

Rattra was dropping back a bit behind Looming with Suzy a bit further back.

Up front the lead three became two when Yuriko had an off but she rejoined and as half distance approached was up to 3rd. By then Looming, who initially looked content to hold station behind Reitveld, had surged past on lap 11.

Two bad laps for the R8 driver dropped her further down the field but she knew she could make the distance on one stop. The stops started just short of half distance with Yuriko, Jafo and Crippy all apparantly commiting to a 2 stop strategy. 

Sulla's early running had saved her fuel and she pitted bang on half distance while Katier went another lap. Rattra had pitted on a 2 stopper too so Katier now knew another top 5 was on the cards.

Up front Jafo and Crippy continued to drive smoothly with Jafo looking unflustered out front. At this stage it seemed like they would definatly get the top two.. but the podium was less clear.

After the stops Reitveld was 6th but with Rattra likely to pit another top 5 was likely. Sulla looked like a potential winner. She was in touch with the leaders while Yuriko's recovery seemed to give her a chance at a top 3.. if she could make her fuel last.

The race turned just after half distance, however, when Suku and Sulla both 'went the same way' shortly after both had crashed on their own. Both ultimately were forced to retire with accident damage although Looming did attempt to return to the race.

The race now went through a period of stability. The front five were spread out enough for there to be no battles but some drivers were now staring to stare at their fuel gauges. Who would blink? Who would gamble?

The first to blink was Rattra, he had decided he would not last so pitted quite early, presumably to benefit from the fresh tyres in an effort to beat Katier.  Jafo and Crippy both did splash and dashes with Yuriko taking second at this stage.

Yuriko, however, was the gambler she did two slow laps, gambling on Jafo being slow enough to finish the race after 30 laps. Unfortunatly for Yuriko he didn't and crossed the line with seconds to go.

Yuriko ran out of fuel and Katier, who's slower laps had been enough to save a stop, gratefully took the place.  Interestingly Katier's mistakes probably cost her 22-23s.. and she finished about that behind Crippy.

So Jafo appears to be out and out favorite for the championship. Three straight wins and the super fast Monza to come. Monza will be interesting. The R8's are very quick in a straight line but the Panoz have a hugely powerful engine.

Legends: TWFA Suzuka Report

Drivers tempers were heated after the two action packed races that made up the Suzuka round of the TWFA championship. This challenging track proved to be as tricky in an Atlantic car as in a 2009 F1 car with several drivers doing a 'Heiki' or 'Weber' as Degner 1 claimed it's fair share of victims.

Rouke took a mighty impressive pole from Thomas and Roberto. Rouke drove into the lead after a perfect stop while Thomas slotted in behind. Berti took third without trouble while Paul Langford got the jump on Juan Carlos Huarte to take fourth. Behind the lead five, however, there was chaos.

Tallini got into the back of Martin Cooper who span out onto the gravel. Tallini bounced left and cannoned into Maiph who lost his front wing. Dom Scott slowed for the Yellows while Ivor took the chance to 'pass under yellow' and went round the outside of the Pink Car.

Then Degner claimed it's first victims. Both Marcus Adams and Tallini spun, the latter losing his wing. Then to Cap it all, Scott tried to pass Ivor into Degner 2. Ivor took a line that would probably have cut Degner 2 and collided with the car alongside.

So at the end of the first lap, with the top 5 settled, 6th was Johnson up from 10th, Baz West, Steve Shelley who had passed Metcalf on the run up to the Degner 1.Ivor Blackmore in 10th ahead of myself with the recovering Marcus Adams behind.

Steve Shelley, who was briefly 6th, was on a charge having lost two places on lap 1 on the run from Spoon, he retook 7th with a lovely pass approaching Spoon turn.

Behind them I finally got past Ivor in spoon only to lose two placs with a quick spin in degner 1 as the curb claimed another victim and I dropped to 12th.

By now Two things where happening. Steve Shelley was continuing his charge while the battle for 11th was heating up dramatically. 

On lap 3 Steve reached 6th with a pass on Neill who started to fall back down the field. While behind Marcus was crawling all over my back. He tried a pass on Lap 3, then again on Lap 4 - during which time we'd both passed Ivor. The second, successful, pass attempt resulted in several bangs and bumps as well as Marcus taking to the grass. 

Lap 5 Juan spun in T2 and Steve gratefully took the place. At the same time Bret was passing the struggling Johnson on the run to T1. A couple more spins rounded out an action packed race.

After such an action packed sprint race, would the Feature be just as hard fought? The answer was an unequivocal yes.

The first lap was a lot less frantic than the first race although Neill Johnson did run wide in 130R after minor contact with Steve Shelley. Johnson was forced to pit for a new nose. Rouke led but soon Thomas was in trouble. He ran wide exiting spoon corner and dropped to seventh as Steve Shelley started another charge through the field.

The front 7 continued to circulate closely with Bret Metcalf and Baz West embroiled in their own battle just behind. Martin Cooper was in 10th with Ralph Maiph recovering from a slow start passing him on lap three.

Lap four saw the leader spin, Rouke losing six places as he rotated in 130R and was extremely fortunate to be able to rejoin in seventh with minimal damage. How Huarte didn't end up with a wrecked car is beyond me as lag seemed to save both. (see above) 

Marcus Adams was the first driver to stop for his scheduled stop pulling into the pits on lap 10 and rejoining in 11th, which became 10th a lap later when Cooper Stopped. Most of the leaders stopped on laps 13 and 14 but Bret Metcalf and Stever Shelley both ran quite long to lap 18.

They weren't the last to pit, however, as I had run with a full tank from the start, this probably cost me a few seconds with a heavy tank earlier on but by half distance I had the edge on pace over Martin behind me.  I had been unable to really close in on Ted consistantly but after his stop, on lap 12, I got into a groove and felt confident of passing him with my ultra short stop.

Meanwhile Thomas was the next driver to hit trouble. He pitted on lap 13 then again on 16. The reason for the two stops isn't clear unless he had a stop go for speeding. That brought him out 20s behind me and some awsomely quick times meant he jumped to 11th when I stopped.

The dying laps still had time for two piece of drama. On lap 24 I spun in dunlop and infortunatly Ivor, a lap down on me, just snagged my car. Ivor retired while my car was fairly undamaged and I was able to cruise to the end. I apologised to him after the race as it was a silly mistake on my part that caused the spin. Then to cap a crazy race Marcus ran out of fuel on the last lap retiring in 130R.

Excellent recovery race by Rouke and two excellent climbs through the field by Steve Shelley provided the highlights of two highly exciting races.

Legends: Giuseppe Memorial Race

I can only add that Giuseppe was a person that never gave up on any challenge despite he was often towards the back of the pack, and this paid off cause he rarely had to retire in the races. He loved very long races as me and we teamed up in many endurance. On track I was his "harsh friend" and we raced a lot of races nose to cone with many simulator, always in a gentlemanly way. We were used to speak often in chat voice about our real life and family. He was one of the first person with which I have shared the joy for the birth of my grandson. I'll never forget him.

Ciao
Fulvio

Giuseppe was a popular driver in the sim community who sadly recently passed away. The words above are from one of his closest friends. To celebrate his life, and remember him, the legends team organised a race at the Monza Race track. This event, held in the heart of Giuseppe's home country of Italy, was a single car/fixed setup event featuring his beloved Ferrari's.

Prior to the event a 2 minutes silence was held and other drivers then said a few words.

Ray Walton: RIP Giuseppe you are always a winner in Legends

Mario Wojahn: Rest in peace Giuseppe, goodbye

Martin Cooper: sadly a legend takes the chequered flag rip Giuseppe

Antonio Wojahn: Racing with Giuseppe was always fun

Rik Walker: so long Giuseppe, we'll meet again

Rick Stratton: A good man and a great competitor. He will be missed by all. 

Rouke vd Hoek: lets have a good one for the man

Baz West: A great turn out to remember a good man, this ones for you Giuseppe

With that the drivers took their places on the grid, 26 Ferrari flat 12 engines roared into life, and the race began.

Three drivers started from the pitlane and sadly, one of them, Giuseppe's great friend Fulvio Policardi was let down by his engine and was unable to start the race.

Just on the other side of the pitlane the 26 T4's roared away and unfortunately there was some damage caused as Costa briefly spun to the right causing Baz to lift and Tallini to cannon into the back of him. Tallini, David Pym, Ray Walton all pitted early on to fix damage with Tallini and Pym unable to continue.

Meanwhile up front a battle Royale was developing. Showing spirit that would make any Italian proud Mario, Richard Walker and Mike Perray were embroiled in a tremendous battle for the Lead. By Lap three the field had settled a little and Perray led from Mario and Rik with a gap developing back to Langford and Bret. Costa was next up ahead of Bento and Antonio.

Tallini had retired after his spot when he 'did a Hamilton' as the leaders were lapping him with Rik using all the track and more as he chased the leaders hard.

The lead battle soon built up a gap but the midfield were embroiled in their own battle for fourth that was every bit as spirited as the lead one. 

The event was a timed race but halfway round lap 7 proved to be the halfway point. At this stage the leaders had pulled clear of Langford who was under pressure from Bento with Antoniio, Marting, Nigel and Costa in close attendance. Rick Stratton was rounding out the top 10 in his bright yellow Ferrari. 

As lap 8 started an almighty battle had started behind Rick. Dave Hawt finding himself under intense pressure from Marco Bret with Petra and Steve Shelley holding station a few seconds back.

Up front Rik was trying everything to get back into the lead and eventually managed it on Lap 9 while Perray continued to close the gap up to the lead pair. On Lap 11 he got past Mario with a bold move into the first chicane and passed Rik into the second chicane.

Mario started to drop back now but up front Rik quickly put pressure on Perray. This Spirited battle looked to be going down to the wire. The pair were passing, repassing and jousting like a pair of Italian Knights on thoroughbred horses. They passed, or half passed, probably half a dozen times over the closing laps.. a fitting tribute to the spirit of Guiseppe.

Probably the most notable thing about the race was the huge number of passes and battles throughout the field. The lead battle was the highlight, of course, but the spirit shown in the battles throughout the field was excellent.

Finally however, I feel it's appropriate to close with a couple of post Race Tributes from 

Ray Walton

Congratulations to Rik as the first to cross the line, an excellent victory. However, Rik you really came second as the real winner of this event has to be Guiseppe himself and I only hope that somehow he was able to look down on this occasion with a big wide Italian smile. I am personally deeply saddened by his death, but we must now stop the mourning and instead look back to the many, many good times we had racing with him, and although we will all miss him, we should now celebrate Guiseppe's life with long remembered smiles. I am honoured to have known him albeit only here on-line with Legends League. 

and Petra 

It was a wonderful event, although hampered myself, properly doped with Aspirin before the race still had pain, was dead tired as well I thought for me it was sort of duty to be there. I did not much practice either I had only 2 practice sessions before the race, but who cares about speed in such a race?

Thanks to Mario and Petra for the images. Thanks to Rick Stratton for organising the tribute and Thanks to everyone for making the event so successful.

G1:GP - When Trucks go Bang.

Week 3, rounds 4 and 5 of the Truck Championship proved to be highly eventfull events. The first of the two races was held at the Joesville racetrack. Pole went to Sulla Looming from Crippy, Yuriko and Suku.

This event proved to be eventfull from the start to the end. Initially the front four got away well with Suku getting the jump on Yuriko. Near the tail of the field, however, I got a good start but going two abreast into T2 with Suzy we touched and I spun. Contact wasn't hard but was enough to unsettle my truck. As I caught the slide I lost time as newcomer Gage and Kiboe came past. Kiboe got into Gage and the first yellow was flown.

On Lap 6 Suzy pitted dropping to the tail of the field while the main battles were between Crippy and Suku for second and Kiboe and I at the tail. Kiboe proved to be hard to pass until he ran wide in T3 on lap 12 and I took the place.  Around the same time Suku also took the place from Crippy.

Suku pitted on lap 13, surprisingly early, and at the same time Jafo worked his way past Yuriko.

The next few laps were quiet until Kiboe brought out the second Yellow flag after losing it in T3. Half of the field diving into the pits at the earliest chance. Unfortunatly the field hadn't completely closed up on the pace car and the short lap, combined with the fairly fast pace car, dropped several drivers a lap down.

Normally yellow flag stops are 'free' but in this case they cost several drivers dear. Two more yellows, both caused unfortunatly by myself, were features of the race as Sulla Cruised to a fairly easy win. She had Dropped to 3rd when pitting under the second yellow but regained the lead after the third. 

The 5th round, unfortunatly, was a contreversial event at the Scotia Raceway. This tight 0.300 mile oval was expected to produce a lot of incident and as a result Crippy decided to run it without yellows. This turned out to be fairly unnecessary as only one incident would have flown them.. but boy was it a biggy.

Off the Start Sulla got a good one straight into the lead but behind Suzy got involved in the first of several collisions during the first laps. She got into Crippy exiting T2 giving me the chance for a run up the inside into T3. Suzy didn't give me any room causing us to collide, she bounced wide into Crippy and letting Suku through. 

Suzy then bumped Suku almost into me exiting T2 on Lap 2 before completely ignoring me into T2 a lap later and driving me round. The spin caused Chaos. Suku was completely unable to avoid me despite braking hard and we hit head on. Gage glanced off Suku while my truck slide broadside on down the track. Crippy collected my tail as I slid past and finally Yuriko hit my pinball. 

All that left us with a truck stranded mid track and with no real chance of a safe recovery.  I had to turn round on the racing line with other cars at full pace. Further collisions caused by the totally unsafe location of my truck with every other truck in the field left me with two left side flat tyres and not a straight panel on the bodywork.

Being honest due to the position I was left in post spin Crippy should have restarted the race. When she implimented the no-yellows she was expecting a lot of spins but I don't believe ever expected a car stranded mid track facing the wrong way with no easy way to get the vehicle turned.. and certainly no safe way. To put it simply it's a lesson learnt and certainly no critism of Crippy as it's one of those mistakes I think most people would make if running their own league. It must be remembered she does this on her own and does a stirling job. Sadly however it put two drivers out of contention straight away.

Yuriko having retired with damage after her collision with my stranded car. I pitted for repairs and finished the race 8 laps down. Why Yuriko decided to instantly retire isn't clear as she could have gone straight into the pits for repairs.

The rest of the race was amazingly uneventfull apart from a late race collision between Suku and Crippy.  The collision was caused by Suku's spotted calling 'clear' just as Crippy's nose was about to come alongside Suku. Suku went low in response to the clear call to protect her place just as Crippy's nose came alongside. Suku was forced into a spin and lost the place to Crippy. 

As far as can be assertained pure racing incident caused by a poor spotter call.

Sulla won the race easilly despite a heavy collision with My damaged truck during the early accident.