Layout Racing League - Round 4, Scawen's Racetrack, Race Summary
The drivers come around to the forth round of LRL at the unique Scawen's Racetrack circuit, looking for points and to reignite battles! Once again key incidents alter the order at the top of the table - a comeback performance by
TC-R] Pete sees him win his second LRL event!
Qualifying
The twisty circuit saw the biggest turn out to date for the series, with 24 drivers taking to the tarmac in search for a good starting position - vital for the race. It was the Indonesian [LCS-R] Ltras showing early pace during the session, but his time was soon bested by championship protagonist [TC-R] Pete, who put in his fastest lap mid-way through the session to secure pole once again.
Championship leader Trespasser was off pace today, citing a "damage limitation race", only qualifying in 10th, more than a second off the pole time and just ahead of TOFU Bro. [RDSR] Cyankill and Medln put in great times to qualify 3rd and 4th respectively, while [6S] SIMOX beat newcomers [TC-R] Nick and Adam for 5th. A poor performance from [LCS-R] Texas sees him only qualify in 12th, ahead of Gabor and [MRc] Michal.
Race
21. Medln +16L Technical
22. [MRc] Michal +18L Accident
23. [RDSR] Cyankill +18L Technical
24. Tofu BRO +21L Technical
Fastest Lap : [TC-R] Pete - 1:38.87
Penalties :
B2r Rejekt - Drive-Through Penalty - Causing a Collision
[r]Jeff - POST RACE REPRIMAND - Contact Warning (Lap 1)
AS|Daniel - POST RACE REPRIMAND - Contact Warning (Lap 1)
GT4Tube - POST RACE REPRIMAND - Causing a Collision (Lap 22)
(FR) Seb - POST RACE REPRIMAND - Causing a Collission (Lap 22)
It's lights out for Round 4!
Clean and neat out of Turn 1
The run into turn 1 was short, with drivers equal off the line, fighting for their own space into the corner. [TC-R] Adam had a disastrous start, getting past by his teammate. Further back, opportunistic pass by Tofu BRO made Rejekt check up, which saw mild contact made between Trespasser and Texas, which lost them momentum and places down into Turn 2.
Clumsy contact into the second corner!
Down into Turn 2 saw chaos ensue in the mid-field as the drivers were packed way too closely - with [r]Jeff and AS|Daniel missing their braking points, the latter slamming into Jeff causing a domino effect, with Texas kissing the rear of Trespasser, sending him sideways facing the wrong way. The championship leader, was now 19th and falling back entering the second sector, which only became worse after PitlaneRacer slid out of Turn 3, causing Trespasser to check-up and get rear ended by M@CI3K.
From 10th to 23rd, the championship leader was now on the back foot.
Up at the front, Ltras broke way too late, handing 2nd on a plate to Cyankill, with Medln and SIMOX slipping through as well. Behind, inter-team scuffle between [TC-R] Nick and Adam began and we would soon see it last throughout the entire race.
Lap 2 saw our first retirement - Tofu BRO retiring with excessive lag, a pity considering his pace up with the front of the pack.
Huge impact and a roll into Tunnel 2
As the field spread saw cars find their own rhythm, Pete was clocking out near the front, with the trailing pack slowly falling back. [RDSR] Cyankill fell victim to a disconnect, forcing a retirement out of a strong second place, with Medln and SIMOX promoted into 2nd and 3rd.
Shortly after, we saw our one and only Safety Car period, with [MRc] Michal losing the rear over the crest entering Tunnel 2, slamming into the wall at unabated speed and rolling over - ending his race from 13th place.
The drivers toured the circuit as the Safety Car waited at the first corner, with majority of the field taking their compulsory pit on that lap.
[LCS-R] Ltras, Gabor and [LCS-R] Texas among others took their chances, staying out, gaining track position and leapfrogging to the front of the field, with (FR) Seb choosing to pit on the second safety car lap, dropping out of a strong top-10 position. Medln suffered a disconnect during the SC period, taking him out of contention to challenge for the race victory.
Race restart on Lap 9
The restart got underway, with Pete getting the jump over Ltras, pulling out a small lead, before the latter closed the gap right down for a tough duel that lasted for the majority of the race, with Pete unable to turn his car on for the second stint.
The off-pace [TC-R] Elmo half-spun against [WCL] T.Soini at the Dipper, dropping him to the rear of the field.
As the field once again spread out, it was clear the top 2 both had the pace to win, and soon a gap formed to 3rd and 4th who were now occupied by Nick and Adam, after fighting past Gabor, who pitted soon after in a failed alternate strategy.
The battle for 3rd intensified
The charge from championship contender, Trespasser
Meanwhile back in Trespasser's world, it was a smooth comeback, slowly picking off positions as he raised himself to 9th by the mid-way point of the race.
Battles were few and far between, with Jeff, Rejekt and Gabor in a tussle for the minor points, and the top 2 now a staggering 9 seconds ahead of 3rd, but all would soon be exciting again as the for the podium kicked off once more.
Ltras pitting and emerging right in the huge battle for the podium
Ltras, on the alternate strategy, had built up enough of a gap to drop himself back into the tail of the battle for the podium, with [TC-R] Adam holding off the [LCS-R] driver for a nail-biting 3-way tussle for 3rd with SIMOX in close proximity behind. Paint was exchanged and tempers rose, but ultimately it was a crazy battle which saw Adam eventually come out on top!
The battle for the minor points at the end of the race
Further back, Texas tried but failed to hold AS|Daniel behind, settling for 8th, ahead of Jeff and Gabor, with Trespasser only coming home in 11th following a last-lap racing incident with [r]Jeff. A final lap incident on the pit exit with GT4Tube and (FR) Seb saw both receive a reprimand for avoidable contact.
Up at the front though, we thought we saw the last of him in Round 3 - but [TC-R] Pete proves the doubters wrong and claims his second victory in LRL and full points haul with it! [TC-R] Nick and his teammate Adam round off a 1-2-3 for team TC Racing, with Ltras and SIMOX finishing best of the rest in 4th and 5th. A decent outing by Ngottini sees him grab 6th, with Trespasser finishing a dismal race in 11th, ahead of GT4tube with the final points scoring position.
Driver's Championship as of Round 4
Pete places himself back into the championship fight as we head to the last of three rounds in LRL's Triple header. With a tight mid-field battle in the standings as well, we look forward to the next race on the 13th of July at the principality - Monaco!
Round 5 - Monaco, UF1 (13 July 2019)
Round 6 - Woodland Raceway, FZ5 (27 July 2019)
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Your pace is welcomed at the front of the field 
