A Manic Month! (Pt. 1: Aside From Week 13...)

June has left me absolutely speechless - it really has delivered the best and worst life can offer.

Somehow, next week will see the start of July - I've barely processed March!

As the QRT wrapped up the GT3/GT4 Tour at Hockenheim in late May, in early June, a new league began.

Monday 5th June, 2023

On Monday 5th June, The inaugural round of the FRL (Formula Racing League) "iMotoring Mondays" began in...a rather "interesting" fashion.

After 9 GT4 Races in a row back in May, June was turning out to be quite a bit more varied - me running in GT3 leagues on both Monday and Tuesday (FRL and QRT - QRT starting the following week)

FRL's debut was...anti-climatic.

A total of 3 drivers showed up to VIR (Virginia International Raceway) - and by the end of the day, the leader won by a lap, and 3rd place finished a further 13 laps down.

Me and P3 both binned it - meaning the highly skilled driver in 1st could run away with the lead/win.

Out of this race, I did make a new friend. At the time Ian Harte was at 250 iRating - having had low iRating myself - I offered to help and give a few pointers to help him increase his iRating.

In the 18 days I've known him, Ian has gone from 250 iRating to 601 iRating - his maximum reaching 730 - it's early days, and that's massive progress.

Looking at drivers stats on iRacing - there's thousands of members with less than 500 iRating - and I feel kind of guilty that I've only helped Ian and none of the others in his position - but Ian came into my life (FRL) - so I suppose this differentiates him from the rest.

Tuesday 6th - Sunday 11th June

Between Tuesday and Monday 12th June, it was Week 13 - and after several podiums in the Battle Of The Small Wings series back in December, I decided to race in the series again - and once again, the Top 10's came flooding in - finishing in the Top 10 during every day of Week 13 (and if not a Top 10, I'd retire)

Me only retiring at VIR (Thursday) and my first attempt at Oulton (Friday)

In Total, I'd finish on the podium twice (x2 3rd places)

Outside of Week 13, it was a fairly mixed Week, with a failed job interview, but a podium at Rudskogen making up for it whilst racing in the DML (Delta Motorsports League)

Thursday was rather wild as during race 1 of the VRG GT4 Tour, there was a safety-car and then a one-lap dash to the finish - in predictable fashion, this ended up in a pile-up and I went from 9th and last to 4th, before being overtaken by Tim Beilicke at the final chicane, bringing home a miraculous 5th place - and winning the AM class for the second race in a row (back to back) after the Imola feature round.

I'd then manage to finish 5th in the reverse-grid feature race - finishing 2nd in class.

That weekend, I'd head to the mainland - only returning on Monday to round out Week 13.