Welcome Back to the IGP Formula Motorsport Racing League. First off we must apologize for the missing reviews for much of Season 5. We had some technical issues and as such could not commentate on them, however, this has now been rectified and since, we have brought a brand new look to our tables, but before we get to all of that, we have a race to review.
What a race it was too, for the Opening Race of Season 6 it was absolutely unpredictable, first of was of course the weather. It was forecast for a cloudy but dry race, however most unfortunately right after qualifying the heavens opened up and gave the entire track a bath, which made for some extremely unexpected results.
In our Rookie Division we see the returning teams of; WI Racing, Gravitas Motorsports, Red Bull Opal Sport, Didikong Racing, Leaman Motorsports, Chemql, Blue Angels II, Peugeot Honda, Police and Spartan Tech
But we also have a great many new faces and teams;
USA Blue Angels III, the Third installment of the Blue Angels Team based in the United States, and Headed by Kalen Nelson.
Landen23, A new team to the world of IGP, its team boss, Landen23 Harris23, was very delighted to be accepted into the League.
Ochal Racing, Owned by Matt Ochal, a wealthy businessman from the United States looking to broaden his spectrum.
An ex-war veteran, Cameron O'Bar runs the US Air Force team, who looks to put a little spark back into those old bones of his.
J Ray, team boss of Legion. Not much is known about this shadowy figure, only that he signed up for the League and only speaks in grunts.
Mateo Alvarez, team Principle of #33173067215708, to this day no one has understood why Mateo has just given his team a number.
Now, to the race, we had not seen a grid like it, at the very front were team #33173067215708, seeming to leave the entire field in the dust for qualifying by over half a second, but during the race, they were no where, falling all the way to the back of the grid and even several laps down behind Spartan Tech and Legion who began the race at the back of the field. Legion finished 27th and 30th with Spartan Tech between them in 28th and 29th, while team #33173067215708 finally crossed the line in 31st and 32nd.
The largest contributing factor to the unusual race was the weather, it threw everyone off their games Ochal Racing who began the race on row 7, a good start for a new team, ended up 24th and 26th, ahead of then were US Air Force who seemed to take a few strides in the rain, starting 26th and 27th they crossed the line 22nd and 25th with one of the Chemql drivers in 22nd.
Chemql themselves had a strange turn of events, with their cars starting 18h and 19th, they were set to aim for the mid field, but where as we know one fell to 22nd, the other launched themselves into 15th, The team were split as to the results of the day, having improved in one side of the pit bay, but fallen in the other, discussions will certainly be taking place in their offices tonight.
Landen23 had a successful race, having been able to capitalize on the Rain they were able to move up the order from 22nd and 23rd on the grid to Finish 18th and 21st, their only draw back was the lack in speed which during this season could easily be rectified.
Next in the list were Peugeot Honda. They could only improve slightly with Robinson finishing where he started in 16th, but Smith was able to improve from 24th to 20th.
USA Blue Angels III were another team with mixed results, having started with Robinson in 12th and Button in 20th, Robinson fell to 19th where as Button was able to overshoot his own team mate and finished 11th. Ahead of Robinson's starting position.
Police were having a great day, having had tactical training in all weather types they were at a huge advantage here and showed it as Hamilton rocketed from 25th to 17th and Robinson from 21st to 14th. No doubt if they had just that little bit extra in their tanks, they might have been able to take away some points.
Leaman Motorsports had some shortfalls, having gotten into the top 10 in qualifying they were certainly aiming for points, however, so was everyone else and they were forced to finish 12th and 13th as Blue Angels II and a Gravitas car were able to out drive them.
Coming to the all important business end of the field. The Points. After #33173067215708's complete flop during the race, everyone had expected Didkong to take up the lead as they started on Row 2, but that was not to be.
Everyone was pushing in this first race, trying to make the best first impression, and as a result Didikong found themselves falling further back than they had ever intended with White dropping from 4th to 10th and Peterson from 3rd to 5th gaining them a good 11 Points for the Constructors tables, but still a disappointment for them.
A third team to get mixed results were Red Bull Opal Sport. Popa had started 5th, but ended 6th where as Mansell started 11th but ended up 8th, a great run for him and the team as it puts them on 12 points overall, 1 point ahead of Didikong Racing.
Perhaps the best driver of the race was certainly Singer for Gravitas. sure Calvi had an great run from 8th to 4th, but Singer was in another league having started 28th almost dead last, he was able to driver around the other cars as if they were nothing but back markers, finally ending up 9th after running out of Laps to keep overtaking. A truly impressive run and one to be remembered, had Singer started further up the grid, he most certainly would have been on the podium if not winning this race, as it stands Gravitas Motorsport gain 14 points and 3rd in the Constructors.
For best team effort, that honor would have to go to Blue Angels II, starting 15th and 17th, team boss Kalan Nelson could only hope for a points finish. but points they did get and even finished on the podium, 3rd and 7th after a wonder display of teamwork and determination, a well deserved 21 points for them.
Taking the front of the race and being the team to beat in Malaysia were WI Racing. starting 6th and 7th they worked hard, driving through the rain to take 1st and 2nd. a great opening result for the Team as they gain the make 43 points from the race taking the top sport in the constructors by over double that of Blue Angels II. The other teams from this point on will have a huge uphill battle to challenge WI Racing next race.
J White for Wi Racing takes the fastest lap time with an impressive; 1:27.452
We now move on to take a look at the Pro Division results. This race was a much closer match up, not one car was lapped throughout the entire race. Of the 3 Divisions it was certainly the most exciting. Multiple position changes and once more, some unexpected results.
With the Grid it looked to be all about Jaguar and BMW as they shared rows 1 and 2 with Schwinesteiger taking Row 3 all to themselves. BMR Racing and Puputan shared row 4, with Puputan and Pied Piper sharing row 5. Pied Piper shared row 6 with Laguna while Laguna shared row 7 with Carroll, with Carroll sharing row 8 with BMR and Ford McLaren taking up the final row of the grid.
No one expected that come the end of the race Thomas of Laguna would be at the back of the field with Taylor of Puputan just ahead of him. Schwinesteiger had the worst race of their career and ended up 15th and 16th. Joe Francisco did not wish to talk to the media after the race and instead headed directly to their offices for an emergency discussion.
Hamilton of BMR Racing was able to improve his position after a rocky start from the grid, as did Ruiz of Carroll ahead of him finishing 13th, both drivers were received well as hey returned to their respective pits.
BMW Racing however, having started at the front of the grid in 1st and 4th found themselves completely out of the points as everyone else charged forward around them, they just could not get the car to work in the rain.
Smith took the final points slot for Puputan gaining them the solitary 1 point to put them into 7th in the Constructors table.
No one seemed to see them coming, after returning to the League after several seasons of absence, Demetrius Landon was almost all but forgotten over the years, but returning with a new team, and a new desire, he made his mark, and made the fans remember why he was once a feared Veteran of the sport. Able to get both his cars from the very last row of the grid to finishing 8th and 9th was an awesome sight to behold. A great result with 6 points in the constructors, in my opinion the best team of the race.
In the number 7 spot we find the first of the Jaguars. Weber having started 3rd was able to hold onto the point by sheer will, gaining the much needed 6 points towards the Constructors.
BMR Racing's J Williams found 6th spot, able to finished 1 place above where he began, but still it gave the team those 8 points that puts them into 5th in the Constructors.
Brown of Carroll GP was able to get into the top 5 after a fantastic run, put the team in 4th in the constructors but still with BMR and Ford McLaren close at hand it would be tough fending them off now.
These next two drivers were the focus battle for the whole race, Brundle of Pied Piper and Romero of Laguna GP stuck together from the get go. starting 11th and 12th respectively these two could be seen battling for the entire race. It looked as if Pied Piper were to get the double podium, but a in a last ditch effort Romero pulled out all the stops to finish just 0.397 seconds ahead of Brundle who tires were well worn by this point and had no answer for him. Brundle takes 4th, Romero 3rd, putting Laguna 3rd in the Constructors.
Schule worked extremely hard to maintain that 2nd place he began with for Jaguar, adding the 18 points to Weber's 6 gives Jaguar 24 points overall and 2nd in the constructors.
Put it was hats off to G Moss for Pied Piper, once she had gotten into that first position she was not letting anyone passed, racing as if she was being chased by police she finishes on the top box of the podium and 14.1 seconds ahead of Schule, giving Pied Piper a grand total of 37 points with Moss's 25 and Brundle's 12, they gain the top spot for pro, a complete surprise for Ariel Piper, team boss, who could hardly belive she was at the front of the field let alone winning the race.
The fastest lap for Pro goes to P Weber for Jaguar with a 1:26.402
At the rear of the field Elite was certainly the same old story of Season 5. With teams Dakota Earl and Proud Pink still in financial troubles their winter testing was limited drastically and the results of today were enough to see just how much. Dakota could do nothing but race their own race 3 laps off the front runners ending up 19th and 20th.
Proud Pink also had the same troubles, but they were able to at least be faster than Dakota and able to finish 17th and 18th only with the drivers swapping positions.
UM Boyer were another team that were once again on familiar ground during the race, having started way up the grid thanks to the sudden rain they round their usual positions of 15th and 16th.
Seeming to follow them down the grid was J Hunt of Handy Motorsport, neither driver of the team could get the car to work in the rain, after having setting up in the dry both Hunt and Brown just couldn't make it stick and slid down the field to 9th and 14th after starting 2nd and 3rd.
Benfica could hardly make much headway either and were only able to gain positions after both UM Boyer cars slid into view and Hunt of Handy. They finish 12th and 13th, Pedersen able to gain 3 places from his starting position where as Evans stayed 13th.
Just outside the points we find Mansell of the Skyeladder Racing Team, having fallen from 7th after a mishap in the pits, somehow Mansell got sent out of Soft tires during a wet race, he was not happy with the team when he returned to the pits, that's for sure.
After their domination in Pro, Aston Martin red Bull were determined to strut their stuff, Priyanka Tulabha said to media after the race, "We are pleased with the results, of course we knew Elite Division was going to be a lot tougher, but finished 8th and 10th is a great result for us, it shows we can hold our own, even against the toughest of teams"
Sitting between the two Aston's was the second Handy Motorsport car, driven by L Brown as he took 9th. However as Priyanka was pleased with her result, Adam was not, "... 9th and 14th. Yeah, I'm pleased we scored some points on our debut in Elite, but if I'm honest, I'm more than a little disappointed that 9th was my highest finish. I guess Elite is a lot harder than we thought."
Hopsocube made great headway today coming up from 14th and 16th to take 5th and 7th and even taking the battle to SLB Racing who took 4th and 6th, both teams worked exceptionally hard to gain their results a well deserved set of points for all involved.
The Podium was mainly taken up by the Koenigsegg Cruz Crew once again as they took 1st and 3rd, a complete mystery to their team boss it seems, "How we managed to take 1st and 3rd I will never know, but we did brilliantly," but as we all know from the previous seasons Koenigsegg has always been stronger in the rain.
Joining them on the podium was Jones of the Skyeladder Racing Team, with their team doing extensive Winter testing Jones gave them all the best thank you he could by splitting the Koenigsegg's and raising that Silver Trophy.
Elite's fastest lap goes to S McDuff for Koenigsegg Cruz Crew with a 1:21.526
Thank you for tuning in to the IGP FMR Racing Report, remember race fans, if you would like to join the League do no hesitate to submit your applications to our management team. You'll always find friendly, helpful staff here for all your Management needs.
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