Gravitywerx Old vs. New Event
Dominant Car Emerges in Gravitywerx Qualifying and Round One: My new qualifying procedure using a 6 foot drag strip onto an open area had most of the cars veering off to one side or the other but two cars went incredibly straight and far (their identities shall remain a secret but they are from the "new" batch). They were awarded 1st and 2nd starting positions in the A race. The #2 car crashed several times and finished 9th. But the #1 car led every lap, most by a wide margin, and won the round 1 event. Somewhat of a Gravitywerx hat trick, being the fastest qualifier, leading every lap, winning, and having the points lead. It wasn't a flawless performance. A few times it spun 180 degress allowing the 4th starting Raingutter runner-up Pontiac to close to within a few car lengths. The Pontiac hit the wall at a bad angle on lap 8 and finished 8th. The lead car was challenged at the end by another white car which climbed over the top of it in the finish chicane and came within a half car length of taking the lead. The other white car finished second, and the Raingutter champ Buick was third. The B race was owned by several new cars, finishing 1-4. A provisional starter, purchased a few days ago and starting 9th, finished 2nd. A black roadster won. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCVqupp5FJ0
Discussion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_6ysOM1bk4 Copper Cars Dominate, Then Lose, Round 3 A Race: Let me start by identifying a few of these newfangled contraptions: The first copper car that moved from B to A and led the first few laps is a "Prototype 12". It crashed a few laps later and was replaced by another copper vehicle called a "Swoopy Do". It led until the 9th lap when it cut through the infield in turn three and hit the inside wall. (see vid). It finished 9th and will run the B race in round 4. The Prototype 12 finished 4th. The race was won by the super strong # 1 white car followed by the Raingutter champ Buick. It took the #1 car the whole race and the misfortune of others to move up 5 spots. The Buick moved up from last to 2nd. The Buick holds a 3 point lead over the #1 car with the black roadster, an MX48 Turbo, in 3rd. The Provisional starter, a "Sinistra", which was 2nd in points came in last but will stay in the A class.
In the B race the Raingutter Pontiac had to win to have a chance for a top-five overall finish. It passed for the lead on lap nine spending part of the lap on it's roof then back on it's wheels. But it had a problem again in turn 3 on lap 10 and finished 4th again. The race was won by The # 16 Swoopy Do (I have 2, a copper and a blue one). It will run the A in round 4. The other provisional starter a "Twin Mill" moves up to A class and will start on the pole (10th in points).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55QQPFFITbo I saved my lenthy round 4 post to get this youtube link now I can't find it. Help!
Don't know what happened to my saved post from Round 4. Briefly, the #1 car won again, it's 3rd, from the 9th starting spot. It battled a few laps with the #5 Road Warrior that just moved up from B class. The points-leader Buick finished 8th. The #1 car now holds a 5-point lead over the Buick and the MX48 and 8 points over the #5 with 1 round to go. If the #1 finishes 4th or better it wins the championship.
Starting Lineup for Overdue Round 5 A Race: Pole: Twin Mill, -13. 2. Raingutter Mercedes, -12. 3. Blue Swoopy Do, -11. 4. Prototype 12, -11. 5. Sinistra, -11. 6. Copper Swoopy Do, -11. 7. Road Warrior, -8. 8. MX48 Roadster, -5. 9. Raingutter Buick, -5. 10. #1 white car. For the Buick to win the championship, it must win and have 3 cars between it and the #1 car. I'll probably keep this series going for 10 rounds and add any new cars by replacing cars at the bottom of the points (B race).
10th Starting Position Curse Continues In Round 5: It would have been a big deal if a car that's in a class by itself that won 3 out of 4 races and held a 5-point lead over 2nd did not wrap up the championship in Round 5, but I had already decided to extend this series to 10 races because I think I've found the best cars I'll have for awhile. So it's just the halfway point in a seesaw battle between the # 1 car and the Raingutter Buick. All the # 1 had to do was finish 4th or better to keep it's point lead. I thought it would slice through the pack and run up front somewhere, but it became apparent that it was going to be taking it's time getting there. By midway it was only up to about 7th. Up front was the Copper Swoopy-Do which led for a couple of laps before snagging the inside wall in turn 2. The lead was then assumed by the Prototype 12 which led for the next 7 laps or so. Around this time I noticed that the # 1 car was dead last. The Prototype 12 crashed and the blue Swoopy-Do took the lead, but it crashed on lap 10, finishing last. Sitting at the front of the grid for lap 11 (last 2 laps must be won by same car) was the Buick which easily lead the final lap for the victory. The # 1 finished 8th. The Buick holds a 1 point lead over # 1.
The B race was won from flag to flag by a Roadbeast replacement car. A race other than the A race has never been won flag to flag. It can only happen with a replacement car; The lowest-points car could never pull it off.
This round shows that even a dominant car like # 1 will not run away with it. Starting 10th and having to overtake other fast cars in a 4-second time period is not easy, even with 10 chances to do it. I predict that it will go down the last lap of Round 10.
Couple more things: The # 1 car finished 6th, not 8th. I also forgot to mention that all of the # 1 car's closest competitors finished ahead of it in Round 5, tightening the points chase. The white Roadwarrior car now has 4 second-place finishes and is 4th in points, -5, behind the MX48 down 4. The copper Swoopy-Do ran Round 4 in the B race which it won and moved back to A where it got 3rd. It is now 5th in points, down 9. The Raingutter runner-up Pontiac, mired in the B race for the last 4 rounds, got a couple of 3rds and is back in A, down 14.
10th Starting-Position Curse Continues in Round 6: I believe that whoever holds the points lead going into the final round is doomed. This time the victim was the Raingutter-champ Buick who floundered around in the back of the pack the whole race and finished 6th. Meanwhile the 9th starting #1 car went from 9th to 3rd in 1 lap. On the next lap it was 2nd but couldn't get past the Raingutter Pontiac who was 1st or 2nd the entire race. I was trying to shoot video and didn't see what was happening; I thought the video would tell me. But the video quality was really poor. One of the reasons is because the dark-green and black Pontiac is pretty much invisable on the black track. Anyway the Pontiac held on to win with the #1 2nd and the Road Warrior 3rd. The Pontiac went from being lost in the B race to 5th in points.
Another Raingutter car won the B race. The Lambourgini now moves back to A.
Last-Place Starting Position Curse Ends; # 1 Car Extends Points Lead in Round 7: It was bound to happen at some point; The # 1 car would pass all 9 cars for the win. By the 4th lap it was in 2nd. It took the lead on lap 7 after battling the Raingutter Pontiac for a few laps. It now has an 8-point lead over the Buick. It might rap up the Championship before the last race. There's still a pretty good battle for 2nd between the Buick, the MX48 Roadster, the Road Warrior, the copper Swoopy-Do, the Sinistra, and the Raingutter Pontiac.
The B race was won by a replacement for the last-place car after Round 4 and now has enough points to start in the A race for Round 8. (20th to 9th).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdbVas0GQ_E Road Warrior Wins, Moves to Second in Points: Drastic changes in the points picture usually cannot be expected this late in a 10-round series. But with the wide Gravitywerx point spread (1st is awarded 11 times the points of 10th), a win by someone besides the points leader will cause some shuffling. The Road Warrior was long overdue for a win considering it's 5 second-place finishes. It started 8th (3rd in points) and took over the lead on the 10th lap and led the overtime lap for the win. The quirky rule that requires 2 consecutive laps for the win caused some shakeup on the 11th lap. The replacement car (Round 7 B winner) and the MX48 lost a spot, the Copper Swoopy-Do and the Buick lost two, And the #1 car gained 4 (4th place). The # 1 car holds a 6-point lead over the Road Warrior with 2 rounds to go.
The B race was packed with 4 "mystery" cars replacing some turds at the bottom of the points. For awhile they were running 1-4 but one crashed and finished last. The other 3 finished 1-2-3. They were able to start up front because of their low points but in the next 2 races they will be farther back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsde8YDoToE Leaders Struggle in Round 9, Points Tighten. It will not surprise me in the least if the dominant # 1 car in this series blows it. If last week's race had ended on the 10th lap, the Roadwarrior would have taken the points lead after this week's race. That's because the # 1 car finished last. It could not find an opening for much of the race but on the 5th lap it went from 9th to 5th. But on the next lap it went back to 9th, then last. It even flipped on the last lap for the first time in 90+ laps. The Road Warrior didn't do much better, finishing 7th. The # 1 car holds a 3-point lead over the Road Warrior with one round to go.
Of the 4 mystery cars that replaced some dogs in the B race, the 2nd place finisher got enough points to move to A, where it started 2nd. It destroyed the competition, leading every lap except the first. It will start the Round 10 A race in 3rd. The Raingutter Pontiac finished 2nd. It is now 5th in points. 9 points separate 1st through 5th.
In the B race, mystery cars finished 1-2. Neither have enough points to move to A for Round 10.
Veterans Prevail in Round 2: I thought that the #1 car, who led every lap in round 1, would tear through the pack from it's spot at the rear and win again. But it didn't happen. It got as far as 4th by mid-race, but finished 8th, right behind the round 1 B race-winning black roadster. The race was won by the Raingutter champ Buick. The Raingutter Lambourgini finished 2nd and the provisional starter 3rd. The Buick now leads in points with the provisional starter 2nd and the Lambourgini 3rd.
In the B race, the Raingutter runner-up Pontiac needed to win to have a chance at the championship. It was in 1st by lap seven but had a problem again with turn 3 and finished 4th despite several extra laps of overtime to resolve a see-saw battle between the copper car and the Austin-Healey (the other car that went straight in qualifying). The Austin-Healey won with the copper car 2nd. They both move to the A race. The Pontiac will have to run another B race.