Post by Anathema on Sept 29, 2020 22:30:29 GMT -5
Team Manager: Eijiro 'EJ' Kure (Anathema )
Team Summary:
Originally formed as Kure Racing in 2008, the current iteration of the team was reformed for 2020 under the leadership of longtime team boss Eijiro 'EJ' Kure after a three-year hiatus from all forms of motorsport. With the stated goal of running a single car in the GTE-Am class of the AtaGO! J-Speed Association GT Masters series and with sponsorship from one of the largest airline services in the world, Sigma Flight Solutions, the team is looking to make their mark as they return to racing in one of the premier series in RHU.
Team Backstory + Team Manager Backstory:
The original concept behind the formation of Kure Racing in 2008 was simple: "Learn how to become faster." Eijiro Kure, at the time known for his prowess on both the highways and mountain passes of Japan, came to the realization that, for him personally, sticking to only highway and touge racing was hindering his development as a driver. He wanted to become a more complete driver, and even with his acknowledged skill, he understood that improvement is a constant and should never be stopped. Eijiro, known as 'EJ', decided to form a team with a friend of his who was a semi-pro drifter/touge racer, Rin Hoshino, with the goal of mastering the art of endurance racing.
Instead of jumping straight into the top levels of endurance racing, they started relatively small; taking one of EJ's old Nissan 350Z highway cars and modifying it to fit the ST-3 class of the Saikou no Taikyu endurance series. A period of sustained success began with their 2009 entry into the ST-3 class, with two wins and 10 podiums total in 8 years of competition - and this despite never having a major sponsor or any serious financial backing. In those eight years, the team developed a reputation within the Saikou no Taikyu as a group that did things unconventionally - when most of the other teams in the ST-3 class had switched to the updated Nissan 370Z, they stuck with the same 350Z chassis that had served them without fault - thought most did not know this was purely based on financial reasons, and that Kure Racing couldn't afford to make the upgrade.
2016 was the year that set them apart from the rest of the 'semi-pro' teams in the lower classes, as they finally took their second-ever class win at the notoriously difficult Autopolis International Racing Course, after going five years without a win, and followed up this effort with two more podiums and a second place in class for the points standings at the end of the season. That was also the point when Sigma Flight Solutions, one of the world's largest airline services and commonly known as simply 'Sigma', reached out to EJ with the offer of sponsorship... if he would move the team up into the top class of the Saikou no Taikyu.
The plans were in place to run in the ST-X class (equivalent to the GT Endurance Am and JSA-GT classes) for 2017, and it seemed as if the team was ready to finally prove themselves to the rest of the teams in the Saikou no Taikyu. Eijiro and Rin finally had the money to prove that they could compete with the best, and with a new chassis and new team name to reflect their sponsorship from Sigma, everything looked perfect. At least, it was perfect, until a crash in pre-season testing at Mine Circuit nearly cost Eijiro his life.
Instead of jumping straight into the top levels of endurance racing, they started relatively small; taking one of EJ's old Nissan 350Z highway cars and modifying it to fit the ST-3 class of the Saikou no Taikyu endurance series. A period of sustained success began with their 2009 entry into the ST-3 class, with two wins and 10 podiums total in 8 years of competition - and this despite never having a major sponsor or any serious financial backing. In those eight years, the team developed a reputation within the Saikou no Taikyu as a group that did things unconventionally - when most of the other teams in the ST-3 class had switched to the updated Nissan 370Z, they stuck with the same 350Z chassis that had served them without fault - thought most did not know this was purely based on financial reasons, and that Kure Racing couldn't afford to make the upgrade.
2016 was the year that set them apart from the rest of the 'semi-pro' teams in the lower classes, as they finally took their second-ever class win at the notoriously difficult Autopolis International Racing Course, after going five years without a win, and followed up this effort with two more podiums and a second place in class for the points standings at the end of the season. That was also the point when Sigma Flight Solutions, one of the world's largest airline services and commonly known as simply 'Sigma', reached out to EJ with the offer of sponsorship... if he would move the team up into the top class of the Saikou no Taikyu.
The plans were in place to run in the ST-X class (equivalent to the GT Endurance Am and JSA-GT classes) for 2017, and it seemed as if the team was ready to finally prove themselves to the rest of the teams in the Saikou no Taikyu. Eijiro and Rin finally had the money to prove that they could compete with the best, and with a new chassis and new team name to reflect their sponsorship from Sigma, everything looked perfect. At least, it was perfect, until a crash in pre-season testing at Mine Circuit nearly cost Eijiro his life.
Team Information:
Team Tracker
Driver Sheets: Steven Wilson
Driver Sheets: Ninian von Edmund
Car Development: GTR-GTC-11
Car Development: 370Z-JSA-11
Total Credits Remaining: 5,302,500 CR (current as of Season 1, Phase 3)
Team Roster:
Steven Wilson
Nationality: American
Birthday and Age: May 20th, 24 years old
Driver Level: Level 8
License (Current XP): International C1 (1,090 XP)
Archetype: Laser Focused
Base Stats:
| Stats | ...of 20 |
| SPD | 9 |
| TNA | 6 |
| CNS | 10 |
| FNS | 10 |
| REA | 6 |
| COM | 10 |
Current Contracts & Terms:
Hiring Cost: 100,000 CR per Event
RP terms: Driver RP is controlled by original creator
Current Contracts:
FULL TIME with Sigma Kure Racing in J-Speed GT Masters (AM Class)
Profile:
Steven Wilson never had any intentions of becoming a racing driver when he was younger - he wanted to become a master mechanic and engineer, and showed an amazing aptitude for understanding how machines worked and how they were designed. At the age of 16 he was pursuing a dual-enrollment program at the top technical college in his home state of Oregon when he had a chance encounter with Geoffrey Eastrize during a race engineering and development seminar. Steven has never publicly said what made him change his career path, but after he finished his degree and graduated high school he immediately began looking for opportunities to work for a race team as a mechanic - or be a driver for the team.
One team actually was intrigued enough to make him an offer to both serve as a mechanic and a driver - SSW Powerworks, a team based in Japan who ran a Honda TCR program in the Saikyo no Taikyu endurance series. Despite not having an extensive knowledge of the Japanese language, Steven took the offer and made the move to Japan. In the six-year period that he was a member of the team, he developed quite the reputation as one of the most consistent and reliable drivers in the lower classes of the Saikyo no Taikyu - not someone who had phenomenal speed in a car, but someone who would always bring the car home in good condition and could be counted upon to find a comfortable pace for the car.
What intrigued people the most, though, was his dedication to improving his racecraft and mechanic's skills simultaneously, and it has been said that his incredible mechanical sympathy and driving style are a result of his background and knowledge of what goes into building a reliable race car. In two seasons as the lead driver for SSW Powerworks in the Honda TCR, he took only three wins but won the championship in his second season thanks to a remarkable run of consistency that never saw the team finish below 5th in a race that season. After moving up to the GT4 class, again with SSW Powerworks but this time in a BMW M4, he showed that his consistency and reliability would remain regardless of the car he was driving - despite no wins the team scored three podiums and never finished outside the top 10.
RP Notes:
- High mechanical sympathy
- Very reserved personality, but does show signs of great determination when needed
- Racing style is quiet and very focused
- Loves bagels
- Main hobby is collecting music CDs
- Apparently owns a Subaru Legacy GT-B (BG5B) and a Nissan Stagea 260RS
---
Ninian von Edmund
Nationality: German
Birthday and Age: November 6th, 23 years old
Driver Level: Level 7
License (Current XP): International C-2
Archetype: Long Runner
Base Stats:
| Stats | ...of 20 |
| SPD | 11 |
| TNA | 6 |
| CNS | 7 |
| FNS | 9 |
| REA | 6 |
| COM | 9 |
Current Contracts & Terms:
Hiring Cost: 80,000 CR per Event
RP terms: Driver RP is controlled by original creator
Current Contracts:
FULL TIME with Sigma Kure Racing in J-Speed GT Masters (AM Class)
Profile:
Ninian von Edmund was supposed to follow in the footsteps of her siblings and continue pushing the family business as the top producer of wine and fine spirits in Germany. Instead, she went racing in karting events under a pseudonym at her local race track, the EuroSpeedway Lausitz - commonly known as the Lausitzring. She managed to hide her racing activities from her family for a while, and her easy access to funds made her continued presence on the racetrack possible, but at a race sponsored by her family's business, Von Edmund Breweries, her father realized that she was an active participant, and once the race was over, banned her from driving again, citing the safety hazards and risk involved with becoming a racing driver.
Outside of simracing and simulators, she did not race again until her 18th birthday, when she abruptly left her family's estate to drive in a round of the EURO Tourer-3 Championship, this time at Zolder. Despite not having driven for four years, she put in a noteworthy and finished 7th, no longer using a pseudonym to hide her identity. Her family tried to get in contact with her and have her come back, but the only response she had for them was a single sentence: "You don't understand, and you never will." That, as far as everyone can tell, was the last time she had any contact with her family.
Instead of using her share of the family fortune to fund her racing career, she signed a low-paying contract with a midfield team who had been impressed with her showing in the Zolder race, and focused her efforts on rebuilding her racing talents for the better part of four full seasons, twice finishing 2nd overall in the Tourer-3 Championship. During this time, it was observed that her style of racing was built around maximizing the car's potential on long stints, and she showed incredible pedal control to help better manage her car's tires during a race. Given that the EURO Tourer-3 Championship was built on shorter sprint-style races, Ninian began to feel that her style of driving was not a good fit, and so took an offer to drive in the EURO Clubsport GT Cup at the wheel of a Camaro GT4.
Her two years spent in the EURO Clubsport GT Cup have been far more productive in terms of maximizing the potential of her unique skillset, with a number of wins and podium finishes en route to a 2nd place in the final standings of the Clubsport GT Cup in 2019. During all this time, she has kept to herself in regards to her past history and future goals - outside of completing her psychology degree at a university in the town of Heidelberg, Germany, nothing is really known about her private life, and asking her about anything not related to racing or psychology will result in silence.
RP Notes:
- Quiet personality both on and off the racetrack
- Known for excellent technical footwork and good endurance
- Has a habit of staring off into space, completely zoned out from the world around her
- May have hidden 'shitposting' tendencies that very rarely appear in public
- Drives a Isuzu VehiCROSS
- Favorite food is lemon-flavored hard candies
- Collects video game artbooks
Team Base
Home Region: J-Speed Association
Base Size: Small+
Staffing Capacity: 60
45/60 Staff
Advanced Engine and Machine Shop
Facility Level: Level 0
Active Staff: 0 Staff
Car Part Upgrade Progress:
Design Workshop
Facility Level: Level 0
Active Staff: 0 Staff
Car Part Upgrade Progress:
Advanced Engineering Shop
Facility Level: Level 0
Active Staff: 0 Staff
Car Part Upgrade Progress:
Autoclaves and Composite Manufacturing
Facility Level: Level 1
Active Staff: 15 Staff
Car Part Upgrade Progress:
Suspension & Wheels Upgrade for GTR-GTC-11 (Nissan GT-R GTC), 4 Phases Remaining (Starts at Phase 1)
Parts Recycling Center
Facility Level: Level 0
Per-Race Running Costs Modifier: 0%
Repair Costs Modifier: 0%
Fan Lifestyle Store
Facility Level: Level 1
Active Staff: 10 Staff
Per-Event Winnings Modifier: 25%
