I'm sorry for backing out early but I clearly don't belong in this group of racers. Consider this my resignation and please allow whoever signed up after me to take my spot or however you want to handle it.
While that may be fun for a few laps I don't want to take up a spot when there are much faster drivers in the reserve list. "Let them fight", as it were
TNR FILO - 90s Time Penalty
- Pit Lane Entry/Exit Line Violation (Lap 7/31): 30s Time Penalty
- Pit Lane Entry/Exit Line Violation (Lap 14/31): 30s Time Penalty
- Pit Lane Entry/Exit Line Violation (Lap 18/31): 30s Time Penalty
Neuttyy - 60s Time Penalty, Warning
- Pit Lane Entry/Exit Line Violation (Lap 7/31): 30s Time Penalty
- Pit Lane Entry/Exit Line Violation (Lap 12/31): 30s Time Penalty
- Causing an Avoidable Collision with car #32 (Lap 13/31): Warning
BlueXephos22- 30s Time Penalty
- Pit Lane Entry/Exit Line Violation (Lap 2/31): 30s Time Penalty
Fred_dude - 30s Time Penalty
- Pit Lane Entry/Exit Line Violation (Lap 18/31): 30s Time Penalty
LilChickenNugget - 30s Time Penalty
- Pit Lane Entry/Exit Line Violation (Lap 4/31): 30s Time Penalty
That was definitely a race that started on a high note, with the gap between the top 13 in qualifying just under a second, just 0.973 separating 1st to 13th, to be exact! And while the start of the race proved to be hectic, with several incidents early on, the field eventually spread itself into several groups that saw battles happening all across the track. Bambi had a little battle with Filo in the early laps, but in typical Bambi fashion, the moment he got the lead he never let go and saw himself off to a comfortable victory.
The other podium finishers of Herimopp Racing drove particularly well, going under the radar to take 2nd and 3rd at the line after several violations of the pit lane entry/exit lines occurred, a well-deserved result after a strong drive, especially considering they started 8th and 9th after qualifying. Another driver who went under the radar was StormPacer, who started 13th but drove a solid, incident-free race to finish 4th.
Commiserations, however, to the drivers who had fallen victim to the infamous Seaside bus stop chicane, to both those who had hit the inside wall of the second chicane, as well as those who had cleared the chicanes only to lose control on the run up to the tunnel, myself included...three times at that. While the margin of error is known to be very small, they dared to push themselves to the absolute limit, only to come up short and get punished for their efforts.
All in all, a very entertaining race to open up the season and with the level of driving talent on full display with the close qualifying results, we can only hope for more of the same in the coming races. With Interlagos being a much more open track to Dragon Trail, the action is only looking to be much closer.
I had a good bit of anxiety going into the first race at Dragon Trail. All of the previous league races I've done there were marred with incidents at the bus stop chicane, either by myself or at the hands of StormPa... others. My goal for the race was a top five finish with no mistakes, and aside from getting my lines slightly wrong on occasion, I am thankful and pleased that I was able to meet my own expectations.
Thank you @Antares26 for organizing and for putting in the extensive amount of effort required to put on such a presentation. I thoroughly enjoyed the racing and was pleased with the driving standards exhibited by most everyone. I hope to see you all at the next event!
After the exciting season opener of the Vertex GT Sprint Series at Dragon Trail, we now move on to a much more open track at Interlagos. With much more opportunities for close racing, and a bigger margin of error on track, the action is looking likely to be a lot closer. We'd also want to remind everyone of the on-track rules, particularly the ones regarding the Pit Lane Entry/Exit Lines, as we've had several violations of this particular rule that resulted is numerous penalties for several drivers.