After a nearly 2 month break, and much testing and head scratching, we finally have a new season of League racing. GT6 is the new platform this season, and still has a few teething issues even as our first round begins. There is a pit glitch that causes cars to run poorly after a pitstop, so for now pitstops have been eliminated. Lots of new tracks to master too, with Bathurst being the most notable and popular inclusion. Also, with so many new drivers, and many returning drivers, this season is the biggest turnout for racing in ROOZ's history!! Over 60 drivers competing in 6 divisions. Round 1 is coming to you from Nurburgring GP/F. We will start with the highest divisions, Division 1 and Division 2. Our Division 1 report is coming to you from Warrior. 8 of the 13 entered drivers took part in the first qualifier of the year and the line up was as follows Warrior, Anon, Mustafur, Cyber, Zampli, Vh_mik, Thestig and Vendalism. As the lights went green signalling the start of a new season everyone got off the line well bar Mustafur who had received a time penalty for a jump start dropping him to the back. As the the top 3 (warrior, anon and zampli) pull away from the field, there's an unfortunate spin on lap 3 from Zampli, throwing away a very possible shot for the win. By lap 10 Mustafur has managed to recover from his start and is now very quickly catching up to 3rd place man Thestig, but on the next lap he loses the rear and spins into the path of Cyber resulting in heavy damage. Lap 20 and debutante Vh_mik is all over Vendalism for 5th place and gets by when Vendalism misses his braking point into the chicane. Meanwhile upfront Anon is having an excellent drive by getting fastest lap and for the most part matching pace lap for lap with warrior. Warrior starting GT6 in the same way as he left GT5 by being first to the chequered flag. A close 2nd by 7 seconds to Anon and 3rd place with a solid consistent drive going to Thestig. Next week we're off to the newly redeveloped Apricot Hill for two sprint races and will act as the 1st race of the season again for some of the drivers looking to put this round behind them as there were many more mistakes than usual. Cheers Warrior, we here at ROOZ news hope to hear more from you as the season progresses. Next up is the Division 2 report, coming from Jono (N64TheStig007). The highly anticipated first round of the inaugural GT6 League Season had finally arrived on the 9th of February. The Subaru BRZ GT300's would have to conquer the Grand Prix layout of the Nürburgring over 23 gruelling laps and 116KM. The Division 2 race will be remembered for it's lopsided grid, truly phenomenal middle order scraps and one driver's domination of the field... Qualifying was extremely close, with N64 prevailing over natman by .08 of a second, to gain his first pole position since Round 5 of Season 11, ironically enough on the 24H layout of the Nürburgring. Upon the race start, N64 and Joe were perplexed to find themselves sitting in 10th and 11th place, falling victim to yet another glitch in this seemingly broken game. Natman got away well to lead from Stu and scotty. N64 had once again rocketed from a poor grid position to be 4th by turn 4, however Cob complained of a lag punt. Sadly for Sik, his troubles were present as soon as he found the back of t_b. In a rather harsh movement, Sik found himself going nowhere at the exit of turn 4, falling victim of a lag punt. At the Dunlop curve, F1R3W1ND and FRZ got in a bit of a tangle, elevating Sik up to 9th. Elsewhere, N64 was all over the back of scotty. A good exit out of the Veedol chicane allowed him to move up the inside at the Coca Cola curve for 3rd. F1R3W1ND had spun at turn 4 and he was out! N64 had begun to make inroads on Stu, and needed to pass him quickly, before natman could get away. Lucky for him, whilst under pressure from scotty and Cob, natman ran wide at the Bit curve and Stu went to the right, and N64 went to the left to avoid the slower car, in a Schumacher/Zonta/Häkkinen esque manouvere. Scotty had also passed natman in this fashion. With natman out of the way, N64 now needed to get past Stu for the lead, but could afford to bide his time with scotty now a second back dealing with natman and Cob. N64 almost got past at Veedol, but backed out. Stu fell victim to a stupid lag punt 2 corners later, but N64 readdressed, without losing any positions. Scotty was now right with the pair, but N64 made amends by outbreaking Stu into Veedol. In 4 laps, N64 went from 2nd last to first, quite incredible! Stu had no answer for N64's pace, and while N64 was roaring into the distance setting the fastest lap (2:03.152), stu was under heavy pressure from natman. Natman clumsily stuck it up the inside at Dunlop and both cars had spun out. N64 now had a gap of over 8 seconds, and still increasing. By this stage, 2nd to 6th places began to move ever closer towards each other, and began to battle each other. All drivers from natman, stu, Cob, t_b and scotty would never get in. The lead of that pack would change many times until the penultimate lap. The fighting nature of the pack meant that N64 was able to pull away at over a second per lap, ensuring victory. The battle pack was now all together in the final 6 laps, with all drivers desperate to get ahead, there were instances where there were 2, 3 and even 4 cars wide in a corner, without an accident! Behind them, Joe was starting to catch the pack, while FRZ, Sik and sparklehead were really struggling. At the start of the final lap, the battle pack had now split up. t_b had stealthily moved through the pack to move into second, with natman close behind. 21 seconds up the road, N64 began to struggle with a glitchy G27 shifter, and converted to the flappy paddles for the remainder of the lap. N64 dominated from 10th place on the grid for his first win since Round 3 of Season 11. 21 seconds behind, t_b finished ahead of natman, with Cob 3 seconds back. Stu and scotty had ought to be disappointed with 5th and 6th, having driven so strongly. Joe came home 7th, 34 seconds behind. FRZ limped home a minute back in 8th, while Sik and sparklehead finished a long way further back, all in all a disaster for them. The sprint round should be even more competitive, especially for the lead, as the topsy turvy nature of Apricot Hill is sure to add mayhem to an already exciting season. Cheers, Jono Thanks Jono, great read as always. Keep an eye out for the other Division reports. Division 1 Reporter/Photographer - Warrior Division 2 Reporter/Photographer - Jono (N64TheStig007) Editor - Jamie (Ad2mny)
