2026 Spring Formula D International's 1st Series

The 1st Race of the 2026 Spring Formula D International's 1st Series

The first team to show up is WallyWorld Racing, a new entrant with some (non-sanctioned) experience. Known as The Great Gazoo (Wild Wally) is driving Car #1 and Wilder Wally (often confused from Fred Flintstone) is driving Car #2. The blogosphere projects carnage and the occasional need for a pit stop for repairs - no more than twice per race. Welcome, WallyWorld Racing!

The second team to show up is a miraculously revivified Victor Eelap (in Car #1) and his team-mate Weil Spihn (in Car #2). The team's name was going to be Scheldt Racing, but like the mythological Phoenix, the team's old name has returned: Tombstone Racing. For those who don't know what happened to Victor, pushing hard on a beaten-up car, he blasted through a corner and his vehicle crashed and he was thought dead. Somehow, he's back again. Apparently he MIGHT have been hiding for tax reasons and TMZ has confided that he was revivified by the unsanctioned veterinary (played by Billy Crystal) who has some dubious machine to revivify those that were only 'partly dead'. The whole thing stinks of deviltry and column-inches. Welcome, Tombstone Racing...Again.

The third team is the venerable (not as 'fine wine', but more like 'very old cheese left in the sun') Team Poderoso Sporin fielding drivers Guadalupe MacDougal (Car #1) and Hamish Rodriguez (Car #2). They are the Kings of Scottish Funk. They do have the advantage of having infinite Chalupas and Gordidas to power their cutting-edge (for the Taco shells) driver-powered cars. There are some concerns about the ecological impacts, but the last investigator swooned and ended up as a Burrito Zombie. Welcome Team Poderoso Sporin - may you stink to victory!

The fourth team joining us is Prime Apex Motorsport with Oliver Grant (Car #1) and Marco DeLuca (Car #2). These are neophytes in FDI racing, but we expect their precise, calculated approach should let them get up to speed! Now, at one point, some pundits said that Prime Apogee Motorspace would be their team name, but the prime (one Ryban Thriw of questionable parentage) was convinced by the rest of the team and reminded the prime that it wasn't a 'motorspace' but a 'motorsport' and that Apex is more autoracing compared to Apogee from aerospace projects. Welcome Prime Apex Motorsport - the crew have been warned that the drivers need at least one large coffee before any race.

The fifth team (or perhaps a fifth wheel...) has a prior history - both in racing and in building giant death balls! Welcome to Team Sidious with Darth Moto (Car #1) and Lord Torque (Car #2). Their tactics are known to be rub a lot and hope that somethings falls off other drivers' cars. There have been a few yellow cards in past series - something about some sort of kinetic throat choke... the Commissioner reminded the Teams' drivers that discipline and order are required. Welcome to Team Sidious! Just keep it fair and legal!

The first race will be Flaming Man GP, created to honour 'the Phoenix' Romain Grosjean (from an unsanctioned body calle the FIA) where a fiery crash saw a recovery and return to racing. Maybe some of the Teams in FDI 2026 will show their own ability to get up again after a rough outting. It's always to think positively!

Race Results

In the early going, Team Poderoso Sporin took an early lead (which often happens when they start on the pole or within 1 or 2 slots below). For a long time, most commentators suggested Team Poderoso Sporin would be a run-away victory, but that was premature; Flaming Man GP is long, with many tight corners and long straights... both of which can lead to collisions and damage from debris on the track. Sadly, Team Poderoso Sporin pushed so hard that they had failures leaving them parked in the gravel.

The track took three cars by the half way point and some other cars were worn down significantly. Some of the early, high-speed runs and the crushes with cars rubbing each other... well, for a while, some spectators thought this was NASCAR! By the end of the day, five cars crossed the checkered flag while the early DNFs were all ready catching up on their beer and crying in their helmets while a few more were still dragging along the service roads as fluids and bits of the broken cars reigned down.

One advancement from the last 2011 series included significant crash protection and the inclusion of special AI-triggered air bags and additional ablative crush zones... all in all, we expect zero fatalities (though some careers could be in jepoardy!). In the last session, there were fatalities. We respect their losses.

From a slow start, Team Sidious Motors but played a very efficient and careful race (perhaps with some 'Force' powers, but perhaps more likely be because of Team Sidious sending some Imperial Credits to some teams or even some Formula D International officials...). They managed to survive (I see Lord Vader has learned how to not destroy his vehicles so frequently...) and ended up #1 and #2. Perhaps the rest of the teams need to call for some help from the Jedi Order!

Team Apex Racing was middle of the pack for a while, but when it came to DNFs and smashed other cars, they were canny and conservative and then they had what they needed to finish the race with respectable #3 and #4 positions. Near the end, there was a possibility that a Team Apex Racing could have come in second, but it was not to be. Still, the new team is looking good! (More beard, less face = VICTORY!).

Team Tombstone Racing had one serious error that beat one of the cars heavily in the first lap. In the early parts of the first lap, there were also problems with the fuel and in the second lap there were problems with the fuel computer leaving both Team Tombstone dropped down in the positions. With some tough fighting, Team Tombstone had a chance as high as #5 and perhaps #6 as well, but one close collision from Weil Spihn into Victor Eelap, taking both cars out of the race. Due to the high DNF situation, Victor Eelap caught #6 position despite not finishing. Perhaps the next race will see better results.

WildWilly Racing had trouble in the early days, a result of new drivers on a very hard track. The Great Gizoo did not survive the second lap, but his team mate Wilder (aka Flintstone) was heading for a spot just below the points. Providence sometimes goes your way; the disaster that befell Team Tombstone and removed both of their cars from the game and Flintstone hit the gas (pedal power actually!) and took #5 which is quite respectable from anyone in their first race. We expect great things in the future from WildWally Racing!

Team Sidious got to hear the Imperial March and (Vader) Torque's March both on the podium, with the last music was a strange choice of music representing Team Apex Racing - Patricia the Stripper! Congratulations to the leading team Team Sidious and their drivers Lord Torque and Darth Moto. Tombstone Racing promises when their team is the top dog, it will be Techno and Trace all the day and night!

Next Race: Sydney Motorsport Park down under, where the cars THUNDER!

Interlagos, Brazil

Interlagos proved to be a decent last-minute substitute for Long Beach when logistical issues precluded the execution of the Long Beach GP.

This circuit is very fast, with long straightaways that see the cars get up to over 200 mph. There are a couple of complex corners to slow things down and insure some significant downshifting if a driver botches his approach, but otherwise the course is flat-out, pedal-to-the-metal racing.

This day saw Team Poderoso Sporin's Gaudalupe MacDougal, previously bereft of any points in the series due to his inability to conclude a race, taking the pole position in qualifying and running a commanding race. An early breakaway took Gaudalupe and two other racers away from the main scrum and he never looked back, running his own race with near flawless precision and only bothering to make a single pit stop.

Victor Eelap, running for Tombstone Racing had a horrendous crash on the back straightaway approximately halfway through the race. His car hit debris on the track, spun, bounced off of a retaining wall, caught air, and flipped end over end in the air before coming to rest upside down.

Unfortunately, Victor was seriously injured in the accident, with a broken spine, several shattered ribs, and a subdural hematoma. Medical experts have indicated that Victor may one day walk again, but his racing days are over.

This was a very hard blow to take for Tombstone Racing, who were running well in the top half of the pack and had the potential to challenge Team Poderoso Sporin for the lead at one point. The engineers of Tombstone Racing have vowed to revisit the car design to ensure there is no repeat of this accident.

Pretty Pink Ponies' driver Sun Princess drove an excellent race, as did Team Poderoso Sporin's Gaudalupe MacDougall. MacDougall's army of Scottish/Mexican fans are currently embroiled in a divisive dispute over whether they are Mexish or Scotican, but either way, they are solidly behind Gaudalupe!

Smitholine Motor Oil driver Racer X had a hard day, attempting late braking and blowing through a corner, tearing off all 4 tires in a spectacular display of shredding rubber and blowing brake calipers. That was an unfortunate race ender for the rookie driver.

Dozois' Auto-Vitesse driver Racer 3B struggled throughout the day, at times making good progress, but seemingly hampered by engineering problems with his car. We expect to see better results out of this young rookie once his team gets the kinks in their car design sorted out.

Overall, a great day of racing for race fans. With the season approaching the halfway point, IMW has a strong but not insurmountable lead. Second and third are close enough and behind that, the season is still entirely up in the air as one good finish could radically change the outcome.

Long Beach, fast and tricky!

Long beach has several fast straights, a sharp hairpin, and quite a few tricky corners. It's a fast track, but if you screw up, regret you will have in spades!

Next Circuit: Watkin's Glen

Three weeks to Watkin's Glen in upstate New York; Teams prepare furiously and the track is expected to be quick and exciting!



One turn rated difficulty 2, the rest are difficulty 1 and a lot of fast corners and flat out straights are expected!

The National Capital Racing League is working on some regulatory changes to avoid some of the straightaway contact we saw during the race in Shanghai. These rules are expected to be in place for Watkin's Glen.

Shanghai in Sun and Rain

With a starting field of 8 drivers representing 8 disparate teams, Shanghai promised to be an exciting race. Weather that started out volatile, moved into pouring rain a third of the way through the first lap, and stayed that way until the middle of the second lap, and then sunny weather came back to stay only contributed to add to the excitement!

The race saw the early elimination of the newly recovered Guadalupe MacDougal of Team Poderoso Sporin from collision damage, shortly to be followed by Victory Eelap of Tombstone Racing due to body damage. Racer X of Smitholine Motor Oil went out in the third lap due to a critcial braking failure coming out of the second last corner.

Of the remaining field, Alice Gibbons of Initorque Motor Works took the checkered flag, followed closely by Darth Moto of Team Sidious. Behind the Sith came Racer 3B from Dozois' Auto-Vitesse, Simon Garfunkel of Sixty-Nine Racing, and Luka Filipov of Serbian Speedworks.