R3&4 - Okayama - 27th of July - 20:00BST

*For added effect, please press play on the video below before reading*

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So, the PTCC makes its first ever visit to the far east! Okayama is the next stop on the globe for the third season of the TORA PTCC. A massive shake up this season has seen drivers in new cars, with the two dominant Chevrolet drivers from last season, lfcnicklfc and nickyf1 moving to Honda and SEAT respectively, Race Pro veteran VVV Magictap moving from his part season Honda entry to a full season entry for BMW. silentalarm42 and AMR Garage are the only two drivers to stay put so far (eizoxian has entered in a TDI SEAT, but has yet to race). New entrant ckBrenneke joins lfcnicklfc at Honda.

First time out at Brands Hatch, we returned to regular form. The podium of the sprint race looked exactly as it did last season, with lfcnicklfc taking his first win of the season, nickyf1 taking second after a thrilling chase and silentalarm42 taking his first podium of the season and his first podium for Volvo. VVV Magictap struggled in the developing BMW, losing control of his car at Hawthorne bend in the early stages of the race.

For the feature race, a chaotic start saw the pace setters rise to the top of the field very quickly, with lfcnicklfc leading VVV Magictap, silentalarm42 and nickyf1 in the early stages. The decision pre-race by the organisers to make pit stops optional proved a costly one, as it was soon found that not pitting was the strategy to go for. lfcnicklfc, nickyf1, VVV Magictap and ckBrenneke opted not to pit, and they ultimately became the top four finishers. It should be noted however that despite this, lfcnicklfc's win was still a very impressive showing, finishing just over four seconds ahead of nickyf1, having made the most of the first few chaotic laps and his wearing tyres.

And so, off to Okayama in Japan. A band new track for most, as some drivers have raced here competitively in Online Motorsport's Formula OM championship, but it still presents a challenge in the touring cars.

The circuit is 2.3 miles, or 3.7km in length, and has 12 turns. The circuit is a very nice mix of slow and fast corners, without being too stop-start, and has lots of variation in camber, gradient and surface: mostly smooth, but bumpy at some crucial points. Notably challenging corners include Williams, the Revolver, Hobbs and the deceptively fast final corner. The track is sure to reward the shorter wheelbase grippy cars, especially the Volvo, and should not put as much strain on the tyres as the Grand Prix loop at Brands Hatch does.

So, who is in?

Yippee, proper write ups are back. Nice one Nicky ;O)

VVV Magictap wrote:Yippee, proper write ups are back. Nice one Nicky ;O)

Why thankyou

Aaaaah i've missed these posts!

IN

I've updated the OP with extra epicness.

IN

That song is incredibly epic.

Rounds 2&3 will be tomorrow, this time we'll be missing Nicky for the first time so i think VVV Magictap will be hosting, is anyone else in??

I......n

Damn that lag.

maybe as Nicky's not there and not hosting you might not lag!

Magic cannot host.

I need a host for tomorrow night as I cannot make it.

my connection goes to poop when i host on Race Pro for some reason

right i'm going to try hosting the lobby tonight and hopefully it'll be all right, and if anyone says Nick you're lagging i'll kill you

So thats lfcnick, tap and me....

...

...

I smells a postponement in the air.

I'd rather battle for a 5th or 6th rather than get two podium finises by default. And I think some of you will agree that i'm not good enogh for two third places in a row.

In

Magic will be there.

He just doesn't want to host.

Odd?

I've decided to open a lobby and place an "advert" in my gamertag Bio, hopefully we can boost the numbers up to six maybe more, look at me being Stefan Ratel.

I might come on just now for a bit.

I'm not going to make it, unfortunately. If we are struggling for numbers/hosts, etc., may I suggest it could be prudent to postpone to perhaps tomorrow night, or next Wednesday?

I may just be able to host tonight, my plans for tonight may have been patched.

The minimum number of drivers I will run with is six, any less and I will cancel the Okayama round, and replace a later round in the season with Okayama (Its a very nice track)

What he said.

If we aren't going to race tonight do the rest of us do some public lobby racing and try and get some new guys in for next week?

Out, sorry.

Looks like this thing will be cancelled.

Three below the championship minimum.

Sorry man, looking forward to this too. Can we postpone to next Wednesday? Wouldn't like to have the series drop a round completely.