The Open Wheel Racing League S2 Season 16 started in February and recently came to a conclusion. Division A was for the more experienced drivers and uses the F3000-like Formula V8. For new drivers or those that prefer the closer racing the smaller formula cars offer, Division B races are held with the Formula XR and the Formula BMW. New this season was a team championship, but even before the final round it became clear this new rule did not change the strongest driver and team. Just like in S2 Season 15, RAPTOR | Chris claimed the Div A championship in a way which redefines ‘dominating’ and [SR] FireDragon was the strongest in Div B. Both drivers led their team effort handing the first team championships to RAPTOR-GAMING and Sonicrealms Racing.
Chris takes Div A championship in record breaking pace
The opening round of the season took place at Kyoto National rev. After qualifying it seemed like winning the race would be an easy feat for Raptor | Chris, but the race proved different. For the first half of the race, SVR M. Goëse moved up from his 4th starting place to second, but just as he was about to catch the slipstream of the reigning champion he had to enter the pit. Chris continued on his 0-stop strategy. Despite fuel issues in the final corner of the race he won the first round of the season just in front of his teammate Raptor | Intre and Alternate|KiLl3r. The second race at South City Long went similar to the first one except for that M.Goëse was not present to challenge Chris for even a part of the race. [SR] Pete was closest and after 1 hour and 10 minutes of keeping concentration up in the streets he had conceded 15 seconds to Chris, whose teammate Intre finished third.
Round three brought the field to Westhill International rev. This was the chance for Chris to do what he did not manage last season – win 3 races in a row. And sure enough, at the end of the 15 minute qualifying session a familiar name took pole position. Less familiar were the names lining up beside and behind him on the grid, with spdoMaddee and Redline Blobo starting second and third. Both drivers made their first OWRL start this season and surely were eager to prove their worth. Maybe a bit too eager, as incidents in the race meant no new drivers where to be found in top seven finishers of the race. Best of the finishers once more was Chris, who was only half a second short of keeping second place more than half a minute behind. Winning every possible points in the first half of the season, Chris now knew that he could get the title as early as round 4 of 6. Bad news for the competition as this made him even more determined at the toughest track on the calendar, Fern Bay Black rev. Just like he did in the previous three rounds, he got pole, was leading at the end of lap 1 and never looked back. Chris won the race 1 minute and 55 seconds ahead of Raptor | Jaypee. Third placed [SR] Tanakan was a lap down. After four rounds Chris was crowned S2 Season 16 Div A champion. In fact, his domination was so strong that he had led every lap of competition in the season up to this point.
Apart from winning the driver championship, RAPTOR-GAMING also could no longer be topped in the team standings. This opened the chance for other drivers to go for a race win. In round 5 spdoGarfield looked like going for the top of the podium as his connection suddenly was dropped on lap 52 of 71. Tanakan would have been the strongest contender based on his podium finishes earlier this season but already had crashed out of the race. This made room for two long time participants in Division A and they made it as close as it has ever been, with [RTS] Schufoso beating pod.hama Krutch to the finish line by 0.07. These two drivers moved up to fourth and fifth in the championship standings behind Chris, Intre and Tanakan. After both championships were decided the attendance numbers for the Div A races dwindled, ultimately leading to the cancellation of the final round. This made the aforementioned standings the final standings of S2 Season 16 Div A.
FireDragon, Sonicrealms reign in Division B
Given by the nature of the rules in Div B it is unusual that the championship is decided before the sixth and final round. The points system keep driver closer together and having the main race with top 8 reversed grid makes it a lot more difficult to win both races in a round. Pre-season favorite [SR] FireDragon showed it still can be done in the very first round. Qualifying and sprint race went uncontested to the S2 Season 15 Div B champion. NWRT I.Vorozhbit stayed ahead of FireDragon in the main race as both moved up from their starting positions but once he suffered a lost connection FireDragon could score maximum points in the race and of course was leading the championship. Things can change quickly though in Div B. In round 2, everything went smooth for FireDragon up to the main race. After winning pole and the sprint race FireDragon was trying to find a way through the field when he got involved in a crash. The main race was decided when Xcite K. Egloff won the duel against Cq | Dzban. Third place finisher mos K.Kerekes may not have won the race, his fourth podium in just as many races meant he took over the championship lead over FireDragon with a 37 point advantage.
FireDragon went to Westhill International rev looking to get back the championship lead but he would not manage to win a single race at the third round. The SR-team still did important work for the team championship as it was [SR] R. van Buren who got the laureates after both races. FireDragon was second on the sprint race podium ahead of Timo.Inferno. Both drivers also finished the main race on the podium, this time with the new Inferno signup in front of FireDragon. K. Kerekes again showed consistency is his strong point by finishing both races in fifth place, enough to retain the lead in the standings.
Sadly, that was also the last we had seen from K. Kerekes on track this season. His departure meant that it was up to other drivers to challenge FireDragon. And challenged he was. We already saw R. van Buren winning both races in one round. [Fluid] Indie came up strong in round 4. Qualifying in third, almost a second behind FireDragon, Indie kept improving during both races to not only set a faster lap time than his qualifying time, but also to score a second place and a win. In the main race Indie had to keep FireDragon behind on the tricky Fern Bay Black rev track and managed to do so. At round 5 Indie once again seemed to be the only driver able to keep up with FireDragon. Just like at Fern Bay, Indie finished second to the championship leader in both qualifying and the sprint race and in the main race he found his way through the front, with FireDragon on his tail. Unlike Fern Bay, in Blackwood FireDragon managed to slipstream his way past Indie and later in the race, Indie lost a lap to the leader as he was pressured into a mistake by cq Gargi. The mistake meant that FireDragon had gained enough of a lead in the championship to be certain of the Div B title in S2 Season 16.
Still to decide at the final round were second in the standings and the team championship. Main rivals to Sonicrealms Racing for the team championship was the Serbian Chromed Pistons, their lead driver Igor Cisco being joint second in the driver standings heading towards Aston Historic. SR however had their eyes firmly set on the first team trophy in the OWRL and the performance of FireDragon and Gav was impressive especially in the main race. Starting 8th and 9th, both fought their way to the front of the field to finish well clear of the competition. Sonicrealms Racing win both the driver and the team championship in S2 Season 16 Div B. Second in standings went to In$Tinkt Misao, who leaped up from sixth to runner up in the standings at the last round of the season.
Final words
The Open Wheel Racing League thanks all participants this season for another enjoyable racing competition. We congratulate Chris, RAPTOR-Gaming, FireDragon and Sonicrealms Racing for their championships.
Results & stats
Div A: Final standings | Season overview
Div B: Final standings | Season overview
Replays (must be registered)
www.owrl.de
Chris takes Div A championship in record breaking pace
The opening round of the season took place at Kyoto National rev. After qualifying it seemed like winning the race would be an easy feat for Raptor | Chris, but the race proved different. For the first half of the race, SVR M. Goëse moved up from his 4th starting place to second, but just as he was about to catch the slipstream of the reigning champion he had to enter the pit. Chris continued on his 0-stop strategy. Despite fuel issues in the final corner of the race he won the first round of the season just in front of his teammate Raptor | Intre and Alternate|KiLl3r. The second race at South City Long went similar to the first one except for that M.Goëse was not present to challenge Chris for even a part of the race. [SR] Pete was closest and after 1 hour and 10 minutes of keeping concentration up in the streets he had conceded 15 seconds to Chris, whose teammate Intre finished third.Round three brought the field to Westhill International rev. This was the chance for Chris to do what he did not manage last season – win 3 races in a row. And sure enough, at the end of the 15 minute qualifying session a familiar name took pole position. Less familiar were the names lining up beside and behind him on the grid, with spdoMaddee and Redline Blobo starting second and third. Both drivers made their first OWRL start this season and surely were eager to prove their worth. Maybe a bit too eager, as incidents in the race meant no new drivers where to be found in top seven finishers of the race. Best of the finishers once more was Chris, who was only half a second short of keeping second place more than half a minute behind. Winning every possible points in the first half of the season, Chris now knew that he could get the title as early as round 4 of 6. Bad news for the competition as this made him even more determined at the toughest track on the calendar, Fern Bay Black rev. Just like he did in the previous three rounds, he got pole, was leading at the end of lap 1 and never looked back. Chris won the race 1 minute and 55 seconds ahead of Raptor | Jaypee. Third placed [SR] Tanakan was a lap down. After four rounds Chris was crowned S2 Season 16 Div A champion. In fact, his domination was so strong that he had led every lap of competition in the season up to this point.Apart from winning the driver championship, RAPTOR-GAMING also could no longer be topped in the team standings. This opened the chance for other drivers to go for a race win. In round 5 spdoGarfield looked like going for the top of the podium as his connection suddenly was dropped on lap 52 of 71. Tanakan would have been the strongest contender based on his podium finishes earlier this season but already had crashed out of the race. This made room for two long time participants in Division A and they made it as close as it has ever been, with [RTS] Schufoso beating pod.hama Krutch to the finish line by 0.07. These two drivers moved up to fourth and fifth in the championship standings behind Chris, Intre and Tanakan. After both championships were decided the attendance numbers for the Div A races dwindled, ultimately leading to the cancellation of the final round. This made the aforementioned standings the final standings of S2 Season 16 Div A.FireDragon, Sonicrealms reign in Division B
Given by the nature of the rules in Div B it is unusual that the championship is decided before the sixth and final round. The points system keep driver closer together and having the main race with top 8 reversed grid makes it a lot more difficult to win both races in a round. Pre-season favorite [SR] FireDragon showed it still can be done in the very first round. Qualifying and sprint race went uncontested to the S2 Season 15 Div B champion. NWRT I.Vorozhbit stayed ahead of FireDragon in the main race as both moved up from their starting positions but once he suffered a lost connection FireDragon could score maximum points in the race and of course was leading the championship. Things can change quickly though in Div B. In round 2, everything went smooth for FireDragon up to the main race. After winning pole and the sprint race FireDragon was trying to find a way through the field when he got involved in a crash. The main race was decided when Xcite K. Egloff won the duel against Cq | Dzban. Third place finisher mos K.Kerekes may not have won the race, his fourth podium in just as many races meant he took over the championship lead over FireDragon with a 37 point advantage.FireDragon went to Westhill International rev looking to get back the championship lead but he would not manage to win a single race at the third round. The SR-team still did important work for the team championship as it was [SR] R. van Buren who got the laureates after both races. FireDragon was second on the sprint race podium ahead of Timo.Inferno. Both drivers also finished the main race on the podium, this time with the new Inferno signup in front of FireDragon. K. Kerekes again showed consistency is his strong point by finishing both races in fifth place, enough to retain the lead in the standings.Sadly, that was also the last we had seen from K. Kerekes on track this season. His departure meant that it was up to other drivers to challenge FireDragon. And challenged he was. We already saw R. van Buren winning both races in one round. [Fluid] Indie came up strong in round 4. Qualifying in third, almost a second behind FireDragon, Indie kept improving during both races to not only set a faster lap time than his qualifying time, but also to score a second place and a win. In the main race Indie had to keep FireDragon behind on the tricky Fern Bay Black rev track and managed to do so. At round 5 Indie once again seemed to be the only driver able to keep up with FireDragon. Just like at Fern Bay, Indie finished second to the championship leader in both qualifying and the sprint race and in the main race he found his way through the front, with FireDragon on his tail. Unlike Fern Bay, in Blackwood FireDragon managed to slipstream his way past Indie and later in the race, Indie lost a lap to the leader as he was pressured into a mistake by cq Gargi. The mistake meant that FireDragon had gained enough of a lead in the championship to be certain of the Div B title in S2 Season 16.
Still to decide at the final round were second in the standings and the team championship. Main rivals to Sonicrealms Racing for the team championship was the Serbian Chromed Pistons, their lead driver Igor Cisco being joint second in the driver standings heading towards Aston Historic. SR however had their eyes firmly set on the first team trophy in the OWRL and the performance of FireDragon and Gav was impressive especially in the main race. Starting 8th and 9th, both fought their way to the front of the field to finish well clear of the competition. Sonicrealms Racing win both the driver and the team championship in S2 Season 16 Div B. Second in standings went to In$Tinkt Misao, who leaped up from sixth to runner up in the standings at the last round of the season.Final words
The Open Wheel Racing League thanks all participants this season for another enjoyable racing competition. We congratulate Chris, RAPTOR-Gaming, FireDragon and Sonicrealms Racing for their championships.
Results & stats
Div A: Final standings | Season overview
Div B: Final standings | Season overview
Replays (must be registered)
www.owrl.de