Hello, You've reached AMR, unfortunately I'm not here at the moment, it's my week off work, I'll also be taking some time off from anything TORA Related in that time too, even writing this bit, this isnt me writing this bit, honest, if you want to leave a message, please leave your Name, Number, Credit Card details and also the three numbers on the back, after the beep...

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LeMons at Le Mans by Mike Johannes

On the Forza Motorsport 4 side of things, on Saturday July 4 will see the third annual running of The Firecracker event. For this running, the almost annual competition for affordable alternataives to actual race cars known as LeMons will finally visit the track whose name they almost share, that is right: La Sarthe. One could just imagine the sneers, leers and jeers that the locals would have as the likes of Ford Country Squire Wagons and Dodge Rams, not to mention the odd AMC Pacer or Pinto, billow smoke down the Mulsanne, as the ultimate insult to the French countryside.

A bit of LeMons backstory: the first running of this event was held on New Years Eve in 2012, as a for fun event for the less serious, more inebriated competitor. That event, known as the Chump Car Grand Prix, was held on the Road Atlanta Club Circuit, and featured three classes: Overweight A Class, Underpowered C Class, and the Way Too Slow F-100 Class in which anything was legal as long as it fit a whopping max Performance Index of 100. As the race went past the halfway break of 50 laps, whatever seriousness there may have been in the lobby disappeared and all F-100 racers moved up to the upper classes, then the rains came and a huge grip reduction was added to the chaos, and the fun ensued. The idea was there, just needed some finessing to get the right feel.

Autumn of 2013 saw the second running of LeMons, again at Road Atlanta, this time on the Full Circuit. Sign ups were limited first come first serve, and we saw a full grid of 16 entries. This time, some serious racers joined in on the serious fun, and for the first time ever, a live stream was added and proved wildly popular. The classes were Overweight and Underpowered, and both classes were at C Class, 400PI. The overall win came down to a battle between two Underpowered entries, and saw BG Cowboy in a Gen1 RX-7 narrowly take the win over the Mustang II King Cobra II of LMR Deftone and The Bulin Wall. The Overpowered cars saw the Nissan 240SX of Kilroy8 and myself take the win in a battle of attrition, but were no match for the flyweights.

The third LeMons event, the final TORA event of the year 2014, saw a new class structure, with Overweights in B Class, and Underpowered in C Class, as well as a new venue in Sebring. The new format saw some hellacious builds, with close to 1000HP in the ORD Country Squire, which has lead to a new variety of vehicles on the grid. Also, for the first time ever, the race was opened up to multiple lobbies, and saw two near full lobbies of crapwagons attack the historic WWII airbase in Central Florida. As in previous incarnations, fun was the keyword, and also as in previous incarnations, there were quite a few new-to-TORA racers in the mix. However, in the end TORA veterans won both classes, as ROSCOEpCOLTRAIN won the Overweight Class, while the pairing of PLOW tubbi and HCR Solar took top honors in their Underpowered Honda Civic.

by Bradley Wingard



March 21st saw the beginning of the TORA V8 Supercars, a series that would span the width of America and a trip to England, featuring both the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore in one of the most brutal rivalries in global motorsport. Starting at the famous Nurburgring GP track for the Media and Test day, drivers donned their colours for the first time and brought everything to the table in a respectful game of attrition and dominance. Followed week by week with rounds at Road Atlanta a 200km double header, a 300km endurance race in the valleys of Sonoma, and then a 150km triple header at the well-known Sebring International Raceway, the racing was intense and enjoyable from every lights out to every flag waved. HCR Solar became a pronounced favourite in his HCR Traxxas Ford, but it wasn’t without a fight as ZY Barker YZ and o MeaDo212 o were hot in his heals. At 1/3rd Calendar distance, it was Ax4x 00 Motorsport leading the teams championship with Ax4x Commandos and HCR Traxxas very close behind.



Round 4 at Indianapolis GP for the second triple headed sprint round covered another 200km which by the end HCR Solar had risen to the top, but only just with ZY Barker YZ only 2 points behind, and o MeaDo212 o only 8 points behind him. Round 5, a 200km 30/60 split round at Sedona in the deep red Arizona deserts split driver’s in half due to the notorious sticky dirt in the fast chicane at the end of the lap. It was ZY Barker YZ who took pole over series leader HCR Solar, however in race 1, Solar bounced back taking the win, and then doubled up from last in race 2 to secure a clean sweep of wins for the weekend. Round 6, the second and final endurance race for the season at Maple Valley saw a 400km game of attrition rise to the spotlight. It was HCR Solar who again rose to the top of the qualifying tables with team mate HCR Bellmond in second followed by ZY Barker YZ in third. After a long and difficult race, it was ZY Barker YZ that came out on top, just 2 seconds clear of HCR Solar, with o MeaDo212 o coming home in third.



The weekend of the 12th of June was a bye week, priorities of the majority of the drivers took hold, because we all know, Le Mans in June overrides all! This meant that the 20th of June, finale week, would be held and the globally recognized Silverstone circuit, namely, the International layout. Coming into the bye week, HCR Solar was leading the Drivers title, with ZY Barker YZ in second and o MeaDo212 o in third. For the Teams championship, it was Ax4x 00 Motorsport still holding off Ax4x Commandos and HCR Traxxas still comfortable in third.



Silverstone, 250km to finish the season and decide the champions. With just 7 drivers entered, the championship was thrown a curveball. HCR Solar took the last qualifying pole position for the weekend, with paul299 and Ziltoid Z20 following closely behind. Race 1 saw close battles throughout the field, with hunty1981, XB6 Broomzke and Flyin Mikey J making it interesting at the back, while ErebusV8 and HCR Solar were to and froing lap after lap. Come mid race, it was still HCR Solar, who led ErebusV8 and paul299, but just after 60% distance, Solar made a crucial error that let ErebusV8 past and take the first win of the weekend, with HCR Solar in 2nd and paul299 in third. After his off in race 1, HCR Solar’s car was unable to partake in race 2, taking the field down to 6, come the start, ErebusV8 and Ziltoid Z20 were toe for toe until the pit stops, on different strategies, which made it a very nail-biting period for the two, but in the end, it was ErebusV8 who took win #2 for the weekend, with Ziltoid Z20 taking a well-deserved 2nd, and paul299 rounding out the podium.



With all the racing finished, all 1900km of it, the points were tallied up, and it was HCR Solar, who took the title, followed by ErebusV8 and hunty1981 completing the podium after two late championship charges. In the team’s championship, business was as usual, with Ax4x 00 Motorsport taking the crown, with Ax4x Commandos and HCR Traxxas holding off Benedict Racing for 2nd and 3rd. Ford managed to hold off the last round explosion from Holden to clinch the constructors championship by just 30 points.
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by Craig "Chaddy" Wilson

Hello fellow TORA drivers, Chaddy here bringing you the inside on TORA plans on iRacing which are at a bit of a crossroads. After a successful 1st iRacing series of fixed tuning Mazdas we cant choose what to do next!!! Skip Barber was thought to pull in more numbers, but this sadly didn't happen Everyone has different budgets so as of last week We've started testing many ideas and hopefully will find a car(s) and track list that will suit everyone.

The 2015 Season 3 build as recently arrived and sees a new car that will get maybe drivers excited, the Aston Martin DB9 GT1! The Aston will compete against the mighty Chevrolet Corvette in the GT1 World Championship for drivers on a C class license or higher.

There is also a new tire model and a new chassis torsion model. There is also a improved process of joining, and re-joining, sessions, and added an option that enables you to compare your split times with those of other drivers and cars, including the ghost car (which now displays its brake lights).

Team TORA iRacing will be running in the 3rd season of the iRacing Blancpain Endurance series in the RUF RT 12R Track. Gordon (Skodaboie) and I (FranchittiFan) had a successful debut in the last race of season 2, were we started basically last after small crash. In the 3 hours we worked our way from 36st to finish 14th at the flag!
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The final round of the MSA TORA Maximum Group V.A.G. Trophy is due for next tuesday on British and European Motors TV, Tom Brooks, Scott Woodwiss and (if he's awake) Bradley Wingard.

Once the TV run is finished, a more refined Youtube version will be uploaded on a once per week basis for the rest of the world to see.
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As with all good plot twists, I was here all along...



...but thanks to Mikey J, Aussie Brads and Craig Wilson for providing the bulk of another edition of the Outsider, don't think of this as me not writing any more, I'll be back for #9...