RYU ASADA MEMORIAL

The Ryu Asada Memorial, was a one off tournament, held in memory of Hot Wheels designer, Ryu Asada. The tournament consisted entirely of cars that were designed by Asada, and was won by John Receuver and Dr Paul, of Jack John and Katie Racing.

## ROUND OF 32

The tournament kicked off on June 6 2021, and began in controversial fashion, when Lake Simcoe Motorsports defeated RTR Racing. King Yardie of Lake Simcoe, forced himself into the prime starting position, instead of RTR'S Myke Maze, and was given a 5 point penalty. Yardie later claimed that royalty should always be given pole position, ahead of all these other peasents. Despite the penalty, Lake Simcoe won 18-12.

HFA Motor Club won a thriller against Oak Tree 8" 2' 30-29, after Ego just held off the Veloca-Racer of G-Rex. Alex Martinez was heavily criticized for his driving, in Gen-X Vintage Racing's win over Phantoco Racing. In particular, it was his ramming of Phuoc Nguyen Huu after the finish line, that caught everyone's attention, but he had also been roughing up Huu's team mate, Thuan, previously.

The other side of the bracket also started off in controversial fashion, when someone (Likano Nkoto) left a giant roll of tape, on the track, during Madness Motorsports win over Spirit of '64. Hotbox MatchWheels defeated the Berlin Fire Department, in a race which featured 2 cars especially associated with Ryu Asada. Frunt Bot, the Yard Foreman, drove Asada's most famous car, the Lancia Delta Integrale. And Justin Ryan drove Asada's personal favourite, the Acura NSX. Hotbox MatchWheels won 22-20.

## ROUND OF 16

In the next Round, Jack John and Katie Racing defeated Vroom-Vroom Racing, but only just! John Receuver and Dr Paul had decent races, but guest driver Insane G, Of Vroom-Vroom was on fire. He was let down by lead driver Zsolt Csapkay however, and they lost by just a point! Again Madness Motorsports had a controversial race, when again someone (Likano Nkoto) left a giant notebook and a giant pen on the track, in their win over Hotbox Matchwheels. Clearly Likano had it out for Madness Motorsports. Frunt Bot was first on the scene and managed to driver over the notebook, but team mate Storm Trooperson, got his tank caught up in the pages. Actually there ya go, if you want to win a war, block the opposition tanks with giant paper, it works!

## QUARTER FINALS

The quarters started with an upset, with Gravity Track Grand Prix defeating Lake Simcoe motorsports. James Stirling had a shocker, but Big Dave his team mate, was the star of the show, getting 17 points in the 19 - 10 win. Jack John and Katie Racing continued to rack up a lot of points, with a 35 - 23 win over Gen-X Vintage Racing. John Receuver was once again the star of the show, getting 22 of those points, and Alex Martinez wasn't able to be violent, because he spent 2 of the 3 laps trying to catch up!

On the other side of the bracket, JoJo had a lucky escape when she crashed out in the lead and found the only spot in the track with no wall, flying off the cliff. However, she landed on Gary the Giant's foot, cushioning her fall, and was unhurt. Her team, Madness Motorsports, went on to win the race against EnZed Racing, 14 - 7. Then in another big shock result, the WCDC Racing Team, defeated Elst Racing 21 - 7. This was partly because on lap 2, the legend that is Matthew Harding, won easily, while The Zombie tried to drive off the track after turn 1. He had broken the lap record in qualifying but many people believe he took short cuts, as it was not filmed, so his move in the race, added weight to that belief.

## SEMI FINALS

Gravity Track Grand Prix's luck finally ran out in the Semi's with John Receuver once again being the best driver, in the 19 - 6 win for Jack John and Katie Racing. In the other semi final, I cemented my.....I mean Matthew Harding cemented his legendary status, with a 19 point haul, in the 23 - 15 win over Madness Motorsports.

## 3RD PLACE PLAYOFF AND FINAL

In the playoff for 3rd, once again controversy reared its ugly head, when Big Dave was impeded in lap 2, by a piece of deteriorating track which broke the front of his Porsche. He was awarded extra points, but it was not enough for Gravity Track to overcome Madness Motorsports. Critics called the decision not to restart the lap as a joke, when earlier on in the tournament, stray objects caused restarts. Some say that Gravity Track were potentially robbed of a Champions League spot, but they would go on to take part anyway, due to the cancellation of the Sports Shield.

The final ended up being a walk in the park for Jack John and Katie Racing, beating the WCDC Racing team 33 - 11, with John Receuver getting an amazing points from just 2 laps. Not a single soul was at all surprised as the team had looked hot all tournament!

## CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFICATION

Because of life, the Sports Shield which was scheduled for December 2021, had to be cancelled. This meant 3 less teams had qualified for the Champions League, leaving only 12 of the 18 available slots, filled. So all 4th placed teams in each of the 4 tournaments, gained automatic entry, meaning Gravity Track Grand Prix made it, along with Ford, Bremerhaven, and the Actors.

For the remaining 2 slots, the 4 5th placed teams (losing quarter finalists who scored the most in their tournament) Had a one off race against one other opponent. Elst Racing was awarded 5th in the Memorial, and were drawn against the Makes Shield's Saleen. Elst Racing won easily, winning both laps and advancing along with the Authors from the Celebrity Cup.

## FURTHER CONTROVERSY

Since Madness Motorsports finished 3rd, they were awarded one of the four spots as guests, in the 2022 Battle of the Nissans. It was only then, that someone did research, and found out that JoJo's Ion Motor's Thresher, was similar, but not the same, as the car that Ryu Asada designed. In other words, it was designed by someone else. This sparked mass calls for Madness Motorsports to lose their bronze medal and removal from the Battle of the Nissan's. However officials decided there should be no punishment, as it was an error by the WCDC car selector, and not anyone on the Madness Motorsports team. But because of a favourable decision to help them win the bronze, coupled with Bremerhaven being disqualified for a similar situation later in the year, many people have accused the WCDC of playing favourites to the benefit of Madness. This is of course, madness!