Layout Racing League - Round 3, Marcus Memorial Lmaoring, Race Summary
Heading to Austria for Round 3 of the LRL Championship, we see drama and amazing racing, with key incidents and a fumble at the top of the table! A well-planned strategy sees
Trespasser take the race win for the second time in his LRL career!
Qualifying
The short punchy circuit proved a challenge for most drivers, nailing the corners being key to gaining lap time. Trespasser set the early pace, with Lydh in his XFG driving the lap of his life to put the underpowered shoe box up into 3rd, ahead of rivals AA|Kadir and fellow XFG racer, [LCS-R] Texas. [6S] SIMOX placed his car in 6th, just 7 tenths off the lead. The midfield , headed by 9397, was extremely close, further giving us a glimpse of the action in the race.
Surprisingly, it was [TC-R] Pete who put in the fastest lap of the session right at the death, pipping Trespasser by under a tenth. Further down, surprise returns to racing by [LCS-R] racers Wax and Ltras saw them qualify near the back in 15th and 16th, just besting Cruise hero GT4Tube.
Race
10. AA|Kadir +4L Accident
11. [LCS-R]Texas +5L Accident
12. [LCS-R]Wax +11L Accident
13. Blokis +11L Accident
14. [TC-R] Pete +18L Technical
15. Lydh +21L Technical
16. [6S]SIMOX +29L Technical
17. [LCS-R]Lauski +32L Accident
18. [MRc] KIG +32L Accident
19. Medln +0L Disqualified
20. HOUSSEM 221.B +33L Did Not Start
Fastest Lap : Trespasser - 1:05.11
Penalties :
Medln POST RACE PENALTY - DISQUALIFIED - FAILURE TO PIT
AA|Kadir POST RACE PENALTY - REPRIMAND - CAUSING A COLLISION
[6S] SIMOX - STOP & GO - Causing a Collision
Round 3 and drivers put their patience and grit to the test at the tight confines of the Lmaoring!
Lights out, and away we go!
The start was once again clean, with Pete leading the furious charge down into turn 1, with Lydh losing out in the run with his XFG, and SIMOX powering past down the inside. Further down the back, the slow-starting Medln saw [LCS-R] Lauski and [MRc] KIG sweep past him, which would prove to be one of two turning points in the race, with the field compressed heading through the first lap!
There's contact, there's contact!
The worst case scenario down into turn one became real - Trespasser having a go under braking and drawing alongside Pete, however, an overly ambitious [6S] SIMOX misjudged the braking point, tipping Trespasser into Pete who goes for a spin, directly in front of the 19-strong pack! Avoiding action followed, with Lydh having no-where to go, hitting Pete once more, with cars scattering left and right as the field marched into the Esses.
The first Safety Car produced by this incident
The fast starting Lauski had a huge tankslapper moment as he exited the Esses, over-correcting his car and sending him straight into the Castrol wall, with [MRc] KIG going off at the same point in sympathy!
Heli-cam over the Lap 1 pile-up
The incident saw a pile up as the drivers weaved their way through the field - Lydh and Derinus suffering damage along with the championship leader, Pete. Both cars involved in the initial incident retired on the spot, with Lauski unable to pace shown earlier during the Practice sessions.
The safety car was called, sparking a flurry of pit-stop activity!
Majority of the field taking their compulsory pit-stop
End of Lap 1 and the deployment of the Safety Car saw the pit-stops take place, with most of the pack opting to clear their pit, with SIMOX, Texas and Kadir the leading cars who chose for the alternate strategy, staying out for track position. Trespasser pitted and rejoined in 4th behind Kadir, with RG Mandula, [WCL] Katila and Pete - who had already recovered to 8th, right behind. SIMOX was slapped with a Stop-And-Go Penalty for the earlier incident with Pete at Turn 1, of which sadly turned out to be the end of his race, getting stuck in his pit-box with a LFS glitch.
Weirdly, Texas and Kadir pitted on the second lap under Safety Car, dropping to the rear of the field and promoting Trespasser to the lead after SIMOX's retirement.
The battles after the restart
The race restart saw the field spread into place, as the drivers passed each other and found a rhythm for the middle part of the 33 lap race. Pete fought Katila down into the Final Hairpin, both coming into slight contact, with a clumsy spin by Katila after both tried to catch their own cars; deemed to be a racing incident. Battles for position were all around the order, with Texas fighting with Medln for 5th, and [WCL] T.Soini passing Blokis at the back.
Lydh's great qualifying and run in the top 10 came to an end after sustaining damage at the final chicane, retiring his XFG on lap 12, pointless here in Round 3. Meanwhile, a train was forming behind 5th placed Texas down to M@CI3K, as well as GT4Tube, who was holding down 10th ahead of the recovering [LCS-R] Ltras. GT4 would go on to finish a respectable 7th in the race, with the latter claiming 5th for LCS-R, a great tribute to Marcus Kane.
The unexpected for the championship leader, Pete
Lap 15 saw the retirement of [TC-R] Pete following a technical glitch with his Rift, crashing his game and taking him out of the race from a strong 2nd, after pulling a move on 9397 a corner before. With his retirement, he scores 0 points, gifting Trespasser a huge lead in the championship. Will Pete be able to recover?
The battles during the middle stint of the race
The field spread saw few battles as the race tipped over the half-way mark, with Ltras getting past GT4tube down the main straight. With less than 10 laps to go, Texas was slowly closing down on Mandula for the final step on the podium, however, his charge was halted with a rollover by [LCS-R] Wax at the final chicane on lap 24, right on the exit; bringing out the second and final Safety Car of what had been a very exciting and close race thus far.
Restart number 2, Lap 28
Lap 28 saw the Safety Car come in to release the field for the final 5 laps, with Trespasser leaving nothing to chance, dropping the field as he stormed away in the lead. Down into Turn 1, 9397 broke a little too late, and Trespasser, having run wide, was collected, with 9397 coming off worse and spinning around in front of the top 6, with Texas somehow emerging in P2 ahead of everyone else.
What followed was an intense battle for the second step on the podium between 6 drivers, with Medln and Katila barging through ahead of Mandula and Texas, with the battle stretching all the way to the flag.
Up in the lead, Trespasser crossed the line in 1st with no challenge, claiming his second win to boost ahead of Pete and the rest of the drivers in the championship. With the disqualification of Medln, Katila and Mandula took a well deserved podium ahead of 9397 and the newcomer, Ltras.
With the fastest lap going Trespasser, his unassailable lead in the championship will be hard to take down. Can anyone do it?
Driver's Championship as of Round 3
The triple header has just started - see you for the next race this coming Saturday,
6 July 2019 for Round 4 at Scawen's Racetrack!
Round 4 - Scawen's Racetrack, LX4 (6 July 2019)
Round 5 - Monaco, UF1 (13 July 2019)
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