FormulaSL, round 3, Snowpeach Raceway, May 10th 2008

Tendaze Wins an Action Packed Snowpeach GP

25 Drivers made it to Snowpeach this week for round 3 of FormulaSL and we seen exciting racing in each division.

Grosmanteau DeCuir of IDK Racing came out swinging to set a fast pole time of 15.254 on the very first lap of qualifying. Kandy Tomorrow of KC Motorsports challenged to fall 0.04 behind for a p2 start. YumYum Divisadero of Depo squeezed out Yamaha Harley of MoR for p3. Neko Carter placed a second MoR car in P5. Jafo Tendaze of Mas/Archer won the g2 race to progress to a p6 start in the main.

Grosmanteau came out fast only to suffer engine electronic problems in the early laps keeping him off the lead group.

Kandy quickly made her way to the front, but was unable to loose the pack behind her. Jafo, Yamaha and YumYum were all in the hunt for the lead. Neko was having suspension trouble and could not maintain his qualifying speed in the race.

Yamaha took a short turn at the front until a slip let Kandy regain the lead. Jafo bounced off a few walls while YumYum pulled closer to the leader each lap.

About mid race Kandy lost some momentum and YumYum and Jafo were by. YumYum lead the race for a few laps and lead the pack into the pits.

Grosmanteau pulled past the lead group on the pit lap to lead the race. Then the drivers were out of the pits. A few laps later Grosmanteau had to pit and YumYum was back in the lead. Kandy was applying pressure on the left right and center trying to force an error or find a way by. The drivers were side by side around many corners putting on the best racing display we seen this season. Jafo was on the leaders pace, though 7 seconds back.

Yum and Kandy continued the nail biting fight for the lead with Yum in front for 6 or 7 laps, both drivers on the very edge. The people in the stands were on their feet and glued to the action in front. With 6 laps to go the leaders came around the far corner into a scene of carnage. YumYum had no where to go but into the side of a wrecked car. Kandy was a little more lucky, but did not get out clean. Jafo was now much closer and able to get by Yum's damaged car to move into second.

Yamaha in 4th and Grosmanteau in 5th were gaining a lot of ground as the lead cars were all now heavily damaged from the melee and the road block wreck.

Kandy held Jafo off until lap 28 when he was finally able to work his way to the front. Yamaha was gaining on Yum's smoking car.

Last lap and Kandy has her foot down. She's making time on Jafo, chasing him to the line full tilt, but it's not enough as Jafo Tendaze of Mas/Archer Racing took the win 1/10th ahead of Kandy Tomorrow who lead the most laps of the race. Yamaha Harley of MoR was able to catch YumYum Divisadero of Depo on the last lap to finish on the podium. Grosmanteau DeCuir of IDK finished in 5th with the gap from 5th to 1st only 10 seconds. Neko Carter of MoR took a damaged car home in 6th, 4 laps down.

TF20FOX Tammas of AM Pro Mach2 put the brakes on his boss Abacus Mimistrobell of Mach1 to get the win in the LCQ to advance to group 3.

G3 race saw two drivers retire and DNF as Motorato and Caine pulled off track after both spent time at the front. Independent Caz Freschi took full advantage of the space to get the g3 win and advancement in his rookie race.

G2 was fiercely contested and a heart breaker for everyone except Jafo Tendaze who took the win to advance to the main event. Jafo used a 20 lap, no pit strategy that paid dividends leaving most of the field a lap behind.

We seen some of the best racing so far this season at Snowpeach this round with 4 cars in the hunt for the win. We've had 3 winners in 3 races with Kandy out in front of the championship. The cards are in place to produce an amazing season of racing!

Next race we have contracted a film crew to capture a video for post race release. The video will feature voice over by VJ Shojo. Stay tuned for that!

The tentative schedule for the second quarter of racing has been posted. Next up is PSU Raceway..in reverse!

Les White
Race Director

Additional pictures can be found HERE (thanks Moto!).
MP3 of the race audio with sportscaster VJ Shojo can be found HERE in a single zip file. Inside the zip the races and quals are broken into segments for easy listening.

 Final Results 

1st. 25, Jafo Tendaze, Mas/Archer Racing
2nd. 20, Kandy Tomorrow, KC Motorsports
3rd. 16, Yamaha Harley, MoR Racing
4th. 13, YumYum Divisadero, Depo Racing
5th. *12, Grosmanteau DeCuir, IDK Racing
6th. 10, Neko Carter, MoR Racing
7th. 9, Caz Freschi, IND
8th. 8, Crippy Oh, Mas/Archer Racing
9th. 7, RamessesIII Pharaoh, Pure
10th. 6, Suzy Cuddihy, Pure
11th. 5, Silk Bamboo, Mach1
12th. 4, Dolli Dreamscape, Depo Racing
13th. 3, Vinnie Niangao, Mach2
14th. 2, TF20FOX Tammas, Mach2
15th. 1, Abacus Mimistrobell, Mach1
16th. Subwoofer Fuhr, Fuhr Motorsports
17th. Mango Birdbrain, MacAudioGuy
18th. Count Bayliss, MoR Racing
19st. Nella Boccara, Pure
20th. DNF,  Motorato Ware, IND
21th. DNF, Caine Beresford, KC Motorsports

Fastest race lap, Grosmanteau DeCuir, 15.369
Pole Position. Grosmanteau DeCuir  15.254. One point awarded*