formula de [Updated October 2004]  

2004 WBC Report  

 2005 Status: pending 2005 GM commitment

James Kendrick, UK

2004 Champion

2nd: Joe Sposito, NJ

3rd: Steve Cameron, PA

4th: Barry Smith, NY

5th: Nick Henning, CT

6th: Eric Lenhart, PA

Event History
2000    Keith Levy     65
2001    Roderick Lee     80
2002    Barry Smith     58
2003    Steven May     50
2004     James Kendrick     52


Offsite links:

AREA Ratings

boardgamegeek

 Laurels
Rank Name

From

Last
Total
 1. Barry Smith

NY

04
71
 2. Lance Fogel

PA

02
42
 3. Robert Kircher

MA

02
38
 4.  James Kendrick

UK

04
30
 5. Steve May

MD

03
30
 6. Roderick Lee

CA

01
30
 7. Keith Levy

MD

00
30
 8. Joe Sposito

NJ

04
18
 9 Ilan Woll

CT

03
18
10. Matt Muir

MD

00
18
11. Steve Field

IL

02
15
12. Brad Johnson

IL

02
13
13. Steve Cameron

PA

04
12
14. Stan Buck

MD

00
12
15. Paul Murphy

UT

03
  9
16. Bill Dyer

IL

01
  9
17. Jim Rochford

IL

00
  9
18. Mark Mitchell

VA

03
  8
19. Nick Henning

CT

04
  6
20. Bob Runnicles

FL

03
  6
21. David Wong

NJ

01
  6
22. Joe Wetherall

PA

00
  6
23. Eric Lenhart

PA

04
  3
24. Eric Eshleman

PA

00
  3

Past Winners

Keith Levy - MD
2000

Roderick Lee - CA
2001

Barry Smith - NY
2002

Steven May - MD
2003
 


View from the Front

Formula De proved as popular as ever in 2004 with a total of 51 entrants, one more than last year. Former champions Roderick Lee, Barry Smith and Steve May all participated, further highlighting the lasting appeal of this game.

The tournament featured two preliminary heats. The Thursday afternoon session drew 21 racers on three tracks: Estoril (Portugal), Suzuka (Japan) and Budapest (Hungary). The Friday evening heat proved more popular, drawing 39 racers on six tracks: Magny-cours (France), Suzuka (Japan), Watkins Glen (USA), Monaco, Melbourne (Australia) and Silverstone (England). All races ran smoothly with the help of assistant GM Steve May. Although I collected data for all the races, I was unable to find any real correlation between start and finish position. Since the preliminary heats were two-lap races, there was plenty of time for leaders to fall back and others to overtake them. Also, one of the great things about the game is the way it allows players to occasionally gamble with a "big" die in an attempt to make up ground.

Due to the impossibility of realistically ranking players, alternate qualifiers for the final have traditionally been decided by a roll-off between players who finished second in a preliminary heat. This proved to be a problem this year since there was only room for one second-place alternate to qualify. Sending a half-dozen gamers away, who were now too late for any other game starting in the same time slot, left me with a bad feeling. I have resolved to find A Better Way for next year's tournament. I also learned an important lesson - during a roll-off, always be sure everyone understands whether they are "trying" to roll high or low!

I knew there was no way to top the spectacular 2003 final, but I tried to recapture some of that magic by selecting Interlagos (Brazil) as the track again. This is my favorite track as it combines high-speed straight-aways with tight corners, allowing players to gamble and crash spectacularly if they fail.

In contrast to 2003, the final began smoothly, with only a few damage markers on the track. Things quickly changed as Rob Kircher redlined twice, then blew his engine with two missed engine-check rolls. Ilon Woll also blew his engine and Lane Newbury retired after a spin-out. Ross Jones and Erik Lenhart were also eliminated and the race was down to six on the final lap. Rookie James Kendrick was the winner, who held on despite overshooting a corner by an amazing seven spaces on the first lap. Alternate and last-position starter Joe Sposito managed to take second with the ever-dangerous Steve Cameron in third.

I would like to thank everyone who participated, especially Steve May, who assisted so enthusiastically that in fact there was very little for the GM to do. I hope it works out as nicely next year! I'm sure it will as the move to Lancaster has put us in Ron Magin's backyard so to speak and he indicates that Euro Games will be present for its first official WBC presence in 2005 ... which should mean lots of those great enlarged tracks to choose from next year.

 GM      Dave Bohnenberger [2nd Year]  1560 Parklane Rd, Swarthmore, PA 19081 
    dweeb@erols.com   160-541-0712

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