Our second and final review of S2 Season 14. This time, it is the review of Formula XR and Formula BMW races in Div B. 95 drivers, 17 different race winners across up to 3 servers, another "Xcite"-ing season of competition.

Once again the smaller single seaters were alternated in Division B, but at the end of the season it didn't seem to matter which car was used as Xcite Cali dominated the season to such an extent he took the race day as a holiday!


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Race 1 - Blackwood (FBM)

AMT and spdo locked out the first two rows of qualifying and AMT s@leSs won the opening sprint race as he pleased ahead of OWRL MRT Champion spdo Paddi. Xcite Cali had deliberately qualified last in order to avoid trouble and he had moved to 10th by the end and although post race penalties would move him to 7th that would be too late to give him a front row start for the main race and Tenttu sat on pole for that.


AMT niikoolaa joined Tenttu on the front row and drove away to win the race easily, although he was helped by a crash between spdo James and [SR] Andy as they challenged down the back straight on lap 1. Tenttu put up a hard fight but as AMT niikoolaa passed him on lap 2 the winner was already decided. [SR] Monty and MAR $Tre4M rounded off the main race podium.

On the other two servers there were wins for CoRe L.Malecki, CR Fuse and GRT climbs.

Race 2 - Aston North (FOX)

Pole sitter n1 J.Lehikoinen led Xcite Cali and spdo James to the podium in the sprint race. In the main race spdo James dominated, moving from his 6th place gridslot to lead every lap of the race. Pole sitter [SR] blb had no answer for his pace and dropped to 5th at the end. Only n1 J.Lehikoinen could keep to the same pace but it took him 4 laps to fight through the pack from 8th on the grid and by then could do nothing about the spdo man. [RM] Domi K. emerged from the pack to score his only podium of the season in 3rd.

On B2, #low blacky scored a great double win. On B3 LTU_S.Vytas lost his win due to an after race penalty which gave OWRL stalwart [MF1] Matt Maslen the sprint race spoils, with mydeadline.silent picking up the main race victory.



Race 3 - South City Town (FBM)

Back in the slower FBM for the third round but this did not put off n1 J.Lehikoinen who grabbed pole on B1. Horst 23 scored exactly the same time but had to make do with 2nd place. The top 2 positions remained the same in a fairly quiet sprint race with [SR] Doc completing the podium.

In the main race Horst 23 was replaced on the podium by Xcite Cali as n1 J.Lehikoinen powered to an easy victory. At the end of 43 minutes of racing 5th place and 9th place were separated by only 2.25s with KC Muhrle being the unlucky guy at the back of the train. B2 saw wins for [SR] Tongey and FPR Tisu#66

Race 4 - Kyoto National Reverse (FOX)

spdo James became just James for this race and completed the season as an independent driver. He marked leaving the spdo team with an impressive pole position. Howie joined him on the front row but Xcite Cali was lurking menacingly in 4th behind LRT K.OKeefe. The expected challenge from Xcite Cali never arrived and he drifted into 8th place as LRT K.OKeefe took the lead with a finely judged drafting pass on James and he drove on to take the win.

Xcite Cali took full advantage of his pole position for the main race to win but the top 4 enjoyed a close fight throughout. Howie particularly impressed and although he grabbed the lead for a couple of laps near the end it was not to be his day.





Race 5 - Fern Bay Club Reversed

One of the shortest tracks that OWRL Division B uses saw the field fight it out in Fern Bay. This was to prove to be the decisive day in the championship. Another drive went independent for this one as LRT K.OKeefe became plain Kenneth, but his qualifying lap was anything but plain and he got a vital front row behind James. It was 3rd on the grid Xcite Cali who took the sprint race victory however.

His victory celebrations were tempered by the knowledge that he would start the main race in 8th position but that did not stop him taking a famous victory. At first, n1 J.Lehikoinen powered away into the lead but Xcite Cali picked off his rivals one by one. n1 J.Lehikonen knew if he could win then he could keep realistic hopes of winning the title at the last round. Things looked good until disaster on lap 44 of 58. Not only did he spin and gift the lead to Xcite Cali, but he also damaged his car and had to pit. 8th was not enough and Xcite Cali crowned his title triumph with a race win. With the tight competition and reversed grids it is no mean feat to win the title with a race to spare.

Race 6 - Aston National

With the championship won, Xcite Cali stayed away from the final race and two new winners in the top B server emerged. spdo SimonK won the sprint race from pole position less than one second ahead of his fellow front row starter [GGC] FireDragon. Starting 7th and 8th on the grid for the main race was not a problem for these two on the wide and fast Aston track and they shared the spoils again in the main race, but this time [GGC] FireDragon got the win - by less than half a second. KC Muhrle had a great evening clinching a pair of 3rd places to give him 2nd in the championship, just pipping n1 J.Lehikoinen who ended the season 3rd.

Another great and close season of racing in Division B which showcased a great array of young talent which will hopefully help keep OWRL as the leading single seater LFS league for many seasons to come. The admins would like to thank all those who participated and helped make the racing so good. We would also like to thank those drivers who helped with the server admin - sometimes at quite short notice! We hope to see you for our summer event and also for the next Divisional season in the autumn. Meanwhile, the F1 stars will continue their fight...