Formula Lego: Season 12
Season 12 took place in the year 255. National Driver Aleks Rosya won his second Driver's Title, becoming the second driver to reach that achievement, along with Kira Sanchez. Season 12 was only the second season to have a 12-race calendar. 4 New Teams joined the roster for Season 12, bringing the total number of teams to 10.
Driver Changes
With 10 teams now participating in every race, each team could only field 3 drivers. Octan kept Adrienne De Leon, Diana Perko, and Julia Young, but let Miguel Angel Hernandez and Diego Gonzalez go. Hernandez couldn't find a drive for S12, but Gonzalez was hired by the new team Erit Victor.
Osborne chose to keep Ella Fader, Sira Bowler, and Avayah Osborne, but let Daniil West and Aleksandar "Aca" Larsen. Larsen was signed by ACAE.
National chose to keep reigning champion Aleks Rosya on for a second season, as well as former champions Eva Sayll and Anna Aster. However, Leo Martin and Jakaya Katrik were let go. Katrik was signed by ACAE, and Martin was signed by Angel.
Fire kept Camilla Cyne, Sarah Martins, and Josep Vikalkin, but let Ariadne Stryke and Synnove Mugosa go. Stryke was signed by Windsor, who had bought the remnants of the failed Silva works team.
Of the five Silva drivers, only Grace Evans was kept on with the new ownership, and none of the rest were signed by another team.
Quantos' Zarya Ilic was signed by Windsor for S12. They kept on Adrjana Gutnik but let Bronislaw Dordevic's contract expire. Ani Novak moved to ACAE, and Konstantin Bosko moved to Tikam. Quantos hired rookies Milena Markovic and Kaz Gacesa to complete their ranks.
Angel's Aurora Kryze and Jakov Franjic were kept on for S12, but Eva Renita, Meaghen Bolt, and Elizabeth Collet were all let go. Bolt found a drive at Tikam, and Collet at Erit. Angel also hired Leo Martin.
The new team Tikam hired Konstantin Bosko and Meaghen Bolt, as well as EotLP Sr. Karting Series reigning Champion Sofia Deitsch.
Windsor, owned by Oscar Windsor, who had bought out the failed Silva team, signed Zarya Ilic for three years (with a +2 clause activatable by mutual consent), and Ariadne Stryke and Grace Evans for one year each.
Erit Victor picked up Diego Gonzalez, who had previously driven for Octan, as well as Elizabeth Collet, a former Angel & National Driver, and Sarah Aither, who had driven for Osborne in S10.
Privately owned Arthur Conneigh Applied Engineering (ACAE) picked up National's Jakaya Katrik, Osborne's Aca Larsen, and Quantos' Ani Novak.
Team Rosters
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 98 | 49 | Aleks Rosya | 1 Season Quantos, 1 Season National, S11 Champion |
| 44 | 39 | Anna Aster | 3 Seasons Octan, 5 Seasons National, S9 Champion |
| 27 | 27 | Eva Sayll | 4 Seasons Octan, 7 Seasons National, S6 Champion |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | 28 | Diana Perko | 1 Season Quantos, 1 Season Octan |
| 106 | 29 | Adrienne De Leon | 1 Season Octan |
| 64 | 19 | Julia Young | 6 Seasons Octan, S10 Champion |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1 | Camilla Cyne | 1 Season Octan, 3 Seasons Fire |
| 76 | 2 | Sarah Martins | 1 Season National, 3 Seasons Fire |
| 1 | 9 | Josep Vikalkin | 9 Seasons Osborne, 1 Season Fire, S7 Champion |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | 1 | Aurora Kryze | 2 Seasons Fire, 1 Season Angel |
| 94 | 2 | Jakov Franjic | 1 Sesaon Fire, 1 Season Angel |
| 105 | 6 | Léo Martin | Team Rookie, 1 Season National |
| 58 | 7 | Ella Fader | Team Rookie, 3 Seasons National, 3 Seasons Octan, 1 Season Osborne |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95 | 1 | Zarya Ilic | Team Rookie, 2 Seasons Quantos |
| 84 | 2 | Ariadne Stryke | Team Rookie, 3 Seasons Fire |
| 101 | 3 | Grace Evans | Team Rookie, 2 Seasons Silva |
| 7 | 4 | Avayah Osborne | Team Rookie, 11 Seasons Osborne, Race Winner |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110 | 8 | Milena Markovic | Rookie |
| 111 | 9 | Kaz Gacesa | Rookie |
| 96 | 2 | Adrjana Gutnik | 2 Seasons Quantos |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 108 | 1 | Ani Novak | Team Rookie, 1 Season Quantos |
| 103 | 2 | Aca Larsen | Team Rookie, 1 Season Osborne |
| 104 | 3 | Jakaya Katrik | Team Rookie, 1 Season National |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 93 | 1 | Diego Gonzalez | Team Rookie, 2 Seasons Octan |
| 77 | 2 | Elizabeth Collet | Team Rookie, 3 Seasons National, 1 Season Angel |
| 90 | 3 | Sarah Aither | Team Rookie, 1 Season Osborne |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | 1 | Konstantin Bosko | Team Rookie, 2 Seasons Quantos |
| 89 | 2 | Meaghen Bolt | Team Rookie, 1 Season Osborne, 1 Season Angel |
| 112 | 3 | Sofia Deitsch | Rookie |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | 32 | Ella Fader | 3 Seasons National, 3 Seasons Octan, 1 Season Osborne |
| 14 | 23 | Sira Bowler | 5 Seasons National, 5 Seasons Osborne, 4x Race Winner |
| 7 | 7 | Avayah Osborne | 11 Seasons Osborne, Race Winner |
Sporting Regulations
Since among 5 teams, 30 drivers could be evenly distributed, S12 drivers could not fail to qualify, and like during the second half of S11, no Constructor's points were allocated for Qualifying. Late in the Season, when Osborne withdrew from Formula Lego, the regulations were once again changed, so that only 27 drivers were needed to start each Grand Prix. The -1 constructor point that had been allocated to P28, 29 & 30 throughout the season was also eradicated, meaning that only 3 negative points were available for Constructors to pick up, as opposed to the 6 negative points available for the first 10 races.
Two teams, Erit and ACAE, were granted a reduction in their entry fee, as a repayment for their agreement to test the new on-car camera angles, namely rear-facing nose-mounted cameras, and overhead driver's view cameras. These would become mandated in Season 13, in addition to the already present nose-mounted forward-facing camera, and the rear-mounted, rear-facing camera
Location Summary
Due to heightening Tensions between the Balkavanian Sovereignty Legion and the Nakorentan Union, Mezistnik and Eîy-Hoketleri were dropped from the calendar, and replaced by the Jutvyrda National Race Track in Jelispsobva, who were growing closer and closer with the EotLP, and at Makendonkovo, in an effort to visibly tie closer knots with Krajyna, which was potentially under threat from the Nakorentan Union's death Corps.
| Race | Location | Winner | # Held at Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cagne | Aleks Rosya | 60 |
| 2 | Karebyr | Aleks Rosya | 3 |
| 3 | Monta Roblov | Adrienne De Leon | 3 |
| 4 | Mezhdograd | Anna Aster | 2 |
| 5 | Fortrionale | Aleks Rosya | 3 |
| 6 | Krajinograd | Adrienne De Leon | 2 |
| 7 | Makendonkovo | Adrienne De Leon | 1 |
| 8 | Dryzakyl | Camilla Cyne | 2 |
| 9 | Verskaell | Aurora Kryze | 3 |
| 10 | Jutvyrda | Julia Young | 1 |
| 11 | Rennia | Adrienne De Leon | 4 |
| 12 | Cagne | Aleks Rosya | 61 |
Season Progression
Race 1 - Cagne Island
Adrienne De Leon took a stellar pole at the first race of the season, and, hoping to start out the year strong, she set off strongly from the start, holding Rosya behind her through the first 5 corners, and through the first Stint. However, as her #1 Tires degraded, Rosya, on less worn #2s began to close in on her, and passed her during her Lap 17 pitstop. Diana Perko also fell behind Anna Aster during the same pitstop, as Octan fumbled a double-stack with De Leon and Perko. Both came out of the pits bearing #1s. As Julia Young's #1s also began to fail, she too fell behind the Nationals. De Leon emerged from her pitstop in P5, behind Rosya, Aster, Young, and Fire's Camilla Cyne. Throughout the second stint, De Leon made quick work of the slower Fire, and her slowing teammate. She retook the lead after Rosya and Aster pitted and emerged on a set of #5s. De Leon put several seconds into her lead, and pitted on Lap 33, coming out on a fresh set of #1s just 1.5 Seconds behind Rosya, and just barely ahead of Aster. As her tires came to temperature, she was passed by Aster as well. Aster defended brilliantly though, even on the much harder #5s, and Rosya gained time on the duo. Once De Leon finally passed Aster and had clear air, she began to close very quickly on Rosya, and passed him on Lap 48, but finally had to pit on Lap 49, emerging on a final set of #1s. Rosya pushed his #5s all the way to the brink, not pitting until Lap 52, finally emerging on a new set of #1s. He emerged from the pits about 2.3 seconds behind De Leon's Octan. However, his 3-lap newer Tires came into their working window much faster than the Octans', and he passed De Leon on Lap 56. From there he coasted to an easy first win of the Season. Anna Aster came home to take the last Podium Place, and notably, Windsor's Zarya Ilic scored a P10, bringing home a constructor's point for the rookie team.
Race 2 - Karebyr
At the Karebyr Grand Prix, Rosya scored a Racing Hat Trick, taking Pole Position, Winning the Race, and Scoring the Fastest Lap. Octan was solidly the second fastest car over the weekend but was barely even comparable to the blistering pace of the National around the bean shaped Karebyr track. De Leon managed to take a very well-deserved P3, after a race-long battle with Anna Aster, who she nudged off the podium by under a second by the end of the race. Grace Evans, racing for Windsor, finished last out of 27 who saw the flag two laps down from Rosya, while her teammates Zarya Ilic and Ariadne Stryke both finished in the points. Oscar Windsor was quite honest with the media that he felt as though Evans wasn't quite on the same level as the other drivers, although he also professed that he wanted to see her do her best and wanted to help her improve. Over in the Osborne Garage, they suffered a total of 5 DNFs over the weekend, spread across 2 in the practice sessions, 1 in Qualifying, and 2 in the Race. Questions began to be raised about the terrible car, and how (or if) Osborne would or could recover the success they had seen in previous years.
Race 3 - Côte Blanche
At the 3rd Race of the year, in Côte Blanche, Rosya and National struggled for the first time in their season of dominance. With the tight corners and narrow track that characterized the Monta Roblov Street Circuit, the Nationals only managed to qualify P5, 8, and 10, whereas the Octans and Fires, which were nimbler but less powerful, all qualified within the top 7 (bisected by Anna Aster's National), with De Leon scoring her second pole of the season. Starting on a harder compound, she initially lost P1 off the line to her teammate Diana Perko and was soon also passed by Camilla Cyne. However, she drove conservatively, but managed to maintain her P3 through Perko and Cyne's first pit-stop, when she was promoted to P1. She was slowly reeled in, but eventually re-ceded the lead, which was finally followed by her pit-stop for a brand-new set of #1s while the field was under safety car, which she quickly caught up to the leading pair with, making quick work of them on their older, harder tires. Cyne pipped Perko for P2 just a few laps later, but didn't have the tires left to challenge Cyne, who finished the race 7.345 seconds ahead of Cyne. Both National and Angel suffered their seasons' first DNF at Monta Roblov, Angel's Satine Kryze having to retire after a botched pitstop, which broke her front suspension, and National's Anna Aster bounced over a curb into the barriers, requiring a safety car for the track to be cleared, which allowed eventual winner De Leon to pit with less time loss. With Aleks Rosya only scoring a net P6 - after a 5 second penalty was applied for ignoring the yellow flags - De Leon took the Championship lead away from him by 10 points.
Race 4 - Mezhdograd
Anna Aster took both pole and win at the Second Mezhdograd GP, as Defending Champion Aleks Rosya charged back from the back of the field after suffering an engine failure during Qualifying, which started him off at the back of the field. Aster ran basically unchallenged throughout the entirety of the race, although Adrienne De Leon managed to overtake her (briefly) during the pitstops. The much quicker National underneath her propelled her quite a distance into the distance. However, her ferocious teammate tore through the field, finishing P2, ahead of even De Leon. In a surprising moment that showed the genius of Oscar Windsor fully, less than half a season after Silva had withdrawn from the sport with appalling pace, Zarya Ilic drove her Windsor home to P10, equalling her R1 team record (although the Race 1 result was largely a lucky break for the team). Rosya cut down De Leon's lead to just 5 points in the Driver's Title after coming home to P2.
Race 5 - Fortrionale
Aleks Rosya returned to winning ways in Fortrionale, taking his second consecutive victory at his home race, once again ahead of Adrienne De Leon. Through the race, the National fared much better on its tires than the Octan, although the Octan technically had a higher pace. Because of that, the Octan tended to pull ahead, but Octan Lead Driver Adrienne De Leon had to pit 3 times, compared to the leading National of Rosya. National's Aster suffered a race-ending collision with Quantos' Adrjana Gutnik on her outlap after her first pit, sending Aster to the hospital with significant injuries associated with high g-force decelerations, including a major concussion. The Quantos survived the initial crash, but succumbed to the damage three laps later, when she was permanently pitted. Scoring ahead of De Leon again, Rosya managed to tie up the Championship at the front with 345 points-a-piece between him and De Leon. Meanwhile on the Constructor's Title front, Octan took a hefty chunk out of the incredible lead that National had built up, bringing their gap down from 18 points after Race 4 to 14 points, still a significant lead, but an early sign that all was not perfect with the National Vehicle. Windsor also took several steps up the competitive ladder, with Ilic finished P7 - a team best - and Ariadne Stryke finishing P12, just barely outside the Constructor's Points. However, their third driver - Grace Evans - continued to disappoint the team and the impressive car they had put together.
Race 6 - Krajinograd
Adrienne De Leon took a second victory in Krajinograd, while the Nationals battled back despite being a car down - with Anna Aster still not cleared to race after her injuries of the previous race. With the Fire of Camilla Cyne bisecting the championship-battling duo of Rosya and De Leon on the podium, De Leon also took back the lead in the Driver's Title Battle. Osborne suffered a reliability DNF with Sira Bowler, who lost her engine in a huge fire on lap 17, causing scares about the other Osborne Power Units, which were incredibly high power in theory, but suffered reliability issues when run above 48% of max theoretical power, because Sira Bowler had only been running at ~45% of total power, well within the safe threshold. Avayah Osborne and Ella Fader chose to reduce their power to avoid a DNF, and by running their engines at 41.6% peak power, fell backwards through the field to come home P27 and P25, respectively, despite both being very highly rated drivers, both among the teams, fans, and other drivers. Due to high amounts of drama, scares, and battles happening further back in the grid, De Leon's impressive drive went mostly unnoticed, despite its genuinely impressive nature.
Race 7 - Makendonkovo
After De Leon's third win of the season, in Makendonkovo - bringing her level on wins with Rosya for S12 - propelled her to 20 points ahead in the Driver's Title and brought Octan within 2 points of National on the Constructor's Title front, which was mostly due to Anna Aster's continuing injured status. With an Octan that was faster throughout the race, Diana Perko passed Aleks Rosya on the last lap to come home to take P2, tying her personal best result. Both Avayah Osborne and Ella Fader, who had been forced to run their engines at a lower power rating than normal by reliability concerns at the last race, suffered reliability induced DNFs within 3 laps of each other, and Sira Bowler fared not much better, finishing ahead of only the Erits of Sarah Aither and Elizabeth Collet. This once again picked them up -3 Team points, bringing their total to -13 points, 2 points shy of their nearest competitors, Tikam and Erit, who were tied with -9 points a piece. Another battle, for 4th in the Constructor's Title Race, was also picking up steam: At Race 5, Angel had caught up to Quantos' 4 Constructor Points, and at the next race they had each scored 2 Constructor's Points. In Makendonkovo, neither had scored Net points, but Windsor's Zarya Ilic and Ariadne Stryke had finished in the Constructor's Points range, bringing Windsor to 6 Constructor Points as well, setting up a tense battle for the 4th, 5th, and 6th in the Constructor's Title.
Race 8 - Dryzakyl
Camilla Cyne took a surprise win in Dryzakyl, ahead of the Nationals of both Rosya and Aster, who returned from her extended injury leave to score a podium - an excellent return by the best of standards - While Josep Vikalkin also finished ahead of all the Octan Cars. Driver's Title Leader Adrienne De Leon scored only P8, after a slow Pitstop late in the race that also came just before Ariadne Stryke crashed out, leaving De Leon stuck behind many other cars who suddenly had significantly less time loss in their upcoming pitstops. The 30-point difference between De Leon & Rosya's respective finishing positions (even though he didn't manage to win) evaporated her 20-point lead in the Driver's Title, and gave the Defeding Champion a 10-point lead, something he hadn't had since Race 2. Cyne's Victory propelled her past Eva Sayll to fourth in the standings, a notable occurrence considering Fire's solidly 3rd place pace throughout the season. National also extended their lead over Octan to 3 points. Quantos Rookie Milena Markovic took a P9 finish as well, separating Quantos from the 3 - way battle for P4, P5, and P6 in the Constructor's Title. Zarya Ilic's Windsor also scored in the Constructor's Points, but her teammate Ariadne Stryke did not finish the race, after being involved in a pit-lane collision with Erit's Elizabeth Collet, and therefore scored -1 constructor's points, so Windsor's net haul ended out being 0. Avayah Osborne's race ended just 10 laps before the end, when her car was disqualified by EotLP GP officials for safety concerns, as even at her unbearably slow speed (reportedly she was running her engine at 34.7% of full power), her engine was cutting in and out under intense force loads while turning through corners. Several times that this happened, she nearly hit a driver lapping her (Anna Aster, Diana Perko, and Milena Markovic), and was disqualified for safety concerns for the other drivers. Ella Fader finished last out of the finishers, with her Engine power set to 39.5%, and Sira Bowler (running at 43.6% engine power on a much newer engine) finished just two places up from her, the pair being split by Erit's Sarah Aither. Rumours began to float that Osborne's new Majority Shareholder, Southern Sports, had found a potential buyer for their holdings in the Osborne Team, but that the buyers required a significant increase in spending on the development of the Season 13 vehicle. However, it was suspected that Southern Sports didn't have the cash on hand to run Osborne and also fund extra development. No matter what the truth was, though,
Race 9 - Verskaell
For Race 9, Formula Lego returned to Verskaell for the third time, where Angel was expected to perform better than the rest of their season, thanks to Verskaell's great altitude, where the Electric Powertrain of the Angel didn't suffer any of the power loss that the oxygen-dependent ICE engines of every other team did. However, when they only took P3, P7, and P16 in Qualifying, it seemed that there was only so far that the Angels could climb, even with an advantage. However, the Angel Team decided to take a 3-place grid-penalty for each driver and, in exchange, switch out a few of their aero components, to reduce drag. Many people criticized that move as throwing away a chance at a really good result, as the meta for the whole Verskaell event had been to add higher-drag inducing aero components to compensate for the thinner air. However, Angel decided to shoot for the moon, and ran much lower drag, hoping that this would give them higher speed around each lap. This worked splendidly, as Kryze jumped from her starting P6 to P4 on the first lap, and climbed a position a lap, before passing Pole-sitter Aleks Rosya on Lap 6, from where she simply ran off into the distance, taking a pitstop more than the rest of the field and yet finishing more than 15 seconds clear of Jakov Franjic, who finished P2 overall, after fighting his way through a very defensive field present all from his starting position of P10. Martin made up 10 places across the race, starting from P19, but much of his rise was clearly based purely on car performance, rather than any personal ability. Angel's first victory, taken with a hand tied metaphorically behind their back, was made all the sweeter by that, not to mention the fact that in one race, the team tripled its total number of podiums. However, doubts were raised about Martin's qualities as a driver and potential in a car which seemed to be handled much better by other drivers. Towards the end of the race, De Leon, who had found herself on an abysmally bad strategy that saw her pit too many times, for the wrong tires, voiced her concerns over her title bid, especially relating to the fact that she was (with just 6 laps remaining in the race) in P10, while title rival Rosya was (for the time being) in P2. However, she made quick work of Ariadne Stryke and Leo Martin, who was at the time running in P8. Her mood seemed to get better, and she powered on, taking Zarya Ilic one lap later. She was now in P7 with just 2 laps left to go, while Rosya was in P3, having been passed by Franjic. De Leon passed Anna Aster fairly solidly on the penultimate lap, setting a personal best lap time that was rivalling even Kryze's times. However, with one lap left, it seemed that P6 was her final destination, until, unprovoked by team or any other drivers, both Julia Young and Diana Perko slowed drastically to allow De Leon to pass them both, landing her in P4 by the time the chequered flag fell. Many were surprised at both Perko and Young's unprovoked kindness to their teammate. No explanation was ever given.
Ella Fader's Osborne was disqualified before the race began, for even more drastic reasons than her teammate's disqualification the previous year. With a complete lack of funds, coming from Southern Sports bleeding the operational budget dry to try and improve development so that the team could be sold, Fader's car was started on the grid with several panels from the side pod missing, which the team didn't have the budget to fix, leaving an obviously overworked, and leaking, radiator exposed. One journalist and two mechanics received 2nd degree burns when it spurted a gush of boiling hot water out of one of its faulty joints. Due to the danger this posed to everyone involved, the EotLP GP officials at the race unanimously decided to disqualify Fader. Her teammates avoided disqualification for that race, but didn't fare any better on race pace. They both finished nearly 4 laps down from the leader, the very last of the finishers (P26 and P27). Almost as a testament to the atrociousness of the car they were driving, Osborne in P26 finished a lap down from Meaghen Bolt's Erit, who finished in P22, just four places ahead of her. Osborne refused to talk to the media, and left the paddock within 5 minutes of finishing the race, without even returning to the team garage. She left Verskaell for Jutvyrda on a public flight that night, still in her race suit, without any luggage. Several News sources reported that her father, Michael Osborne, flew out to Jutvyrda on his private plane. Reports indicated that he met up with Southern Sports executives there within several hours of landing, although no reports could confirm whether or not Avayah was with him.
Finishing ahead of De Leon once again propped Rosya's points lead up to 15 over his title rival, with just three races to go. With all of the Fire Cars finishing outside the Team Points, and only Josep Vikalkin finishing within the Driver points, Fire had an abysmal weekend, largely attributed to the Fire Power Unit (the FW5) requiring much larger amounts of oxygen to produce comparative amounts of power to other power units. With Angel's Mega-Haul of Constructor's Points, they jumped completely out of the 5th place battle, taking home 11 points, to make their total 17, and securing their 4th place position for the foreseeable future. Windsor also fared relatively well, all things considered, and managed to score a net 2 Constructor's Points, taking them to 8, while the only remaining of their close rivals - Quantos - slipped backwards from 7 to 6 points. ACAE held their 5th consecutive race with 0 net points, and their 6th overall in the season. Erit actually scored a net 1 point, bringing their total back from -11 to -10. Tikam held their -9 points for the second race running. As far as the Team Points were concerned, the main story of the race was Octan taking the lead in the constructors' title battle by a single point, with 82 to National's 81.
Race 10 - Jutvyrda
Race 10 took place in Jutvyrda for the first time ever, where Southern Sports had spent nearly $300 Million Krens on landing a three-year deal to bring Formula Lego to their home country of Jelispsobva, hoping that their nearly $500 Million Kren investment into Osborne would bring them a home race victory. It was not to be. Thanks to their abysmal support of the team, poor management, and seeming lack of understanding over how to run an FL team, Osborne reached a new low point in Jutvyrda; All three of their cars were disqualified before the start of the race for three different reasons. It was found that Avayah Osborne's Brake Pads had not been replaced for three races longer than any set was allowed to be used, Ella Fader's Car still had not replaced the sidepods on its car, which were now bare on both sides, as the simple fastenings required to bolt on panels were not within the team's budget, and Sira Bowler's Car was running axle configurations that were much cheaper to manufacture and maintain, but were also highly illegal. All three cars were disqualified just after qualifying finished.
Julia Young led the race from the line, while her teammate, Adrienne De Leon, became embroiled in a tight battle, and managed to pull out a sizeable lead. With Jutvyrda's altitude (not comparable to Verskaell, but still very very high), Kryze's Angel propelled her though the field, after starting in P7. The higher power and straight-line speed of Rosya's National took him past De Leon on track on Lap 34. De Leon fought him for a few laps, but realised she wasn't getting anywhere very quickly, and switched to a very conservative Tire Management Strategy, aiming to potentially beat Rosya on Tire Strategy, rather than pure speed. However, it seemed that she had started onto the new strategy much to late for it to be effective against the pure speed of the National she was racing for the Title. However, Kryze's field storm was beginning to come into play. She very quickly passed De Leon, and began chasing down Rosya as well. Rosya attempted to coax more speed out of his aging tires, but Kryze neatly passed him with just under 10 laps to go. However, in an exciting twist of events, he had burned through his tires and was in danger of a puncture thanks to his last ditch efforts to keep second place. With just 8 laps to go, he pitted for new tires, bringing him back out onto the track just a few car lengths ahead of De Leon. She took P3 with 7 laps to go, as his tires warmed up. However, with just three laps remaining, He began to close the gap back down between them, and on the final lap, passed De Leon for the final podium position, extending her Podium-less streak to 3 races.
Rosya Extended his title lead to 20 points over De Leon, who once again failed to outscore him. With her Win, Julia Young took P5 in the standings, But due to Anna Aster and Eva Sayll finishing P5 and P6 respectively, National outscored Octan on Constructor's Points, retaking the Championship lead, with 91 to Octan's 90 points. Quantos and Windsor both scored 2 points, bringing them to 8 and 10 points respectively. Osborne fell to -22 points, which would be their final resting place for the season. Meanwhile, both Tikam and Erit fell a point, to -10 and -11 respectively. Fire, quite safe in 3rd overall, had found that their FW5 was horrifically underpowered at high altitudes, and had suffered, with a now 2 race long point-less streak. Angel cleared themselves further into a safe 4th place, scoring a further 7 Constructor's points.
Race 11 - Rennia
A surprise Announcement before the Penultimate Race caught many off guard. In a Press Release two days before the race, Windsor announced that Grace Evans had been released from her Contract, and Avayah Osborne had been hired to replace her for the remainder of the Season. Just a few hours later, another surprise announcement caught even more off guard: Angel announced that Leo Martin would be leaving the team, and that Ella Fader had been hired to race the last two races for the Mezhdograd based Squad. After just finishing had become impressive for the two Ex-Osborne Racers, many eyes were peeled to see if they actually had as much talent as their teammates and bosses had attested.
Octan locked out the front 3 positions on the grid, and National placed P4, P6, and P7, with Josep Vikalkin marking a final turn in Fire's form through the year. In her first weekend in the Windsor, Avayah Osborne qualified P10, ahead of her temporary teammates Ilic and Stryke (Who qualified P11 and P17 respectively). Fader qualified P18, much lower than her Angel Teammates, but above even Martin's most recent qualifying session.
The three Octan drivers held their lead and supported each other quite well through the first stint of the race, after Diana Perko let Adrienne De Leon through to the front, from where she lengthened a lead, without pressuring her tires too much. Meanwhile, Josep Vikalkin was passed by Aleks Rosya and Anna Aster quite quickly. After the first round of Pit Stops (out of up to 5 potential necessary pit stops at Rennia), the Octans remained out in the front. They decided to run for a 3-stop strategy, while National attempted a much more risky, but potentially beneficial 2-stop strategy. The Windsor & Fire drivers were given the option by their teams to choose which strategy to go with. All of them ended up choosing Octan's 3-stop strategy, except for Zarya Ilic, who decided to attempt the 2-stop. National's strategy proved to be effective against the slower Fires and Windsors, although they did manage to keep up better than expected with their faster tyres. However, Octan managed to drive off into the distance in comparison to the field. However, what was looking like it was going to be a podium lock-out turned to disaster after Julia Young, who was in P3, and running slightly longer on her tires than her teammates to allow them to get more favourable pit stops, suffered a major puncture, and began to fall through the order. She managed to get back to the pits, and change tires, and get back on track, several seconds behind Meaghen Bolt, running in P26, dead last (apart from Fire's Sarah Martins, who had suffered a DNF due to an engine failure). However, throughout the rest of the race, Young moved back up to P19, which was impressive, especially on the street track that wasn't known for having good passing. Rosya passed his teammates by lap 40, and as the rest of the Midfield pack (with 2 Fires and a Windsors each) as they took their extra pitstop, he moved up to the last podium place, and maintained that distant P3 throughout the rest of the race, although he never really managed to clear the tight pack running between P3 and P9. With just 8 laps to go, Windsor, who had surprised by being quite competitive over the weekend, even with a Team Rookie Driver, suffered a heartbreak, when Zarya Ilic lost a tyre bearing and crashed into a barrier at incredibly high speeds. However, due to the nature of where she crashed, and her own safety, the race was not stopped, and the car was moved off the track within 30 seconds of the crash. De Leon finished the race several seconds ahead of Perko, and a whopping 34.890 seconds ahead of Rosya, who finished P3. The gap between P3 and P8 was incredibly low, though, with just 5.285 seconds across the 6 cars.
De Leon halved the points gap between her and Rosya, down to just 10 points, meaning she needed to outscore him by at least three positions at the final race to stop him from completing his title defence, and becoming the second of nine Champions to do so across 12 Formula Lego Seasons. Osborne's P8 not only cleared her of any claims that she was only on the grid through her father's (or her own personal) control over Osborne Racing, and nearly certainly guaranteed her a spot on the grid during the next season. Vikalkin also retook P5 overall from Young due to her point-less finish.
Octan's 9 point race and National's 8 point race brought them level on points going into the final race, at 99 points a piece. Fire broke a 2-race pointless streak, scoring a net 3 points, despite Martins' DNF, bringing them to 56 points. Angel failed to score, so maintained their 24 point, relatively safe 4th place. Markovic and Gutnik scoring the last 2 Constructor's points positions for Quantos, behind Windsor's Osborne, brought them equal on points with Windsor, who scored a +1 and -1 point, brining them to a net 0 point race. ACAE continued their 7-race 0 point streak, and maintained their -2 points. Erit did not score, leaving them at -11 points for the time being, where Tikam fell to, after Meaghen Bolt's last place finish.
Race 12 - Cagne Island
As Formula Lego returned to the Cagne Island for the 61st time, and the 2nd time during Season 12, there was a huge amount on the line for many drivers and teams. Adrienne De Leon, coming off a win in Rennia at the previous race, was hoping to outscore her championship rival, and defending Champion, Aleks Rosya, by at least three positions in the final race, to secure herself a title. Octan and National, on the team side of things, entered the final event tied on points for 1st place in the Constructor's Championship. Further down the order, Quantos and Windsor sat tied at 10 points for 5th place, and Tikam and Erit sat tied for 9th place, ahead of only the distant last of Osborne, who had withdrawn from the championship for the last two races of the season.
Once again proving that he really could qualify when it mattered, Aleks Rosya scored pole ahead of all three Octan drivers, after scoring only 1 pole throughout the entirety of his first Title-winning season, and 4 others throughout Season 12. Diana Perko, De Leon's teammate, placed P2 in Qualifying, ahead of De Leon. From the start of the race, all eyes were on Perko, De Leon, and Rosya. Perko allowed De Leon through to try and chase down Rosya, who pulled an early lead on the first lap, but opted to stay close to De Leon in order to hopefully pull Rosya down the order enough throughout the race that De Leon might secure the Title. However, Rosya remained tantalizingly close, yet out of reach for De Leon, always being just out of reach, pitting perfectly to avoid either the undercut or overcut. De Leon put all she had into her Octan, but Rosya's National sailed just ahead of her, with Rosya giving the impression that he was not only having fun with this, but not working terribly hard to extract all that the car could give him. Over the radio, he was heard to remark that "The breeze [was] quite nice, out here in front." as well as constantly asking for the gap not only to De Leon in P2, but Perko, who spent most of the race in P4, and the entire rest of the field. After a race that was expertly and perfectly executed by both title contenders, but also in a way quite boring, Rosya finished in first, ahead of a dejected De Leon, who had finished second to him in the Championship for the 2nd time in her 2-season career. With a remarkable amount of fanfare, even if a distinct lack of drama was also present, Aleks Rosya became the second driver to win a second Driver's Title. De Leon also began to resemble her idol, Lily Gasly, in yet another way - a female Octan driver, with obvious raw talent, and several overall P2 finishes that were tantalizingly close to being Title victories.
Anna Aster managed to work her way past both the other Octans, to finish on the last podium step. Between the 2 non title-contending drivers that each National and Octan employed, each team scored 5 points, meaning that, with Rosya's P1 bagging National 5 points compared to De Leon taking home 4 for Octan with P2, Rosya also won the Constructor's Title for National as well, by just a single point, overtaking Octan as the team with the second most Constructor's Titles, and overtaking Osborne as the team with the most Driver's Titles.
Windsor's Stryke suffered a DNF, and coupled with Zarya Ilic's P8, Windsor scored a net 0 points. However, Quantos decided both of their final positions, when (much earlier in the race), Kaz Gacesa crashed out, bringing them a total of -1 points for the race, giving Windsor an overall P5 finish throughout their first season. ACAE scored two rare points, bringing their total to 0 points for the season. Tikam's Meaghen Bolt finished last for the second race running, bringing their total to -12 points, just losing out on P8 overall to Erit, who scored 0 points over the race weekend.
Josep Vikalkin and Julia Young tied for P5 overall, with 595 points a piece. Diana Perko, in her second season with Octan, finished P3 overall, fairly well clear of National's Eva Sayll. Anna Aster, who had missed several races throughout the season after a major injury, scored only P8 overall, distant from both P7 and 9, which were taken by Fire's Camilla Cyne and Windsor's Zarya Ilic, respectively.
Final Results
| Standing | Name | Team | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Aleks Rosya | National | 815 |
| Runner-up | Adrienne De Leon | Octan | 800 |
| 3 | Diana Perko | Octan | 660 |
| 4 | Eva Sayll | National | 595 |
| 5 | Josep Vikalkin | Fire | 525 |
| 5 | Julia Young | Octan | 525 |
| 7 | Camilla Cyne | Fire | 520 |
| 8 | Anna Aster | National | 485 |
| 9 | Zarya Ilic | Windsor | 350 |
| 10 | Aurora Kryze | Angel | 340 |
| 11 | Milena Markovic | Quantos | 310 |
| 12 | Jakov Franjic | Angel | 295 |
| 13 | Adrjana Gutnik | Quantos | 205 |
| 14 | Sarah Martins | Fire | 190 |
| 15 | Ariadne Stryke | Windsor | 180 |
| 16 | Ani Novak | ACAE | 140 |
| 17 | Avayah Osborne | Osborne /
Windsor |
70 |
| 18 | Léo Martin | Angel | 50 |
| 19 | Aca Larsen | ACAE | 40 |
| 20 | Konstantin Bosko | Tikam | 25 |
| 21 | Sofia Deitsch | Tikam | 20 |
| 22 | Ella Fader | Osborne /
Angel |
15 |
| 23 | Diego Gonzalez | Erit Victor | 5 |
| 24 | Kaz Gacesa | Quantos | 0 |
| 25 | Jakaya Katrik | ACAE | 0 |
| 26 | Grace Evans | Windsor | 0 |
| 27 | Sarah Aither | Erit | 0 |
| 28 | Meaghen Bolt | Tikam | 0 |
| 29 | Elizabeth Collet | Erit | 0 |
| 30 | Sira Bowler | Osborne | 0 |
| Standing | Team Name | Team Manager | Technical Officer | Points | Const. Titles | Driver Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | National | Jenny Spalding | Griffin King | 109 | 4 | 5 |
| Runner-up | Octan | Hadley Benett | Mikael Cagne | 108 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Fire | Lila Abeke | Ermyth Alded | 58 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Angel | Mara Powers | Mark Reiber | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Windsor | Muhammad Ivic | Oscar Windsor | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Quantos | Sarkis Mesic | Sanja Eydus | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | ACAE | Emil Ayers | Rose Cote | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Erit-Victor | Andrei Tzetzes | Pierre Zendeli | -11 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Tikam | Victor Foley | Monique Korvic | -12 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Osborne | Steve Beric | Ayn Solka | -22 | 5 | 4 |
Post Season
After the curtain fell on a highly dramatic, if anticlimactic season, Octan, the 2nd overall team, found themselves under investigation for a Safety Violation, specifically relating to the height of their side pods, which were decided to be not up to regulation. However, a detailed investigation by the EotLPGP Commission, at the behest of Octan after being found guilty of regulation violation, found that they likely gained minimal to no performance benefits from the height violation. Because of that finding, the EotLP GP Commission did not disqualify Octan from the season's championships, but instead fined them 1.7 million Krens for the safety risks they incurred and poised towards their drivers.
One of the brand new teams on the grid, Windsor, was also investigated for the same reason, but they were found to be out of regulation only depending on the accuracy of measuring techniques and devices. Therefore, the EotLP GP Commission, and a body of representatives from the teams decided that Windsor could safely be assumed to be unaware of their violation, and they were not penalised or fined in any way for their technical misdemeanour.
As the fallout of Octan's huge fine began to sink in, they were hit with another, unexpected loss, their Technical Chief Officer, Mikael Cagne announced that, after many years with Octan, as a Driver, Driving Champion, and later Technical Officer, he was retiring to his Familial Palace on Cagne Island. Octan thanked him with a Lavish party at the Octan Headquarters in Karebyr, where they also announced his replacement for S13, Octan's Team Strategy Leader since Season 8, Alberto Binleska.
Two days after the finale that they were supposed to have fielded 3 cars in, Southern Sports announced the buyer of their disastrous investment of a team, a Racing conglomerate with tendrils in many other racing categories and sports, named Dragon Ltd. They announced that they had upped the budget for the team, especially in the R&D department. The new owners began their Tenure by dismissing Ayn Solka and Steve Beric from leading the team which would race under the name Dragon. To replace them, they internally hired Athena Dimas to fill the role of Technical Officer, and hired FL Legend Valerie Keplerus to take up the mantle as Team Manager
Tikam, one of the four new entries in Season 12, had suffered greatly, and found themselves in need of a capital injection. Their Engine Partner, Halbeck, who wanted a more noticeable presence within Formula Lego, rather than just a back-ground Engine Supply Deal, offered them the cash they needed to continue racing for one season (with several different options for extending that tenure, if both parties could come to an agreement), in exchange for naming rights. To that end, Tikam re-applied for their racing license under the name "Tikam-Halbeck Racing Autosport" called "Tikam-Halbeck" or "T-H" for short.
Quantos, who had run to the end of their 3-year commitment to FL, reaffirmed that they would race in FL for at least another 5 years, committing at least until S17.
Dragon also announced that their commitment would be at least 5 years.