GM Winston Forrest could not be reached for this report so we have substituted an account from the winning driver.

I entered the second of four heats of the Formula De tournament. Our group picked the Monaco track and I placed a strong second after two competitive laps. Although that did not get me to the Final, it did give me another chance. The GM, Winston Forrest, announced that all runnerups qualified for a time trial event preceding the final. Those with the best times in the time trails would advance to the final. The number of finalists that showed up to play in the final would determine how many runnerups advanced. I wanted to play in an additional heat, in order to try to secure an outright win and a guaranteed spot, but was unable due to scheduling conflicts with other games.

The number of first and second-place finishers that appeared allowed all but one entrant in the time trials to advance. The final consisted of sixteen cars. All runnerups were to start behind the preliminary winners. I placed third in the time trials, which placed me in the tenth starting position. The final was a three-lap race on two combined tracks with all advanced rules in play. Racers were allowed to build their own cars by deciding where up to 24 total wear points would be allocated.

There were three options racers could choose to construct their vehicle which did not cost extra wear points. These were experimental engines, wing settings and tire type. Two finalists opted for experimental engines which allowed them to move up to an extra five spaces on certain die rolls. The down side to this option was that the racers were required to roll two dice for all
engine checks, which meant they would be taking a lot of engine damage. Another option was a high wing setting which allowed racers to move one less space in corners. While this option acted like a free brake, the down side was that maximum move spaces were reduced in fourth, fifth and sixth gears. Several racers, including myself, chose the high wing setting. Racers could also choose between hard, soft or rain tires. I chose soft tires, which allow you to move an extra space, while costing more wear points when you overshoot a corner. In the construction of their vehicles, most players placed extra wear points for their tires, while the other five areas of wear varied.

The race got under way under sunny skies. Within the first half lap of the race, I was rolling well and moved up to fourth place. The two cars with experimental engines were more than one third of a lap ahead of the rest of the field, but both had already started taking some engine damage. Then the weather changed to rain. This slowed the race down considerably, as all the racers had to slow down due to the wet track conditions. The rain continued until the start of the second lap, when the weather became party cloudy. My position deteriorated and I was now somewhere in the middle of the field. Most of the racers chose to take their first pit stop due to extreme tire wear. To most racers' surprise, one of the two players with the experimental engines chose not to pit. This was a very risky decision, but he had only taken minimal engine and tire wear during the first lap.

The weather changed briefly back to rain during the second lap, but to everyone's relief the weather cleared shortly thereafter for the duration. The two cars with experimental engines were now almost half a lap in front of their closest competitor. My position had worsened and I was now in the back of the field. Two-thirds of the way through the second lap, one of the experimental engines blew up. The other experimental engine car, driven by Matt Muir, just barely made it into the pits at the end of the second lap. Most of the field cued the leaders and stopped to pit after the second lap. Others gained some ground on the leader. I had fought my way back to the middle of the field and was rolling well when halfway through the third lap the proverbal black cloud descended over the race. Many cars had taken a lot of engine damage and within three turns it started taking its toll. The second and third place cars were among five whose engines gave out. After all the smoke cleared, the lone
experimental engine racer was still doing well and way ahead of the field.

Attrition helped me advance into third place. Matt, the leader, made a major error in the third to the last corner. He did not stop twice as was required and he spun out. He had to restart in first gear. This allowed myself and the car in front of me to close the gap. My dice rolling went from good to great. I surpassed the second place racer in the third to the last corner. Matt, who was still the leader, was approaching the final corner in sixth gear, coming out of the penultimate turn and he came up short on making it through the last turn. I rolled perfectly into the penultimate corner and was set up to roll into the last corner in sixth gear no matter what my roll was. I was now in position to win. The leader had to slow down to fourth gear to go in to the last turn and I was going to go into it turn in sixth gear. Matt got the worst roll possible, a '12', which overshot him three spaces past the corner. He had only one tire point and no brakes left to use so he spun out and had to restart in first gear. I made it into the final turn and was able to continue in sixth gear on the next roll - blowing by Matt, who was now only in second gear. I crossed the finish line on the next turn. Matt made it across the finish line two turns later, in fifth gear, coming in second place.