#(who. despite all the silliness of the race stayed second place and got a podium) is still carrying the bit like a baton relay. Do you have

[kazoologist]

congratulations to Mme. Pascale Leclerc, who has surely just experienced both the funniest and most unhinged weekend a mother could ever have. Dear fucking christ, I hope your middlest son brought you a bottle of champagne for yourself, ma'am.

[jgracie]

talking about pjo x f1… WHAT TEAM WOULD DO YOU THINK THE CHARACTERS BE IN?!

OFF TO THE RACES — PJO/HOO + F1 TEAMS

masterlist | rules

↳ part 2! (i can only put 10 pics in a post 😣)

an anon i got SO excited when u sent this so obviously i had to make it a whole post 😇 love u so much ! also i only included the relevant teams sorry not sorry i was not ab to find some random person to put in kick sauber or wtv it’s called now 😭 should i write reader x driver chars?!?

FERRARI’S DRIVER LINEUP CONSISTS OF . . .

OO1 — PERSEUS “PERCY” JACKSON

after placing 3rd in his rookie season of formula one, percy jackson quickly became a fan favourite amongst newbies and old timers alike! he had no trouble receiving a contract from ferrari at the end of last year, much to williams' dismay, and now seems to be bringing a team that we once thought was having its downfall to the podium! now, he seems to be on his way to winning his first ever world drivers' championship. hopefully, jackson remembers that the higher up you're sitting, the more people there are to tug you down...

OO2 — LUKE CASTELLAN

ferrari loyalist luke castellan has been the italian team's main driver for the majority of his career. none of his teammates could ever beat him - sneaky and speedy, he knows exactly how and when to comeback after a not-so-good weekend. if you're anywhere near castellan on the track, you should be extremely worried. now that ferrari have signed percy jackson in his second year, will castellan be able to hold his ground as their number one guy, or will percy eliminate him like he did the rest of the grid?

RED BULL’S DRIVER LINEUP CONSISTS OF . . .

OO1 — JASON GRACE

if you know red bull, you must know jason grace, who's been part of the red bull family ever since his days in formula four! grace seems to have been born with a god-given talent on the track, his smooth and precise takeovers catching the eyes of all sorts of people in the industry. despite receiving various contract offers left and right, grace stuck with red bull. in recent years, however, fans are beginning to believe that jason's heart simply isn't with them anymore...

OO2 — ANNABETH CHASE

after many years of persistence and hard work at haas, annabeth chase finally managed to catch the eye of red bull's team principal. people were hesitant to warm up to her at first, but she earned their love in no time by consistently placing on the podium and even landing a couple wins! clever cookie chase will do anything to be standing in front of the crowds, champagne bottle in one hand, trophy in the other - even going as far as disobeying team orders and overtaking teammate grace in some occasions, which might prove to be a sticky situation in the coming season

MCLAREN’S DRIVER LINEUP CONSISTS OF . . .

OO1 — LEONIDAS “LEO” VALDEZ

joining mclaren this year is none other than last year's formula two driver's championship winner, leo valdez! with quite the knowledge in machinery as well as fiery speed on the track, leo is definitely a force to be reckoned with. unfortunately, he hasn't been able to produce the results we've all become accustomed to from him, often dnf-ing and barely scoring any points. this might be getting to him, but oh well, all da ladies luv leo anyway!

OO2 — TRAVIS STOLL

completely juxtaposing his teammate and proving that the mclaren car is an absolute beast, travis stoll has quickly become a familiar face to see on a podium that was once a blur of blues and reds. despite this, he's managed to stay humble, insisting the praise should go to his younger brother and race engineer - connor stoll. the two are well known for silly banter and heartwarming singalongs during races. however, recent news of the younger stoll being jealous of his brother has started circulating...

[llantrisantscc]

Group C Round 5 - 8th August 2018

Lots of people back from hols this week, so only really Karl still out gallivanting. Quali in Red threw up something interesting, and to my recollection, probably unique in the club history (please feel free to trawl back and have a check). Russ pointed out that all 9 qualifiers finished on the same second – not just within a second of 1st to last, but actually all 9 of us on 8 point something! Cool.

The racing was, as always, quite quick and closely bunched. All three groups saw some very close quarter battles throughout the night. So let’s go racing – Alan got the launch spot on in Yellow as Heat 1 kicked off proceedings, Junior followed on in Blue with Lee at the tail in Red.  A lap later and Lee drove inside Seb to take P2 as he started to chase Alan. An off for both the leaders saw Lee rejoin at the front, with Alan snapping at his heels with Seb still within striking distance in 3rd. Alan got the slipper down as he harried Lee, and by L9 Lee succumbed by the smallest of margins as Alan regained the pointy bit.  These two guys drove the opening 13 laps absolutely side by side – you could tell they were really enjoying the dice. An off on L13 saw Lee drop back a few inches as Alan set off on his almost perfect run to the line. The single off on L4 was Alan’s only blemish as he stormed Heat 1 for the victory.

Seb was very relieved to get onto Green for H4 after the frustrations of Blue in H1. So much so, that he went flag to flag without too much interference from the other two.  Alan enjoyed the opening two laps in P2, but a poor L3 saw Lee capitalise and grab it from him, going all the way to the flag behind Seb, with Alan crossing the line at the back. A reversal of H1 !

Lee had the bum deal in H7, a lonely drive at the back trying to get the best out of Blue lane. Alan was within a whisker of Seb as he circulated in Green, but a trip up on L8 let Seb have a bit of breather as he started to pull away at the front in Red. A couple of hiccups just before the 2/3rds mark perked Alan’s ideas up a bit, but Seb soon got back in the groove and pulled away for a comfortable win.

The guys last outing in H10 looks relatively boring from the graphs – it was anything but! Seb got away in Yellow like a scalded cat, Alan was next away in Red with Lee chasing him from Green. Seb worked away at getting his laps consistent and thus eked out a good gap of several seconds from Dad who was doing a very good job of keeping his laps consistent too. It was a ll looking like a bit of a foregone conclusion, until Seb slid off on L25 – Alan was right on his tail! Both banged in four great laps and then both crashed on the last lap. Does neither want to win! Well, of course they did, with bated breath the Scuderia floored it for the line, with Seb keeping his composure and lead to tag a well earned win for the final heat. Lee kept bashing away at Green, but was unable to make significant inroads into Alan’s safe P2.

H2 was another linear affair, Martyn bringing up the rear with an utter nightmare in Blue – that’s his night in the bin! Leon charging hard and having a flawless Red, as Mike had just that little edge as he ran a flawless Yellow. The two front guys were nip and tuck all the way, a very exciting, close, and well driven race – try as he may, Leon was never quite able to pull in front of Mike, despite them both alternating a few tenths faster than the other as the laps counted down. Great racing!

ForH5, Mike sat out in Blue and sung Team America’s “Roanreee” for the solitary thrash around in the slow lane. Meanwhile, Leon got the drop in Yellow leading Martyn (Green) off the line. Leon’s first fumble of the night came on L4 and Martyn was through to the lead. On L9, Leon literally just squeezed ahead. The guys then had a great dice until Martyn got too excited and slid off on L15. Leon drove the remaining 15 laps very well, so Martyn couldn’t get a sniff in. The only other excitement in the heat was Martyn trying to fend off the shame of being lapped by Leon, but I.I.R.C. the king of slapshot did him on the last corner to earn lapping bragging rights.

Next time out, Martyn got the holeshot in Red and drove his first flawless heat in a long time to tag a flag to flag win. Leon got away 2nd in Blue with Mike on the chase in Green. There was about 0.5s in it until L13 – Leon ditched it and Mike took P2. Mike got his rhythm going and finished the heat with only one incident on L2, meaning Leon had no chance of closing the gap.

As they entered their last heat, Leon held a 9 seconds advantage over Mike, with Martyn a further 10 seconds back. The lanes were looking better for Martyn (Y) and Mike (R ) with Leon in Green. Martyn got a good start, edging away from Mike and Leon who were locked in a paint swapping duel just behind. An off for Martyn on L7 allowed Mike through, but it was Slipper time for Martyn as he regained the lead a lap later and started to pull away.  Leon and Mike once more put in flawless runs and were really chasing the bejabers out of each other. Another silly off for Martyn on L25 put paid to any chance of just nicking a place from mike at the end of the night, but have a look at the score sheets to see how far Mike was ahead of Leon as their race night drew to a close!  I think the three lads really enjoyed themselves tonight.

And so to group 1 in H3. Steve had a lightening start in Yellow and apart from his opening lap of 8.6s, did every other lap under 8.5. Craig was holding P2 in Blue, with Russ going pretty quickly in Red. L8 saw Craig’s charge slowed as he had an off, meaning he had to try and chase down Russ for P2. As Steve cleared off on his immaculate run, Russ ran consistently under 8.5 himself. The gap between Steve and Russ stayed around the 2 to 3 second mark for a good part of the race, with Steve eking it out to 4 seconds at the line. Craig had started to creep back towards Russ, but finished in P3 about the same distance back.

Craig (G ) got a flyer off the line as H6 got under way, Steve was pretty sharpish off the line in Blue, with Russ having a bit of a doze in Yellow. By L2 Russ was up to speed and demoted Steve to P3, and closing the gap on Craig. Good lap times from Craig made life tricky for Russ, though his persistence paid off as Craig binned it on L13. I was going to say “the bearded one then set off…..” until I realised everyone in the top group sports whiskers. Remember Leon, we need to grow a beard to win more regularly at Llany! So Russ set off to do some very quick laps until he overcooked it on L19 – whiskers in the eyes perhaps? But he got his mojo backstraight away and managed to keep a second a half gap over Craig as the latter drove the wheels off trying to catch Russ.  Steve, meanwhile kept it smooth to get the best out of Blue.

H9 by contrast was a “no overtaking” sesh, Craig taking the win in Red, Steve P2 in Green and Russ tail-end Charlie in Blue.

The grand finale of H12 had a little more of a dust up in it. Craig shot out of the gate in Yellow, with Steve half a second back in Red, but sadly it all got a bit cross threaded for Russ in Green as a double off dropped him out of contention – still podium slots to play for though, so he knuckled down and did the remaining 29 laps with his racer’s head on and came home without further mishap. P1 swapped hands on L4 as Craig hit the barriers, immediately followed by 4 sub-8 second laps as he chased the auld fella. All it took was one tail-slide from Steve on L11 to allow Craig to edge ahead.  Unheard of! Craig binned it again L18, but graciously, Dad did likewise a lap later. You couldn’t separate the two now. Then Craig went to the next level and started pulling out 3/10ths a lap – Steve was spent, he just couldn’t catch the youngster, with Craig taking a very well earned win and Steve taking P2 with full battle honours. What a race to finish the night on. And there was me bumping my gums a few weeks back saying we should drop Group C because it was boring! Not a chance, if any doubt about which class to run at this years GP, the excitement of tnight cemented the decision for us! Roll on Fiat 500s next week.

[meaningofmotorsport]

London ePrix Race 2 Review

Despite all the action that occurred out on track, the biggest moment may have been what happened in the pitlane, as we saw something very unusual for the second race of the weekend!

Yesterday was clearly a learning experience for Mahindra and Lynn, as they could not match the best teams for pace in Race 1, but they turned that around today, as Lynn could stay with the best, had luck on his side, and made the most of it! To get his first ever Formula E win at home must be so special for him, as he has been trying to get it for so long! The team has fought back from the tough times they have had in previous years, and with Lynn especially, are right back at the sharp end. He could even win the title!

It was just one of those days for Mercedes! They were controlling the race to begin with, and looked set for a 1-2, until all hell broke loose during the 2nd Safety Car! First there was the Di Grassi drama which we will get on to, then on the restart, Rowland in defending from De Vries, basically T-boned Vandoorne, ruining his race! De Vries still had good pace, although with some damage from earlier in the race, he could not make any attempts to pass Lynn for the win! At least this weekend Mercedes showed they are back, and probably had the best car all weekend! Nyck now leads the title race, and is starting to spread the field out behind him, this means that whilst being in Group 1 isn’t great, it won’t be easy for him to be overhauled!

Evans and Jaguar seemed to be doing all they can to not get on the podium! Between Mitch making errors both in racing and attack mode activation, and the team advising him to take it when it was clear there would be a Safety Car, it wasn’t the greatest day on both sides! Looking at all of that it is a miracle he got 3rd, but makes you wonder what he could have done if he had managed it better! That error in New York for Evans could prove really costly, although he may not have gone as well in London if he had been in Group 1, like we saw from his teammate! It was a disappointing weekend for Bird, 2 DNF’s, neither of which were wholly his fault! The move on Nato was late, but he wasn’t given the room he maybe deserved, so the penalty for the next race is harsh! 14 points is a lot to close for Bird, especially as he is also in Group 1, so this could be another ‘what if’ season for Jaguar!

Frijns continues to be the picture of consistency in this season, and could feasibly win the title without winning a race this year! The gap to De Vries is small enough, so that if he gets two solid points scoring results at Berlin, it could be enough! In Race 2, he was super-fast, as shown by him getting the fastest lap overall, and was able to pressure Evans for a lot of the race!

Don’t think we ever saw Wehrlein in that race, he just took advantage of what occurred around him, to achieve a very good 5th place, as Porsche continues to show promise in their second year in the sport! His teammate did not cover himself in glory today, as he basically pushed Da Costa into the wall on the pit straight. We know that Lotterer is a fierce defender, but that was simply too far!

Guenther bounced back well after a big mistake yesterday, and it could have been better if he hadn’t been muscled around by other drivers like Evans! Dennis made his way up through the field, to bag just the single point, but he is still in the top 5 in the championship, so every point counts! An even better drive though was by Cassidy, who made up 11 places, backing up the pace of that car, and outshining the Audi’s in the process!

Now, for possibly the biggest moment of the race, as Di Grassi noticed the Safety Car was going very slowly during the race, and so decided to go through the pitlane to try and gain places! It worked, and could have been legal if he had come to a complete stop in the pitlane, which the FIA argues he didn’t. This was a huge mistake for Audi, as if he had stopped properly, I think he still could have won.

Shout out to Sette Camara, who scored some more points for Dragon/Penske, who clearly are still not able to fight properly with the other teams! Vandoorne was not far off of points in the end, so it was a good recovery from him!

What a terrible weekend it was for Nissan, DSQ’d in Race 1, and then Rowland was fighting for a podium today, until he locked up whilst defending, and ruined his own race. It is unbelievable to see they are 10th in the constructors, considering they took over from a dominant Renault team, and have shown pace every year up until now!

Before I wrap up, I just want to voice my opinion about the direction the series is taking right now. This is because I am fearing it may be focused solely on entertainment, which may sound good on paper, but rarely works in reality! The biggest sign of this is the qualifying groups, which in the past has been a little extra spice in the racing, however, given how close the field is this year, I fear that those groups will decide the title, not who has the fastest car, which is simply wrong! Also, just before the race starts, where they dim the lights, and put a spotlight on each driver, doesn’t really do much for me, if anything it looks silly, and I fear they could go too far with that, especially as it often doesn’t work!

These things combined with how they always make the Safety Car go so slowly to try and maximise the time racing, which by the way was what caused Di Grassi to almost win which would have looked so bad on the sport, make me worry about the future! There have been many examples of the series banning innovations in the sport, to try and keep all the cars close together, which makes no sense, as they always say they are driving the future forward, but you can’t do that if you don’t let people find what the future is! I believe that is why BMW and Audi are leaving, as they no longer see this as a test bed for their future electric plans, instead it is a PR stunt to make companies look good! As a result, in a few years’ time, when the hype around electric vehicles starts to calm down, I fear this sport could have itself a real problem if it doesn’t adapt to what people want!

Coming back to here and now, or rather looking ahead to a few weeks’ time, we have seen a few drivers stake their claim for the title this weekend, and if someone wants to overhaul De Vries at the top, they will have to do the exact same thing in Berlin!

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1

Also, if you want to support me, I have a Patreon Page at: https://www.patreon.com/meaningofmotorsport

[runridedive]

Unbelievable finish ends memorable 2019 Dusi

An incredible end sprint saw Christie Mackenzie win her first FNB Dusi Crown from a valiant Tamika Haw while Andy Birkett fought illness to claim his ninth Dusi title at Blue Lagoon on Saturday afternoon.

The ladies race was always going to be a tight tussle into Durban with neither Mackenzie nor Haw giving an inch. The pair continued to match each other stroke for stroke right to the line where Mackenzie won a thrilling end sprint.

Day three consists of a number of tricky rapids but it is always defined by the infamous Burma Road portage. It was an enthralling battle of attrition as both paddlers took turns at the front on both the water and on the portages.

“It was a pretty nerve wracking day for me to be honest!” Euro Steel/Varsity College’s Mackenzie said.

“Before the stage I told myself that I needed to keep it conservative and avoid making mistakes because I had made so many in the first two days.

“I couldn’t get my splash cover on at Tops Needle and so I started to panic but after that I managed to calm down.”

The portage up and over Burma Road was set to be a major decider in the contest for a maiden title between the two and it turned out that neither wanted to budge and they couldn’t be separated until the final few metres.

“I have never run up Burma Road so hard in my whole life!” Mackenzie added. “When we put in on the otherside I was absolutely buggered and knew that I had to stay with Tamika because there wasn’t a lot left in the tank.

Mackenzie’s marathon prowess came to the fore at the death when she had to take on Haw in a flat end sprint and the Under 23 star believed that should it come down to it she would have the upper hand.

“Having an end sprint with her yesterday meant that I was fairly confident that I could pull it off today.

“I just wanted to make sure that I was pulling coming into the finish and I got myself in a good position at the end,” a relieved Mackenzie said.

Haw has tasted success at the Dusi in a K2 with two podium finishes but this was the closest she came to winning the race but across the line it was pure elation on her face.

Incredibly there was another end sprint in the ladies race to decide third and fourth. Under 18 Amy Peckett proved she is a force to be reckoned with when she managed to catch Jenna Ward and then beat the marathon world championship medallist in an end sprint.

Young Tracey Oellerman finished in fifth place in the ladies race.

The men’s race threatened to be a procession with Euro Steel’s Birkett holding all the cards, however it was Euro Steel/Red Bull’s Khwela who showed that he wasn’t done and closed the five minute gap to just one minute and 10 seconds at one stage.

Birkett, who is second on the all-time Dusi champions list, didn’t think that this year’s race was up there with his best.

“This year’s race dished out the hurt for me and last night I was man-down at about one o’clock and this last day was really hard work for me,” the three-time consecutive K1 champion said.

“I just tried to keep the momentum going today and I am sure that Sbonelo (Khwela) made up time on me on the flat section coming into the finish and I won’t lie I am happy to get to Durban and not suffering on the river anymore.”

Despite his incredible Dusi record Birkett believes that this year’s win was one of the toughest he has had to work for.

“This year was hard and last year was also tough but I think that every year has its challenges, but it’s the Dusi – it’s not an easy race,” Birkett mentioned.

It was clear that Sbonelo Khwela was out to make life as difficult for Birkett and, despite a silly swim at Tops Needle, he paddled and ran like a man possessed as he produced the fastest time of the day on Saturday.

“I think that the swim that I had was good for me because it calmed me down a lot and I managed to get a good rhythm after that,” Khwela said.

“After that I felt really good and I pushed hard onto Burma Road and I felt strong on the way up even though it wasn’t easy because of the mud.

“I cannot complain about my efforts today, and I feel that every year I am getting better because I am adapting my training and improving on my weaknesses.”

It was another lonely day for Thulani Mbanjwa as the veteran Euro Steel athlete finished in third place overall.

Khumublani Nzimande finished fourth while Andrew Houston rounded out the top five.

The under 23 men’s contest was also going to go to the wire and it was Euro Steel’s Stew Little who produced the goods on Saturday to claim the age group crown ahead of Mpilo Zondi in second and Maswenkosi Mtolo in third on a day that saw Alan Houston hamstrung by illness once again.

Maritzburg College’s David Evans finished in an impressive seventh overall and claimed the junior boys crown ahead of College team mates Hamish Mackenzie and Scott Little.

Peckett’s third also meant that she was the highest placed junior girl in the field ahead of Cara Waud in second and Shannon Parker-Dennison in third.

In what was another unforgettable moment of day three, Olympic medallist Terence Parkin, who has cycled, run and swum over 1120km from Johannesburg to Durban for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, and his partner mark Mulder were forced to walk the final 16km to the finish after they broke their boat.

Parkin, who was in a moon boot after injuring his ankle running to the Dusi, walked on crutches while Mulder carried what was left of their boat and the pair swam across the line at Blue Lagoon.

More information can be found at www.dusi.co.za

SUMMARY OF RESULTS – FNB Dusi Canoe Marathon Stage Three (Inanda Dam to Blue Lagoon)

Overall 1.Andy Birkett 2:31:23 8:09:48 2.Sbonelo Khwela 2:28:29 8:11:55 3.Thulani Mbanjwa 2:35:52 8:29:07 4.Khumbulani Nzimande 2:34:01 8:32:21 5.Andrew Houston 2:34:05 8:32:25 6.Carl Floscher 2:36:33 8:34:54 7.David Evan (U18) 2:37:36 8:35:54 8.Stewart Little (U23) 2:38:21 8:41:55 9.Hank McGregor 2:35:23 8:43:00 10.Mpilo Zondi (U23) 2:38:49 8:43:35 11.Owen Gandar 2:43:32 8:52:21 12.Banetse Nkhoesa 2:41:03 8:52:22 13.Maswenkosi Mtolo (U23) 2:40:48 8:52:32 14.Shaun Rubenstein 2:47:16 9:01:54 15.Alan Houston (U23) 3:04:31 9:06:40

Women 1.Christie Mackenzie (U23) 3:00:38 10:00:11 2.Tamika Haw 3:00:38 10:00 12 3.Amy Peckett (U18) 3:05:29 10:28:07 4.Jenna Ward 3:08:46 10:28:09 5.Tracey Oellerman (U23) 3:22:31 11:23:11 6.Cara Waud (U18) 3:21:43 11:28:37 7.Shannon Parker-Dennison 3:41:14 11:58:52 8.Kim Peek 3:43:12 12:41:27 9.Melissa van Rooyen 4:07:30 13:02:59 10.Wilma Deyzel 3:55:49 13:13:15

Under 23 Men 1.Stewart Little 2:38:21 8:41:55 2.Mpilo Zondi 2:38:49 8:43:35 3.Maswenkosi Mtolo 2:40:48 8:52:32 4.Alan Houston 3:04:31 9:06:40 5.Thabani Msia 2:46:12 9:09:06

Under 23 Women 1.Christie Mackenzie 3:00:38 10:00:11 2.Amy Peckett (U18) 3:05:29 10:28:07 3.Tracey Oellerman 3:22:31 11:23:11

Under 18 1.David Evan 2:37:36 8:35:54 2.Hamish Mackenzie 3:01:11 9:26:54 3.Scott Little 2:50:07 9:29:02

Under 18 Girls 1.Amy Peckett 3:05:29 10:28:07 2.Cara Waud 3:21:43 11:28:37 3.Amanda Spires 4:17:21 13:22:40

Under 16 Boys 1.Kwandokhulu Mzolo 2:48:13 9:36:59 2.Matthew Millward 2:55:57 9:39:40 3.Sanele Masango 2:27:30 10:13:07

  Image Anthony Grote

The post Unbelievable finish ends memorable 2019 Dusi appeared first on Run Ride Dive.

from WordPress https://www.runridedive.com/unbelievable-finish-ends-memorable-2019-dusi/