Q1 2019 results

Brian Ackerson - 8th (Qualified: 4th) Handicap - TCS [4]

• Brian started the day off by qualifying in the midfield. Which I think he was probably pretty happy with. His reward? A Winner's Bracket Quarterfinal against the 2018 Gran Potato Cup Champion, Mike Hansen. Brian was holding his own and even forced Hansen to use one of his 3 extra laps for purchase. Unfortunately after 3 turns in the seat and 10 laps, Brian couldn't get the best of Hansen and to make matters worse he used all three of his extra laps in the process. Brian had a long wait for his next battle and because of the odd number of drivers on the day, his match up in the Loser's Bracket Round 1 was against no one, so he automatically advanced. Once again it was more disappointment though as he had to leave and couldn't put a lap in against Matt Johnson in the Loser's Bracket Round 2 match up. After starting strong with a 4th in qualifying, he will be a little upset about finishing 8th and will be determined to show his true potential for the next event.

Cooper Bright - 1st (Qualified: 2nd) Handicap - TCS [2]

• Cooper Bright's day consisted of personal bests, as took home an event victory for the first time in his career! Cooper breezed through his first match up in the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinals against Matt Johnson needing only one lap to dispose of the rookie. He was then paired up against Jeff Meisenzahl with a guaranteed podium spot on the line. This was a very close and intense battle as each driver took 5 turns in the seat and had at least 10 laps against each other. It became a battle of endurance, and Cooper proved to have just that little extra to take the win and secure a podium position for the the second event in a row. He was not happy with just a podium though as he wanted to get into the Grand Finals for the first time. The person standing in his way to get there was a tough wall to climb as he was going up against Mike Hansen. A driver he lost to last event to knock him out. Even with all of this stacked against him, he had to feel a little confident as he was driving really well up to this point and he had beaten Hansen once before in an American car. So in the Winner's Bracket Finals he set out to topple last year's champion and in the end succeeded. This put him in the driver seat as he only needed one more victory in the Grand Finals to take home the 1st place prize. His opponent was a familiar one as he duked it out with Jeff who he just got the better of earlier in the tournament. Jeff ended up reigning in the Lamborghini better than Cooper could in the Grand Finals Round 1 and forced a bracket reset. The score was now 1-1 and the last match up of the day was winner take all. On the same beautiful Suzuka Circuit as before, Cooper was not to be denied two times in a row as he bettered Jeff once more on the day. Securing a personal best result by taking home 1st place and a record setting event purse of $89 for his efforts. This result also moved him to 3rd all-time in the money earnings list.

Jeff Meisenzahl - 2nd (Qualified: 6th) Handicap - TCS [3]

• Jeff had an amazing day as he beat a total of 5 different drivers to take home a personal best 2nd place. Jeff either seems to qualify really well, or closer to the back of the pack. For this event, he qualified towards the later and barely squeaked his way out of having to do an extra race in the Winner's Bracket Round 1 match up. This was the second event in a row that Jeff started the tournament as the 6th seed. To make matters worse, he first had to go up against the man who knocked him out of the last event, Travis Roof. He exercised his demon and disposed of Travis needing only two laps. His next clash pitted him against Cooper Bright in the Winner's Bracket Semifinals and one win away from a podium finish. What transpired over the next 40 minutes or so, was an amazing back and forth contest that ended up being 21 laps total between the two. Cooper was able to come out the other side with the victory to send Jeff to the Loser's Bracket Quarterfinals. In that match up he went up against one of the favorites to win the event and last event winner in Stephen Trigueiro. Surprisingly, Jeff only needed one lap to knock out Stephen and progress to the Loser's Bracket Semifinals. He was once again one win again from getting that podium. This time he had to take on Mike Force who is starting to emerge as a rival. Jeff was once again able to get a relatively comfortable victory and take out Force. It was now time to feel the pressure as he went for a career best result and make the Grand Finals for the first time. All he needed to do was take out last season's champion. No easy task, but he was able to find a faster line in the Porsche that just couldn't be beat. Thus he was guaranteed at least 2nd place and a trip into the Grand Finals against the man who knocked him down into the Loser's Bracket, Cooper. He needed to win two times in a row to get the event victory. In the first match up of the Grand Finals Jeff continued his impressive win streak by figuring out how to handle the raging bull at Suzuka and force a bracket reset for only the second time ever in GP Cup history. It all came down to this match up and whoever won, would take the event win. It could've been because of fatigue, as this was Jeff's fourth straight match up, but Cooper found his feet and the win. Still Jeff can be proud of beating Travis, Stephen, Force, Hansen, & Cooper on his way to 2nd place and a nice little payday of $36.

Matt Johnson - 5th (Qualified: 7th) Handicap - TCS [3]

• Matt was the only rookie in the event, but still showed some great potential for the first time feeling the pressure of the seat under the lights. He started off by being in the unenvious position of the first person to lay down their qualifying laps. Matt still placed an impressive 7th which was good for a rookie. Because we had an odd number of driver's, Matt was able to advance straight to the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinals and a first real match up against Cooper Bright. This was a tough match up for anyone let alone your first ever, and Cooper showed his class by only needing one lap to get a victory. This meant that he was dropped into the Loser's Bracket and a match up against Brian Ackerson. Brian had to leave just before this match up, so Matt was once again able to advance to the Loser's Bracket Quarterfinals. This time he was matched up against Mike Force and just couldn't find his legs with the Peugeot. The 5th place might be a little misleading, but luck is also needed to become the Gran Potato Cup champion. One thing can be said for sure; and that is, with a little practice, the future looks bright for the rookie.

Mike Force - 4th (Qualified: 1st) Handicap - TCS [2]

• Force showed up to event ready to go as he set one of the fastest laps during practice and followed that up with his first Pole Position! Surprisingly this meant that he was matched up against Stephen Trigueiro in the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinals. Once again Force showed he was focused and ready to compete as he impressively took out the defending event winner with only one lap. Now only a win away from a podium position, he had to go up against another favorite in the 2018 Gran Potato Cup Champion, Mike Hansen. Force put all his eggs in one basket to get the win in this one as he used all 3 of his extra laps for purchase. Alas he couldn't get the best of Hansen and had to make a run through the Loser's Bracket to get that podium position and in the money. He started his climb in the Loser's Bracket Quarterfinals by taking out Matt Johnson with his second one lap and done victory of the event. For the next round in the Loser's Bracket Semifinals he went up against a rival in Jeff Meisenzahl. Jeff was able to figure out the Viper just a little bit better and knock Force out and make this his third straight 4th place finish. He will look to build on his impressive qualifying from this event and reach the next level to take home some money at not only an event, but also in the overall championship.

Mike Hansen - 3rd (Qualified: 5th) Handicap - JC Method (TCS [0] + In-Car View)

• The defending Gran Potato Cup Champion came into the event feeling confident. There was good reason for this as he came into the year following an almost perfect season and a 3 straight Pole Position streak on the trot. Unfortunately for Hansen, he could only do as good as 5th with a disastrous qualifying where he had to use one of his extra laps for purchase. This meant his first duel of the day was against Brian Ackerson in the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinals. Once again Hansen had to use an extra lap for purchase but was able to use it to full affect and get the win to advance. Hansen was in a familiar position as he once again needed only one more win to secure his fifth straight podium position (every single event!). He had to beat Mike Force to get there. After starting slow once more, he found the speed needed to make the Winner's Finals for a fourth straight time. Impressive indeed. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a buzz saw in Cooper Bright who was inspired on this day for victory. With Hansen getting knocked down into the Loser's Bracket Finals, he had another rough encounter. This time with Jeff Meisenzahl and chance to get back to the Grand Finals and keep his record going of being top 2 for every event in the history of the GP Cup. Surprisingly once more he suffered defeat and in a Porsche to boot. He still finishes on the podium in 3rd Place and took home $10 of the event prize pool. The money moves Hansen into first place on the all-time money earnings list by a single dollar!

Preston Woods - 9th (Qualified: 8th) Handicap - TCS [4]

• Preston came to battle it out. He was looking very good in practice before the event and was primed to take home his first match up victory in his GP Cup career. Qualifying didn't go as well as practice, but he was still able to beat one person and get the 8th seed. Unfortunately for him, the person he beat was an extremely surprising one. Stephen Trigueiro was that man and that meant he had to go up against him in the Winner's Bracket Round 1. Preston got Stephen to use all three of his extra laps for purchase in the very first race of the event and literally took him to his very last lap before he was able to put in a faster time that Preston just couldn't better the next time he got in the seat. A massive disadvantage of losing your first match up means there is a long wait until you can hop back in the seat and compete once more. In the Loser's Bracket Round 1 against Travis Roof, Preston was able to find his focus after such a long break and give Travis a run for his money. After 9 total seat swaps, Travis was able to get the win. Preston is still searching for that elusive match up victory, but I have a feeling that once he gets his first, then the dam will burst. Needless to say, this was by far Preston's best performance to date.

Stephen Trigueiro - 6th (Qualified: 9th) Handicap - TCS [1]

• The defending event winner had a hard time coming to grips with the handicap for this event. After not showing up to any practice sessions including the one before the event, his first time in the seat to using the handicap proved too much. He qualified in last place (9th seed) which is shocking to say the least when you consider he took home 1st place in the last event. This result meant that he didn't get a bye into the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinals and instead had an extra race right off the bat against Preston Woods in the Winner's Bracket Round 1. Once again Stephen looked troubled as he barely secured the victory in his match up against Preston. He had to use all three of his extra laps for purchase before it starting clicking for him and he saved it until his very last possible lap to do it. As he put it, "I'm just buying practice." For his next match up in the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinals, things did not get easier as he had to go up against Mike Force who qualified on Pole Position. Force brought the heat and disposed of Stephen after one lap. Did this discourage Stephen? Of course not, he regained his composure and in the Loser's Bracket Round 2, he was able to dig deep and find the racing line to victory and advance him past Travis Roof and into the Loser's Bracket Quarterfinals. This time he was up against his old roommate in Jeff Meisenzahl and a first time in GP Cup history happened during this event. Jeff was first in the chair and set down a pretty good marker. Stephen then stepped into the seat and set a time that was identical to Jeff's fastest lap, seeing as this was not better than Jeff's laptime though, he had to continue on and just couldn't better it. The second loss coupled with the bad qualifying performance meant that he finished in 6th place and will look to do better for the next event.

Travis Roof - 7th (Qualified: 3rd) Handicap - TCS [3]

• Travis came into the season looking to build on what he accomplished in 2018. He was very quick and consistent during the off-season practice sessions and looked primed for a personal best showing after qualifying as the 3rd seed. Things started off rough as he lost to his old roommate, Jeff Meisenzahl, in the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinals. Travis also used 2 of his 3 extra laps available for purchase to try and get the better of Jeff which could have been a mistake later down the road. He then had to wait quite a bit until his next match up against Preston in the Loser's Bracket Round 1. After an intense back and forth affair, Travis was able to find that little bit extra and advance to the next round. This time he went up against his current roommate Stephen Trigueiro. The course was fast and both drivers were putting in good laps, Travis eventually had to use his last extra lap available for purchase and was looking like he was about to set a new fastest lap. Then disaster struck as he couldn't get the grip coming out of the final corner and was slowly overtaken on the long straight away. The loss meant that Travis was knocked out of the tournament in a disappointing 7th place. This was not the direction Travis was looking to head in, but knowing him, he will bounce back stronger than ever from this setback.

FUN FACTS:

Number of Turns

• Highest number of turns (Match up) - 10 Turns: Race 8 (Cooper Bright vs. Jeff Meisenzahl)

• Highest number of turns (Individual: Event) - 18 Turns: Jeff Meisenzahl

• Lowest number of turns (Individual: Event) - 5 Turns: Brian Ackerson

Number of Laps

• Highest number of laps (Match up) - 21 Laps: Race #8 (Cooper Bright vs. Jeff Meisenzahl)

• Highest number of laps (Individual: Match up) - 12 Laps: Preston Woods (Race #10)

• Highest number of laps (Individual: Event) - 36 Laps: Jeff Meisenzahl

• Lowest number of laps (Individual: Match up) - 1 Lap: Mike Force (Race #5 & Race #13), Cooper Bright (Race #6 & Race #19), Matt Johnson (Race #11), & Jeff Meisenzahl (Race #14)

• Lowest number of laps (Individual: Event) - 14 Laps: Brian Ackerson

Margins

• Closest match up - 0.000 Seconds: Race #14 (Jeff Meisenzahl vs. Stephen Trigueiro)

• Biggest blow out - 6.963 Seconds: Race #19 (Cooper Bright vs. Jeff Meisenzahl)

Link to Bracket

More Info on the Car/Circuit Combos

Final standings of the Q1 2019 GP Cup Event: