Supercars 17 - Yas Marina R25-26

A long and trying season full of fierce competition and lots of explosions finally comes to an end with the infamous Yas Marina.  Two rounds of this 3.45 mile track were the ultimate challenge to end the this series.  How did we do on this night time version of the track?

Race 1:

It began with a bang.  Actually a lot of technical issues.  Darrel once again had to pass on racing for the third week in a row.  As Trump would say, SAD!

Slab and co. began to work in on the back of the field.

It was a little rough but not too bad overall.

I was running out in front of GB early on when...

...he vanished!  Another week of flakey net.  Although everyone was having some issues here.  He managed to get back in but it took some working to get him back where he needed.

Slab was making some work through the field to try and catch Webster and wasn't using kid gloves on Percat.

Meanwhile, Webster was making his way into the top 10.

Up front, the two Mercs were nose to tail.

Riggleman made the pass but didn't get to walk away.

The two Quest cars were in at halfway and we didn't have a tenth between us.

We started getting into traffic and things got exciting.

There was a very close call a couple times.

And a few peeks.

Mark wasn't letting any of the traffic get in the way.

Despite our very competitive race,

we remained very gentlemanly and avoided contact or shady passes.

But a couple laps to go, Riggleman got into the throttle too much and turned it out of the hairpin.

He caught up but there weren't enough laps left to get it back.

The real MVP of the race was Zack Webster who quietly climbed the order without incident.

Race 2: 

The last race of the series and Mark got a slow start.

He held back through the first corners to avoid side to side action early.

It was quiet at the front but in the rear, Sandy was having a moment with Caruso.

Zack Webster was performing better than Race 1 and cut the field in half in the first lap.

A few laps in, Mark was tired of staring at my bumper and got a great run past the hotel.

Like in the previous round, we were all right together.

And like that race, we were barely avoiding some missteps.

I managed to get back behind Gurton Buster and almost ran off his back bumper.

And shortly after, Mark had a similar incident as previously and overdrove through the chicane.

Zack Webster was up to 4th and just waiting for one of the front runners to wreck so he could take a podium.

GB decided to pit a lap after me.

And after we went through the cycle, he was only seconds behind and gaining.

I did manage to take out Todd Kelly for one last time though.

And we played cat and mouse through traffic.

And in an act similar to something I would do, he lost it off the curb.

He wasn't out but he was hurt.

And it wasn't even over.  He was trying to catch up and got tangled up in Shane van Gisbergen.

And Mark took back his second place spot.

And barely hanging on but still closing the gap.

Last lap and only tenths separating us.  I came out of the hotel turn and Lowndes decided to stay right in the way.

That set me well off line for the penultimate corner.  Combined with pressure and terrible tires, I pulled a Buster and looped it.

Giving Riggleman a win.

I celebrated my second with Craig Lowndes.  He enjoyed it.

He enjoyed it so much, he passed it on to the winner.

But the winner in the end is Gurton Buster who dominated the series.

Certainly a fun time and a great way to finish off the series.  We'll make sure to get some of these graphical issues taken care of before the next series.  We want to Max out our field as much as possible.

Congrats, Gurton Buster.

Race 1

Track: Yas Marina Circuit Night

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	029	M Riggleman Jr	2:06.625
2	013	T Nadz	2:06.847
3	008	J Zolecki	2:08.527
4	14	F Coulthard	2:16.676
5	9	W Davison	2:16.915
6	1	J Whincup	2:17.085
7	5	M Winterbottom	2:17.422
8	6	C Mostert	2:17.507
9	97	S Van Gisbergen	2:17.589
10	888	C Lowndes	2:17.784
11	8	J Bright	2:17.906
12	21	D Wood	2:18.548
13	16	S Pye	2:18.867
14	18	J Perkins	2:19.036
15	33	S McLaughlin	2:19.056
16	55	D Reynolds	2:19.173
17	2	G Tander	2:19.186
18	47	T Slade	2:19.465
19	15	R Kelly	2:19.602
20	222	N Percat	2:20.201
21	360	J Moffat	2:20.387
22	4	L Holdsworth	2:20.957
23	23	R Ingall	2:21.042
24	22	J Courtney	2:21.817
25	17	D Wall	2:22.399
26	34	R Dahlgren	2:22.486
27	7	T Kelly	2:23.045
28	36	M Caruso	2:24.302
29	021	T Bear	--
30	055	g slab	--
31	023	Z Webster	--

Weather: Clear, 99 °F, North 2 mph

Session: Race

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	2	013	T Nadz	92.405	13	7*	185	Running
2	1	029	M Riggleman Jr	-2.76	13	6	175	Running
3	31	023	Z Webster	-1:13.78	13	0	165	Running
4	6	1	J Whincup	-1:37.28	13	0	160	Running
5	7	5	M Winterbottom	-1:45.75	13	0	155	Running
6	4	14	F Coulthard	-1:48.62	13	0	150	Running
7	11	8	J Bright	-1:51.99	13	0	146	Running
8	10	888	C Lowndes	-1:56.47	13	0	142	Running
9	8	6	C Mostert	-1:57.65	13	0	138	Running
10	9	97	S Van Gisbergen	-2:03.81	13	0	134	Running
11	12	21	D Wood	-2:08.32	13	0	130	Running
12	14	18	J Perkins	-2:13.15	13	0	127	Running
13	18	47	T Slade	-1L	12	0	124	Running
14	30	055	g slab	-1L	12	0	121	Running
15	24	22	J Courtney	-1L	12	0	118	Running
16	16	55	D Reynolds	-1L	12	0	115	Running
17	17	2	G Tander	-1L	12	0	112	Running
18	19	15	R Kelly	-1L	12	0	109	Running
19	22	4	L Holdsworth	-1L	12	0	106	Running
20	23	23	R Ingall	-1L	12	0	103	Running
21	20	222	N Percat	-1L	12	0	100	Running
22	25	17	D Wall	-1L	12	0	97	Running
23	28	36	M Caruso	-1L	12	0	94	Running
24	27	7	T Kelly	-1L	12	0	91	Running
25	15	33	S McLaughlin	-1L	12	0	88	Running
26	26	34	R Dahlgren	-1L	12	0	85	Running
27	13	16	S Pye	-1L	12	0	82	Running
28	21	360	J Moffat	-1L	12	0	79	Running
29	29	021	T Bear	-1L	12	0	76	Running
30	5	9	W Davison	-2L	11	0	73	Retired
31	3	008	J Zolecki	-2L	11	0	70	Running

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 2 (2 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 99 °F, North 2 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 92%

Race 2

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	029	M Riggleman Jr	2:06.206
2	008	J Zolecki	2:08.546
3	013	T Nadz	2:14.102
4	6	C Mostert	2:16.771
5	1	J Whincup	2:17.030
6	9	W Davison	2:17.219
7	5	M Winterbottom	2:17.342
8	14	F Coulthard	2:17.712
9	888	C Lowndes	2:18.019
10	8	J Bright	2:18.167
11	97	S Van Gisbergen	2:18.545
12	2	G Tander	2:18.899
13	21	D Wood	2:18.925
14	55	D Reynolds	2:19.105
15	15	R Kelly	2:19.177
16	18	J Perkins	2:19.350
17	33	S McLaughlin	2:19.386
18	16	S Pye	2:19.436
19	47	T Slade	2:20.489
20	4	L Holdsworth	2:20.693
21	222	N Percat	2:20.729
22	23	R Ingall	2:20.849
23	34	R Dahlgren	2:21.135
24	360	J Moffat	2:21.287
25	22	J Courtney	2:21.710
26	17	D Wall	2:22.173
27	7	T Kelly	2:22.765
28	36	M Caruso	2:24.290
29	021	T Bear	--
30	055	g slab	--
31	023	Z Webster	--

Weather: Clear, 99 °F, North 2 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	029	M Riggleman Jr	93.864	13	1	180	Running
2	3	013	T Nadz	-3.32	13	4	175	Running
3	2	008	J Zolecki	-12.16	13	8*	175	Running
4	31	023	Z Webster	-2:04.46	13	0	160	Running
5	6	9	W Davison	-2:11.41	13	0	155	Running
6	5	1	J Whincup	-2:17.74	13	0	150	Running
7	9	888	C Lowndes	-1L	12	0	146	Running
8	12	2	G Tander	-1L	12	0	142	Running
9	13	21	D Wood	-1L	12	0	138	Running
10	16	18	J Perkins	-1L	12	0	134	Running
11	14	55	D Reynolds	-1L	12	0	130	Running
12	18	16	S Pye	-1L	12	0	127	Running
13	10	8	J Bright	-1L	12	0	124	Running
14	17	33	S McLaughlin	-1L	12	0	121	Running
15	15	15	R Kelly	-1L	12	0	118	Running
16	21	222	N Percat	-1L	12	0	115	Running
17	20	4	L Holdsworth	-1L	12	0	112	Running
18	23	34	R Dahlgren	-1L	12	0	109	Running
19	19	47	T Slade	-1L	12	0	106	Running
20	26	17	D Wall	-1L	12	0	103	Running
21	25	22	J Courtney	-1L	12	0	100	Running
22	11	97	S Van Gisbergen	-1L	12	0	97	Running
23	22	23	R Ingall	-1L	12	0	94	Running
24	28	36	M Caruso	-1L	12	0	91	Running
25	24	360	J Moffat	-1L	12	0	88	Running
26	27	7	T Kelly	-1L	12	0	85	Running
27	29	021	T Bear	-1L	12	0	82	Running
28	7	5	M Winterbottom	-2L	11	0	79	Running
29	4	6	C Mostert	-2L	11	0	76	Running
30	8	14	F Coulthard	-5L	8	0	73	Accident
31	30	055	g slab	-13L	0	0	70	Accident

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 2 (3 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 99 °F, North 2 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 92%

PENALTIES

LAP

#

INFRACTION

PENALTY