Saturday, November 17, saw Garry Kaluzny out-drive 10 other drivers to win the German Grand Prix, using the Championship Formula Racing game rules. The event was held at the Guild of Blades game store in Clawson, Michigan. Bill Worrel started on the pole, but finished 2nd for the 3rd time in a row. It was also the fourth 2nd-place finish for Worrel in the 2018 season. Jim Landis made it to the podium in 3rd place, earning his first points of the season. Kaluzny’s win tightened up the points standings, with the top four drivers separated by only 3 points. Mike Cook leads with 29 points, Bill Worrel has 28 pts, Garry Kaluzny has 27 pts, and Richard White has 26 pts. Jack Beckman is 5th in the points standings with 19 points, and still has a mathematical chance to tie for the points championship at the final race of the season in December.
The race was held on the Hockenheimring track, based on the CFR design. This was the first time any of the CFR-Detroit drivers had raced on this track.
The CFR-designed Hockenheimring track.
After the drivers set up their car’s specs, the drivers secretly bid for starting positions. Each wear chit counted as 1.0, and each skill chit counted as 0.5. Higher bids started in front of lower bids. Ties were resolved by rolling percentage dice, high rolls favored over low rolls.
Bill Worrel (0 wear + 17 skill) got the pole position with a high bid of 8.5. Worrel bid all of his skill chits except for a single -1 skill marker that he retained for the race! He also tied the all-time high bid of 8.5 (by Chad Marlett at the 2017 Abu Dhabi race). Mike Cook (5 wear + 6 skill) had his string of pole positions beaten, as Cook only bid 8.0. Cook started alongside Worrel on the front row, but with Cook in 2nd place. Greg Lim (2 wear + 9 skill) qualified in 3rd place with a bid of 6.5, and Garry Kaluzny (3 wear + 6 skill) started 4th with a bid of 6.0. Richard White (4 wear + 3 skill) nailed down the 5th starting spot with a bid of 5.5, and Mike St. Peter (4 wear + 1 skill) grabbed 5th position with a bid of 4.5. Starting in 7th was Jim Robinson (1 wear + 6 skill) with a bid of 4.0. Then came Jack Beckman (0 wear + 3 skill) in 8th with a bid of 1.5, and Aric Parr (0 wear + 2 skill) in 9th with a bid of 1.0. Two drivers did not bid anything. They were Gary Sturgeon and Jim Landis. Sturgeon started in 10th, and Landis in 11th, on the strength of Sturgeon rolling an ’88’ to Landis rolling a ’57’ on the percentage dice roll.
The starting grid for the 2018 German Grand Prix with their car specs:
# Driver (Car) Start/Accel/Decel/Top/Wear/Skill/Tires 4 Bill Worrel (Tyrrell) 100 20 20 160 5x 4x soft 11 Mike Cook (Camel Lotus) 60 60 60 160 4x 2x soft 13 Greg Lim (GoDaddy) 60 60 40 160 4x 3x hard 8 Garry Kaluzny (Marlboro McLaren) 60 40 40 160 5x 3x soft 1 Richard White (Brabham) 60 40 40 160 5x 3x soft 44 Mike St. Peter (Mercedes) 60 40 40 160 5x 3x soft 2 Jim Robinson (Williams) 60 60 60 160 3x 3x soft 12 Jack Beckman (Ferrari) 60 60 60 140 4x 3x hard 14 Aric Parr (Motul BRM) 60 40 60 160 5x 2x hard 22 Gary Sturgeon (McLaren) 20 60 60 180 4x 2x soft 20 Jim Landis (Benetton) 20 60 60 160 5x 2x 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.
Pole-sitter Bill Worrel had the only car with a 100 mph start speed; two other cars, those of Gary Sturgeon and Jim Landis, had only 20 mph start speeds. All other cars had the “standard” start speed of 60 mph. Most cars had top speeds of 160 mph, although Gary Sturgeon geared his car for 180 mph, and Jack Beckman had only a top speed of 140 mph. But the most unusual configuration was Worrel’s Tyrrell that only had 20 mph for both its acceleration and deceleration specs.
The starting grid for the German Grand Prix. Bill Worrel’s blue car is on the pole position, and Mike Cook’s yellow car is next to Worrel’s car on the front row.
At the race’s start, Worrel used a wear (as he was on soft tires) to increase his start speed to 120 mph. Cook also used a wear, but could only increase his start speed to 80 mph. In the 2nd row, Kaluzny used a wear to get up to 80 mph, but Lim, on hard tires, elected to only move at his standard 60 mph start speed. Third-row starters White and St. Peter each used a wear to go up to 80 mph, and so they drew up next to Lim. Lim had elected to move to the outside of the track behind Kaluzny’s McLaren in hope of being able to slip behind Kaluzny’s car next turn, and that allowed both White and St. Peter to take the inside from Lim. From the 4th row, J. Robinson used a wear to go 80 mph, while Beckman (on hard tires) only went 60 mph. From the 5th row, Aric Parr, on hard tires, rolled the dice to increase his start speed to 80 mph; however, Gary Sturgeon, on soft tires, only plotted to move at 40 mph, perhaps thinking that the track ahead would be blocked by other cars. Jim Landis, the 11th starter, simply moved at his start speed of 20 mph.
The pack is away, and Worrel leads from Cook, Kaluzny, White, St. Peter, Lim, J. Robinson, Beckman, Parr, Sturgeon, and Landis.
The pack pretty much stayed in the same order as they went through the Nordkurve and then through the sharp right-hand corner that led onto the 20-space long straightaway. St. Peter made a top speed dice roll to go to 180 coming out of that curve to pull up next to Cook, and Kaluzny also pulled alongside the duo of Cook and St. Peter as Kaluzny had been pulled along by the draft from Cook’s yellow Lotus.
Worrel leads; Cook, St. Peter, and Kaluzny are side-by-side in 2nd through 4th place. White, in 5th place, tucks in behind Cook.
The leading four cars all made in safely through the Hairpin curve at the end of the long straight, in much the same order, although Kaluzny took 3rd from St. Peter in the hairpin. White’s Brabham got stuck in the hairpin, so he fell a little behind the top four cars. Kaluzny then passed Cook for 2nd coming out of the Hairpin and then St. Peter took the inside of the track to pass Cook for 3rd as they were headed into the Mercedes curve. It seemed appropriate, as St. Peter was driving a Mercedes.
Worrel, Kaluzny, St. Peter and Cook are 1st through 4th as they go through the Mercedes corner. The rest of the pack is running in the order White, J. Robinson, Lim, Beckman, Parr, Sturgeon, and Landis.
Finally, the leaders reached the Sudkurve. Worrel and Kaluzny were the first two cars through that curve, and they both ducked into the pits for fresh tires. White and J. Robinson had caught up with St. Peter and Cook just before the Sudkurve. And just behind them, Parr managed to flip and crash his Motul BRM in the Sachs curve. Parr was then a DNF, and was classified in 11th place.
Worrel and Kaluzny pit; Parr (upside down car) crashes in Sachs curve. Landis lags behind at top right of the picture.
As other cars came through the Sudkurve, they mostly pulled into the pits. Joining Worrel and Kaluzny in the pits were St. Peter, Cook, White, and J. Robinson. And then as Lim and Sturgeon entered the pits, Worrel and Kaluzny were exiting the pits. Eschewing a pit stop were the cars of Beckman and Landis, both of which were on hard tires and so elected to go another lap before having to pit.
The official order at the end of the 1st lap was: Worrel (0); Beckman (+6); Landis (+8); Kaluzny (0); St. Peter (+1); White (-1); Cook (-5); J. Robinson (-1); Sturgeon (+1); and Lim (-7). The numbers in parentheses indicate how many places a driver either gained (+) or lost (-) from their starting position. After the pits stops were concluded, the running order on the track was Worrel, Beckman, Kaluzny, Landis, St. Peter, White, Cook, J. Robinson, Lim, and Sturgeon.
All cars are back on the track after their pit stops.
Coming out of the corner leading onto the long straight, Landis over-revved his engine to 180 mph, thereby passing both Kaluzny and Beckman, putting Landis into 2nd place. Kaluzny then regretted having plotted only 160 mph instead of pushing his engine over its limit. Beckman only moved at his car’s top speed of 140, and that allowed Landis to pass Beckman. Landis then drove 160 mph in his next turn, and Beckman pushed his top speed to 160 mph, and with a slip he got from Landis, he pulled right up next to Landis. Kaluzny went 160 mph again, and pulled in right behind Landis.
Worrel, the race leader, then made it through the Hairpin. Landis was able to make it to the last space of the corner where he would be able to accelerate next turn, but Beckman and Kaluzny were both stuck in the corner. Kaluzny was heard to lament that he now had no chance of winning the race.
Midway through the race, and Worrel still leads. Landis, Beckman, and Kaluzny are in the Hairpin curve, and are followed by Cook, J. Robinson, White, St. Peter, and then by Lim and Sturgeon.
The cars kept pretty much in order as they followed through the multiple curves on the south side of the track. Finally, Worrel ducked into the pits for the 2nd time, while he had a 7-space lead over Landis.
Worrel pits for the 2nd time while in 1st place. Other cars are running in the order Landis, Beckman, Kaluzny, Cook, White, J. Robinson, St. Peter, Lim, and Sturgeon.
As other cars came around the Sudkurve onto the start/finish straight, they also pitted. Landis, Beckman, Cook, and then St. Peter, J. Robinson, and Lim pitted. In a surprise move, Kaluzny and White passed by the pit entrance and remained on the track, Kaluzny had 3 wear remaining at that time, and White only had 2 wear left. Each of those two drivers regained 2 wear as they crossed the start/finish line, giving them 5 and 4 wear remaining, respectively, to finish the race. Worrel came out of the pits with a full complement of 15 wear, and was re-placed on the track only 3 spaces behind Kaluzny and White. Both Kaluzny and White reckoned they were racing for 2nd place at that moment, as they figured there was no way they could stay in front of Worrel as Worrel had at least 10 more wear than die the other two cars. Gary Sturgeon also did not pit.
White and Kaluzny lead to start the final lap. Worrel is only 3 spaces behind.
The official order after two laps was: White (+4); Kaluzny (+2); St. Peter (+3), (by virtue of pitting right at the start/finish line); Worrel (-3); Sturgeon (+5); Beckman (+2); Landis (+4); Cook (-6); J. Robinson (-2); and Lim (-7). When all the cars were back on the track, the order was White, Kaluzny, Worrel, Sturgeon, Beckman, Landis, Cook, St. Peter, J. Robinson, and Lim.
White continued to lead through the Nordkurve and around the next curve that led onto the long straightaway. Kaluzny then took the lead from White on the long straight as Kaluzny made a top speed roll. White tucked in behind while going only 160 mph. Worrel had gone only 120 mph through the corner leading onto the straight, and was now 6 spaces behind Kaluzny.
Kaluzny leads White and Worrel down the long straight on the last lap. Beckman, Sturgeon, and Landis are battling for 4th.
The drivers of CFR-Detroit at Guild of Blades (clockwise, from bottom): Gary Sturgeon (back of his head); Greg Lim (side of his head); Richard White (pointing at track); Bill Worrel (standing); Jim Robinson (green sweatshirt); Jack Beckman (red Ferrari gear); Mike St. Peter (gray sweater).
More of the CFR-Detroit drivers at Guild of Blades (clockwise, from upper left): Mike Cook (yellow shirt, standing); Jim Landis (gray shirt); Gary Sturgeon (brown pullover, standing); Greg Lim (blue jockey jersey); Richard White (back of his head).
Kaluzny then over-revved his engine again, and again made a top speed dice roll to move at 180 mph for a 2nd turn in a row. For whatever reason, White did not use the slipstream bonus of 2 spaces, but instead stayed in Kaluzny’s slipstream after moving at 160 mph. Worrel moved at 160 mph, and so he lost another space and was now 7 spaces behind Kaluzny. Kaluzny then made a deceleration roll to slow to 120 mph, also using up two wears at the Hairpin. Richard did not make it through the corner. And Worrel tried to move at 180 mph, but failed the unmodified top speed roll and so only moved at 160 mph. His top speed was then also reduced to 140 mph, which really wouldn’t matter too much on the back part of the course, except for the fact that Worrel’s car only had a 20 mph acceleration rating, and if Worrel had to push his acceleration and failed the roll, then his engine would expire and he would not finish the race. Kaluzny began to feel he had a chance to win at this point.
Kaluzny still leads through the Hairpin, White is stuck in the corner, and Worrel has just damaged his engine. The four cars of Beckman, Sturgeon, Landis, and Cook battle for 4th place.
At the Mercedes curve, Kaluzny used his last -1 skill marker to take a deceleration roll, but failed the roll. He then had to use one of his two remaining wear to avoid spinning, but did make it through the Mercedes corner safely. Kaluzny’s deceleration was now only 20 mph, but he shouldn’t have to decelerate more than 20 mph in any move until the end of the race. Worrel had got right up behind White at the Mercedes corner.
Kaluzny corners through Mercedes, but with damaged brakes. White and Worrel are uncomfortably close behind.
Kaluzny continued to lead by 2 spaces over White through the Mobil 1 and Sachs curves. Landis and Beckman were getting right behind Worrel, but there were only two corners left for them to try to improve their positions on the track.
Kaluzny leads through Sachs curve, followed by White, Worrel, Landis, Beckman, Cook, Sturgeon, St. Peter, J. Robinson, and Lim.
Finally, only 1 corner remaining, and Kaluzny was able to use his last wear to go 120 mph around the outside of the Sudkurve, and thus exit the curve. Worrel drove at 120 mph, taking the inside lane at Sudkurve, but could not make it to the last space of the Sudkurve without having to take two unmodified chance rolls. So, Worrel used two wear at the Sachs curve as he was 40 mph over the speed limit, and then used his last two wear in the Sudkurve as he was also 40 mph over that corner’s speed limit. Worrel figured that a sure 2nd place was better than the possibility of crashing by rolling “normal” chance rolls and thus getting no points at all.
Kaluzny leads through Sudkurve. Worrel is 2nd, and Landis is catching White for 3rd.
Kaluzny was then able to cross the finish line for the victory, his 2nd of the 2018 season, 3 spaces ahead of Worrel. Worrel managed to get to the line ahead of Landis and so kept hold of 2nd place. And Jim Landis, who had been far behind at one point in the race, came in 3rd in a great last-lap drive. Landis had come out of the pits in 6th place after his pit stop at the end of the 2nd lap.
Kaluzny takes the checkered flag to win. Worrel and Landis are close behind in 2nd and 3rd places.
Then Richard White and Jack Beckman dragged each other down the start/finish line, but White was able to cross the line ahead of Beckman, and so White was 4th and Beckman 5th. Mike Cook beat the other cars to the line to snatch 6th place and the last championship point. Sturgeon was 7th, Lim got 8th, and Jim Robinson was 9th. Mike St. Peter came home in 10th. St. Peter tried to force a pass of Cook back at the Sudkurve, but failed the dice roll and had to scrub off 40 mph. It was a good try to make, because unless he passed Cook, St. Peter would be out of the points.
The official finishing order of the 2018 German Grand Prix was: 1st-Garry Kaluzny (+3); 2nd-Bill Worrel (-1); 3rd-Jim Landis (+8); 4th-Richard White (+1); 5th-Jack Beckman (+3); 6th-Mike Cook (-4); 7th-Gary Sturgeon (+3); 8th-Greg Lim (-5); 9th-Jim Robinson (-2); 10th-Mike St. Peter (-4). Classified 11th with a DNF due to a crash was Aric Parr (-2).
Points awarded at the 2018 German Grand Prix: Kaluzny 10; Worrel 6; Landis 4; White 3; Beckman 2; Cook 1.
The points standings of the 2018 CFR-Detroit season after seven of eight races:
Place Driver (Car) Points 1 Mike Cook (Camel Lotus) 29 2 Bill Worrel (Tyrrell) 28 3 Garry Kaluzny (Marlboro McLaren) 27 4 Richard White (Brabham) 26 5 Jack Beckman (Ferrari) 19 6 Jim Robinson (Williams) 18 7 Gary Sturgeon (McLaren) 10 8 Mike St. Peter (Mercedes) 9 9T Brian Robinson (Walker Racing) 4 9T Aric Parr (Motul BRM) 4 9T Jim Landis (Benetton) 4 12T Joel Lauder (HSBC Jaguar) 2 12T Greg Lim (GoDaddy) 2 14T Mark Moellering (McLaren) 0 14T Gary Kempen (Williams) 0 14T Chuck Modzinski (Arrows) 0 14T Jim Lauder (Shadow) 0
The final race of the 2018 CFR-Detroit racing season will be the South African Grand Prix, on the Kyalami circuit from an old Avalon Hill design from the Speed Circuit days. The race will be at Pandemonium Games & Hobbies, at 6033 Middlebelt Road, in Garden City, Michigan, on Friday, December 14. Bidding for qualifying will begin promptly at 6:45 pm. Drivers are urged to arrive 30 to 45 minutes before qualifying begins in order to set up their car’s specifications for the race.
This should be a very entertaining race, as four drivers (Mike Cook, Bill Worrel, Garry Kaluzny, and Richard White) have a great shot at winning the championship. If any of those four drivers wins the race, they will win the championship outright; else, points earned during the final race will determine the outcome. A fifth driver, Jack Beckman, has a mathematical chance to tie for the championship.
Immediately following the race, a small trophy will be awarded to the points champion. There will also be a vote for the Tom Kane Memorial Award to be awarded to the season’s most sportsmanlike driver. That “sportsman of the year” will also receive a small trophy. All drivers who have raced in at least one race during the 2018 season are eligible to vote for the Tom Kane award. If drivers will not be present at the final race, they can contact Garry Kaluzny before the race to have their vote tabulated.