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2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 14 Oct 2021, 20:56
by Klon
Yes, bringing back inactive canon series is always good for business.

For the most part, 2019-20 will be a quicksim series without any user involvement. I will mainly use the 2019-20 season as the process to collect entries and establish future concepts. For the most part, the main element of this series will be the interaction of teams with each other as they control the series in a democratic manner from 2020-21 onwards.

For 2021, the series will again use the Lola B05/52 with Gibson Technology engines.

AFRICA RACING LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

ARL Point System:

1st: 10 points
2nd: 8 points
3rd: 6 points
4th: 5 points
5th: 4 points
6th: 3 points
7th: 2 points
8th: 1 point

Entry criteria:

- Teams must be based in Africa. These can be existing teams racing with an African license, a subsidiary of an existing team, or a new team.

- Teams may run one or two cars each

- For 2019-20, the drivers will be assigned, based on previous associations and one case of "story needs" as well as any wishes by the team-running users. From 2020-21, the normal DEC system will be replaced with a driver pool system, where all eligible drivers will be pooled and users can opt out as they please as well as add new names

ARL Calendar
Kyalami Racing Circuit - 24 November 2019
Phakisa Freeway - 1 December 2019
Killarney Motor Racing Complex - 15 December 2019
Autódromo do Estoril - 29 December 2019
Tony Rust Race Track - 12 January 2020
P-Minus Abuja Circuit - 26 January 2020
Autódromo de Benguela - 2 February 2020
Kyalami Racing Circuit - 16 February 2020

ARL Lineups
Diamond Stars Automotive (pinkd56)
#10 Naas Botha
#11 Zaituni Dileita

MTN Racing Team (AndreaModa)
#14 Danny van Rijkens
#15 Salva Al-Bashir

Team Gunston (Simtek)
#17 Samson Enoh

Ratel Sport (peteroli34)
#19 Shane Skeelenberg

Tanzania Panthera Racing Team (alg2149)
#21 Akua Cugoano
#22 Jaropolk Petrovich

Scuderia Tripoli (Normal32)
#25 Rayyan Amirmoez

Tigo Black Stars (Biscione)
#27 Fotis Iordanou
#28 Marcel Agyemang-Badu

Équipe Afrique de l'Ouest (V8fan12)
#31 Thomas Lee
#32 Egide Ngendandumwe

Oran Motorsports Industries (SeedStriker)
#45 Denis van Walwijk

Automovel Monastir (TheFlyingCaterham)
#81 Malik Zidan

Ecurie Méditerranéenne (novitopoli)
#94 Wulfric Wombesi

2021 Team Owners:
pinkd56*
novitopoli*
Rob Dylan
Butterfox
Hermann96
CaptainGetz12

What is my role in this, you ask? Well, for now you can just (if you are one the users in the brackets) confirm your interest in re-joining for 2019-20 (if you join in time, you can influence your lineups). Furthermore, I would like to see new users to provide the certainly-needed replacement team owners - if you are willing to take over an existing team, that's all the more appreciated. My goal is to have twelve teams for the 2020-21 season.

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 14 Oct 2021, 21:21
by Rob Dylan
I'd like to be added to a waiting list if a team's user is absent.

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 15 Oct 2021, 00:51
by Butterfox
Rob Dylan wrote:I'd like to be added to a waiting list if a team's user is absent.


Same
And i'm offering the services of Kevin Bainomugisha for anyone interested.

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 15 Oct 2021, 08:41
by Hermann95
I'd like to go on the waiting list, if possible

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 15 Oct 2021, 15:20
by Pinkd56
Diamond Stars will rejoin.

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 15 Oct 2021, 15:23
by Nuppiz
I'm not going to run a team (for now at least), but Egide Ngendandumwe (BDI) is looking for a drive.

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 15 Oct 2021, 18:46
by CaptainGetz12
I would like to be placed on the waiting lsit.

Malik Zidan is interested in a drive for the winter, now with two seasons of F3 under his belt. Unless there is a driver slot open I would like to field a one-car team for him, if there are enough empty slots to field one.

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 17 Oct 2021, 16:05
by novitopoli
Still here.

Round 1 - Highlights: Kyalami Racing Circuit, 2019-11-24

Posted: 20 Oct 2021, 11:24
by Klon
A beautiful South African summer weekend saw the first round of the sophomore Africa Racing League season
Qualifying saw the new season pick up where the previous year stopped: Marcel Agyemang-Badu dueled with Danny van Rijkens, who did not miss a beat despite switching teams

Qualifying
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27°C, bright blue sky. What more could the racing fan want? Excitement for the new season was high, and with the longer race distance, anything was possible. The lights went off and pole-sitter van Rijkens had a horrid start. He dropped to sixth position before Crowthorne Marcel Agyemang-Badu duly took the lead and immediately distanced himself from the field. In contrast, Wulfric Wombesi had a good start, jumping up to third.

As Badu's lead grew out front, van Rijkens made his way back up the order: getting a good run out of Barbeque, Botha was not able to stop his fellow South African from passing around the outside of Sunset. Zidan and Wombesi in second and third were noticeably slower than Badu, losing around a second per lap in the early stages. Lap 4 and van Rijkens beat another South African in van Walwijk to take fourth place. Further down the order, Shane Skeelenberg struggled to fight one of the two non-Africans in the field. Petrovich demonstrated great defense, forcing Skeelenburg to take a risk and dive down the inside of Ingwe to take the position
Danny van Rijkens soon was on the move again, Wombesi did not put up much of a fight against van Rijkens, preferring to save his material over engaging in a fruitless battle.

Just as Agyemang-Badu was expanding his lead to ten seconds, van Rijkens pressured Zidan into running out of track at the Esses. Milak Zidan avoided damage, but lost quite a bit of time. Wombesi had gotten quite close to Zidan, but the Egyptian had his car under control before he could make a move. Agyemang-Badu now felt confident in his lead and went into controlling mode, reducing his pace.

Egide Ngendandumwe and Akua Cugoano had a close encounter on lap 15, touching wheels. Both went on undamaged, but Egide took the position for good. 16-year old sensation Samson Enoh was unfortunately caught up in a rookie mistake, with a spin coming out of the final corner on lap 17. Until that point, he had kept Fotis Iordanuo and Thomas Lee behind him with a surprising serenity. Enoh pounded his steering wheel in frustration, but his anger was unmatched by Iordanou, who complained about the perpetual oversteer of his car throughout the entire weekend

The race mostly settled down, except for Danny van Rijkens, who hammered fastest lap after fastest lap onto the asphalt. From lap 18 to lap 25, Agyemang-Badu's lead shrunk from 10.291 seconds to 1.706 seconds, albeit it with Badu very much throttling himself. On said 25th lap, Naas Botha lined up van Walwijk for a smooth slipstream pass through The Kink (learly Diamond Stars Automotive had their cars better set-up for straight-line speed).

However, van Rijkens was not the only one who picked up the pace. No doubt learning from his GT experience, Wombesi had kept his Goodyear tyres in good shape for the final laps and was all over Zidan in third. Marcel Agyemang-Badu countered van Rijkens's attack on lap 26, setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1:30.468. This was, however, only good enough to beat van Rijkens's new personal best by one tenth of a second.

Wombesi was now ready for an attack, but he chose poorly: his overtaking attempt around the outside of Clubhouse could not end well and indeed it did not. He was mostly past Zidan, but got tagged on his rear left tyre. Zidan was able to continue, but Wombesi ended up turned around and his Lola planted into a wall.
The Congolese driver was furious and the stewards agreed that Zidan could have avoided that accident. The Egyptian lost the majority of his prize money to a fine.

Meanwhile van Rijkens was on the tail of his championship rival from last season. 1.314 seconds separated the two at the start of the 28th and final lap. The staff of MTN Racing Team and Tigo Black Stars were anxiously awaiting the outcome of this fight, but van Rijkens only really had one chance into turn 2, but he was not close enough to get the position without a suicidal plunge.

Marcel Agyemang-Badu had things under control for the rest of the lap and managed to win the season opener. His team radio seemed to imply that he never really considered van Rijkens an actual threat, but the question of how much that was bravado and how much of it was truth will probably never be fully revealed.

Race
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***************************************

This does not mean that entries are closed. You can still add your name to the list of team managers or retake your old team until the end of the season. :)

Round 2 - Highlights: Phakisa Freeway, 2019-12-01

Posted: 22 Oct 2021, 07:11
by Klon
Tensions were high as the championship was welcomed in Welkom. So far, it looked like the title fight this season would be a duplicate of the first season, but everyone was hoping to make an impact. Qualifying saw a few changes. Fotis Iordanou overcame his problems of the season-opening round to start third behind the established championship contenders. Samson Enoh impresses with 11th place

Qualifying
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Rain arrived just a few minutes before go time, so the intermediates were pulled out. Despite that, a standing start was still a good option. Fotis Iordanou, unfortunately, was not part of that start. His car could not get off the line on the formation lap and despite their best efforts, Iordanou's crew could not get the car back up again in time.

The lights went off and again van Rijkens lost at the start. At least this time, he managed to keep himself from losing more than one position, Agyemang-Badu took the lead; Wombesi launched himself up to third and almost got to second as well. Samson Enoh, on the other hand, was just too aggressive at the start, he ran out of track and dropped down to P15

Salva Al-Bashir was the last guy to gather spots, he flew by Shane Skeelenberg. Jaropolk Petrovich tried to pass Akua Cugoano, but the teammates had contact and spilled carbon fibre all over the track. This would immediately have consequences, as van Walwijk drove over the pieces on the next lap and picked up a puncture that would bench him in a nearby gravel trap.

Just like a week ago, Agyemang-Badu immediately pulled away. Danny van Rijkens was able to stay "close", but was losing three or four tenths every lap. The rain slightly decreased in intensity, so Badu set the fastest lap of the race on lap 7.

Just as team radio was buzzing about a potential switch to dry tyres, the race leader slowed down. Lap 9 and MAB's gearbox had given up on him. He desperately tried switching through the gears, but was forced to pull up to his garage to forfeit this race. Almost as if the heaven itself was sad about this turn of events, the rain intensified again, making the intermediate tyre the tyre to be on for the rest of the afternoon.

Danny van Rijkens now was firmly in control and was putting a lot of air between himself and second-placed Wulfric Wombesi. Behind the two, Salva Al-Bashir was on fire: after having dispatched Shane Skeelenberg on lap 6, he sold Naas Botha a great fake through the final corner to move up another spot. Soon enough, he was right on the tail of third-placed Naas Botha, who had no answer when the Best In The World-funded driver put the boot in at The Boot

The two Tanzania Panthera Racing Team drivers at the back of the field managed to show some nice team work as they put their earlier squabbles aside to use ethically-questionable, but undoubtedly successful blocking tactics to both pass Thomas Lee and Egibe Ngendandumwe to move up the order.

Danny van Rijkens' lead grew to over ten seconds, as Skeelenberg and Zidan had a great battle that eventually saw Zidan get passed for good on lap 18.

Two laps later, drama struck as Egide Ngendandumwe's car rolled out with a smoking engine right after Castle Corner, which was not the best place to park a car. The safety car was deployed and the race was neutralised; action resumed on lap 24 and Rayyan Amirmoez went all-in on the restart and got rewarded for it, taking two places. Zidan and Skeelenberg did not expect that risky dive.

Once more, Danny van Rijkens pulled away, but he was not alone in doing so: Wombesi was right on his tail

Thomas Lee added to the misfortune of his team, spinning on a wet patch and dropping to the back of the field. Zaituna Dileita and Thomas Lee had a fun scrap, but unfortunately one that was costing both of them a lot of time and removed their chances of scoring points today.

The top three drew away from the field at a rate of seconds, but this high tempo unfortunately was too much for young Salva Al-Bashir, who took the scenic route through Uncini 1 to drop well down the order. He immediately worked his way back up again, Akua Cugoano and Malik Zidan were dispatched like they were not even on the track. Lap 27 and Shane Skeelenburg didn't prove much challenge to Al-Bashir either. Another lap, another place: Amirmoez did not even try to defend himself from the much quicker South Sudanese driver.

Meanwhile, Wombesi was all over the rear wing of the race leader, but any attempts to have a go were aggressively subdued by Danny van Rijkens At the end of lap 29, Wombesi saw an opening: turn 11 was the perfect spot to take a plunge. He actually got by van Rijkens, but unfortunately not for long: drifting just a little bit too wide, van Rijkens could perfectly set himself up for a counter through the first turn of the final lap to retake the lead. Wombesi had another go at P1, this time through The Boot, but the grip on the outside was just strong enough to allow van Rijkens to have better position for Castle Corner and maintain the lead. One last real chance at Giel's Kop, but van Rijkens blocked the move with a very aggressive chop that the stewards would later rule "within the rules of the sport by the width of a human hair".

Behind them, Salva Al-Bashir was hunting down Naas Botha for third again. The South African wanted to finish third in one of his three home races, but failed to accept his fate was sealed. In a silly move, he stayed on the inside of the fast turn 9 even though Al-Bashir had the position. The two had contact and Botha bounced into the inside wall, as Bashir was nearly turned around. He managed to prevent a spin, but that loss of time was just enough to allow Amirmoez to have a great dive into the final corner to steal third at the last second.

Danny van Rijkens took a crucial win, barely surviving the challenge by Wulfric Wombesi. These 10 points could prove extremely crucial in 2020.

Race
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REJECT OF THE RACE: Naas Botha; he was on track for a great finish until he failed to wisely pick his hill to die on.
INFINITE IMPROBABILITY DRIVE OF THE RACE: Rayyan Amirmoez; an intelligent drive saw the Libyan take only the risks that were absolutely necessary and yielded the highest rewards.

Round 3 - Killarney Motor Racing Complex, 2019-12-15

Posted: 28 Oct 2021, 17:18
by Klon
J.O.U.R.N.A.L. wrote:Russian Driver Jaropolk Petrovich Dies at Africa Racing League Race

The third round of the 2019-20 Africa Racing League season was marred by the death of Russian racing driver Jaropolk Petrovich (68). On lap 34, the Russian was battling Salva Al-Bashir for second place when he ran into the back of Al-Bashir without breaking.

When the trackside staff arrived to get Petrovich to abandon his car, they found the man unresponsive. Despite the best effort of the doctors, Petrovich could not be revived. According to local sources, it is currently presumed that Petrovich had a stroke before he ran into Al-Bashir.


Qualifying
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Race
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REJECT OF THE RACE: Egide Ngendandumwe; just looked poorly all weekend, he is a much better driver than this
INFINITE IMPROBABILITY DRIVE OF THE RACE: Jaropolk Petrovich; was on place for his first ARL podium until his tragic demise

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 28 Oct 2021, 17:19
by Klon
J.O.U.R.N.A.L. wrote:"Jaropolk Petrovich" was German Racing Driver Leonhard von Gottorp

In the biggest scandal in modern motorsports history, the South African and German police forces announced publicly that the Russian driver Jaropolk Petrovich, who passed away at the third round of the Africa Racing League season, was actually Leonhard von Gottorp, who was believed to have died before the 2014 ARWS Chinese Grand Prix. Leonhard von Gottorp, known for having one of the longest racing careers in history, apparently faked his death to continue competing in motorsport.

According to the joint statement, an autopsy first caused questions when Petrovich showed signs of being ten years older than his reported age. A search of his possessions resulted in a SD card containing a written testament in which the complete story was written. Whilst the document remained unreleased as it involves a number of fraud cases across Germany, J.O.U.R.N.A.L. was handed an extract detailing his motivations and how the case involved motorsport.

Von Gottorp describes his journey to becoming a spy for the Soviet Union when his funding for motorsport first ran out in 1970. In exchange for spying on the high society of Western Europe, von Gottorp was offered enough money to invest to rebuild his family's fortune. To avoid questions about why von Gottorp spend a year in the GDR to learn his trade, he pretended to take a sabbatical from motorsport and "withdrew from society" while fake documents for his alternate identity of Jaropolk Petrovich were created.

He managed to regain a part of his wealth to fund his racing career for another thirty-five years. After his four-year run in the Winston Cup Series had dried up the last of his money in the mid-2000s, von Gottorp began a series of fraudulent businesses with the long-term goal of financing an IndyCar ride. As the money did not work out, he instead joined the ARWS grid and faked his demise when he feared being caught by private investigators hired to dig into this business operations.

Using his fake identity of Jaropolk Petrovich, he continued racing in various lower-tier stock car series in the USA and recently joined the Africa Racing League where he died, aged 78. According to the South African autopsy, any outside interference causing the stroke has been ruled out. Von Gottorp closed his testament with an apology to the companies he defrauded and a statement that "all [his] actions were done solely for the sake of the most beautiful thing in the modern world: auto racing."


Panthera Racing Team Press Statement wrote:Tanzania Panthera Racing Team to Withdraw from Africa Racing League

It is with regret that we announce our withdrawal from the Africa Racing League. Given the negative mood in the team after the tragic demise of Jaropolk Petrovich and the unfortunate truth of the legality of the funds he provided the team, it is no longer feasible for us to compete in this series.

Round 4 - Highlights: Autódromo do Estoril, 2019-12-29

Posted: 13 Nov 2021, 15:11
by Klon
The final motorsport contest of the year 2019 saw a wet qualifying session, where being on the track at the sole moment where the rain let up a bit was crucial. Rayyan Amirmoez was in the right spot at the right time and earned her first career pole position ahead of Malik Zidan. Marcel Agyemang-Badu was unfortunately not there to make the most of his chance and started way down the order.
Qualifying
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The European Excursion of the Africa Racing League was set to be a great spectacle as the rain clouds disappeared to make room for a lovely 18°C which put the sun in Sunday.

The lights went off and Malik Zidan had the better start, jumping out front to take the lead into turn 1 Further down the grid, Denis van Valwijk and Danny van Rijkens nearly collided, but the championship leader backed out before things got ugly. Meanwhile, the Équipe Afrique de l'Ouest squad had a good start, they swallowed up Marcel Agyemang-Badu.

Zidan immediately used the free air to build a gap towards the rest of the field
It became clear that Amirmoez lacked the pace to hang with Zidan. In fact, both Iourdanou and Al-Bashir were making it clear that they could go a lot faster

Shane Skeelenberg had to fight an unusual rival. Former housemaker Zaituna Dileita, who had shown a knack for profiting from chaotic events, was putting the pressure on the former ARWS driver. On lap four, she decided to take a more aggressive approach and took a dive into Orelha. A younger driver would've probably crashed her and himself out, but Skeelenberg's experience in top-level racing saved the two from catastrophe
Back up the order, Zidan's lead was growing, but a threat was emerging.

On lap 7, Iordanou used the slipstream through turn 5 perfectly to fly by the Lybian Lady in second. He immediately burned fastest lap after fastest lap on the asphalt. His teammate, however, struggled. Thomas Lee in 12th proved to be a major pain in his neck, chopping quite hard. This earned the ire of the stewards and he ceased his tough driving after receiving a black-and-white flag.

Egide Ngendandumwe was smarter about things and just accepted Badu's higher speed two laps later. Another L for Skeelenberg, as Wombesi faked him out to make an unusual pass through the Esses work; Lap 12 and Iordanou was within half a second of race leader Zidan.

Once again proving the contrast between the Tigo Black Stars teammates, Badu was told by his engineer to get a move on. "Your pace is horrible," was the blunt, but not incorrect assessment by the team. The only consolation was that fellow title rival Danny van Rijkens was not doing too well for himself either. He tried another move on van Walwejk, but took a trip through the botany after missing his braking point. It didn't cost him any positions or caused damage, but it was not helpful

Salva Al-Bashir took a chance to take third on lap 14, but he and Amirmoez made contact! Al-Bashir spun, but thankfully managed to get his car pointed in the right direction quickly. Only van Walwijk and van Rijkens could take advantage

The South Sudanese driver worked on making places up, not taking long to pass van Rijkens again. Lap 15 and Iordanou makes his move, sliding past Zidan for first heading towards turn 1. The Egyptian was ready and countered with a successful attack at turn 3

One lap later and Iordanou tried the same move again, but this time he immediately shut the door on any counter. Immediately, the Greek driver made a run for the hills. His lead grew almost a second per lap

Wulfric Wombesi faked a move to the inside to get Dileita to open the outside out of the Parabolica for an easy pass.

The race settled down a bit on lap 20, but one man was unsettled: Samson Enoh no longer wanted to be in last place and he made his way past Thomas Lee. However, the youngster was clearly giving it a 110%, as some of the closer calls with the kerbs demonstrated. Sure enough, that would come around to haunt the young gun: he ran wide through the Parabolica and spun his car into the wall on lap 23

The race had to be neutralised with a safety car, even if it was quickly resolved. Lap 26 and the field is bunched up again as we head for the restart

Amirmoez! With a ruthless savvy one might expect from a driver 20 years older than she is, she got the jump on Malik Zidan to take second place just after the cars have crossed the line to begin lap 26. Other than that, no changes in the order through the first corners. Most drivers have had issues getting heat into their tyres
and it has cost Iordanou! He ran wide into turn 7 and Amirmoez and Zidan went through.

The top four immediately ran away from the pack, as Zidan put pressure on the leader. He thought about having a go into turn 9 on lap 27, but aborted the attempt. Amirmoez uses her guile to prevent any good chances to take the position

Meanwhile, van Wajwilk had a run at third and takes the final podium spot. Further down the points-paying position, Wombesi can only watch as Dileita flies past him on the backstraight. Fotis Iordanou took third place back as Zidan could not quite mount his attack for first place.

Lap 29 began as Zaituni Dileita made another slipstream pass against championship leader Danny van Rijkens. The top four stayed undisturbed, continuing their flight away from the competition. Amirmoez is looking strong, but her team is anxious. They barely bring themselves to tell her the final lap is on out of nerves, but the main threat Zidan is much too occupied with the speedy Greek behind him.

Iordanou makes an emphatic pass into the Parabolica Interior to take second, but by now Amirmoez has almost two seconds to spare. Further back on the road, a frustrated Badu passed an equally frustrated Skeelenberg to earn the Golden Pineapple. However, things get heated between van Rijkens and Wombesi, who push each other really wide into 8. Both took a dive through the gravel and barely get their cars turned around for turn 9, which relieved Dileita from the pressure she seemed all but ready to crack under

Meanwhile, someone devoid of pressure now was Amirmoez, who saw the flag to take her first ARL victory at only 17 years of age. Talk about a star-making performance. Iordanou came home second for his first podium and in fact his first season points; Zidan completed the podium and jumped to fourth in the championship
Race
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REJECT OF THE RACE: Shane Skeelenberg; lacking pace, making mistakes and getting passed because of them is unbecoming for an ARL race winner.
INFINITE IMPROBABILITY DRIVE OF THE RACE: Rayyan Amirmoez; this young star of the racing scene is ready for big things.

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 26 Dec 2022, 13:21
by Klon
As you can imagine from the lack of activity in this thread, the Africa Racing League joins the long list of series by Klon that don't go all the way. However, I will not leave you without the final results:

Race 5:
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Race 6:
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Race 7:
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Race 8:
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Congratulations to Danny van Rijkens for winning the second Africa Racing League title and "congratulations" to Shane Skeelenberg for winning Reject of the Year.

The series will, as far as canon is concerned, continue to exist in the background even if not run. If someone has a good idea of what they want to do with it, they are free to take over. Otherwise, I guess stay tuned...

Re: 2019-20 Africa Racing League

Posted: 28 Dec 2022, 01:44
by CaptainGetz12
Thanks for hosting this series and keeping Malik Zidan sharp :D