Week Two Results ( Monoco / Laguna Seca )

This week, the GTRRL made began its series of very tough courses as the drivers had the task of fighting it out on the streets of Monoco, then had to attack the curves and elevation of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca! For both races the drivers had the joy of driving the Mazda Roadster for both courses as the low HP of these vehicles resulted in very tight, door-to-door racing through out both. Drivers were hoping for continued success from the last week and also were hoping to start the street course championship series off to a good start with race one at Monoco. Who survived the tight streets of Monoco and the sand surrounded surface of Laguna Seca? Keep reading to find out!



The first race of the evening was held in Monte Carlo for toughest race of the season. Known as the crown jewel in Formula 1, drivers were hoping for one final shot to add Monoco to their GTRRL wins resume. To accomplish this though, the drivers knew they were going to have to defeat all of the other drivers, as well as avoid defeating themselves by making mistake on this narrow street course. This race was also the first in the street course championship so drivers were hoping to get a good start in that championship.

The starting lineup was determined by a 2 lap qualifing session for each driver and by the end of the session, it looked as if FastDaddy Racing was going to be able to lock out the front row with Thomas Fredericks 1st and Ronald Meier 2nd. But on his second of the two laps, points leader Michael Best was able to knock Fredericks off the pole and capture his first on the season. The series used a F1 style standing start and from there, they raced into turn 1! Best was able to hold on to the top spot through the first few corners and from there the field layed chase. Fredericks, who started 2nd, began to fade during the first few laps as the lack grip on cold tires became an issue for him.

The moment of the race occured coming to lap 3 as Ronald Meier and Jonathon Bolling were racing hard 2nd spot. During this battle the leader was able to stretch his lead, and his lead would soon appear to be infinite after coming out of the final corner contact was made by Bolling and Meier. This contact resulted in both coming to a complete stop at the exit of the corner and this would block the track. From there, Ryan Johnson, Thomas Fredericks, WIlliam Kern and others would pile in and result in the dreaded 'big one' leaving damage on more than half the field. Philip Ng was able to get through it all the way from 7th and he would jump to 2nd after the malee.

Things began to settle down as all of the drivers began to get in a groove as pitstops approached. Meier, Johnson, Bolling, and Fredericks were finally able to get around the tough to pass Ng and set there sights on the leader, Best. William Kern choose to pit the earliest out of all the drivers which would prove benificial at the end of the race. Just when it looked like it was Best's race to lose, an engine failure on his Best Motorsports Mazda, would force him to the garage where he was forced to retire after a dominating run thus far.

From their the race was put into the hands of Ronald Meier who was able to get away from all the remaining drivers. As the laps closed down, Meier was light years away from the field as Kern was sitting 2nd from his smart pit strategy. Fredericks, Bolling, and Johnson had been battling for the final podium spot the entire race but in the closing laps, it was Fredericks who began to pull away from them. As Kern's tires began to fall off at the end of the race, Fredericks was able to run smooth consistent laps to pull him in with 2 laps to go and was able to make the pass for 2nd spot. But all of this occured behind the Dragon as Ronald Meier was able to cruise to an impressive Monoco victory!





As every double header will be this season, the second races starting order was determined by reverse order of the previous races finishing results. Thus, Andrew Kennedy and Adam Yao found themselves on the front row. The drivers who found themselves at the front the previous race would now have to make smart passes to make their way back to the front, if possible. Given the amount of sand traps surrounding the track, this appeared to be a recipe for disaster the first few laps.

Going into turn one, Kennedy went wide and was quick to find the first sand trap. It was later found that a broken suspension part caused this off and the 3rd FDR car was quick to retire because of this. From there the field stacked up the next few corners and drivers were waisting no time trying to get to the front. The most daring move, and almost the most costly was done by Thomas Fredericks as he went three wide up the middle for the lead going up the hill. Contact between Kern would cause Fredericks to head to the sand trap but he would be able to drive right through it and not get stuck.

From this point, the lead was being constantly exchanged between Ryan Johnson, Jon Bolling and Meier as the field began to spread out a bit after the early action. Pit stop would begin with Meier pitting first before all of them. After the exchange of pit stops this early stop put him out front with his team owner Fredericks, recovering from his earlier mishap taking 2nd. This was no fluke though as Fredericks began to pull away from 3rd and 4th and began to chase down the Dragon. With a few laps remaining, Fredericks and Ron were able to execute a perfect team switch and Fredericks went to the point. From there the team told the drivers to hold position to avoid contact that would disrupt there points day and Fredericks was able to take home his first win of the season and the 2nd FDR 1-2 in a row!



Thanks to everyone who showed up to race this week and congrats to the winners! Next week we will be racing at Tokyo and Madrid using the Acura NSX RM!

We hope see you all there!