After an exciting qualifying session it’s Dominykas Zvironas on pole for the German eV-Prix at the Lausitzring. But with a packed field of challengers behind him, the fight for the win looks set to be fiercely competitive. With a second race in a row dawning cold and windy, nearly the entire field has chosen to use an Attacking power mode in the hopes of combating any potential tyre warm up issues. The exceptions were Jukka-Pekka Raatikainen, starting from the rear of the field on the Balanced power mode, and Drake Davies running an Efficient strategy. Part 1The green flag dropped and Ryota Yoshida went on the offensive immediately from 2nd place. Fans were treated to an epic duel for the lead, with Yoshida and Zvironas neck and neck through the opening laps. Further back Maxwell got a good start to jump Steven Kasami, but Kasami came back at him to gain back 4th place by Lap 5. By this point they had already begun to drop behind the podium places, with Thunström hanging on the back of the leading duo. Jules Barclay was slowly moving his way up from 9th place, passing the slow starting Ethan Matthews as well as his teammate Bergkvist. There was no sign of team orders from the Porsche team though, as Bergkvist came back through with the slipstream. By Lap 9 the first pit stops were due, with Yoshida leading the field in and out, although still only holding the lead by mere tenths of a second. With the field so closely bunched, it was fine margins that would decide places and Sebastian Bergkvist found this out when a slight error from his pit crew saw him drop 2 places at the stop. With Drake Davies doing only 2 stops the Thunderhead made a brief cameo at the head of the field but soon found himself dropping down the field. This caused problems for the cars behind, as Kip Maxwell and Aron Einarsson were forced to run off the preferred line to pass the Bahamian. This allowed Jules Barclay to slip through, and 2 laps later he had caught and passed Steven Kasami to lead the chasing pack, albeit now 6.5 seconds off the lead. Part 2That lead would soon be cut though. Hyundai’s Jukka-Pekka Raatikainen had been running fairly far off the back of the field, with the Finn reporting issues adjusting to the alternate strategy. The Hyundai team had hoped that a pitstop would allow them to work on their rookie drivers balance issues but on Lap 16 another slide could not be corrected and the Finn hit the wall. With race ending damage to the Hyundai, the safety car was called for. That was not the end of the retirements though, as a poor weekend for championship leader Oleksandr Zozulya ended early with a mechanical failure. Spurred on by the possibility of claiming the championship lead, Thunström went on the offensive. At the restart he used the inside line to dive underneath Dominykas Zvironas for 2nd place, fending off the Lithuanian although this did lose him some time to Yoshida. Further back Kasami was also able to use the inside line to repass Barclay, putting the Manziel team in a battle for 3rd and 4th. Shortly after the restart it was pit stops again for the field, allowing yet another cameo from Drake Davies on his efficient strategy. With the midpoint of the race approaching Thunström began to slowly reel in the Bentley of Ryota Yoshida, while the Manziel podium battle was heating up with Zvironas and Kasami frequently running side by side just ahead of Jules Barclay. With quiet efficiency Östberg and Maxwell had kept themselves in the running in 6th and 7th, while Bergkvist, Davies and van Snelheid rounded out the top 10. One driver not making it to halfway was Renault’s Aron Einarsson, who suffered suspension damage from a tap against the wall that saw him forced to retire. Part 3On Lap 25 Thunström made his move, capitalising on a slight error from Yoshida to slip past the Bentley for the lead. The pair were facing a new threat however. The Manziel teammates seemed unable to stop themselves from battling with each other, and this had left them vulnerable to the Porsche of Jules Barclay. With a sensational double pass Barclay made his way into 3rd position and with a solid 3rd pit stop he was able to latch onto the back of Ryota Yoshida. Shortly after the pit stops the race was once again brought under the safety car. Kiara Thunder and Nick Addison had collided in a scrap over the final points position, sending Addison into the wall and both drivers out of the race. With the field brought back together and just 14 laps remaining it was going to be a crucial restart for the drivers. When the green flag dropped it was Jules Barclay in 3rd who managed to react first, surging around the outside of Turn 1 to take the net lead from Thunström. Soon this became 1st place, as Drake Davies peeled in to make his final pitstop and dropped to the rear of the field. Meanwhile Östberg pulled a good move on Dominykas Zvironas, using the slipstream and refusing to back down as the Lithuanian squeezed him towards the grass. As the race progressed more and more drivers were getting caught out by a high line that was getting dirtier. Urmo Kruuda was the latest driver to fall victim, hitting the wall in his Lada but avoiding bringing out a 3rd safety car of the race. This came as a relief to the Porsche team and Jules Barclay, who had begun to pull away from Thunström. Although the lead was looking comfortable there were still plenty of battles further down the field, with Zvironas getting back past Östberg for 4th and Kasami and Maxwell duelling over 6th. Sneaking into the points with just over 10 laps remaining was Rodolfo de la Fuente, looking to end a shocking run of retirements that have put the Spaniard far behind in the championship. Part 4The final round of pit stops came and went, with only a slow stop for Kip Maxwell to report. With the final stint of the race ahead, Barclay held a 1.7 second lead over Thunström with Yoshida and Zvironas a further 3 seconds back in their battle for 3rd. Östberg had dropped back from the podium battle but was still comfortable in 5th. As the lap counter ticked over to 10 remaining, Barclay began to put the pressure on. Without lighting up the timesheets, he began to slowly inch into the distance, and Thunström seemed unable to respond. Just as the race looked like it could be settling down towards the finish, disaster struck for 2 cars. First Kip Maxwell was forced to pull in from 9th place and just a lap later it was Sebastian Bergkvist who suffered a mechanical failure. With all these failures Zander Brynildsen had produced his usual late race charge to find himself in 7th, leading van Snelheid. Further forward Kasami had turned up the pace, passing Östberg before slipping past Zvironas into 4th with just 4 laps remaining. But up front it was comfortable for Jules Barclay, the Canadian looking thrilled as he returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since racing in VWRS 3 years ago. Thunström settled for a solid second, gaining crucial championship points after Zozulya’s retirement but never looking like challenging Barclay’s pace in the final stint. Rounding off the podium was Ryota Yoshida, ahead of Steven Kasami. Viktor Östberg managed to claim back 5th, outdragging Zvironas by just 0.02 seconds. From there it was a large gap to what was a fierce fight over the minor points. Brynildsen lead a 4 car group home, with the last points position going to Sebastien Vocquelin and Opel for the first time this season. So with half of the season complete, it is currently looking like a 3 way fight for the driver’s championship with Thunström, Zozulya and Barclay all separated by a mere 5 points. Ryota Yoshida is perhaps the closest to a dark horse candidate, but he, and any other potential challenger, will need to pick it up in the second half of the season to make up the deficit to the front 3. Poor races from Downton and Lada have also created a bit of separation for the top 3 in the constructors, with Jaguar just leading Porsche and Bentley. But anything could change, especially with only 1 oval race remaining and 2 consecutive street courses to come. And of course next time out will be a Triple Crown race, so you don’t want to miss the Monaco Million. Final ClassificationChampionship Standings
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2024
Categories |