In addition to saying hello to a couple of new faces, we must also say goodbye to some of our closest friends.
Aurimas Jenciulevicius - Didn't Even Make The Race
Aurimas, a Lithuanian joined us for the 24 hours of Spa, however left less than 24 hours after joining, due to finding a new team. This was a little inconvenient as people darting in and out of teams when planning for the biggest race of the year isn't ideal.
Here's his final words:
"Apologies, but I reconnected with some people I've raced with in the past and they were looking around for 1 more person so will be attempting this race with them. thank you for having me for this short time and best of luck to everyone that attempts the 24hrs."
One day doesn't give the most time to create life-long memories, but he was still a nice Lithuanian whilst he stayed. Aurimas Jenciulevicicius 06/07/2019 - 07/07/2019
Tonnie Jansen (NTL) & Paul Holt (NTL) - Specifically hired to do the Spa 24 Hours, they were just the passengers on a sinking boat. Paul Holt had wheel problems on the days leading up to the big race, Marco (Marozzi) then piped up, saying that he had internet connection issues. With not a word from Andrew (Oxtoby), Paul Holt having wheel issues and Marco Marozzi having internet issues, Tonnie was left on his own with no other drivers. Paul eventually did sort his wheel, but this still meant that Tonnie and Paul were the only ones racing in one car for 24 hours, which is possible - but near impossible for those not used to triple - or even quadruple stinting. Tonnie's last words were
"I want to make a statement: Marco isn't driving and we hear nothing from Andy, so Paul and me are alone. that's not a fine basic(ally) two hours for the start of the race. I know everyone is doing his best, but I am not gonna race if we there isn't a solution about a half an hour. sorry, I have no choice."
Despite all our best efforts, nothing could be done to save the Titanic that was Car #3 - and still to this day we have never ran three cars again. Half an hour went past very slowly...each passing moment we knew that car #3 was every second closer to collapsing. I invited two guys, Daniel Newell and "malteser" - but both joined too late. I told "malteser" the bad news, and he left quickly after, knowing that there was no "need" for him.
Tonnie Jansen 15/07/19 - 20/07/19
Paul Holt 16/07/2019 - 20/07/19
Florian Hundertmark (GER) - A Spa Star Deeply Missed
Florian Hundertmark was quite a big part of the team. Despite not doing very many races, he was always active, always messaging and always helping out. As the 6th oldest driver (since the team began) Florian has seen the team develop from a very young age. I think the most impressive thing is the fact that despite his absolutely appalling luck (both at Donington and at Spa) he resumed with the team, and continued being positive. At Donington, me and Maxim Badidi managed to disqualify the car, before Florian got to drive - meaning that he woke up early for no reason. Earlier in the season, however, Florian was able to bring the car home in a very respectable 10th place at the Circuit Gilles Villnerve, still one of my most favourite race memories. Florian was our "big man" at Spa - starting the race, and although internet connection problems marred his stint - and dropped us down to 31st with a long repair period, after a little shouting, he was incredibly positive and enthusiastic, he looked forwards instead of behind, and his second stint in the chaotic morning of mass confusion (CMOMC) he kept his cool, even when I was f**king everyone around, and got into the car after Kelson. He was a massive part of the team, was very enthusiastic and will be deeply missed by the team. Here's what he said to me on his final morning (with typos corrected)
"Hey there. I was really busy over the last days. Due to a number of reasons, I won't participate in any races for the team in the next weeks. To be honest, one of those reasons is that I am currently building up an own, German team, with guys I know in person. Other reasons are private circumstances as well as time due to high workload at work. I'm sorry to let you know. But on the other hand, I've seen your team growing very fast over the last weeks"
It was incredibly interesting and exciting to get to know Florian as he worked for an airline, and his surname literally translates to "Florian Hundred-Marks" (German Currency) I wish him all the best for the future, both in his real life job, and his iRacing team and career and hope he enjoyed his 2 months at Kabort Motorsport as much as possible.
Auf Wiedersehen Florian.
Florian Hundertmark 14/06/2019 - 07/08/2019
Ethan Lawrence also left silently, as he wasn't racing very often with us and didn't want to seem to much in the way, however it was never stated when he left.
Sven Jansen (NTL), Berkley Cox (USA), Federico Rosano (ITA) & Paul Leidsman (GBR) - Fired
I never like to use the word "fired" as it's a bit harsh to say that I fired three drivers.
Each driver had an awkward situation which lead to this moment.
Sven Jansen - The Dutch Hero That Faded Away Sven was a piece of platinum within a gold mine. Drivers on iRacing are pretty darn good, but when one tells you that he does real life racing and wants to be on your team, you know you've struck something pretty good. Sven races/practices in Porsche Supercup or other GT series, so he knows how a car should feel, and how to sort it. Sven was very active on the discord, and took up multiple opportunities to race - highlights include racing the second car (When there was one) with Dave (South) and Oliver (Mandrish). Problems only began to arise recently when he revealed to me (and another racer) his plans for the future - which I shall not disclose, as he asked me to. Every so often I look for evidence for his project, and nothing seems to have happened - even months down the line. Due to this inactivity (on discord and everywhere else) I had to dismiss him, he has not seen anything about it thus far, but when he returns it will be a huge shock, but I hope he understands. He will be able to rejoin once he returns.
Berkley Cox - The Other Type Of Slow I gave him until week 13/Week 1 season 4 to become a Class C driver, but entering Week 12, and still a D 2.21 (Only gaining +0.21 SR, and finishing 2/5 races he entered, since I spoke to him on the 17th) I can't see Berkley jumping a whole licence grade ( D - B), and hence I don't think he is quite right for our team. 23/07/2019 - 24/08/2019
Federico Rosano- Never returned from Vacation
Federico is an example of why you don't just "Quick-Hire" - he told me he was interested in racing endurance races with us, and had some useful knowledge, but I would have really liked to see him behind the wheel. I understand people have lives, and are busy, but I need more information - such as when you will be back or what races you can do. The final straw came when Federico said on the 1st August that he'd be on a 2 week vacation/holiday. Come the 21st August (a week after he said he'd be back) and I still have no response.
Paul Leidsman - Not High Enough Licence The story of Paul is a very interesting one. It all started when I saw Paul Leidsman in the "member list"....I didn't remember adding him, so I asked. It turns out that Dave (South) added him after Paul asked on the forums for a team. After calmly telling Dave not to add more/other people (Team Principal's job) everything went calm....a bit too calm - I noticed that Paul was a rookie/doing his rookie season whilst we were doing VRS Endurance (how did I let that one slide?) but he went through his rookie season, all good, he's only one, maybe even two licences down from us, he'll catch up as there are rookie races throughout the week, and not for VRS Endurance. Paul then reached out to me to say that he was moving house and would return on the 7th - which is just at the end of Week 13 (Not next weekend, one after). I went back to check on his progress/iRacing profile to see how far he'd come...and I was a little suprised....
His licence was a D(2.21), and as he was moving house/would have no WiFi until the 7th, he wouldn't be promoted up to licence C for the new season. This means, whilst we start our second season of endurance racing - all as Class B drivers (and higher) he'd still be aiming to get D(4.0) - which would only be enough for a Class C, which is enough for VRS Endurance, but not ELMS. With me being the driver with one of the lowest licence ratings (C 3.69), and everyone else being promoted too, we will only be focussing on ELMS next season - and therefore cannot wait for stragglers.
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