Welcome to another round of League racing. This week it's back to Japan for 2 sprint races at Twin Ring Motegi East Short Course. A softer tyre compound this week to try to improve the grip around this very technical layout, with a lot of tight long radius turns, heavy braking for nearly every turn, a very difficult slalom type section and as always heavy time penalties for anyone who ran off track into the gravel traps. So we will hear what our reporters have to say. Many of these reports have been combined efforts this week. Division 1 report is first up, with words by Jono (N64TheStig007) and pictures by warrior2167: The McLaren circus rolled on to Japan, where thankfully, the forecast was blue skies and fluffy clouds all weekend. The Motegi track in use for the feature race was the East short course, turning the 1st sector into a massively difficult section with sweepers. The championship had been brought back into competitiveness following a thrilling Monza race, how would the battle shift here? Despite suffering jet lag, MINT pulled it out of the bag for his 2nd pole position of the season. Mustafur was right with him, as was Anon and Warrior, who was off the front row for the second race in succession. Lights out, and away we go! Everyone moved off the grid well, with the exception of Rotor, who left the line way too early. There was carnage at the first corner, and to everyone's surprise, MINT was forced onto the gravel by Mustafur, and was well down in last position. At turn 3, thestig-13 went wide all on his own, and threw away a big opportunity. The biggest shock was to come at the turn 6 hairpin, as N64 tried to dive up the inside of warrior, but backed out. Unfortunately, Fastboy was there to pounce. The resultant contact sent N64 into warrior, who was unfairly punted well off the track. So, Mustafur led after lap 1, ahead of Anon and Optimus, who had a great opening lap, ahead of N64 and Zampli, who both made up many spots at the start. There was little change until lap 4, where Zampli got a great run on N64 out of turn 5, and went clean around the outside at the hairpin! A truly stunning move of the highest order. Fastboy and Cyber were going at it too, diving up the inside at the penultimate corner. Amid fears Mustafur would simply run away with it, Anon turned up another gear and was keeping up with the silver car, Optimus was hanging on as well. MINT was having a dreadful time, and clouted the wall on the 5th lap. N64 back ahead of Zampli in 4th, with a who dares wins move into turn 1. Fastboy was being typically fiesty, wonderfully controlling a slide that lost him a place to Cyber to 7th. He got his F1 up the inside of the penultimate bend again, but this forced Cyber off. As he rejoined, Fastboy was brake checked, and got a penalty, losing 7th to warrior and rotor. He got it back though, as rotor was lag punted from behind a-la Sasha Grey, and took warrior with him. Rotor was out on the spot, while warrior had all the work to do again. Cyber was now running well in 6th, until he managed to spin at the long right hand sweeper, falling down to 9th and warrior hot on his heels. Mustafur and Anon were still in formation, but on lap 14, Mustafur came unstuck at the left right sweepers at the back, then lost the rear end at the penultimate bend. This was all Anon needed, and just like that, he was in the lead, where he remained. The top 3 would remain as is, with Optimus all lonely in 3rd. It was the perfect way for Anon to respond after a frustrating Monza. But it wasn't over yet. In 4th, N64 resisted Zampli's race long challenge wonderfully. And in the end, Zampli would be the one to blink on the penultimate lap. Running wide on the final corner, N64 was now guaranteed a brilliant 4th. Fastboy came from nowhere, and forced his way brutishly past Zampli in a double whammy. thestig-13 came home 7th. Warrior had little to smile about in 8th, ahead of Cyber and a furious MINT. But with reverse grid on offer for the second race, warrior and MINT were primed to gain redemption.... Race 2 Optimus failed to get away at the start of the second race, and disconnected. The first lap was incident free. There was action though, N64 managed to use Zampli's trick against him, and moved up into 6th. Mustafur also got past Zamps. The former was a little too keen on trying to keep up with warrior and MINT. Eager to pass N64, he tipped him into a slide at the sweepers, which was held, but it allowed Zampli to regain the positions he had lost. MINT had over a second lead after lap 1, and warrior wanted to put a stop to it by passing Cyber at the hairpin for 2nd. thestig-13 was running well in 5th, but oversteered at the sweepers, and lost out to Zampli and N64. Mustafur clearly had been watching an episode of COPS before the race, as he executed a perfect PIT manoeuvre on thestig-13 at the next corner, ruining both their races. Mustafur eventually got past on lap 4 after his victim ran wide at the fast chicane. By this stage, Cyber in 3rd was leading fastboy, Zampli, N64 and Anon in a train. Fastboy was putting Cyber under intense pressure, but slid wide at the left hand sweeper, and lost 4th to Zampli. On lap 6, N64 tried the outside move again, this time on fastboy. However, both broke too late, and invited Anon to the party. N64 and Anon were side by side through the long right hander, but N64 copped a nasty whack to the side and was off into the gravel, clearly lag induced. Mustafur was having a very poor race, going off all by himself at the chicane. Fastboy was desperate to get back past Zamps who was being held up by Cyber. Sadly, he lost it at the sweepers, falling from 5th to 8th behind thestig-13 on lap 7. Fresh from his race 1 victory, Anon continued to demonstrate his skills, moving past Zampli on lap 8, now with Cyber in his sights. Fastboy's wheel had fallen off it's resting place, making it extremely difficult to drive, and sadly, was confined to last place. N64 was recovering from his off well, but undid all his work by half spinning in the entry to turn 2 on lap 9. There was nothing to separate the 3 cars ahead until lap 14, where carnage erupted. Anon moved up the inside of Cyber to take 3rd, but Cyber ran wide. Desperate to make it back on track, he spun in front of Anon, who had nowhere to go. Poor old Zampli got caught up in the incident, and did a 180 to avoid them all. Meanwhile, N64, who had been gaining on the pack by over a second a lap, found himself in 3rd place! MINT had none of the troubles that compounded him at Laguna Seca, and held on for his first GTLOZ win, with warrior just behind. With Cyber's mishaps, he was now holding thestig-13 up. Mustafur took full advantage, and surprised him up the inside of turn 6, a move which would prove critical for the championship. On the final lap, N64 put a wheel on the gravel at turn 1, and now had Zampli right behind him. N64 defended into turn 2, but misjudged the rapid rate of closure from his rival, and was lucky to avoid contact. That was all she wrote. N64 scored an unlikely podium in front of Zampli, Anon, Cyber, Mustafur, thestig-13 and fastboy. After all the calamities, Anon's excellent race 1 victory was enough to score the round victory, his first in quite some time. Mustafur's last gasp pass gave him 2nd overall, just half a point ahead of N64, his best Div 1 result since Monaco in Season 12. MINT and Warrior both suffered badly. Warrior's 7th wasn't enough for him to hold on to the championship lead, which now belongs to Mustafur by just 1 point. Incredible. MINT, as a result of finishing 6th overall, dropped to 4th in the standings, with Anon's win lifting him to 3rd. So another round over and done with, and we leave behind an event that will be talked about for many seasons to come. The event that claimed even the best drivers, and allowed some to punch above their weight. It's a two week break until Daytona, something to do with an old, rich lady having a birthday or something. The title contenders have extra time to practice, so expect more action to come as the sun sets in the USA! Cheers, Jono. The drivers gave me their thoughts on an action packed event: RACE QUOTES: MINT_GTR (10th/1st): Was really happy to secure pole and felt confident with my race pace to turn that into a win. Mustafur got a blinder off the start line to be side by side into turn 1, was happy to slot behind when I realised i squeezed myself out wide and beached it into last place. From there, errors continued throughout to finally cross in last place. With little momentum taken from race 1, race 2 from pole, thanks to the format, was going to be a tough race. I thankfully made amends from race 1 and fell into a good rhythm from the start. With warrior always in arms length the whole race I stayed focused to not bin it like I did back in round 2 this season. An error from warrior on the second last lap gave me breathing space to cross over for my first win in the GT6 league Congrats to anon for his first win of the season and Optimus for his first podium finish here at ROOZ I was on struggle street coming into tonight's round after a 24hr road trip and flight back in time for this evenings event so just happy I didn't fall asleep or rage quit after t1 of race 1 haha. N64TheStig007 (4th/3rd): Well, for the second season in a row, Motegi has proven to be a great circuit for me, despite my hatred for it. As it transpired, qualifying was a rather disappointing affair, I didn't think I could do much from 8th. But I benefited from MINT and Mustafur's collision, and unfortunately warrior's lag punt. I'm really sorry mate. Afterwards, I realised I didn't have the pace to keep up with the top 3, so Zamps was putting the pressure on, and I cracked on lap 4, as he made an unbelievable pass at turn 6. But luckily, I was still able to keep up with him, and I retained the position for the rest of the race by out braking him into turn 1 a bit later on. The 2nd race was a bit more hectic. Anon was right on my tail in 7th, we were keen to get on the podium. Unfortunately, I cornered myself by moving to the left to overtake Fastboy, like Zampli did on me. I wasn't as rutheless as Fastboy, and we both broke too late. This invited Anon up the inside, and we were two by two. I don't know if Anon didn't see me there, or I turned in, but I copped a big whack to the side and I was in the gravel. Considering how unstable the room was, I'm certain it was lag induced. I began to reel in the battle pack, but it was too late. That was the case, until they decided to take themselves out! Just like that, I was on the podium! However, on the final lap, I ran slightly wide at turn 1, and inadvertently blocked Zamps from passing. Sorry mate, there was no malice in that lol. So I'm really pleased with how all that turned out, I'm starting to get my confidence back after such a terrible start. I don't know how I ended up, overall, but in suspect it was at least 4th. Well done to Optimus for a great first podium, and MINT for his first GTLOZ race win, it was only a matter of time before you'd crack it! mustafur (2nd/7th): Felt a bit weird after that round, I was pretty frustrated as my pace just completely died as soon as i finished qualifying, and the first race should of been a win (after the senna prost style crash on t1) but I completely lost all my pace and was running consistent 12s rather than 11s which I could easily do in Qual. 2nd race was ruined when I accidently did a pit manoeuvre on Stig13 which spun him into the wall, I waited for him to pass and from that point was at the back of the field for the rest of the race. Didn't like this track in race conditions as it feels too narrow to have a proper battle, best suited to the bikes I think, its rewarding when you're by your self though. Can't wait till Daytona, I'm usually very good there and its a track where you can actually battle with your opponents unlike Motegi. warrior2167 (8th/2nd): I just couldn't put a lap together in qualifying, so starting for 4th I had a decent start but I was pinned on the inside for turn 1 and 2 and had to move behind optimus, at this stage I still hadn't realised that Mint had fallen back. Everything thing was still going well going into 6 until I ended up on the wrong end of a racing incident, my car was like the last ball of a newton cradle. I lost about 10 seconds to now sit in 10th just in front of Mint. I still thought I could fight back and by half race I had caught up to the mid field battle only to find my way into another incident were rotor nailed me into turn 1 as a result of a blank screen. Starting in 3rd for race 2 I fell in to line behind Mint and Cyber, I was being very careful when trying to get by Cyber and got by after a couple laps. Now my attention went straight to try and close Mint back down, we both had equal pace and I was only closing by small tenths every lap. With 2 laps to go the gap was just over a second and I knew there was a big gap to 3rd so I threw caution to the wind, but that didn't work as I lost it and had to settle for 2nd. OptimusAteMyBaby (3rd/DSC): Cheers anon, mint, n64. I'm heaps happy to make it 3rd in race one... T1 was scary with all the chaos so was lucky to make it through clean... Watching the anon mustafur battle in front the whole race was great, awesome pass near the end anon. I was in the pit waiting for race2 to start. When the countdown started I had no numbers counting down... Then (first time for this) was on track but still in the pit view so I could steer but my throttle only worked to open the chat or exit the room... Sorry to anon i think who had to start with a car in front that couldn't start... I had to quit room before the pack made it back for lap2... Thanks GT6 for the flawless servers... Would this mean that I lose my point for 10th place? Not too fussed, just heaps happy to grab a podium racing with div1 Nice work Jono and warrior2167. After combined points for race 1 and 2, Anon666 takes the overall victory, with mustafur and N64TheStig007 taking the final podium positions. Congratulations to all. Now we will move on to Division 2. Unfortunately we do not have a report for Race 1 but here are some photos courtesy of Greasy07: Race 1 Results: 1. razor4797 - fl. 1:12.306 2. faine555 - fl. 1:12.713 3. stuart170773 - fl. 1:12.867 4. natmanscoop - fl. 1:12.679 5. Crunch630 - fl. 1:12.969 6. GREASY07 - fl. 1:12.809 7. t_b_williams - fl. 1:12.872 8. F1R3W1ND - fl. 1:13.140 9. Jim_aka_TheMan - fl. 1:13.323 10. TTR_joe90 - fl. 1:13.056 11. COME_AND_GET_ME7 - fl. 1:13.326 Race 2 Onto race 2 with the reverse grid, ComeAndGetMe should have been on pole, but with T_B_ having been forced to leave and rejoin the room after a game freeze, he was at the front of the pack with a gentlemen's agreement to drop back to 5th where he should have started. Grid:- T_B_ (5th) ComeAndGetMe7, TTR_Joe, Jim_aka_TheMan, FIR3WIND, Greasy, Crunch, Natmanscoop, Stuart, Faine, Razor As the pack races down to turn 1 T_B_ lifts and starts to drop back down the order, but as they get to turn 1, not four, but six cars get by and T_B_ drops himself two spots lower than planned. Greasy had made a great start, jumping from 6th to 3rd. Lap 1 was a mixed bag with many making errors or being caught out by them with first Stuart, and then Greasy falling to the back while T_B_ had climbed to 4th. On lap 2, while battling with Crunch, Firewind has a spin at the first chicane spelling the end of the night for the number 55. The end of the lap also saw CAGM spin out of the final corner while in the lead, also ending his night there. Natman pushing hard out in front. 5 Laps down and Natman is 1st ahead of Joe 1 second behind, Faine +2.6, T_B_ +1.5, Razor +1.2, Stu +.7, Crunch +1, Greasy +1.2, Jim +.8 Mid pack battle raged all race long Five to Go and Joe had managed to get by Natman with a gutsy pass around the outside of turn 6. TTR_Joe Natmanscoop +.6 Faine +1.4 Razor +2.3 T_B_ +4.2 Crunch +0.4 Stuart +0.7 Greasy +0.8 Jim_aka_TheMan +16.8 Natman retook the lead on lap 14 after Joe ran wide at turn 1, leaving the door wide open for the number 42. The final laps were intense in the mid pack as T_B_ was forced to make his #82 F1 GTR as wide as possible as both Crunch and Stuart had the faster cars, but at the end of 17 hard fought laps it was Natman who crossed the line in first by just 0.4 secs ahead of Joe. 3rd went to Faine, followed by Razor, T_B_, Crunch, Stuart, Greasy and Jim. Next up is a bye week as the drivers take some much needed R+R, before heading all the way to Daytona for some night racing action. Till then race fans. That is all. RACE QUOTES: stuart170773 (3rd/7th): That was bloody tough but fun at the same time !! Race 1, I stuffed the first few laps after starting second on the grid, fell back to 5th before ??? Fell off the road in front of me and i managed to hold off Nat for 3rd, although Nat did try to give me some free paint lol. Race 2, started well back obviously and finished 7th after some great battles with TB and crunch. Tbs car must have been eating a few too many mars bars because his arse was mighty wide, and a late brake cost me a spot to crunch with about 8 laps to go. Some good racing lads, nothing out of line that I could see, well done to the podium getters. TTR_joe90 (10th/1st): Race1 Firstly - sorry Cob, thought i was leaving room enough for both of us through the 'S' but I bounced you into the sand. Ruined both our races - and obviously the last straw of your love for this car. Took Jim out with a really strange pause/spike into T2 - was not my race. Race2 Massive! - not even sure who was driving. Great race Nat ..not sure how I was keeping pace with you but the car just felt right.Like you, I started freaking out when Faine loomed up from the depths of the grid but I guess my unruly lines through some of those corners may have put him crook. Razor4797 (1st/4th): It began perfectly. I grabbed pole and was set for a hectic first race. My start was, well, perfect. And from there I continued to increase the gap to 11 sec, which was the margin between myself and Faine in 2nd place. I made only the tiniest of mistakes in the whole 17 laps. Possibly one of my best races ever. Race 2 - starting at the back of the grid, I knew I had to make up a lot of time. I did a horrible job in trying to replicate my great start in the first race, and ended up false starting. I made up 3 places on the first lap, and another 2 on the second. By lap 4 I had already made my way up to 4th, but a mistake on lap 5 at the chicane section in the first sector cost me a position and a few seconds. I caught up to TB in 4th and passed him on lap 8. I now had a 5 second gap to make up to Faine in 3rd. I kept chewing away at the margin and was within a couple of car lengths on the final lap. I tried to go around the outside of Faine at the second last corner, but slightly touched the grass at the exit and that was done... 4th place for me. Well done to Faine for your two podiums, and congrats to natman for the race 2 win, and the rest of the podium placers. Overall I managed to secure the round win and pick up an extra point for pole. I honestly did not expect a single race win this season, and I'm ecstatic to have actually done it. natmanscoop (4th/1st): I was actually pretty surprised I kept the 2/3/4 pack within sight in race 1, only did a few laps in arcade mode Saturday arvo, thought I'd be destroyed! I just kept plugging-away at 1:12.9 to 13.4 per lap in clear air, and somehow caught up. Brilliant! I thought I'd Bradbury'd 2nd when (Crunch or Greasy?) spun in front of me under the bridge, but spun back onto the race line. BAM! 3sec penalty, D'oh! Well done Razor/Fine/Stu for taking out the podium, nice one. Race 2, well pretty much what Joe said - where'd he get that pace from?! I found a few tenths, but not consistently. Very tough, relentless battle to hold the nerve, and keep the lap times coming, especially with Faine closing 2nd half of the race. Thanks guys, that was a good one! Nice work Greasy07 for race 1 photos. Great read too for the Race 2 report from t_b_williams. Overall round results - razor4797 takes the victory, with Faine and natmanscoop taking the final podium positions. Congratulations to you all. Stay tuned for Part 2 Division 1 Reporter: Jono (N64TheStig007) Photographer: warrior2197 Division 2 Reporter/Photographer: Tim (t_b_williams) Photographer (race1): Greasy07 Tables: DRZ-Hatfield Editor: Jamie (Ad2mny)
