It's that time of the year when the usual activity in the container storage field of Blackwood ceases and the forklifts and trucks make place for the V8 Racing League machines. The track measures 2.5 kilometers of a lap length and features the widest start/finish straight probably in most active leagues - exiting last turn for newcomers might give doubts if they are still on right course. There is practically no elevation in this track,however suspension will have some workout as it is everything else than even,partially even dusty. History shows that some drivers opting to change tyres during the race,some finish on same set - managing your resources is one of the keypoints in this round.

Being a penultimate round this will decide few things in the standings tables - current standings leader in theory can wrap up both individual awards for himself,however with bad luck it can go other way round and open possibility of the championship to be decided in season finale in a head to head battle.

Round info:
Track: BL Container Sprint (BL4X)
Laps: 80
Previous winners: [FM]ˆﾁαtαι (2022), S1DUS*GáboR (2021), GenR uNite (2018), Botsi (2017)

VERL 2023 results and standings

Server info and password will be PM'ed saturday to all entrants,until then server remains publically accessible:
V8 Racing League
VERL 2023 signups
Race Green Discord

Server is now passworded and password has been sent to all entrants via PM.

If someone hasn't received it due some mistake,please give a notification!

Signups are still open (until 17:50 UTC raceday) and new entries will receive PM at some point during sunday.

Qualifying:


Race:


If you want to make a protest,please include all neccesary information.
Template:

Quote :

Session:
Lap/MPR time:
Involved drivers:
Description of incident:

Deadline for protests - monday,20:00 UTC

PENALTIES:

SGﾏ MadJester - receives 10 seconds penalty added to his finish time for pit exit line violation.

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4th round brought the racing back to one of the VERL classics - the container field near actual racing circuit of Blackwood,where a tricky course is layed out between few left containers. 9 drivers were ready to tackle the challenge,fullfilling the minimum requirement for full race distance - 80 torturing laps awaited the drivers,only 2 finished all 80 as rest were lapped or even retired,one crashing out in spectacular fashion. Despite losing 50 horsepower,the race was completed just 19 seconds slower compared to last year,while 2 facts about the race were repeated - the same driver finished 2nd and was last on lead lap and there was quite a mess already in 1st turn.

The polesitter was rather unaffected from the mess in turn 1 - he simply run away and did not led only 4 laps,which occoured during the pitstop shuffle phase. Texas was fastest in qualifying for the 2nd time this season,but unlike in previous try,this time he converted it into race win,which was also his 1st ever VERL podium. Just like last year Thehemuli was best of the rest - with over half a lap worth gap he finished 2nd to repeat his best VERL finishing result,scoring his 3rd podium finish of the year. Despite being involved into turn 1 incident for 2nd year in row,Rony still found the way up to 3rd position,taking it home for the 2nd time this year.


The series leader's race wasn't as good as he wished - RD2 finished just 4th,which is his worst result of the year,still his advantage over closest rival Thehemuli is 8 points,meaning 3rd position grants him champions title without checking what rivals are doing. Thehemuli on other side needs to score all 22 points from the race and hope RD2 does not finish on podium - Thehemuli's 2nd place finish without round bonus points requires RD2 to finish lower than 6th. There is a 3rd theoretical candidate for the champions title,however Rony needs to win the race and hope that his teammate does not score a single point and additionally needs to outscore Thehemuli by 11 points. Already 1 individual award is secured - RD2 is the Rookie of the year as his advantage over 2nd best rookie Madjester is 29 points with 22 possible per round.

2nd placed team in standings Zafiralis outscored table leaders and defending champions by a single point in this round,so they still have a tough job ahead if they want to challenge for teams championship. Both teams have 3 active drivers in the roster,so there are way too much variables to create possible scenarios. A 3rd team is also theoretically eligible for the teams championship,however with 31 points gap MRc needs some huge success coupled with major failures from leading 2 teams as only 39 points per round are possible. The other non-individual championship is practically decided - if there is no 2nd bulgarian signed up for final round,Finland is declared Nations cup winner at signups closure. The only driver for 2nd best nation Bulgaria cannot delete the 26 points gap on his own,while 3rd place in standings Latvia is already out of range.


After the 3 slower paced rounds in row,season finale will be held on one of the 2 faster rounds of it's schedule - 35 laps around fast paced Westhill International configuration will be the deciding 200 kilometers for both drivers and teams championships. It is the 1st track where the FoRGE VERL 2022 car was run in a competition and the 14 drivers attendance is still the unbeaten all time highest in the VERL turbo era. Can the slightly easier to race modification of the car attract more?