The streets of South City produced yet another dramatic race in the Prototype class, a race that could shift the balance between the top contenders ahead of the September's season finale.
Pole Position was achieved by Mazdarati, the dutch legend, only man to dig into the 2'13''x's.
Right behind him was starting RG^Lorenzo on his Beta11F12 and ZFRL Thehemuli: the three main title contenders starting in the top 3 positions.
Race start was dramatic: Mazdarati made a clean start, but behind, Thehemuli lost the control of his ZFRL McLarry in Turn 1, clipped the wall and bounced back on trajectory, right in front of RG^Lorenzo, who collected him hard!
Luckily, both of them were able to continue, despite getting some suspension damage.
Having escaped the T1 drama, RG^Rony pushed his Green Dinosaur McLarry into provisional P2, before attacking Mazdarati at the Highway Hairpin, taking the lead of the race, while S1DUS Unite was following right behind, racing a McLarry as well!
But Rony's dreams of coming back with a win were short lived: on lap 3 he lost the control of his McLarry at the exit of the fast city chicane, slamming into the wall and letting Mazdarati through for the lead!
Right behind, ZFRL Thehemuli was pushing to minimize the damage of his T1 mistake: he overtook Unite and launched in the hunt of the Race Green machinery of Rony.
The Top 3 drivers started lapping at a similar pace, with very short gaps between them: Thehemuli catched Rony towards the end of the race.
The finn was looking for more points to limit the damage to Mazdarati in the championship standings, but was unable to pass the Race Green driver!
In front, Mazdarati took his third win of the season, a crucial one that gives him an advantage ahead of the Westhill de La Sarthe Season Finale!
RG^Rony finishes in P2 a very solid comeback race, ahead of ZFRL Thehemuli and S1DUS Unite, who suffered suspension damage multiple times during the race.
It was a race to forget for RG^Lorenzo, the third of the championship contenders, who lost precious laps after more technical problems, a constant this season. He'll finish P5, losing ground from the leading duo.
GT PRO
This was set to be a very important round for the GT Pro Class: RG^NOSLE is coming to South City as the big championship favourite, it's up to his rivals to try close the gap ahead of the last race of the season!
Pole Position was set by Aston Retro's dominator, B2R M, ahead of his teammate B2R Rejekt and Nosle in P3, with another Born to Race car, Twincam, right behind.
Race start was hectic: the Prototype incident in Turn 1 caused some chaos also in the braking of the ramp of Turn 3, with B2R M touched by the Prototype of RG^Lorenzo, losing two positions.
RG^NOSLE benefited from the start confusion, taking a provisional P1 on the Highway before getting overtaken by B2R Rejekt, one of the championship contenders!
The two started a spectacular side by side battle from the exit of the Highway hairpin all the way to Sector 2, till Rejekt made a mistake at the Tunnel's corner entry, allowing NOSLE to re-take the lead of the race!
But the moment of glory for Nosle and Rejekt didn't last long, as B2R M recovered from the lap 1 troubles and moved on the offensive: he overtook his team-mate in Lap 3 and attacked succesfully RG^NOSLE on the main straight, taking the lead at the start of Lap 4!
But another protagonist emerged later in the race: it was B2R Twincam, who managed to catch NOSLE in lap 30: the two have been already at the center of controversy in Fern Bay, where Twincam touched Nosle and claimed the victory, before getting penalized.
And more controversy sparked in South City, as Twincam attacked NOSLE in the braking of the Hairpin in Lap 34: however, he decides to pick the outside line, a space that's deemed to close off naturally as the driver ahead prepares for the hairpin entry.
In fact, there's no more space at some point, and Twincam touches the outside wall and gets thrown into the air, airbone, ending his race on his roof.
Ahead, no drama at all for race leader B2R M, who crosses the line first, another dominated race after his impressive Aston performance!
P2 at the chequered flag for RG^NOSLE, who brings home more points and is now close to the championship title ahead of Westhill de la Sarthe.
P3 for [MRC] Jsk, who managed to overtake B2R Rejekt despite struggling with low tyres temperature all race long!
O.A, CRAAACH and newcomer #66 O.Paijc completes the Top 7, while INNO spent lots of laps in the pit-lane due to a problem, finishing way off.
ROAD CLASS
Road Class have treated us with some legendary races so far this season: South City was little bit more straightforward than usual, even if it still offered some big championship twists!
Race start was hectic in the Road Class group, with the drivers having to avoid contacts with the GT's and the Prototypes: tight spaces, near misses, poleman B2R Stiefla was the smartest and fastest driver in the opening stages, taking an early lead!
He's still racing the Porsche Cammera JGT, after the recent AM Phoenix controversy, but compared to Aston he's looking much more confident in the new package!
Behind him, porsche whisperer RG^M@CI3K tried to follow, but was soon reeled in by SG Madjester.
The man driving the orange Piran Firefly 200 was on a mission in South City: he passed M@CI3K and flew away, towards the leader Stiefla, cutting back a 5-6 seconds gap and catching him around Lap 9.
The two started a very strategic battle: with Stiefla gaining a lot on the straights with his Porsche Cammera, and Madjester cutting back the gap in the corners with his Piran.
It was back and forth for a while, until Madjester made the decisive move on Lap 23, at the exit of the industrial section!
Stiefla couldn't follow, and settled for P2: but drama erupted in the fight for P3-P4, as M@CI3K was hit by tech issues, timing out and losing more than 40 seconds in the process.
Ahead, SG Madjester cuts the finish line in a glorious first place, third win of the season for him, just 2 points from the championship leader Stiefla now, who finishes P2.
P3 on the podium for S.Martin, one of the most consistent drivers in the championship.
The porsche whisperer M@CI3K finishes P4 ahead JAM [616], and he's now 9 points behind Stiefla in the standings.
But that's how close it is: 3 drivers in 9 points, with just one round to go and Double Points: Westhill de la Sarthe is set to be a glorious showdown for the Road Class Crown!
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 6 ROUNDS
RELIVE THE EVENT!
It's been another crazy race in Retro Cup, with plenty going on in all classes, between crashes, overtakes and last lap battles for the win!
If you wish to relive the event, you can do that by downloading the race replay, linked above, or you can watch the event streams brought by Baptiste DLV and M@CI3K!
RACE STREAMING (No Commentary, by Baptiste DLV)
M@CI3K ONBOARD
THE SEASON FINALE AWAITS
After two months of intense racing, drama and, hopefully, fun, RETRO CUP 24 reaches its climax and its epic conclusion on monday, September 9th.
The drivers will have to face the ultimate Retro Challenge, Westhill de La Sarthe, a long and fast layout that incorporates Westhill's countryside sections.
The race track will go through villages, forests, with fast sections reminiscent of the Circuit de la Sarthe of Le Mans.
A perfect scenario for a big Season Finale race, with all the championship titles still left to be decided.
The race will be longer than the races done in the season, and will award Double Points to the drivers.
It's going to be an exciting finale, see you on September 9th and stay tuned here on the forum and on Race Green discord, for all the details!
