The season started of really well as the first RDTCC Mini championship ended with six Rebels in the top 20 and race vicories by a couple of members. The team is looking forward to a second season with high hopes.

The team then focused on the RDWTCC league. After big preperations the team had it’s first setback as the drivers lacked motivation to continue the league. Only Mikael Hellén drove the entire season exept a couple of events and finished the league in 17th. Mikael also made an appearence in the V-WTCC event in Valencia but Mikael would not go through to the finals in Monza. The team would eventully have a representant at the finals as the teams newcomer and simracing-ace David Greco raced there. Greco didn’t managed to well but it was mostly due to the low speed of the SEAT he used compared to the BMW’s who dominated the races.

Greco who joined the team ahead of the biggest race of the season, the SSCA 10 hours of Fuji, would put the TBR Aston Martin DBR9 on pole and being up front for the beginning of the race. Some minor problems accured in the middle of the race but Ben Buitendijk, David García, Mehmet Arslan and Dave Nicol could managed to get the car back on the podium and clinching the 3rd spot. Clearly the brightest highlight of the season after a misserable first race for the team in the league at the 8 hours of Sebring.

David Cuthill drove the two champinoships of the RDTC65. David finished 13th and 11th respectivly in the two championships.

One of the major topics of the season must have been iRacing and some drivers in the team picked it up. But as the product is still not in it’s finishing stages and lacking features it has not been a hit among the team members. Dave Nicol is and exeption though as he is setting top times and having great race pace.

The team also had it’s first team championship as the TBR 2008 FBMW Championship got under way early summer. The league would start off well but lack of interrest throughout the season made the races quite unexiting. It would be clear early on that Mikael Hellén and Andreas Hultgren would be the ones fighting for the title. But Mikael missed a couple of races near the end and Anderas could win quite comfortably. Rule changes and format changes will hopefully make next years champinoship more of a hit.

The team also started their own league late fall - The Eruopean Team Challenge. A league that would focus on team work instead of of the drivers. This to make something new and exiting aswell as insuring full grids within a small league. Special licensens would be handed out to teams. The races would also be broadcasted on PSRtv. The league had some problems with disconnections and other things early on but halfway through the season the league can be considered a success with the interrest growing and teams joining. The team is really looking forward to the future of this championship going into the Christmas break.

The team wishes everbody a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

GT Pro results: http://www.simracing-live.com/results/ETC/r4/GTP/

The GT Sport class hit the track two days later and for the first time in ETC the sky had opened up and the tracks was flooded. This made for an interresting race as Damien Dainhumain (GMT-DHR) could take home the victory ahead of Angelo Buttarazzi (The Burning Tyres). Mikael also drove this race and was the only Rebel crossing the finish line (7th) as ETC debutant David Cuthill would end the race on lap one because of a disconnection.

GT Sport results: http://www.simracing-live.com/results/ETC/r4/GTS/

Provisional standings after round 4: http://www.simracing-live.com/wp-content/uploads/standingspr4.png

Next time the ETC hits the track it will be on January 16th as the league heads to Germany and Hockenheim.

Mehemt was in a secured 2nd place when his engine gave up with about 10 minutes to go of the race. Earlier Clive suffered the same faith as they would end up 12th and 14th. It was a clean sweep for RPM as both their drivers would finish on the top of the podium with Andreas Löffler for Degan Racing in 3rd.

It would go almost as bad in the GT Pro when Ben Buitendijk and Wietse Visser were behind the wheels of the teams Anston Martins. Ben would end his race the same way as Mehmet and Clive did in the Sport class and would end up in 13th. Wietse was the only one that got to the finish line and he did it in 9th, finishing a couple of laps down on the dominating performance of GMT-DH Racing as they would take the double. Kristofer Larsson took his Blue Flag Racing Aston Martin up on the podium to give his team some valuable points.

The team is no longer in the lead of the chamionship as RPM with their solid performance would pass in the standings.

GT Sport results: http://www.simracing-live.com/results/ETC/r3/GTS/
GT Pro results: http://www.simracing-live.com/results/ETC/r3/GTP/

In two weeks it is time for Donington Park.

David and Wietse had some fights throughout the race as David would take 2nd and securing his 3rd place in the standings. Wietse’s only hope to clinch 3rd was if he finished 2nd while David not scoring at all but this was not the case.

Despite missing the last couple of races Mikael Hellén still managed to get the runner up spot in the championship.

1. Andreas Hultgren 3L 22:40.255
2. David Cuthill 3L +1:48.306
3. Wieste Visser 3L +1:52.495

1. Andreas Hultgren 158p 4w
2. Mikael Hellen 105p 3w
3. David Cuthill 74p
4. Wietse Visser 58p
5. Xosé Estrada 50p 1w
6. Ben Buitendijk 30p 1w
7. Clive Siggs 25p
8. Fran Gil 24p
9. Dave Nicol 20p 1w
10. David García 16p
11. Xavier Sampedro 10p
12. Mehmet Arslan 6p

Greco had to jump into the Sport race on short notice because stated driver, David Garcia, was unable to race. With lack of practice Greco could still put on a great run and won the race fairly comfortable. Andreas HUltgren was the other TBR driver of the day and scored a good 6th place finish after starting from 13th. The race was ended with 16 minutes left to go due to a server crash but the results will count as over 75% of the distance were completed.

The team is still in the lead, now with RPM as closet rivals.

GT Pro results: http://www.simracing-live.com/results/ETC/r2/GTP/
GT Sport results: http://www.simracing-live.com/results/ETC/r2/GTS/
Standings: http://www.simracing-live.com/wp-content/uploads/psr2.png

Round 3 will be held on Aderstorp on 28th and 30th of November.

Andreas, going into this event with a 13 points advantage over Mikael, only needed to bring the car over the finish line to secure the title but he had other thoughts on his mind. Starting from pole Andreas got a good start but going into turn two, DC would hit the side of his car while trying to defend his position from Xosé. Both went of track and would have to play catch up.

Xosé however did not have the pace of the other two and some laps later he spun of trying to hold Andreas behind him. After 15 laps Andreas could clinch the victory and the title as he crossed the line 22 seconds ahead of DC. Xosé finished in a distanced third.

Results round 9: Anderstorp
Position/Name/Laps/Time

1. Andreas Hultgren 15L 24:39.545
2. David Cuthill 15L +0:22.273
3. Xosé Estrada 14L + 1 Lap

Standings after round 9: Anderstorp
Position/Name/Points/Wins

1. Andreas Hultgren 138p 3w
2. Mikael Hellen 105p 3w
3. David Cuthill 59p
4. Xosé Estrada 50p 1w
5. Wietse Visser 46p
6. Ben Buitendijk 30p 1w
7. Clive Siggs 25p
8. Fran Gil 24p
9. Dave Nicol 20p 1w
10. David García 16p
11. Xavier Sampedro 10p
12. Mehmet Arslan 6p

Final race will be held in about two weeks time where third place will be decided. DC, Xosé and Wietse are all in the hunt for that final podium finish!

Greco won the GT Pro race earlier today in his Aston Martin DBR9 with a healthy margin of 50 seconds Jari Vinnari, driving for RPM. David Garcia who ran the second car would not finish the race as he pulled off the track with 5 laps to go being classified in 11th.

In the GT Sport class that ran on Friday the team had a good result with Mikael Hellén in 4th and Andreas Hultgren in 7th in their Spyker C8’s. The drivers did however suffer a bit because of a two stop strategy that didn’t pay off as they wanted.

Team GG would be the team to beat this time around as they managed the Double in the Sport class and a 4th place in the Pro class putting them in the top of the standings.

GT Pro results: http://www.simracing-live.com/results/ETC/r1/GTP/
GT Sport results: http://www.simracing-live.com/results/ETC/r1/GTS/
Broadcast replay: http://www.psrtv.com/index.php?dir=ETC%2FBlack+Cup+08%2F
(Standings will be published soon!)

Magny-Course, homerace of Team GG, will host the second round of the championship in two weeks time!

Andreas, Mikael Hellen, David Cuthill and David Garcia all swapped places during the first part of the race but as soon Mikael hit the front of the pack he would pull away from the rest and gain second after second on Ben.

Ben would in the end manage to cross the finish line first after Mikael had both cought him and making a mistake. A mistake that nearly costh him 3rd because of a broken front wing. Mikael biggest rival, Andreas, would finish just a couple of seconds behind in while David Cuthill would end up in 4th.

Results round 8: Valenica
Position/Name/Laps/Time

1. Ben Buitendijk 15L 25:16.060
2. Mikael Hellen 15L +0:15.772
3. Andreas Hultgren 15L +0:18.612
4. David Cuthill 15L +0:37.286
5. David Garcia 5L DNF

Standings after round 8: Valencia
Position/Name/Points/Wins

1. Andreas Hultgren 118p 2w
2. Mikael Hellen 105p 3w
3. Wiestse Visser 46p
4. David Cuthill 44p
5. Xosé Estrada 38p 1w
6. Ben Buitendijk 30p 1w
7. Clive Siggs 25p
8. Fran Gil 24p
9. Dave Nicol 20p 1w
10. David García 16p
11. Xavier Sampedro 10p
12. Mehmet Arslan 6p

Next up is Anderstorp on November 9th.

Mikael grabed the pole ahead of David Cuthill with Andreas 3rd and newcomer Xavier Sampedro in 4th. The drivers held their positions through the first corners but Andreas could soon jump up to 2nd as DC would make a little mistakes giong up the San Fransisco Hill on the opening lap.

The battle was then on for the lead and a few laps later Andreas made a move on Mikael on the outside going into the hard braking zone after the first straights. Mikael defended hard but missed his braking point making him spin out, handing the lead to Andreas.

Mikael then hunted Andreas down, reiling him in second by second but lapping Xavier was going to put an end to his charge as he hit the spinning spaniard, making Mikael lose his splitter. DC who was in the shadows for most of the race finished in 3rd, his second podium of the year. Xavier ended his debut in 4th.

Andreas now leads Mikael by 16 points with 3 races left - 60 points to fight for.

1. Andreas Hultgren 10L 25:16.931
2. Mikael Hellen 10L +0:21.984
3. David Cuthill 10L +1:06.196
4. Xavier Sampedro 9L +1 Lap

1. Andreas Hultgren 106p 2w
2. Mikael Hellen 90p 3w
3. Wiestse Visser 46p
4. Xosé Estrada 38p 1w
5. David Cuthill 34p
6. Clive Siggs 25p
7. Fran Gil 24p
8. Dave Nicol 20p 1w
9. David García 16p
11. Ben Buitendijk 10p
11. Xavier Sampedro 10p
13. Mehmet Arslan 6p

Race 2 would turn out much better as he overtook a few cars right of the word go. Mikael then fought his way up to 11th where he would finish the race.

In the standings, Mikael secured 17th place. A great result considering he missed a couple of rounds mid-season. The battle for the championship wasn’t decided till the last meters as Rami Kaukola got the better of teammate Peter Eriksson as he was crowned the 2008 RDWTCC Champion. Erik Åhlen finished 3rd.