formula motor racing [Updated October 2002]

FMR   3 prizes Beginners Mult Ent Sing Elim Scheduled 
   14  Rnd1 Heat1 10 
  Rnd1 Heat2 9  
  Rnd1 Heat3 15   Round 2 9 Round 3 Final 11

  Rnd1 Heat1  Rnd1 Heat2 Polo  Rnd1 Heat3 Derby Round 2 Round 3 Tack

Mike Stachowski, NY

2002 Champion

2nd: Alan Bargender, PA

3rd: Forrest Soeck, MD

4th: Katie McCorry, VA

5th: Steve Cameron, PA

6th: Mike Nagel, NJ

Event History
2001    Steve Cameron     31
2002    Mike Stachowski     47


AREA Ratings


GM: Chris Janiec

Past Winners

Steve Cameron - PA
2001
 

Varooom ......

46 players participated in the three preliminary heats of this year's championship. The first two each drew 17 team principals at three tables, while Heat #3 on Saturday mustered 28 players at five tables. Competition was fierce; at three of the eleven tables, only five or six points separated first from fifth place after six races. In one five-player matchup, the "winner" by dint of more second-place finishes was actually the non-player team. Perhaps the most unlikely winner was Nick Smith, who managed his team to a thrilling come-from-behind victory after no less than five Not Classified (failed to finish) results in the first three races.

A full field of 12 was on hand for the six-race semi-finals on Sunday morning, including three alternates. At Table 1, defending champion Steve Cameron won two of the first three races on his way to a commanding 44-point victory. Top point-scorer from the heats Mike Nagel had only three points after the first three races, but won the last three to finish comfortably with 33 points. Katie McCorry and Kathy Stroh tied with 26 points, but youngster McCorry advanced by dint of her 1st-place finish in the second race.

Table 2's Forest Speck got off to a horrific start in the first race by Spinning Out one of his own cars and losing the other in a Crash, then played the Crash card in the second race only to victimize one of his own drivers yet again. He recovered by winning the third and fifth races to gain the lead going into the final race. At that point, every team was still in contention, with the sixth-place team only 13 points behind the leader. Speck brought both cars home in third and fourth to emerge victorious with 35 points, while Mike Stachowski also placed two cars in the points to finish with 32. George Sauer failed to advance, however, losing his first car to a Blown Engine and then emulating Speck by playing the Crash card on himself. That left the way clear for Alan Bargender to win the race (despite Spinning Out with his other car) and net 32 points to advance.

Drivers were very cautious in the Finals, with only the first and last races witnessing collisions. Although the Crash at Melbourne involved Stachowski's Ferrari and Cameron's Arrows teams, their surviving cars recovered to finish first and second respectively. A Stachowski Ferrari also won the second race at Imola, extending their lead to 12 points. Despite scoring only a lone fourth place at Monaco, and no points at all at Silverstone, the red cars still held a three-point lead over McCorry's Jaguars going into the fifth race at Monza, with Nagel's Jordans one point further back. There, disaster struck the yellow team, as for the third time in the Finals an anguished cry of "0hno!" from Nagel meant that one of his Jordans had Spun Out from that position. Speck's Minardis went on to win the race, vaulting his team into second with 22 points. Even the last-place Arrows had 18 points, so all five other teams still had a chance to catch the leading Ferraris (31 points) as the red lights went out to start the final race at Suzuka. The field tightened further when one of the Ferraris crashed into a Minardi, allowing one of Bargender's Saubers to take the lead. Needing to better the red competition by 12 points to win the Constructor's Championship, Bargender ordered his other car to charge through the field only to see a cloud of blue smoke signaling a Blown Engine and second place in the Championship with 30 points. Although one of the Jaguars finished second, a Sauber was right behind to finish third in the race and the Championship by dint of Speck's lone win as the 26-point tiebreaker. Stachowski's Ferraris scored one point to finish with 32 and a well-deserved Championship plaque.

Special thanks are due to dedicated Assistant GMs Mike Nagel and Chris Lefevre for their support during the races and especially for taking the time to teach new players the game before the start of each heat.

 GM      Chris Janiec  [1st Year]   NA 
    NA   NA

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