Never Drink Before a Race

Christmas is approaching and so is the end of the current SRS season after the fifth racing week, that came along with good results and also chances of final wins for 4Fun pilots. Unfortunately not for Omer Kinay, that due to his many tasks had no time to race – no worries, he’s not back in exile, it’s Christmas time and we’re all good in this days, he included. “Well, this pause from racing makes me a bit nervous sometimes”, said Kinay “and it also affects a little my night sleep. Yesterday I suddenly woke up screaming in the middle of the night: I had a horrible nightmare, the next SRS season was about to start and ALL series were with fixed setup. I’m still frightened thinking about it”.

This was a busy week for Dario Bucalo too, that in order to setup his new racing gear had to move and replace all his home furniture, make holes in the walls, power up his wiring and so on. Anyway, he finally had enough time to practice and achieved a good 3rd place with the Audi TT in Barcelona, adding consistency race after race. Only preceeded by his teammate Gianluca Roncaglia in the starting grid, Bucalo losed a position after a mistake in a turn, but since Roncaglia was able to win the race, the day ended with a brilliant 4Fun double placement on the podium. Bucalo then immediately congratulated with is teammate after the race, just before breaking on his head the empty champagne bottle for the winner.

With his win on Saturday afternoon (that after this and the results of the last week will be “4Fun Time” from now on) Roncaglia could fix a shaky racing week after some – euphemism – not so brilliant performances on the track. Also thanks to Kinay’s secret magical all-around setup – the Coca-Cola Company asked him to swap it with their secret Coca-Cola recipe, but he refused stating that he only drinks milk – Roncaglia could also perform another good race, unfortunately ended up after a contact with Maurice Klerken. Debating on who had the fault, Klerken and Roncaglia had a quick gentlemen’s agreement but decided for the learn’s sake to ask the SRS Discord channel jury for a verdict after submitting the footage of the incident. The discussion was lively and vibrant – some asked for Roncaglia to be sentenced with 5 years of prison, some other asked for Klerken refunding a broken side rearview mirror to Roncaglia – but ended up with a draw. Handshaking after the sentence, Roncaglia and Klerken went then to a pub for a couple of beers – Kinay was in a near seat and stared at them smiling and sipping a glass of milk – and were seen late at night staggering arm in arm, completely drunk and still debating on the incident.

And what about Matteo Venuti? After uninstalling Microsoft Office, Google Chrome, deleting 1500 Mp3 files and a couple of Assetto Corsa mods, there is now enough disk space on this PC for the astounding list of his results of the week: two wins in Grobnik with the Mazda MX-5, a second place with the Lotus Evora in the Autodromo do Algarve, a second place in Spa with the Mazda 787B, a second place in Brands Hatch with the Ginetta GT4 and a second and a third place in Barcelona with the Audi TT. In the overall rankings Venuti is second in the Evora and in the Ginetta series, fourth in the Mazda 787 and fifth in the Mazda MX-5, with a theoretical chance to be first in all of them after the last week. Asked on the reason for so many good placements but no first places so far, Venuti replied with a blink under his mirrored sunglasses: “Simple: I let them all win. For now”. And now, shout it out loud all together: “A heck of a racedriver!”. Stay tuned for the final results of the series and Merry Christmas to you all!

Playlist of the week:

Chicago – Feelin’ Stronger Every Day (for Dario Bucalo)

Huey Lewis and the News – Couple Days Off (for Omer Kinay)

Breakfast Club – Right on Track (for Matteo Venuti)

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention – America Drinks and Go Home (for Gianluca Roncaglia featuring Maurice Klerken)