THR and NASCAR = a good fit

On last weekend we drove the second event of our THR 3rd anniversary races.
We drove the 90s NASCARS at Daytona.

It was intense but a great experience for everyone.

Both on Saturday (practice events) and Sunday (main events) we had exciting races.
Before I write something about the races I want to thank:

Dave Esotic for his great Dynamic Restrictors plugin
Timo One for lending us the server
Flashor and margar17 for driving the pace car
the racers from ASRL, VAC, GTFR, AOR, HRL, etc. (you made it special!)
all race participants who made it an exciting experience

Saturday - practice events - 3 races - 30 minutes each

Race 1

Was a bit chaotic, cause some racers had not read the information (e.g. Narwhals guide) and unfortunately not all racers were in the voice chat. pitman won the race under yellow flags, Kimmo Katajamäki and Happy Kojot finished on P2 and P3, but we don´t count this race 😉

Race 2

This race was way better. We agreed on some rules to make it easier and the missing drivers joined the voice chat.
15 minutes before the end pitman found himself on position 1 after Narwhal had to enter the pits under yellow.
From that moment on pitman managed to stay on P1, but in the last lap 5 drivers were very close and had a chance to win the race. Yannis and Narwhal were on the upper and pitman, SimonOfTheDersert and Rolf Biber on the lower line.
Narwhal then tried to give Yannis a bump and push him to the front, but the bump went wrong and Narwhal, Yannis and Simon were involved in the accident.
pitman was able to win the race unchallenged ahead of Rolf Biber and Samuli Seppänen.

Results:
https://simresults.net/remote?result=http://5.75.183.156:8772/results/download/2021_12_18_22_29_RACE.json?server=4

Race 3

It was the first race in which Dave Esotics Dynamic Restrictors Plugin showed it´s full potential.
1 1/2 laps before the end Rolf Biber lost his partner Happy Kojot and his slipstream. He was still 2 seconds in front, but now he was alone.
In the pack behind pitman, margar and Narwhal stayed in a line and got the full slipstream benefit.
With 1 lap to go, Rolf was still 1.3 seconds ahead. But the chasing pack narrowed the gap.
Right before the finish line, pitman drove next to Rolf and passed him with a lead of +00:00.0130 and won the race. margar17 finished 3rd > Incredible!

Really close finish of Race 3:
https://youtu.be/MHMT6unB3PM?t=4409
Results:
https://simresults.net/remote?result=http://5.75.183.156:8772/results/download/2021_12_18_23_6_RACE.json?server=4

Sunday - main events - 2 races - 45 minutes each

Based on the Practice races, we modified a few rules.
- formation lap: Drivers stay in two lines
- restart after SC phase: Drivers stay in a single line
- no SC phases in the last 5 minutes of the races

Race 1

With the learnings from Saturday we had a phenomenal race.
During the first 30 minutes we had everything. 22 cars on track, battles, crashes, SC phases, pitstops, etc.
Then HappyKojot had a lag spike which lead to a crash and another SC phase.
After 30 minutes, while being under yellow the server had a hickup and all drivers lost the connection. Suddenly after 30 confusing seconds the drivers were back on track. We tried to sort the cars in the right order, but probably we did it not 100% correct. Ready for the next restart, we rolled to the start/finish line to step on the gas when the light turned green.
But HappyKojot had another idea and mixed up the field again.
We needed some more minutes to get going again and in the end we had another 8 minutes left. After another SC phase we had 3 minutes of pure racing.
1 minute before the end pitman got a small bump from Samuli and lost P1 to Simon.
Simon was alone in front 0.7 seconds away. But pitman was in a group with Silber Wolf und Jensen Hasler and they gave each other slipstream. Short before the finishline they closed the gap and pitman moved to the left to sneak through on the lower line, but SimonOfTheDesert defended well and won by 0:00.0510. Another incredible finish. Behind the two, Silberwolf crossed the finish line in third place.

Really close finish of Race 1:
https://youtu.be/74TzSQQsUZ8?t=4656
Results:
https://simresults.net/remote?result=http://5.75.183.156:8772/results/download/2021_12_19_21_55_RACE.json?server=4

Race 2

The second race on Sunday was also a blast.
After the formation lap we went green and raced for full 20 minutes until the first crash happened and the Saftey Car came out. These 20 minutes were phenomenal. We had some different packs, in which the drivers gave each other slipstream, cars lined up on upper and lower line, position battles and pitstops.
Pitstops?
Yep > The time span was so long that the first racers were already getting nervous and drove to the pit stop under a green flag. When the Safety Car came out, all the other drivers cheered cause they got the chance to serve their pitstop under slower SC conditiony.
After that the marga17 and his Safety Cat had to enter the track 3 or 4 times until the 5 minute mark.
4 minutes before the end Stefan Roess was still on postition 13. Remember him.
With 2 minutes left we had a leading group with Samuli Seppänen, Flashor, Mika Hakala, Nat Stevenson, Narwhal and Rolf Biber. Behind them we had a second pack with SimonOfTheDesert, HappyKojot, Ralph van der Meer, willkb2012 and Stefan Roess.
With 1 minute on the clock, both packs got together to form one big pack.
And then 20 seconds before the end it happened.
Narwhal had a lay spike and lost control, taking the whole group with him.
Only Stefan kept a clear head, cleverly avoided the wrecks and was up and away on his own.
Stefan Roess won the race in front of willkb2012 and Ralph van der Meer.
Wow!

Finish of Race 2:
https://youtu.be/74TzSQQsUZ8?t=7754
Results:
https://simresults.net/remote?result=http://5.75.183.156:8772/results/download/2021_12_19_22_46_RACE.json?server=4

Congratulations

Congratulations to all the winners, racers who made it to the podium and everyone who participated in these great races. It was a lot of fun to celebrate the third anniversary of THR and we will definitely repeat this kind of races.

Oh, before I forgot that

Thanks a lot for the "great" singing for the anniversary 😉
https://youtu.be/74TzSQQsUZ8?t=1883

Ah, and one last thing

It is a tradition in THR that SimonOfTheDesert and Stefan Roess receive a gift from our THR shop for winning the anniversary races.

You want to support THR?

These gifts are only possible cause of the paypal donations and the patreons THR has.
If you like, what we do at THR and if you like to support it, have a look at:
https://thracing.de/supporting-thr/