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Forum - - 2017 Season Review
   
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CarlisleFrost

Registered: 19.03.2009
Location: USA
Posts: 132

26.11.2017 23:42:47
  2017 Season Review
Well, we've made it to the end of another Formula 1 season and it has been quite a year to put it lightly, with plenty of highlights on the site. Surprise results, championships going right to the wire, some new winners, some big names returning to the top...

This topic is to summarise the key competitions and give some kudos out to those who've had great seasons (hopefully I don't forget anyone!).

PFRL World Championship:
The championship saw plenty of people hit the front through the season! Abelonso held onto the lead for five rounds, which is a tremendous feat. They lost momentum coming into the final rounds, but should still feel proud after a great season. Keke hit the front of the pack early on and was in the running through most of the year, though he and Flavio just missed the podium in the final race, with Maverick taking third and Katalyst coming home a strong second. GaKra took the title, becoming the first three time PFRL World Champion. Amazing feat, and sure he was glad he came into the final race with a big lead to calm any possible nerves!

Constructors World Championship:
This championship went right down to the wire, providing a lot of excitement for the final race, as realistically, 5 people could have won this had the race gone their way (myself, Katalyst, GaKra, Keke and Maxwell).
Katalyst hit the lead coming into the latter part of the season, leading for four races, but ending up in 5th. Like Katalyst, I had a strong second half, being in the top few for much of the home stretch, but just missed out on the podium (unfortunately, two of us had to miss out!). GaKra held on for third, with Maxwell taking the championship on the final race from Keke, who'd been at the sharp end of the leaderboard since race 3. Painful to lose the lead on the final race, but that shouldn't take away from a superb season for them both in the PRFL World Championship and this one.
As for Maxwell, they're a worthy winner. On fire in the second half of the season and adding to their PRFL Cup and Champions Racing League titles of previous years. Congrats!

Champions Racing League:
As reigning champion of the CRL, I barely avoided the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the tournament this year, scraping into the top 20 by a point or so. Once there though, my defence never really took off, with GaKra and Maverick staging a 2-man competition for most of the league. Maverick led for almost every race, and made up for last year's late slip by holding on to victory this time around (congrats on a first CRL title to add to your trophy cabinet!), with GaKra surely giving him a late scare. The podium was completed by Katalyst, who pipped Tiffy in the final race. Great to see this go down to the wire again.

PFRL Cup:
With the knockout format of the PRFL Cup, this competition always seems to throw up a shock or two and there were a LOT of them this year. The wildcard round saw the likes of GaKra and Superviper eliminated, with the round of 32 being a bloodbath for the seeded teams. Of the 16 seeds, 11 were eliminated, including all of the top 4 (Colin, Rainer-Zufall70, Maxwell and C Heath). Keke, AstonMartin and Chris were among the other casualties, throwing open large parts of the draw.
In the top half, Wagen1, who had to come through the wildcard round, carved his way through the field, beating 3 seeds en-route (king_1905, KatzevonSwish and Ralf). I was seeded 6th and in the bottom half, aiming to retain my title from last year and stormed to the final, scoring highest in the last 16, quarter finals and semi finals (better attempt to defend the title than in the CRL!), helped by a strong budget built up in the early rounds. Wagen1 made some smart choices in the final to ensure it was a nervy one, but the budget advantage, plenty of KERS saved up and strong choices got me to the title. Two in a row and only the second person to win the Cup more than once. One more and I'll tie Dominik's record of three wins!

Eliminator Competition:
The Eliminator competition was a fierce one, with a ton of big names making it to the final 25 (Schumacher, Katalyst, KatzevonSwish, Peter Daniel, Invisibleracer, Maxwell, Superviper and myself being a few). Making it to the final were Invisibleracer, Maxwell, Superviper, myself and Tipster. Invisibleracer was certainly the favourite thanks to a big budget advantage, with Maxwell and myself resorting to attacks on other teams to try and make up for our deficits.
As it turned out, Magnussen retiring in the race put Invisibleracer out of contention, and some great qualifying predictions gave Tipster the title, despite coming in with the lowest budget. Painful one for me, as I would have tied him on points and may have taken it on total points in the season, only to be hit with a -5 penalty for predicting I'd beat his points in the race (can't argue with it, as a tie isn't beating him!). One more point from a qualifying prediction of sliiiiightly better fastest lap prediction and it would have been mine. Always next year and a massive congrats to Tipster on the win.

Professional League:
Unlike last year, the Pro League went down to the wire this time, with Rainer-Zufall70 taking the title after hitting the front after race 18. Heinz Prueller took a good second, with Gareth completing the podium. Those three had a good lead on the rest, coming into the final race, with second and third separated by just 3 points in the end.

Rookie League:
We had some strong rookie performances this year, so hoping to see some of these guys competing for the big prizes in the future. The winner this year was SecondUnit, who ended up winning by a solid 60 point margin. His team was 27th in the overall championship, which is an incredible feat! MakeMacPhee took second (84th overall, which is no mean feat!), with ZUPO completing the podium. Congrats guys!

Other Credits: Quick special mentions also must go to Rainer-Zufall70 for getting two race wins in the season (one is hard enough!) and to Presi for finishing 9th overall, despite having just one team and being in only their third year.

That's a wrap for F1 2017. Congrats to all the season's winners, a huge thanks to everyone that took part and to Maverick for keeping things running as always. I hope 2018 brings plenty more excitement!

   
katalyst

Registered: 26.02.2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 14

28.11.2017 00:42:36
 
Great review, thanks and congratulations!

   
Maverick

Registered: 10.01.2004
Location: Austria
Posts: 1076

27.11.2017 18:59:44
 
Frost, Thank you very much for the great season review!

Thanks to all contenders for playing the game. Hope you enjoyed the season and looking forward to 2018.

   
KatzevonSwish

Registered: 07.03.2010
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 56

27.11.2017 08:24:27
Thx 
Thanks for taking the trouble to write up that excellent review, Frost. It's possible I'm simply not as clever as I thought at this game, but my perception is that the last couple of years has seen much tougher fights in the key competitions. I know we have a perennial hand-wringing over whether we should expect more people to participate at all and whether changes should be made to encourage that, but another way of measuring the health of the game is through the number of contenders putting in strong performances. By this metric I think we're in excellent shape.

As ever, thanks to Maverick for all his hard work and congratulations to all the winners.

~ KvS

   
GaKra Motors

Registered: 02.03.2006
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 925

27.11.2017 00:29:50
 
Superb review, CarlisleFrost, congrats and thank you!

   
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