Dodge's blog

Season 69 took place with perhaps the only car suitable for such an occasion – RaceRoom’s own NSU TTS class! The car with the lowest performance index in the game would have 21 identical copies on the grid across 13 events, as drivers from 14 different countries fought to take their shot at nations cup glory. Indeed, aside from veteran Vic (a new nickname perhaps!) Torious, the other 20 drivers were all rookies, so no one had any previous credentials to their own names. In terms of national credentials though, there were plenty, as 13 of the 14 countries competing (Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, UK and USA) had all won drivers’ titles and all had multiple race wins to their name, while despite having 6 race wins, Canada was the only country yet to take home the crown, but after having finished runner-up in previous seasons, this would be an opportunity to finally get that eluding victory.

The first race in Indianapolis saw the USA’s Nancy McClendon take pole position, but she would lose out to Dutchman Wim Bijdendijk, with Torious in 3rd. While Torious’ form would struggle throughout the season (despite taking a further podium at Zandvoort and a win at Mantorp Park), the aforementioned 1-2 finishers at Indy would mount themselves a title battle, with both drivers holding the lead of the standings at various points of the season. They weren’t alone however…

A series of drivers would take the lead of the standings throughout the course of the season, with Sweden’s Johan Burman and Leevi Holm strengthening their country’s aims for a third title, and France’s Michel Defoin and Marc Cotleur aiming for their country’s second, but despite this frenzy of activity, there were clear favourites in the closing stages of the season. Indeed, with three races to go, Finland’s Aleksi Kärkkäinen had just won race 10 at Aragón,which saw him take a 12-point lead over Canada’s Patrick McAllister, who earlier on in the season had taken Canada’s first win in over 500 races – the country’s first since Jay Letourneau won at Spa-Francorchamps in season 33 – and Kärkkäinen had only been a few tenths away from a win at Zolder, which would have further extended the points gap. However, it would turn upside-down from here (or in a few races from then, as Bathurst wasn’t until the end), as at Brands Hatch he would lose the lead to race-winner Defoin, who himself would see his lead go to race-winner McAllister by the end of race 12 at Monza.

Going into the final round at Bathurst, McAllister had a 13-point lead over Kärkkäiken in second, with Kärkkäinen needing at least a podium to overhaul McAllister, and for McAllister to score minimal points as a result, and it had almost gone the way of the Finn, as while McAllister found himself out of the points, Kärkkäiken found himself challenging for the podium. However, Kärkkäiken would ultimately finish fourth, a tenth behind third-placed man Dirk Goepfert, which would see McAllister win the title on 114 points and Kärkkäiken second on 113 points – quite literally one tenth in it!

This would be Canada’s first ever title, and as a country that had finished runner-up in numerous prior seasons, this was a relief that was long overdue. Celebrations continued long and hard, as statistics were checked over on the wiki, delaying the start of season 70, and speaking of…

Preview of season 70

Season 70 will be a historical season for numerous reasons – it sees the first spec championship based on a previous season (in this case the BMW Z4 GT3 from season 12), and as well as Canada having an opportunity to defend their title and Norway looking to revive themselves after a period of inactivity, several of the lower-placed nations, who haven’t scored points since season 12 (or in the case of some, at all) return. 85th-placed Moldova (33 points with a best finish of 5th) will be represented by Nicolae Dica, coming in for his third season, while 103rd-placed Isle of Man (6 points best finish of 8th) will be represented by returning driver Arthur McAllen. However, neither of those nations have quite reached the lows of 110th-placed North Macedonia, who are one of three nations (the others being 109th-placed fellow season 12 debutant Yemen and 111th (and last)-placed Paraguay, who debuted in season 16) that are yet to have a point to their name. With ten of the sixteen drivers competing scoring points every race for 13 races, it is likely that these countries’ fortunes will change for the better, and this is expected to be their best opportunity to do so. We will find out in due course but stay tuned to the wiki because it will be an exciting season!

Thank you for reading!