2019 Week 43

Welcome to the penultimate week for TMRG – week 43, and four races this weekend. F1 travels to Brazil; WRC has their finale in Australia with the manufacturer’s championship on the line; MotoGP also has their finale at Valencia in Spain, although their championships are already decided; and NASCAR has their finale at Homestead in Florida with four drivers contending for the championship. It should be noted that it is possible that the WRC event will be cancelled due to bush fires in the area that have been devastating to the affected communities. In the event that the rally is cancelled after the deadline, TMRG players will receive no points for any WRC drivers picked. Picks can be made at: http://www.roadracetracks.com/motorracinggame.shtml.

Scores from week 42:

WEC China, NASCAR Phoenix:

Results – Week 42
Pos	NASCAR	WEC
1	Denny Hamlin	1-Rebellion
2	Kyle Busch	8-Toyota Racing
3	Ryan Blaney	7-Toyota Racing
4	Kyle Larson	5-Team LNT
5	Kevin Harvick	6-Team LNT
6	Martin Truex Jr.	38-Jota Sport
7	Erik Jones	37-Jackie Chan DC
8	Clint Bowyer	22-United Autosports
9	Joey Logano	36-Signatech Alpine
10	Brad Keselowski	29-Team Nederland

At the WEC race in Shanghai, the #1 Rebellion took the victory after leading for almost three hours of the four-hour race. It was at the start they had their struggles, being fifth out of five LMP1 cars shortly after the start. But three of the other LMP1 cars had jumped the start, including the two Team LNT cars and the #7 Toyota, which necessitated a drive-through penalty for each of them. By the end though, the Rebellion had a reasonably comfortable lead of over a minute from the #8 Toyota, with the #7 Toyota finishing third. The two Team LNT cars had their most successful race to date, with the cars leading the race early on and finishing fourth and fifth, with the #5 ahead of the #6. In LMP2 most of the race looked like a fight between the #38 Jota Sport Oreca and the #37 Jackie Chan Oreca, after the #22 United Autosports Ligier had engine problems at the start of the race. The #38 won the class and sixth overall by 17s over the #37, while the #22 made a great comeback to get to within 5s of the Jackie Chan car. The #36 Signatech Alpine was a lap further down in seventh, and were themselves in a close race at the end with the #29 Team Nederland Dallara, who finished 3s behind the Alpine in eighth. The #42 Cool Racing Oreca had pole position in the LMP2 class, but an early incident morphed into an electrical problem that the team could not solve, and they retired after just 30 laps, finishing classified 30^th.

The NASCAR race at Phoenix in Arizona decided the final four drivers who will contend for the Championship at the final race next week in Homestead, Florida. Coming into the race, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. were lock-ins for two of those four positions having won the last two races. Chase Elliott was in the worst position of the eight contenders, needing a win to get through to the final. The other five contenders were Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Larson, and once Elliott crashed on lap 166 (about the halfway point), the final two places were fought between those five. All five looked strong, particularly Busch, Logano, and Hamlin who traded the lead a number of times. But at the end it was Hamlin who got the job done by winning the race and an automatic pass into the final. Logano started fading in the second half of the race, eventually getting lapped by Hamlin; and although he got his lap back later on, it was not enough to take the final contender’s spot, which went to Busch with his second-place finish. So, next week the four that will battle it out for the Cup will be: Harvick (who finished 5^th), Truex (6^th), Hamlin, and Busch.

Week-42 Player’s Scores	iom	seb
NASCAR
Denny Hamlin	50	50
Kyle Busch	40	40
Kevin Harvick		30
Martin Truex Jr.	28
WEC
1-Rebellion	50	50
8-Toyota Racing	40	40
7-Toyota Racing	35	35
5-Team LNT	32
6-Team LNT	30
37-Jackie Chan DC	26	26
36-Signatech Alpine	22	22
29-Team Nederland		20
42-Cool Racing		2
Totals:	353	315

Congratulations to iomracer and his 15^th win of the year. Picking the two LNT cars in WEC was the winning choice. No changes in positions in the standings:

Standings after week 42:
Pos	Pre	Name	Total	Diff	Latest	Prior	Diff
1	1	Sebastian	12350		315	12035
2	2	iomracer	12032	-318	353	11679	-356
3	3	New Players	10709	-1323	284	10425	-1254