RAPTOR | Chris wins OWRL Div A title in dominating fashion
OWRL S2 Season 15 has delivered two first-time champions in the OWRL. RAPTOR | Chris scored 4 victories on way to the Div A title and [SR] FireDragon went for glory in Div B by finishing in the top 2 almost every race he took part in. Both division A and B finished in such way that in both series the winning driver could afford to miss the final event of the season and still come out on top of the standings. Whereas FireDragon already got the title after five rounds, Chris´ his teammate Intre still had a mathematical chance until after the final race of the season. We take a look athow both championships came to be.
Divison A
In the Formula V8 division, Chris started the season strong. Qualifying on pole for the first race at Blackwood, he drove away from the field and as the rest seemed to fade in the distant, he just kept driving consistent fast laps. Second and third were FPR Matze and ALSTR[RUS], the only drivers to stay just within a minute of the race winner. No such gap at race 2. Chris again qualified on pole and had a good run up until after the round of pitstops, when Intre quickly closed in on Chris. However, the race at Kyoto GP long just wasn’t long enough for Intre as he got close to Chris only in the final lap, finishing 0.43 seconds behind his teammate. Matze finished third and moved up to second in the championship. Onto race three for even longer lap times at Fern Bay Black. Intre wasn’t bothered by a chat penalty, as even with the 5 second penalty he was 20 seconds clear of the rest. With Chris missing out on this event, Matze could have taken over the championship lead if he had finished second. He didn’t and had to leave the second place for a brilliant performance by pod.hama Pio. Matze’s third place was enough to draw even, but Intre still had the lead by having more wins.
On to the second part of the season. OWRL opened up the rules for entry in Div A, allowing for bigger starting fields. At Westhill International (race 4) this immediately led to the best race of the season. Three drivers got away from the rest of the field and they didn’t lose each other out of sight. Chris, Intre and OWRL debutant SVT M. Goëse swapped the lead like the cyclists at the Tour de France, at least until the round of pitstops got in the way. M. Goëse made an unfortunate error in judgement and entered the pit lane too fast costing him a drive through penalty. Intre looked like finally getting the upper hand over Chris, but during the pitstops Chris gained time by not changing tyres. From there on, he hold off his teammate and went to win his third race of the season ahead of Intre and M. Goëse. Round 5 at South City Long reverse was more straightforward: RAPTOR | Chris took pole, held the lead at the start and had the right strategy. Papafant joined a Div A race for the second time this season and finished in second. Intre got a podium of vital importance, because that meant Chris still had not enough advantage in the points to be crowned season champion. A final race of the season that would not be contended by Chris. Aston GT rev was the scene and IRT was set to make up for their lack of results this season, taking the first four places on the grid. Papafant was beaten for pole by MaRDoX, but took the lead the start. Then halfway during the race it became clear he was making a pitstop whereas MaRDoX was trying to finish the race without pitting for fuel or tyres. This handed the lead to him but just two laps before the end Papafant showed he is getting in form just as the annual MRT Cup is coming up, winning the final round of the season.
And the championship you ask? Just like Chris, Intre did not appear at the final race. As qualifying started, Chris was the new champion. Second in the standings was Intre. Matze showed some consistent performance earning himself a nice third place finish. Gentlemen, well done!
Division B
Div B started using the Formula BMW at Blackwood GP rev. In qualifying, Core K.O’Keefe edged ahead of [SR] FireDragon and in the sprint race he kept his lead. FireDragon may have lost the chance to win the first race of the season, but in the main race he still had the chance to get to the top of the standings after race 1. Using the top 8 reverse grid, FireDragon started ahead of O’Keefe on the 4th row. In lap 1 he drove from seventh to third, then got past Xcite | Cali for second and by lap 6 of 32, he overtook [SR] bLb for first position. Extending his lead to over 20 seconds, FireDragon took the lead of the point standings in the first event of the season with a bang. Xcite K. Egloff took second place in the standings with P5 in the sprint and P2 in the main race. On to Kyoto GP Long and the Formula XR. With 27 drivers on the grid in Div B1 it looked like it was going to be a closely contested event, and that was proven in the sprint race. Chat penalties costed the first two drivers to cross the line their position. FireDragon dropped from first to third, 3id Cai Yufeng lost even more places and finished in P8. The race win was handed to [SR] Tanakan followed by a second place finish by Div A veteran spdoFiredUp. Tanakan’s win in the sprint race boosted his morale so much that he became unstoppable in the main race. After Tanakan, Xcite teammates K. Egloff and Cali shared the remaining places on the podium. After two events those three drivers were closely trailing FireDragon in the standings. It looked like it could be one of the closest seasons in the OWRL to date.
That would change over the next two events. Race 3 (FBMW at FE Black) was missed by both the Xcite contestants and the Sonicrealms team gave their first sign of domination. The main race podium was covered by Tanakan, FireDragon and bLb. FireDragon had already won the sprint race at Fern Bay and increased his lead. In round 4 Xcite | K. Egloff fought hard to keep the [SR]-driver from further increasing his lead. At Westhill International he slipstreamed his car past FireDragon in the sprint race taking his first win of the season. The main race, again with the top 8 reversed, saw FireDragon zipping through the front of the field quicker than K. Egloff could. After they both had the top two spots again, the gap got within one second but never close enough for slipstreaming. FireDragon won the main race and got away with the most points in the event.
The middle part of the season had passed and FireDragon emerged as clear leader. His gap was 30 points over K. Egloff who already missed an event. The fifth race of the season took place as South City Long reverse, using the FBMW, and without the presence of K.Egloff. Now his main opponent in the champion was his teammate Tanakan. This event was joined by another quick SR-driver, Joedah (Rudy van Buren). Joedah showed his teammate the way winning both the sprint and the main race. Tanakan followed close enough in the sprint race for FireDragon to not take the championship there even though he had to let Dzban take the final podium position. In the main race however Tanakan got involved in an incident at the end of lap 1, dropping him down the field and eventually causing him to pit for repairs. FireDragon did what he had to do – get back on the podium and he was more than happy with finishing second. [SR] Firedragon won the S2 Season 15 Div B championship at the fifth event of the season. Congratulations! Because of the title, the third place finisher in the main race was slightly out of the spotlights, but ex.R K. Knaller showed an excellent performance at the streets of South City.
The final race of the season was to decide the remaining places, but one new OWRL contestant had other things in mind. Veng made an impression at his debut by winning both the sprint and the main race at AS GT rev. We hope to hear more from him in our upcoming season. [SR] managed to claim the top three of the championship. Behind the already crowned FireDragon, Tanakan and bLb finished the top three. Ex.R Snake00 came close to his first Div B1 win in the main race but was passed by Veng in the final stages of the race. Still, his second place finish confirmed his fourth place this season and just like the other top drivers, this will award him a Div A license.
Next OWRL season to be announced soon! We'll be racing before the end of this year.
S2 Season 15
Results & stats
Div A: Final standings | Season overview
Div B: Final standings | Season overview
Replays (must be registered)
www.owrl.de
It was a pleasure to read it.