Only a week after the end of the 2024 french league season, the french community was already back for its yearly Xmas Open this Monday 23rd evening, for a 10th season! For this first round, a little bit of change was happening, as this year they're going to visit 3 different tracks instead of staying forever in Blackwood. The drivers were awaited at Autocross, where DLV build them a great Rallycross RX typed layout full tarmac, including a joker lap. It was the small PZG CITY and it's 1.1L 80 horsepowered engine that has been picked up for this first round. And it was L.Rydh who set the fastest lap and was due to start on Semi 1's pole. But infortunately the Swede couldn't make it tonight. Derinus took then this award on his pocket, in front of KingOfice, Donald. Then would follow a Belgian pair with the NFR brothers : Proxima in front of Geraxi. System was on their back, with the 3rd other Belgian of the community : Nex. Daf, Bizo and Neron were completing the top 10, with 14 drivers qualified for the semis out of 18 registered.
Semi 1 : Derinus showing the muscles
The semi final 1 would see derinus starting on pole in front of his team mate Donald, and a Belgian pair of Geraxi and Nex. Bizo, Thorghos and Nanex would set the second row. And it's Donald who took the best start, but derinus didn't panic and eventually took it back quickly on the first turn, although Donald didnt gave up until the 3rd corner where Derinus definitely sealed his first position. On the back, bad fortune for Bizo's return, as he's been implied on a packed T1 contact, being the one on the outside, the blue FSR designed car went on rolling. Fortunately for the frenchman he's been able to roll back on his wheels and continue the race. Then the race has been pretty quiet, except for 3rd position where Nex, after taking his joker lap, ended up on Geraxi's bumper on the next lap. The CCRT driver couldn't avoid the contact on the 3rd corner, and infortunately had to take his countrymate's place. Despite his early race misfortune, Bizo still climbed 2 place thanks to the early made joker lap. In the end Derinus won it, placing his car automatically in the final's pole. Donald and Nex completed the podium and eventually the 2 others final's place of this semi. Geraxi finished 4th, meaning he was getting the small final's pole. Bizo, Nanex and his son Thorghos completed the race results.
Semi final 2 : Never forget the King!
And in semi final 2 it was the inavoidable KingOfIce, freshly French League 2024 crowned, 3rd place in quali but 2nd since the miss of L.Rydh, who was set to start first. Proxima, System, and the "minister of laps" GUM's Daf were on the first row, meanwhile Neron, Cyandic and KingJr were on the second row. KingOfIce took a great start, and on his back, the whole field was packed up, but it's System who took the best of them and snatched his nose inside the first turn into second position. Proxima was following in front of Neron, KingJr and Cyandic, meanwhile Daf jumped in the joker lap. Cyandic then got rid of KingOfIce's son before even the end of the first lap. These 2 would jump in the joker on the next lap meanwhile Neron did the same, allowing Daf to make his strategic joker lap worth it : he passed all them 3, climbing back to his starting position, 4th. On the front, KingOfIce was peacefully leading the race, and System was holding Proxima in respect not too far away. The Belgian then decided to take his joker lap on the penultimate lap, meanwhile the FSR boss took it on the ultimate moment. But his joker lap was very poor, allowing Proxima to end up on his back in the last corner, although the 2024's league runner-up ended up locking all the doors, Proxima could only just end the race on his bumper meanwhile King won in solitary. Behind the podium, no position change would happens from the 2nd lap : Daf ended in front of Neron, Cyandic and KingJr.
Small Final : Daf finally rewarded!
It was then time to ring the small final for the racers not qualified in final. Geraxi was on pole position in front of Daf, Bizo and Neron. On the second row there was Nanex, Cyandic and the young next generation : Thorghos and KingJr. Once again, the race start has been pretty packed up until the judging turn 1, Neron took the best of all of them, taking the lead in front of Cyandic, Bizo and Geraxi. The Portuguese FSR driver was the first one to jump in the Joker Lap with Geraxi and Thorghos, leaving Neron alone in the lead in front of Bizo, Daf and KingJr. Neron took his joker at the second lap, leaving Daf who took the best of Bizo a couple of corners earlier, the lead of the race. At the mid race, everyone had made it's joker lap, Daf was still leading in front of Bizo, Neron, Geraxi, Cyandic, Thorghos, Nanex and KingJr. But on the last laps the things spiced up as Geraxi was pressuring Neron for the last podium spot. And then the bumpers touched between these 2 on the 3rd corner of the 5th lap, but there was Cyandic here sniffing for a opportunity, which the FSR driver took brillantly, climbing the 3rd position in front of these 2. Geraxi would stay 4th meanwhile Neron would drop 5th. But Cyandic and Geraxi had closed drastically the gap on Bizo, and the Belgian NFR driver tried a optimistic braking on the turn 1 of the last lap, and infortunately for him he lost the rear on his aggressive braking, and smacked the inside wall, making him loose a couple of position. In the end, Daf won the small final after leading from the second lap. A FSR duo was completing the podium, with Bizo in front of Cyandic. Neron, Thorghos, Nanex, Geraxi and KingJr were completing the results.
Final : KingOfIce, also know as KingOfTarmac!
In the final, Derinus was starting in pole position, in front of his GUM Garage's team mates : KingOfIce and Donald. System was the last one on their row with the 4th position, meanwhile the second row would be full Belgian : Nex in front of Proxima. And again a very packed start where KingOfIce took the best of Derinus, same for Nex in front of System. But at the 3rd corner, as Donald and Derinus touched, System saw a great opportunity to jump in a mouse hole, and the FSR boss did the hold-up of the race, passing from 5th to 2nd in one corner. At this time, Nex, Donald and Proxima then decided to jump on the joker lap. The positions then froze with KingOfIce leading in front of System, Derinus, Donald, Nex and Proxima. On the end of the 4th lap, Derinus finally took the best of System, making these 2 switching the positions. The other changes happened in the last lap when the pair Derinus-System took the joker lap on the last lap. Meanwhile KingOfIce was abandonned on the final's lead, Donald took the best of his GUM team mate, Derinus, clinching the second place off his hand. Nex did the same with System, meanwhile Proxima was again in the red colored FSR's car bumper. And that's in this order the racers crossed the finish line of the final.
Bonus race : Geraxi to take a surprise win!
And then came the bonus race to conclude the evening. This race would reunite all the qualified driver, and set up a reversed grid from the quali results. And to this game we would see again a KingOfIce on pole position... as KingJr was set to start on pole. Nanex, Cyandic and Thorghos were on his side on the first row. Second row was completed by Neron, Bizo, Daf and Nex, meanwhile the 3rd row was with System, Geraxi, Proxima Donald. Last row would see the GUM pair King-Derinus. The first corners has been pretty actives, and a lot of position changes happened, that the TV Broadcast wouldn't know which fight to follow! At the end of the first lap, Nanex was leading in front of his belgian team mate Geraxi. Cyandic was on provisonal 3rd position in front of Neron, KingOfIce, Bizo, Donald. Less success for Derinus who was only 8th in front of Thorghos, System, Nex, Proxima, KingJr and Daf. Geraxi decided to take a early joker lap, leaving KingOfIce, who passed Nanex, at a early lead despite his last row start. Derinus would still made a good come back as he was 4th on the end of the 2nd lap, in Cyandic's bumper. After various joker lap games until mid race where only 3 GUMs didnt made it (KingOfIce, Derinus and Daf), it was still the 2024 League's champion in the lead, in front of Derinus, Geraxi. Meanwhile Nex took the best of System for 5th. Cyendic was in front of Thorghos, Proxima, Donald, Nanex, Daf, Bizo, KingJr and Neron. When the GUM's leading duo decided to do their joker lap, Geraxi ended up making the perfect last lap. the Belgian NFR driver's strategy perfectly paid off, allowing himself to fight KingOfIce, and for the best as he entered the last corner leading to the win. Incredible win for the NFR driver who made the crowd roaring to see the King beaten! Derinus would then get the last podium step, in front of Nex, System, Cyandic and Thorgos. Donald also took the best of Proxima while entering the last lap. Nanex, Bizo, Neron, KingJr and Daf were completing the results.
In the end, with a semi win, a final win, and a bonus second place, King did almost a perfect event, placing him on top of points with 199 points. Derinus is second in front of Nex, who has been consistent the whole evening. System and Donald shares the 4th place with 191, meanwhile the belgians NFR brothers do the same for the 6th with 185 for both, followed by Cyandic, Bizo and Daf. On the team side, "bis repetita" from the league, as GUM garage is making a strong lead in front of FSR Team and the NFR Team. Next round is already the next monday, and the community is going to make a come back at Fern Bay, 3 years after the last venue in 2021 when we were not using mods at this time. The Rallycross Reverse route (FE5R) will be used with the joker lap using the tarmac area of the Rallycross Green track, aka FE6. For this round, it will be a french classic that the drivers will enjoy as the staff selected the VladM's Le Rault Cinq Turbo.
Semi 1 : Derinus showing the muscles
The semi final 1 would see derinus starting on pole in front of his team mate Donald, and a Belgian pair of Geraxi and Nex. Bizo, Thorghos and Nanex would set the second row. And it's Donald who took the best start, but derinus didn't panic and eventually took it back quickly on the first turn, although Donald didnt gave up until the 3rd corner where Derinus definitely sealed his first position. On the back, bad fortune for Bizo's return, as he's been implied on a packed T1 contact, being the one on the outside, the blue FSR designed car went on rolling. Fortunately for the frenchman he's been able to roll back on his wheels and continue the race. Then the race has been pretty quiet, except for 3rd position where Nex, after taking his joker lap, ended up on Geraxi's bumper on the next lap. The CCRT driver couldn't avoid the contact on the 3rd corner, and infortunately had to take his countrymate's place. Despite his early race misfortune, Bizo still climbed 2 place thanks to the early made joker lap. In the end Derinus won it, placing his car automatically in the final's pole. Donald and Nex completed the podium and eventually the 2 others final's place of this semi. Geraxi finished 4th, meaning he was getting the small final's pole. Bizo, Nanex and his son Thorghos completed the race results.
Semi final 2 : Never forget the King!
And in semi final 2 it was the inavoidable KingOfIce, freshly French League 2024 crowned, 3rd place in quali but 2nd since the miss of L.Rydh, who was set to start first. Proxima, System, and the "minister of laps" GUM's Daf were on the first row, meanwhile Neron, Cyandic and KingJr were on the second row. KingOfIce took a great start, and on his back, the whole field was packed up, but it's System who took the best of them and snatched his nose inside the first turn into second position. Proxima was following in front of Neron, KingJr and Cyandic, meanwhile Daf jumped in the joker lap. Cyandic then got rid of KingOfIce's son before even the end of the first lap. These 2 would jump in the joker on the next lap meanwhile Neron did the same, allowing Daf to make his strategic joker lap worth it : he passed all them 3, climbing back to his starting position, 4th. On the front, KingOfIce was peacefully leading the race, and System was holding Proxima in respect not too far away. The Belgian then decided to take his joker lap on the penultimate lap, meanwhile the FSR boss took it on the ultimate moment. But his joker lap was very poor, allowing Proxima to end up on his back in the last corner, although the 2024's league runner-up ended up locking all the doors, Proxima could only just end the race on his bumper meanwhile King won in solitary. Behind the podium, no position change would happens from the 2nd lap : Daf ended in front of Neron, Cyandic and KingJr.
Small Final : Daf finally rewarded!
It was then time to ring the small final for the racers not qualified in final. Geraxi was on pole position in front of Daf, Bizo and Neron. On the second row there was Nanex, Cyandic and the young next generation : Thorghos and KingJr. Once again, the race start has been pretty packed up until the judging turn 1, Neron took the best of all of them, taking the lead in front of Cyandic, Bizo and Geraxi. The Portuguese FSR driver was the first one to jump in the Joker Lap with Geraxi and Thorghos, leaving Neron alone in the lead in front of Bizo, Daf and KingJr. Neron took his joker at the second lap, leaving Daf who took the best of Bizo a couple of corners earlier, the lead of the race. At the mid race, everyone had made it's joker lap, Daf was still leading in front of Bizo, Neron, Geraxi, Cyandic, Thorghos, Nanex and KingJr. But on the last laps the things spiced up as Geraxi was pressuring Neron for the last podium spot. And then the bumpers touched between these 2 on the 3rd corner of the 5th lap, but there was Cyandic here sniffing for a opportunity, which the FSR driver took brillantly, climbing the 3rd position in front of these 2. Geraxi would stay 4th meanwhile Neron would drop 5th. But Cyandic and Geraxi had closed drastically the gap on Bizo, and the Belgian NFR driver tried a optimistic braking on the turn 1 of the last lap, and infortunately for him he lost the rear on his aggressive braking, and smacked the inside wall, making him loose a couple of position. In the end, Daf won the small final after leading from the second lap. A FSR duo was completing the podium, with Bizo in front of Cyandic. Neron, Thorghos, Nanex, Geraxi and KingJr were completing the results.
Final : KingOfIce, also know as KingOfTarmac!
In the final, Derinus was starting in pole position, in front of his GUM Garage's team mates : KingOfIce and Donald. System was the last one on their row with the 4th position, meanwhile the second row would be full Belgian : Nex in front of Proxima. And again a very packed start where KingOfIce took the best of Derinus, same for Nex in front of System. But at the 3rd corner, as Donald and Derinus touched, System saw a great opportunity to jump in a mouse hole, and the FSR boss did the hold-up of the race, passing from 5th to 2nd in one corner. At this time, Nex, Donald and Proxima then decided to jump on the joker lap. The positions then froze with KingOfIce leading in front of System, Derinus, Donald, Nex and Proxima. On the end of the 4th lap, Derinus finally took the best of System, making these 2 switching the positions. The other changes happened in the last lap when the pair Derinus-System took the joker lap on the last lap. Meanwhile KingOfIce was abandonned on the final's lead, Donald took the best of his GUM team mate, Derinus, clinching the second place off his hand. Nex did the same with System, meanwhile Proxima was again in the red colored FSR's car bumper. And that's in this order the racers crossed the finish line of the final.
Bonus race : Geraxi to take a surprise win!
And then came the bonus race to conclude the evening. This race would reunite all the qualified driver, and set up a reversed grid from the quali results. And to this game we would see again a KingOfIce on pole position... as KingJr was set to start on pole. Nanex, Cyandic and Thorghos were on his side on the first row. Second row was completed by Neron, Bizo, Daf and Nex, meanwhile the 3rd row was with System, Geraxi, Proxima Donald. Last row would see the GUM pair King-Derinus. The first corners has been pretty actives, and a lot of position changes happened, that the TV Broadcast wouldn't know which fight to follow! At the end of the first lap, Nanex was leading in front of his belgian team mate Geraxi. Cyandic was on provisonal 3rd position in front of Neron, KingOfIce, Bizo, Donald. Less success for Derinus who was only 8th in front of Thorghos, System, Nex, Proxima, KingJr and Daf. Geraxi decided to take a early joker lap, leaving KingOfIce, who passed Nanex, at a early lead despite his last row start. Derinus would still made a good come back as he was 4th on the end of the 2nd lap, in Cyandic's bumper. After various joker lap games until mid race where only 3 GUMs didnt made it (KingOfIce, Derinus and Daf), it was still the 2024 League's champion in the lead, in front of Derinus, Geraxi. Meanwhile Nex took the best of System for 5th. Cyendic was in front of Thorghos, Proxima, Donald, Nanex, Daf, Bizo, KingJr and Neron. When the GUM's leading duo decided to do their joker lap, Geraxi ended up making the perfect last lap. the Belgian NFR driver's strategy perfectly paid off, allowing himself to fight KingOfIce, and for the best as he entered the last corner leading to the win. Incredible win for the NFR driver who made the crowd roaring to see the King beaten! Derinus would then get the last podium step, in front of Nex, System, Cyandic and Thorgos. Donald also took the best of Proxima while entering the last lap. Nanex, Bizo, Neron, KingJr and Daf were completing the results.
In the end, with a semi win, a final win, and a bonus second place, King did almost a perfect event, placing him on top of points with 199 points. Derinus is second in front of Nex, who has been consistent the whole evening. System and Donald shares the 4th place with 191, meanwhile the belgians NFR brothers do the same for the 6th with 185 for both, followed by Cyandic, Bizo and Daf. On the team side, "bis repetita" from the league, as GUM garage is making a strong lead in front of FSR Team and the NFR Team. Next round is already the next monday, and the community is going to make a come back at Fern Bay, 3 years after the last venue in 2021 when we were not using mods at this time. The Rallycross Reverse route (FE5R) will be used with the joker lap using the tarmac area of the Rallycross Green track, aka FE6. For this round, it will be a french classic that the drivers will enjoy as the staff selected the VladM's Le Rault Cinq Turbo.