Lucid Phoenix Games: DMV Race Report: Season 2, Race 1 Cleveland

I finally made it to a DC-Maryland-Virginia CFR race back at the end of June. Chris B ran a bunch of races in the area starting last winter for their first season but I was never able to make one.

This race used standard rules on a custom track -- Cleveland.

Builds
The median car build for this track was a 60-60-160 with 60 start speed, 7 or 8 wear and 2 skill per lap but there were some outlier from this stock build.

I ran the only 100 start speed which I'll discuss more later. Three cars ran 20 start speeds: Don, Brian, and Chris.

Chris also went with the only 80-80 car. Will and Tim decided that they did not need as much deceleration and tried 60-40 cars. Tim was also one of two drivers to start out with 140 top speed. Mike P was the other 140 car.

Chris and I were the only cars with 6 wear per lap to start out the race. The 7 and 8 wear cars were evenly split with Kevin, Dave, Brian, and Mike G taking 7 wear per lap; Will, Tim, Mike P, and Don taking 8. Brian and Tim took 3 skill per lap with the bonus -3 skill chip. Everyone else went with 2 skill per lap.

Qualifying
Pole bid was very interesting with 6 of 10 cars sitting on 60 start speeds and only I had a 100 start speed. If I could start on row 2 anywhere I could test start speed and end up in the lead before corner 1. So I targeted that, bid 2.5, and got lucky.

Kevin took pole with a 4.5 bid. Will ended outside row 1 with 4. Tim was inside row 2 with 3.5. My 2.5 bid represented pretty great value as I knew I could overtake the cars in front of me having spent less then them and only 1/2 more than Mike P who ended up starting row 3 after bidding 2. Dave, Don, and Brian bid 1.5 which worked out better for Dave who ended up outside row 3. Chris and Mike bid 0 to start in the last 2 rows but having spent nothing.

Kevin's yellow car sitting on pole. Will outside row 1, Tim inside row 2, me outside row 2.

Lap 1

I take the lead on turn 1. Kevin behind me on the line.
Will placed himself outside when he could have been in the middle lane.

First turn went as hoped for me as I took the lead heading into turn 1. On that same turn 1 Will placed himself in the wrong spot -- outside when he could have taken the middle lane -- probably lost a space unable to take the line (I think he was thinking about a slip from Kevin that would never happen with the corner in front of them). Hint, that 1 space might become important later.

My plan was to spend my wear evenly through out the race. I wanted to be up front because it made things easier but I did not want to spend wear silly in order to stay out front no matter what. I was content to stay in touch of the leaders.

Tim, however decided to make a break through corner 3 -- taking a chance and taking the lead for the rest of the lap.

Tim passes me through corner 3 with a chance.
Will pulls even and would also pass me here.

Dave was part of the main pack through lap 1, but miss-ploted on the straight at the end of lap 1 which really hurt his race overall.

Tim ended lap 1 about a turn ahead of Will and I with Mike P just behind that. The rest of the field was about 2 turns behind Tim with Mike G and Chris about 3 turns back at this point.

Tim out front after 1 lap. Note Kevin keeps falling back all race.

Lap 2
Will decides that it is his turn to make a move in the middle of lap 2. Through corners 3, 4, 5 and 6 he spends a good bit of wear and gains a turn on everyone else.

Halfway through lap 2, Will has passed and gaped Tim and everyone else.

Brian spends some wear early this lap to move up from the main pack. But runs himself almost out of wear before taking a chance in corner 8 that results in a spin. He drops from 3rd to 5th before ending up having to make 2 late brakes around corner 9 that result in brake failure and the race's first DNF.

Brian's car pulled off to the side of the track at the end of lap 2.
Will and Tim are out of frame in front of me in the blue and Mike P in the orange.

Lap 2 ends with Tim and Will a turn ahead of Me. The field remains about 2 turns behind the lead. Chris remains 3 turns back while Mike G has fallen to about 4 turns behind with a lap to go.

Lap 3
Don entered lap 3 with a race leading 12 wear -- more wear than anyone else on track and far more than many of the leaders -- but in the end it cost him too much to pass the pack leaving him not enough to challenge for a podium.

I was now in the position I had hoped to be in -- have more wear than the leaders and be in position to strike. I passed Tim through corner 8 by using 2 wear.

Then I catch Will through the last 2 corners -- setting up a dice-off for the win. Tim pulls in right behind me hoping for slips across the finish line.

I had the advantage over Will because I was going faster coming out of the final corner. So testing my acceleration and top speed got me to a speed that Will could not match and I passed him at the line for the win. Tim then made a couple tests and got 2 slips from me to also pass Will at the line for 2nd.

Last turn for the leaders. Me in the all blue for the win. Tim next to me for 2nd.
Will a space from the win in 3rd.

If Will could have found effectively 1 more space he would have won the race. Instead he ends up 3rd. While we mentioned that 1 space he probably lost through the first corner of lap 1, it is hard to project that one space there would mean 1 space 3 laps later but Will is still probably kicking himself about that unforced error.

The last corner of the race saw a couple chances as drivers made last minute plays to improve their positions. Mike P ended up crashing out in the last corner for the race's 2nd DNF. Chris spun and finished last.