Reach isn't a problem in the preliminaries.	GM Githens moves a player's car for him.

One for the Thumb ...

Once again the tournament brought drivers from across the globe to the boardgame racing capital of the world; Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In the quiet countryside of hand churned butter, barn raising, and finely crafted furniture; the excitement that is Formula 1 racing took over for two glorious days. I opted to use a three-heat format with the top ten qualifiers advancing directly to a Final giving drivers a chance to play, have fun, and not need to race for days on end to maybe make a semi-final.

This is one event where making the Final is its own reward. GM Githens goes to great efforts to provide a huge scale track every year for use in the championship race which provides quite a visual spectacle - even if it does make the heats played on those itty bitty game maps seem hum drum in comparison.

Moving to three heats generated record attendance, with the new Monday heat attracting nearly as many players as the entire event drew in 2010. Each of the three heats had enough entrants to run boards containing six to eight drivers. Players were allowed to sit at any table of their choosing, eliminating lengthy randomization, while also allowing players to sit with their friends a la Slapshot and have fun at 200 MPH. There was little change in the choice of tracks with Melbourne and Monaco providing the majority of preliminary tracks in use. I'm hoping for more variety in tracks next year.

The 2011 Final again took place on an eye-popping large scale track. This year's featured track was Formula D Expansion #3: Singapore. The starting grid was filled with ten unique race winners. The 1:64 scale GT style cars were a big favorite again. The field was comprised of everything from a 2011 Ferrari 458 to a DMC Deloreon and a 70's GMC Van. The pit boxes were chosen in order of qualification.

In the end defending champ Jason Levine again crossed the finish line first, to claim his fifth title and third straight which suggests either that the game is clearly broken or Jason should just retire and let someone else have a chance. Could "Stop Levine" alliances be in the offing? Seriously, Formula De is often dismissed as a game of luck, but in that case Jason is wasting his time at WBC and should be spending his summers in Vegas. And although four of the six laurelists were new to the list, the first two finishers also happened to be 1-2 on the Laurels list.

No one walked away empty handed, as participants took home the very race cars they chose as a souvenir of the event. Planning is already underway for a new enlarged Final track for 2012 WBC Grand Prix.

This year's course had convenient cutaway sections by the straightaways making reaching the cars easier.	The huge course in the past made long arms a prerequisite for moving cars in the middle of the board. Anyone got a pool cue?