ROOZ News 4th Edition. S12 R5

Welcome to another edition of ROOZ NEWS sports fans! Round 5, Suzuka, Enduro...that's all you need to know.

Division 1: Apex Kings
In 1989 a field of 26 leapt off the starting line at Suzuka and straight into the annals of history. On that day only 11 cars remained on track as the race ended, the winner was disqualified and the greatest and most destructive rivalry in F1 history was given a clear hero and villain. After the NSX was chosen as the car for this season, the first track we picked was Suzuka.

On Sunday night, the main similarity to 1989 was the dominance of the top drivers. Senna and Prost left the field to squabble for the minor placings as they added another chapter to their amazing story. Warrior, Mustafur and Rotor put a minute between themselves and 4th place by the time the flag dropped. Awesome racing lads!
Qualifying saw Warrior again on pole, Mustafur and Rotor close behind, then a tightly packed mid-field. Off the line Nat got the jump on Cyber only for Cyber to return the favour through 130R. N64 moved into 7th ahead of Stu and Tek. But it was lap 2 was when the fun began. After getting the exit of 130R all wrong I checked to see who was overtaking me on the inside only to discover it was my rear end! The pack following was thrown into chaos and last place was mine.

Immediately after, Rotor got greedy at T1 and locked into a nice battle with Cyber swapping places over the next few laps. Mustafur began swapping the lead with Warrior, leaving only empty bitumen behind them. The remainder of the pack had long forgotten the front-runner’s, focusing only on the car near them. N64 and Nat tried going 2 wide through Degners - a real Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid moment with a similar outcome.

The ensuing chaos allowed me to tag onto the battle between Stu and Tek that had started when the flag dropped. Tek was so glued to Stu’s rear I was wondering if he had some chocolates in the boot. Tek eventually got too close and lost out through Degners, allowing Stu and I to trade places over the next few laps. All this battling had done no-one’s tyres any favours and mistakes started to really spread the field as we entered the first pitstop phase. Myself, Rotor, N64 and Nat locked in the 3 stop strategy, and the rest opted for 2 stoppers.

My NSX felt like new with fresh boots and Stu and Tek fell victim to my improved grip. The different pit strategies had really spread the field and Warrior celebrated having some open track by burying his nose into some armco at 130R. This slowed him little, and he began reeling off flawless laps in pursuit of Rotor and Mustafur. N64 and Nat spent time off the track as well, allowing Tek to jump up into 6th. This became 5th as I pitted from 4th, knowing Cyber had my measure.
As the final round of pitstops approached, the 2 stopper’s were beginning to struggle on their worn boots. I was able to sneak by Tek and make up some ground on Cyber. All the while the gap to the top 3 kept growing.
Nat and N64 lost out badly in the final round of pitstops and started praying for errors from those in front. Tek and Stu resumed their opening lap battle after exiting the pits for the final time, but the rest of us had become well spread. Tek wasn’t letting go, and Stu could defend no more on lap 35. Sadly this wasn’t Stu’s only problem, and he dove into the pits on lap 36 for a splash and dash. Nat’s persistence paid off and he blasted past Stu as he sat in the pits nursing a forehead bruise that was very much calculator-shaped?

Up front Warrior was in cruise mode and Rotor had pounced on Mustafur to nab 2nd. In deference to Warrior he chose to celebrate by driving his nose into some armco, gifting Mustafur 2nd once more. Sadly for Mustafur he’d worn his rears down to the rims and his tank was dryer than a dead dingo’s donga, so Rotor grabbed back the place on the penultimate lap.

And that’s how it ended. Warrior, Rotor, Mustafur, daylight...Anon, Cyber, Tek, Nat, Stu and N64. Well done lads, let’s go to Germany!!

Division 2: Corner Carver's
What a race. So much action I almost needed a book to tell the story. Anyways here's how it went...
GRID:
VENDALISM, NUGGET-22, Dbn26, Stumbles01, OverDrivve, emmo46, S_CLOSE, X-3vi1m00n, Ad2mny, disturboed.
OverDrivve has not had a lot of luck with his starts and this race was no different, dropping 3 places from his grid position before Turn 1. Stumbles01 was the only driver to move up from his starting position, and was passed Dbn into Turn 1, which everyone made it through unscathed.

Through Turn 5 in the esses, S_CLOSE came alongside emmo46 and stayed there till they entered Dunlop, making the pass there. OverDrivve gave X-3vi1m00n some hurry-up taps in his rear quarter also at Turn 5, nearly causing a spin. The pack started to pull away as they slowed, and X-3vi1m00n had a brief off track moment. The final 4 bunched up a bit and as X-3vi1m00n tried desperately to regain speed, Ad2mny saw his opportunity and made a pass leading up to Dunlop.
NUGGET-22 drafted past VENDALISM down the back straight after a better exit out of Spoon. Ad2mny ran too deep into 130R, putting 2 wheels off the track and spinning out. By the time he recovered he was a fair way behind in last place. X-3vi1m00n and OverDrivve started to catch hold of emmo46's slipstream at the start of lap 2, and the lead changed again as VENDALISM re-passed NUGGET-22 for the lead at Turn 1. NUGGET-22 got pushed a little wide but held the resulting slide nicely. OverDrivve had really good pace through the esses and was all over X-3vi1m00n but could not find a gap.
S_CLOSE was closing on the battle for 3rd place involving Stumbles01 and Dbn26, and as they all approached Spoon, NUGGET-22 touched the grass on the outside entering the turn, causing a massive slide. Stumbles01 seized the opportunity and slid past, but NUGGET-22 pressed him all the way down the back straight. Stumbles01 outbraked himself at 130R, running off the track and gaining a penalty which dropped him back behind S_CLOSE into 5th. X-3vi1m00n also drafted emmo46 down the back straight and a brave pass on the inside at 130R got him up to 6th, with OverDrivve in 8th, disturboed in 9th and Ad2mny still a ways back in 10th.
Lap 3, a spin by disturboed into 130R was to start a chain of bad luck from which he was not to recover from. He spent some time in the pits but later came out to run some laps with the leaders. He ended his race finishing 2-3 laps behind in last, and was later quoted as saying it was "The worst race EVER!".(Edit - You'll be fine Turbo!)
Lap 5 VENDALISM threw away a 3 sec lead with a bad entry into Turn 1, running in too wide and off track. As he recovered NUGGET-22 tried to take advantage of his dirty tyres but could not pass. Ad2mny had finally caught back onto the back of the field by the end of the esses.
Stumbles01 was trying hard to catch S_CLOSE in 4th but a hot entry into Dregner caused a slide and shot him across the track giving him a shortcut penalty. X-3vi1m00n got past him and he was back up to pace just in front of emmo46, OverDrivve and Ad2mny.
VENDALISM touched a little grass on the outside exiting Spoon and spun at the start of the back straight. By the time he got back up to pace, NUGGET-22, Dbn26 and S_CLOSE were a long way ahead, X-3vi1m00n cruised past, Stumbles01 and emmo46 just snuck past before the braking area of 130R, with OverDrivve and Ad2mny right on his tail. To rub salt into his wound, a bad entry into Casio Triangle earned him a shortcut penalty, dropping him into 9th.
X-3vi1m00n had a slow run out of Spoon Lap 6, allowing Stumbles01 to draft past on the back straight, but another late entry into 130R saw Stumbles01 gain another penalty and he dropped back to 5th again, and within reach of emmo46. A fishtail exiting Casio Triangle by Ad2mny let VENDALISM move up to 8th, then he gained 7th as he passed OverDrivve into Turn 1. Stumbles01 quickly closed back up on X-3vi1m00n in the esses lap 7, and after Dbn26 ran 2 wheels off track in the last of the esses, he had a silver and blue problem as S_CLOSE closed in and started pressing for 2nd place into Dunlop, with NUGGET-22 about 1 1/2 secs ahead.
Start of lap 8 S_CLOSE dove down the inside of Dbn26 into Turn 1, and as Dbn26 tried to stay on the outside, he ran off the track and spun which allowed S_CLOSE a healthy gap. As there was a large gap back to X-3vi1m00n in 4th, he still had a good gap when he recovered. Stumbles had a spin as he touched the grass leading up to the hairpin. He waited for the field to pass before rejoining and was behind VENDALISM when he got going again.
Lap 9 and tyres were starting to get a bit shady. emmo46 had a slide into Degner and OverDrivve with nowhere to go rammed into his drivers door. emmo46 ended up spinning and falling back behind VENDALISM. Stumbles01 ran in too hot as well, and by the time he dragged himself out of the sand he was just behind emmo46. Ad2mny took advantage of the dust up and was past OverDrivve by the hairpin.
S_CLOSE was first to pit at the start of lap 10, and VENDALISM slipped up to 5th after OverDrivve fishtailed out of Casio Triangle. Lap 11 NUGGET-22 pitted with a 13 sec lead, followed by Dbn26 and X-3vi1m00n. Ad2mny, VENDALISM, OverDrivve and emmo46 stayed out, Stumbles01 pulled in for his stop. Ad2mny ran too hot into Turn 1 lap 12 which allowed VENDALISM and OverDrivve to pass.


emmo46 came alongside Ad2mny exiting Spoon, but Ad2mny had a better drive. emmo46 gave him a little bump into 130R, causing Ad2mny to run wide and gain a penalty. emmo46 waited for him to recover by Casio Triangle, and Ad2mny pitted end of the lap with VENDALISM.
VENDALISM came out behind X-3vi1m00n and managed a pass at 130R. OverDrivve and emmo46 pitted end of the lap. OverDrivve came out in between VENDALISM and X-3vi1m00n, and emmo46 came out just in front of Stumbles01. emmo46 ran a little off track in the esses on cold tyres which allowed Stumbles01 to pass into 7th, with Ad2mny running a lonely 9th. The top 3 (S_CLOSE, Dbn26 and NUGGET-22) were each running about 5 secs apart, with a 10 sec gap back to the battle for 4th (VENDALISM,OverDrivve and X-3vi1m00n).
Everybody held station for the next few laps until on lap 18 Dbn26 ran too hot into spoon which let NUGGET-22 past into 2nd. Lap 20, S_CLOSE and Dbn26 pitted, with Dbn26 making a quicker stop and coming out ahead of S_CLOSE. Lap 21 NUGGET-22, X-3vi1m00n and Stumbles01.
Ad2mny had been slowly closing on emmo46, but on lap 22 Dbn26 and S_CLOSE had caught him and were looking for a way past on fresher tyres. Ad2mny succumbed to the pressure when he ran wide into Spoon and they both slipped past. Lap 23 they caught up to emmo46 but he put up a much better defence. NUGGET-22 had caught up to Ad2mny this lap and another off track incident at Spoon by Ad2mny let him past. Dbn26 got past emmo46 at the end of the lap, but it was Dbn26's turn to run hot into Spoon, letting both emmo46 and S_CLOSE past. S_CLOSE got past emmo46 into Casio Triangle.
VENDALISM and Ad2mny made their final stops at the end of lap 25, with OverDrivve and emmo46 making theirs one lap later.

Stumbles01 and X-3vilm00n had been battling most of their 3rd stint, but now they had VENDALISM on fresh tyres closing in lap 28. By lap 29 VENDALISM was close enough to try a pass around the outside of X-3vi1m00n into 130R but ran wide. He recovered well and re-tried a pass into Casio Triangle, this time making it stick.
Lap 30, S_CLOSE, Dbn26, NUGGET-22 and Stumbles were making their final stops. S_CLOSE overfuelled and lost 4 positions. Then later in the lap he had a spin at Degner, dropping him another spot behind OverDrivve. Dbn26 got passed by NUGGET-22 exiting 130R as he tried to find a way past X-3vi1m00n on wearing tyres. X-3vi1m00n made his final stop end of lap 30.
So for the final 9 lap run to the flag, the race looked like this-
VENDALISM had a 5 sec lead on NUGGET-22 and Dbn26, then 18 secs back to OverDrivve with S_CLOSE just behind, Stumbles01 3 secs back in 6th, X-3vi1m00n 5 secs further back, emmo46 another 5 secs back and Ad2mny 11 secs behind in 9th. disturboed was still on track but was just running his own race a few laps behind.
Dbn26 passed a wide running NUGGET-22 at 130R then got re-passed on the back straight next lap. They made side-on contact into 130R and both nearly spun, but NUGGET-22 recovered the best and pulled a gap by Casio Triangle.

Stumbles01 closed on S_CLOSE and on lap 34 they ran side by side through Turn 1, and stayed that way until the second corner in the esses, where Stumbles finally managed to get past. X-3vilm00n repitted this lap to put the fuel in that he hadn't put in when he last stopped. He dropped back to 9th behind Ad2mny.
Lap 35 Dbn26 began to realise he was not going to have enough fuel, and began to slow, short-shifting and clutching where he could. Stumbles01 was slow at Degner, setting himself up to be passed by S_CLOSE at the hairpin. Stumbles01 outbraked himself and S_CLOSE dove for the inside, but as they exited the hairpin, S_CLOSE bumped him off the track. He slowed and waited for Stumbles01 to reclaim his position in front.
Lap 36 S_CLOSE was trying to get some early power down out of the hairpin to get some drive on Stumbles01 but he overdid it and turned himself around, T-boning the inside barrier and losing touch with Stumbles01. Dbn26 had slowed even more and OverDrivve was closing fast. Dbn26 had no choice but to pit at the end of the lap, and when he came out lap 37 he was in 6th just ahead of emmo46. X-3vi1m00n got past a distracted Ad2mny as he worried about his fuel load and ran off track at the end of the esses.
NUGGET-22 was really closing on VENDALISM on lap 38. Ad2mny ran out of fuel just before 130R and coasted into the pits for a splash and go. emmo46 should have done the same, as he ran out as he exited Turn 1, having to coast the whole final lap. NUGGET-22 was pushing VENDALISM hard on the final lap, and nearly turned himself around in the esses. NUGGET-22 got a great run out of Spoon and was alongside in the braking area at 130R.

NUGGET-22 tried to brave it out on the outside but ran out of track, just touching the grass strip. He was just in front but had to back off to avoid a spin, and VENDALISM came back through. They were nose to tail through Casio Triangle, and both had massive fishtails as they come onto the final run to the line. NUGGET-22 unfortunately ran off to the outside of the track allowing VENDALISM a comfortable win.
Ad2mny made the final pass of the race as he passed a coasting emmo46 on the back straight relegating emmo46 to 9th.
Well done to VENDALISM, NUGGET-22 and OverDrivve for their podium finishes
What a marathon. Some real awesome battles that had to be seen to be believed.
Next race - Nurburgring.

Division 3: Drift Dawg's

After last weeks decent turn out, only 7 drivers fronted for the test that was the Suzuka enduro.​

The start of the fifth round of the championship saw both T_B_ and Sparkle get a good jump off the line with Sparkle's slightly quicker, forcing T_B_ to cover on the run down to turn one. Darkace was unfortunate to have an issue on the grid and had a slow getaway dropping him to the back of the pack while BJH also had issues (jump start maybe? penalty wasn't long) seeing him stay in 5th with Haze taking Darkace's place.

The entire field at the hairpin. Wouldn't see this sight again.
Sparkle didn't let the lead out of his reach and maintained the pressure on T_B_ until he cracked without finishing a single lap getting loose on cold tyres at spoon corner and running off on the inside and copping a penalty for the indiscretion.

The fist of many unfortunate wayward tips the entire field would endure. T_B_ kicked it off.
The penalty saw T_B_ drop back to 5th behind BJ and infront of Clevo, Sparkle taking charge at the front. BJ pushed hard on the opening lap and was rewarded for his efforts getting close enough on the start of lap 2 and had a good run to put the move on Haze into 1.
It wasn't over for the red car that was Haze, with T_B_ making time through the esses and hounded the rear bar like a cheetah on a gazelle, looking multiple times for a way past until he got a good exit out of spoon and makes the pass on the approach to 130R. It could have been nasty, but the quality of the Div 3 'Dawgs' was such that both made it through cleanly.

T_B_ lines up Haze on the run out of spoon.
Meanwhile, Darkace was recovering from his dismal start and caught the back end of Clevo's Honda after he had run wide through 6, and was through when Clevo again ran wide, this time at Degner.
Darkace through on Clevo.
Lap 3 and BJ hits the curbs too aggressively at the final chicane, and consequently gets a penalty letting T_B_ through. The time loss saw Haze catch and eventually pass BJ coming to the line.
BJ brushed himself off and pushed hard and stayed, and fought hard with Haze until the spoon claimed another victim with Haze spinning, gifting BJ his spot back. But Haze's misfortune continued as Darkace came by as he recovered. Clevo also was close enough to stick his nose past down the back straight. Haze was not happy and was pushing hard. Too hard in fact and had another off at T1 trying to remove himself from the wooden spoon position.

Haze's spin costs him dearly.
For this round most of the action was midfield, but up the front Darko had been keeping Sparkle honest. That was until Darko had his turn at coming off the bitumen when he dropped his left rear over the back of the curb at Degnee (would prove to be a popular tourist trail) and copped a penalty for his trouble. This dropped him 6 seconds behind sparkle and 4 in front of T_B_.
It was at this point that we lost one of the guys who had some real pace around here. After a forgettable start BJH was disconnected on lap 5.
Haze got his place back from Clevo on lap 5 also, getting a run on the division captain out of the hairpin and didn't look back. But Clevo hung on to the back of the red beast, staying within a second. It paid off, with the final position one again changing through the esses on lap 7.
Lap 8 and Darkace spun through turn 1 but luckily had a large enough gap back to Clevo to hold position. The end of lap 9 saw the first of the pits stops with Darkace coming in followed closely by Clevo while Haze pushed on. Lap 10 and it was the leaders turn to come in with Sparkle and Darko electing for the same 3 stop as the others.
This let T_B_ take the lead for the first time since lap 1, pushing on to try his luck at a 2 stopper. Darko played with chance and managed to leap frog Sparkle in the pits putting in less fuel. But where would this put him later in the race?
Lap 11 and Haze was still pushing on with worn tyres and Darkace was closing fast on his fresher rubber and when Haze got loose though the esses, the ace pounced and was through.
Darkace takes advantage.
Haze was not liking his tyres and was off again through Degner, loosing touch with Darkace and even losing the spot to Clevo on fresher tyres to put him last again. Out on his own, Sparkle had his first off at spoon corner but was in no threat to lose his position in 3rd as the rest of the field was at least half a lap behind him at this point. Not all was lost for Haze as a momentary loss of concentration saw Clevo drop two wheels on the grass on the run to 130R spearing him across the track on his way to a mouthful of armco. As he finished his meal and straightened up, Haze, at full pace, had nowhere to go and collected the right front of the battered car of Clevo, sending him to another buffet of armco. Clevo lost loads of ground with heavy damage but carried on none the less. At the end of lap 12 Haze decided the time was right, and pitted leaving his options open to 1 or 2 stop.
T_B_ stopped one lap later after times started dipping towards and over 2:20's. He rejoined in third with Darko taking the lead before T_B_'s car had even gotten new boots and Sparkle flew by as the large fuel load went in.
The entire field was now spread out and would remain so for a while, apart from Sparkle who started eating into Darko's 14 sec lead, but pitted on lap 20 after getting within 10 secs. This gave 2nd to T_B_ and Darko pushed on. Darkace also pitted at the end of lap 20 nearly avoiding being lapped by Darko as he followed him in at the end of what was his lap 21. This allowed another lead change as T_B_ took charge hoping strategy would go his way. Clevo pitted on a predictable lap 20 allowing the pit crew to give his car some much needed TLC.
This allowed another change for last with Haze taking up 5th and positions were up for grabs everywhere with differing stop strategies and the popularity of taking 'scenic drives' mid-race. One such 'drive' by Haze at the hairpin saw Clevo get by him, only for the numbers on the timing sheet to swap back after Clevo took a stroll round the run off area at 130R. But Haze had had enough of his rubber bands and wanted some new ones and pitted at the end of the lap.
Clevo -2, Darko, Haze (pit) -2, Darkace -1, Sparkle.
Lap 26 and Haze was closing in fast on 5th when Clevo handed him the position with a pretty little bow running wide through the esses. The same lap also saw T_B_ pit with a 7 sec lead, but was it enough? He didn't need to stop again but the others did. on the other hand how would tyres last???? He re-entered the race a long way behind the leader after putting in too much fuel. Up in second, Sparkle was running hard, pushing to gain on Darko in first, and on lap 30 fell victim to the dangerous spoon corner on cold tyres having pitted at the end of 29, allowing T_B_ by into 2nd.
T_B_ takes a free ticket into 2nd.
As all this was going on Darko pitted on lap 30 with a BIG lead and manages to stay out in front. Clevo and Darkace make their last stops on 30 as well. Sparkle had serious pace at Suzuka with a fastest lap a full second quicker than anyone else could muster and this pace is what brought him back onto T_B_'s tyre-worn chariot on lap 35 and down the main straight he was through and into 2nd.
Sparkle takes up 2nd
With Darko comfortably out in front the battle was on the dying laps with Sparkle and T_B_ both pushing and not giving an inch. At the last chicane on lap 37, Sparkle pushed just that little bit too hard and out braked himself and T_B_ was gifted 2nd for a second time. Then, only seconds later, was gifted the lead when Darko pitted for a splash and dash. Sparkle pushed hard over the last two laps but the damage was done.
T_B_ came away with the win with only a 3.6 sec lead over Sparkle and Darko rounded out the podium. Darkace finished a lonely race in 4th with Haze and a clearly un-practiced Clevo in 5th and 6th.
Sorry its a big read this week, but the action was aplenty at this famous bit of tarmac.
Great racing 'Dawgs'
Unlucky BJ.

Till next week.

WOOF!!!!!

Another Edition done. Sorry it's a bit late. The staff have had a big week and there's been a few ring-ins. As always, be sure to like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaceOnOz

ROOZ NEWS CREW:
Anon - Div 1 Ring-in (hurry back N64). Warrior - Photographer
Ad2mny - Div 2 Correspondent/Photographer
t-b_williams - Div 3 Correspondent/Photographer
Clevohead - Editor in Chief​

Anon - Sub-Editor and general nuisance.
Normality should return next week!​