Automation Sunday Cup - Race 4: Laguna Seca

Community Challenges & Competitions
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Throwback Club - Race 1 (Tsukuba)

The cars launch as hard as possible. Oliver launchs almost impecably, following Williams from the Drunken Dragons as the turbo inserted as much air as possible. Oliver secures second place before turn 1.

Flores: “That was a great start, Oliver! Don’t the let the guy behind you put pressure on you, you got the skill and the car! Don’t do anything too agressive at the very beginning!”

Oliver keeps Faulkner at bay throughout most of the race. The MM pushes hard as Ross keeps repealing its attacks again and again. However, in lap 196, the gearbox crunches and stops transmitting power to the rear wheels, forcing Oliver to stop aside. The radio beeped again.^

Chen: “What happened Oliver?”

Oliver: “The gearbox crunched…not putting down any power anymore.” Oliver’s voice trembled.

Chen: “Are you alright Oliver?”

Oliver: “Devastated. See you at the pits.”

The Sagitta was picked up by a tow truck after the race, and afterwards taken to the pits where Chen started working on it. As the mechanic worked on the car, Oliver stared at it.

Chen: “Look Oliver, I know it’s devastating but you have to see the plus side of it. You were consistently the second and you had chances of taking the lead.”

Oliver: “Four laps to the end Chen, that’s why I can’t take it easy.”

Chen: “Doesn’t matter if it’s four laps to the end or at the very beginning. Mechanical failures is not something you can control.”

Chen torqued a few parts under the car before crawling out of it. Cleaning his hands, he took a spreadsheet and gave it to Oliver.

Chen: “This is what I meant. You have been just as fast if not faster than the leader throughout the race. You have the car and the skill, Oliver, you just had bad luck today.”

Oliver nodded, giving Chen the spreadsheet.

Chen: “Next race is in Fuji. I want to see your morale higher than Daytona '89, hear me?”

To be continued.

(OOC: :sob:)

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TRAFIKJOURNALEN WEB

Well, I can sum up the whole race this way, “I bought the wrong car”.

Ending at seventh place, it was almost annoying to read the cars positioned higher than me. “Keika, MM, MM. Keika, MM, MM.”. Besides, it was quite a huge step up to any of them, but a swarm of cars finishing right behind me. But on the other hand, since mr. Chief Editor FORCED me to that dutch backyard dealer, did I have any choices? There was no Keikas, no MMs, and a Boarilla wouldn’t have cut it any better against the competition. Lucky for me was that Connor Jones in his Harrier was forced to end the race after some crash damage after being slammed into by Andrew Morgan, and that Oliver Ross broke his gearbox in the Sagitta, both of them really late into the race, I doubt I would even have made it to seventh place by then.

For me, however, it was a rather undramatic race. No crashes, and no breakdowns. And it has been great fun, and the car has been working well, so I don’t regret anything.

See you at Fuji!

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Team Mountain Pass

Race One: Tsubuka
Last weeks Blog

Ahhh Tsubuka, the playground of the Japanese street racing royalty from Best MOTORing…

I’ve spent many a night watching their drivers race around this iconic track so I knew I was going to be capable of going fast (and not getting lost, lol), but when I arrived at the circuit on raceday (yep, I drove my racecar to the track, lol) and I saw my competition… Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling so cocky then.

After going through the various pre-race paperwork, I was marshalled into my starting position, ready for the race start. As I looked around me I couldn’t help but notice that the field was composed mainly of MR sportscars, with some powerful FR and AWD cars keeping the grid from being too monotonous. There was a replica scooby doo van as well, but overall the field looked surprisingly pro about this “ameteur” event.

The red light turns to green and we’re off!!!

I avoided the worst of the first turn traffic and found myself battling in the midpack, where I would generally stay, until disaster struck on lap 189. The RHF wheel knuckle snapped off it’s tie-rod mount and I lost all steering input! I then sideswiped a Harrier driven by Connor Jones (Sorry about that Connor, :flushed:) and ended up in a sand trap, unable to race any further…

I had the ERA towed back to my garage and I then proceeded to walk my broke ass home. I had a lot of work to do to get the ERA road legal again and I was going to have to make sacrifices to achieve this seemingly impossible task.

Did I make it? Does the ERA once again own the streets? Well… You’ll have to wait until next week to find out!

Andrew Morgan

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I seem to have built the quickest arrow. Nice race everyone.

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I don’t really have time to write RP unfortunately, so I’ll just summarise.

Anna has mixed feelings about the outcome of this race. On one hand her mother seems to have sourced her the most awkward car possible to test her skills. On the other, she managed to tune it so that it was able to get in the mix. And with the help of veteran Tim, Elaine’s first race went without a hitch and right in the middle of the field, which is a great result. Elaine is certainly pleased.

I feel the need to point out that this also means that half of you were slower than a Sofa :wink:

That the Sofa nearly beat a road-tuned Armada EVO RC, however, is a source of much anguish for Anna :joy:

My personal thoughts: the EVO is very finnicky to tune owing to a not particularly large all-aluminium v8, but had a bit of potential to squeeze out. Its main strength is its drivability so if nothing else it should be pretty consistent. It has high drag because old body, so I don’t expect it to do much better at all on high speed courses.

The MM has done very well considering it has some quite awkward handling characteristics in FR format. I expected Tsukuba to be one of its weaker tracks but I’m not sure. That said I don’t think provided it doesn’t crash, the combination of Dragawn and a Keika can really be beat: based on what I know I didn’t give the Excelsior that much potential.

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Team ‘Southend Or Bust’

Race 1 - Tsubuka

“Bloody hell dude” said Seb, trying very hard to sound English but, as per usual, failing quite spectularly, “what was that?”.

He was sauntering over to the dusty and scuffed Xenus that had just pulled into their pit garage, with James getting out in full racing gear. He took his helmet off - “Sorry I missed that, what did you say?” he said, a sheen of sweat glistening on his face and hair.

“I said bloody hell, what was that?” Seb replied.

James looked back blankly, and glanced over to Martin, who had walked over to join them, for support. “Well, I got us into 9th” he said, lightly.

“Exactly! 9th bloody place!” exclaimed Seb.

James’ expression completely changed. “Oh I’m with you now!” he also exclaimed.

“Yeah that was a solid first race. And the car held up” said Martin with confidence, though as per usual, he was already fretting about the post-race check over where he was expecting to find out that some horrible damage had been done to one of the key components of their blobby French coupe.

“Anyhow, I’m in need of beer” said Martin, producing agreement from his fellow teammates

“Please don’t ask for Asahi like it’s the only beer Japan does, you’ll look like a right mong of a tourist” warned James.

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7th? I’m at 7th and you’re at 9th if I read the list right? :stuck_out_tongue:

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fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck thanks for pointing that out!

Think I got confused between 9th place and 7 points, got them mixed up.

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CSM's Tales: A Tough Aftermath At Tsukuba

After the race in Tsukuba, a very displeased Charlie arrives at the pits, stopping the car at CSM’s pits. He takes his helmet off, just as Manny approaches him…

Manny: …well, Nashie, we have our work cut out, don’t we?

Charlie: You think!? This is nowhere near Oliver’s pace, much less Turini’s…

Manny: Calm down. You got a point, which is more than what Oliver can say.

Charlie: It’s not a point I can be proud of, Manny. Did you see his damm pace? He was a consistent second! I was behind by a consistent amount of many seconds!

Manny: What do you think is wrong with the car? We cranked the power closer to 220hp, we made the car lighter. Surely this could’ve put you closer to a top 15 finish, or at least a top 20!

Charlie: The damm turbo has power, yes. But at low revs it might as well be a broken unit. There’s no power there, regardless of how much I gunned it.

Manny: Turbos in the '80s are such finnicky dames… Reminds me of my own dames back at high school.

Charlie: You should be happy. Your damm beloved Sofa got a top 15 while we’re languishing at the back of the pack…

Manny: Look, this is a rough start, Nashie. Not denying that. But next race is Fuji, the rising sun of mid and high-speed corners. If you’re wise about your right pedal, a top 15 can be in reach.
Also, forgot to give you something, here.

Manny hands over the photo Charlie gave to Oliver Ross for an autograph.

Charlie: Ah, at least Oliver was kind enough to sign the photo after I left. A true gentleman if there ever was one. (…) “To the gutsy and daring”… “SOFA DRIVERS OF CSM”!? MANNNNYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

Manny: Oh I want to be a loser right about now… Legs, don’t fail me!

To Be Continued!

OOC: Oh '80s turbo tech, using you is a pain, tweaking you might as well send me to the hospital… :worried:

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Team Alsacians losing to a Sofa and a Meme Van

tenor

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B12: I don’t get it. You said the car was better. She took almost 7 seconds off her lap time at Phillip Island.
B2 (slightly annoyed): I did, and, she did. It’s five percent quicker there than what you bought. An extra 29 kilowatts from that engine and the same fuel consumption under testing. Besides, I’m the mechanic, she’s the driver. Oh, nearly forgot, this isn’t Phillip Island, it’s Tsukuba. Complain at her.
B12: I will when she gets back.

Sarah drove into the garage, got out of the car, and removed her helmet. Andrew and Jane were standing by the nearest wall.
B1 (beaming): We finished in the points. That IS a good thing. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. I’m feeling so pumped right now. I just drove an Erin.
B12: We got 1 point. 1. Only 2 cars scored lower than us, because they didn’t finish.
B1: Then we don’t have far to fall. Win-Win. Without the actual win.
B2: You know what she’s like, Andy.
B1: Come on. Let’s clean up, congratulate the winning team, then go join the party. There’s always a party.
B12: We have to go over the telemetry, discuss the car, justify our position. This isn’t a free trip.
Sarah grabbed her sister’s hand and started pulling her towards the back door of their assigned garage.

B1: And get them to fix the scoreboard. My name IS NOT B1!
Andrew rubbed his temples.

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Woo! 26th! have the car pic as a reward!!

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Team Sunday Strikers, Post-Race 1

As the dust settled after an explosive season opener at Tsukuba, Walter summed up the day as follows:

“We finished 16th, right in the middle of the field - not the best, but not the worst either. But at least we made it across the line in one piece, and had a lot of fun along the way. The other Arrow made it all the way to eighth - most likely because its team had a better setup. And since the top six were either in a Keika or MM, I’m convinced that these two cars are the ones to beat.”

And so the Sunday Strikers left Tsukuba to regroup for the next race.

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After his quick build, James noticed two serious problems with the car at Tsukuba: the fuel consumption and the tyre width. A sizeable chunk of his competitors had much wider tyres, and he had some of the worst fuel consumption in the field. The Horven did seem quite fast in a straight line however, so some of the faster circuits should suit him.

Oh well. He’d enjoyed his first race, and was so glad to have made it to the end of the race. So he intended to just keep gaining experience for now, and possibly work on his overtaking, after how long he’d spent tailing that damn Albatross FWD freakshow.

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The Throwback Club - Interlude.

Next qualifying day, Fuji Speedway, Japan. A moustached man held a microphone, with no other than Oliver Ross next to him.

Interviewer: “Welcome everybody to another edition of Heel And Toe, James Sasaji here, offering coverage of the ASC once again. It’s qualifying day at Fuji Speedway, and I caught someone out of their car and willing to be interviewed. Thank you for your time, Oliver.”

Oliver: “Always down to answer some questions.” Oliver smiled.

Interviewer: “What are your predictions for this race? Are you confident about racing at Fuji?”

Oliver: “Well James, I can’t really answer that question, not because I don’t want to but because I can’t.”

Interviewer: “How so?”

Oliver: “You never know what’s going to happen next in these races. Any kind of obstacle could pop up and end your race, be it mechanical failures, a mistake that sends you right into the guardrail, many things. To answer your question, I am confident to an extent, I am also quite skeptical.”

Interviewer: “Is there something you want from the next race?”

Oliver: “Finish it at least, if I’m honest. I’d hope for some good racing out there, but I don’t need to, these fellas race the wheels off of their cars. I can assure you without fear of being wrong that there will be great racing.”

Interviewer: “Do you think you have possibilities?”

OIiver: “We do. It won’t be easy however, lots of professional and quite talented drivers out there. Any of these could give me the beating of my life at the track, so I can’t say for sure either. Best way to find out? Don’t miss the race and don’t blink.” Oliver winked at the camera, smiling.

Interviewer: “Thank you for your time Oliver. Good luck today and tomorrow.”

Oliver: “Thank you.”

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Welcome to race 2 of the ASC! Todays event takes place at Fuji Speedway. Containing a nearly 1 mile long straight, many any drivers will be looking for redemption or revenge on this much larger track.

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Photoshop by @XenoYparxi

Kept you waiting huh?

Ridge Racer 4 Soundtrack- Naked Glow - Electronic
Judas Preist - Turbo Lover - Heavy Metal
Beastie Boys - Sure Shot - Hip-Hop

Laps 1-25

3…2…1…START
And they’re off! Heading into the first turn, the pack is a 4-car wide tangle of cars all battling for an early lead. By the second lap, Williams’ Twist has escaped with a few dents and scratches with a determined Oliver Ross hot on his heels. Faulkner, Donahaugh, Whitestone, and Beijer all in MMs make their way to 3rd, 4th, 5th , and 6th place respectively over the next 5 laps. Braithewaite’s Sofa goes faster than a Sofa has any business going in the main straight, passing Alfred Hunter at nearly 140 mph for 8th place in lap 9. After a great start, Turini falls back from 6th to 11th by lap 10. Erik Carlen pushes hard to catch up to the MMs and makes it to Jimmy Beijer by lap 17. After a brief, tense battle side by side, Carlen loses control of the Miro at turn 6, dropping out of the race.

Whitestone loses the battle of the MMs shortly after and heads to the pits, falling to 10th place. Connor Jones started the race driving cautiously sitting in the middle of the pack, but increased pressure between him and Hurley pushed each other up to 8th and 9th respectively. Rusty Kuntz takes advantage of the battling ahead to slip past 3 positions up to 7th by lap 23. Turini’s struggles continue as Thompson and Shinomiya overtake the slower Caliban. Further down the mid pack, Miles Phillips’ Arrow is not faring as well in the long straights, sitting at 17th. Schwob, and Newman pressure Jonrosh into giving up 19th place after a lap of blocked attempts. Jonrosh and Newman collide with the Mystery Machine kissing the wall in the struggle, doing some damage. Both cars make it through, but Schwob passes them in the exchange. The back of the pack is rather uneventful except for Lewis Martin making a clean overtake on Nash for 27th. Morgan once fares poorly in his underpowered ERA on the long straights as the Tsumori pulls further and further away.

Laps 26-50

As the race goes on, the pack is still shifting with virtually no one safe in their position save for Ross and Williams. Near the front, Faulkner brakes late into the first turn and passes Donahaugh in a risky move for 3rd. Whitestone makes up for some lost time, skillfully weaving past Hurley and Jones in lap 35. Turini pressures Thompson into making a mistake, retaking 13th position. Shinomiya lost a few positions in the pits in lap 33. Afterwards, the Zeppelin makes contact with Cooper’s EVO in a pass attempt, but both leave relatively unscathed. Jonrosh pushes his damaged van to the limit, reclaiming 19th from Newman. Nurse and Wilford in the 2 Horvens are locked in an intense battle, passing each other 4 times in just 2 laps. At lap 48, Nurse finally manages to shake him off. Nash catches up to Martin breezing past him in the straight after an excellent exit on the last corner.

Laps 51-75

In the later laps, the front runners pull farther away from the pack, solidifying their positions. Hurley, Jones, Whitestone, and Kuntz find themselves in a 4-way battle for 7th. Over the next few laps, Kuntz falls to 10th, still right on Whitestone’s tail while Hurley finesses his way to 7th. Further back, Shinomiya finally solves Cooper in a clean pass in the last turn. Jonrosh’s Mystery Machine adds a new sound to the symphony of rattling parts as the van starts smoking. He makes it to the pits but is out of the race. Wilford passes Nurse in the pits, now having a comfortable lead over him. Braithewaite is finding the limits of the Sofa, slowly losing ground now in 14th.

Laps 76-100

At the final stint of the race, Whitestone claims 7th place after Hurley makes a mistake, falling back down to 10th. The Sofa makes a final push for 12th place in lap 94, leaving Phillips and Turini behind. In the same lap, Nurse overtakes Wilford, the 8th and final time they exchange positions in the race. A mistake by Martin leaves 27th for the taking by Malone. On lap 98, Ross catches up Morgan going nearly 40 mph faster when he just nearly misses the ERA. Nash coasts into the pits on the last lap unable to stretch out his fuel any further and creeps past the finish line without dropping a position.

Finish

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Results:

  1. Patrick Williams (#46 Twist) - 25 points
  2. Oliver Ross (#109 Sagitta) - 21 points
  3. Lawrence Faulkner (#129 MM) - 18 points
  4. Matthew Donahaugh (#128 MM) -15 points
  5. Jimmy Beijer (#175 MM) - 12 points
  6. Alfred Hunter (#48 Twist) - 10 points
  7. Tina Whitestone (#07 MM) - 9 points
  8. Connor Jones (#134 Harrier) - 8 points
  9. Rusty Kuntz (#25 Caliban) - 7 points
  10. James Hurley (#132 Xenus) - 6 points
  11. Luke ‘Impossible’ Prior (#149 Venture) - 5 points
  12. Elena Braithewaite (#21 Sofa) - 4 points
  13. Jean Turini (#165 Caliban) - 3 points
  14. Miles Phillips (#36 Arrow) - 2 points
  15. Walter Thompson (#37 Arrow) - 1 point
  16. Richard Cooper (#136 EVO) - 1 point
  17. Kai Shinomiya (#89 Zeppelin) - 1 point
  18. Loïc Schwob (#91 M10 Ansom) - 1 point
  19. Skyler Newman (#11 LLA Comet) - 1 point
  20. Jimmy Barnes (#167 Hermes) - 1 point
  21. B1 (#101 Erin Merna) - 1 point
  22. James Nurse (#16 Horven) - 1 point
  23. Scott Wilford (#17 Horven) - 1 point
  24. Marvin Callaway (#49 Twist) - 1 point
  25. Aki Agregaatti (#55 280 Sport) - 1 point
  26. Charlie “Guile” Nash (#176 Kyori) - 1 point
  27. James “Bugsy” Malone (#86 Mesaia) - 1 point
  28. Lewis Martin (#38 Arrow) - 1 point
  29. Alex Young (#72 Tsumori) - 1 point
  30. Andrew Morgan (#86 ERA) - 1 point
  31. Eric Jonrosh (#81 Mystery Machine) - 0 points
  32. Erik Carlén (#1 Miro) - 0 points

Standings:

  1. Patrick Williams (#46 Twist) - 50 points
  2. Lawrence Faulkner (#129 MM) - 39 points
  3. Matthew Donahaugh (#128 MM) - 33 points
  4. Alfred Hunter (#48 Twist) - 22 points
  5. Jimmy Beijer (#175 MM) - 22 points
  6. Oliver Ross (#109 Sagitta) - 21 points
  7. Tina Whitestone (#07 MM) - 19 points
  8. James Hurley (#132 Xenus) - 13 points
  9. Rusty Kuntz (#25 Caliban) - 12 points
  10. Miles Phillips (#36 Arrow) - 10 points
  11. Jean Turini (#165 Caliban) - 9 points
  12. Erik Carlén (#1 Miro) - 9 points
  13. Luke ‘Impossible’ Prior (#149 Venture) - 8 points
  14. Connor Jones (#134 Harrier) - 8 points
  15. Elena Braithewaite (#21 Sofa) - 5 point
  16. Kai Shinomiya (#89 Zeppelin) - 5 points
  17. Richard Cooper (#136 EVO) - 3 points
  18. Walter Thompson (#37 Arrow) - 2 point
  19. Loïc Schwob (#91 M10 Ansom) - 2 points
  20. Skyler Newman (#11 LLA Comet) - 2 points
  21. Jimmy Barnes (#167 Hermes) - 2 points
  22. B1 (#101 Erin Merna) - 2 points
  23. James Nurse (#16 Horven) - 2 points
  24. Marvin Callaway (#49 Twist) - 2 points
  25. Scott Wilford (#17 Horven) - 2 points
  26. Aki Agregaatti (#55 280 Sport) - 2 points
  27. James “Bugsy” Malone (#86 Mesaia) - 2 points
  28. Charlie “Guile” Nash (#176 Kyori) - 2 points
  29. Lewis Martin (#38 Arrow) - 2 points
  30. Alex Young (#72 Tsumori) - 2 points
  31. Eric Jonrosh (#81 Mystery Machine) - 1 point
  32. Andrew Morgan (#86 ERA) - 1 points

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tctqblhkbHqQtzJmkAmxe8ZVmwYOmrdo

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Team Sunday Strikers, Post-Race 2

At the end of a grueling race in Fuji, Walter got out of the Arrow, feeling worn out but satisfied. He did, however, come to the realization that, whatever Henry had done to his car, it was only a mid-pack performer at best - but at least it was not a backmarker. His remarks on the winning #46 Twist were as follows:

“How on Earth did the Drunken Dragons win two races in a row? At this rate, they might as well be invincible. It could be the result of the man behind the wheel, or some masterful tuning - probably both, but I’ll never know for sure why that lime green wedge is leaving everyone else in the dust, myself included.”

Henry added: “We were, quite frankly, outgunned by someone who knows more about how to design a winning race car than we do. But it’s not the end of the world. There are still three races left, and anything can happen in each of those.”

And so the Sunday Strikers regrouped again to catch their breath before the next race - and hopefully get a lucky break on race day.

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Team Mountain Pass

Race Two: Fuji Speedway
Last weeks Blog

After the debacle of my first outing at Tsubuka, I had to spend a week rooting around in junkyards and 2nd hand car parts stores looking for a RHF wheel knuckle. I eventually found one on Yahoo auctions and installed it myself the night before the big race…

When I did a shakedown lap of Fuji Speedway, on raceday, I knew I was sunk. My plucky l’il ERA was a fiend around corners and was capable of bursting down short straights at an alarming pace. But high speed sections? Nope, no hope in Hell! My car’s top speed was going to be a big disadvantage in this race and there was nothing I could do about it but smile and wave as the big guns thundered by!

Basically the entire race, for me, was cars overtaking me in the straight. I tried to hang on in the corners but, once the main straight was reached they left me in the dust! The only excitement for me happened on the 98th lap when the second placed Sagitta of Oliver Ross almost wiped me out at the end of the main straight. I don’t know how, but he missed me, which only confirms my theory that the last ten laps of a race is when I’m most likely to come to grief…

I ended up in 30th place and earnt a championship point. That’s right, I was dead last! At least I could drive my car home this time; the repairs held up well and I had no problems with the handling during the race.

So, how well did I do at the ATT? You’ll have to tune in next week to find out just how well or badly I fare!!!

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SARA Gentlemen club - paddock

A frustrated Turini gets out of the Caliban…

“Right in the middle of the pack - again !”

“This is actually a decent showing”, said Watteau, “and we got some nice coverage thanks to your great start and the powerslides in some slower turns”

“There was way too much downforce for this track. We’ll get murdered on the 'Ring, mark my words. I should have read the rules more carefully, I thought we might adjust those wings in between races.
We got beat by a SOFA, for Christ’s sake !”

“Yeag, but we still did better than FAAL, so let’s have some Beaujolais to rehydrate yourself”

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Doing even better than in Tsukuba? Fantastic!

Actually beating the EVO? Anna is satisfied with her tuning but also secretly devastated inside :joy: (also haha to even more of you slower than a sofa :stuck_out_tongue: )

Also the continued strong MM showing will quite possibly be a reputation boost for the brand, I didn’t expect them to be all up the pointy end!

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