Regarding ramp modeling, the comment “It’s mostly for me to see how it would work and where it would be” suggested less scrutiny of detail than the review notes about angles and missing supports and such.
The reviews suggest the Torshalla is cheaper to buy and a lot cheaper to fix than the Nordwagen, yet Letara could afford 380 of the former and 440 of the latter?
I would argue “how it would work” covers exactly the things I mentioned in the review. That said, the ramps did not play a major role in scoring compared to other factors. Remember also, LHC is very heavy on flavour writing too…
Re your second point, spot on. I was too tired and mis-spoke (mis-typed?). Fixed now.
1989
After a successful restructuring and renovation of the Lerance Raceway, engines roared and action was back at the venue in 1989! The new grand-touring racing series retained the 100-lap races, which should test both driver and machine. Races were moved to the long track, so races were expected to be even longer than in the previous era of racing. Also retained was the highly successful points system first trialled in the previous era, where the top 10 finishers in each race receive points, and an overall winner is announced at the end of the series. Even though the cars were power-limited, with the aid of modern technologies at the engineers’ disposal, they were even faster than before. Not to mention a lot more comfortable, affordable, and better on fuel - making the new series a good showcase for what ‘reasonable’ cars could achieve.
On a bright sunny summer day the first race was off to a solid start, with only the Mons bogging down a little bit on the start. By lap five, however, the Mons made a monster rush to the front, overtaking all of its opponents. Closely followed the Tarske and Levante, and a short distance back the Mocabey and DCMW. The Zephorus, leader on lap three, had fallen back to lead the mid-pack by this time, but started to slowly fight its way back toward the front, and was running third again by lap 10, behind the Levante and just ahead of the Mocabey and DCMW. Just the lap before, the Daniloski driver made a mistake and fell back to the mid-pack, fighting with the Swanson and Torshalla. There was a lot of jostling for position, even some pushing and shoving, leaving some cars with minor damage that would hamper them for the rest of the race. One victim of all this fighting was the Benetsch, that carried damage throughout the race and despite fighting up to fifth-sixth place between laps 13-25, eventually had to concede and fall backward in the mid pack. Other cars to fall off the main pack early on were the Wolfe, KHI, and Daniloski, and later on joined by the much ailing Rhania and Wolfram that started to fall behind around mid-race. Up to about mid-race, the top five fighting for top honours were the DCMW, Mons, Mocabey, Zephorus, and Levante. After the initial strong lead by Mons between laps 5-17, the lead was taken over by Mocabey for two laps, then the Mons fought back for a few laps. The DCMW the became dominant up to lap 65, only relinquishing the lead once to Zephorus. Meanwhile, the fight for second place was a hard-fought one. Around lap 46, however, the Levante started to show signs of reliability issues and fell back form the pack, joined by the Mocabey around lap 56; eventually both teams fell back to the midfield and battled for a while with the Tarske. As the Levante fell even further back, it was eventually overtaken by the Benetsch and Torshalla duo as well, but the Mocabey managed to hold position at the front of the mid-pack. So with that the top three managed to separate themselves from the rest of the field by lap 55, with the DCMW leading, followed by a fighting pair of Mons and Zephorus. On lap 66 both the DCMW and Mons cars took on some fuel and the DCMW got some additional repairs done too, allowing the Zephorus to take the lead and slowly pull away. On lap 76 the Mons caught the DCMW, and after overtaking the DCMW went on the hunt for the Zephorus, pulling the DCMW after it. From lap 80 to 87 there was a seven lap fight between the top three, with the lead changing every few laps. On lap 88 the Zephorus driver made a mistake that dropped it behind the leading two, and after a short lead by the Mons, the DCMW lead again from lap 90-94. An unforced error dropped the DCMW out of the lead again on lap 95, and from there the Mons drove home errorless to victory. For the last few laps the **Zephorus and DCMW fought for second, eventually giving the Zephorus the second spot on the podium.
1990
The start of the race in 1990 was fairly clean again. This year the Mocabey jumped right out front of the field and led the race for nearly 20 laps, initially followed by the Benetsch, backing up the following pack that could not find a way through. After a few laps the DCMW and Torshalla finally made it past the slower Benetsch, but the damage was done as they were quite a long way behind the Mocabey already. The Mons and Zephorus, still stuck behind the Benetsch could not make any headway toward the front, but managed still to put some distance between them and the rest of the pack, helped by the quickly slowing Wolfe that seemed to spook the rest of the field as it plummeted to the back. On lap 12 the Torshalla driver made an error and fell behind the Benetsch and Mons, but managed to just stay ahead of the Zephorus. This unleashed the Benetsch and the driver finally found the gas pedal - and was quickly followed through by the Mons so the two of them brought the fight to the DCMW, itself still in the hunt of the Mocabey. On lap 14 the DCMW started to puff some smoke, and over the course of two laps fell behind the Benetsch - now running second - the Mons, Zephorus and Torshalla. Right behind there was an intense fight in the midfield for the 7th position between the Swanson, Rhania, Daniloski, Levante, and KHI, as the Wolfram, Tarske and Wolfe cars had already fallen quite a bit behind. The midfield battle would slowly spread out, but with multiple reliability issues the fight would still rage on from time to time during the remainder of the race. Up front, the Benetsch was slowly reeling in the Mocabey, and caught it by lap 19 and overtook it by lap 20. A little behind the Mons, Zephorus, Torshalla and DCMW were in a four-way fight for third, with several changes in position. The lead would also swap hands several times between the Benetsch and Mocabey without a clear leader separating from the pack. On lap 27 the Zephorus started to pull away from the fight for third, and make its way slowly and methodically toward the two leaders. Behind, the DCMW and Torshalla were in a battle until lap 39, with Mons trailing behind after a slow fuel stop and some mechanical gremlins. On lap 36 the race lead was taken by Zephorus, but it would not be short lived, as just two laps later the Zephorus started to exhibit some wear and tear and fell back to fight for third. The Mocabey, already behind, joined in the fight too, leaving the Benetsch in the lead until 63. The DCMW was following in second place most of this time, but also had some battles with the Mocabey and Zephorus. First the Torshalla fell behind the leading pack, then the Mons around lap 51. Seeing an opportunity, the DCMW driver pushed hard, and took the lead briefly on lap 63, but they pushed the car too hard and the smoke emanating from under the hood started to intensify, and the car slow down, relinquishing the lead back to the Benetsch. Seeing this, the Mocabey driver also pushed hard, and overtook the Benetsch on lap 68, taking back the lead they held for so long early in the race. The Zephorus, not to be outdone, also fought forward, and managed to also overtake the Benetsch for a few laps. Then, disater struck for the DCMW car on lap 75: the overworked conrods finally gave out and the car became the first DNF of the racing series. On lap 78 the Benetsch retook the lead from the Mocabey, which heralded the slow backwards movement of the latter. First there was a valiant battle with Zephorus up to lap 87, which allowed Mons to catch up too, leading to a three-way fight for second place, but also allowed the Benetsch to run away in first place and eventually win the race. After a hard-fought battle, the Mons finally came home in second, followed by the Mocabey in third, and the Zephorus just outside the podium. The Torshalla, having fought for over half the race in the leading group of cars, came home in fifth a long ways down - it turns out that the car was just pushed too hard too and had to be nursed home in the second half of the race. For the second half of the race there was a really good three-way fight for 6th between the Levante, Swanson, and Tarske too, giving the sectators quite a spectacle to behold.
1991
The pack was perhaps even tighter packed than ever at the start of the race in 1991, with only the Daniloski bogging down on the start. Some of the rear-gunners quickly got dispatched from the front pack, including the Wolfe and Wolfram at first, then the Rhania by lap three. Up front, the Mons got a good start, and lead the way from the Zephorus and DCMW, and closely pursued by the Mocabey and Benetsch. On lap 4 the Zephorus made a large error and fell well behind into the mid-pack, but the DCMW jumped forward and brought the fight to the Mons with very little separating the cars. The Mons held its ground, though, and after an error by the DCMW driver on lap 6 was running in clean air again, with the DCMW finding itself in 6th position all of a sudden behind the Torshalla, Tarske, Benetsch, and KHI. The glory run up front for the KHI didn’t last long, as it was at this time it started to fall behind and into the clutches of the mid-pack. The Tarske, on the other hand, turned on the pressure, and started a three-lap fight with the Mons up front, and even took the lead on lap 9 - the pressure forcing the Mons driver into an error and sending the car to the back of the leading pack. After all this jostling, the KHI dispatched, but with the Levante joining the fight, the DCMW found itself in the lead on lap 10, followed closely by the Zephorus and Torshalla, itself pursued by the Benetsch, Tarske (itself making a mistake from the lead), Levante and Mons. A little while back the Swanson was running in clean air, but with some tire issues it was falling into the clutches of the KHI and Rhania behind. At the front a three-lap battle ensued for the lead between the DCMW and Zephorus. On lap 12 the **DCMW was once again forced into an error, leaving the lead to the Zephorus. Behind, the Mons was putting in solid laps and slowly fought its way through to fight for second with the Tarske. But the lead of this race seemed cursed, as the Zephorus made a mistake on lap 14, leaving the Mons with the lead, with a battle for second between the Tarske and Benetsch - the Zephorus fell behind to the fight for fourth between the Levante, Torshalla and DCMW. First, the Levante peeled off the rear on lap 17 and slowly started its descent into the midfield, followed by the DCMW that started to show signs of reliability issues around lap 25. Meanwhile up front, the Benetsch-Tarske duo caught up to the Mons, and a three-way fight for the lead saw the leader change four times before the Benetsch finally asserted its dominance and took the lead. A few laps before that the Tarske started falling back, but with a bit of clear air behind it managed to hold onto third place for a long time, until on lap 28 an sping-and-recovery the Mons caught it off-guard and sent it behind the Torshalla. The Mons recovered, though, but the tires were done and the car slowly fell off the pace. The Zephorus in the meantime managed to stay mostly out of trouble, and methodically made its way back to second place on lap 31, while the Mons tried to battle the Tarske for third for a few laps. Both cars experienced some issues, and eventually were overtaken by the front of the chasing group consisting of the Torshalla and DCMW, itself going slow but steady. Up front, only two contenders for the win remained. After the Zephorus emerged from the chaotic chase pack, it slowly ate away at the lead of the Benetsch, catching it on lap 50 and overtaking it on the next lap. Meanwhile, a long way behind the DCMW had managed to nurse their issues better than the other teams, and was running in relatively clean air in third, with a fight for fourth a while back between the Tarske, Torshalla, Mons, and even the Mocabey for a few moments. Up front the Zephorus drove away and controlled the race quite handsomely, building a sizable lead over the Benetsch, showcasing the raw speed of the Zephorus when not ailed by reliability issues. The fight for third place was not over, however. Both the Mons and DCMW were wounded cars, and through multiple short pitstops the teams tried to give each car a second lease on life, which led to a few position changes during the latter half of the race, and even inviting the Torshalla into the fray around lap 80. In the end though, both teams managed to keep the cars running, and after a bit of a fight the DCMW came out on top, taking third place ahead of the Mons. The Torshalla team was not quite as successful keeping the car together, and after smelling a podium on lap 82, the car started to fall behind, and in the end even got overtaken by the strong-finishing Mocabey. So on paper the last portion of the race may seem a little boring, but the fans were still treated to some epic fights in the rear end of the field. The Wolfe, Wolfram, and Daniloski cars were in a battle for the better part of 20 laps between the mid-60s to lap 80, when the Rhania joined them. And the battle between the Wolfram and Daniloski in the last eight laps was especially hard-fought, with the Wolfram’s arrival on the scene of the Wolfe-Daniloski fight from earlier being blamed for Wolfe’s late-race damage and subsequent near DNF.
@abg7 @Danicoptero @doot @happyfireballman @karhgath @Ludvig @Maverick74 @moroza @MrdjaNikolen @Riley @SheikhMansour @TanksAreTryhards @Texaslav
…to be continued…
Ah what a write up, finally Zephorus has some true speed, I’m glad it’s actually so close up at the front. Congrats to everyone so far it’s shaping up to be a close championship!
So, any more words on this? Or is cake still taking a bit of a break from the game?
Yeah, really sorry about that. IRL work is kicking my butt (super busy, but in a good way!), but it leaves me with little time or energy to do creative writing. I really appreciate all your patience! Please hold on a bit longer and rest assured, I’ll get back to this once things turn around and I have more time to devote to the fun stuff.
