Q1 2020 Results

Jeff is a driver that is kind of under the radar, quietly proving that he belongs in the favorites to take home a GP Cup Driver's Championship. Last season he started off strong by getting podiums in the first two events of the year, but after missing the Q3 event, he had a disappointing performance by his standards in the final event of the year to finish 5th in the championship. This was motivation for Jeff, and he took that painful performance into the winter and trained so this would not happen in 2020. This year...was gonna be different.

In Qualifying, Jeff once again quietly pulls out an amazing lap to secure 2nd and clock a time that was less than a half tenth of a second from pole position. This tied his personal best for a fourth time and earned a bye into the Winner's Quarterfinals.

In his first matchup, he went against his old rival Travis Roof. Travis came into this race having upset the previous event winner in the Winner's Round 1, so his confidence was on the rise. In a quick, but heavy car on a windy track, Jeff was able to force Travis to use one of his extra laps for purchase. His pace was too much for Travis to overcome as he takes the lead in the personal battle 3-2 and advance to the Winner's Semifinals.

One win away from another podium, Jeff had a tough obstacle in the way. Title favorite Stephen Trigueiro just came off his own victory in the very same setup. If Jeff was gonna break out of the shadows, these are the opponents he'll need to beat consistently. Jeff was dialed in. In only two turns he was able to take Stephen down and force him to use two of his extra laps for purchase. Just like last year, Jeff started the season off with a podium. He wasn't focused on a podium though, he had his eyes on more.

Jeff would have to exercise his demons in the Winner's Finals. To repeat his Q1 2019 and fight for the event win in the Grand Finals, he would have to beat the driver who he lost to in those Grand Finals, Cooper Bright. In an entertaining back and forth battle, Jeff would not be denied and did his best "Senna" in the late 80's open wheeler by putting in a lap that was over 1 second faster than what his teammate could do. Jeff was headed back to the Grand Finals, this time he would have two bites at the cherry to get his first event victory.

Jeff probably expected to go up against Cooper once again in the Grand Finals, but the breakout driver of the event, Matt Johnson pulled out another amazing upset to give himself a chance to take out Jeff and take home the 1st place prize pool. In the unbelievably quick Dodge SRT Tomahawk GTS-R Vision Gran Turismo '35, they took on a street circuit in Tokyo. Things were ugly at the start as they tried to come to grips and process the information coming at them. Slowly but surely though, they started to maximize the car's performance and grip as not only was it quick, it could also stop on a dime. This was the most entertaining match up of the event and the crowd was really into it. Matt was looking like he was gonna force a bracket reset and one last race, winner takes all. Jeff had different ideas, as he dug deep and put in a lap that even with the advantage in handicaps, Matt could not better.

Jeff finally did it! He won an event and would no longer fly under the radar. Jeff emphatically throws his hat into the ring and take claim that he will win the 2020 GP Cup Driver's Championship. For his efforts, he takes home max points, $85, and the lead in both the Driver's and Constructor's Championship. The question is, will he learn from last year and keep this up throughout the year?

Matt came into this event as a rookie. Yes, he participated in one other event (Q1 2019), and yes he finished well in that event, but even he would admit that his result came down more to luck than skill. So for all intents and purposes he came into 2020 as a rookie and looking for his first real win in a match up.

He qualified an impressive 6th place considering his experience. One place off a bye, he had an extra race in the Winner's Round 1 against Dave McKeever. Dave was the other rookie in the event, and had a considerably harder time coming up to speed. Matt quickly disposed of Dave and completed his first goal by getting an actual win in a matchup, and was ready to prove his last event result wasn't a fluke.

Up next came a big difference in skill from his previous competitor as he had to go up against a proven GP Cup Event Winner in Stephen Trigueiro. Matt wouldn't be intimidated, and what transpired next turned out to be the 2nd longest battle of the event at 20 laps combined. Matt would have to use an extra lap for purchase, but after he couldn't beat Stephen's time, he conceited defeat and saved his remaining extra laps for the Loser's Bracket.

Matt probably expected things to be easier in his Loser's Round 2 matchup, but he was in for a surprise as he matched up against the back to back, 2018 & 2019 GP Cup Champion, Mike Hansen. The odds were skewed heavily in Hansen's favor on paper as he has yet to finish off the podium in any event in GP Cup history. Matt had to dig even deeper if he wanted to stay in the competition and for the second time in a row had an epic battle. This turned out to be the longest race of the night with 21 combined laps. Matt used another of his extra laps for purchase to stay in the battle, but Hansen used all three of his extra laps available for purchase to try and win. This time around, Matt was on the winning side and knocked the champion out of the event to keep him off the podium for the first time ever. The only sour taste that may have been left in Matt's mouth is the fact he took out a teammate, but he will be extremely happy with this result.

At this point in time Matt was past the stage of being warmed up and had all cylinders firing as he had 26 laps, 21 of those in the last two races, under his belt. In his Loser's Quarterfinals lady luck struck once again as all he had to do was put in a time to beat pole position driver, Mike Force. Force had to leave the event early and could not put in a time. Matt had vanquished the Mikes and two of his teammates.

Hopefully the engine was still humming because he had to wait a little until his Loser's Semifinals matchup against Brian Ackerson. Brian was also a surprise to make it this far and whoever won would get their first podium in the GP Cup. Brian qualified higher so he put in his first two laps to set a time. That time was almost good enough to take out Matt as he was forced to use his final extra lap for purchase. It came down to his last lap possible in the event but he didn't let the pressure get to him and put in a scorcher that Brian couldn't beat in his next turn in the cockpit. Matt had done it, he earned a podium in only his second event and the first event of his rookie year.

Nothing was expected of Matt at this point in time as he had proven that he is a threat to the title in 2020. He was proverbially playing with house money. Also, the laps were adding up and one had to wonder if there was any gas left in the tank to beat Cooper Bright in the Loser's Finals. This was Matt's third event winner he went up against and was not afraid of anyone. They went back and forth, but on Matt's third turn, he put in a lap that was impressively quick. Cooper tried his best as he used one of his extra laps for purchase and came within a tenth of a second, but it wasn't meant to be Cooper's moment, that belonged to Matt.

Matt had done the unthinkable and made the Grand Finals! If he was to get the event win though, he would have to beat Jeff Meisenzahl twice. On a tricky but entertaining car/track combo, the two Grand Finalists put on a show for the ages. It took awhile, but they both came to grips with the intense speed that they were forced to comprehend. Matt was looking as if he had the upper hand and was gonna force a bracket reset, but Jeff would not be denied on this day and wanted to finish it in this race. He put in a time that was over a second quicker than Matt's most previous best and that proved to be the final blow to Matt's improbable run for an event win.

Matt finishes the day on the podium in 2nd place. He gained experience very quickly this event as he went up against 7 different drivers. He set a new record for laps driven at an event with a staggering 49 of them. He takes home $48 for his efforts and was the highest placed driver on the Baked Potatoes. Overall, pretty damn good day.

Cooper performed well considering the difficulty of his handicap. Out of all the favorites to take home the 2020 GP Cup Driver's Championship, Cooper showed up. Looking to add a third pole position in a row to his already impressive resume, he could do no better than 4th (0.424 seconds off pole). This still meant he earned a bye into the Winner's Quarterfinals against Brian Ackerson.

Cooper must have warmed up pretty quickly as he only needed one turn to take out Brian. It was pretty neat that the car he raced in was the award prize he earned for performing well at Free Practice 1 (FP1), a 1995 Ferrari F50.

Next up was pole position winner Mike Force in the Winner's Semifinals. Lady Luck must have been on his side though as Force had to bow out of the event early and Cooper once again only needed one turn to take out a rival. This result meant that he secured his 5th consecutive podium!

In the Winner's Final he had to take on his Burnout teammate, Jeff Meisenzahl. They raced in a late '80s open wheel race car on an old F1 ciruit, the Nurburgring GP layout. This had all the elements you want in a Winner's Final as the two drivers swapped seats three times each and put in a total of 13 laps. Unfortunately for Cooper he couldn't match Jeff's pace and was knocked down to the Loser's Bracket Final.

To get a rematch against Jeff, he would need to take out Matt Johnson. One of the most surprising results of the day meant that the this race did not go Cooper's way. Yet his best lap in this race, was also the best lap that the race director has seen in the GP Cup. There are no excuses as the better driver on the day won. One wonders though if the gap in handicaps coupled with the lack of time behind the wheel compared to his competitor, played some sort of factor in the result? Regardless, Cooper took the loss with dignity and a good haul of points by placing 3rd ($20). He also can be happy as his strong performance helped his team take an early lead in the 2020 GP Cup Constructor's Championship.

Brian showed up to the first event of the year with a fire in his belly. Despite his power ranking, Brian qualified a strong 5th and earned the last bye spot into the Winner's Quarterfinals.

In that matchup, he went up against Cooper Bright and couldn't get his bearings straight with the Ferrari F50. Even using an extra lap for purchase, Brian couldn't better Cooper's time with his first attempt in the cockpit. At this point in time, there must have had some bad thoughts going through Brian's mind. Would he recover his confidence or fold quicker than a cheap beach chair?

Brian answered that question with his next matchup in the Loser's Bracket Round 1 against his John Muir Mountain Lion teammate, Greg McKeever. In a battle of best buds, he had a big wall in his way going up against the most recent event winner of the GP Cup. Brian overcame his demons as all the hard work over the Winter came into play. After an entertaining 16 lap battle, he emerged victorious. It was a surprising result to most, but not Drivin' Brian...it's in his blood to drive fast.

Even though he righted the ship, there was still a long voyage to the podium paying positions. His next stepping stone to the top was Preston Woods who was having his best day behind the wheel at this point. Brian blitzed Preston needing only one turn to put in a time that couldn't be beat in the problematic Pagani.

In the Loser's Quarterfinals Brian had to go up against his third event winning driver in Stephen Trigueiro. He dug deep using his final two extra laps for purchase to attempt to take down Stephen, and take him down he did. Although he could be happy he was advancing, this was unfortunately his second teammate he knocked out of the event. That didn't matter much to Brian because at this point in time, he was getting in a grove.

One more victory in the Loser's Semifinals and Brian would get his first podium which has eluded him so far. The driver in his way? Matt Johnson, who was putting in a special performance himself. He put up a fight with his first run forcing Matt to use his last available lap for purchase. But that extra lap proved to be too tough to overcome.

Overall Brian put in the 3rd most laps of day and can be happy that he was the highest placed John Muir Mountain Lion. I know he is still upset that he didn't get that podium as this was his best chance to date. He will wear these experiences like battle scars, and I expect that podium can't be too far off now.

Mike Force comes into the 2020 GP Cup Season a driver who is consistent, but that consistency hasn't always translated into speed. He has never finished an event better than 3rd or worse than 6th and in both 2018 and 2019 he finished the year 6th in the driver's championship. This year he was ready to shake off the stigma of a driver who couldn't perform when the lights were on.

He blinded the competitors in qualifying as he earned his second pole position in the GP Cup. New to 2020 regulations, the driver who gets pole position earns $10. On top of the money, pole position has many advantages so things were looking great for Force.

Earning his bye, Force took on Preston Woods in his Winner's Quarterfinals duel. Preston was coming off the biggest upset in GP Cup history as he beat the only champion the GP Cup has ever known. The problem was that Force feels at home in a Ferrari and proved so by putting in a quick lap during his first turn. Preston tried his best to beat it, but couldn't find the pace he showed to beat Hansen.

At this point in time Force had a long wait until his Winner's Semifinals matchup against Cooper Bright. Just before he was supposed to step into the cockpit, he had to suddenly leave as he had made other plans that he couldn't miss.

This meant the Force lost his next two matchups by default, and still finished a decent result of 5th because of his qualifying performance. You can't help but think what could have been though? Based on his driving up to that point he seemed destined to make the Grand Finals and win it all. Unfortunately, there are still some questions that Force needs to answer if he wants to shut up his critics.

Stephen enters the 2020 season coming off a successful 2019 where he finished 3rd in the standings (second year in a row!). Considering his resume, he definitely came in as a favorite to win the Driver's Championship.

Even with his difficult handicap, Stephen came out swinging and was ready to back up his title favorite claim by qualifying a strong 3rd place. He earned himself a bye into the Winner's Quarterfinals.

In his first match up, Stephen would have to go up against rookie driver Matt Johnson. Matt just came off a convincing win in is Winner's Bracket Round 1 and was fired up to take on the established pilots. He gave Stephen a run for his money, but the rookie still has much to learn more before he can get the better of the wily vet. This result turned out to be more impressive than first realized based on the run Matt made in the Loser's Bracket.

Stephen advanced to the Winner's Semifinals and a date with Jeff Meisenzahl. These two drivers up to this point showed well in both qualifying and their first matchups, so this was a tasty affair. Unfortunately for Stephen, he couldn't quite get the Aston Martin around Brands Hatch as clean as he normal. This meant that Stephen burned up two of his extra laps for purchase to get the win, but alas, it was not enough as Jeff was too quick on this day.

Now down in the Loser's Bracket, Stephen had to go up against his John Muir Mountain Lion teammate, Brian Ackerson. This Quarterfinals clash was very entertaining as the two swapped seats multiple times. Brian used up his last two extra laps for purchase and Stephen did the same with his final extra lap for purchase. At the conclusion of this epic contest, Brian just squeaked past Stephen by less than two tenths of a second.

Stephen was knocked out of the event by his own teammate and finished the day 6th after such a promising qualifying. It is not all bad news though for Stephen, as he was the second highest placed driver on his team and even with only three matchups, drove the 2nd most laps of any driver on the day. One thing is for sure, Stephen will bounce back like always to give himself the best chance to win both championships.

Mike Hansen comes into the 2020 season as the comfortable favorite to win the Driver's Championship. He was also expected to help his team win the inaugural Constructor's Championship. He is the two time defending GP Cup Champion. In 2018 he massacred the competition. In 2019, he had a much harder time, but still secured the title with two event wins and two more podiums.

It came as a shock then as he had the last chance to qualify which meant he knew what he needed to do to get pole position and could only get 8th. This was not the start that Hansen was looking for and was his personal worst qualifying result by quite a bit. It was just qualifying though, all it would mean is that he would not earn a bye and had to race in the Winner's Bracket Round 1.

Hansen probably felt like he could use this opportunity to warm up a bit more as he went up against Preston Woods in the same car/track combo as qualifying. Hansen qualified better than Preston too, so things were looking good. Yes there was a major difference in handicaps between the two, but Preston is getting better and he proved it by providing the most shocking result of the Gran Potato Cup to date. After 4 turns in the seat, Hansen put in a time six tenths of a second faster than his qualifying effort. Unfortunate for Hansen, Preston found over 3 seconds of improvement compared to his qualifying time. This was enough to knock Hansen down into the Loser's Bracket early.

The last time that Hansen didn't make the Winner's Finals was the very first event of the GP Cup. He can take confidence in knowing that he bounced back that day to win the whole thing and would be hoping to do the same this time around. This climb was going to be a lot longer and his first step would be against Travis Roof in the Loser's Bracket Round 1 race. Hansen got to grips with the 4WD MINI on the Suzuka Circuit East Course very quickly. He only needed his one turn as Travis used his two remaining laps available for purchase to try and set a faster time, but couldn't get it right.

Hansen moved on to the Loser's Round 2 against his good friend and Baked Potatoes teammate, Matt Johnson. Just like against Preston, another unpredictable event happened. Going up against the same handicaps as Preston, Hansen fought valiantly again and used all three of his extra laps for purchase in his attempt to beat Matt. It just wasn't enough as Hansen was knocked out of a Grand Potato Cup Event for the first time without taking one of the steps on the podium.

When you are as successful as Hansen, a shocking day usually means that you under performed. There is no doubt that this result was not a good one for Hansen, but nobody feels that more than him. He will not take this result lightly and I anticipate that this wake up call will drive Hansen to become even better.It's not your best days where you learn the most, it's your worst ones. Lucky for him this result could be thrown away if he does better in the rest of the events for the year.

Preston made great strides in 2019 and his "Never give up" attitude is a inspiration for all. Coming into 2020 Preston was looking to work his way into the midfield battle and maybe even score a surprise podium.

So he couldn't help but feel a little down after qualifying 9th. He did out qualify two other drivers, but still had to contest an extra race in the Winner's Bracket Round 1.

Things didn't look any better as you couldn't anticipate the back to back GP Cup Champion Mike Hansen, to be the driver you would meet in this matchup. Preston must have been getting in the zone, as he shocked the world with the result of this race. In the same car, on the same track, Preston set a time over 3 seconds faster than his qualifying effort. This must have been shocking to no one more so than Hansen as even though he also set a time faster than his qualifying effort, that time was still not fast enough. This result woke up a lot of people who were sleeping on Preston. Before this happened, people considered Preston an easy win. That may have been true in the past, but Preston was in the future and was making noise.

He took his momentum into the Winner's Quarterfinals against another Mike as in Mike Force, pole position winner. Preston couldn't get the best out of the Ferrari F50 and lost this battle in his first turn. He decided to save all of his extra laps for purchase for future challenges in the Loser's Bracket.

In the Loser's Round 1 he went up against rookie driver Dave McKeever. He may have not been expecting it this time around, but Preston was in store for another long drawn out battle. After 8 combined turns and 19 combined laps, Preston was left standing once the dust had settled and crucially kept all of his extra laps for purchase.

Next up was Brian Ackerson in the Loser's Round 2. Brian came out punching but didn't expect what happened next. Preston's first turn was all he had as he was having a hard time finding consistency in his laps to put together one that was faster than Brian. Even after using all of his extra laps for purchase, he surprisingly couldn't better Brian's first effort.

Preston finished in 8th place to take home 3 points for himself and the Burnouts. Overall on this day, Preston can be proud and proved that he can beat anyone on his day. What he will need to learn next if he wants to continue to improve is finding consistency. It is easier said then done, as factors can change dramatically from race to race, but these are the challenges that the GP Cup drivers are up against. Preston has proven time and time again that he can learn from his performances and isn't afraid to take these challenges head on!

Greg came into the season as a dark horse for the 2020 GP Cup Driver's Championship. In the inaugural season he established himself as a favorite with his amazing performances. 2019 was a disappointing season as he could never really find his speed he once showed. That was until the the last round of 2019, where he absolutely put on a master class and won his first ever GP Cup Event. Designing a beautiful livery for the first event of the year this season, Greg qualified a personal worst 7th even though he was within half a second of pole position. Greg would have to swallow a tough pill as he learned the competition is getting more competitive.

In his Winner's Bracket Round 1 matchup he went up against Travis Roof. Greg was the favorite in this matchup and got some good time behind the wheel to warm himself up with 3 turns and 8 laps. Surprisingly, he was upset by a slim margin and decided to save his extra laps for purchase for the Loser's Bracket.

Greg now had the longest mountain to climb if he wanted to repeat his victory from the last event. His first obstacle was his John Muir Mountain Lion teammate and Firlock Friend, Brian Ackerson. Greg once again, put in a decent amount of time behind the wheel getting 3 turns and 10 laps but couldn't beat Brian's impressive time.

Greg decided to not use any extra laps for purchase for the entire event and finished in 9th place. This was far from what he imagined, but if Greg can find his consistency, he has already proven he has the pace to win. He will most undoubtedly burn the tape from this event and move forward as quickly as he can. Don't count out Greggor Dale, if you do, you'll get bit.

Travis is a midfield driver who wants to prove that he can shake it up with the big boys of the GP Cup. Previously, he has shown speed that proves that it not just talk either. The question is, can he put it all together?

Qualifying didn't help as Travis had a disastrous session and finished one place off dead last in 10th. This was his worst qualifying performance by far, and was looking to shake off the cobwebs and get warmed up in his Winner's Bracket Round 1 matchup.

It wasn't gonna be easy for him as he went up against the most recent event winner in Greg McKeever. Travis didn't let that get to him and kept his focus on the prize ahead of him. In the same car/track combo as qualifying, he was able to better his qualifying time by almost 3 seconds! He had a ding dong battle with Greg as they went back and forth. Although Greg put in a lap that would've qualified him on pole position, it still wasn't enough as Travis upset the defending event winner and send him to the Loser's Bracket early.

Travis was starting to find his groove going into his Winner's Quarterfinals matchup against his old roommate and rival, Jeff Meisenzahl. On a tricky car/track combo, these two duked it out over a couple of seat changes. Travis had to use one of his extra laps for purchase to try and better Jeff, but it wasn't meant to be as he was knocked down in the Loser's Bracket.

Travis now had a very long climb if he wanted to get to the podium positions. If he could get a win in his Loser's Bracket Round 1 matchup, then maybe it could happen. The reason being was because he had to take on the two time defending GP Cup champion, Mike Hansen. Maybe he wasn't over his last loss, but Travis just couldn't come to grips with Hansen's pace. Travis' first turn consisted of six laps that included his last two extra laps for purchase but it still wasn't enough.

Travis finished the day in 10th and will be disappointed with that effort. It felt like Travis never got out of 2nd gear and will need to take a long look in the mirror if wants to move up the grid. Driver's are getting more competitive and so even if you are growing, are you growing faster than your rivals? Luckily, Travis can throw this result out and will focus on doing well in the next three remaining events of the season.

Dave came into the 2020 GP Cup season ready to shake things up in his rookie year. Unfortunately the lack of experience showed in Qualifying as he took the last spot on the grid. This meant he had an extra matchup to win.

In his Winner's Bracket Round 1 matchup he went up against another driver in his rookie season, Matt Johnson. Once again Dave looked like he was in over his head as he couldn't beat Matt's time with his first attempt in the seat. The only good news was that he put in a lap time over a second faster than his best qualifying time. Dave was looking like he was gonna have a disappointing and early exit from the event. Not what you want to do in the first outing of the season in your rookie year.

He had a last chance to turn his fortunes in the Loser's Bracket Round 1 matchup against Preston Woods. Something clicked for Dave, as he was able to get 4 turns and 11 valuable laps behind the wheel. Dave used two of his three extra laps available for purchase, but came short of Preston's best time by only 0.068 seconds! Dave's performance in this matchup could very well be a turning point in his career and reminds me of a lot of this race's opponents trajectory a few years earlier when he was trying to figure out a way to get his first matchup victory.

Dave finished the event in the unenviable position of 11th place and took home 0 points for his efforts. All is not as bleak as it sounds, and it's only a matter of time before Dave starts to catch the pack and eventually his first win.