PoR Week 22 Highlights: Majeure Happens

[spspears]

force ma·jeure
Pronunciation: 'fors-ma-'zh&r, -mo-'zh[OE]r
Function: noun
Etymology: French, superior force
1 : superior or insuperable force
2 : an event (as war, labor strike, or extreme weather) or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled : FORTUITOUS EVENT —compare ACT OF GOD, INEVITABLE ACCIDENT - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010



Yep, force majeure - it's a part of rally. And if the unanticipated becomes a regular occurrence, it can be more than a little frustrating. But, when force majeure comes knocking, you've got two options: quit or press on. This week was a prime example of the benefits of pressing on, regardless.

In week 22 of the Rallyesim RBR Championships, PoR had four drivers competing in three rallies. Aaron was back at Madagascar (his home away from home) at the Boeny Rally. Steven and Justin were off to Sardinia for the fifth round of the International Rally Challenge, and Jerry took on the Rallye Terre du Diois of the French Gravel Championships.




For those of us whose normal rides aren't WRC cars, it was a bit of a transition week. No one made a bigger transition than Aaron, who moved back to the N1 class for production cars with engine displacements of less than 1400cc. Still, Leg 1 started well in his Peugeot 205 Rallye until the worst happened - the dreaded pop-up from a background process on his computer. In RBR, this is an unrecoverable case of force majeure - the dreaded black screen. All you can do is retire from the rest of the stages of that leg and take "standard times" - 3 minutes worse than the best in your class. If it's the last leg of the rally, you're done. If not, you just have to press on, claw back as many positions as you can, and hope for attrition. As Aaron found out, persistence can work out very nicely sometimes. He scored a personal best 136 points this week and finished second in class. He also set fast time for the N1 class on three stages.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out as well for Justin in Sardinia. He had a very fast run going in his brand new N4 class Prodrive Subaru Impreza N14 until the pop-up gremlin bit him as well. Undeterred, Justin went on to Leg 2, where the same thing happened again - rally over. Looks like a fresh install of Windows is in his future.

Like Aaron and Justin, Jerry had his share of hardship this week. A retirement on SS1 left him to begin Leg 2 at the bottom of the standings. With only 4 stages left there wasn't much time to make up for lost ground. However, his persistence paid off with a decent point total - proving that pressing on can sometimes ease the pain.




Unlike the others, Steven had a trouble-free week. On Leg 1, he had an off on SS4 that cost about 15 seconds and an excursion through a cornfield on SS6 that lost him another half minute. Leg 2 was completely clean however, with faster times on each repeat run through the stages. He finished 96th overall and 32nd in the 2WD class in his Citroen C2 R2 Max and was the highest placed R2 entry.

For the week, Press on! Rallysport scored 308 points and moved back ahead of HRF Racing Team into 27th place. This week PoR has six drivers scheduled to compete in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Good luck to all!