Suzuka R9 | ThunderEnduro

K-CLASS THUNDER ENDURO ROUND 9 SUZUKA – 28th AUGUST 2018

MAD JOY TURNS TO HEARTACHE FOR RML

Mad2210 scores his first victory in the Focus ~ Heartache for Nikemikerules takes the title fight down to the wire ~ Another podium for Weebilly ~ Major Raver and the Ferrari 3rd ~ ABigPieKey tries to do the race on no stops ~ Devilsbogeyman leads early on until retirement ~ A good sensible drive by CarcrazyCal

Mad finally got the result he had promised in the season, winning at Suzuka

So this was the day that RML were looking forward to, whilst KRR were dreading. Suzuka was going to punish the Lancia, whilst RML had a chance to grab the team lead and most importantly clinch the driver’s title. Little did we know that by the time the Sun had set on the Japanese circuit that the fortunes and hopes didn’t go the way mained had hoped and expected.

17 cars turned up to the main event, we were missing one of the KRR Lancia’s for Rangersrick, rumours abound the fault of this were down to a couple of patches of old rust. Cerberus was still down to one Escort for Devil Lord, with Kinkycowboys still away celebrating his second place at Mugello.

The second DART Ferrari of Wambogini was present though, but the car had real issues in the paddock and never made it on to the grid, leaving the packed grandstands with 16 cars to take the green light. Before this we saw the demonstration race for the Renault Clio Cup, and it was finally a win for Bradderstig this season, who held off late race pressure from NikeMikeRules, to win by an amazing 0.88 seconds, with Robraceruk doing superbly to hold off WeeBilly for the final podium spot.

With nice sunny skies, Devilsbogeyman lined up on pole, over the moon with his performance from last week, and looking forward to the race, although the team had had a few reliability issues in the run up to today’s race. He made a fantastic start, and in to the first corner it became a Devil 1-2, as Devil Lord made a lightning getaway to get around the Alfa of CarCrazyCal. Cal was a worry for many here, his low Pi would mean he would be slow around parts of the circuit, but lightning quick down the straight and as many have found out this season, he is near impossible to overtake when defending. Cal held on to third, but had the RML twins lined up behind him, Robraceruk ahead of NikeMike with the top 6 through the first corner being completed by BMR Sutton. Sutton’s hopes took a nose dive through the esses, as he was struggling for speed and traction and this saw slight contact with ABigPieKey that sent him to the gravel and down the field. Mike though was lively on this first lap, finding a way past his team mate through the esses, he was now all over Cal and keen to put an end to the Alfa’s title hopes straight away. So across the line for the first time and Devilsbogeyman was fairly storming away out front, over 2 seconds ahead of Devil Lord in second, who had a similar gap to Cal and the squabbling cars behind. 4th was Mike, 5th after a fantastic opening lap was the returning WeeBilly, 6th was Norlinracer 7th Robraceruk after a slight mistake, ahead of Mad, CelticFox and the impressive Hoppers in the first of the Lotus Evora’s.

Devilsbogeyman was driving fantastically out front but Devil Lord was starting to close in, and behind them Mike was past Cal and up to third, and bringing himself and the pack closer to the front two. WeeBilly was soon through as well, fantastically diving down the inside at the spoon curve to take the Alfa. All eyes though were following Mad and the Focus. Mad had shocked the paddock by announcing he had left the team on the lead up to the race, to join RML next season, and after a couple of near misses earlier in the season, he looked in the mood to put things right early on. Up to 7th on lap 2 and now homing in on his teammate for 6th, Norlin was having an impressive opening few laps in the second lower Pi Ford Focus. Norlin let his teammate through for 6th in the spoon curve, allowing his teammate to chase after the top 5 ahead. Lap 3 and WeeBilly was flying and overtook Mike for third on the rundown to the first corner, the Mercedes driver determined to score another podium and maybe more. This was looking great, the top 6 were closing in on each other and we looked set for a great battle. Devil Lord was quicker through the twisty stuff, but Bogeyman faster on the straights, the Escort now though looking in his mirrors at the train of cars being led by WeeBilly. Mike though fancied third place back and was attacking the Mercedes, whilst behind them, the Focus of Mad was past Cal and up to 5th place. Mad wasn’t hanging around and through the 130R he powered past the Mazda, and it soon became third when under braking for the chicane, WeeBilly got a little close to the Escort in front, and spun to avoid, dropping him down to 5th . Mad was really motoring and relieved Devil Lord of second on the run down to the first corner on lap 4, Devil though brilliantly hanging it out around the outside of the esses, the two Fords side by side, the Focus just holding on. Now Mad was keen to pass Devilsbogeyman, this though proved slightly harder due to the similar straight-line speed of the Mercedes. These two were now having a fantastic dice, and Devil was coming after them to, leading WeeBilly again who had dislodged Mike for 4th. Behind these top 6 was Major Raver, Raver had qualified badly and had a difficult opening lap, but had slowly been picking up the places and running at a good pace and was now up to 7th and closing in on the top 6. Behind him was CelticFox, who was just a head of a train of cars that included ABigPieKey, Bradderstig, Robraceruk and CQR Rob. NorlinRacer had sadly dropped back after an off at the chicane, and Hoppers opening pace had seen him well in the top 10, until a spin at the esses on lap 3 had dropped him to the back of the field.

Mad was trying everything out front to get into the lead, but the Fife Flyer was shutting the door on him continuously and holding on to the lead, until the run out of the chicane on lap 5 saw the testing gremlins reappear and the Mercedes lost all drive, using the hill to freewheel into the pits and retirement, it was a bitter blow and robbed us of a great battle out front. This clear air was a godsend to the Focus, and Mad was quickly banging in the fastest laps and moving away out front, could he be on to a win? It would be helped knowing that a walloper being lapped was unlikely to put him in the wall unlike at Laguna Seca. WeeBilly though was keen to keep the pressure on and on lap 6 relieved Devil lord for second place.

CarcrazyCel will be doing the chasing next week at Spa, after Nikmikes retirement.

The Mercedes was quick but not as quick as the Focus and although he started to draw away from the group behind, he was losing a second, to half a second on the leader. Mike was soon through to third place and Devil was looking in his mirrors as Cal was still in close attendances, but the Ferrari of Major Raver was now joining in on the fun. Devil was awesome through the esses, and on lap 7 he got back alongside the Mazda and through to third place, the two made slight contact allowing Cal to challenge. For the next few lap and the status quo was kept, Mad out front extending his lead, WeeBilly behind having the pace of all but the green Focus, Devil comfortably holding off the Mazda, was NikeMike struggling with tyres or just taking it easy Championship wise? At the end of lap 10 though and maybe sensing pressure from behind, after Raver had passed Cal, Mike dived down the outside of the Escort on the run in to the chicane to take third again. On a tighter line coming out of the chicane, seemed to compromise the Mazda and Devil was now challenging along the start straight, but leaving his braking slightly late, saw both Mike and Major Raver slip though past the Cerberus Escort All eyes were on the pit stops, with the window now open. Mad was first to stop on lap 12, WeeBilly the following lap, and Nikemike a lap later. Major Raver was the last of the top 4 to stop, and they returned to the track, but not quite in the positions they had expected. ABigPieKey hadn’t stopped and was now running in third place and with enough pace to stop the Mazda and the Ferrari of catching him, had the CK Motorsport car played a blinder? Mad was untroubled by this and still extending his lead out front and reeled off the laps to finally win the race that he had times threatened to do earlier in the season. He and the team were overjoyed, even though you sensed some regret from some in the team over the decision to move to RML next season.

WeeBilly in a spin, but this didn't stop him from a second place finish.

19 seconds behind came WeeBilly, who kept his podium record intact. The Speedhunters run car didn’t have the pace of the winner, but had the rest easily covered off. So it was all eyes on third. At first it was looking comfortable for ABigPieKey and also obvious he was trying to do the race without stopping, but on lap 19 the first signs of tyre wear were showing on the stop watches and the pace was starting to go as Mike started closing in. On lap 20 Mike took 4 seconds out of the Nissan and it looked a matter of time, although he had Raver and the Ferrari closing in fast and now only just over a second behind the Mazda. Mike was on the verge on clinching the title and RML going into the Team lead as well,

when suddenly the Mazda died coming out of Degner and it rolled to halt on the grass. The horror in the RML pit was plain to see, Mike gutted on the side of the track, the first time he had ever had a retirement due to a car issue in his career. Raver was now left to attack the Nissan, and so crippled was the CK Motorsport Nissan that it was easy pickings and Raver was through to third. It was a great reward for the team, after a number of bad luck moments through the season, it seemed right that the team would be the one to benefit from a bit of good luck for a change. ABigPieKey couldn’t hold on to 4th either, now losing over 8 seconds a lap, the tyres shot to the canvass, he dropped to 6th, as Carcrazycal and CelticFox both overtook the ailing Nissan. For Cal he drove a sensible race staying out of trouble and he became the biggest6 winner in Mike’s retirement, the lead down to 25pints and all to play for next week at Spa. Celtic had a difficult opening few laps but drove well to 5th place, the Quicksilver team keeping Sauber honest in the independent championship. 7th ended up going to Bradderstig, the winner of the earlier Clio race is already counting down the laps to getting rid of the Honda which has become extremely uncompetitive in low Pi, whilst a very disappointed 8th was Devil Lord, a mistake late on lost him valuable time and class points and robbed him of a possible 4th overall, that his earlier battles had promised. 9th fell to the totally dejected BMR Sutton, the Lancia lacking for pace, and he described the race as one of the most boring he had had. The late drama though had been a massive relief for the KRR team and gives them real hope of taking the title next week at Spa. The final top 10 place went to CQR Rob who didn’t have the pace shown of late in the Lotus, but did enough to just hold off the second RML Mazda of Robraceruk for the final team point. Next up was RGreenwood, who found The Team Hard BMW a real handful at Suzuka, and never looked like repeating the heroics of a week ago.

So total heartbreak for RML and Nikemikerules, who were within 3 laps of winning the Championship. They now head to Spa, where he is back at 750 and in a straight fight with CarcrazyCal. It should be a fantastic showdown between the pair. For Mad it was a deserved win after the tears of Long Beach.