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Michelin Pilot Challenge 2024 - Presented by SNAIL
Hosted by PSN: NOVA-0479
Event #4 / Race #1 Recap
Event #4 - Mount Panorama
Friday February 21, 2025
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Preamble:
The global PSN outage on February 7th forced this event to be rescheduled to February 21st. The changes to the grid from Event #3 to Event #4 are as follows:
Qualifying Table:
- OUT - @Dragonwhisky , @Fudman420 , @RACECAR
- IN - @Buffalo_DRD , @CdnSweetTee , @Mac1032763 , @Wetroadracer , @MrDonovan
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@Kgffy and his BMW put the whole grid on notice right away with a blistering lap in qualifying of 2:10.197, a whole 3/10th ahead of 2nd place @llNovall . We've had 4 events in this series and this is the 4th different manufacturer to claim pole which further illustrates the parity in this field. If this trend continues, I'm looking at @radliffracing 's Toyota or @Worst_Driver 's Aston Martin to grab pole at Event #5 in a few weeks.
Event #4 / Race #1:
LAP #1:
It's lights out down under in the twilight at Mount Panorama. The two BMW's of @Kgffy and @llNovall will start on the first row and they'll have @radliffracing and @Mac1032763 right behind them in the 2nd row.
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With a very short runway and a full grid of 16 cars, we all had to be careful to ensure we all get away cleanly. @Mac1032763 's McLaren was quick off the line and got ahead of @llNovall just before Turn 1. But some chain-reaction bumping led to @llNovall being pushed wide into the sand. He's rejoin the race in 16th position.
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LAP #2:
It was @Kgffy , @Mac1032763 and @bublyman that made the most of their favorable starting positions and got away from the main pack early. At the top of the mountain, @Mac1032763 touches grass and crashes. Knowing he's in a dangerous spot, he graciously waits for traffic to go by before re-entering the track in 15th spot. In this picture, @Bologna_Duc is seen through the tree running 4th while @radliffracing rounds up the top 5.
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LAP #4:
@Kgffy still leads the race. Pictured here is @radliffracing , currently 3rd chasing @bublyman who is in 2nd. @Bologna_Duc again in the background beginning his decent of the mountain is in 4th. A few moments later, @radliffracing would spin out on his decent but would do well to leave his car in the safest spot for traffic to go by. He'd drop from 3rd to 16th.
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LAP #5:
By the time he reached the mountain top in Lap #5, @llNovall has already managed to get himself back to 8th spot from 16th after the turn 1 incident on Lap #1 . I saw him coming up behind like a man on a mission. I thought it pointless to defend too hard and he overtook me to move into 7th, and he wasn't done there.
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LAP #5:
Maybe I'm having a déja-vu but here's once again the Corvettes of @Bologna_Duc and @socalnatv , but instead of doing battle they're working together, from the 4th and 5th position, to try to close the gap between themselves and @bublyman still in 2nd, and @Kgffy still in 1st.
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LAP #6:
For the most part, there's pretty tight racing occurring all over the grid still. @CdnSweetTee manages to catch and pass @Noob01_lmdead at the start of the long straight to move into 9th place. Just behind them is @JDMKING13 's McLaren, currently running 11th.
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LAP #7:
@DublDee in 5th place, feeling the pressure applied by @THMP and goes a little too deep on the lefthander on top of the mountain which would allow @THMP to take the position. And chalk another one up for @llNovall who would also capitalize on the opportunity and move up to 6th.
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LAP #9:
@socalnatv did well to hang around with @Bologna_Duc for a few laps but he would get pulled into a fight with @THMP and @llNovall . @Bologna_Duc , still in 3rd, probably had eyes on his rearview mirror to watch those three go 3-wide up the mountain.
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LAP #11:
@DublDee currently in 7th, is leading three quarters of the White Knuckle Motorsports team rounding turn 1 of lap 11. @DublDee would ride the wall a little bit on the uphill on this lap allowing myself and @CdnSweetTee through. @CdnSweetTee would proceed to pressure me until the end of the race, sometimes from as close as 2/10th of a second but to her credit, I didn't feel the slightest bump from her. Fun few laps @CdnSweetTee !!!
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LAP #13:
Circling back to @Kgffy , it took me awhile to try to frame him in a picture with those chasing him to put perspective on the lead he's built for himself. @bublyman and @Bologna_Duc never stopped trying but with a little over 1 lap to go, the best they can hope for at this point is a mistake by @Kgffy
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LAP #14:
From pole to checkered, @Kgffy put on a masterclass on his controller in this one. He bests his qualifying time by touching into the 2:09's and gets himself and BMW, its first win of the season. @bublyman and @Bologna_Duc would join him on the podium. An impressive run by @llNovall got him from 16th to 4th and @socalnatv rounds up the top 5.
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Final Event #4 / RACE #1 Results Table:
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Event #4 / Race #1 Broadcast:
Final Thoughts:
That's how saw Event #4 / Race #1
- It's a short turnaround until Event #5 at Nurburgring GP. But as always, I encourage all of you to consider Snail's Sunday Night Spec League. The league has a little bit of wind at its back right now. We've had grids of 10 or 11 drivers in both divisions in recent weeks and would love to keep growing.
- I'll try to get Race #2 recap out later this week sometime if time permits.
DRD_Niagara
Director of Media Relations