The 11th running of the mighty RDMC by Extreme Simracing is over - here are a few words from some of the key drivers for this epic season of racing.
@Kresh Kreshnik Halili from running out of gas to winning the Extreme Simracing cockpit..
Do you guys remember Round One Race One of Division One? At the end of the race we saw the zipper car crawling across the line without fuel and finishing 24th, and starting in Pole for the second race... If not here is the timestamp for that action-packed sequence. Well, from that he went to have quite a decent season finishing in 13th spot tied with @Jakal31 on 371 points. From 39 drivers, good for him, good consistent results.
You can read his winning speech here and wish him the best of luck with his new setup and bellow you can read our little chat
Mr. C - Tell us about your self, age, country and maybe a funny story if you feel like it.
Kreshnik - My name is Kreshnik I am Albanian, I am 35 years old. I have studied Film School and work in video productions.
Mr. C - Can you tell us your simracing background?
Kreshnik - You can say I started simracing when I got my first wheel a Logitech DFP in 2007, mainly playing Gran Turismo 4 on PS2 but I got INTO more seriously around 2010, when I first tried an public online race in GTR2 its that moment I caught the simracing bug that I haven't been able to shake since. My first ever league was NAGP even though I was very slow and lacking skill, the guys there where kind enough to have me and teach me the ropes of simracing. Owe them a great deal for that. After that I just did public online races, than I got a used G27 for cheap since my DFP died. In 2015 I became premium member here in RD and I have done couple of leagues here, RDIWS, RDGP, RDLMS and many weekly races mostly in RFACTOR2.
Mr. C - Bad fuel calculation or what happened in round 1?
Kreshnik - That was funny, when I found out on the pre qualy results and how competitive and tight the field is, I did so much "precise" calculations the weeks before the race just trying to gain every single tenth possible, worrying not to have 1l fuel more than I needed, ended in me running out of fuel on the last corners, but the car surprisingly made it to the finish line and I was able to finish the race last, that was a mistake I made sure not to repeat during the rest of the season always having some fuel to spare.
Mr. C - Overall season review from your point as a racer but also as a spectator if you enjoyed the RDMC content?
Kreshnik - I couldn't be more happy how the season went, judging from my pre qualy pace, I was expecting to drop sooner than later in DIV 2 always having very bad qualy sessions mostly starting last, but to my surprise the races went much better, always gaining places, capitalizing from others mistakes and my main goal was to keep the car facing the right way and on the black stuff at all times which I managed to do 90% of the time, I think. I finished 13th overall, quite happy with that. Also after every race finish would go straight to watch the replay of the stream which was so much fun, so many battles on track, sometimes you forget you are watching a simracing race from all the excitement you get from it, more exciting than watching certain mainstream real life racing
.Mr. C - Did you had a rig or are you involved in simracing that you were thinking that at one point you will need one?
Kreshnik - I don't have a sim rig, even my G27 clamps are broken so I use some hardware store c-clamps to hold it on my table, its a bit of a hassle every time mounting it to my table, now I will have a place to properly hard mount it to. I always watch videos from sim rigs that are made around the world, but everything is way beyond my budget, so I never even entertained the thought of owning one, maybe build one my self from wood but never to buy one.
Mr C - any final words? how do you feel
Kreshnik - When I started RDMC I was just craving for some organized event with point system and people with same pace to race with and have fun, honestly it never even crossed my mind that I might win something, when the season finished I was quite happy with how it all went and than winning the rig was just.. I don't know, don't have any words to describe it how I felt. Again I want to thank the whole RD staff and the community for all the fun I have had here and will continue to have. See you on track.
Ross Mcgregor - RDMC by Extreme Simracing Champion 2019
The double Champ was very prompt to give us some few insights in his season and the future:
Mr.C - do you feel you have taken a step further/leveled up with these cars this season?
Ross- I think I had to step up my game a little this season, the competition was at a much higher level as opposed to the last one, and although the results weren’t as good I still managed to win 50% of the races and finish on the podium 75% of the time. And I used the same setup in every race and qualifying session! I know that some of the other guys have been far more active and successful in league racing recently, so I didn’t expect to be at the sharp end. Also, my health issues meant I really wasn’t expecting too much at the beginning.
Mr.C - Did you enjoy RDMC Season11 as a spectator?
Ross- Some of the racing was epic- although the final race was just crazy and I was glad to escape unscathed! The broadcasts were always great fun to watch back though. Most of the racing was close and fair.
Mr.C - Any time for future leagues? where can we catch more of the Silent Assasin
Ross - I’ve been invited by a division 1 team to drive in the VEC to drive at Bathurst and Le Mans, so that should be interesting. I’ve no other plans at the moment.
Mr.C - Overall final words?
Ross - I’d just like to thank all the guys again for organizing a great show for the drivers and viewers. Hopefully, the minis will be back again next year!
Matt le Gallez - RDMC by Extreme Simracing Vice Champion
Mr. C - I know you are pretty fast, what were your goals going into the season?
Matt - Thank you, my goal for this season was to finish in the top 3 overall. Obviously, i wanted to win from the get go, but knowing Ross and both Chris's were going to be driving, i knew that wouldn't be easy.
Mr. C - memorable pass/race from RDMC Season 11?
Matt - Memorable race for me would have to be Race 1 at Hockenheim. I was in 4th chasing down Craig Patteson, getting closer and closer lap by lap. I knew the pace difference wasn't significant, so passing wouldn't be easy.
After following him closely for 2 or 3 laps i knew my only opportunity to get passed would be out of the hairpin at turn 4, to try and set up a run into 5 and 6. But Craigs defensive driving was just as good as i have always known it to be and i simply couldn't make a clean pass. There were a couple of moments where i would get alongside coming out of the hairpin, but his exit was always brilliant, meaning he'd edge back in front into turn 5. Although i didn't manage to get passed him, and therefor finished in P4, this is the race i had the most fun in for sure!
Mr. C - In the last round?
Matt - The final round was a complete split down the middle for me, as i said in my answer for question 2, Race 1 was my favorite race all season from a personal perspective, but Race 2 however, well...
Race 2 started off well, I made up a fair few positions off the start and was closing in on the mid-front pack. What happened next was unbelievable, and i won't go into detail about the incident because it has dealt with already, but let's just say it ruined my race, and a couple of others, too.
Mr. C - Did you enjoy RDMC as a spectator? any room for improvement?
Matt - From the streams I watched back, as always, an excellent job was done by everyone involved to bring a great viewing experience for viewers and also the racers. Obviously this team are always trying to find small ways to improve but i really don't think you can get much better than what they were offering all season. Well done to Joseph Wright, Paul Glover and yourself for covering what was a great season all in all.
Mr. C - Final words? pretty happy with 2nd?
Matt - I was and still am extremely happy with 2nd overall in the championship. There were times i felt like i could do better, especially at Imola R1, but to finish up 2nd behind a driver like Ross McGregor is nothing to be ashamed about, Ross is an excellent driver and i expected him to win it from the start to be honest.
AMS has always been my favourite sim, so when i saw the MINI Challenge was back, i thought i'd give it a go, and well, I definitely don't regret it!
Bring on whichever series is next! I'm raring to go!
Craig Patteson - RDMC by Extreme Simracing 3rd Place
So I had a chance to swap a quick few lines with Mr. Craig Patteson and I thank him for the prompt response:
Mr.C - I know you are pretty fast, what were your goals going into the season?
Craig - my goals for the season were basically to just have fun and see how well I do up against the really fast drivers of Chris butcher Chris Shepherd Ross McGregor and Matt Le Gallez. I know on my day I can be quick but these guys are really fast and to stay with them and even battle with them would have been an achievement in itself
Mr.C - Memorable pass/race from RDMC Season 11?
Craig - I have 2 favourite overtakes first one would be on Tobias Roehner at the red bull ring on the last corner of race 2 on the final he had a poor exit battling another driver and I managed to get alongside him on the way to the finish line and beat him but by the smallest of margins. The other would be on Simon Pierotti at Hockenheim getting along the outside of him on the exit of the hairpin and staying on the outside of turn 7 to then have inside into turn 8 was a good overtake.
Mr.C - in the last round did you see the opportunity for 3rd?
Craig - In all honesty no I didn’t Matt Le Gallez and Chris Butcher was just too far away in the standings for me to catch them but with the unfortunate issues that Chris Butcher had meant that 3rd place was on the cards to achieve.
Mr.C - did you enjoy RDMC as a spectator? any room for improvement?
Craig - I did enjoy it as a spectator I watched all races back either on YouTube or on Twitch and they were all good Joseph Wright and Paul Glover did great jobs. I was glad they managed to do a replay of round 3 at Red Bull Ring when they ran into some issues. If I were to suggest any improvement my only suggestion would be if there was time or a day before the event just to test the broadcast just to make sure everything is running fine
Mr.C - Final words? pretty happy with 3ed?
Craig - I’m over the moon to had finished 3rd it’s the first time in the 4/5 years I’ve been sim racing I won anything so very happy with that. I know I wasn’t the fastest and had Chris Shepherd not blown his engine at round 3 and Chris Butcher not had his issues at round 5 I wouldn’t of finished 3rd. Thanks again to the league organizers for another great league the commentators for given up their time to broadcast all races. Congrats to Ross McGregor on his title win, Matt Le Gallez for finishing 2nd and to everyone who competed this season I look forward to the next mini league
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