Race day at Donington again dawned cold and cloudy. With the temperatures so low it was no surprise to see 19 of the 26 drivers on soft tyres for the race start. One exception was the polesitter, Aron Einarsson, who was joined by Roberts, di Stefano, Yoshida and Stefánsson. Only Addison and Vocquelin were attempting to make a single stint on the hard tyres work. Part 1With the race underway it was immediately clear that the soft tyres had a significant pace advantage in the British winter temperatures. Einarsson found himself slow off the line, with Brzyski and Hölzberg racing past him into Turn 1. Following close behind those was the Downton of Zozulya, and by Lap 2 he was into 3rd and hunting down the two leaders. While the race was starting poorly for the non-soft runners, it could have been worse. Cosmo Roberts’ Opel refused to budge from the line, sending cars scrambling behind him. Fortunately the rest of the field missed the stricken American, but he would go no further in the race. At the front of the field, Zozulya was looming large in the mirrors of Hölzberg. Sure enough, the BMW driver was powerless to defend from the experienced Ukrainian and soon Zozulya hit the lead, passing Leo Brzyski into the Melbourne Hairpin. With his passes complete Zozulya was able to establish a comfortable lead, although Brzyski was just about keeping touch. Further behind Erik Oliversson was on the move, passing the still struggling Aron Einarsson as well as Jules Barclay to move into 4th. Sticking right to the back of him was Lada’s Urmo Kruuda, using the Swede to make his own overtakes easier. The alternate strategies continued to look more and more like a mistake, with Hyundai’s Nick Addison losing 9 positions in the opening quarter of the race, and Yoshida and Stefánsson losing touch with the back of the field. After a little while following Oliversson through the field, Urmo Kruuda had clearly decided he’d had enough of the GP1’s rear end as he dived past into Coppice Corner for 4th. Following that move it was time for the first pit stops, which allowed the Renault of Einarsson to resume the lead. With the lack of alternate strategies, Zozulya was able to come out in 2nd, still maintaining a 3 second lead over Brzyski. In a sign of how much pace the hard tyres were losing, Nick Addison was now over a pitstop behind Erik Oliversson who had started one place behind him on the grid. Still with no stops scheduled for his race, the Hyundai man still had hope that he could make a good finish if he could make his tyres last. It was shaping up to be a great race for BMW’s Niklaus Hölzberg, but his life was made a bit harder when he ran wide through the Old Hairpin and found himself skating through the gravel trap. He was able to drag his car out of the gravel but lost crucial seconds, dropping behind Kruuda, Oliversson and Barclay. Behind him, a fierce midfield battle had been won by Kiara Thunder as she looked to become the leading Renault after Einarsson’s drop in pace on mediums. She led Steven Kasami and the Hyundai of Nick Addison, still holding strong without stops. Rounding out the top 10 at the half distance mark was the 2nd Manziel of Dominykas Zvironas. Part 2As the race entered its second half Downton’s Zozulya continued to extend his lead, pushing the gap to Brzyski beyond 5 seconds. Further behind there were drama’s for GP1’s Erik Oliversson, who found himself picked off in quick succession by Barclay, Hölzberg and Thunder after a mistake saw him lose time and pick up debris on his tyres. He was able to regroup though, falling to 7th but remaining within touching distance of the top 5. Further behind Nick Addison was making his way back down the field on his hard tyres, elevating the Arrow of Zander Brynildsen into the points for the first time in the race. Towards the rear of the grid it was an early end to the race for BMW’s Kip Maxwell, who retired from 17th with a mechanical failure. With the second and final stops approaching, the tension was building. Zozulya made it through his stop without incident, as did Brzyski, but as the cars left the pitlane on cold tyres the K8ley speared off into the gravel at the bottom of the Craner Curves. To the obvious disappointment of the Pole, there would be no rescuing his race. He was well and truly buried and was out of the British eV-Prix. This left Zozulya with a commanding 9 second lead over Lada’s Urmo Kruuda, with the final podium place being occupied by Nick Addison who was still running strong on 0 stops. It seemed unlikely that he could hold onto his place however, with Erik Oliversson running close behind. Kiara Thunder was a driver taking great advantage of her new tyres, passing Hölzberg and Barclay to move herself up into 6th, running behind Aron Einarsson on the slower mediums. Notably Zander Brynildsen was also on the climb, passing both Manziel’s to move into 9th. Zozulya continued to extend his lead, making it seem unlikely that he would be catched for the race win. But all eyes were on the battle for the final podium spot. Erik Oliversson had struggled to pass Nick Addison, running wide as he desperately looked for a way past the Hyundai. This allowed the other soft runners to catch up to him, and although he did find his way past Addison he was immediately under threat from Thunder. Thunder dived through at the Esses, and with Oliversson forced to back out he found himself immediately falling into the clutches of Hölzberg and Barclay behind. Hölzberg was quickly through, and a couple of laps later so too was Barclay, leaving the Swede visibly frustrated as his podium chances slipped away. Even more frustrated was Rodolfo de la Fuente, the Spaniard being forced to retire the car after getting caught in the Turn 1 gravel trap. With the lap counter ticking down the battles over the top 10 places continue to rage. First, Erik Oliversson looked to make a move on Jules Barclay as he hoped to recover from his previous setback. Perhaps Barclay was driving too much on his mirrors as he locked up and ran off into the grass, losing valuable time and dropping behind Zander Brynildsen, who had made his way by Einarsson with ease. Then, Niklaus Hölzberg made his move for the podium, throwing a late move on Kiara Thunder at the Melbourne Hairpin. Thunder fought back though and as the two battled Zander Brynildsen crept up to them. All the way from 24th on the grid the Norwegian was now battling for a podium spot. With 2 laps to go, Brynildsen made his move at McLean’s for 4th and immediately started to pressure Hölzberg. Unfortunately time was not on the Arrow team’s side, and it was Niklaus Hölzberg who held on for his first podium of the season. Up in front however no one could stop Oleksandr Zozulya, the Ukrainian taking a dominant win to move into the championship lead on a day where Thunström was nowhere to be seen. He led home Urmo Kruuda for the Estonian’s maiden podium, with the Estonian beginning to make his mark in his rookie season. Oliversson managed to come home in a solid 6th ahead of Jules Barclay, Sam Hudson and Steven Kasami, while the final points position went to Aron Einarsson as the Icelandic veteran bravely held on from Zvironas. With the midway point of the season approaching, Zozulya is slowly establishing a championship lead over rivals Thunström and Barclay. Both will have to put in an improved performance if they want to keep in touch with the Ukrainian. Meanwhile the constructors championship is even tighter, with 5 teams still in contention for the title. With lots up for grabs, you won’t want to miss the German eV-Prix at the Lausitzring. Final ClassificationChampionship Standings
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