Armed Forces Racing League 2025: Traction control: hero or crutch? You decide.

Report by: Dean Bowditch

Zandvoort is not kind to pretenders. It is narrow, twisty, and full of corners that seem designed to mock the overambitious. Its final banked curve is a whispered legend; “Tarzan” (Tarzanbocht) greets you early with a tight downhill hairpin, daring you to commit. The long straight promises speed. The rest of the lap will punish hesitation.

The lap times set the tone. In the real world of F1, the pole for the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix was grabbed by Oscar Piastri with a blistering 1:08.662 — the fastest qualifying lap ever at Zandvoort, breaking the circuit’s prior records. Meanwhile, the official race lap record (from 2021) by Lewis Hamilton stands at 1:11.097. 

In the Phantoms’ world? Chaos. The benchmark in our lobby: 1:09.222 — a time set by someone not in Phantoms colours. A monster. A threat. A reminder of what “fast” means. And my best — Dean Bowditch — was 1:12.226. Lacking? Perhaps. But it was hard-earned.

I blamed my traction control. It was costing me lap time — yet also saving me from spraying myself into a wall at every fast corner. You can’t always have both speed and the luxury of not molten wreckage. I entered corners hoping for mercy. I exited them praying the car was still intact. I leaned on the banking, flirted with the grip loss, nursed the throttle, begged the virtual gods for linearity. Sometimes it complied. Sometimes it did exactly the opposite.

Did I stand a chance against the 1:09.222 benchmark? No. Did I embarrass myself completely? Also no. I survived. I learned. I raced. Zandvoort is a cruel teacher. But every lap is an education.

👻 The Mighty Phantoms

 🛡️ SGT Dean Bowditch