[NoSkillz]

RACE TEN: Black Sea Grand Prix, Russia (December 1, 2016)

Track Layout A
Track Guide - Acceleration and High Speed Corners Crucial; Top Speed Useful
Track Info - Fuel Burn (very low), Tyre Wear (very high)
Laps - 39 (2.96 miles each)
Tyres Available - Soft, Medium, Intermediates, Wets
Weather Forecast - Practice (Sunny); Race Day (Thunderstorms)


We have a little over three weeks to prepare for our final race of our first season in the European Racing Series. We continue work on Ines Santa Ana's car and for the first time all year, we're not working on our #1 car. We're still sitting with a negative bank balance but I have an open fixed payment sponsor position available and will look to fill it soon. I have two options available to me but I'm going to hope a third potential sponsor comes to the table with something more enticing. A week later, we get a third offer and we accept it, a £400,000 per race deal with two star Ravelli & Company out of Switzerland.

We do have a chance to bring in a TV crew from Channel 6, who want to film a piece in our factory but I decline in order to avoid any disruption with our mechanics and their relationships with our drivers, turning down a hundred grand in the process.

Our practice session before the race is played under rainy conditions, similar to what is expected on race day. We have initial difficulties setting up Rodrigues but after a second pit, we have him dialed in at 98% efficiency. Meanwhile, we struggle with Ines Santa Ana's car and can only get her to 82% at the end of the session. We'll make some more adjustments and hope they are successful. The Black Sea track is tough on tires but easy on fuel and I am guessing we can get through this race with two pit stops, assuming we are careful with the tires. We go back to our largest bonus sponsor, Northern Harbour Clothing and we'll earn £880,000 if we meet their objective of finishing 2nd or better.

We have a sun shower to start the race and thunderstorms are expected at some point. Ines Santa Ana is on the pole while Rafael Rodrigues starts in row 5 in 10th position. We get off to a great start and Rodrigues is up to fourth place by the time we get to the second lap, an incredible thrust right off the bat. Santa Ana holds the lead for the first quarter of the race and it's Rodrigues pitting first while in second place...one spot behind Santa Ana, who pits one lap later. The skies have cleared but the track is still damp so I go with mediums for both drivers. Again, we're expecting thundershowers at some point and this track is killing tires right now...my hope is we can push hard on the mediums during the middle portion of the race then be ready to go with higher performance tires in the last third. Rodrigues exits the pits in sixth spot but moves up to third a lap later when a few more cars pit, including Santa Ana, who pits while in first but exits in 6th. By the time we reach lap 13, Rodrigues has vaulted into the lead and Santa Ana is up to fourth. Barring any lockups, we should get good life out of the mediums so I continue to push them hard but dial back a touch on the fuel consumption on both cars in hopes I can get through the last 26 laps with only one more stop for each car. It's going to be tough!

And my biggest fears are realized for Ines Santa Ana, as a major lockup causes some incredible wear on her tires and we're forced to bring her in prematurely on lap 18. The weather LOOKS like it's about to get wet again so I put her on inters and will hope for the best. She enters the pits in 9th place and re-enters in 19th. UGH. Meanwhile Rodrigues has extended his lead to over 13 seconds. Rodrigues pushes the lead to 17 seconds when he has to pit on Lap 23 and I realize that he won't be able to make it to the end of the race because of fuel tank limitations. So I don't fill the whole tank up, change to inters as a major storm is coming and again, I'll keep my fingers crossed. By the time the rain comes on lap 26, Rodrigues has dropped back to fourth place and his tire condition is dire. Gosh, I'm doing a pathetic job managing this race! It's absolutely pouring by the time we hit lap 32 and we're back in first place with Rodrigues but Santa Ana has dropped all the way to the back of the pack and is now being used to hold drivers up where possible. The track continues to eat away at our tires and by lap 36, Rodriguez is down to 30% then LOCKS UP and is down to 8%. Oh my. We're toast. We are forced to pit AGAIN with only three laps remaining and he exits in fifth place. Then almost immediately after leaving the pits, his tires are down to 75% after another lock up on the soaked track. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!! The four drivers in front look to be in bad shape and my only hope is that they have to pit. We get to the last lap and I notice that a few of the guys essentially have no tires left and Rodrigues is able to make up enough ground to just squeak past Sergey Antonov on the final stretch and cross the line in second place, 5 seconds back of Amanda Cavalcanti.

I need a stiff drink after that!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

We find out after the race that Cavalcanti is given a ten second penalty and that means that RAFAEL RODRIGUES WINS THE RACE!!! Oh my God!

Sergey Antonov from Vexala finishes third, Edda Jonsdottir once again gains the bonus points for having the fastest lap and disappointingly, Ines Santa Ana finishes dead last after doing so well early in the race but three drivers get illegal part penalties, including that chronic cheater Andre Sabado, who had TWO MORE ILLEGAL PARTS. Man, they aren't bright over at Firebird MRT!

I had planned for only two pit stops, needed four for both drivers and there wasn't anyone in the race with less than that so perhaps I'm being hard on myself.

Well, that's four race wins out of the last five for Rafael Rodriguez and there is no question that if we can get him a decent car next year, he should challenge for the ERS Driver's Championship. As it stands, he jumps all the way up to fifth overall in the standings, taking advantage of the double points available for the last race, one hell of an accomplishment considering he only raced six times for us! As expected, Ines Santa Ana finished in 20th and William Evans, who raced four times this season, finishes 21st.

Predator Racing Group finishes in 7th place in the constructors, a pretty solid finish that we'll look to build on next year.

December 1, 2016
Black Sea Grand Prix - EVENT RESULTS

1. Rafael Rodrigues, Predator Racing Group, 39 Laps, 40 Points
2. Amanda Cavalcanti, Silva Racing, 39 Laps, +5.091, 38 Points
3. Sergey Antonov, Vexala Motorsport, 39 Laps, +5.633, 36 Points
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4. Tanvir Jha, Garuda Racing, 39 Laps, +48.177, 34 Points
5. Eduardo Melo, Silva Racing, 39 Laps, +78.321, 32 Points

17. Ines Santa Ana, Predator Racing Group, 37 Laps, (+2 LAPS), 8 Points


Here are the final results in the 2016 European Racing Series -

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Garuda Racing, 3 Wins, 332 points
2. Eastwood Motorsport, 1 Win, 289 points
3. Vexala Motorsport, 0 Wins, 264 points
4. Silva Racing, 1 Win, 257 points
5. Firebird MRT, 0 Wins, 246 points
6. Octane Racing, 0 Wins, 207 points
7. Archer BMR, 1 Win, 204 points
8. Predator Racing Group, 4 Wins, 193 points
9. Dragon Racing Team China, 0 Wins, 171 points
10. ZRT Autosport, 0 Wins, 167 points


DRIVER STANDINGS
1. Jean-Francois Beauchamp, Garuda Racing, 2 Wins, 167 points
2. Tanvir Jha, Garuda Racing, 1 Win, 165 points
3. Edda Jonsdottir, Eastwood Motorsport, 0 Wins, 155 points
4. Sergey Antonov, Vexala Motorsport, 0 Wins, 144 points
T5. Rafael Rodrigues, Predator Racing Group, 4 Wins, 134 points
T5. Sergio Arbeloa, Eastwood Motorsport, 1 Wins, 134 points
T5. Jean-Pierre Gerard, Firebird MRT, 0 Wins, 134 points
8. Eduardo Melo, Silva Racing, 0 Wins, 130 points
9. Amanda Cavalcanti, Silva Racing, 1 Win, 127 points
10. Mustafa El Sadat, Archer BMR, 1 Win, 124 points
11. Merja Vaananen, Vexala Motorsport, 0 Wins, 120 points
12. Andre Sabado, Firebird MRT, 0 Wins, 112 points
13. Luigi Marchetta, Octane Racing, 0 Wins, 109 points
14. Sergio Valdes, ZRT Autosport, 0 Wins, 104 points
15. Claudia Dreyfuss, Octane Racing, 0 Wins, 98 points
16. Bao Tang, Dragon Racing Team China, 0 Wins, 88 points
17. Nick Chu, Dragon Racing Team China, 0 Wins, 83 points
18. Alex Rogers, Archer BMR, 0 Wins, 80 points
19. Aurelie Dembele, ZRT Autosport, 0 Wins, 63 points
20. Ines Santa Ana, Predator Racing Group, 0 Wins, 51 points
21. William Evans, Predator Racing Group, 0 Wins, 8 points