After his dominating performance in qualifying, championship leader Maximilian Thunström lines up in pole position for the Monaco Million. He will be starting on the soft tyres along with the majority of the field. 11 drivers are running alternate strategies today. Both BMW’s and Opel’s as well as Matthews, Hudson and Addison are on mediums, with Raatikainen, Inman and the Lamborghini duo on hards. And yes, that is Olen Inman. In a move that slipped under the radar, Monaco’s finest virtual racing product is returning to action after 2 years on the sidelines. He is racing for Thunderhead, after the team grew impatient with Izaya Yuki’s poor performances. Inman will be hoping for greater success in his second comeback but he will have his work cut out for him from the penultimate row of the grid. Part 1Off the line Thunström used his tyre advantage to get off to a rocket start, giving himself a big lead into Sainte Devote. Alongside him Kip Maxwell went nowhere, his BMW bogging down off the line. Van Snelheid and Zozulya were immediately through, giving eVirtual fans the rare site of a team running first and second. Oleksandr Zozulya was determined to make this a short-lived sight, but the Ukrainian was going to have to use all of his skill to pass on the notorious streets of Monaco. For 6 laps he was glued to the tail of the Jaguar, before a sudden divebomb move into Mirabeau saw him slip through into 2nd place. By now Thunström had established a solid lead however, leaving Zozulya unable to catch his title rival. Ethan Matthews had made a good start on the medium tyres, passing Robert Stefánsson in the opening lap for 5th and holding off both of the GP1 cars on their soft tyres. After the opening laps the race entered a settled pattern as drivers waited to see how the tyre strategies would play out through the course of the race. The action was focused on the battle for 2nd place, as Zozulya had slipped back into the clutches of Jochem van Snelheid. The two were nose to tail for many laps, with van Snelheid eventually slipping past into the Nouvelle Chicane. Zozulya continued to harry the Dutchman though, as the first pit stops loomed on the horizon. Thunström led the soft tyre runners in with a 4 second lead, with van Snelheid just maintaining his lead over Zozulya. Kip Maxwell was the first of the alternate runners, and he took over the race lead just ahead of Ethan Matthews, but disaster struck when the Safety Car was deployed just before the first pitstops for the medium runners. Towards the rear of the field Sebastian Bergkvist made an error through Sainte Devote and collided with the outside wall. Running close behind was Dominykas Zvironas and the Lithuanian was left with nowhere to go, hitting the stricken Porsche. The incident put both drivers out of the race. With the field neutralised and pitlane closed, eventual pitstops for the medium runners dropped them to the tail of the field. Amidst the chaos Zozulya was back up into 2nd and would be looking to challenge Thunström on the restart. Unfortunately for him Thunström was too strong, fighting off Zozulya and sending him back into the clutches of JvS, his rear gunner. At the second pit stops van Snelheid would pass Zozulya, but the Jaguar 1-2 was not quite in place yet. Despite falling to the rear of the field, the leading medium drivers were able to leapfrog the entire pack to find themselves leading. Kip Maxwell had been the leading man in that group, but he dropped back on the restart after a set up change at the pitstop left his car more unbalanced than before. Instead it was Lada’s Sam Hudson who found himself in 1st position, with Ethan Matthews hot on his heels. Sadly there was worse luck for the other Lada competitor, with Urmo Kruuda’s machine giving up the ghost and making the Estonian the 3rd retirement of the race. Part 2Thunström continued to stamp his authority on the race, quickly making his way by Matthews and Hudson to retake the lead and immediately pulling out a clear gap over the duo. To make matters worse, van Snelheid was unable to follow his teammate through, remaining stuck behind the battling duo of Hudson and Matthews despite his tyre advantage. With the final stint approaching Matthews slipped through into 2nd, but was still 4 seconds off the lead of Thunström. Pitstops were approaching and the race appeared to be settling down. But suddenly the race was transformed, when a brake failure for Romano Agostino saw him spear into the back of Gabriele Garcia. Both drivers were shaken but unhurt, but the damage cleanup would require a lengthy safety car period. Due to the length of time under yellow flags, both the medium and soft tyre runners were forced to pit simultaneously. Benefitting from this were the 3 drivers left on the hard tyres, who had all been running outside of the points. So with 15 laps remaining, it was the Finnish teenager Jukka-Pekka Raatikainen leading the Monaco Million from home hero Olen Inman and Diego Campos. While this would perhaps be the craziest podium in eVirtual’s history, this trio would have to hold off the charge of Maximilian Thunström, who had looked dominant so far. And true to form Thunström wasted no time making his way to the lead, using his fresh soft tyres to breeze past the opposition. But Thunström was not the only one coming through. Hot on his heels was Ethan Matthews, and despite the Downton being on medium tyres Thunström could not shake him. While Diego Campos was in freefall down the grid, Inman and Raatikainen entered the final 10 laps in 3rd and 4th, holding up the rest of the grid and creating a 2 horse race for the win between Thunström and Matthews. With 5 laps to go Matthews continued to lurk on the back of Thunström’s Jaguar, showing his nose occasionally and looking to pressure the Swede into a mistake on the unforgiving streets of Monaco. And on Lap 87 that mistake came, Thunström locking up down the hill into the Nouvelle Chicane. Matthews pounced, pulling alongside before making the pass through Tabac. And with the extra tyre life of the mediums, Matthews was able to pull away from Thunström, putting him on course for the 2nd win of his career. Thunström had no reply for the Brit, and was forced to settle for 2nd place with a bonus point for fastest lap. The two leaders were well clear of the chasing pack, where plenty of action had been unfolding. Sam Hudson had struggled to get by the slower duo of Inman and Raatikainen, leaving him vulnerable to Jochem van Snelheid. While the cameras were focused on the lead duel, van Snelheid slipped past the American to grab a double podium for the Jaguar team. Oleksandr Zozulya got a solid, if unspectacular 5th place, leading home Kip Maxwell with a strong result for BMW. From there the field continued to be all mixed up, with Oliversson leading home the valiant Inman and Raatikainen, who had just managed to hold off the second GP1 of Stefánsson. Hölzberg and Addison gained valuable points for their team, ahead of the Bentley of Viktor Östberg, and Opel’s duo of Roberts and Vocquelin rounded out the points. Two drivers who were unable to make it to the finish were Barclay and Kasami, both suffering mechanical failures in the dying laps of the race, although neither were on course for points finishes. With his 3rd runner-up spot of the season, Thunström moves into a commanding lead in the championship. It was a poor race for many of his rivals, and they will be hoping that the Jaguar man’s consistency wavers after he has recorded a top 5 finish in all but one race so far this season. His Jaguar team is also starting to move into pole position for a second consecutive championship win, with van Snelheid making a marked improvement as the 2nd driver. Of course, Downton also had their second driver put in a strong performance, and they will be looking to keep up their momentum as the 2 iconic British brands do battle on the streets of Pau next weekend. Final ClassificationChampionship Standings
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