Racers, start your engines and let get it on... oh wait. (Right series, wrong game I know)
RACE 5: SEASIDE ROUTE 765/SUNNY BEACHTHE RACE
*This round is held in the Ridge Racer V version of the course (known as Sunny Beach in that game).
24 laps (12 laps each 'half' for total of 24), sunny.
1 pm. Ridge City. Around the beach (and the streets leading to the final tunnel), the fans - mainly those of IBR and Good Call Racing, as well those of others - were chanting support for their favorite drivers, and carrying support attributes - heck, one of the fans thought it is a good idea to bring this as a banner on a touring car race. And finally, Bob Walker and James Page signed on the commentary. "Hello and welcome to another Warped Touring Car Series race in Seaside Route 765. My name is Bob Walker", as Walker signs in, followed by Page's "And hello Walker and my name is James Page, and yes I we are going to see exicting race today.
"
With the safety car and the competitors showing up in the rolling start, heading to the main tunnel, the nearby screen read "ROLLING START! WARPED TOURING CAR SERIES". "And they're flooring it! The race has begun! It's the first lap!" screams Walker as the safety car returns to the service area.
In the first half, North stayed in the lead throught the race, and in the front-markers, overtake wars begun. Just within 4 laps, Jackson - the Deep Forest winner - suffered a tyre puncture when his front tires burst. With no way to pit in until the halftime is declared, he had no option but retire from the race. Meanwhile, the Finnish drunkard Harri Korte found himself in the points position by lap 6. In a short time, Maeyede sank to seventh while Blagojevic rose to second. Woods had some problems that led him sank to the 21st position, although he is known to be an inconsistent racer. With the race reaching 50% - 12th lap - the first half was over. The safety car was called in again to led the racers to the service area for a 15-minute 'pit-stop' break.
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TIMES AT THE END OF FIRST HALF - LAP 12
Pos # Driver (team-manufacturer) Total Time/Retire
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1 #22 Anthony North (BMW Dealer-BMW) 12:28.373 - leader
2 #16 Nermanja Blagojevic (Onyx-Holden) 12:36.121
3 #11 Jason van Drunen (Clatterham-Mercedes) 12:38.380
4 #13 Mario Wankucini (Gangnam Publocrap-Opel) 12:40.872
5 #55 Jay Becker (RRR-Subaru) 12:41.389
6 #14 Harri Korte (Finlux-Ford) 12:43.303
7 #0 Martin van der Maeyede (FGCR-Nissan) 12:45.244
8 #89 Satoshi Taki (Nippon Racecraft-Subaru) 12:46.081
9 #17 Ben Irwin (Onyx-Holden) 12:47.285
10 #28 Frederic-Maxime Voeckler (Martini-Alfa) 12:47.599
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Pos # Driver (team-manufacturer) Total Time/Retire
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11 #24 Orestes Granicus (TNS FC-Alfa) 12:51.324
12 #10 Yrjo Perkelainen (Clatterham-Mercedes) 12:53.228
13 #27 Alessandro Lucarelli (Martini-Alfa) 12:57.101
14 #5 Daniel Cake (Gregg-Mercedes) 12:59.518
15 #8 Mudar Zakariyya Shamoun (Saudi-BMW) 12:59.981
16 #23 James Roberts (Aurico-Nissan) 13:01.701
17 #777 Nicolas Vasquez (Vasquez-Holden) 13:06.004
18 #73 Nasib Najib Bata (Saudi-BMW) 13:07.010
19 #99 Hafidis Faera (Tassie-Ford) 13:07.684
20 #37 Emanuele Nicchi (Nicchi-Alfa) 13:11.828
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Pos # Driver (team-manufacturer) Total Time/Retire
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21 #68 Jamarian Woods (Maarsbergen-Mercedes) 13:12.514
22 #78 Arthur Daniels (TEGTFM-Subaru) 13:23.050
NF #46 Luis Pereira (Vestore/Restov-Ford) Brakes (10)
NF #42 Robert Jackson (Omega-Opel) Burst tyre (4)
15 minutes later.
"And they're back, the second half is about to begin." said Page. Prior to the second half. Nasib Najib Bata decided not to start in the second half when his car were stuck in the service area due to thorttle and gearbox problems, requiring both components to be changed. However, the WTCS regulations forbade change of car components during the halftime break, only traditional pitstop stuff - tire change, refuelling, and stuff like that - are allowed during that period, so Bata were ruled out of second half. Retirements were low (discussed later) but attrition was very high despite high-speed nature of the course. Shamoun, Roberts, Cake, Perkelainen, and Irwin rose to the points positions, toppling Taki, Maeyede, and Wankucini from the points position. Shamoun challenged North for the lead, only to be overtaken by Irwin at lap 15. Severe exhaust problems knocked van Drunen out of the race at lap 16, with Page reportedly shouting "That's a very, very, big smoke coming from the back of van Drunen's car... I have never seen this before in a touring car race", with Walker responding "Yes, van Drunen's cars looks like his exhaust had fell apart" (which was true - a exhaust debris was found in the bridge, where he retired from the race).
North's problems continued. He was forced to give up his podium place with Roberts successfully challenging him. Blagojevic showed Holden's consistency problem once more with he finding himself at the middle of nowhere (read: mid-field). With just two laps two to go, Wankucini - in the "golden papaya" position zone ran out of fuel, denying him chance to score points. This was followed by Orestes Granicus' engine failure came nearly before the final stretch. He was 15th.
After 24 laps, Irwin crossed the finish line first to clinch the victory with the nearby screen reading "BEN IRWIN - TODAY'S RACE WINNER". Shamoun finished second - so improable that we decided to award Irwin and Shamoun a joint Infinity Improability Drive of the Race. Roberts survived in the third place. North had to settle for fourth, with Perkelainen behind him. Harri Korte scored his first points - and yet another point for Ford as a manufacturer. Behind them are Voeckler and full-time debutant Cake. Problems for Plus One in this weekend, with Jan failing to qualify and Martin getting robbed from points, awarded them Reject of the Race.Code: Select all
FINAL RESULTS
Pos # Driver (team-manufacturer) Total Time/Retire
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1 #17 Ben Irwin (Onyx-Holden) 25:16.767 - 10 points
2 #8 Mudar Zakariyya Shamoun (Saudi-BMW) 25:22.084 - 8 points
3 #23 James Roberts (Aurico-Nissan) 25:33.382 - 6 points
4 #22 Anthony North (BMW Dealer-BMW) 25:40.418 - 5 points
5 #10 Yrjo Perkelainen (Clatterham-Mercedes) 25:46.733 - 4 points
6 #14 Harri Korte (Finlux-Ford) 25:47.766 - 3 points
7 #28 Frederic-Maxime Voeckler (Martini-Alfa) 25:48.028 - 2 points
8 #5 Daniel Cake (Gregg-Mercedes) 25:51.567 - 1 point
9 #89 Satoshi Taki (Nippon Racecraft-Subaru) 25:55.762
10 #0 Martin van der Maeyede (FGCR-Nissan) 25:59.631
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Pos # Driver (team-manufacturer) Total Time/Retire
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11 #27 Alessandro Lucarelli (Martini-Alfa) 26:05.495
12 #37 Emanuele Nicchi (Nicchi-Alfa) 26:13.334
13 #78 Arthur Daniels (TEGTFM-Subaru) 26:15.547
14 #16 Nermanja Blagojevic (Onyx-Holden) 26:15.613
15 #99 Hafidis Faera (Tassie-Ford) 26:24.316
16 #68 Jamarian Woods (Maarsbergen-Mercedes) 26:27.202
17 #777 Nicolas Vasquez (Vasquez-Holden) -1 lap
18 #55 Jay Becker (RRR-Subaru) -1 lap
19 #24 Orestes Granicus (TNS FC-Alfa) -1 lap (ret, engine lap 24, was 15th)
20 #13 Mario Wankucini (Gangnam Publocrap-Opel) -2 laps (ret, out of fuel lap 23, was 9th)
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Pos # Driver (team-manufacturer) Total Time/Retire
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NF #11 Jason van Drunen (Clatterham-Mercedes) Exhaust (16)
NF #73 Nasib Najib Bata (Saudi-BMW) Failed to leave service area (13)^
NF #46 Luis Pereira (Vestore/Restov-Ford) Brakes (10) [1st half]
NF #42 Robert Jackson (Omega-Opel) Burst tyre (4) [1st half]
(^Bata's retirement was reported at lap 10 according to xkoranate, but lap 10 was first half and he did not retire at the first half. Therefore, I assigned him the mentioned DNF reason and lap. Also, if you think Granicus' and Wankucini's positions should be reinistated [xkoranate does not track lap times for the DNF, even those who DNF in final laps], tell me.)
With greetings from Ridge City, comment it! Standings to follow.
