TGFT will again be hosting the Deneb Run this Sunday at 1:00 AM GMT. Check /time if you are confused about GMT.

All citizens are welcome to race, there is no entrance fee, and 2 Million credits in prizes are available, possibly more. Some of it could be yours, but only if you race!

Once again, the rules are:

1) Racers must race from Odia M14 through Deneb heading clockwise back to Odia M14.
2) Race starts in Odia M14 near the station.
3) Contestants must be within 100m of me before the start
4) No shooting before I start the race.
5) You die and you're out (so no /exploding)
6) All weapons and ships allowed.
7) First person to get back and dock at Odia M14 wins the first prize. (1 million creds)
8) Second person back gets 600k
9) Third person gets 400k

Obviously, a Fast Charge battery and decent ship is recommended.

As an added incentive, TGFT is offering a 1 million credit BONUS prize for the winner if they can beat _ghost_'s record time of 26:55.

Please reply to this thread if you intend to race.

I'm going to race, and this time I'M GONNA BREAK THAT RECORD!!!

:P

Heh I'll race again, but I won't break that damn record.

=)

I am going to try to be there.

--Harpo

I'll be there if I can.......

But I doubt anyone'll be able to beat ghost's record w/ new jump animation

Aye, and there is another factor on my side as well.

I set that record with an infini-boost rune valk... which no longer has infini-boost.

=)

I'm in.
I will take my shot at the record very soon, just trying to see which ship to use...

I win! Again for the second week in a row!! ^.^

Now to see if I beat that record...

EDIT: Thanks to all of my supporters :)

Hehe 2nd place for my first ime. I sense a Golden Boy soon ^^. Thanks to my supporters as well. Even though DoF beat me by at least a clean 7,000m.

Wow! A total of 8 racers participated in the Deneb Run #11, making it the largest race I can remember.

The racers and their ships were:

LeberMac (in the #12 Anti-[SCAR] Racing Hornet) - Orion Hornet Convoy Guardian, Fast Charge battery, no weapons

Dragon of Fire - IDF Valkyrie Vigilant, fast charge battery, no weapons

Alanon - Valkyrie Vengence, fast charge battery, no weapons

MonkofAkan - Warthog MkII, fast charge battery, Gemini missles, Concussion Mines

Martin - IDF Valkyrie Vigilant, fast charge battery, no weapons

Fooz2916 - Orion Hornet Convoy Guardian, unknown battery and weapons

CrazySpence - Warthog Territorial Defender, fast charge battery, Starflare rockets, Gatling Turret

Gruumsh - Behemoth, fast charge battery, no weapons

After a couple of contestants had false starts, things settled down and the race got underway. In fact, there were so many simultaneous warps next to me that my view of space turned solid white for a few seconds.

As soon as the racers reached Odia B-13, things started to get interesting. Dragon of Fire promptly proclaimed himself in 1st place, and quickly found homing missiles on his tail. Whether these were shot by fellow racers or members of the self-proclaimed race blockade has not been confirmed. To quote Dragon of Fire, "Missiles? lol".

This would not be the last time Dragon of Fire came under fire, and by about halfway through the race, he was down to about 50% hull. From what I gather, CrazySpence, MonkofAkan, and the Serco Race Committee (aka Strike Forces) all may have had something to do with that.

MonkofAkan seems to have taken an early lead around Latos, closely followed by Dragon of Fire, Alanon, Martin, LeberMac, Fooz2916. CrazySpence and Gruumsh seemed to be falling slightly behind at this point.

A number of pilots ran into ion storms in Ukari, and Dragon of Fire was the first one out, warping to Initros. MonkofAkan was out 2nd. The other pilots took a variety of courses through Serco space, with some using Helios to bypass Initros, and others going through Rhamus instead of Pyronis.

By the time the Racers converged on Dantia, Martin had gained considerably and was only 3 seconds behind the race leader, Dragon of Fire. The rest of the racers were beginning to string out with MonkofAkan and Fooz2916 ahead of CrazySpence in Rhamus, and LeberMac and Gruumsh in Pyronis.

Martin's burst of speed continued as he briefly captured the lead, warping into Sol II just ahead of Dragon of Fire. Unfortunately, this was to be the high point for Martin, as his warp computer was outclassed (i.e. high sector load times) by his competitors and he gradually fell back.

Meanwhile, MonkofAkan and Fooz2916 staged an impressive rally and warped into Sol II just behind Martin and Dragon of Fire. LeberMac entered Dantia ahead of CrazySpence, but then ran into a storm. Meanwhile, Alanon was still in Pyronis.

Things began to heat up for Dragon of Fire as the Serco Race Committee decided to escort him beginning in Betheshee. At this point, the order seemed to be Dragon of Fire, Martin, MonkofAkan, Fooz2916, LeberMac, CrazySpence, Alanon, and Gruumsh.

By the time they entered Deneb, Martin had slipped to 4th place. MonkofAkan hit a storm in Deneb, giving 2nd place to Fooz2916, and allowing Martin to retake 3rd place. Meanwhile, LeberMac was gaining ground on the main pack, and Alanon passed CrazySpence but was about a system or more behind the leader, Dragon of Fire.

Fooz2916 claimed a slight lead as the pilots entered Cantus, and was clearly neck-and-neck with Dragon of Fire. Meanwhile, as Gruumsh cleared his throat and pressed the transmit button on his communications panel, he began to realize that although it has 550N of thrust and infini-boost, a Behemoth does not make a good racing ship. He then announced that he was in Betheshee.

As they entered Metana, LeberMac took over third place, pushing MonkofAkan to 4th, and Martin to 5th. Fooz2916 entered Setalli Shinas about 3 seconds ahead of Dragon of Fire, and about 20 seconds ahead of the LeberMac. Alanon and CrazySpence were about a system behind at this point.

As they entered Itan, Dragon of Fire recaptured the lead, about a second ahead of Fooz2916. LeberMac and MonkofAkan were fighting for 3rd and 4th place, while Martin started falling back slightly. The events that transpired next would prove to be critical to final outcome of the race. Dragon of Fire took a detour and ended up on the far side of Itan, while Fooz2916 hit at least one storm. LeberMac hit 2 storms, while MonkofAkan took a succesful detour and found himself in 2nd place. Martin attempted to detour, but also hit 2 storms, further distancing himself from the lead. Further back but now closing on the main pack, CrazySpence passed Alanon.

Over the course of the next few systems, Dragon of Fire extended his lead. Monk of Akan, Fooz2916, Martin, and CrazySpence hit 2 storms in Pherona, resulting in LeberMac taking over 3rd from Fooz2916, and Alanon retaking 6th position. Not to be outdone, Martin also discovered an undocumented asteroid field in Pherona.

As the race continued, Alanon seemed to find his mojo and he passed both Martin and Fooz2916 around Jallik. His late rally was not enough, however, as Dragon of Fire was now two systems ahead in Pelatus, with MonkofAkan about a minute behind him and LeberMac solidly in 3rd place. Martin, perhaps shellshocked over what happened in Pherona, fell back even further as he was passed by CrazySpence.

In a last ditch attempt to secure an Itani victory in the race, the Itani CtC convoy left Bractus and passed through the wormhole to Pelatus just as Dragon of Fire, a Serco, was heading the other way. Dragon of Fire remained focused on his goal, though, and continued his relentless advance on Odia.

In the end, nothing was able to stop Dragon of Fire from claiming his second straight victory in the Deneb Run, and with it the 1 million credit prize. MonkofAkan docked shortly thereafter to claim the 600,000 credit 2nd prize, and LeberMac secured the 3rd place 400,000 credit prize. Alanon docked in 4th place, followed by Fooz2916, CrazySpence, and Martin. Gruumsh never finished, as his moth was apparently pulled over for violations by the Itani Race Comittee.

With credits in hand, and another successful race under their belts, the racers then had a raucus celebration in the bar at Corvus Hold where Miharu served all manner of intoxicating libations.

Official race stats are below:

Dragon of Fire | 32:18 | IDF Valk, FC batt, no weaps
MonkofAkan | 33:20 | Warthog MkII, FC batt, Gemini/Conc Mines
LeberMac | 35:34 | Orion Hornet, FC batt, no weaps
Alanon | 36:07 | Valk Vengence, FC batt, no weaps
Fooz2916 | 36:53 | Orion Hornet, ?, ?
CrazySpence | 38:30 | Warthog TD, FC batt, Starflare/Gatling Turret
Martin | 40:18 | IDF Valk, FC batt, no weaps
Gruumsh | Did not finish | Behemoth, FC batt, no weaps

This race was brought to you by TGFT - Host of the Deneb Run since last week.

Excellent write up Screwball. Thanks to Screwball and TGFT for hosting the race this week. :D

Awesome event, Screw. I think this race had the most participants EVER. We needed TWO groups!

I'd like to thank TGFT for hosting the event, and all the racers for making it interesting!

And I'd like to announce that my sponsor for this week will be Ory' Hara, who, for 1 million credits, as asked me to advertise in an Anti-[SCAR] fashion. I said: Noooooo Problem!

I've learned my lesson. Plot around all the time. Not just after I hit a storm. Next week I hope to take first from DoF.

Actually, it's *USUALLY* Best to plot straight through and take your chances.
Next time let's move up the race an hour so when the sectors reset at 00:00, the race begins. That way there's no chance of, erm... scouting...

"This would not be the last time Dragon of Fire came under fire, and by about halfway through the race, he was down to about 50% hull. From what I gather, CrazySpence, MonkofAkan, and the Serco Race Committee (aka Strike Forces) all may have had something to do with that."

To clarify this, I was fired upon during the warp to Sedina. It was CrazySpences name that appeared on my screen. I went through the rest of the race at 50%

"A number of pilots ran into ion storms in Ukari, and Dragon of Fire was the first one out, warping to Initros."

I did not hit a single ion storm during the entire race.

"In a last ditch attempt to secure an Itani victory in the race, the Itani CtC convoy left Bractus and passed through the wormhole to Pelatus just as Dragon of Fire, a Serco, was heading the other way. Dragon of Fire remained focused on his goal, though, and continued his relentless advance on Odia."

As everyone should know by now, I'm friendly to the Itani :P Why would I attack the convoy?

"That way there's no chance of, erm... scouting..."

Are you accusing me of scouting Lebermac? Because I didn't :P

Anyway yes, excellent write up Screwball. And I assume the next race will be same time next week?

No, no, NO! I am not accusing ANYONE of doing any scouting.

However, several people tried to send me information regarding ion storm conditions right before the race (which I did not use), most of which were erroneous anyway, and besides I had my straight-thru /navroute loaded up.

Just a suggestion to remove any possibility of impropriety.

Lol I only had one piece of info: Storms everywhere in Itan. Of course, silly me I forgot this bit of info but managed to get around them by plotting around the fields.

The write-up was based on somewhat limited information. I heard the 50% hull stat after you announced your were being chased by the SF in Serco space, so I figured that's when you took the brunt of the damage.

Anyway, I will be hosting a race next week. I'm intrigued by LeberMac's suggestion about time, though. Can anyone confirm that the storms reset at 00:00 GMT?

They do. (Well, at least they used to before I came back, and they certainly did switch last night at 00:00. The CtC bots were dying in Edras H-7 right before the end of CTC, and on my way back down in the race - no storm in H-7.)

But, someone else more reliable should certainly confirm this.