Formula Lego: Season 03
Season 3 was the most controversial and unsettling season of its time. It saw Octan take their third consecutive Constructor's Title, and saw Mikael Cagne win Octan's second Driver's Title.
Team Rosters
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Josep Vikalkin | 2 Seasons Osborne |
| 39 | 15 | Philip Mazepin | Rookie |
| 3 | 3 | Jacob Norris | 2 Seasons Osborne |
| 31 | 11 | Wilford LeClerc | 1 Season Osborne |
| 5 | 5 | George Sainz | 2 Seasons Osborne |
| 32 | 12 | Zhuri Alonso | 1 Season Osborne |
| 7 | 7 | Avayah Osborne | 2 Seasons Osborne |
| 29 | 16 | Ava Raikkonen | Team Rookie, 2 Seasons Octan |
| 9 | 9 | Nocah Tsunoda | 2 Seasons Osborne |
| 23 | 14 | Lily Gasly | Team Rookie, 2 Seasons Octan |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | Vance Lewison | 2 Seasons National, S2 Champion |
| 33 | 16 | Denise Perez | Team Rookie, 1 Season Osborne |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Drugovitch | 2 Seasons National |
| 14 | 4 | Sira Bowler | 2 Seasons National |
| 2 | 17 | Kyle Giovinazzi | Team Rookie, 2 Seasons Osborne |
| 34 | 11 | Niki Verschoor | 1 Season National |
| 35 | 12 | Pierre Zendeli | 1 Season National |
| 40 | 18 | Cheryl Armstrong | Rookie |
| 41 | 19 | Lance Petecof | Rookie |
| 42 | 20 | Yuki Nannini | Rookie |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | Salem Hoods | 2 Seasons Octan, S1 Champion |
| 22 | 2 | Mikael Cagne | 2 Seasons Octan |
| 43 | 11 | Natasha Hughes | Rookie |
| 24 | 4 | Thomas Collett | 2 Seasons Octan |
| 44 | 12 | Anna Aster | Rookie |
| 26 | 6 | Logan Latifi | 2 Seasons Octan |
| 27 | 7 | Eva Sayll | 2 Seasons Octan |
| 28 | 8 | Jacob Cordeel | 2 Seasons Octan |
| 45 | 13 | Debra Edgar | Rookie |
| 30 | 10 | Jeremy Cohen | 2 Seasons Octan |
Season Progression
Octan Rookie Natasha Hughes took pole, and won the first race with a 52 second gap before her teammate Mikael Cagne crossed the line in 2nd, followed by the National of Sira Bowler.
Hughes one again took pole before Race 2, but a strategy error from her pit-crew saw her passed on track by Cagne and Bowler, and she ended up finishing P3, and Bowler taking the first win of her career.
Due to her indescribable pace, Hughes was the favoured winner of the season after just those two races, followed closely by Bowler, but a tragedy in Race 3 would completely throw those odds into turmoil.
In the 14th lap of Race 3, Hughes was leading, with 7 other racers close on her tail, when her left-front tire blew out, and caused her to spin and flip, which in turn led to six of the seven racers right behind her to come to jarring halts as they struggled to stop, and crashed into each other, and Hughes. Just 10 seconds after the initial crash, 7 of the front-running 8 racers had crashed, and only Mikael Cagne was left unscathed, but he stopped his Octan to check on the other drivers. His position in first place was saved as the Safety Car pulled out, and race control called a red-flag. All seven racers involved in the crash - Hughes, Bowler, Josep Vikalkin, Vance Lewison, Salem Hoods, Philip Mazepin, and Jacob Norris-were taken to the hospital, and the race continued. Cagne won from the restart, followed by Osborne's Lily Gasly, and Octan's Eva Sayll, however the entire race was slower than normal, less focused, and saw much less action, as all 23 remaining drivers drove carefully, their minds pinned on Hughes’ flipping and rolling Car.
For the 4th race, Lewison, Vikalkin, and Mazepin were cleared to race again, and Vikalkin powered to a furious first place, beginning a history of winning from injuries, and Lewison and Mazepin coming 5th and 7th, respectively. Hughes remained in a coma in Intensive Care, with severe trauma to her entire body, while Norris, Hoods, and Bowler all also remained in the hospital, undergoing treatment for the injuries they, too, sustained from the crash.
By the fifth race, Bowler and Hoods were both cleared to Return to the track. Cagne's huge, 2-race, 135-point advantage seemed impossibly to overcome, but Bowler had full intentions of trying, and won Race 5 ahead of Cagne and Lewison, bringing Cagne's lead down to just 130 points, far more than could be overcome with only one more race to go. Mikael Cagne was granted the title of Formula Lego Driver's Title Champion after the fifth race of the season, a historic first. Elsewhere on the track, all of the racers who had been out for one race, or more, were fighting to regain their positions on the leaderboard after others who normally fell behind the rest of the pack found huge point gains by not crashing for a race.
Jacob Norris was cleared to drive again for Race 6, but after gaining no points for half the season, the man who had been projected to come in the top 5 only scratched out 13th place overall. Just hours before the final race, the news was released that Natasha Hughes had succumbed to her injuries, and passed away, despite a significant upturn in her health the previous day, when she had awoken from her coma. Several news outlets reported that her last words were “Tell them to race better,” although these reports couldn't be substantiated.
The death of Hughes caused great emotional damage among the drivers, and the beginning of Season 4 had to be delayed at the request of 20 racers. However, this did give their engineers time to make large changes to their Power Units.
Technical Details
For this Season, Osborne Racing ran on the Osb15A Chassis, and the OsbA20F Power Unit.
Octan ran on the OE20C10 Chassis and the UX3 Engine.
National fielded the OE20C10N Chassis and the UX3N Power Unit.