DARK SIDE RACING
Welcomes new member,
[DSR] Maber!
In a strict initiation process held earlier this afternoon (EST) on DSR's R2F1-EUA server, Dark Side Racing added a new member to their fray. His LFS Racer name is tmehlinger, and he races under the tag [DSR] Maber. No stranger to DSR, tmehlinger ran in the team's latest successful series, the Road To Formula 1 Series. While in that series, tmehlinger finished 5th over all with a win at Event 3, Race 7,and 3 additional podiums. tmehlinger's all time LFS Stats include, 470 hosts joined, 67 wins, 68 2nd's, 33 3rd's, 29 poles in 65 Qualifications and 267 races finished at a total travelled distance of 18,584 miles while doing 7023 laps.

We at DSR are happy and proud to have Maber aboard and we're looking forward to many great races with him. Congratulations [DSR] Maber!

The Final Event of the Dark Side Racing Road To Formula 1 Series took place at Aston's 5.5 mile Grand Prix reversed race course this past Sunday. There were 2 drivers that stood a chance at winning the championship. [DSR] amp88 had a 7.49 point lead over 2nd place driver, [DSR] AlPayson. With 14 race points and 3 bonus points up for grabs anything could happen in what would be the longest and most challenging race in the series to date. [DSR] AlPayson struggled all week with the race set up and controller comfort while [DSR] amp88 seemed to have a quiet confidence about him. As it panned out in qualifying, [DSR] amp88 took 1st position in the Events Knock Out qualifying procedure while [DSR] AlPayson tried to grab the High Climber Bonus Point by intentionally dogging it and qualifying in 11th place. "I knew I wasn't fast enough to get Pole or a Fast Lap bonus point, but I needed all the points I could get, so I was attempting to snatch up the High Climber", said a discouraged Payson after the race. In round 2 of Knock Out Qualifying, [DSR] amp88 once again shined as he took the pole away from an angry [DSR] smack who was quoted as saying, "Asshole!" over the pit radio.

As the race progressed it became glaringly apparent that there was a problem with Payson's strategy because of a driver named, [SR]StormCloud, who missed the mandatory driver meeting prior to the race and would be prohibited from qualifying and forced to start at the back of the pack. This was bad news for [DSR] AlPayson as [SR]StormCloud not only snatched up the High Climber Point by finishing 2nd, but he also took the Fast Lap Bonus Point with a blistering 2:07.92.

Nearly a minute behind the 1 and 2 finishers [DSR] vincent in the races last podium spot. In doing so [DSR] vincent moved himself firmly into 3rd place in the championship over team mate [DSR] Ehn!cO.

After 10 Events, 15 races, 7 different race formats, 5 different car classes, and 20 weeks, the 1st ever Dark Side Racing Road To Formula 1 Series Champion is crowned and his name is [DSR] amp88.

Congratulations
[DSR] amp88!

Final Results and Points are complete and available along with some other special stats at the following link:
Dark Side Racing, Road To Formula 1 Final Points

From all of us at Dark Side Racing, Thank you all for participating in the Road To Formula 1 Series! See you at the next Dark Side Racing Series.

The 9th event of the Dark Side Racing Road To Formula 1 Series took place Sunday, May 3rd on the Grand Prix Long course at the Kyoto Ring in Japan. It was the first of the 2 BMW Sauber Formula 1 Events to take place on participant's epic journey in this competitive series. The day started with a drivers briefing given by [DSR] Lebaron, who had the task of fielding questions and concerns about the new "Knock Out" qualifying procedure. With 16 of the 55 drivers in attendance, qualifying would be broken into 2 rounds. The 1st round of qualifying would be 5 minutes in which all drivers would have to complete an out lap, 1 hot lap, and finally an in lap. The top 8 drivers would move onto round 2, in which those drivers would get 4 minutes to complete the knock out lap requirements.

By the end of Round 2 a surprise pole sitter emerged, [DSR] Lateralus.
[DSR] Lateralus led the race until a spin in the treacherous high speed chicane on Lap 4 allowed [DSR] AlPayson to take the lead for good.

Shown above left, [DSR] Lateralus spins as [DSR] AlPayson takes the lead. Above right shows Event 8 Winner, [DSR] Vincent taking a hard wall shot on Lap 2.
After that spin by [DSR] Lateralus, [DSR] AlPayson steadily increased his lead and stayed out another 2 laps while his pursuers pit earlier. "My crew told me that amp was going to pit and I pushed harder to increase the gap" said [DSR] AlPayson in a post race interview. As it turns out, [DSR] AlPayson laid down the fastest lap of the race on the same lap that rival,[DSR] amp88 was making a pit stop. When [DSR] AlPayson finished his pit stop on lap 19, he had a healthy 17.23 second lead on then 2nd place driver, SCP™ Cile, who continued to battle, back and forth with the current Road To Formula 1 Series points leader, [DSR] amp88. But in the end it was all [DSR] AlPayson setting fast lap and taking the win. "Well, I did what I needed to, but the things is, amp did what he needed to do as well." said [DSR]AlPayson "Gimme a beer!" he loudly added while pumping his fist in victory.
The final Event is upon us. After 9 Events, 15 Races and 20 weeks. 55 drivers are whittled down to 16. Two have a chance at the first ever Dark Side Racing Road To Formula 1 Series Championship. It all comes down to 1 race. May 17th, Aston England. Knock Out qualifying. 40 laps at Aston's 5.5 mile Grand Prix track in reverse direction. 220 miles of racing action Formula 1 style. May the best man win.

Current Results and Current Road To Formula 1 Series Point Standings

[DSR] Vincent vanquished his victims in his first ever DSR Road to Formula 1 Victory. "After MaberMK pitted, I had a feeling that he would not be able to pass Al and then pass me, so I relaxed and just put in some steady laps from there on" He said while guzzling champagne in a post race celebration/interview. 2nd place finisher and team mate, [DSR] AlPayson was happy to finish on the podium. "I was banking on people going off and losing control!", he said as he ran to the beer tent after the race. "Poor me a Guiness!" he added. [SA] MaberMK was one of the few with an intentional 1 stop strategy. Even still he rounded out the podium with a great effort. "The crew was great! They had me in and out of the pits as fast as I've ever seen. Too bad I drove great for 39 laps and something awful for the last 3", he said while celebrating with his crew members.

[DSR] amp88 took the pole in qualification with a formidable 1:22.700, but a slip up early in the race (shown below), allowed several positions to overtake. He would regain control and go on to finish in 4th place.

[DSR] amp88 spins it as [DSR] AlPayson looks to take advantage.

As the race wore on it looked like [SA] MaberMK would dominate as he quickly pulled away and widened the gap to [DSR] Vincent early. It turned out later that he was on a 1 stop strategy and he would relinquish the lead (shown below left) at the halfway point and emerge from the pits in 3rd behind [DSR] Al Payson.
By lap 39 [SA] MaberMK had closed the gap to [DSR] AlPayson and was preparing to pass when he got loose accelerating onto the back stretch. (shown above right). He managed to keep the car off the wall and got the car to the end unharmed and on podium.

And now after 8 Event weekends and 14 grueling races in the MRT, the FBM, the FOX and the FO8, the Road to Formula 1 is in it's final stages. This is what the drivers have been waiting for. Of the 55 drivers who started in the 1st Event way back on January 11th, only 24 have continued through to the next Event. 2 BF1 races with knock out qualifying and the longest and most demanding races of the season are left in the driver's path. Who will win? Who will be the 1st ever Dark Side Racing, Road to Formula 1 champion?

Current Points are available HERE

In the first Event in the Formula V8 car drivers were challenged with handling the tricky infield section and balancing that with the high speeds of the oval section at Kyoto Ring National. This Event was to be the last in the tribute to the OWRL as well as the last multiple race Event. As the OWRL format goes, this was a 15 minute qualifying session, then a 10 lap Sprint Race followed by a 30 lap Feature Race. As qualifying began it was speculated that last season OWRL Division A champion, [SR] Storm_Cloud would be the favorite for all 3 sessions, but that was not so. The pole was captured by current Road To Formula 1 points leader, [DSR] amp88. [DSR] amp88 went on to win the Sprint race and inch closer to the title.

As the Sprint Race began turn 1 proved costly to one DSR member, [DSR] smack, pictured below trashing the inside wall at turn 1.

Turn 1 also sent projected race favorite, [SR] Storm_Cloud into the gravel trap, but he remained on the gas and managed to exit the sandy ensnarement although in last place he was unscathed. Later that same lap he had an incident involving SCP™ Cile who was re-entering the track after he was spun in an incident involving Inter|Roby. The picture below shows [SR] Storm_Cloud's race ending wall shot.

"I could have limped the car back to the pits, had it fixed, and rejoined, but the thought of doing that instead of eating lamb and mint jelly in the hospitality suite just wasn't that appealing" said [SR] Storm_Cloud in a post race interview.

The Feature went almost as expected, with one major difference. The entire field was lead unbelievably by [DSR] AlPayson for a whole 14 laps. When we asked him about his surprising lead, he said, "Well finishing the Sprint in 8th and starting on the pole for the Feature sure helped. I can't believe those guys let me lead for so long, but once I got to lap 12 my front tires were crap and I knew that trying to defend my position would result in bad things, so I let guys pass without too much fuss." And pass they did. By lap 15 [SR] Storm_Cloud had manged to charge his way all the way up from the rear of the pack to pass [DSR] Lateralus for 3rd spot and was making a run at [DSR] Vincent for the lead. 4 hard fought laps ensued. [DSR] Vincent made block after block as [SR] Storm_Cloud tried to find a way around him. Finally on lap 19 he made a last draft to pass on the oval section and the rest is history. [SR] Storm_Cloud took the Feature win, the Fastest Lap and Highest Climber points in his domination of the race. [DSR] Vincent, finished 2nd completing a clean sweep of 2nd place in all three sessions. In 3rd was [DSR] Lateralus, who is making his 5th podium appearance of the series. Congratulations Drivers!


Winner of the tough luck award for the day was [DSR] smack who, pictured below, had some stern letters for his competitor, SCP™ Igor*cisco who is receiving a drive through penalty in the next Event for the incident.

Current points for the series are up and are official.
Click Here!

April 19th, the next Event is the last of the Formula V8s and is a single 42 lap race at the fast Westhill International in reverse direction. Once again driver's will be challenged with a balance of handling and top speed. With the series having only 1 Event left until Formula 1, Competition is getting fierce. Catch It!

Events 6 and 7 of the Dark Side Racing Road To Formula 1 Series will employ the same race format as does the popular OWRL. "As I and some of my team mates have run quite a few races with the OWRL, I wanted to pay tribute to our friends in that series by utilizing their race format in our series for a couple of events" said [DSR] AlPayson during a pre-race interview. The format consists of a 15 minute qualifying session followed by a Sprint race and the a grueling Feature race in which the top 8 finishers from the Sprint race are reversed for the Feature.

Grueling is the key word as South City's walls and tight turns have a way of jumping out and grabbing drivers as they try to navigate through the course. To every one's surprise, [DSR] smack took pole for the Event first, with the same time as always fast team mate [DSR] vincent giving [DSR] smack his first top 3 in any category in the series. Unfortunately for [DSR] smack that pole did not result in a win as a slight mistake in turn 1 with a slight wall graze cost him the lead immediately. Unshaken however, [DSR] smack would go on to finish with points in both races.

In the 10 Lap Sprint race another surprise, all but 1 driver finished the race, and the race would be won by Road To Formula 1 Series Race 8 Winner, LRT|K.OKeefe who, just like in Race 8, also took the Fast Lap of the Race.
He was followed by series points leader, [DSR] amp88 who was battling with team mate [DSR] vincent. As shown in the actual race photo finish below.

The 30 Lap Feature was South City at its best and most dramatic. Pole sitter, [DSR] smack who conveniently finished 8th in the Sprint race found himself on the pole for the Feature as well, but once again South City would claim him and keep him from the win. However he was not a part of the 1st Lap's Turn 2 incident which claimed the race of [DSR] Lebaron and took a big chunk of time from many other viable contenders. Unlike the Sprint Race this was only the first of many DNFs in the race.
[DSR] smack's time came after leading the race for 4 whole laps when [DSR] Ehn!cO made a daring attempt at a pass in the slow section at the 1st split and got into the back of [DSR] smack spinning them both. This opened the door for both [DSR] amp88 and [DSR] AlPayson to pass through and take the top 2 spots. From then on [DSR] amp88 dominated. Setting fast lap after fast lap he increased his lead and thus his grip on the championship. As the race went on through the 20th lap [DSR] amp88 had increased his lead by 7 seconds over 2nd place [DSR] AlPayson, who had a solid 4+ second lead over Sprint Race High Climber, [SR] StormCloud. On lap 21[DSR] AlPayson's car suddenly veers left and slams the pit wall on the front straight, causing considerable damage to his car. "I just blacked out for a second. When I realized I couldn't see anything I slapped myself in the space bar, but by then it was too late. I had already hit the wall" said [DSR] AlPayson. Having extreme difficulty executing right turns, [DSR] AlPayson soon found himself defending a slim lead over [SR] StormCloud. On Lap 26 they make contact on several occasions but, with an ailing car, [DSR] AlPayson can't hold off the determined [SR] StormCloud. Now [DSR] AlPayson must contend with team mate [DSR] Ehn!cO, who is also having problems with his car. On the last lap [DSR] Ehn!cO makes the same daring attempt to pass in the slow section at the 1st split and it ends in the same result, a spin. As the lap continues he catches up to [DSR] AlPayson once again and as [DSR] Ehn!cO makes the pass they contact and [DSR] AlPayson is spun and heavily damaged. As [DSR] AlPayson regains his composure, [SA] MaberK flys by to snap up 4th spot. So the win goes to [DSR] amp88 in dominating fashion and the podium is rounded off by [SR] StormCloud and [DSR] Ehn!cO. "Most brutal race I've ever seen. I had a mild heart attack just watching", said a spectated [DSR] Lebaron.

Full results and current points can be found by Clicking Here
The next Event continues the tribute to the OWRL with a Sprint-Feature type race at Kyoto Ring National in the Formula V8s on Sunday April 5th.

As [SA] MaberMK looks to find an opening, Inter|Roby plows into a helpless SCP™ Igor*acisco who had obliterated the tire barrier in the final chicane on lap 4.

Pole sitter, [DSR] amp88 took fast lap and the win in the first of the non-spec set races in the Dark Side Racing Road to Formula 1 Series, Event 5, Formula XR race at Aston National. "I've driven a lot of laps here and it was my best chance in the series. It couldn't have gone any better for me", said [DSR] amp88 while doing a victory dance on top of the podium. In 2nd place, 6.01 seconds behind him was team mate [DSR] Ehn!cO. Rounding out the all DSR top three was newest team mate, [DSR] Lateralus. The win shot [DSR] amp88 into a commanding points lead for the series over team mate [DSR] AlPayson who finished 4th in this race. This event marked the first time in the series racers were not split up onto 2 servers. Since the total number of drivers who drove eligibility laps in the weeks prior to the race was only 25, everyone ran on one server. This meant there would be at least 15 drivers who would come away without points from this race. That final chicane and the turn one sand trap proved fatal as 9 drivers did not make it to the end of the race. "I caught a little grass and then sand and I was done" said [DSR] Lebaron. "it's such a shame", he added later.
Results and Point Standing can be found below.
Event 5 Results
Point Standings Only
Extended Points Standings

With the series now past the half way point, the races will get tougher still as the Road to Formula 1 moves to the demanding Streets of South City Long. The next 2 event formats in the series are Dark Side Racing's tribute their friends in the Open Wheel Racing League. With a short Sprint Race followed by a longer Feature race and the top 8 Sprint race finish positions reversed. Points will be divided into a 30/70% points payout for each event. Good Luck Drivers!

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