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S2 Season 18 Round 6: J.Lehikoinen takes back to back title!
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#1 - GreyBull [CHA]
S2 Season 18 Round 6: J.Lehikoinen takes back to back title!


J. Lehikoinen takes the lead in opening round

OWRL hadn't seen such a quality field for a long time, as S2 Season 18 kicked off on a very classic and popular combo: FOX at Kyoto National. This proved to attract crowds, with 50 drivers showing up and separated in 2 pools, including many famous and experienced drivers.

3id J.Lehikoinen proved straight away why he was the favorite for his own succession. Reigning champion took pool A pole in the first qualifying of the season. His countryman ineX T.Iivonen follows closely behind in 2nd, while Italian ace PLZ-Nazelli takes 3rd for his OWRL debuts.



Results
Standings: Driver | Team
Post-race discussion
Replays

Race 1 was on shortly afterwards. The long run up to turn 1 was said to be a crucial point in the race, considering the huge slipstreaming effect on these small single seaters. And it was eventful indeed, with 3rd place starter PLZ-Nazelli taking the lead very intelligently at the breaking point. Not for long. 3id J.Lehikoinen had the situation under control again after passing PLZ's new recruit at turn 3. One lap later, and it was ineX T.Iivonen's turn to take his place back. In the end Nazelli couldn't even cheer himself up with a podium: he was the last victim of v\Kristov. Starting 10th, the Hungarian youngster was already 7th at the end of lap 1, 4th after lap 2. He then sold Nazelli a dummy at lap 5, before securing 3rd behind the two unreachable Finns, 3id J.Lehikoinen and ineX T.Iivonen. Nazelli ended up in 4th in front of another Finn, spdo Maddee.



Top 8 reversed grid for main race meant that [SR] Isaac would start on pole, in front of ex-team-mate ineX S.Cattell. The latter took an early lead after pulling a great pass on the outside of T1, despite his persistent reputation of "not being able to overtake". Isaac's reply came shortly afterwards: a great pass - still on the outside - at T5, a fast and long left hander. Those two however, didn't stand a chance against the great 3id J.Lehikoinen, and neither did the rest of the field either. Starting from 8th, the reigning champion quickly made his way through the field, and took a definitive lead by lap 12, after [SR] Isaac lost several places due to an half-spin. The other man on a charge was v\Kristov. The Vires driver was on 2nd place for most of the event after some eventful first few laps, but ruined all chances of a good result after getting tangled by ineX S.Cattell, before being collected by the poor PLZ-Nazelli. This meant that Lehikoinen would be followed by 3 ineX members, T.Iivonen, S.Cattell and A.Terzic. [HC]TEAM SAAB follows in 5th after a quiet but strong run.

In pool B Cq|Gargi took sprint race, but didn't have the opportunity to make it 2 out of 2 after an incident with other race contender TEM/Y.Laprevotte in feature. This was a golden opportunity for former OWRL admin pod.hama Pio to win the race, after starting from 5th.

3id J.Lehikoinen very logically takes the championship lead after snatching all available points so far. ineX drivers T.Iivonen and S.Cattell follow in 2nd and 3rd.

Report by Y. Laprevotte
#2 - GreyBull [CHA]


J. Lehikoinen strikes again

S2 Season 18 carried on with its last FOX event of season 18, taking place last Saturday. The OWRL circus visited one of LFS' fastest road course: Aston Historic Reversed.


After some moments of confusion before the event, it was decided to only have one pool instead of the planned two, due to an weak turn-up rate. If reigning champion 3id J.Lehikoinen turned-up as planned, some of his opponents didn't: ineX did not field one single car, as they were too busy with round 4 of the prestigious Masters of Endurance going on the same day, [HC]TEAM SAAB was absent aswell for unknown reasons, so was v\Kristov, though Team Vires managed to sign up 4 of his team-mates, including MRT Cup race winner v\J.Peace.




NOTE: Statistics and standings are not available yet as Krutch is away. Meanwhile, we advise you to refeer to spdo Database to check provisional results and download replays.


Unsurprisingly qualifying was dominated by 3id J.Lehikoinen, who claimed his 6th S2 Season pole in a row. The My3id driver somehow managed to get a 4 tenths margin over his closest opponent, England's famous kart ace v\J.Peace. PLZ-Nazelli follows in 3rd as he did in round 1.


The first chicane was quite a concern considering the huge field of 32 cars. And it didn't go so well in sprint race indeed: a small pile-up occurred at the back, while PLZ-Bartolotta was taken off after a strange lag-related incident. Positions did not change up front however. This, until lap 4, in which v\J.Peace launched an attack on Lehikoinen, pulling a fantastic outside pass at the exit of the sweepers. Lehikoinen had the draft in the next straight, and tried to counter this immediately. The two cars were side by side at the entry of the mighty flat out chicane. Peace had the inside and took the lead, forcing his Finnish rival to go wide in the grass and rejoin in 2nd. Positions didn't change until the end, and v\J.Peace won in front of 3id J.Lehikoinen, PLZ-Nazelli, CR|BLOBO and [SR] blb.




The top 8 reversed grid for main race meant that Croatia's mega™ IvaN would start on pole, in front of [SR] Tanakan and v\J.Villa. One main absent in the race: v\J.Peace, who had to leave the server. Mega™ IvaN could not pull the start he wanted, and was passed immediately by Frenchman [SR] Tanakan. Meanwhile, a huge incident or a rare violence stroke the back of the field: after getting an unique lag issue, PLZ-Bartolotta litterally drove through the field, sending several drivers to the airs, ruining their hopes. Up front, IvaN kept losing ground in the opening lap, and dropped to 5th after being passed by v\J.Villa, CR|BLOBO and 3id J.Lehikoinen within lap 1. The three of them quickly caught Tanakan back, leading into a 4 way battle by lap 3. It was clear however that 3id J.Lehikoinen was the fastest of them all. The Finnish driver managed to get away from the pack by the end of lap 4, and easily cruised to another victory. Battle for 2nd was still raging for a few laps, until CR|BLOBO got a definitive edge on his rivals to get 2nd behind his countryman. v\J.Villa appeared to be able to get the final spot, but a mistake at lap 12 made him swap positions with [SR] blb. The top 5 is competed by the very surprising 12th place starter PLZ-Rotello.




This round also marked the end of the FOX circle: OWRL will not use it until the second half of 2011, and the start of S2 Season 19. Still plenty of fun to come in a near future however, with the FBM kicking off in two weeks at South City Long.


Report by Y. Laprevotte
#3 - GreyBull [CHA]
J.Lehikoinen goes undefeated in South City



Last week saw the beginning of the FBM cycle. After the very fast Aston Historic Reversed, the drivers had to master the much slower, but still tricky South City Long.


At the start of the qualifying session, it appeared that the man to beat was still reigning champion and current championship leader 3id J. Lehikoinen. But the Finnish driver showed straight away he still wouldn't get defeated this time. With an impressive 1:36:7, Lehikoinen would put himself on pole for the seventh time in a row in the S2 league. [HC]TEAM™SAAB and Cq|Gargi were following in 2nd and 3rd, almost half a second adrift.




Results
Standings: Driver | Team
Replays


The sprint race was rather uneventful up front. 3id J.Lehikoinen, [HC]TEAM™SAAB and Cq|Gargi kept 1st, 2nd and 3rd all the way, without being in real danger one single moment. The main interrest in that race was the battle for the lower positions: v\J.Koskinen was starting 4th, but got passed by PLZ-Bartolotta at turn 1. Koskinen then overheated his front tyres early in the race, probably due to inappropriate camber settings. This allowed PLZ-Nazelli to take 5th at lap 7, despite an aggressive defense from the Finnish teenager. After an impressive climb, 13th place starter PLZ-Rotello then tried to follow his team-mates, but a desperate attempt on Koskinen at the very last corner of the race ended badly: the two cars tangled, sending Koskinen upside down. This is how Russian driver B^mx>devis got 6th place on a plate.




Top 8 reversed grid meant that Kamikas[EST] would start on pole for feature, in front of PLZ-Rotello. However, Rotello got a better run on the poleman at the start, and took the lead before turn 1. Kamikas lost a few more places at turn 1, after being a victim of an opportunistic overtaking manoever from Naselli, which caused some trouble in the pack. This is what 3id J.Lehikoinen was waiting for: the Finnish driver was already 3rd at the end of lap 1, after going through unhurt through the may-hem. Lehikoinen then passed both B^mx>devis and PLZ-Rotello in one move a lap later, and took the lead already. This maneuver also allowed PLZ-Bartolotta and Cq|Gargi to get through the two cars a few corners later. Without much surprise, 3id J.Lehikoinen managed to pull away from his rival, and took his fifth win in 6 races this season. Cq|Gargi takes 2nd after having passed PLZ-Bartolotta in lap 3. The latter seemed to be set for 3rd place, until another lag oddity sent him into the barrier after halfway, fortunately without taking out anyone else this time. This handled the last podium slot to team-mate PLZ-Naselli, while Bartolotta could eventually secure 4th. Most of the action was on the battle for 5th place however: early leaders PLZ-Rotello and B^mx devis carried on with their initial fight for most of the race. Until lap 19, in which B^mx devis attempted an ambitious outside move at the last corner of the course. The two cars contacted, sending B^mx devis into a spin, while PLZ-Rotello could carry on with no damage or position loss. Rotello then had to defend against Kamikas[EST]; the two drivers swapped positions several times until the Estonian driver got a definitive edge on his Italian rival at lap 23, and took 5th place. Devis eventually got around Rotello some laps later, and took 6th. The Playerzone driver even lost 2 positions after an unfortunate last lap puncture, and ended up in 9th place.





With 3 races completed out of 6, 3id J.Lehikoinen now holds a 99 points lead over PLZ-Naselli, with PLZ-Rotello and B^mx devis following respectively 133 and 134 points behind. With the worst round being dropped at the standings, the My3id driver could well clinch the title for next round, at Fern Bay Gold Reversed.


Meanwhile, at the teams' championship, Playerzone Italia tops the standings sheet, with 355 points. The one car entry of My3id Gaming is second with 270 points. The podium is surprisingly rounded up by Flash Racing from Finland(228 points), who are closely followed by Russia's Blur MX Team.


Report by Y.Laprevotte
#4 - GreyBull [CHA]


Naselli and Devis take Fern Bay victories

The second and last race of the FBM cycle would be held at Fern Bay Gold Reversed, Jamaica. With its small runaway areas, its huge kerbs and tyres placed very close to the racing line, this one still looks to belong to the 20th century. Certainly the kind of track that would give an headache to any FIA safety inspector.

Before the race, the main topic in the paddock was the absence of the reigning champion and championship leader, 3id J.Lehikoinen. Although his lead isn't quite at threat so far, his non-show would definitely have a huge influence in the races, as it would allow many of his contenders to shine. Also to mention, this event would be the first to have two pools since round 1.





Results
Standings: Driver | Team
Post-race discussion
Replays

Qualifying would see PLZ-Naselli taking the pole. [HC]TEAM SAAB follows in 2nd, in front of the other PLZ car of Bartolotta.

The top 2 would be frozen in sprint race, with PLZ-Naselli taking his maiden OWRL victory in front of [HC]TEAM SAAB, who waited all race for long for a mistake from the leader. PLZ-Bartolotta made a mistake early in the race and dropped from 3rd to 5th, but the Italian passed B^mx devis shortly afterward, and eventually took the last podium slot after [SR] blb rolled in the last lap of the race. The top 5 is rounded up by FPR Tisu#66 and fζ T.Ramu, who had a strong run from 6th and 7th on the grid.





Feature race would see pod.hama Krutch and B^mx devis on front row, thanks to the usual top 8 reverse. The two of them remained in the lead for a few laps, until [HC]TEAM SAAB and PLZ-Bartolotta made the junction and took 1 and 2. Bartolotta would be left all alone in the lead after SAAB span out at lap 10. PLZ-Bartolotta would then cruise to the victory in front of B^mx devis and PLZ-Naselli. However poor Bartolotta would be given a 5 seconds penalty for hitting a chat bind early in the race, meaning that he would swap his position with devis, with the Russian inheriting of the main race win. pod.hama Krutch and OWRL returner eX.R Smutje round up the top 5.

In pool B ev0>>Timo and TEM/Y.Laprevotte took comfortable victories, without ever being worried.

At the championship, 3id J.Lehikoinen is still leading, thanks to the worst round being dropped. PLZ-Naselli and B^mx devis follow in 2nd and 3rd. Meanwhile at the teams' championship Playerzone Italia leads 173 points over Blur MX Team, 207 over eXtrem Racing, and 212 over Flash Racing.

There now are two rounds left in Season 18: Blackwood GP and Kyoto GP Long, both in the FO8.

Report by Y.Laprevotte
#5 - YuGr.
Nice updates! =)
#6 - GreyBull [CHA]
Round 5: J.Lehikoinen not champion yet as PLZ take team championship


Round 5: J.Lehikoinen not champion yet as PLZ take team championship



The penultimate round of the OWRL S2 Season 18 would take place at LFS' oldest and most famous track ever, Blackwood GP, with the very powerful FO8.


After being absent last round, 3id J.Lehikoinen was back to try to secure the back-to-back drivers' title, against his rival PLZ-Naselli.






In the standings below, the worst result has been taken into account. Only 3id J.Lehikoinen and PLZ Naselli still have a chance to win the driver championship in S2 Season 18. In the team championship, PLZ has amassed a massive 253 points lead and can't be overtaken with only one event to go. Congrats to PLZ for winning the team tiitle!




Without much surprise the Finnish driver came on top of the qualifying session. Lehikoinen showed another hotlap demonstration, lapping half a second faster than 2nd and 3rd place runners, championship contender PLZ-Naselli and his teammate PLZ-Bartolotta. Quite a huge margin for a 61 seconds lap. Cq| Gargi and spdoﾁ!ﾏed｡round up the top 5, in front of TEM/Y.Laprevotte, PLZ-Rotello and B^mx>devis.


The race 1 results were played by lap 1, as often in the sprint race. 3Id J.Lehikoinen and PLZ-Naselli took a fine start, and finished on top in this order. However spdoﾁ!ﾏed｡took a brilliant start from 5th, and passed both PLZ-Bartolotta and Cq|Gargi at T1 to get up to 3rd. Cq|Gargi then took benefit from Bartolotta's mistake one corner later, to take 4th. Behind, PLZ-Rotello takes 6th after having passed TEM/Y.Laprevotte at T1 around half-way, putting 3 Playerzone cars in the top 6. Laprevotte and eX.R Mikey23(who made a nice climb from 12th) round up the top 8.






The latter started on pole in race 2, thanks to the reversed grid. Surprisingly Mikey23 was still up front at the end of lap 1. 4th place starter Bartolotta led the chase and passed him at lap 2, but had to serve a drive through penalty for an incident occuring at round 4, giving 1st place back to Mikey. The top drivers of race 1 didn't take long to come back to him however. 3id J.Lehikoinen was the fastest of them all as usual, charging his way through the field and passing the German for the lead at lap 6. Cq|Gargi(lap 9) and spdoﾁ!ﾏed｡(lap 10) got round the eXtrem Racing car aswell. PLZ-Naselli wasn't part of this leading trio, having taken an extremely careful approach in the first few laps. The Italian made up some ground later in the race however, and ended up in 4th by the 2/3 of the race, followed by PLZ-Bartolotta. The top 5 order would then stay the same until the end, with 3id J.Lehikoinen taking another win, in front of Cq|Gargi, spdoﾁ!ﾏed｡, PLZ-Naselli and PLZ-Bartolotta. The main battle in the last few laps was for 6th. eX.R Mikey23 looked to be set to take it, but a spin at 3 laps to go made him drop to 10th. His fellow front row starter TEM/Y.Laprevotte was there to inherit of the place, after a great battle with pod.hama Krutch – the two drivers swapped positions several times, until the Frenchman got it for good. Krutch couldn't save 6th, as a spin very late in the race would cost him 3 places. B^mx>devis took 7th, in front of one of the two female drivers of the field, OWRL newcomer TEM/L.Solfrank.



Despite he clinched he clinched his 7 victories in the 8 races he took part in this season, 3id J.Lehikoinen did not manage to secure the drivers' title yet. PLZ-Naselli can still mathematically clinch it coming to the final round at Kyoto GP. However, this task will be extremely difficult for the Italian driver: finishing the race should be enough for his Finnish rival to keep the championship. Should the My3id driver not finish or take the start, Naselli would still have to finish on the podium to be crowded. Meanwhile, Bmx^devis looks confortable in 3rd place, though he still would have to worry of PLZ-Bartolotta currently standing in 4th, 21 points behind the Russian.


Meanwhile, in the teams' championship, Playerzone Italia is now officially team champions this season. The Italian team managed to build their advantage from round 1 thanks to consistant podium finishes. They now succeed to RAPTOR-RACING and Sonicrealms Racing, the two previous champions since the title's creation back in season 16. Congrats to them! Everything looks wide open for the remaining podiums slots however, with eXtrem Racing and Blur MX Racing standing in 2nd and 3rd, 17 points away from each over.


Report by Y.Laprevotte
#7 - GreyBull [CHA]
Round 6: J.Lehikoinen does it again!



Round 6: J.Lehikoinen does it again!



Just like in S2 Season 17, 3id J. Lehikoinen has taken the driver championship of S2 Season 18 in commanding style. This time the decision wasn't made before the final event of the season. At Kyoto GP Long the Finnish driver finished second and first in the races to take the title with 91 points over PLZ Naselli.

Once again, congratulations Jarno!

________


The conclusion of S2 Season 18 took place on the great Kyoto GP Long with the FO8. This combo, very much liked among the drivers, promised some good racing. The drivers' championship was to be decided here, with reigning champion 3id J.Lehikoinen keeping a commanding lead over challenger PLZ-Naselli before coming to qualifying.






Once again 3id J.Lehikoinen came on top of the qualifying sheet, taking his 10th pole position in a row. This time the gap to his opponents wasn't so much important as PLZ-Naselli was following 15 hundredths behind, in front of his team-mate PLZ-Bartolotta. In 4th and 5th came former champions spdo F!redUp, [SR] StormCloud, with the latter making a well remarked come-back. TEM/Y.Laprevotte, Bades, pod.hama Krutch FPR|Tisu#66, and a disappointing B^mx devis round up the top 10.

PLZ-Naselli was the one making the good operation at the start of the sprint race. The Italian took Leikoinen's draft, outbraked himself and got in the lead at the exit of turn 1. The latter seemed to be surprised as he messed up his corner exit slightly, allowing the other PLZ car of Bartolotta to get through before turn 2. The Finnish driver fought back and attempted to pass Bartolotta, but got sent in the grass at the end of lap 3, rejoining in 4rd place. It didn't take him longer than a lap to get back in 2nd, but Naselli was already too far up front to be caught. The Italian took his 2nd victory of the season, but 2nd place was enough for Lehikoinen to take his 2nd S2 Season title in a row. 4th time champion [SR] Stormcloud gets the 3rd place honours, while spdo FiredUp and TEM/Y.Laprevotte round up the top 5. PLZ-Bartolotta finished only 6th after a spin.





With the top 8 reversed grid, B^mx devis and pod.hama Krutch would be on front row for feature. The two of them made a good start and kept themselves in 1 and 2 for a few minutes, but they would have to surrender against 3id J.Lehikoinen and PLZ-Bartolotta by lap 4. The two of them battled together for a moment, before 3id J.Lehikoinen took a definitive advantage at the beginning of lap 6. The finnish driver then flew to his 8th victory of the season. PLZ-Bartolotta follows in 2nd, in front of his team-mate PLZ-Naselli, who had careful opening laps, as usual in feature. [SR] Stormcloud follows in 4th, in front of pole sitter B^mx devis. TEM/Y.Laprevotte takes 6th, after having passed spdo FiredUp in the last corners of the race. Pod.hama Krutch rounds up the top 8.





This allowed Jarno Lehikoinen to take his 2nd OWRL S2 Season title. The Finnish driver became the 5th driver to take a back-to-back S2 Season title, after Andy(GER), StormCloud, RAPTOR|Chris, and Firedragon. PLZ-Naselli takes the runner-up, while B^mx devis takes 3rd, after having a maiden win at round 3. PLZ-Bartolotta and TEM/Y.Laprevotte round up the top 5.

Playerzone takes their maiden teams' title, after having secured it at round 5 already. The runner-up slot gets to Blur MX Team thanks to consistant efforts, and 1 car entry My3id Gaming takes 3rd. eXtrem Racing drops from 2nd to 4rd, while Tiger Express Motorsports rounds up the top 5.

S2 Season will now have a few months rest, with season 19 set to start after September 2011. OWRL will nevertheless be busy enough with OWRL F1, and the FBM Trophy set to take place in Summer.

Results
Final standings: Driver | Team
Post-race discussion
Replays

S2 Season 18 Round 6: J.Lehikoinen takes back to back title!
(7 posts, started )
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