K- CLASS THUNDER ENDURO SEASON 1 REVIEW
10 rounds of varying Pi over a season, it was all too complicated, it wouldn’t make the racing close, were the cries heard before round 1, and sceptics were still saying the same after the opening round at Silverstone. By midseason the fastest drivers were winning the title, the races were close and at times unpredictable, and 29 different drivers took part. The season was a great success due to those 29 drivers. It’s time to take a look back at what happened, the happy moments and the frustrating ones. The battles on track, the different cars. The winners and those that had the moments of glory, and at the drivers who starred, voted by those that took part in the series.
AWARDS
Drivers Champion – NikeMikeRules
Team Champion – KRR Racing (BMR Sutton & RangersRick)
Class Champion – NikeMikeRules
Class A Champion – Devil Lord 13
Class C Champion – NikeMikeRules
Super Lap – NikeMIkeRules
Forever Forward – Kenty76
Independent Winner – CarCrazyCal / Team Sauber Alfa Romeo
Best Looking Car – DART Ferrari / Cerberus Ford Escort
Car of the Championship – KRR Racing Lancia 037
Race of the Season – Long Beach
Drive of the Season – Mad at Suzuka
Most Laps Led - Nikemikerules
Most Laps Completed - Major Raver
Most Improved Driver - Devilsbogeyman
Funniest Moment – RangersRick not knowing he had won at Maple Valley and then thinking it was a wind-up for 2 minutes after.
THE CIRCUITS
The calendar was released for the season, put together by the admin team, but done in a way that some of the quick circuits would come at a time when some of the fastest cars would be hampered. Silverstone started the season, but didn’t bring the closest battle out front; Hockenheim though was closer as the Pi’s started to kick in. It was the circuits that you least expected at the start of the season that bought the drama, the 3 car battle for the lead at Long Beach in the first half of the race was superb, and the monster fight at Sebring was a match for that in entertainment.
THE CARS
750Pi was the base, and you went up if you finished at the back, you went down if you won. A number of teams and drivers rocked up at Silverstone for round 1, in cars that were mega at 750Pi around the Northamptonshire circuit. It became obvious very quickly that some cars were not the greatest when Pi’s dropped or at other circuits on the calendar. Some cars that looked a problem and a poor choice at Silverstone came alive as the season went on, and the MaD Motorsport run Ford Focus was a prime example of that. What was also interesting was how the cars and drivers closed up over the season, the constant tinkering to find the odd tenth, instead of trying to find seconds before round 1. RML did this well by running a standard gearbox at the final round at Spa, something that wouldn’t have worked at Laguna Seca or Long Beach in the same way. The car spread was fantastic, and so was the pick between AWD and RWD. AWD cars were heavier and quicker off the line, the RWD cars lighter and quicker over a lap. THE RWD cars were helped by the dry summer, meaning a wet round never occurred. The faster drivers were mostly found in RWD, and the rise in Pi’s for next season has seen more RWD cars entered, but these faster cars will be harder to handle and manage if the rain comes down and more mistakes may happen. No one raced a FWD car; in fact the only car ever seen in that trim was a smart looking Nissan Juke in testing, which never made it to the grid. The best looking car was jointly voted to be the Cerberus Ford Escort and the DART Ferrari.
Voted the best looking cars
NIKEMIKERULES leads Cal, the best 2 drivers
THE TEAMS
Team Cheetah was straight out of the box in announcing the 2005 Honda NSX. The car was quick on the scoreboards for Silverstone in 800Pi trim so for round 1 it was a great pick, but lead driver Bradderstig was beaten to the flag by Nikemikerules, who took advantage of a better random grid slot. Bradders missed round 2, and then as the circuits changed the team found the car to be horrible, it didn’t like the changes to Pi and was difficult to drive constantly, which said a lot when it had one of the best tuners in the series driving for it. The pre-season favourite never won and that was a shock, but this was mostly down to the car. The closest the team came to winning was at Maple Valley, when FKart5 was cruelly robbed of victory on the last corner. The preseason favourites finished third at the end, and the team would have been glad to see the back of the difficult NSX by the time the flag fell at Spa.
KRR Racing went for the Lancia 037, the oldest car on the grid, and they covered the bases brilliantly by running BMR Sutton in RWD and RangersRick in AWD. The car handled well in both forms and that more than made up to the power short comings it had to some, the light weight also being a help to. They won more races than any other team and deserved the teams title, but the car was a massive struggle for power when it dropped to the 700s or below, and unlike other teams it was harder to find away to get more pace with the Lancia when it did drop that low. The car was voted car of the year by its rivals.
RML showed up in the Mazda RX7, which caused a few interesting looks in the paddock due to the bunny kit on it, over the listed Forza Aero. The bunny kit was exactly the same front and back as the Forza Aero, so no advantage was gained, and lead driver NikeMike drove the wheels off it, unbeaten in 720Pi or higher. He found ways to make it work later in the season at lower Pi to gain valuable points, the exception being at Road Atlanta where they got it wrong. They missed out on challenging for the team award by second driver Robraceruk missing a couple of rounds and struggling earlier in the season, and Mikes late retirement at Suzuka.
Cerberus led the AWD assault with a pair of Escort Cosworths, that looked the part. Both drivers Kinkcowboys and Devil Lord were equally matched and were always found within the top 10. Devil had more consistency over his team mate, which bought him Class A honours, but Kinky had the cars best day with a mega drive at Mugello, that bought him a second place. Kinky’s two race miss after that lost the team some points, and they may have been closer to KRR in the final points standings had he not. There was no doubt that the Escort wasn’t the fastest car, but it also seemed to possibly be the most consistent car when it came to the Pi changes. Cerberus deserves credit for getting that right over a season.
DART showed up with a pair of gorgeous Ferrari 288 GTO’s that were then protested and disqualified by the admins, the team losing all its points and returning with the Ferrari 355. It was hard on the team; the car was within the rules, but not the reading of how the rules were written in one place. The ironic thing was, that the 355 was a better car than the 288, it had better balance to it, although both Ferrari’s were very good in medium to fast corners, it was the slow places it wasn’t. Sister team DARE ran a Lotus Evora in AWD, it was a fun little car that became a seriously quick car when CQR Rob joined the team. It handled well and had good weight to power ratio, and it has given Lotus cause to do the series in a bigger way for next season, by running the Espirit with RML.
Sauber Alfa Romeo and Quicksilver were the two best one car teams in the championship. Sauber took the Alfa Romeo discarded by another team earlier in the season, and turned it into a pure beast. Lead driver Carcrazycal was the perfect driver for the car, and the team did a great job of managing the Pi drops as well, keeping the car as competitive as possible. It was heavy, but it had some grunt, and handled well for its weight to. For Quicksilver, they used the Dodge Viper which was driven well by CelticFox. The team had some bad luck early on, but a lot of pace over a lap, the results also started to come, but then the season bar Sebring petered off a bit, was it down to the team hitting a wall with the development or was it the other teams could get more out of their cars? Another sole effort came from Speedhunters and the Mercedes 190E that they run. Again the Bunny aero was involved, and a short campaign led by WeeBilly. The car was very stable, but the Bunny Aero helped that, but hindered the car on the straights and although WeeBilly challenged everytime he appeared, he always found a car faster than him.
CK Racing picked up the Nissan GTR, which looked a big car but handled brilliantly. It was a one car effort until the final round at Spa, and lead driver ABIgPieKey drove brilliantly at times, even managing to be the only runner to do a race without a pit stop. The team were the first to admit it struggled a bit on set up, and support in the final 2 rounds helped them find extra tenths. DMR rocked up in a pair of Hyundai’s in AWD, which looked a little horrible at Silverstone, although they sounded the business. The cars had a rebuild with DART before round 2 and Kenty threw it round the German circuit in style, in fact Kenty spent a lot of the season driving the car with the back end flying out. It was far from the best car on the grid, but it showed potential and some speed, and second driver Penfold started to get a rhythm in it just as his season came to an end. They become the Bentley Boys next season, and it will be very interesting to see how they go in a bigger wheelbase car.
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MaD Motorsport couldn’t be missed; the lurid green Focus was totally mad, in fact bonkers off the line. It would make up places for fun, and then eat fuel doing so. The team did a brilliant job of improving the car through the season; they never lost the pace, but improved the efficiency and balance of the car. A second version appeared in the second half of the season, and the hard work was rewarded with a win at Suzuka. Lead drive Mad2210 has earned a drive elsewhere, it would be so sad to see the team lost from the grid.
Team Hard ran a BMW M3 and it looked like a fabulous GT car when it appeared at Road Atlanta. Lead driver Diboor only raced twice, but the car did run in the season in the hands of RGreenwood as well, who battled for the win at Sebring. How would two of these cars done through the season? Rather well you would suspect. Someone who did run through the season was the Fife Flyers, who built 3 cars before finally deciding on the Mercedes A45 in AWD. The team wanted to do things its own way, it’s as small and independent as you could get, and they struggled in the first half of the season, but gradually you could see them improving and at Sebring and Suzuka they were as quick as anyone. This is a massive thumbs up to lead driver and owner Devilsbogeyman, whose improvements in the car and with himself was voted as a big highlight of the season by the others taking part. RM Motorsport showed up at Silverstone with a Volvo and it was quick and on a par of the Cerberus AWD cars, the problem was that the small team lacked resources and that didn’t help with the reliability either. When its driver CQR Rob moved to DARE, the Swedish car vanished from the grid and sadly the championship. Badcubs ran a pair of 2018 Honda Civics, that burst the eardrums and went reasonably well. The car only raced 3 times and showed a lot of promise in those races as well. Team Sempre Senna showed up with the 2002 version of the NSX and found that if the big budget team of Cheetah struggled with the NSX, that this wasn’t going to be an easy job for a new team either. And finally, we have Alert-It Motorsport that came in to the series with high hopes, and had lost direction before round 1. The team struggled to get a car ready for the season; they bagged a Subaru works deal, but picked the wrong car with the Impreza, when the BRZ would have been a better call. Then looked at a Mini, before showing up in the BMW M2. The BMW was not a bad car, and flew in testing in the hands of other teams, but Alert-It struggled to find a balance that their drivers were happy with, which saw long time team member RGreenwood leave the team to drive elsewhere. To be honest, Alert-It was the complete opposite in their approach to MaD Motorsport and the results showed that. They are regrouping for next season and have started testing a new car early, Capt Storer has the pace if they get the cars set up and sorted better this time around.
KRR won the teams title with the Lancia 037
Mad drove the race of the year at Suzuka
THE DRIVERS (VOTED BY THOSE TAKING PART)
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1. RangersRick
One half of the Championship winning KRR Racing, RangersRick showed up for round 1 in an AWD Lancia 037. It started with a fifth place and best of the AWD cars, and from there in Rick was always found near the front of the AWD class runners. The drop in Pi hurt his car more than his team mates, but he always seemed to get the most from it and didn’t make any errors. His win at Maple Valley was lucky with how it happened, but the drive through to second from near the back put him in the position to take advantage of other people’s misfortune. He didn’t even believe he had won on the slowdown lap, no matter how much the team told him otherwise. His drives from Long Beach and Spa may not get the plaudits of the win, but were both impressive in the fact he had to come through the field to finish where he did. His passes were always clean, bar the only error of the season, when he messed up the line and braking going into the first corner at Long Beach. You sensed that his rivals voted him as the best driver over the season, as he consistently bought the car home and didn’t make any errors, and that was a big reason his team ended up being the champions. Next season he stays with the team and the new Porsche Cayman, he is hoping for a top 5 finish in the Championship, which he is capable of and also defending that team crown.
Magic Moment: Winning at Maple Valley Moment to Forget: First corner at Long Beach
2. CarCrazyCal
Cal missed round 1 and 2, showed up at Road Atlanta and wiped the floor of his rivals. His victory at Sebring against higher Pi cars was one of the drives of the season. He then started to become Mike’s biggest championship rival and we waited for a showdown at Spa with them both at 750Pi for the first time, and it sadly never happened. We will never know who was the fastest this season, which for many will be the saddest moment of Season 1. Cal drove brilliantly when the car lacked the pace, he was often a roadblock and very good at doing it, whilst at Suzuka he showed a different side by not fighting faster cars and was rewarded with a strong result that gave him a championship shot going into the final round. Sadly Cal looks set to miss next season which is a loss to the series, but it is hoped he returns one day to race NikeMike at the same Pi and we can answer the question once and for all. It says so much for Cal’s sportsmanship that he voted Long Beach as the best race of the season for the close racing at the front, even though he lost the chance to be involved in that through no fault of his own.
Magic Moment: Brilliant win at Sebring Moment to Forget: Binning it at Mugello after his pit stop
3. NikeMikeRules
The Champion is only third in the votes, surprising maybe but it doesn’t take away from him deserving the title. He started the season on fire, winning the first two rounds, and then finished it in the same way with winning the final round at Spa. But although these wins played a massive part in winning the title, it was some of his drives on a low Pi, that bought the trophy home. His best drive may have been at Suzuka, where he was on target for a podium until a retirement robbed him at the end. His only real mistake of the season was at Sebring, when contact with the wall dropped him back, after a race where he had outperformed the car. Mike only really had one off day, at Road Atlanta. On a high after winning the first two rounds, he became frustrated at being uncompetitive at the fast American circuit and drove poorly, but that round possibly won him the championship. He and the RML team then worked out how to maximise the car for each round, to get the best out of it and not repeat the performance of the third round, and races like Suzuka were a great example of how they learnt and made that work. Although we will never know who was the out and out fastest on one day, we were left with no doubt on who was the fastest driver over a season and Mike was easily that and deserving of the championship. Mike hopes to hit the ground running in the same way next season and defend his crown. RML have a new setup and a new car in the Ford Mustang GT350.
Magic Moment: Winning at Spa in a straight fight Moment to Forget: Road Atlanta
4. BMR Sutton
The controversial driver of the series, some would say the badboy, but don’t you just love a villain, and the villain needs to be good as well, which BMR Sutton was. The second driver in the championship winning KRR team, Sutton ran in RWD trim and was slightly faster than his teammate, if not consistent. He missed round 1, but was brilliant on his debut at Hockenheim. His win at Mugello was perfect, he dominated the field, whilst the victory at Long Beach was won on hard work and making no mistakes, and thus it was thoughly deserved. Then you had Maple Valley. The car was slow at the Canadian circuit, and Sutton’s head seemed to drop with the pace. His last corner incident has been over discussed, and I’m sure is a massive regret for him. He moaned his way through Suzuka and Sebring, that the car was uncompetitive in both, but it was those two results and the fact he never gave in that stopped the rivals from catching up in the championship, and cemented KRR as the Champions. Next season he wants the team to defend that crown, and he will also be in the hunt for the driver’s title if he drives like he did at Long Beach, and doesn’t like Maple Valley. But all series are better off for a villain or two!
Magic Moment: Long Beach battle to victory Moment to Forget: Maple Valley
5. Devils Lord
The Class A champion was possibly the lonest driver in the series. Devil made a habit of racing on his own for some strange reason, but where as others made mistakes, he made very few. He was quick to work out that a championship was on offer, and concentrated on being the best AWD driver in the series, that then opened the door to the overall class winner, that he missed out on by only a point. Devil and the Escort were perfect for each other. Early on he struggled a bit with the Pi changes, but quickly got on top of those and banged in those consistent results. His best drive was at Road Atlanta, where he challenged for the podium, and it is hard to actually find any faults in his driving, that consistent he was. He was launched in to a massive crash at Spa, and thought the class championship was lost with it, but he fought back superbly to finish 8th in the race and clinch the title, his head not dropping once. He and the team have bagged the much sought after Ford GT car for next season, and with it a move in to RWD. He is desperate to get some podiums, and don’t discount a day when that turns in his first win either.
Magic Moment: Fight back at Spa Moment to Forget: Potential podium loss at Suzuka
6. Mad2210
Mad by name, and with the insane laugh, no one in their right mind would have thought the Green Focus would of won a race after leaving Silverstone. Some will point out that he had a high Pi for the season, but as many men (author not included) will tell you, it isn’t the size, it’s how you use it, and Mad used it. He improved the fuel efficiency of the car, and changed his driving as well; he got smoother, braking earlier, which helped the tyre wear. He battled brilliantly to lead at Long Beach, and ended up broken hearted when the victory was lost though an error of his own making. He drove through the field patiently at Suzuka, and then once in the lead stamped his authority over the rest and dominated to win the race. He did have some crazy days, Mugello opening laps weren’t his best, especially the cardinal sin of contact with his teammate, but he earnt his move into the RML stable and it will be fascinating to see how he compares to his teammate there. The lurid green Focus steaming though the gaps on to the first corner, the laugh from the driver, is something season 1 will always be remembered for.
Magic Moment: Winning at Suzuka Moment to Forget: Crashing from the lead at Long Beach
7. Bradderstig
The Pre-season favourite to win the championship, never led a whole lap. As unbelievable as that sounds, it was true. The Honda looked a great pick, but the car struggled over the bumps and twister stuff, and Bradders could do nothing to improve it. He may have challenged Mike at Silverstone, but the low random grid slot meant that by the time he got up to second, the Mazda was gone, the two so equal he couldn’t close the final few seconds to get on terms. The Honda was good at Hockenheim and Maple Valley, but he missed both those rounds, and then at Road Atlanta, the race was disaster, the car didn’t work at all. And that was the rest of the season, the car just looked cumbersome and slow and no matter what he did, it didn’t get better. The team stayed in the team hunt which was an achievement, and may of won it had FKart completed the season, but you suspect that would have been little comfort to Bradders. Bradders is off to DARE for next season and the Ferrari 360, this is car that does handle well and Bradders is beaming with the potential. He will lead a whole lap next season, and he will win races. It says it all, that the reigning champion fears him the most.
Magic Moment: Getting out of the Honda for the last time Moment to forget: The whole season
8. Robraceruk
The second RML driver is surprisingly based on his finishing position, ranked number 8. Robraceruk first half of the season was a shocker, he looked far from at home with the Mazda RX7, infarct he was spied testing a Subaru that he looked a whole lot happier in. He looked set for a decent top 10 result at Long Beach, but a errant back marker sent him into retirement, and then missed a couple of rounds, before returning refreshed and bang on the pace. He drove well at Mugello, and didn’t get the result his pace showed due to great defence by slower cars, and then he had his day fighting for victory at Sebring and showing the pace that others knew was there. Long before the season had finished he was hard at work testing the Lotus for next season, and you have the feeling he will hit the ground running a lot quicker this time around, in a car he is fully happy with.
Magic Moment: Sebring and the fight for victory Moment to forget: Back markers at Long Beach
9. CQR Rob
He started off in a Volvo and ended up in a Lotus, but whatever the car, Rob ended up being quick. In fact he is a driver who is getting quicker and quicker at each round. He had a number of reliability issues early in the season that robbed him of some strong results, so he jumped at the chance of moving to DARE and the more reliable Lotus Evora. He drove a blinder at Laguna Seca to get on the podium, and was equally impressive at Spa and Mugello. In truth if Rob had driven the Lotus for all 10 rounds, he would of fought for Class honours at the very least. Next season he drives for DARE again, but this time with Bradders as a team mate, and the Ferrari as the car. He is a massive dark horse in both the teams and drivers championship. If anyone doubts that, look at his performance in the support Classic WTCC race at Spa.
Magic Moment: Laguna Seca and a first podium Moment to forget: Retirement at the death at Silverstone
10. Major Raver
Major Raver finished 9th overall, but in truth that should have been 5th but for the points he had taken away, after the protests over the legality of the Ferrari 288. He managed to develop the 355 in to a faster replacement, and drove it well, bar the opening few laps. Raver struggled in the early laps of races, and was regularly near the back. Why? Maybe he is is too careful, or does his style of braking early; leave him venerable to the lunges? His race craft isn’t in doubt, he battled his way though, and was clean doing it, he was also brilliant at making the tyre last. His luck was never the greatest though, as he missed out on a couple of podiums due to track barriers and back markers going off in front of him. At Mugello he was quick but found the widest Alfa Romeo ever seen. He finally managed a podium at Suzuka that had some good luck to it for a change. You feel Raver needs more time on the track and less in the workshop, and he needs to find an answer to those early lap woes if he is stay in the top 10 next seasons.
Magic Moment: Third at Spa Moment to Forget: The barrier in the middle of the track at Maple Valley
11. Kenty
The crazy sideways Hyundai of Kenty, spent half its time drifting, and the other half overtaking, which made him the Forever Forward winner. DMR did a great job with the little car and learnt a lot through the season, he is a FWD that adapted well to running in AWD. Kenty drove brilliantly at Hockenhim and banged in the fastest lap through the field at Long Beach, but then you had days like at Road Atlanta, when he struggled and the head dropped. His luck was never the greatest, the days he was quick, something happened that stopped him from getting the points he deserved. He has high hopes for the new Bentley and the team and driver of confident of winning a race or two.
Magic Moment: Long Beach Moment to forget: Road Atlanta
12. CelticFox
The black Dodge Viper hit the ground running early and had bags of pace but early on not the luck. Steering issues affected the car in the first couple of rounds, but the luck changed and so did the results. Celtic drove brilliantly at Road Atlanta for second, and in fact was only beaten due to Cal making his debut. He also made the podium at Maple Valley, when he drove sensibly and picked up the good luck for a change. It would be fantastic to see CelticFox run alongside someone quick, to find out how really good he is and to have a teammate to bounce ideas off, because you suspected he struggled to find ways to improve the Dodge in the second half of the season. If you do that though, you lose the independence and doing something different that Quicksilver seem to do and the new Aston Martin is a beautiful edition to next seasons grid. He will win a Thunder Enduro race one day, Road Atlanta this season proved that.
Magic Moment: Road Atlanta Moment to forget: Silverstone steering issues
CelticFox was one of the stars of the season
Devilsbogeyman was the most improved driver
(The Rest are not in voted order)
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A BigPieKey – 7th in Championship
It’s easy to forget PieKey, he raced outside of the top 3, but always within the top 10, the Fanta sponsored Nissan was a fantastic looking and handling car. He came close to winning the AWD championship, and if the tyres had held out at Suzuka, he would of done so. He was another to maybe suffer a little by running on his own, and the team are new and happy to admit they are learning on tuning and development. Help for the last 2 rounds found further pace, and PieKey took full advantage of that. They didn’t do a bad job; the car always looked balanced, especially when it was flying over the rest at Laguna Seca. They are back for season 2 with the Alfa Romeo contract and the classic 33. ABigPieKey has massive hopes of consistent podiums.
Magic Moment: Long Beach Moment to forget: Mugello
FKart5 10th in Championship
Fkart and his team, Team Cheetah started the year full of hope of winning the titles, and those hopes were dust long before the season came to a close. He drove well early on, picking up good results with some mature drives and then at Maple Valley he drove the perfect race, taking his time moving through the field, he got into the lead and was all set for victory. He took what happened better than most would in truth and all felt for him. Did all that change the mindset though, because Laguna Seca was not his best moment of the season, and neither was what went on off track and the politics over a four week period. There is no doubt he would of finished high up in the championship had he been allowed to complete it, the fact he wasn’t is sadly down to him and things not needing to be published here.
Magic Moment: Up to the last 300yards at Maple Valley Moment to forget: Laguna Seca
KinkyCowboys 11th in Championship
Kinky did a fantastic job with the Cerberus Ford Escort, and from round 1 the car was always in the AWD hunt. Early in the season his teammate seemed to have more speed than him, but he was the driver who seemed more likely to grab the podiums, and he did this brilliantly at Mugello. What was impressive was that in a race that proved hard for many to overtake on, Kinky was robust and fair and made it work for him. He is the ultimate team player and helped his team mate brilliantly in getting back into the hunt at Spa. Long Beach should have been a golden chance for success but it was a day he struggled and in fact his only real poor performance of the season. Kinky will develop the Ford GT 2005 to its full potential and it will be fascinating to see how the team do with the car, after a season in the safe Escort.
Magic Moment: Mugello Moment to Forget: Long Beach
WeeBilly 12th in Championship
Three podiums in the season, 7 no shows, that sums up his season in one line. The Mercedes was a planted car, it handled brilliantly but it lacked something slightly in the pace department. He also appeared when someone was busy driving a blinder. There is no doubt Billy would have been in the championship hunt had he done the season, but we don’t know how he would of managed compared to Mike, Sutton and Cal when the car was at its lowest Pi. One thing we do know is his racecraft is in no doubt, some of his moves through the field at Road Atlanta were superb, overtaking cleanly through the last corner one car is hard, but taking two on the entry was a joy to watch.
Magic Moment: Overtaking at Road Atlanta Moment to Forget: 7 missed rounds
Wambognini 17th in Championship
The second DART Ferrari showed up for half of the season, and Wambogini looked at home in the 355 version. He drove brilliantly for a top 5 finish at Laguna Seca, and was even disappointed in himself that it wasn’t a podium. His one lap pace wasn’t far off his team mates either, but he like Major lost a chunk of time in the early laps and being caught up with others. He is hopeful of doing most rounds, if work commitments allow, next season and he will be a favourite to win the AM class if he does.
Magic Moment: Laguna Seca Moment of Forget: Part of the flying squad at Road Atlanta
RGreenwood 18th in the Championship
RGreenwood is a fast driver and showed that at Sebring with a fighting drive to second. He started his season at home with Alert-It, but he was never happy with the Subaru from the moment it hit the track, he then struggled with the BMW M2 that replaced it. RGreenwood is a get in and drive, driver, so an unsorted car wasn’t a great help to him. His move to Team Hard and the M3 saw the spark relit and he was involved in some great fights outside of Sebring. Talk of a Mercedes and staying with the team for next season, he will be a podium contender.
Magic Moment: Sebring Moment to Forget: That Subaru Impreza
NorlinRacer 19th in the Championship
The second Mad Motorpsort car of Norlin, arrived later in the season at Maple Valley, his Focus seemed a little bit more stable than the sister car. A different setup or a lower Pi? Norlin didn’t have the reliability either and lost a few results due to electrical issues. He showed good pace early on in races, and track manners were perfect. Talk in the paddock has him returning next season as an independent and a new car; it will be great to see how he does.
Magic Moment: Maple Valley Moment to forget: Mugello
Captain Storer 20th in the Championship
The Alert-It team owner driver came into the season full of hope. They believed they had stolen a coup in picking up the Subaru contract, but it was the wrong model. The Impreza in early tests had horrible oversteer at the front, and understeer at the back. Then the BMW M2 appeared and showed some good pace, but didn’t seem to want to brake for corners. The team wanted rid of that car, but the rules stopped it and that didn’t inspire the lead driver to do any test and development. Storer is a quick driver, other series have proved that, but he is in need of some technical support and patience in developing the car, then he will score well in season 2 if he returns.
Magic Moment: Defence at Laguna Seca Moment to Forget: Crashing into his teammate at Hockenheim
Devilsbogeyman 21st in the Championship
Now here is a driver who never gave up, and had his day in the limelight, deservedly. Devil showed up with his own Subaru, again it didn’t work, and then the Mercedes A45. He looked well off the pace, at times 10seconds off, but he kept working and trying and went to Sebring and set the fastest lap. He drove the wheels off the car, and then started on pole next time out at Suzuka and led until the car let him down. He was without a doubt the most improved driver of the season, and has made the smart decision to continue developing the Mercedes. He will be a factor in the AM championship, and the paddock will be hoping this underdog has another race or two to remember next season.
Magic Moment: Earned Pole Position at Suzuka Moment to forget: That Subaru
AtomStew 22nd in the Championship
A late starter to the series, Atomstew is a quick peddler. Running his own team, with the temperamental Honda NSX, in 2002 guise, was bigger task than he thought. He set some strong lap times, but the car looked a bit on the edge, and was often found going over it. He is set to join Hoppers Sport next season, and don’t be surprised to see some strong results for him.
Magic Moment: Early laps at Maple Valley Moment to Forget: Picking the NSX
HoppersWWFC 23rd in the Championship
Hoppers managed to do all ten rounds in the Lotus Evora. His starts in the high Pi AWD car were mega, and he had a number of races were he ran strongly in the opening laps, but sadly the consistency lacked a bit. He had some good dices with Devilsbogeyman, and they will continue next season. He will be back, and he is bringing his own team with him to run the Porsche 911 GT2. He showed flashes of great promise in the THORS Porsche series, so he is hoping for a change of fortune with his new car. A popular driver, he just needs more time testing, than painting and then the consistency will come.
Magic Moment: Opening laps at Suzuka Moment to forget: Going 4 wide at Road Atlanta
Alert-It had a season to forget
Preseason favourites, but it all went wrong
Penfold 24th in the Championship
The second DMR Hyundai of Penfold was in complete contrast to the sideways version of his team mate. At times it didn’t turn! Penfold struggled through the season, a driver happier in FWD, he found the Hyundai hard to get use to and the luck never happened either. He got a wheel on the dirt at Laguna Seca and barrow rolled into the wall, his speed and comeback drive was fantastic, even though the results don’t show it. He then had high hopes for the next round at Mugello, with his best grid slot of the season, only to have steering issues and not get off the line. That was the end of the road for him, and he wasn’t seen again. It was a real shame, as it looked like he had finally turned a corner.
Magic Moment: Recovery drive at Laguna Seca Moment to forget: The starting issues at Mugello
Diboor 25th in the Championship
The Team Hard boss surprised the paddock by showing up at Road Atlanta, and got into a monster dice with a couple of AM rivals from THORS. The BMW was a promising car, which RGreenwood showed later in the year, and Diboor was capable of good results, which he proved with a good comeback drive at second race of the season at Spa, after a first lap pit stop.
Magic Moment: Dice at Road Atlanta Moment to Forget: First Lap at Spa
Cubs1979, Badbeat, NitroRushmini, Dopey773
One race for the Honda Civic at Silverstone, and Cubs impressed all with some solid pace. He never raced again, which was a shame. Badbeat did two races in the shrill sounding sister Honda; he struggled at Silverstone but went very well at Long Beach. He is talking of racing again next season. NitroRushmini ran a second CK Motorsport Nissan at the final round at Spa, and impressed many with his race craft and speed, grabbing points. He is coming back again next season, and would go well within a team. And finally, another new runner at Spa was Dopey773, who picked up the ex Alert-It Subaru and realised why it was available on the cheap.
SEASON 2
New cars and the level of testing and build has been ramped up already over last season. Many teams have already worked out their weaknesses form the first season and have built cars to counter that, power seems to be the name of the game. The AM class makes an appearance as well which should see some fantastic fights within that group. A move to more RWD cars may prove to be right, or will the season show that many have got it wrong like some did this season?