Race (07/01/07)Weather Conditions[/u]
Results (30 Laps)[/u]
Position | Driver | | Team | Finishing Time | Points |
1 | A.Dubois | | VirginTR | 20m 37.052s | 15 |
2 | P.Walton | | VirginTR | +0.611s | 12 |
3 | M.Bliss | | Whizzbanger | +10.844s | 10 |
4 | L.Delaluz | | Team Pingu | +11.374s | 8 |
5 | M.Karpstein | | Luftwaffe | +11.762s | 6 |
6 | L.Concini | | Whizzbanger | +13.458s | 5 |
7 | A.Northcutt | | Lisa F1 | +13.780s | 4 |
8 | J.Thiery | | Lisa F1 | +17.802s | 3 |
9 | R.Gones | | Team Pingu | +14.458s | 2 |
10 | O.Okihara | | Luftwaffe | +14.479s | 1 |
11 | M.Santo | | PharmaOne | +22.063s | |
12 | A.tou Wei | | Teamo | +23.769s | |
13 | K.Lukow | | Team Lucifer | +25.470s | |
14 | E.Glaston | | Teamo | +27.942s | |
15 | J.Blanc | | 2Fast2Disney | +28.843s | |
16 | A.Adauto | | Bramall | +28.975s | |
17 | K.Helkonnen | | Team Lucifer | +29.219s | |
18 | N.Heppert | | 2Fast2Disney | +29.635s | |
19 | F.Callista | | Bramall | +29.849s | |
20 | J.Opet | | F1N Racing | +37.828s | |
21 | N.Dimoulakis | | F1N Racing | -1 lap | |
22 | J.Cederberg | | Pharmaone | Engine | |
Fastest Lap: P.Walton (38.764s)
Summary[/u]
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Start: Walton makes a good start and keeps the lead but Bliss is strong away and is instantly applying the pressure! Dubois makes a nightmare start and drops down to 5th.
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Lap 1: It's a 4 way battle for the lead between Walton, Bliss, Okihara and Northcutt!
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Lap 2: Delaluz, standing in for Hawn, pulls off the best overtaking move of the season so far jumping from 7th to 4th in one corner!
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Lap 3: Dubois isn't having any of it though and claims 4th back from Delaluz.
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Lap 4: Bliss cant keep up with Walton, loses the slipstream and begins to fall back.
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Lap 4: Dubois gets past Okihara for 3rd and Delaluz follows suit immediately. The Japanese driver is demoted to 5th.
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Lap 5: Dubois and Delaluz are on the move again, this time they both manage to get past Bliss. Dubois is now running in 2nd, albeit a while back from his team mate Walton.
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Lap 8: Walton, leading the race, is being hunted down by Dubois but Delaluz is using the slipstream effect to match the VirginTR car's speed and clinging onto the back of Dubois in 3rd.
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Lap 11: Pitstops - Concini
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Lap 12: Pitstops - Thiery, Lukow
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Lap 13: Pitstops - Karpstein, Helkonnen
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Lap 14: Delaluz is beginning to fall back from Dubois now, unable to keep up the pace.
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Lap 14: Pitstops - Bliss, tou Wei, Cederberg, Heppert
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Lap 15: Pitstops - Delaluz, Callista, Blanc
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Lap 16: Pitstops - Northcutt
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Lap 17: Pitstops - Okihara, Gones, Santo, Adauto, Glaston, Dimoulakis
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Lap 18: Pitstops - Walton (race leader), Opet
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Lap 19: Pitstops - Dubois
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Lap 20: Dubois has had a better pitstop and managed to come out of the pits ahead of his team mate, Walton, stealing the lead!
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Lap 20: Bliss has also had a good stop, and jumped Delaluz for 3rd. The running order is Walton, Dubois, Bliss, Delaluz, Karpstein, Okihara, Thiery, Northcutt, Concini and Gones.
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Lap 21: Walton isn't settling for 2nd though and wants to score VirginTR's first win, challenging Dubois.
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Lap 22: Cederberg's engine decides to let go whilst running 14th!
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Lap 25: Only 5 laps to go and Walton and Dubois are still neck and neck for the lead of the race!
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Lap 27: The two VirginTR cars are fast approaching the slow F1N Racing car of Dimoulakis to lap him.
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Lap 28: Dubois gets past easy but the Greek driver pulls over infront of Walton and blocks him! Dubois seizes the opportunity and pulls out a small gap in the lead.
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Lap 29: Northcutt and Concini are scrapping fiercely over 6th place, worth 5 points.
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Last Lap: Dubois is leading Walton by 0.5 seconds, is it enough? The two VirginTR drivers are within whiskers of each other around the lap but Walton just isn't fast enough...Dubois seals the first ever win for Andy Haining's VirginTR squad and Walton also makes it a 1-2!
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Last Lap: Bliss also manages to hold onto his place and score Whizzbanger's first podium ahead of the debutant and stand-in, Luciano Delaluz.
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Last Lap: Further down there are photo finishes as Northcutt holds of team mate Thiery by 0.022s for 7th! Even tighter was the battle for 9th, Gones taking it from Okihara by a mere 0.021s in the end.
After the 2 week break, tensions are high on the grid.And they're away! Walton maintains his lead but Bliss is right behind while Dubois drops to 5th.It's all to play for on the first lap, the first three cars within 0.1s of each other!Delaluz shows himself as a worthy sub, pulling off a fantastic move on 3 cars to steal 4th place!Walton puts his powerful engine to good use and pulls out a small gap from the rest.Dubois carves his way back up to 2nd but Delaluz sneakily uses his slipstream to follow suit.Okihara can only watch as both Dubois and Delaluz sail by.Ang tou Wei was pretty unimpressive on his stand-in role for Mrazik.Dubois gets past Bliss for 2nd and once again, Delaluz uses the slipstream to get past too.At one point, Delaluz even looked to have the upper hand with an inferior car.Walton, the race leader, enters the pits as Dubois completes another lap and waits his turn.Dubois enters the pits now, and he knows it's critical...It's a fast pitstop, and Dubois exits the pits ahead of Walton!Cederberg slams on the brakes in sheer frustration as his engine blows up in 14th place.Bliss also has a good pitstop, and manages to get out ahead of the impressive Delaluz.The two VirginTR drivers are neck and neck...they both want to claim their team's first ever win!The new F1N Racing car wasn't designed for top speed and is coming up to be lapped by the VirginTRs.Dubois gets past with ease but Walton is held up by Dimoulakis and loses valuable time!Thiery and Concini locked in a firce battle for 6th place.To the joy of the team, Dubois crosses the 'yard of bricks' and heads a well deserved VirginTR 1-2!It's a photo finish further down with Gones holding onto 9th from Okihara by 0.02 seconds!Championship Standings[/u]
| Driver | Points |
1 | E.Glaston | 56 |
=2 | K.Lukow | 54 |
=2 | B.Hawn | 54 |
4 | A.Northcutt | 47 |
5 | J.Thiery | 45 |
6 | R.Gones | 43 |
7 | O.Okihara | 41 |
=8 | P.Walton | 38 |
=8 | N.Dimoulakis | 38 |
=10 | M.Santo | 34 |
=10 | K.Mrazik | 34 |
12 | J.Cederberg | 32 |
13 | J.Blanc | 29 |
14 | A.Dubois | 28 |
15 | K.Helkonnen | 25 |
16 | J.Opet | 24 |
17 | M.Bliss | 22 |
18 | F.Callista | 20 |
19 | L.Concini | 19 |
20 | M.Karpstein | 16 |
21 | A.Adauto | 13 |
22 | L.Delaluz | 8 |
22 | N.Heppert | 6 |
| Team | Points |
1 | Team Pingu | 105 |
2 | Lisa F1 | 92 |
3 | Teamo | 90 |
4 | Team Lucifer | 79 |
=5 | VirginTR | 66 |
=5 | PharmaOne | 66 |
7 | F1N Racing | 62 |
8 | Luftwaffe | 57 |
9 | Whizzbanger | 41 |
10 | 2Fast2Disney | 35 |
11 | Bramall | 33 |
Notes[/u]
- Dubois held on to take VirginTR's first ever win with Walton coming home 2nd and making it a 1-2 for the team. Although Walton previously scored a 3rd place in Germany, this is their first serious result and springboards them up to joint 5th in the championship! Crack open the champagne Andy Haining!
- Delaluz drove an inspired race subbing for Brandon Hawn (disqualified from his home race for dangerous driving in the previous round). It was also his debut race which he handled superbly, making ground at the start and holding onto VirginTR's amazing pace for the majority of the race. Eventually ended up 4th, one position away from what could have been a podium finish in his first ever race.
- Regardless of the Portugese driver's performance, reports indicate Brandon Hawn will return to his seat for the next race. After the race, rumours were floated round that Gones could instead be dropped to make room for Delaluz but this has been denied by an unnamed Team Pingu official.
- The Chinese driver, Ang tou Wei had a less inspiring debut race coming home in 12th, filling in for Kristofer Mrazik (also banned for dangerous driving). Unsurprisingly, there are no reports of a space being made for tou Wei in future races as Mrazik has already been confirmed as returning to action next weekend.
- Team Pingu extend their lead at the top of the table to 13 points, but the driver's championship is a much closer story.