The TM Master Cup Series Career of Adrian Devereux (2010-)

[Cynon]

This is based around my Youtube show, which ... basically is a weird alternate-universe-hybrid of NASCAR, CART, F1, and the WTCC using NASCAR Racing 2003 Season, called the Tyson-Madigan Master Cup series, TM Master Cup series for short. I make use of many fictional sponsors and manufacturers in the series, though only for artistic purposes. You may follow the series (and possibly get involved yourself) through the link in my signature. ADx_Wales has a driver in the series currently running for the Independent's Trophy by the name of Michael Sykes, who makes his debut in round 6 -- at Brands Hatch no less! By the way, the series's next race is at Spa-Francorchamps, after running a thrilling race at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz.

Formula 1 is referred to as Formula A in this alternate universe. Little did I know at the time that Formula A was (keyword: was) the name of a karting series. The name had already stuck by then.

Unlike the other stories featured here, the character of Adrian Devereux will not be driven by me in the races he competes in. Rather, Devereux, like all other TM Master Cup series drivers, is computer-controlled.

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Adrian Devereux, of Lyon, France, does not have the racing resume one would expect of a TM Master Cup series driver. Devereux is one of two French drivers that currently competes in the TM Master Cup series full-time, the other being Jacques Bouvier. But unlike Bouvier, who had no interest in single-seater racing, Adrian Devereux made a serious attempt at the road to Formula A. Devereux was a French karting champion in 2003 and 2004. In 2004 he made his first Formula Gasnier start, where the only impressions he made were on the gearboxes of his competition after a rookie error caused a massive first-corner pileup in wet conditions.

Despite this error, Devereux was urged to join the Equipe Moreau team in 2005 for a full tilt at Formula Gasnier -- reportedly due to sponsor pressure to have two French drivers. Devereux was chosen due to his relationship with the team in the past, despite his disasterous debut with the team. The team cared more about his nationality and his image rather than his ability. Despite carrying the German variant of the name 'Adrian', which was given to him in honor of a maternal grandfather, Devereux was often billed as 'Adrien Devereux', against his wishes.

Devereux started eight of the ten Formula Gasnier races in 2005, the two he missed were due to a controversial collision at Nogaro, in which Devereux collided with Miguel Romero, eliminating both. Devereux scored 21 points for Equipe Moreau -- more than they had in the past two years combined, and these efforts landed him a drive in French Formula C, with TRT Grand Prix, which carried the new and potent Calton-Morel engine. His Formula C results were nothing short of disastrous, after six races, he scored four points next to his teammate's twenty-nine, and had retired from four races, all of which due to crashes, however only one of those crashes was of Devereux's own doing.

He was promptly released from TRT, after which Devereux publicly stated that he had enough of the politics and blatant team orders of Formula racing. However, it was his connections with Calton-Morel that landed him a career in the silhouette-stock cars that were all the rage in the United States, and had begun to appear in Europe.

Devereux attended his first TM Master Cup series race in 1999, when the teenaged Devereux became enamored with racing cars. The 1999 Karjala Grand Prix, originally a battle between American and Soviet racing drivers in the middle of a Finnish forest, had hooked him on his racing career. Following the Cold War, the Karjala Grand Prix had become a battle between American and European drivers and teams, driving under American regulations. Towards the late 1990s, the race had been largely a battle between American and European teams, rather than drivers.

As Calton-Morel, an automotive company run by British motorsport mogul John Calton and the engineering excellence of the American brothers Sam and Paul Morel, began to make its foray into TM Master Cup series racing in 2006, Adrian Devereux migrated Stateside, running sportscars in the States for Paul Morel's team in 2007.

The CM connections landed him a drive in the RROL, a lesser-known feeder category to the TM Master Cup series, with Sam Morel's Research and Development team, alongside Englishman Kirk Sigurd. While he was not expected to perform well, he took the RROL championship in 2008 by a convincing margin while his teammate struggled. Devereux was quick to gloat over his championship, claiming; "Formula A missed out on my talents. It's okay, I'll be there to race in front of my home crowd soon enough, in cars that take real talent to drive."

Devereux's attitude continually annoyed some of his competition, but others found his attitude just what was needed in order to succeed at the Master Cup level. In 2008, his lone TMMC (accepted abbreviation for TM Master Cup series) qualification being in the season finale at Decatur, where he outpaced his car owner, Sam Morel, and his teammate, Tom Delgado.

He returned to the RROL in 2009, where collisions and mechanical failures left him 4th in the RROL championship, but what impressed TM Master Cup series team owners most was his part-time outings in Sam Morel's extra car, liveried in the traditional black, orange, and purple of Calton-Morel. Devereux outpaced Morel and Delgado in all of his attempts, often being the only one of the trio to qualify whenever the #96 car he drove was on the entry list. Devereux's 2009 TM Master Cup series efforts garnered attention from many team bosses in the paddock.

During the 2009 Karjala Grand Prix, Devereux qualified a fine 4th, the highest for a French driver ever in that race. His race was marred when he made an ambitious dive for the lead in the first corner, tapped the back of current Formula A driver Hans Eichel's car, sending Eichel spinning in front of the entire field. Amazingly, Eichel's spinning #12 Saar was only collected by ... his teammates, Chris Allen and Chris Johaanes. Devereux was reprimanded for his recklessness after the race. Devereux himself was unapologetic, saying to the British press;

"This is the biggest race of my life, and normally in these cars, if you bump someone coming out of a corner, if they have enough talent they can save the car and continue. Guess those Formula A guys aren't so good after all, I barely touched him. If it had been Leonid Roderick or Tony Durbin I did that to there would not have been a crash and we would have been 3 wide into the Madigan corner."

Later in the season, he showed his promise when he finished second to superspeedway master Scott Bates on the Canadian Blue Ridge, but his result was somewhat overshadowed by a controversial pitlane incident between Team Saar USA's Ryan Nawrocki and the Volpi Racing Team's Alexis Rainsford. Rainsford was a serious contender to repeat as series champion, and Nawrocki's teammate, Tony Durbin, was also a contender for the title. The ensuing chaos between the two teams allowed fellow American Leonid Roderick to take his 4th TM Master Cup two weeks later.

Adrian Devereux, though, had been announced as the second driver on the Hodges-Walter Racing team, owned by Welshman Alan Hodges and American Carl Walter. Devereux would start the 2010 TM Master Cup series season in the #26 Calton-Morel Corsair alongside two Karjala-winning teammates -- Alan Hodges in car #13, and a fan-favorite, "The Rockstar" Danny Savin in car #91. Despite the vastly superior experience of Hodges and Savin, Devereux boldly said in the press that he will defeat Hodges and Savin on the track.

"I can beat them both on a regular basis. I know I can do it and Alan [Hodges], Carl [Walter], and Calton-Morel have given me the car to do it. I am happy the car is also in blue as well. Les Bleus can find the winner's podium soon in the TM Master Cup series. Multiple times."

Devereux's car carries Haas Incorporated (fictional sponsor) sponsorship, and thus carries the dark blue, black, and orange of the company. Alan Hodges only responded that it was Devereux's self-confidence that led to his signing. Hodges is the first driver to win a TM Master Cup series race who did not race as an American driver.

Devereux quickly raised the ire of some of his competitors on the track, with Finnish driver Arto Kekkonen calling Devereux; "unreasonably reckless" during practice for the first race of the 2010 season, the Round of Japan at the Twin Ring Motegi. Devereux fired back at Kekkonen, saying that Kekkonen; "should know that this kind of racing involves running side by side and taking any opportunity to pass. I am practicing how to pass him. If he doesn't like it then he can go back to rally, because nobody ever passes anyone over there."

2008 TM Master Cup series champion Alexis Rainsford, the first ever female champion, was more congratulatory of Devereux, saying that the Frenchman; "will be a lot of fun to race against, because he and I both race to win."

For Rookie of the Year, Adrian Devereux is pitted against the likes of 18-year-old Ethan Everett, who scored a win last season, but is still eligible for Rookie of the Year since he did not make enough starts in 2009. Everett is driving for Team Saar USA, arguably the best team on the grid. Jacques Bouvier, the 2009 TM Lights champion, is the other French driver on the grid. Bouvier drives for the Flare Motorsports team, which is the Lenard team in the TM Master Cup series. Flare has not been regarded very highly in the press in the past few seasons, an embarrassing fall from grace for the once potent Lenard factory team.

Devereux had to qualify for the race through a qualifying race, which he managed to do quite easily. Teammate Savin also managed to make it through the other race. Alan Hodges was exempt from the qualifying race. During the actual race, a random mechanical failure on Canadian Zach Duff's car held up most of the field. Duff's teammate, Alexis Rainsford, went on to win the race (for her first win on an oval) after a fierce duel with Arto Kekkonen and Independent's Trophy contender Cyrus LaTerza at the end of the race. Devereux's team made a poor pit stop, leaving him 27th of 39 starters.

His second outing, in the Round of Australia at Barbagallo, though, backed up all of his preseason boasting, where Devereux easily made it through qualifying, started 2nd on the grid, and easily dominated the race, leading 44 of 51 laps after snatching the lead on the first lap. Devereux marked the first time a French driver won a TM Master Cup series race. Teammate Danny Savin finished 40th of 41 cars after an early engine failure, and Alan Hodges had a very anonymous race, finishing 13th.

Devereux was quoted as saying; "I was serious when I said I was going to beat my teammates in the preseason. They better step it up."

Alan Hodges found Devereux's comments amusing, saying the Frenchman; "Keeps team harmony behind closed doors. He has a way of motivating me in a way I've never had before. So look out Adrian, I'm coming!"

Alexis Rainsford left Australia still leading the championship, scoring a 4th place in Australia. Rainsford, normally the Queen of Road Courses, suffered from slow pitwork, after which she admitted Devereux was probably not going to be caught.

"Adrian was unstoppable out there, and the Saars are way faster than we are down the straights, so fourth was probably the best we could manage." she said after the race.

Devereux enters round 3 of the TM Master Cup series championship 6th in the points, 38 points off Alexis Rainsford's lead. 38 points, with the TM Master Cup series points system, is not a very large margin at all, and can be overcome in one race. The third round of the TM Master Cup series took place in Brazil, on a high-speed-but-still-very-tricky 1 mile oval originally built for Indycar racing. With Brazilian driver Carlos Donzelo on pole, and Devereux down in 13th, it remains to be seen if the French rookie continues to back up his talk with more fantastic drives.