The ISGC has scheduled the final race of the third season:

Date: Sunday, October 7th
Time: 20:00 Standard Time
Region: Derelik

Racers should arrive in the channel Racing League one hour in advance for the location of the starting position. Roughly thirty minutes before the race fees will be collected and information will be gathered by the participants. If you would like to recieve reminder mails of upcoming races, simply join mailing list ISGC RACING.

SPONSORED BY
Veto Corp Pay The Man™ | Dragonstar | Lutin Group

OVERVIEW
The tenth and final race of the evening was held in the Derelik region, home of the Ammatar Mandate. Racers were tense and the crowd enthusiastic as the interceptor class remained open to contention between top pilots Kayleigh Jamieson from Dragonstar and Takashi Kurosawa of the Patriot Society. With all three other classes champions already sealed, the interceptor class saw a sudden surge in participation as people experimented and crossed over from their usual configurations and newer entrants made their debut.

Dragonstar racing veteran Scavanger and Kanunu emerged from the vaccuum to defend their captain in Ares intereceptors. The Ares has proven to be the mainstay of the interceptor competition this season, with half the pilots in this race alone manning the Roden Shipyards designed hull. Quintrala, individual frigate champion and perky Gallentean redhead, startled the audience when she emerged in an ominous green Malediction. Assault Frigate season champion Dougalar strode into action in her Claw interceptor, while newcomers Adeste Fideles and Kirjava made their introductions in Caldari-designed Crow and Raptor class interceptors respectively. Takashi Kurosawa stood alone in his signature Stiletto, despite his egg being dislodged from one of their hulls last race.

Despite having a consistent season standing behind Mr. Kurosawa, Kayleigh Jamieson is a prime example of someone who excels under pressure. Holding the lead nearly the halfway through the race, a malfunction at waypoint six allowed Takashi and others to gain the lead on her for a short period before she caught up and overtook him once again. With constant pressure from her teammate Scavanger, Kayleigh wasn't the only one feeling the pressure that eventually did the Intaki born pilot in. The culmination of poor navigation ultimately caught up to Mr. Kurosawa, who was clearly not as focused as previous events, and led him to a third place finish behind the Dragonstar duo. Team Dragonstar proved once again without a shadow of a doubt their superior teamwork and dedication that made them the team to beat this season.

The frigate class proved much tamer in comparison, with late season UC bloomer Lief Siddhe securing first place in Quintrala's absence with a Rifter-class vessel. Eve University's Zedah Zoid slipped into second place, just twelve seconds ahead of Zelseus, while Sera Mujarkian's Incursus meandered in at fourth place. Racing newcomer Chebri made an impressive closing finish in her Rifter.

Kazuo Ishiguro braved the lonely vaccuum as the sole competitor of the assault frigate class, simultaneously scoring first and last place this evening. Congratulations to him for earning his racing fee back, and for being this season's champion Destroyer pilot.

Here are the details for this event:

RACE TRACK
Start: Jarizza VI - Moon 1 - Ammatar Consulate Bureau
1. Bar V - Moon 10
2. Gomati IX - Asteroid Belt 12
3. Irshah - Star
4. Shenela VI - Asteroid Belt 2
5. Sari IV - Asteroid Belt 1
6. Shach - Asilem Stargate
7. Kehrara - Planet IV
8. Onsooh IX - Asteroid Belt 3
9. Sendaya VIII - Asteroid Belt 1
10. Ihal VIII - Ice Field 1
11. Shedoo - Star
12. Hothomouh VI - Asteroid Belt 10
13. Nieril V - Asteroid Belt 1
14. Gamis IV - Moon 2
15. Sucha X - Asteroid Belt 1
End: Yuzier VII - Trust Partners Trading Post

INTERCEPTORS
1 - Kayleigh Jamieson [DS] - Ares (0:51:30)
2 - Scavanger [DS] - Ares (0:51:58)
3 - Takashi Kurosawa [PATRI] - Stiletto (0:52:03)
4 - Dougalar [IT] - Claw (0:52:21)
5 - Quintrala [UC] - Malediction (0:53:18)
6 - Daran Hudson [RDEX] - Ares (0:53:20)
7 - Irongut [M8] - Ares (0:53:49)
8 - Kanunu [DS] - Ares (0:56:05)
9 - Adeste Fideles [DUTY.] - Crow (0:57:00)
DNF - Kirjava [EDINA] - Raptor (n/a)

FRIGATES
1 - Lief Siddhe [UC] - Rifter (0:54:08)
2 - Zedah Zoid [E-UNI] - Vigil (0:57:40)
3 - Zelseus [IJACK] - Rifter (0:57:52)
4 - Sera Mujarkian [SEAR] - Incursus (1:08:40)
5 - Chebri [HOPE] - Rifter (1:12:37)

ASSAULT FRIGATES
1 - Kazuo Ishiguro [BARI] - Jaguar (1:00:31)

DESTROYERS
(n/a)

CASUALTIES
(n/a)

SEASON SCORES

PILOT SCORES: FRIGATES
225pts - Quintrala
149pts - Searaph [-MUFF]
105pts - Zedah Zoid [E-UNI]
74pts - Lief Siddhe
61pts - Sera Mujarkian [SEAR]
52pts - Zelseus [IJACK]
29pts - Yarkan [M8]
16pts - Metrius [WHIZZ]
9pts - Kendar Zek [INAS]

CORPORATE SCORES: FRIGATES
191pts - Minmatar United Freedom Front [-MUFF]
138pts - Eve University [E-UNI]
78pts - Lethal Torch [SEAR]
65pts - The Independant Jack [IJACK]
36pts - M'8's [M8]
20pts - Es and Whizz [WHIZZ]
13pts - Death of Tuesday [HOPE]
13pts - Interstellar Aid Society [INAS]

PILOT SCORES: INTERCEPTORS
218pts - Kayleigh Jamieson [DS]
208pts - Takashi Kurosawa [PATRI]
107pts - Irongut [M8]
56pts - Scavanger [DS]
49pts - Lillith Blackheart [NGN]
27pts - Overdriver [M8]
26pts - Kanunu [DS]
25pts - Daran Hudson [RDEX]
22pts - Jikomanzuko [DS]
16pts - Kazuo Ishiguro [BARI]
13pts - Iconath [ENDL]
13pts - Dougalar [IT]
11pts - Quintrala
9pts - DeadRow [DS]
7pts - Khavi Vetali [TR-S]
5pts - Adeste Fideles [DUTY.]

CORPORATE SCORES: INTERCEPTORS
221pts - Dragonstar [DS]
218pts - The Patriot Society [PATRI]
118pts - M'8's [M8]
58pts - NeuroGEN [NGN]
33pts - Raddick Explorations [RDEX]
16pts - Imperium Technologies [IT]
16pts - House of Marbles [BARI]
16pts - Endless Night [ENDL]
11pts - Tabula Rasa Systems [TR-S]
9pts - Duty. [DUTY.]

PILOT SCORES: DESTROYERS
101pts - Kazuo Ishiguro [BARI]
45pts - Mark Weston [TGRAD]
40pts - Saikoyu [RHO]
36pts - DeVinces [JTR]

CORPORATE SCORES: DESTROYERS
101pts - House of Marbles [BARI]
45pts - The Graduates [TGRAD]
40pts - Rho Dynamics [RHO]
16pts - Jain Tech Racing [JTR]

PILOT SCORES: ASSAULT FRIGATES
166pts - Dougalar [IT]
99pts - Darina Rea [NGN]
75pts - Nerras [DS]
70pts - Kazuo Ishiguro [BARI]
36pts - Irongut [M8]
16pts - Rikelov [-MM-]
11pts - Zhele Jamohrr [NGN]

CORPORATE SCORES: ASSAULT FRIGATES
166pts - Imperium Technologies [IT]
99pts - NeuroGEN [NGN]
75pts - Dragonstar [DS]
70pts - House of Marbles [BARI]
36pts - M'8's [M8]
16pts - Masuat'aa Matari [-MM-]

MOST KILLS
2kls Lillith Blackheart [NGN]
2kls Darina Rea[NGN]
1kls DeadRow [DS]
1kls Jikomanzoku [DS]
1kls Julius DarkWings [-ZERG]
1kls Searaph [-MUFF]
1kls Zelseus [IJACK]

The awards will be posted shortly.

Thank you,
Gyra Rho

(Originally intended for the Dragonstar Forums, and therefore very likely this is a biased account of the race. Read at your your peril.)

Kayleigh inserted the coordinates in her on-board computer and undocked from the start line. During that blind moment before the camera drones could be launched her heart pounded hard in her chest. She needed this title. She needed to win, to show NeuroGEN that what they’d done had been for naught, to show Takashi that Dragonstar could beat him with skill.

Then the drones let her see again… and it was chaos. Pretty much the whole field had undocked ahead of her, and some were already warping off before she had even selected the right gate. Yet another appalling start, just when she needed it to be perfect.

“Damnit,” she said to herself, and then louder on team comms, “I’ve had another bad start, guys. Go, go! Don’t let Takashi out of your sights!” If she was going to play catch-up to Takashi, she damn well wanted to know at every moment where on the track he was.

She engaged her warp drive and warped out.

Race 10! The decider! Never before (that I can recall) had a title been decided on the very last race of the season. After all the arguments on IGS and all the explanations, it would boil down to a very simple truth: whichever of the two big rivals in the Interceptor class finished first would win the title. With promises of no aggression and a fair race, Takashi and I prepared for the ultimate race for the title.

Preparations

I actually did some, for a change. And I mean beyond pestering corp mates to come race with me. I took a good long look at what it had been like to fly side by side with Takashi and Quin all through the season, what I’d done better, where I’d lost time… and I decided to take a gamble. I tweaked my setup.

Now this is something dangerous to be doing in such a decisive race, especially because I didn’t have any time to run practice laps with this new setup. Unfortunately I know people actually read these reports so I will not be going into details. Suffice to say that was why I lined up at the starting point on the Spare instead of the Ladybug II which has been my ride since Race 2. I even had my precious Gistii on board for the first time in the season – if anyone were to shoot me I would cry.

And then came the pleasant surprise: Scavanger would be able to make it to the race! It had been a while since we’d last raced together, and I remember we had managed some team tactics to overtake Takashi. Perhaps this was a good sign. Perhaps I might make it after all… or be shamed forever under the gaze of my CEO

The Race

I don’t think I can convey just how nervous I was at the start of this race. I couldn’t sit still, for the most part, and then my hands started shaking about the time Gyra asked what we were flying. For a long time they didn’t stop shaking.

And of course it didn’t help one bit that Quintrala announced she would be flying her last race of the season in a Malediction! I immediately thought “she’s going to leave me and Takashi in her dust and we’ll just have to live with the shame!” A lot of people announced they would be flying Ceptors, which was a little daunting, but I tried to focus on the fact that it didn’t much matter where exactly I finished, so long as it was before Takashi.

My hands were shaking and Scav was telling me to be cool that we could do this, when Gyra gave us the green light with an amusing password (“betrayal”, very funny!) and I instantly did one of my terrible starts. It’s unbelievable how I have been getting these wrong basically since Season I. I saw a lot of people warp off before me, and I saw quite a few ahead of me as we made the first jump – and what was worse, I definitely remember Quintrala and Takashi being among that group. I thought my appalling starts had finally cost me the championship.

I wasn’t about to quit that soon, though. So I kept going, hoping my new setup would be able to make up for my mistake. And sure enough, little by little I gained positions.

In all the excitement I can’t quite remember when exactly I overtook Takashi, but I have the feeling it was around Waypoint 2. And I can not describe the joy! At long last I was able to overtake Takashi during a race without him making a blundering mistake! The setup was working!! Buoyed by the excitement I resolved to take extra care in my can approaches to maintain what little advantage I had. I knew Takashi was right behind me and Scavanger was hot on his heels. I was only surprised that I seemed to have lost Quintrala.

And then Waypoint 6 happened.

I had managed a bit of a lead by that point, so I sped to the can, opened it, waited… and waited… and waited… and finally noticed the little indicator showed no content. It wasn’t just can lag: there was nothing in there to begin with. No!! Of course, by the time I figured this out and we all tried to convey the problem to Gyra in race chat, the can was already being orbited by more than half the field of racers, I think. Fortunately Gyra was quick to announce the next destination on race chat.

I’m bad at standing starts. I’m possibly even worse at running starts.

When I made it to the gate leading out of Waypoint 6 I had dropped back to 5th or 6th place. I knew Takashi was ahead of me, and I remember Daran Hudson as well. This time I was really convinced I wouldn’t have any time to recover, especially because Scavanger was behind me too – I wouldn’t even have the possibility of team tactics to help me recover some positions.

Gritting my teeth, I plunged on, somewhat dismayed but still hoping in the back of my mind that my setup would keep on working. I had about half a race to catch up to Takashi and try to overtake. I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

I remember feeling frustrated that I was behind Daran Hudson! It took me a couple of jumps to be able to shake him off, then a few more Waypoints to be head-to-head with Takashi. And then as we left Waypoint 10, Scavanger reported to me that I’d left the waypoint before Takashi. Yes!

I couldn’t believe it! I’d overtaken him twice in a single race! All through the season I’d struggled to overtake him and keep him behind me at all, and now I’d done it twice. I thanked my lucky stars and kept on going, careful not to make any silly navigation mistakes, careful not to hit every single asteroid when the waypoints took us through belts…

And then we thought, “why not?” Why not pull the same team tactic we’d already pulled before on Takashi? If we could get Scavanger in second place it would definitely secure the individual championship for me, as well as looking fabulous on the evening news – a Dragonstar 1 and 2 on the podium. So we went for it.

We tried it in the 5 remaining waypoints, and Scavanger kept getting closer, but never actually close enough to overtake. I docked in the lead and I think I was still squealing in delight when the two of them came screaming in a dash for the finish line, worthy of a true photo finish. In my overview they docked so close to each other that it was hard to see who’d come first, but then Gyra confirmed: Scavanger had beaten Takashi to the finish!

Dougalar docked shortly after us, then Quintrala and Daran for a photo finish of their own (just two seconds separating them, I later learned), then Irongut following right behind. Only then did the frigates start to arrive, with Lief finally getting his first class victory ever.

Aftermath

Dragonstar got the title, to much joy from all team members when they learned.

I later found out Takashi had had some navigation issues, possibly due to the pressure we applied on him, or maybe because our manoeuvre back in the previous race had shaken him up a little. Quintrala’s bad positioning seemed to be down to the fact that her Ceptor was a little (ha!) faster than her Executioner and perhaps not as fine-tuned, so that she kept overshooting cans and losing time. I’m sure given one more race she could have had it going fast enough to put us to shame.

Notes to self:
1) *sigh* Need I really say it again? Bloody starts…
2) Sometimes it pays to take a little risk and try a surprise setup.

Annoyed and frustrated, Kayleigh jumped out of Shach. The malfunction at the can had cost her dearly. And now she found herself chasing Daran Hudson of all people. He entered warp before her, but she gritted her teeth and pushed her Ares as far as it would go.

At the next jump they were already side by side. She glanced at the other Ares as they both lined up for the next jump. “Out of my way, Daran. I need to catch someone,” she thought to herself. “And you better not get any funny ideas. Carlani wouldn’t forgive you if you shot me,” she continued in her head.

By the next system, he was a speck in her rear camera drone. A jump after that, she had already forgotten about him, focused on catching her rival.