Well. This was it. The grand finale. The last dance of ALR Season 18. And for BlueDragon Racing, it started with about as much joy as a wasp in your crash helmet.

Orrak1 had a nightmare of a qualifying session, trapped behind slower cars like a cheetah stuck in rush hour traffic. He ended up 11th, despite having pace for at least 7th. Meanwhile, Radiate 79 was dead last in 13th, staring at the entire grid’s rear ends like a man in the wrong queue at the supermarket.

The Sprint was nine laps of chaos. Pole went to S4RG34NT, Rocket was second, and Walzy GT — a stand-in, because half the grid apparently decided to stay home — took third.

Lights out, and chaos erupted immediately. ChaosDruid fluffed his start from 7th, leaving a juicy opening for Orrak1, who pounced into the lead for a fleeting moment. But ChaosDruid wasn’t having that. He lunged back into first at Turn 1 with a move that was frankly insane but somehow clean.

Radiate 79 made early progress too, leaping past Naudie in Turn 1. The pair then swapped places more often than a drunk couple trying to decide who’s driving home. By the end of Lap 1, Orrak1 was 11th, glued to the back of Dangermouse, while Radiate was dead last in 13th but hunting Naudie like a man possessed.

Then, drama. Into Turn 2 on Lap 2, M.Beaumont and Bladerunner collided. Bladerunner went into the wall, rejoining dead last and presumably inventing some new swear words. Meanwhile, Orrak1 climbed to 9th, Radiate clawed up to 12th.

At the end of Lap 4, Orrak1 copped a 0.5-second penalty — the racing equivalent of being slapped with a wet fish — and had to let M.Beaumont through. Worse yet, the BMW’s top speed was about as potent as a pensioner on a bicycle, leaving both BlueDragon cars vulnerable on the straights.

By mid-Lap 3, Radiate finally nailed Naudie, starting a heroic charge back toward the pack.

By the end of Lap 5, Orrak1 was all over Dangermouse and M.Beaumont. Lap 6? Absolute mayhem. Dangermouse snatched back 8th in Turn 1, but Orrak1 lunged at Beaumont into Turn 3. They barrelled side by side into Turn 4, and by Turn 5, Orrak1 finally muscled through.

Lap 7 brought more fireworks. Radiate 79 made a brave dive on Beaumont in Turn 1, claiming 10th like a man grabbing the last sausage roll at Greggs. So, at the start of Lap 7, it was Orrak1 9th, Radiate 10th.

But the drama wasn’t done. On Lap 8, Turn 2, M.Beaumont snatched back the final reverse grid pole position from Radiate, dropping the BlueDragon driver to 11th. It was a clean, decisive move — no messing about.

Despite heavy pressure from Beaumont, Orrak1 held on to finish 9th, while Radiate crossed the line in 11th, heartbreakingly close to the reverse pole.

It was a proper scrap. Overtakes everywhere. Penalties. Bent panels. And for BlueDragon Racing, a race that showed flashes of pace but ended just shy of the big rewards.

ALR Season 18 Finale — Feature Race Recap

Right. The Feature Race. Twenty-three laps of absolute mayhem, heartbreak, and moments of brilliance — the sort of race that makes you question why you even bother, but also why you can’t ever stop.

It all started fairly politely, with M.Beaumont on pole, Orrak1 in second, ChaosDruid third, and poor Radiate79 way down in 13th.

Lap 1 was surprisingly civilised, apart from Naudie earning himself a 1.5-second penalty — the racing equivalent of dropping your ice cream the moment you buy it — handing Radiate a free place.

Then Lap 2 exploded into life. Beaumont went wide, opening the door for Orrak1 to snatch the lead, with Dangermouse breathing down his neck like a bloodhound. Radiate, meanwhile, was locked in an epic fight with Turbo Driver, and while the BMW’s top speed was as useful as a chocolate teapot, Radiate still managed to squeeze past in Turn 3. Moments later, S4RG34NT ploughed straight into the wall, gifting Radiate yet another spot.

But Lap 4 was when it all went properly sideways. Radiate made a small error, allowing Naudie back through — but then promptly stuffed it into the corner too hot and punted Naudie into a spin, leaving Naudie to resume dead last. Radiate, rattled, slipped back to 11th.

Disaster wasn’t done. On the same lap, Orrak1 chopped the chicane so hard he may as well have driven through someone’s garden, earning a brutal 2-second penalty. Because the penalty zone is slap bang in the middle of the straight, he dropped from first to eighth faster than you can say “BMW brakes.”

Orrak fought back, overtaking Dee Dubbs and reclaiming places from Beaumont, clawing his way up to 6th by Lap 6. Except… penalties kept biting. Another chicane cut on Lap 7 cost him dearly, dropping him back to 10th.

Meanwhile, Radiate pulled off the move of the season: a mad dive into Turn 1 that vaulted him from 10th to 6th in one go. It was ridiculous. It was risky. It was brilliant.

From there, chaos reigned. Radiate was holding up a train of cars, allowing Orrak1 to rejoin the pack. Turbo Driver had a spin, promoting Radiate to 6th and Orrak1 to 8th. Then Orrak1 forced Dee Dubbs into a mistake, moving up again.

By Lap 18, after pit stops, it was Radiate in 5th, Orrak1 in 6th, and Dee Dubbs lurking ominously behind. Then on Lap 19, Orrak1 pulled off a daring outside move on Radiate into Turn 1, taking over 5th place. The two BlueDragon drivers were now scrapping for pride, paint, and possibly the last donut in the pit garage.

Then Adz45 got involved, passing Radiate into Turn 1… only to stuff it into the barriers four corners later. The race order reset yet again.

But the tyres were dying. Orrak1’s rubber finally cried enough by Lap 22. Radiate, on fresher tyres, sailed back past him. And on the final lap, Dee Dubbs mugged Radiate for 5th, leaving the BlueDragon duo to finish 6th and 7th.

So ended the Feature Race — a storm of overtakes, penalties, and brave, borderline insane moves. It wasn’t quite the fairytale ending for BlueDragon Racing, but my word… it was entertaining.

Roll on next season.