On the face of it we had a quiet week lined up here at TORA, however that all changed as we went into the weekend and TORA began it's first ever Live broadcast!

We started the week off on Tuesday as we had the first TORA Clubman Cup event and it certainly proved to be a lot more popular that we had initially thought it would be. With this evening only being seen as a test night and a bit of a laid back fun we soon saw how people always love their racing here at TORA. The cars featured were low horsepower and low weight, but built to specific limits to try and balance the cars as much as possible. What made it so interesting was that the car list was open to any cars that fit within the rules from 1980 onwards. It was great to see such a huge variety of cars being used and they all seemed to have their strengths and weaknesses around the various tracks we visited.

However, CQR brought their A game to the night and unleashed the mighty Celica which completely dominated the competition. It is a leaderboard car and even Haburi admitted so, but you can't deny that the winning spirit is always present within the team! The RWD cars also seemed to have an edge over their competition, with the M&M Racing Mazda and Toyota being very competitive all night long. RWD was the drivetrain of choice, which shouldn't really come as a surprise but the FWD cars weren't really all that far off the pace, especially the Aston martin of CMGraphix which didn't just provide comedy value for the rest of the field! There was also no clear difference between the old and new cars as they all were able to race against each other very well.

The Clubman Cup will return in early July with another night of racing and some slightly adjusted rules and PIs to try and bring the gap down even further. Hopefully we will see the drivers try out different cars than they previously did and give us a good variation of results.



As we approached the weekend we had the first Official Test Night for the upcoming GT Season 9 on the Thursday night. With Sign Ups not having taken place yet there were many teams who were running a variety of cars throughout the evening, seeing as most teams hadn't actually came to a car decision yet!

The evening started off with the usual suspects topping the timing sheets. ATR DAN was certainly showing off his well known pace and lfcnicklfc was keeping him in check at each venue. The big shakeup came half way through the session as the FMS team showed their hand. We knew that Season 9 was going to attract some fast drivers with the rumours of F4H and CQR planning on fielding multiple teams, but I don't think anyone was expecting a new team to make their mark so early on in the session. As much as everyone else tried to close the gap, the FMS guys just edged it further out of reach. We were certainly looking at the possibility of some new winners appearing this season.

TORA began it's first foray into live streaming during the first test, allowing audiences to view the test session and how it was progressing throughout the evening.



During our podcast on Thursday night >Listen Here< we discussed the upcoming Forza Horizon, the latest instalment in the Forza franchise which takes the cars from the track and into the open world of Colorado for the Horizon music festival. I don't need to go into any great details as it is all on the show, but overall we are looking forward to it as it could be an ideal way to wind down after the serious TORA races have taken place, and we can just go for a drive through the canyons and along the highways. We also discussed the 2.4 Hours and ISCC overall results and had brief look ahead to the TASCAR and GT seasons.

Saturday night saw the conclusion of the TORA GT Mini series come to a close with a 24 lap epic around Le Mans. What made it so epic? Well the inclusion of the infamous Drag Tyres completely tore up the rule book and gave us some incredible racing and events throughout. Around Le Mans we were looking at tyre changes every 4-5 laps, with some drivers pitting early to keep as much grip as possible and some going in later to try make up time during the pitstops. It really did add a huge element of tyre management to the racing and as well all go to terms with what was underneath us it was Rollin' InAn STi who showed us all how it should be done, of course we would expect nothing less from the ISCC 2.4 Hours winner who knows that BWM inside and out. The M&M Racing SLS closed in behind and kept the pressure on right up until the end however it was the battle in the mid pack thatwas so interesting. CMGraphix decided to go for a huge stint on his tyres and ran them to the carcass. Meanwhile WCM Outlaw, who was going to do the same, decided to pit at the start of the last lap with the idea that he could make up all the time he lost to CMGraphix with the grip he had using a new set of boot. AMR Garage who's tyres were a few laps old was able to come right into play and as all three cars came into the Prosche Curves for the last time they were three wide and took the fight right until the line. The Drag Tyres provided a completely different style of racing than we are used to, and they may make an appearance again in a GT Endurance series that will run on the side.

Last, but my no means least, we had the big GT Season 9 weekend. Sign ups opened on the Sunday night at 6pm and TORA Radio went live for the first time ever as we built up to the big event. With a brief look back at Season 8 and a pre-season discussion we built up to the thread being unlocked and even counted down. The response was incredible during the show as when we opened we hit page 2 within minutes and full team slots, and even privateer slots, were taken in what has been the quickest ever sign up evening. We are currently sitting on 85 entries and the thread hasn't been open for 24 Hours yet! With some formidable teams entering we are in for an incredible season. If you couldn't join us live last night you can listen to the whole thing again by following the video below.



A few hours later we were live again with the TORA Radio team as we provided some in-depth commentary and a Season 9 preview of the second Official Test which took place later on in the evening. During the night we saw various teams take part in the test to show off their true pace and their new liveries now that their car choice had been confirmed. We also had the live chat going and answered viewers questions throughout the broadcast and we even had a special appearance from Standaman94 who gave us his thoughts on the upcoming season. We stayed on air for a little over 3 Hours as we even went on board with a number of drivers who talked us through their laps and the circuits the were driving around. All in all it was a major step forward for TORA Radio and we hope to be back on the air live within the next few weeks. Listen again if you have a few hours to fill below, commentary starts at around 47 mins in.



That's it for this week, don't forget that Meeting 8 of the Touring Car championship takes place this Tuesday (12th June) from Iberian and is set to see battle resume between CQR and British Gamers. Who will be victorious around the the hilly little circuit, and can lfcnicklfc finally take his first Season 6 win? See you next week after the real Le Mans is done and dusted and we start the build up to the TORA 24 Hours of Le Mans!

See you on the track.