Posts Tagged ‘British Grand Prix’

CFR-Detroit 2019 Race #4: British Grand Prix

Thursday, August 8th, 2019

In a (boardgame) race that was held on Friday, May 10, 2019, Mickey Akins came from 13th place on the starting grid to pass the other 12 drivers to win the British Grand Prix. Mark Moellering and Mike Cook were the other podium finishers, in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively. The race was contested at Pandemonium Games & Hobbies in Garden City, Michigan. Eleven of the 13 cars finished the race. This was the 4th (of 10) races of the 2019 CFR-Detroit racing season.

The race was on the Brands Hatch track. Our track was based on the old Avalon Hill Brands Hatch track design, except we modified the 2nd corner on the track to make it more logical than was its Avalon Hill design.

The modified Brands Hatch track

The modified Brands Hatch track.

We had not used the Brands Hatch track since our old Advanced Speed Circuit days in the late 1980s/early 1990s, so it needed a good going over. The lane and space dividing lines were originally painted red, and they had faded over the years to be now almost impossible to see. So those lane and space lines were re-painted in yellow. We added the red-and-yellow stripes to mark which side of the track is the inside at any particular point on the track. We also added the orange stripes alongside the track to denote the pit stop spaces. We also went over the numbers in the corners, and re-drew the red cornering arrows.

As a reminder, drivers bid for starting position by bidding some of their wear and/or skill chits, with each wear counting as 1.0 and each skill counting as 0.5 towards their qualifying bid.

Qualifying

Mark Moellering (4 wear + 18 skill) took his 2nd consecutive pole position with a bid of 13.0. Bill Worrel (6 wear + 12 skill) and Garry Kaluzny (3 wear + 18 skill) each bid 12.0. Kaluzny then rolled ’95’ on the ensuing percentage dice roll to break the tie, but Worrel rolled ’98’ and thus Worrel started 2nd and Kaluzny was relegated to 3rd. Richard White (5 wear + 13 skill) and Mike Cook (6 wear + 11 skill) each bid 11.5, with White rolling ’38’ to start 4th, while Cook rolled ’02’ to start 5th. Jack Beckman (5 wear + 7 skill) bid 8.5 to start 6th. Gary Sturgeon (0 wear + 15 skill) bid 7.5 and so he started in 7th position.

Greg Lim (5 wear + 2 skill) slotted into the 8th spot with a bid of 6.0. There were two bids of 5.0: Joel Lauder (1 wear + 8 skill) and Mike St. Peter (4 wear + 2 skill). Lauder rolled ’78’ to start 9th, and St. Peter rolled ’26’ to start 10th. Jim Robinson (0 wear + 7 skill) bid only 3.5, so he began 11th. Aric Parr (0 wear + 5 skill) started 12th with a bid of 2.5. Mickey Akins (0 wear + 3 skill) bid 1.5, so he began in the 13th and final position on the grid.

The starting grid for the 2019 British Grand Prix with their car specs:

 # Driver (Car)                    Start/Accel/Decel/Top/Wear/Skill/Tires
 4 Mark Moellering (Tyrrell)        100   20    40   140  5x   4x   soft
 1 Bill Worrel (Ferrari)            100   40    40   140  5x   3x   soft
 8 Garry Kaluzny (Marlboro McLaren)  60   40    20   140  5x   5x   soft
 7 Richard White (Marlboro McLaren)  60   40    40   140  5x   4x   soft
11 Mike Cook (Camel Lotus)          100   40    40   140  5x   3x   soft
 2 Jack Beckman (Ferrari)            60   60    40   140  5x   3x   soft
12 Gary Sturgeon (Camel Lotus)      100   40    20   140  5x   4x   soft
 0 Greg Lim (Williams)               60   60    40   140  5x   3x   soft
 3 Joel Lauder (Tyrrell)             60   40    40   160  5x   3x   hard
 9 Mike St. Peter (McLaren)          60   40    40   140  5x   4x   hard
 6 Jim Robinson (Williams)           60   40    40   140  5x   4x   hard
10 Aric Parr (McLaren)               60   40    60   140  5x   3x   hard
27 Mickey Akins (Fiat Ferrari)       60   40    40   160  5x   3x   hard

Start = Start Speed (in miles/hour); Accel = Acceleration (in mph); Decel = Deceleration (in mph); Top = Top Speed (in mph); Wear = # of Wear markers (per lap); Skill = # of Skill markers (per lap); Tires = hard or soft tires to begin the race.

The starting grid at Brands Hatch

The starting grid at Brands Hatch: 1st row: Mark Moellering (blue Tyrrell) and Bill Worrel (red Ferrari); 2nd row: Garry Kaluzny (inside, #8) and Richard White (outside, #7); 3rd row: Mike Cook (yellow Lotus) and Jack Beckman (red Ferrari); 4th row: Gary Sturgeon (yellow Lotus) and Greg Lim (white/yellow/blue Williams); 5th row: Joel lauder (blue/white Tyrrell) and Mike St. Peter (orange McLaren); 6th row: Jim Robinson (white/yellow/blue Williams) and Aric Parr (orange McLaren); 7th row: Mickey Akins (red/white Fiat Ferrari).

1st Lap

At the start, the front row cars of Moellering and Worrel both zoomed away at 120 mph (they both used a wear to increase their start speeds by 20 mph each as they were both on soft tires.)  The 2nd row Marlboro McLarens of Kaluzny and White also each used a wear to increase their start speeds to 80 mph. Mike Cook was then balked — he plotted 100 mph (his car’s normal start speed) but had to slow down to 80 mph due to the McLaren roadblock ahead of him. (Hey — it’s not like the McLarens were going slow — they both increased their start speeds!) Beckman used a wear to increase his Ferrari’s start speed to 80 mph, so he kept pace with Cook’s Lotus. From the outside of row 5, St. Peter made a successful dice roll to increase his starting speed to 80 mph. Lauder, on the inside of row 5, failed his -1 start speed roll, mis-shifting and so he started at only 40 mph, 20 mph below his basic starting speed. That allowed Parr to pass Lauder into 10th place when Parr successfully made his start speed dice roll. Jim Robinson rolled his start speed increase attempt using two -1 skill modifiers, but he rolled an ’11’ which became a ‘9’ and so he too mis-shifted and only started at 40 mph instead of the 80 mph he had hoped for. Akins, from the 7th row, was content to start at his normal start speed of 60 mph; that allowed him to come up on Robinson’s left side.

And away they go!

And away they go! At the start, Worrel and Moellering have opened up a 3-space lead, with Worrel taking the inside as Moellering chose to take the cornering arrow.

The cars roared around Paddock Hill Bend, Druids, and then Graham Hill Bend, with Moellering and Worrel racing wheel-to-wheel, each trying to wrest the lead from the other. When they got to the Surtees corner, Moellering had got in front of Worrel, and then two Marlboro McLarens of Kaluzny and White were right behind the leading duo. Then 3 spaces back came the rest of the pack.

Moellering leads at Surtees

Moellering leads at Surtees from Worrel, Kaluzny, and White; then came Beckman, Cook, St. Peter, Sturgeon, Parr, Lim, Akins, Robinson, and Lauder.

The cars raced down Pilgrim’s Drop, and then through Hawthorn’s. Halfway through the 1st lap, it was still Moellering leading from Worrel, then Kaluzny, White, Beckman, Cook, St. Peter, Sturgeon, Parr, Kim, Robinson, Akins, and Lauder.

Then at the Westfield corner, Worrel had to slow down. He had used all 9 of his -1 skill markers and also his only -3 skill marker in bidding for starting positions, so he had no skill chits remaining. He rolled an unmodifed deceleration roll to get down to 120 mph, and then he rolled an unmodifed chance roll for the corner. He crashed, becoming the first retirement from the race, and classified in 13th place.

Moellering leads at Westfield

Moellering leads at Westfield (blue car in upper-right corner; however, Worrel’s Ferrari crashed at that corner (upside-down car next to Moellering. White and Kaluzny and now 2nd and 3rd, Beckman 4th, Cook 5th, then came St. Peter, Parr, Sturgeon, Robinson, Lim, Akins, and Lauder.

When Parr got to the Dingle Dell corner, he failed a deceleration roll. Parr’s deceleration rating was reduced from 60 to 40 mph. Moellering pulled out a 5-space lead over Kaluzny just before Moellering went into the Clark corner. On his next move, Moellering pulled into the pits, but Kaluzny was able to move at 140 mph and was then able to pit on the same game-turn, although Kaluzny pitted 5 spaces behind Moellering. On the next game-turn, the cars of White, Sturgeon, Parr, Cook, and Beckman also pitted. Then on the next game-turn, the cars of St. Peter and Lim pitted just as Moellering and Kaluzny were leaving the pits. Not pitting were Robinson, Akins, and Lauder.

Pandemonium in the pits

Pandemonium in the pits (what did you expect at a place named Pandemonium Games?) Robinson has taken the lead on the track due to his not pitting, with Akins and Moellering right behind.

The official order at the end of the 1st lap was: Moellering (0); White (+2); Robinson (+8); Akins (+9); St. Peter (+5); Lauder (+3); Kaluzny (-4); Parr (+4); Sturgeon (-2); Cook (-5); Beckman (-5); and Lim (-4). Worrel (-11) was classified 13th due to his DNF because of the crash. The numbers in parentheses indicate how many positions a driver either gained (+) or lost (-) from their starting position.

When the pit stops were are resolved, the actual running order on the track was: Robinson; Akins; Moellering; Lauder; Kaluzny; White; Parr; Sturgeon; Cook; Beckman; St. Peter, and Lim.

2nd Lap

As the cars rounded the Surtees corner for the 2nd time, Robinson and Akins were sidepod-to-sidepod through Pilgrim’s Drop. Four spaces behind came Moellering, Kaluzny, Lauder, and White. Another 3 spaces back were Sturgeon, Cook, St. Peter, Beckman, and Parr, and Lim was another 2 spaces behind Parr.

At the halfway mark of the race

At the halfway mark of the race, Akins (red & white car at the upper left) has taken the lead from Robinson (white car on the red arrow over the 80 space). The rest of the pack is strung out behind.

Then at Pilgrim’s Drop, Parr forced an unblocked pass on his teammate St. Peter. Parr and Cook both successfully rolled unmodified to increase their top speed on that same straightaway. But then at Dingle Dell corner, Parr again failed an unmodified deceleration dice roll; his brakes had now failed and he retired from the race in 12th place. Then St. Peter spun at Stirling’s corner just as Akins and Robinson had pulled into the pits.

Akins leads the 2nd lap

Akins leads the 2nd lap as he pulls into the pits. Robinson has also pitted, and St. Peter (orange car) has spun (upper left of picture).

The only other cars that pitted at the end of the 2nd lap were those of Lauder and St. Peter; the other cars all stayed on the track.

The official order at the end of the 2nd lap was: Akins (+12); White (+2); Moellering (-2); Sturgeon (+3); Kaluzny (-2); Cook (-1); Beckman (-1); Lim (0); Robinson (+2); St. Peter (0); and Lauder (-2). Parr was classified 12th when his brakes failed.

When the 2nd round of pit stops was over, though, the running order on the track was: White; Moellering; Sturgeon; Kaluzny; Beckman; Cook; Akins; Lim; Robinson; Lauder, and St. Peter.

3rd Lap

As the pack reached Graham Hill Bend early in the 3rd lap, White spun his car. He had been leading at the time, but dropped to 4th after recovering from the spin.

Richard White spins at Graham Hill Bend

Richard White (backwards facing white & orange McLaren) spins at Graham Hill Bend. Note that Mickey Akins is currently 7th.

Moellering then found himself in the lead, and he pulled out a 3-space lead over the now 2nd-place Kaluzny coming out of the Surtees corner. As the pack passed through Hawthorn’s corner for the last time, there was but a half-lap left to race. Moellering still led by two spaces from the pack of Kaluzny, Sturgeon, Cook, White, Beckman, and Akins, then behind that pack came Robinson, Lim, and Lauder, and then another 13 spaces back came St. Peter.

Going into the Westfield corner, Akins was 7th; coming out of Westfield, he was in 4th place. The rest of the pack had now caught up with Moellering. While most of the leading cars were discovering they had very few remaining wear, Akins still had a comfortable amount of wear. At Dingle Dell, Akins moved into 3rd, alongside the 2nd-place Cook.

Akins moves into 3rd place

Akins moves into 3rd place. The running order is: Moellering, Cook, Akins, Kaluzny, Sturgeon, Beckman, White, Robinson, Lauder, Lim, and St. Peter (not in the picture).

At the next corner, Stirling’s, Akins pulled up next to the race leader Moellering, and then Akins passed Moellering for the lead whilst on Clearways. Coming through the final corner, the Clark Curve, Akins was 2-spaces clear from Moellering.

Akins takes the checkered flag

Akins (red & white Fiat Ferrari) takes the checkered flag to win the British Grand Prix.

At the checkered flag, it was Akins winning by 4 spaces from Moellering and Cook. The two team Marlboro McLarens of White and Kaluzny were drag-racing for 4th and 5th place. Kaluzny damaged his engine by over-revving it, and so White was 4th and Kaluzny had to settle for 5th. Jim Robinson came home in 6th, and Sturgeon was 7th. Greg Lim snagged 8th place, the final points paying position. Beckman was 9th, and Lauder was 10th. Lauder had tried a forced-pass on Robinson at the finish line, but was blocked. Lauder could not slow down, and so he spun right at the finish line. But Lauder kept his 10th place, because 11th place, St. Peter, was 8 spaces behind at that moment.

The official order at the finish of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch: 1st-Mickey Akins (+12); 2nd-Mark Moellering (-1); 3rd-Mike Cook (+2); 4th-Richard White (0); 5th-Garry Kaluzny (-2); 6th-Jim Robinson (+5); 7th-Gary Sturgeon (0); 8th-Greg Lim (0); 9th-Jack Beckman (-3); 10th-Joel Lauder (-1); 11th-Mike St. Peter (). Two DNFs were classified: Aric Parr (0) was 12th (brakes); and Bill Worrel (-11) was 13th (accident).

Aftermath

Points awarded at the 2019 British Grand Prix: Akins 15; Moellering 12; Cook 10; White 8; Kaluzny 6; Robinson 4; Sturgeon 2, and Lim 1.

Team points awarded at the 2019 British Grand Prix: Fiat Ferrari 15; Marlboro McLaren 14; Tyrrell 12; Camel Lotus 12; Williams 5.

The points standings of the 2019 CFR-Detroit season (after 4 of 10 races):

Place Driver (Car)                    Points
  1T  Richard White (Marlboro McLaren)  36
  1T  Garry Kaluzny (Marlboro McLaren)  36
  3   Mike Cook (Camel Lotus)           35
  4   Bill Worrel (Ferrari)             30
  5   Aric Parr (McLaren)               22
  6   Jim Robinson (Williams)           16
  7   Mickey Akins (Fiat Ferrari)       15
  8   Mark Moellering (Tyrrell)         14
  9   Greg Lim (Williams)                8
 10   Gary Sturgeon (Camel Lotus)        7
 11T  Joel Lauder (Tyrrell)              4
 11T  Jim Landis (Benetton)              4
 13T  Mike St. Peter (McLaren)           2
 13T  Jack Beckman (Ferrari)             2
 15   Brian Robinson (Benetton)          1

Drivers can only count their 7 best finishes out of the 10 races.

The team championship standings of the 2019 CFR-Detroit season (after 4 of 10 races):

Place Team              Points
  1   Marlboro McLaren    72
  2   Camel Lotus         42
  3   Ferrari             32
  4T  McLaren             24
  4T  Williams            24
  6   Tyrrell             18
  7   Fiat Ferrari        15
  8   Benetton             5

Teams can only count their 2 best finishing cars from each race.

Another Thought

It seems at most of our CFR-Detroit races, there is wild bidding to ensure starting up front. Most cars also start on soft tires to then can spend a wear to automatically increase their starting speed without having to roll dice (which could result in a stall!) Then it is a race on the first lap to get into the pits before anyone else, switch to hard tires, and try to eke out two laps on your remaining wear. It was refreshing to see Mickey Akins reverse that strategy. He bid only 3 skill, and started last on hard tires. He carefully nursed his wear through the first two laps, then pitted at the end of the 2nd lap. He emerged on soft tires, and while he had to pick his way through several cars that had got in front on him during his pit stop, has was able to use his extra wear on the final lap to guide his car to victory.

Akins set the CFR-Detroit record for winning from the lowest starting position (13th place). The previous record was winning from 7th place, by Jack Beckman at Abu Dhabi in 2018.

The next (5th) race of the 2019 CFR-Detroit racing season was on Saturday, July 13, at Guild of Blades in Clawson, Michigan. It was the Michigan Grand Prix, raced on the downtown Detroit track.

CFR-Detroit 2019 Race #3: Hungarian Grand Prix

Wednesday, August 7th, 2019

The 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix was held on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at RIW Hobbies & Games in Livonia, Michigan. Fourteen drivers contested the race, and at the end it was Bill Worrel taking the victory at the checkered flag. It was Worrel’s 2nd victory of the three CFR-Detroit races so far in 2019. Other podium finishers were Garry Kaluzny in 2nd place, and Mike Cook in 3rd place. Twelve of the 14 cars that started the race crossed the finish line.

The race was held on the Hungaroring track of a Garry Kaluzny design from the mid-1980s. The old Detroit Advanced Speed Circuit group used to race on the Formula 1 tracks a year after the tracks were raced in real life, and as Avalon Hill had not yet published the Hungaroring track, it was designed locally.

Hungaroring track

The Hungaroring track as used by the Detroit Championship Formula Racing players. Note that Bill Worrel also won on this track in 1987. This track was originally designed as only “2-wide,” but a 3rd lance was recently added on the start/finish straight.

As a reminder, drivers bid for starting position by bidding some of their wear and/or skill chits, with each wear counting as 1.0 and each skill counting as 0.5 towards their qualifying bid.

Qualifying

Mark Moellering (7 wear + 8 skill) earned his 1st pole position of the 2019 season, with a high bid of 11.0. Bill Worrel (0 wear + 20 skill) started 2nd with a bid of 10.0. Garry Kaluzny (3 wear + 13 skill) started 3rd with a bid of 9.5. Richard White (4 wear + 10 skill) bid 9.0 to start 4th. Jim Robinson (2 wear + 12 skill) and Mike Cook (2 wear + 12 skill) each bid 8.0. Jim Robinson rolled a percentage dice roll of ‘100’ to Cook’s roll of ’84,’ and so J. Robinson started 5th, and Cook started 6th. Gary Sturgeon (3 wear + 8 skill) started 7th with a bid of 7.0.

Greg Lim (5 wear + 0 skill) bid 5.0 to start 8th. Ninth on the grid was Brian Robinson (0 wear + 5 skill) with a bid of 2.5. Aric Parr (2 wear + 0 skill) and Jack Beckman (0 wear + 4 skill) each bid 2.0, with Parr starting 10th after rolling ’86’ to Beckman’s roll of ’35,’ thus relegating Beckman to 11th on the grid. Jim Landis and Mike St. Peter each bid nothing. Landis started 12th with a roll of ’43,’ and St. Peter started 13th after rolling ’08.’ Mickey Akins arrived just as the bidding for qualifying was finishing, so he was added to the field in 14th position as a provisional starter. This was Akins’ return to boardgame racing competition. Although it was Akins’ first official race using the Championship Formula Racing rules, he is a past champion of the old Detroit area Advanced Speed Circuit races.

The starting grid for the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix with their car specs:

 # Driver (Car)                    Start/Accel/Decel/Top/Wear/Skill/Tires
 3 Mark Moellering (Tyrrell)         60   40    40   140  5x   4x   soft
 1 Bill Worrel (Ferrari)            100   20    20   140  5x   5x   hard
 8 Garry Kaluzny (Marlboro McLaren)  60   40    40   140  5x   4x   soft
 7 Richard White (Marlboro McLaren)  60   40    40   140  5x   4x   soft
 6 Jim Robinson (Williams)           60   40    40   140  5x   4x   soft
11 Mike Cook (Camel Lotus)          100   40    40   140  5x   3x   soft
12 Gary Sturgeon (Camel Lotus)      100   40    40   140  5x   3x   soft
 0 Greg Lim (Williams)               60   60    40   160  5x   2x   soft
 5 Brian Robinson (Benetton)         20   60    60   140  5x   3x   soft
10 Aric Parr (McLaren)               60   60    60   140  5x   2x   hard
 2 Jack Beckman (Ferrari)            60   60    40   140  5x   3x   soft
20 Jim Landis (Benetton)             60   60    60   140  5x   2x   hard
 9 Mike St. Peter (McLaren)          20   40    40   140  5x   5x   hard
27 Mickey Akins (Fiat Ferrari)       60   40    40   140  5x   4x   soft

Start = Start Speed (in miles/hour); Accel = Acceleration (in mph); Decel = Deceleration (in mph); Top = Top Speed (in mph); Wear = # of Wear markers (per lap); Skill = # of Skill markers (per lap); Tires = hard or soft tires to begin the race.

Starting grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix

Starting grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix: 1st row: Mark Moellering (left) and Bill Worrel (right); 2nd row: Garry Kaluzny (#8) and Richard White (#7); 3rd row: Jim Robinson and Mike Cook; 4th row: Gary Sturgeon and Greg Lim; 5th row: Brian Robinson and Aric Parr; 6th row: Jack Beckman and Jim Landis; 7th row: Mike St. Peter and Mickey Akins. Note the temporary track section used to extend the straight for the start.

1st Lap

At the start, Worrel wasn’t content to move at his 100 mph start speed; he wanted to try to move faster. But since he was on hard tires, he couldn’t use a wear to increase his start speed; instead, he used two -1 skill modifiers and rolled the dice. He rolled an ’11’ which was modified to a ‘9,’ but that meant he mis-shifted and so he started at 80 mph, 20 mph slower than his normal start speed. Pole-sitter Mark Moellering, on soft tires, used a -3 skill marker and rolled a ‘7’ to increase his start speed to 80 mph. That meant that Moellering moved before Worrel (since both cars plotted the same speed and Moellering was to the inside), and both cars moved 4 spaces down the track. The two Marlboro McLarens of Kaluzny and White each paid a wear to start at 80 mph, keeping pace with the front-row cars with a move of 4 spaces each. Cook moved at his start speed of 100 mph, so he pulled up next to the McLarens of Kaluzny and White. Jim Robinson spent a wear to start at 80 mph, moving directly behind Kaluzny. Then Sturgeon, from the next row back, started at 100 mph to move up next to J. Robinson. Lim used a wear to start at 80 mph, moving behind his teammate J. Robinson.

Brian Robinson used a wear to increase his car’s start speed from 20 to 40 mph, but he was passed by the cars of Parr (started at 80 mph after making a -1 start speed dice roll) and Beckman (used a wear to start at 80 mph). Moving up alongside of B. Robinson were the cars of Landis (started at 60 mph) and Akins (started at 80 mph after making a -1 start speed dice roll). St. Peter was content to start at his car’s 20 mph start speed.

The start at the Hungarian GP

The start at the Hungarian GP: The running order is Moellering, Worrel, Kaluzny, White, Cook, J. Robinson, Sturgeon, Lim, Parr, Beckman, B. Robinson, Landis, Akins, and St. Peter (the orange blur in the background).

The pack charged toward the 1st corner, with the lead 10 cars all bunched up.

The pack bunches up at the first corner

The pack bunches up at the first corner; Moellering still leads, and the McLarens of Kaluzny and White have made a Ferrari sandwich with Worrel in the middle.

Moving through the 1st corner, Worrel used 2 wear and rolled a -1 chance. He made the roll, so he took the lead by pulling inside Moellering going into the 2nd corner. Going into the 4th corner, only Worrel and Moellering’s cars were able to accelerate out of that corner, so they were able to open a little lead on the following cars. But Moellering also took the lead back from Worrel, as Worrel’s car only had a 20 mph acceleration rating. At that 4th corner, White made a -3 chance roll, and that allowed him to pass his teammate Kaluzny to take over 3rd place. In that 4th corner, Beckman attempted a forced pass of Cook, but Cook slammed the door. Beckman had to use a wear and took a -2 deceleration roll to slow from 100 to 60 mph.

Half a lap into the race

Half a lap into the race, and Moellering and Worrel lead wheel-to-wheel. Then follow White, Kaluzny, J. Robinson, Cook, Sturgeon, Beckman, Parr, Lim, Akins, Landis, St. Peter, and B. Robinson.

Worrel then moved ahead of Moellering, whose car was very low on wear. Moving in the last half of the 1st lap, Kaluzny managed to re-pass his teammate White, and Sturgeon got around his teammate Cook. By the 2nd to last corner of the 1st lap, Worrel led over Moellering and Kaluzny by 5 spaces. Then when Worrel ducked into the pits he had a lead of 7 spaces.

Worrel pits at the end of Lap 1

Worrel pits at the end of Lap 1 with a 7-space lead over Kaluzny, Moellering, Parr, Cook (who had re-passed his teammate), White, Sturgeon, J. Robinson, Beckman, Lim, Landis, Akins, B. Robinson, and St. Peter.

As Kaluzny, Sturgeon, Cook, Moellering, Parr, and White all came into the pits, Worrel was returning to the track with a fresh set of soft tires. Then as Worrel sped away, the cars of J. Robinson and Beckman also pulled into the pits. Akins retired his car just before the 2nd to last corner of the 1st lap, thereby being classified in 14th place with a DNF.

The pits are very busy

At the end of the 1st lap, the pits are very busy indeed. Worrel speeds away while the cars of Kaluzny, J. Robinson, Beckman, Sturgeon, Cook, Moellering, Parr, and White all renew their rubber.

Lim and B. Robinson did pit as they came through the final corner, but Landis and St. Peter stayed on the track on their hard tires. But B. Robinson retired from the race while his car was in the pits, so he was classified 13th with a DNF.

The official order at the end of the 1st lap was: Worrel (+1) (with a huge lead of 10 spaces); Landis (+10); Kaluzny (0); Sturgeon (+3); Cook (+1); Parr (+4); White (-3); St. Peter (+5); Moellering (-8); Beckman (+1); J. Robinson (-6); and Lim (-4). Brian Robinson (-4) was classified 13th, and Akins (0) was classified 14th. The numbers in parentheses indicate how many positions a driver either gained (+) or lost (-) from their starting position.

2nd Lap

In the early part of the 2nd lap, Kaluzny (on fresh hard tires) was having a battle with Landis (on worn hard tires) for 2nd place. Then Kaluzny moved at 100 mph through turns 3 and 4, using 2 wears at the turn 3, and then using another 2 wears and making a -3 chance at turn 4. That allowed Kaluzny to get ahead of the pack into a clear 2nd place. Moellering made a forced pass of Sturgeon at turn 3, but their cars bumped and each car had to lose a wear. Parr then failed a deceleration roll (rolling a ’12’) and so had to use a wear to avoid spinning out, and his deceleration was now down to 40 mph for the balance of the race. Halfway through the 2nd lap, and Worrel was one full move ahead of Kaluzny, and Kaluzny was one full move ahead of Landis and everyone else.

Halfway through the race

Halfway through the race, and Mike Cook (baseball cap) and Mike St. Peter (hatless) look on. The running order is: Worrel (red car near the #11 sign); Kaluzny (approaching the corner at the upper left of the picture); Landis; Cook; Moellering; Parr; Sturgeon; White; St. Peter; J. Robinson; Beckman; and Lim.

 

Jim Landis and Jim Robinson

Jim Landis (cap) and Jim Robinson (no cap) plot their next moves near the end of the 2nd lap.

Between the 2nd & 3rd final corners of the 2nd lap, Beckman made a successful uncontested forced pass of J. Robinson. As at the end of the 1st lap, Worrel pulled into the pits, this time with a lead of 8 spaces over Kaluzny. Kaluzny led Parr and Cook by 6 spaces, then came the bunch of Landis, White, Moellering, Sturgeon, St. Peter, J. Robinson, Beckman, and Lim.

Other cars making pit stops at the end of the 2nd lap were Cook, Parr, Landis, White, Moellering, Beckman, J. Robinson, St. Peter, and Lim. Kaluzny stayed on the track, calculating that was his best chance of hanging on to 2nd place. Sturgeon also did not pit the 2nd time around. When Worrel came back onto the track, he was wheel-to-wheel with Kaluzny, but Worrel had a full complement of 15 wear (a fresh set of soft tires) while Kaluzny had only 5 wear remaining (although he would regain 2 wear when he crossed the start/finish line).

The official order at the end of Lap 2: Kaluzny (+2); Worrel (+1); Beckman (+8); Cook (+2); Sturgeon (+2); Parr (+4); Landis (+5); White (-4); Moellering (-8); Lim (-2); J. Robinson (-6); St. Peter (+1).

3rd Lap

Beginning the 3rd lap, Kaluzny briefly battled Worrel for the lead, but then tried to just conserve his wear to try to stay in 2nd place. Halfway through the last lap, 2nd-place Kaluzny had a 7 space lead over 3rd-place Cook. Then came Sturgeon, Parr, Landis, White, Moellering, Beckman, J. Robinson, Lim, and St. Peter. Coming out of turn 4, J. Robinson unsuccessfully tried to force pass his way past Moellering. Moellering made the block, but had to lose a precious wear in the process. Jim Robinson had to spend 2 wear to slow down from 100 to 60 mph. Then St. Peter spun in turn 4.

St. Peter spins in turn 4

St. Peter spins in turn 4; Jim Robinson (white and yellow car) has just been blocked by Moellering (blue car). Worrel leads Kaluzny by 9 spaces, who now leads Cook by only 5 spaces.

At the end of the final lap, Bill Worrel (+1) easily took the checkered flag, winning by a whopping 14 spaces over Kaluzny. At the time Worrel crossed the finish line, Cook had been gaining on Kaluzny in 2nd place, and Cook was only 3 spaces behind Kaluzny.

Worrel wins at Hungary

Worrel wins at Hungary.

Going into the final corner, Kaluzny’s lead over Cook was down to 2 spaces, but Cook didn’t have enough wear left to floor it through that final corner, so Kaluzny (+1) held on to 2nd (by two spaces), and Cook (+3) was 3rd. White (0) took 4th place, 6 spaces behind Cook, and then Parr (+5) was 5th, three spaces behind White. Now came a dogfight for the final points-paying positions. Two spaces behind Parr, Landis (+6) finished in 6th, and he was closely followed in 7th by Beckman (+4) and 8th by Sturgeon (-1). Beckman had stressed his Ferrari’s engine just as he was crossing the finish line. Moellering (-8) was 9th, Lim (-2) was 10th, St. Peter (-2) was 11th, and Jim Robinson (-7) was 12th after spinning in the final corner after rolling an unmodified chance roll of ‘8.’ As noted earlier, Brian Robinson (-4)  and Mickey Akins (0) were 13th and 14th, respectively (both DNFs).

Aftermath

Points awarded at the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix: Worrel 15; Kaluzny 12; Cook 10; White 8; Parr 6; Landis 4; Beckman 2; and Sturgeon 1.

Team points awarded at the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix: Marlboro McLaren 20; Ferrari 17; Camel Lotus 11; McLaren 6; Benetton 4.

The points standings of the 2019 CFR-Detroit season (after 3 of 10 races):

Place Driver (Car)                    Points
  1T  Bill Worrel (Ferrari)             30
  1T  Garry Kaluzny (Marlboro McLaren)  30
  3   Richard White (Marlboro McLaren)  28 
  4   Mike Cook (Camel Lotus)           25
  5   Aric Parr (McLaren)               22
  6   Jim Robinson (Williams)           12
  7   Greg Lim (Williams)                7
  8   Gary Sturgeon (Camel Lotus)        5
  9T  Joel Lauder (Tyrrell)              4
  9T  Jim Landis (Benetton)              4
 11T  Mark Moellering (Tyrrell)          2
 11T  Mike St. Peter (McLaren)           2
 11T  Jack Beckman (Ferrari)             2
 14   Brian Robinson (Benetton)          1
 15   Mickey Akins (Fiat Ferrari)        0

Drivers can only count their 7 best finishes out of the 10 races.

The team championship standings of the 2019 CFR-Detroit season (after 3 of 10 races):

Place Team              Points
  1   Marlboro McLaren    58
  2   Ferrari             32
  3   Camel Lotus         30
  4   McLaren             24
  5   Williams            19
  6   Tyrrell              6
  7   Benetton             5
  8   Fiat Ferrari         0

Teams can only count their 2 best finishing cars from each race.

The 4th race of the 2019 CFR-Detroit racing season was the British Grand Prix, racing on the Brands Hatch track. That race was on Friday, May 10, at Pandemonium Games & Hobbies in Garden City, Michigan.

CFR-Detroit 2018 Race #2 – British Grand Prix

Wednesday, December 5th, 2018

The second race of the 2018 CFR-Detroit racing series, the British Grand Prix, was held on the evening of Friday, June 8, at RIW Hobbies & Games in Livonia, Michigan. Thirteen drivers competed, and when the dust settled it was Richard White (Brabham) who earned the victory over his rivals. Joining White on the podium, in 2nd and 3rd places, were Bill Worrel (Tyrrell) and Jack Beckman (Ferrari). With the victory, White vaulted into 1st place in the points standings with 13 points.

The race was held on the Silverstone, England, track, using a recent track configuration of a CFR design. This is the same track that was raced in the 2017 CFR-Detroit racing series.

Silverstone (2011) track diagram

Silverstone (2011) track diagram, as designed for use with the Championship Formula Racing board game.

Once again, the field of drivers used the standard “bid for qualifying position” rules of the Championship Formula Racing game. Each Wear marker bid counts as 1.0, and each Skill marker bid counts as 0.5. Bill Worrel won the pole with a bid of 6.0 (6 wear + 0 skill). Richard White started 2nd with a bid of 5.5 (5 wear + 1 skill). Gary Sturgeon (1 wear + 6 skill), Garry Kaluzny (3 wear + 2 skill), and Jim Robinson (1 wear + 6 skill) all bid 4.0, so they rolled percentage dice for starting positions. Sturgeon rolled a 75 so he started 3rd, Kaluzny rolled 70 so he was 4th, and J. Robinson started 5th after rolling 51. Mike Cook started 6th with a bid of 3.5 (1 wear + 5 skill). Jack Beckman (1 wear + 3 skill) and Brian Robinson (0 wear + 5 skill) each bid 2.5, with Beckman rolling an 80 to start 7th, and B. Robinson rolling an 03 to start 8th. Greg Lim bid 2.0 (0 wear + 4 skill) so he started 9th. Jim Landis started 10th with a bid of 0.5 (0 wear + 1 skill). Aric Parr, newcomer Joel Lauder, and Mike St. Peter each bid nothing. Parr won the dice-off with a roll of 60, so he was 11th on the starting grid. Lauder started 12th with a roll of 47, and St. Peter started in 13th with a roll of 29.

The starting grid with their car specs:

 # Driver (Car)                    Start/Accel/Decel/Top/Wear/Skill/Tires
 4 Bill Worrel (Tyrrell)             60   40    40   160  5x   3x   soft
 1 Richard White (Brabham)           60   40    40   160  5x   3x   soft
22 Gary Sturgeon (McLaren)           20   60    40   180  5x   2x   soft
 8 Garry Kaluzny (Marlboro McLaren)  20   60    40   180  5x   2x   soft
 2 Jim Robinson (Williams)           60   40    40   160  5x   3x   soft
11 Mike Cook (Camel Lotus)           60   60    60   160  4x   2x   hard
12 Jack Beckman (Ferrari)            60   60    40   160  5x   2x   soft 
 5 Brian Robinson (Walker Racing)    20   60    60   160  4x   3x   soft
13 Greg Lim (GoDaddy)                20   60    40   180  4x   3x   soft
20 Jim Landis (Benetton)             60   40    40   160  5x   3x   soft
14 Aric Parr (Motul BRM)             20   60    40   180  5x   2x   hard
 7 Joel Lauder (HSBC Jaguar)         20   60    40   180  5x   2x   soft 
44 Mike St. Peter (Mercedes)         20   40    40   160  5x   4x   hard

Start = Start Speed (in miles/hour); Accel = Acceleration (in mph); Decel = Deceleration (in mph); Top = Top Speed (in mph); Wear = # of Wear markers (per lap); Skill = # of Skill markers (per lap); Tires = hard or soft tires to begin the race.

British GP 2018 starting grid

The cars are lined up for the start of the 2018 British Grand Prix. The Grid Girls are in position, and (paying homage to the crashed “safety” car at the recent “real life” Detroit Grand Prix) the safety car has crashed in front of the grid, holding up the start of the race! Note the temporary starting grid to ease starting on a corner.

Ten of the 13 cars started with soft tires; only the cars of  Cook, Parr, and St. Peter were shod with hard tires. It was noted that the front row starters (Worrel, White) both had 60 mph start speeds, while the 2nd row starters (Sturgeon, Kaluzny) only had 20 mph start speeds. The rest of the pack was fairly split between cars with 60 mph start speeds (J. Robinson, Cook, Beckman, and Landis), and cars with 20 mph start speeds (B. Robinson, Lim, Parr, Lauder, and St. Peter).

When the green flag dropped to start the race, pole-sitter Bill Worrel used a wear to increase his start speed to 80 mph; he then took the green arrow leading into the first corner. Richard White, also in the front row, also used a wear to go 80 mph, and he took the inside of the track to take the lead. Jim Robinson also boosted his start speed to 80 mph, thus passing both Gary Sturgeon and Garry Kaluzny who had both started a row in front of J. Robinson. Mike Cook was content to just start at 60 mph and so he pulled alongside Sturgeon and Kaluzny.

The pack is away

The pack is away! The running order is: White; Worrel; J. Robinson; Sturgeon; Kaluzny; Cook; Beckman; B. Robinson; Landis; Lim; Lauder; Parr; and St. Peter.

Through the first few corners, White steadily increased his lead over Worrel, and then J. Robinson also passed Worrel on Wellington Straight. Just before Brooklands corner, Lauder had moved up to 5th, after starting 12th.

White leads through Brooklands

White leads through Brooklands, followed by J. Robinson, Worrel, Cook, Lauder, Sturgeon, Beckman, Kaluzny, Lim, Landis, Parr, B. Robinson, and St. Peter.

As the pack wound its way around the track, Worrel moved up to challenge White for the lead, actually taking the lead from White through the Stowe corner at the end of Hangar Straight. Lauder had moved up to 3rd at that point.

Worrel takes the lead

Worrel takes the lead in the 6-wheel Tyrrell (at the far right of the picture, near the “22” sign). Pictured (left-to-right) are Aric Parr (playing a card to the table), Joel Lauder (Navy cap), Jim Landis (yellow striped shirt), and Brian Robinson (from the chin down, at least).

Shortly after, cars started making pit stops. Worrel and White were the first two cars to pull into the pits, followed by J. Robinson, Lauder, Kaluzny, Sturgeon, Beckman, Lim, and B. Robinson. Aric Parr managed to spin at Vale, but he stayed on the track after the spin. Also staying on the track was Cook, and he became the leader on the track when he crossed the line at the end of the 1st lap. Landis and St. Peter also eschewed making pit stops.

First pit stops

Most of the cars have stopped in the pits at the end of the 1st lap, although Cook (yellow car) is staying on the track and will become the race leader. We have added orange lines next to the track to denote the pit area where cars can pull off the track to make a pit stop.

At the end of the 1st lap, the official order was: Cook (+5); B. Robinson (+6); Worrel (-2); White (-2); Parr (+6); Landis (+4); Kaluzny (-3); J. Robinson (-3); Sturgeon (-6); Lauder (+2); Beckman (-4); Lim (-3); and St. Peter (0). The numbers in parentheses indicate how many places a driver either gained (+) or lost (-) from their starting position. After the pit stops were all resolved, the running order on the track was: Cook; White; Worrel; Landis; Parr; Kaluzny; J. Robinson; Sturgeon; Lauder; Beckman; Lim; St. Peter; and B. Robinson.

Cook leads after the pit stops

Cook (yellow car) leads after the pit stops. Most of the pack (9 cars) are bunched together in Abbey corner.

Down Wellington Straight, Cook’s lead was 8 spaces over White, although Cook had not yet made his pit stop. Kaluzny tried to make a daring move at Village corner. He went 140 mph into the 80 mph spaces, using 2 wears and two -1 skill markers. Alas for Kaluzny, he rolled an 11 (which was modified to a 9), and he spun out. What with his car only having a 20 mph start speed, it took forever for his car to get back up to speed, and he dropped to last place.

Kaluzny spins at Village

Kaluzny (orange and white McLaren) spins in the middle of Village corner.

Cook had a 6-space lead over White and Worrel through Brooklands and Luffield, then Cook stretched his lead to 8 spaces as he passed through Copse corner. Just as Cook was passing though Copse, Jim Robinson spun at Luffield. J. Robinson drove at 120 mph through the inside of the corner, using 2 wears and rolling a chance through the 60 mph space. Although J. Robinson used his -3 skill marker to modify the chance dice roll, he rolled a ’12’ which even when reduced to a ‘9’ resulted in the spin.

Cook leads through Copse

Mike Cook (yellow car at upper right) leads through Copse while Jim Robinson spins at Luffield (lower left).

After Jim Robinson recovered from his spin, he had fallen from 5th place down to 11th.

As Cook came around Club corner at the end of the 2nd lap, he had to pit to change tires as he did not pit after the 1st lap. Cook’s lead was down to 5 spaces over White at the moment of pitting.

As Cook was having his tires changed from hard to soft in the pits, White and Worrel sailed by, White in the lead. Most of the rest of the field was also able to pass Cook before he re-entered the track, although Landis, St. Peter, and Parr also had to make their pit stops. Cook, however, was the official leader of the 2nd lap.

Cook pits; White takes the lead with Worrel in 2nd place

Cook pits; White takes the lead with Worrel in 2nd place.

The official running order after the 2nd lap was: Cook (+5); White (0); Worrel (-2); Lauder (+8); Beckman (+2); Parr (+5); Lim (+2); Sturgeon (-5); J. Robinson (-4); Kaluzny (-6); B. Robinson (-3); St. Peter (+1); and Landis (-3). After the pit stops were sorted out, though, the running order on the track was: White; Worrel; Lauder; Beckman; Sturgeon; Lim; Cook; J. Robinson; Kaluzny; B. Robinson; St. Peter; Landis; and Parr.

During the final lap, Worrel pulled alongside White coming out of Luffield. Worrel had to use 2 wears and roll (and make) a -3 chance roll to accomplish that feat. At that moment, Worrel had 6 wear remaining for the rest of the race, while White had only 5 wear left. The duo of White and Worrel dragged each other through the old Woodcote corner and down the straight to the Copse corner.

Worrel pulls even with White through Luffield

Worrel (solid blue car) pulls even with White (white and blue car) through Luffield corner. Lauder (backwards facing green car) has spun in Luffield. Bill Worrel (solid blue shirt) and Mike Cook (green shirt) watch the action on the track.

White pulled ahead of Worrel at Copse. White went 160 mph on the green arrow through the inside lane, using 1 wear. Although he had the inside of the track leading into Copse, Worrel could not get to the green arrow, so he reduced his speed to 140 mph and cornered through the inside lane of Copse, but had to use 2 wears because of not having the arrow. This left both White and Worrel with 4 wears remaining until the finish.

White retakes the lead through Copse

White retakes the lead over Worrel through Copse. The other positions: Beckman; Sturgeon; Cook; Lim; J. Robinson; Lauder; B. Robinson; Kaluzny; Parr; Landis; and St. Peter.

White next played a CFR-veteran’s move. White moved at 140 mph into the Maggots/Becketts/Chapel corners, using 1 wear in the process (and leaving him with 3 wear). Worrel also moved at 140 mph, but got stuck in the corner despite not using any wear. Meanwhile, Beckman, in 3rd place, was only 2 spaces behind Worrel.

White still leads at Chapel

White still leads at Chapel. Worrel and Beckman are close behind.

White then pushed his car to 180 mph coming out of Chapel corner, while Worrel only went 120 mph to complete moving through Chapel corner, thereby not using any wear. Worrel was now 4 spaces behind White, although Worrel had a 4-wear to 3-wear  advantage over White.

White stretches his lead down Hangar Straight

White stretches his lead down Hangar Straight.

But then what had been a fine battle for the lead on the track between White and Worrel became anti-climactic. Worrel tried to push his top speed to 180 mph down Hangar Straight in an attempt to close up on White, but failed the dice roll. Worrel used a -1 skill modifier for that top speed dice roll, but rolled a ’12’ and so the modifier didn’t make any difference. That meant that Worrel only moved 160 mph, and his top speed until the end of the race was now only 140 mph. Shortly after, Cook also blew a -1 top speed roll on Hangar Straight in his attempt to move 180 mph. Cook also only moved at 160 mph and had his top speed reduced to 140 mph. And then Joel Lauder in the HSBC Jaguar rolled the dice in an unmodified attempt to slow down whilst approaching the Stowe corner at the end of Hangar Straight. He failed the roll, leaving his deceleration at only 20 mph until the end of the race. Fortunately for these cars, the race was almost over.

Kaluzny, last season’s race-winner at Silverstone who was trying to desperately get back into the points for this race,  also rolled dice down Hangar Straight. He made a normal top speed roll to move at 200 mph, then had to make an unmodified deceleration roll to get down to 180 mph when the road was blocked by the cars of Lim and Parr. Kaluzny’s next move saw him try to force-pass Lauder at Stowe, but Kaluzny spun. Brian Robinson was then successful in forcing a pass by Jim Robinson on the outside of Stowe.

In the meantime, Richard White (+1) cruised to the victory by 2 spaces over Bill Worrel (-1). Jack Beckman (+4) rounded out the podium with a 3rd place finish. Other finishers: 4th-Mike Cook (+2); 5th-Aric Parr (+6); 6th-Gary Sturgeon (-3); 7th-Greg Lim (+2); 8th-Jim Landis (+2); 9th-Mike St. Peter (+4); 10th-Joel Lauder (+2); 11th-Brian Robinson (-3); 12th-Jim Robinson (-7); 13th-Garry Kaluzny (-9). St. Peter moved up from 12th to 9th due to a daring forced-pass of Jim Robinson at the Vale corner, and that move gave St. Peter enough momentum to also pass B. Robinson and Lauder before the end of the race.

White wins the 2018 British Grand Prix

White wins the 2018 British Grand Prix.

Points awarded at the British Grand Prix: White 10; Worrel 6; Beckman 4; Cook 3; Parr 2; Sturgeon 1.

The points standings of the 2018 CFR-Detroit season after two of eight races:

Place Driver (Car)                    Points
  1   Richard White (Brabham)           13
  2   Garry Kaluzny (Marlboro McLaren)  10
  3   Mike Cook (Camel Lotus)            7
  4T  Jim Robinson (Williams)            6
  4T  Bill Worrel (Tyrrell)              6
  6   Jack Beckman (Ferrari)             4  
  7   Gary Sturgeon (McLaren)            3
  8   Aric Parr (Motul BRM)              2
  9   Mike St. Peter (Mercedes)          1
  10T Greg Lim (Marlboro McLaren)        0
  10T Brian Robinson (Walker Racing)     0
  10T Jim Landis (Benetton)              0
  10T Joel Lauder (HSBC Jaguar)          0

The next race of the 2018 CFR-Detroit racing campaign is the Belgian Grand Prix, to be contested at Pandemonium Games in Garden City, Michigan, on Friday, July 13.

 

CFR Race #2: British Grand Prix at Silverstone

Saturday, October 14th, 2017

The second race of the 2017-2018 season of Championship Formula Racing (CFR) in Detroit, the British Grand Prix, was held on Friday, October 13, at RIW Hobbies & Games in Livonia, Michigan. Nine drivers participated. When all was said and done, Garry Kaluzny won the race after starting 6th. Other podium finishers were Gary Sturgeon and Mike Cook. Garry Kaluzny now leads the points standings, 13 to 12 over Jack Beckman. The race was on the current version of the Silverstone track, where the start/finish line had been moved from near the Woodcote corner to just past the Club corner, and with more corners added to try to slow the track some from its previous high speed configuration.

The real Silverstone track diagram.

The real Silverstone track diagram. This is the version of the track used since 2011.

 

The modern Silverstone track.

The modern Silverstone track as rendered in 1:64 scale for use with Championship Formula Racing.

Pole position was determined by drivers secretly bidding a number of their Wear and/or Skill markers. Jack Beckman won the pole position with a high bid of 7. Gary Sturgeon started on the outside of row 1 with his bid of 3. Sturgeon bid 6 Skill markers (each of which counts as 1/2 of a Wear for pole bid purposes), which used all of his Skill markers he had available for the race. The second row had Mike Cook and Jim Robinson. Although each of those drivers bid 2.5, Cook won the dice roll and so started on the inside. Brian Robinson, Garry Kaluzny, and Jim Landis all bid 2, with B. Robinson winning the dice roll to start 5th, then came Kaluzny in 6th and Landis in 7th. Greg Lim bid 0.5 (a single Skill marker) to start 8th, and Richard White started 9th as he did not bid anything.

The starting grid and car specs:

 # Driver (Car)                     Start/Accel/Decel/Top/Wear/Skill/Tires
 3 Jack Beckman (Ferrari)            100    40    40  160  5x    2x   hard
12 Gary Sturgeon (John Player Lotus)  20    60    60  180  4x    2x   hard
11 Mike Cook (Camel Lotus)            60    60    40  180  3x    3x   hard
 2 Jim Robinson (Williams)            60    40    40  160  5x    3x   soft
 5 Brian Robinson (Walker Racing)     20    60    60  180  3x    3x   soft
 9 Garry Kaluzny (McLaren)            20    60    40  180  5x    2x   soft
20 Jim Landis (Benetton)              60    40    40  180  5x    2x   soft
 7 Greg Lim (Motorola)                20    60    60  180  3x    3x   hard
 1 Richard White (Brabham)            60    40    40  180  4x    3x   soft

Start = Start Speed (in miles/hour); Accel = Acceleration (in mph); Decel = Deceleration (in mph); Top = Top Speed (in mph); Wear = # of Wear markers per lap raced; Skill = # of Skill markers per lap raced; Tires = hard or soft tires to begin the race. (Since the race was 3 laps, a car with 4x of Wear would receive 12 Wear markers to start the race (as an example).)

Once again, we were using the optional CFR rules for pit stops and tire compounds. Four drivers started on hard tires, and five started on soft tires. Soft tires give some driving advantages, such as being able to use a Wear to increase your start speed or your acceleration without having to roll dice, plus with soft tires you could use 3 Wear to go 60 mph over the speed limit in a corner without having to roll dice, instead of having to use only 2 Wear and roll on the Chance table if you were 60 mph in a corner while using hard tires. If a car was on hard tires, it could regain a few wear when passing the finish line each lap it did not pit for new tires. All drivers had to make at least one pit stop as they needed to use both hard and soft tires at some time during the race.

At the start, pole sitter Jack Beckman jumped into the lead with his 100 mph start speed. Jim Robinson moved up to 2nd from 4th. Mike Cook kept his 3rd position, while Gary Sturgeon dropped from 2nd to 4th. Then Brian Robinson, Garry Kaluzny, and Jim Landis were all side-by-side as they crossed the start line, followed by Richard White and Greg Lim.

The start at Silverstone.

The start at Silverstone. Jack Beckman leads from Jim Robinson, then came Mike Cook, Gary Sturgeon, Brian Robinson, Garry Kaluzny, Jim Landis, Richard White, and Greg Lim. Note the temporary extension used to extend the starting grid, as the start/finish line is just past the Club corner in the 1:64 scale track.

As the pack roared through the Brooklands and Luffield corners, Beckman was still in the lead, followed by Cook and Kaluzny (who had made a daring pass of J. Robinson and Sturgeon at Brooklands to pull alongside Cook). Richard White spun his Brabham in Luffield, and Jim Robinson and Sturgeon went around on the outside of that corner. Then Landis, B. Robinson, and Lim brought up the rear of the pack.

Through the Luffield corner for the first time.

Through the Luffield corner for the first time.

Continuing around through the Maggots/Becketts/Chapel curves, Beckman continued leading Cook and Kaluzny by a slim margin, then a few spaces back in a bunch were J. Robinson, Sturgeon, Landis, and B. Robinson, and then Lim was a few spaces behind them.

Through Maggots/Becketts/Chapel curves for the first time.

Through Maggots/Becketts/Chapel curves for the first time.

Heading through the Stowe corner, Cook’s Camel Lotus was breathing down Beckman’s Ferrari’s tailpipe. Sturgeon’s John Player Lotus passed Kaluzny at Stowe, then the others followed behind.

Through Stowe for the first time.

Through Stowe for the first time–Beckman, Cook, Kaluzny, Sturgeon, J. Robinson, Landis, and B. Robinson’s cars are pictured.

As the cars were coming around to complete the first lap, Beckman, Kaluzny, Landis, B. Robinson, White, and Lim all pitted. Beckman and Lim switched from hard to soft tires, while Kaluzny, Landis, B. Robinson, and White switched from soft to hard tires. Sturgeon, J. Robinson, and Cook all stayed out on the track and did not pit.

End of 1st lap, first pit stops.

End of 1st lap, first pit stops. Beckman’s Ferrari (red car), Kaluzny’s McLaren (orange car) and Landis (green/red/blue car) are already in the pits.

In CFR, pit stops are accomplished by simply moving your car off to the side of the track when you end a turn within the pit stop zone. In the above picture, you can see pieces of tape with “Pit” and an arrow on them to indicate the “pit stop zone” (also a pair of orange barrels mark the beginning of the pit stop zone). Then cars are marked with an “Exit -2” marker the turn they enter the pits. The following turn (while the car continues to sit in the pits), the Exit -2 marker is flipped to its “Exit -1” side, and then the next turn after that, the car can re-enter the track and resume its former speed.

The official order at the end of Lap 1, and before the pit stops were resolved, was Beckman, Sturgeon, J. Robinson, Cook, B. Robinson, Landis, Kaluzny, White, and Lim. However, after the stops were resolved, the actual running order on the track was Sturgeon, J. Robinson, Cook (none of whom had pitted), Beckman, Landis, Kaluzny, B. Robinson, White, and Lim.

During the 2nd lap, the cars that did not pit enjoyed a bit of a lead over the rest of the pack, and the field became spread out somewhat. Through the Luffield corner the second time around, Sturgeon, Cook and J. Robinson led by 5 spaces over Beckman, then Kaluzny and B. Robinson were another 3 spaces behind Beckman. Landis was 2 spaces behind Kaluzny and B. Robinson, then Lim was 6 spaces behind Landis, and White had fallen farther behind, after spinning at Village corner (his 2nd spinout of the race).

Through Luffield corner on the 2nd lap

Through Luffield corner on the 2nd lap. Actual drivers pictured (left-to-right) are Mike Cook, Jim Landis, and Jim Robinson.

Going through the Maggots/Becketts/Chapel corners on the 2nd lap, the field was even more spread out. Sturgeon led from Cook, then came J. Robinson, Beckman, Kaluzny, B. Robinson, Landis, Lim, and White.

Through Maggots/Becketts/Chapel on the 2nd lap.

Through Maggots/Becketts/Chapel on the 2nd lap.

Sturgeon managed to hold his 3-space lead over Cook through the Stowe corner, and the rest of the field remained strung out in the same order behind him.

Through Stowe corner for the 2nd time.

Through Stowe corner for the 2nd time. Gary Sturgeon’s John Player Lotus (the black car near the large “12” marker) leads the pack. Drivers pictured (l-to-r): Mike Cook, Jim Landis, Jim Robinson, Richard White, and Brian Robinson.

As the leaders came up to the start/finish line to complete the 2nd lap, the three leaders, Sturgeon, Cook, and J. Robinson, all had to pit to change tires. Sturgeon and Cook changed from hard to soft tires, while J. Robinson changed from soft to hard tires. All of the other drivers stayed out on the track this time around except for Lim, who pitted to put a new set of soft tires on his car to replace the worn out soft tires.

Completing the 2nd lap.

Completing the 2nd lap. Gary Sturgeon (black car) and Mike Cook (yellow car) have already pulled into the pits.

It should be noted in the above picture of cars in the pits, that there is a “pit road” (with the 40 mph speed limit) in the infield of the track. While we are not using that pit road with the CFR simplified pit stop rules, it was painted onto the track just in case we ever revert to our old “Advanced Speed Circuit” pit stop rules.

The official order after the 2nd lap was completed by all cars was: Gary Sturgeon; Jim Robinson; Garry Kaluzny; Jack Beckman; Brian Robinson; Mike Cook; Jim Landis; Richard White; and Greg Lim. By the time the lead cars were in the Luffield corner, the order was Kaluzny, Beckman, Sturgeon, Cook, B. Robinson, Landis, J. Robinson, White, and Lim. Lim was quite a ways behind White after making a 2nd pit stop.

Kaluzny takes the lead at Luffield on the last lap.

Kaluzny takes the lead at Luffield on the last lap. Pictured (l-to-r): Richard White (foreground); Gary Sturgeon (background); Garry Kaluzny (orange shirt); Jack Beckman (black shirt).

Kaluzny had taken the lead from Beckman going through the Brooklands/Luffield corners, as Beckman’s Ferrari was about out of Wear. Kaluzny stayed on the track after lap 2, and had 8 Wear remaining, then added another 2 Wear due to his being on hard tires, so he had 10 Wear left to use on the final lap. When Sturgeon and Cook came out of the pits after lap 2, they had 12 and 9 Wears, respectively, after replenishing their Wear. Going through Copse corner the last time, Kaluzny’s McLaren led from Beckman’s Ferrari by 3 spaces, and then Sturgeon, Cook, Brian Robinson, and Jim Landis were all nose-to-tail right behind Beckman.

Kaluzny leads through Copse corner on the last lap.

Kaluzny leads through Copse corner on the last lap.

Kaluzny held his lead through the Maggots/Becketts/Chapel set of curves, but when he got to the Stowe corner, the rest of the pack had suddenly caught up to him. As they all approached the Vale and Club corners the last time, Kaluzny, Sturgeon, and Cook were running 1-2-3, all in follow-the-leader order.

Approaching the Vale corner for the last time.

Approaching the Vale corner for the last time.

As they went through Vale and Club corners, Kaluzny moved at 120 mph, burning 2 Wear, but Sturgeon, in 2nd place, went 140 mph while using 3 Wear due to being on soft tires, and that allowed Sturgeon to pull alongside Kaluzny as each driver was only one space from the finish line. But Kaluzny had 1 Wear and 2 Skill chips left, while Sturgeon had no Wear or Skill chips remaining, so on their next turn, Kaluzny plotted to move at 200 mph, and Sturgeon only plotted 160 mph. So Kaluzny’s car moved first, and he had to make both of acceleration and top speed dice rolls, using a -1 Skill marker for each roll. Then, after moving a space, Kaluzny made an unmodified deceleration dice roll to reduce his speed to 180 mph, and he was then able to go through the corner past the finish line at only 20 mph over the speed limit, for which he used his final Wear (that had been hoarded for such a use).

It should be noted that the CFR rules say that if a car crashes in the corner past the finish line, that it is considered to have NOT finished the race at all! Also, if a car spins in that corner after the finish line, the spun car is considered to have crossed the finish line behind all other cars that also crossed the finish line that turn.

So, after Kaluzny (+5) took the checkered flag, followed very closely by Sturgeon (0), the rest of the field finished in this order: Cook (0); B. Robinson (+1), Beckman (-4), Landis (+1), J. Robinson (-3), White (+1), and Lim (-1). The + or – numbers indicate how many positions that driver gained (+) or lost (-) from where their car qualified for the race.

Finishing order, right-to-left.

Finishing order, right-to-left.

The points awarded at this race: Kaluzny 10; Sturgeon 6; Cook 4; B. Robinson 3; Beckman 2; and Landis 1.

The updated points standings through two (of eight) races:

Place Driver (Car)                    Points
  1   Garry Kaluzny (McLaren)           13
  2   Jack Beckman (Ferrari)            12
  3T  Richard White (Brabham)            6
  3T  Mike Cook (Camel Lotus)            6
  3T  Gary Sturgeon (John Player Lotus)  6
  6   Jim Landis (Benetton)              5
  7   Brian Robinson (Walker Racing)     4
  8T  Russ Herschler (Minardi)           0
  8T  Greg Lim (Motorola)                0
  8T  Jim Robinson (Williams)            0
   

This was the 2nd race in a row where all of the starters also finished the race. Quelle surprise! This has set a new record for the most consecutive races in the Detroit area Speed Circuit/CFR races for all starters finishing the race.

The next race will be the Monaco Grand Prix. We will race that on Friday, November 10, 2017, at Imperium Games in Wixom, Michigan. Race time is 7:00 pm, although we would like drivers to try to get there (through bad rush hour traffic on I-96!) by 6:30 pm so they can get their car set up. Most drivers were early at the British Grand Prix race, and that allowed us to start just about on time.