Little did I realise when I announced this race what a prophetic title "Tunnel Vision" would turn out to be. Oh My God! If I never have to look at a screenshot or video of another bloody installation tunnel ever again it'll be too soon for my liking! LOL.
Anyway ... that's a wrap folks! Tunnel Vision is over and (pending any errors) the final scores are ...
So, once more from the bottom ...
Cmdr Raiko finally manages to squeeze in a run. Flying his Asp Explorer named "The Nomad", he completes a conservative 2-2-2 run in 21m34s (there were more tunnels but alas the evidence got lost along the way together with some non-essential bits of The Nomad). With a bonus time of just over a minute his final time of 20:29 puts him in 19th place. Glad you made it in the end commander!
Next and MrDragonRaaaar also slips in a run on the final day, another Asp this one called "Old Faithful". Completing a 4-4-1 run in an excellent 18:42, the 2m15s bonus puts him into a highly commendable 12th place with a final time of 16:27.
Then come the jokers ...
First it's Stern Winter, shaving 2.5m off his previous time in a 4-4-4 run taking just 19m13s. With 96% hull remaining he qualifies for nearly 4 minutes of bonus time for a final time of 15:16 that places him 8th. Brilliant racing Mr Winter!
Three places above that Cmdr <-lightspeed-> shaves 40s off his previous time which, with maximum tunnels and a 75% hull joker gives him a final time of 13:51 that puts him in 5th place just 10 seconds behind Polly's Python.
And so we're into the top 3.
Cmdr furrycat, having possibly played the joker too soon sticks in 3rd place with his brilliant 13:30 run. Very well played sir. o7
Then a surprise reappearance from Cmdr Bruski. Having switched to the ever more popular Asp Explorer at the last minute, he pushes the shieldless "Sugar Glider" around a 12 tunnel course in a pretty astonishing 15:38. Playing the joker on the remaining 86% hull he gets a huge 3m52s bonus to land firmly in 2nd place (just 39s off the top spot) with a final time of 11:46. The 12 minute barrier? Shattered. Poly's dreams of getting a Python on the podium? Shattered.
And ... in first place ... with a staggering final time of just 11 minutes 7 seconds ... it's ... CMDR COOKIEHOLE!
rapturous applause
Saving his joker for the final hours and a near as dammit perfect 14m30s run in the Imperial Courier "Crater Creator", he completes maxium tunnels with 100% hull remaining, scaring the bejesus out of the 11 minute barrier and exceding our already high expectations in the process. Once again, the crowning salute goes to ... Cookiehole.
Enormous thanks to EVERYONE for taking part. You've all been brilliant and once again have made this thread the absolute best place to be on the forum.
Also thanks for all the kind words regarding this race. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you all to keep supporting the Buckyball Races, whoever organises them. This is going to sound big headed but it's been said that I've set the bar rather high. Well whatever, please don't feel that you have to live up to any kind of standard in race organisation. I personally get a bit of a kick from going the extra mile with these but the main thing is to just have an ongoing calendar of races. If you've got an idea for one, no matter how simple, just go for it. Don't worry about the graphics, or complicated rules, or scoreboard commentary or any of that extra stuff. Announce the race and they will come. If you need help with anything then don't hesitate to ask (as long as it doesn't involve tunnels
).
New races will no doubt be announced in the Buckyball group thread (
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/193467-Buckyball-Racing-Club) so make sure you subscribe to keep up to date. As it happens, it looks like Buckyball founder Cmdr ElectricZ may be making a return from the wilderness to stage his own race entitled "Heavy Metal" ...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...-Racing-Club?p=5242304&viewfull=1#post5242304
I'd also like to send out special thanks to Drakhyr for doing some early test piloting of the course for me. His findings helped me to refine the final time bonus formula (which I have to say worked out rather well looking at the spread of competitive ships on the leaderboard) and also convinced me to rule out the Ngalkin site (and you thought LFT 1748 was bad). I should also point out that a shipment of certain "rare" goods from Fullerene C60 is currently being transported to Drakhyr who will be distributing them at next month's Elite Meet in Bristol (UK, Earth).
Until next time ... last one to "Rebuy Prospect" is buying the drinks ... fly fast Buckyballers!
P.S. it's looking like destruction tally for this race is over 100 ships destroyed and over 100 million credits in insurance payouts. I fear the BRC may have lost its no claims bonus! I'll be writing this up in a post-race Galnet article ASAP.
