After a season of ups and downs, Porsche will start from the front of the grid for the first time ever, with Bergkvist. The fight between him and fellow front row starter McLaughlin promises to be entralling, while It was another cold race, which saw no driver venture for an efficient strategy. Maxwell, Klien, van Snelheid, Holzberg, Zhao and Davies all tried their hand at balanced, whereas everyone else went for an agressive battery.
Bergkvist held his lead at the start, McLaughlin and Agostino hot on his heels. Behind, Vocquelin kept up initially but Zozulya put pressure on him, slipping through on lap 6. Klien and Maxwell struggled given their balanced batteries, while on the flipside, Cesar and Taylor made great progress. The Brazilian charged into the top 6 by lap 14, Taylor reaching 9th 4 laps later. By then, a change for the lead had happened - McLaughlin slipstreaming past Bergkvist for the lead. The Swede was back on offense, trying to put pressure back on McLaughlin, but he was pushing a bit too hard and half spun on lap 22 - he was lucky to not be hit but slid down to 6th all of a sudden. As he did, Agostino got a fantastic run and sensationally overtook McLaughlin for the lead at turn 3. 2 laps later, Domenicalli, running 10th, did the same but was collected by Ledesma, taking both out. The safety car came out, before returning at the end of lap 29. 4 laps later, it was back out - Cesar lost the rear, hit the wall and was collected by Klien. This time around, all the drivers took the opportunity to pit for the first time - Agostino leading from McLaughlin, Zozulya, Vocquelin and Bergkvist, followed by Ellington, Taylor, Thunder, Yoshida and Hudson. The safety car boxed on lap 41, and Agostino kept himself ahead of the pack. McLaughlin found himself defending from Zozulya, as did Ellington with Taylor. The Jaguar did make it past after 6 laps, while Yoshida and Hudson put in a pair of passes on Thunder. Zozulya managed to get McLaughlin to crack on lap 57, as he made a slight error and the Downton stormed past. Bergkvist had also overtaken Vocquelin and Yoshida had dispatched Ellington, in a pass or be passed race. And that was true at the very front - Zozulya couldn't catch Agostino and he was overtaken by McLaughlin. Now with the bit between his teeth, he homed in and overtook the Italian for the lead on lap 64. 4 laps later, the agressive drivers pitted for the second time, McLaughlin emerging still in the lead from Agostino and Zozulya, while Hudson jumped Ellington with a faster pit stop. However, he found a rhythm quicker and overtook Yoshida and Hudson. Zozulya on the flipside struggled and was quickly passed by both Porsche's. Nakumaya hit the wall on lap 80, forcing him to retire, while on lap 85 the balanced runners pitted, none of them in the picture for points. Yoshida was looking strong as the race rolled into the second half, and reovertook Ellington, but up front Bergkvist was starting to put in some solid laps. He caught up to Agostino and passed him on lap 92, pushing on to catch McLaughlin. Agostino on the other hand struggled, holding up Vocquelin. Zozulya took the opportunity to pull a cheeky move on the Frenchman and not too long afterwards passed Agostino to move back onto the podium. The 3rd batch of pit stops for agressive drivers was on lap 103, ost of the front runners holding their position though Hudson once again jumped Ellington. The Englishman was back through 7 laps later but more importantly, Taylor moved himself into the top 5 with neat move on Vocquelin. Just ahead, Bergkvist was now really putting the pressure on McLaughlin. He picked a slipstream towards turn 1 on lap 115, went for the inside and made it stick, putting him back into the lead with a great comeback. Taylor continued his push forward as he demoted Agostino to 5th. The balanced drivers pitted for the last time on lap 128. 8 laps later, the agressive drivers also boxed for the last time - and it was a slow stop for Porsche as Bergkvist dropped behind McLaughlin and Zozulya. Agostino wrestled 4th back from Taylor but all eyes were on the Swede at the front. By lap 140, he had dispatched of Zozulya to go back up to McLaughlin once again. He hounded the Mistubishi like a rash, but McLaughlin held firm - until he didn't. The Porsche got him on the defensive into turn 1 on lap 150, he got out of shape through turn 2 and Bergkvist needed no second invitation, sailing past to the cheers of the Porsche garage. But it wasn't over yet. McLaughlin pushed Bergkvist hard, they got into a tussle and Zozulya closed in. As the leading pair went side by side over the line to start lap 157, the Downton driver got a exceptional tow, he went for a gap on the inside and took the lead, from McLaughlin and Bergkvist, as now the Downton garage went beserk. Taylor put a move back on Agostino but the cameras and fans were all focused on the front. McLaughlin, desperate to add to his one win, put Zozulya to the sword on the inside at turn 3 on lap 165 and forced his rival to concede. Bergkvist was alert, as he stuck to Zozulya's gearbox and passed him on the main straight. It was down to the front two now - McLaughlin defended firmly but after all he went through, Bergkvist was not to be denied. On the penultimate lap, he went for the outside of turn 1, held his line side by side through turn 2 and a better exit pushed him past into the lead. So, when the chequered flag fell, it was Bergkvist punching the air as he won a real racer's race, a fantastic drive. McLaughlin and Zozulya were disappointed with 2nd and 3rd, but podiums are crucial and McLaughlin retains the title lead. Taylor was overshadowed in 4th but deserved praise for yet another great recovery drive, while 5th was, all things aside, a barnstorming result for Agostino. Vocquelin backed up Porsche in 6th, Yoshida beat Ellington and Hudson to 7th and Thunder rounded out the points.
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