Q3 2018 results

If I could encompass this event in one word, it would have to be "Improvement." I'm not sure if it was because we had money on the line for the first time, or because of the change from 5 rebuttal laps to 4, but everyone was racing the best that the GP Cup has ever seen. The future looks bright for the gladiators that competed, and here is a little breakdown of how they did:

Brian Ackerson - 7th (Qualified: 5th)

• Drivin' Brian was the first one to take advantage of the new 3 extra optional laps by using one of them during qualifying. Unfortunately he could do no better than 5th. That pitted him up against the only newcomer of this event, Stephen Trigueiro. This turned out to be the 2nd longest battle of the day at 20 laps before he conceded victory. His next battle was against Mike Force in a tough to control car (KTM X-BOW R '12) and unfortunately couldn't get the best of him. He left the event a disappointing 7th and an 0-2 record. He will look to bounce back strong in the next event and justify his 5th place standing in the overall championship.

Cooper Bright - 5th (Qualified: 3rd)

• Cooper started things off strong by qualifying in 3rd after missing the previous event. In his first match up things were looking good as he beat Travis Roof. In the upper bracket semi-finals he went up against Jeff Meisenzahl who put in an amazing first lap that couldn't be topped. In the lower bracket he matched up with Mike Force and just couldn't find his bearings in the BMW M4 Safety Car. He had the most heart breaking moment of the event as he was ahead after the last corner of the lap against Force. A miss shift proved costly as the ghost was able to regain enough time to stop a new lap record time from being placed. He will feel like he could do better and will hope to prove his skill in the next event.

Jeff Meisenzahl - 3rd (Qualified: 2nd)

• Jeff took advantage of showing up to practice before the event and put himself in 2nd during qualifying. Just 0.010 ahead of Cooper Bright and less than a tenth of a second off pole position. He broke his curse against "Mike's" by beating Mike Force in a tight first match up. He then beat Cooper after putting in a flyer in the Ferrari F40. This put him on the podium and his toughest conflict to date against Mike Hansen in the upper bracket finals. He unfortunately lost against Hansen and had to get back into the racing seat immediately. This time against his former roommate Stephen Trigueiro in the lower bracket finals, where he lost again. He can hold his head high though as he set a personal best event result by placing 3rd ($10) and showing impressive pace in multiple set ups.

Mike Force - 4th (Qualified: 7th)

• Force had to feel a little miffed about qualifying 7th after starting 3rd last time out. The first match up against Jeff Meisenzahl didn't help as he couldn't secure the victory. This left him with another fierce battle against Brian Ackerson. He must have calmed his nerves because he made a nice little run through the lower bracket and beat Brian followed by Cooper Bright in their first clash after they finished in 3rd in the two previous events. He then met up with Stephen Trigueiro to secure a spot on the podium. He couldn't get the best of him in the magnificent McLaren 650S Coupe. By finishing an impressive 4th, Force proved that where you qualify is not an indicator of how you could place.

Mike Hansen - 1st (Qualified: 1st)

• George Michael Hansen once again proved he is the class of the field by putting in a brilliant performance. He breezed into the upper bracket finals by only needing two laps each to dispose of Preston Woods & Stephen Trigueiro. He then went up against Jeff Meisenzahl in the upper bracket finals and was able to assure a guaranteed top 2 finish by progressing to the grand finals. In the grand finals he met back up with Stephen and was able to secure the victory in race 14 and not force a bracket resetting race 15. He finished the event with a perfect 4-0 record plus starting on pole position for the 2nd event in a row! In total he only ran 9 laps in his four races. He is currently on a 13 consecutive winning streak in his match ups and he ended up taking home the 1st place prize of $73 for his efforts. Bravo!

Preston Woods - 8th (Qualified: 8th)

• For the first time in his Gran Potato Cup event history, Preston looked like a real fighter. He displayed some impressive pace in his two meetings against Mike Hansen & Travis Roof. Against Hansen, he handled the BMW M3 Sport Evolution really well around the Tsukuba Circuit. In his next clash against Travis he struggled to come to grips with the incredibly difficult to handle KTM X-BOW R. Unfortunately he has yet to win a match up, but it is coming. For this event, he was able to get some good seat time. In his two battles he logged 5 total turns with 19 laps. With a bit more practice, Preston looks to join the midfield pack.

Stephen Trigueiro - 2nd (Qualified: 4th)

• Stephen showed that he is ready to compete for a Gran Potato Cup Championship in the future. This was his first event and he put himself on the map with his fast lap times and unorthodox driving style. In his first very first battle, he went up against Brian Ackerson; and after experiencing his first taste of nerves and major heart palpitations, he was able to get his first victory. He then lost against Mike Hansen in the upper bracket semi-finals to drop him to the lower bracket. He had a long road ahead of him, but he started his climb by beating his roommate Travis Roof first. In the lower bracket semi-finals he beat Mike Force to secure a podium position. An impressive feat for a rookie driver. He then went one step further by beating Jeff Meisenzahl in the lower bracket final to put him in the grand finals and a rematch against Hansen. Hansen proved too tough a competitor and the result was the same as the first meeting this event, but Stephen can be proud of a 2nd place event finish and is a nice, cool $28 richer.

Travis Roof - 6th (Qualified: 6th)

• Travis once again showed some massive pace, but his issue with consistently putting those laps together is what's holding him back. He started by qualifying 6th for the second event in a row. This put him up against Cooper Bright for his first round match. He lost by a little over a tenth of a second in the second closest match up of this event. He then was able to achieve a victory over Preston Woods. The next challenge proved too difficult as he went up against his roommate Stephen Trigueiro. What happened next was the longest scrap of the event with 8 seat swappings and 23 laps combined between the two. At the end of the heated feud, Stephen ended up getting the better of Travis this time around. So once again for the third event in a row, the curse of 6th place strikes again!

FUN FACTS:

Number of Turns

• Highest number of turns (Match up) - 8 Turns: Race #9 (Stephen Trigueiro vs. Travis Roof)

• Highest number of turns (Individual: Event) - 16 Turns: Stephen Trigueiro

• Lowest number of turns (Individual: Event) - 6 Turns: Preston Woods

Number of Laps

• Highest number of laps (Match up) - 23 Laps: Race #9 (Stephen Trigueiro vs. Travis Roof)

• Highest number of laps (Individual: Match up) - 16 Laps: Travis Roof (Race #9)

• Highest number of laps (Individual: Event) - 36 Laps: Stephen Trigueiro

• Lowest number of laps (Individual: Match up) - 1 Lap: Jeff Meisenzahl (Race #8)

• Lowest number of laps (Individual: Event) - 12 Laps: Mike Hansen

Margins

• Closest match up - 0.082 Seconds: Race #10 (Cooper Bright vs. Mike Force)

• Biggest blow out - 2.975 Seconds: Race #5 (Travis Roof vs. Preston Woods)

Link to Bracket

More Info on the Car/Circuit Combos

Final standings of the Q3 2018 GP Cup Event: