2009B season coming down to the wire

Four cups down, one to go.  And the 2009B GMWC Drivers Championship is legitimately undecided.  Even moreso, the 2nd and 3rd place drivers are in a dead tie, both of them within striking distance of the leader, AJ Weber, should fortune elect to abandon him.  So the stage is set for perhaps a deciding moment at Nürburg this weekend, and it wouldn't be the first time.

The venue has not been visited by the series since its early incarnation as the NegativeSum Racing League.  In fact this weekend will at the very least be remarkable for erasing one of the few remaining track records of the series' first champion, David Hostetler, who handily won the inaugural championship in 2007A.  He executed a clean sweep at the Ring's short circuit, taking pole, fastest lap, most laps led, track record, and winning the race.

Nürburg could be deemed the turning point of that season, as it marked Hostetler's second win of what would be a four event sweep putting the championship firmly out of reach of the rest of the field.  Going into Nürburg, Weber was ahead of Hostetler by 9 points.  But Hostetler's win in Germany would match Weber's win total (2) and unseat him from the top of the standings for the first time all season.  Weber not only failed to finish the race, due to a mistake in T2 of the last lap, but he would manage to score only a single point in the season's remaining two events, allowing even 2nd place to slip away from him in the final standings.  As the dust settled that day, the result must have been particularly bitter for Weber, as he had qualified 2nd and in fact led 9 of the race's 25 laps.

So as this season's leader finally returns to Germany's signature motorsports venue, his memories of it will not be fond.  This might explain why, according to Rusyn sources, the reigning champion has exhibited noticeably less than his usuall dedication to preparation this week.  Sure the series' new schedule format perhaps allows him that luxury, knowing that Paul Ricard will offer a second chance to secure the championship.  But it might instead offer merely a second dose of disappointment.  His lead in the standings is only 7 points this time, and he faces perhaps greater competition than in that wild west season of 2007A.  Celso Jorge is dangerous on any track, in any car, and Matthew Lewis has the distinction of being the only other driver besides Hostetler, ever, to beat Weber to the season Trophy.

But if the competition is stronger, then certainly the champ is as well.  Many regard his collapse in the 2007A season as having delivered a necessary lesson to the supremely talented driver that talent alone doesn't win championships.  The strategic mistakes made that season have been rarely witnessed again from the 6-time champion, and if his competition is hanging its hopes on such mistakes, their hopes are slim indeed.

But this is racing, and if we knew what would happen between the green lights and the checkered flag, well, we wouldn't need to bother.