Race Report 152, a fitting number for the last event in a year - 52 weeks - of exciting racing at FRC. Our special end of year event was a great success which saw sixteen drivers take on the challenges of the FRC digital road racing circuit, competing in a variety of races. These included some new forms of competition never before run at FRC and this made for a great mix of challenges and results. No one had to bring along cars since all races were run using FRC's IROC cars - the BMW Minis, Porsche 997s, Ferrari F430s and Lambo Gallardos.
The racing opened with a pair of simulated wet-weather races for the Ferraris. To replicate a wet track, the magnets were removed making the cars spin their rear wheels off the line and out of most corners, while their tails slid sideways on the "wet" surface. Because of the large turnout, most classes were split into A and B subgroups based on qualifying times. For this race I managed to get pole in group A with Peter doing likewise in group B. Of note was the great qualifying effort by Bunny who, having raced perhaps three times at FRC, did a great job to qualify for group A, beating out several seasoned FRC drivers. In the end, the group A race saw a surprise winner come from from fifth on the grid. The group B race was no less exciting, despite several "offs" by some of the drivers, something to be expected in these wet conditions!
A Lambo race for novices - true FRC first-timers - saw Kevin win over his much younger competition.
As with the Ferraris, our Mini Challenge races were split between groups A and B, each group doing three races and each driver taking the controls of a different Mini for each race. Luke B took the pole in group A as did Jonathan in group B. Despite sticking better to the now "dry" track than the Ferraris did in the "wet", the Minis still had to be driven with care because of their narrow track and high centre of gravity. This led to some repetitive crashes for some drivers who were having a hard time adjusting to their handling. Others were able to better adjust their driving and rose to the top in the end.
The main attraction for the event was another first for FRC - a Mixed GT Team series of races using FRCs IROC Porsches, Ferraris and Lambos. Six teams of two drivers were established using the results of qualifying a single Porsche 997, with pairings of 1st and 7th, 2nd and 8th, etc. all the way to 6th and 12th. The fastest qualifier in each team then drove the 1st, 3rd and 5th races, their teammate driving the 2nd, 4th and 6th races. Each driver was obliged to drive a different type of car for each race, choosing based on his strategy. This is a great way to race these cars as it reflects real GT racing with multiple car types and two drivers per car. When all six races were over it was virtually impossible to predict the winning team. It took the computer's number-crunching to finally establish the overall result. After six races with twelve drivers and eighteen cars the final tally showed that all six teams were separated by just eight points!
Yes, it was a great night and a landmark event for FRC - a fitting way to close the year. It was a year where we all had ups and downs, successes and failures, but no one can deny the great fun we all shared in 2013. Here's looking forward to an even better year of racing in 2014.
The results
Congratulations to the winners.
2013 Overall Class Points Update
Next event's classes: To be announced... keep checking the forum for an announcement. I'll also send out the usual email announcement to everyone. As usual, don't forget to see the updated fastest times for the FRC classes to know what the benchmarks are for your cars, the updated class average qualifying times and the final 2013 Class Points Standings.
See you on the circuit...
Gordon