*PRE-RACE REPORT: MARMACUP It’s technically the final race of the Spring 2004 season, despite this race being held nearly two months after the conclusion of the regular season in Paris. Tomorrow’s race is no normal race. It is the MarmaCup. It is where the winners of last year’s grands prix will come together, regardless of region, to compete to determine who is truly the best driver. But unlike normal races, drivers won’t be racing for their employers. They will be racing for their regions. The winners of Ile de France GPs will race in uniform Ile de France small race car like vehicles (blue and white with black trim) and the winners from The Tableland will race in uniform Tableland small race car like vehicles (red and yellow with orange trim), both powered by LandVac engines with the same setup. The racers will head to City de Liam in the Liamist States for the MarmaCup. The race will begin in downtown City and will head south from the 897m high Administrative Tower, down the Main Drag, taking a left at the Ancient Liamist Temple, twisting through the Central Business District, left again at the solid, shimmering blue facade of the Liamist States Stock Exchange, down the Liam Boulevard and left onto the Main Drag again. Racers will continue this course for 60 laps (4.2 km each) but this race does not finish here. Oh no, racers will drive straight onto an individual antigravity barges. Each barge will depart immediately upon boarding and take single racers to the Liamist Park, where they will conclude the race. Regional teams will be allowed to perform whatever mechanics they wish en route but may not touch the engine. The second half will be a 5.3 km circuit over 48 laps. The track is well known for its chicanes, which are frequent, and its otherwise steady turns which make racing fast. The first driver across the line in Liamist Park after over 500 km of racing will be crowned MarmaChampion. Tomorrow, City de Liam is expecting a hot 31 degrees with little to no wind and blazing sun. Since both types of vehicles are set up the same, then neither side will be granted an advantage. Racers will depart in the same order that they won, with our first winner, Arch Rival, leading the pack away and our most recent winner, James Pimpanzee bringing up the rear. Good luck to both sides. *FMR REPORT 1 The race was kicked off with some fairly mediocre pace as the drivers settled into an early ordering. Mediocre, that is, from all but two of the drivers: Sandy Duneby, the only driver with two wins under her belt, and Marsie, the driver to finish second to Duneby in the regular season. Both are from The Tableland and set a cracking pace. In the next pack were three drivers, respectively, James Pimpanzee, Great Nathan and Jos Oxford, meaning that four of the five top drivers were Tablelandian, whereas four of the five last drivers were Ilean, including Nordla Anasad, tailing at the back with an ailing LandVac that seemed unable to cope with the hot weather. Some people find the constant changing of position in FMR to be somewhat ridiculous, but few realise that there is a great deal of strategy involved in racing. It mostly requires nursing one’s engine so that it lasts an entire race distance and with last year’s engines designed to tackle only half today’s race distance at the best of times, the nursing skills are more important than ever. This is why positions change so radically, as drivers decide to make their charge. In the second half of this leg of the race, Duneby’s opening spurt was ended, falling back to fifth and Marsie took her place at the front, not afraid to push her engine. Mariah has pushed up through the ranks and passed a newly third placed Jos Oxford into second. Following Mariah up, Nestle, put was unable to get past the strong defensive driving of Oxford. The top five is now 3 Tablelandian, 2 Ilean, while the last five is all Ilean. Anasad seems to have shaken off his problem, only to have Pimpanzee and Bolock (particularly) seemingly pick up the same engine problem, unable to find pace or get their gearboxes in action. The order of drivers pulling up onto the anti gravity barges are (250 km down, 250 km to go): 1. Marsie - The Tableland 2. Mariah - Ile de France 3. Jos Oxford - The Tableland 4. Nestle - Ile de France 5. Sandy Duneby - The Tableland 6. Jack Michaelson - The Tableland 7. Kik Marmington - Ile de France 8. Great Nathan - The Tableland 9. Ferga Burga - The Tableland 10. Arch Rival - Ile de France 11. Fluffy - Ile de France 12. James Pimpanzee - Ile de France 13. Flash Jumpstart - Ile de France 14. Nordla Anasad - Ile de France 15. Brother Ulrik - Ile de France 16. Bolock - Ile de France *FMR REPORT 2 The best of the best trickled into Liamist Park, to the massive roars of some quarter million spectators, and it was either time to go hard or go home. All the drivers knew what its like to win and it’s not a feeling they want to let go of. It’s supposed no one will be going home. It might not be surprising to unexperienced viewers but more knowledgeable FMR pundits will notice that at about the 400 km mark, not one driver was out and this was highly unusual. All sixteen of the original drivers were still going. At the front, Marsie was forging a trail ahead on her own, rubbering in the Liamist Park circuit with a ten second lead on a second placed Nestle who clearly wasn’t through charging up the order. After a restful break on the barges, Nestle was refreshed and readily tackled Oxford again and succeeded in passing him and Mariah, who sat in third. Duneby, then fifth, was some way off the Marsie chasing pack. The top five was still 3 Tablelandian, 2 Ilean and the final five were still all Ilean. In what was quite a quick section of the race, no drivers attracted problems and all seemed to be on fire. Towards the later stages of the race, Marsie kicked it up another gear. No one thought her engine would be able to handle it but there you go. She rocketed forward, lapped almost everyone and won the MarmaCup by a truly convincing margin. Coming in second, and a long way behind Marsie, representing Ile de France was Mariah. She managed to put Nestle in her place in the first chicane of the final lap, just edging past her teammate and Keetorian rival, Nestle, and roaring off to the finish line with a silver trophy waiting for her on the other side. Shocked that she had been so simply and subtly beaten, Nestle tried catching up but couldn’t close the gap and had to settle for third place, still a remarkable performance for any driver. Sandy Duneby put in enough effort to snatch fourth from a very close Arch Rival, the two drivers practically side by side for the entire final lap. Rounding out the top six for The Tableland was Jos Oxford, who was disappointed with the final part of his race and finished two seconds behind Rival. The top six at the end of the MarmaCup, 3 Ilean, 3 Tablelandian. And the bottom six? All Ilean. The lowest ranked Tablelandian was Great Nathan in ninth place. The final standings in the MarmaCup of Spring 2004: 1. Marsie - The Tableland 2. Mariah - Ile de France 3. Nestle - Ile de France 4. Sandy Duneby - The Tableland 5. Arch Rival - Ile de France 6. Jos Oxford - The Tableland 7. Jack Michaelson - The Tableland 8. Ferga Burga - The Tableland 9. Fluffy - Ile de France 10. Brother Ulrik - Ile de France 11. Great Nathan - The Tableland 12. Nordla Anasad - Ile de France 13. Kik Marmington - Ile de France 14. James Pimpanzee - Ile de France 15. Bolock - Ile de France 16. Flash Jumpstart - Ile de France While the champions of last season, Fluffy and Duneby, did not make it onto the MarmaCup podium, the race was considered by fans, commentators and racers alike to be a truly classic race, one to be compared with the SP GP. It also gives great hope for fans for the upcoming season, with its revised format. Racing is sure to fast, furious and downright entertaining. With higher technology, faster vehicles and more exotic locations, fans and racers are salivating at the possibilities. If you’re not already involved, you’re a fool. In just a week, we will be heading to Liamopolis for the first grand prix of the new Fall 2005 season. A handful of teams from last season are yet to be registered and a few hosts are yet to be finalised but for the most part, things are ready for our second season.