After an enthralling qualifying session, the long wait in finally over. The eVirtual 2021 season kicks off for real today as the first race of the season takes place today, the Australian eV-Prix around the Calder Park Thunderdome. Taylor starts on pole ahead of Maxwell, with Jaguar and Downton looking to pick up from last year. The first ever oval race saw a wide viarity of strategies - Taylor, McLaughlin and both Porsches went with an efficient battery, while Maxwell used a balanced one. Some drivers went aggressive, like Domenicalli and Matthews - as well as out of place drivers like Cesar and Zozulya.
As the cars came across for a rolling start, the green flag was waved and they were off. Taylor held his lead off the start, but Maxwell tucked in behind and with a nice slipstream as they headed towards turn 3, he pulled to the inside and took the lead. McLaughlin held third while Bergkvist slipped behind Vocquelin, before Domenicalli took him on lap 3. Further back, Cesar made up ground immediately, picking up 3 places in 3 laps, while van Snelheid lost hydraulic pressure on lap 4 to become the year's first retirement. With a faster battery, Maxwell began to eek out a gap while behind, Domenicalli got Vocquelin on the start finish straight to move up to 4th. Bergkvist followed him through down the back straight as well. Cesar found himself stuck behind countryman Garcia for a while, though behind him Zozulya had put a move in on Zvironas. On lap 11, disaster struck - nearly - as Al Shabbab spun and stalled the car. The safety car was thrown, and even though the Toyota was able to rejoin, it stayed out up until lap 15 - and the drivers with aggressive batteries had to pit on lap 14. This dropped them all to the back, with Domenicalli heading them in 15th. Cesar managed to jump ahead of Matthews in the pit stop phase, the pair behind Domenicalli and ahead of Zozulya, Thunder and Ledesma. Once the safety car came in, they were released and Cesar wasted no time in fighting past Domenicalli. Zozulya did likewise on Matthews, while up front Zhao caught Zvironas napping and Einarrson got Garcia around turn 2. The cars on balanced strategies came in on lap 17 - Maxwell only just beat Cesar out of the pits, while Einarsson, Garcia and Zhao were behind Yoshida - Zvironas and the Lada cars even further back. 4 laps later the efficient cars made their first stop. Taylor emerged behind Domenicalli in 4th, with Zozulya separating him from McLaughlin, Bergkvist and Vocquelin. Ellington was just behind them, while Hutchinson slipped down to 15th. With a more powerful battery, Cesar was looking to get past Maxwell for a while and he got him on lap 23, through turn 1 and 2. A mistake from Domenicalli dropped him behind Taylor and Zozulya while there were overtakes absolutely everywhere. Zozulya got Taylor to move into 3rd, Ellington put in a series of great overtakes to pass the Porsches and McLaughlin, and Thunder also got past the two Sebs. Vocquelin slipped further back - as did Hutchinson, while Hudson went from 20th to 16th in the space of 5 laps. By lap 28, the aggressive strategies were due in again and Cesar dropped to 10th, Zozulya to 15th ahead of Domenicalli. Yoshida jumped Thunder in the pits, while Matthews slipped back. Bergkvist fought back past McLaughlin, while his teammate slipped behind Garcia. In the midfield, Ostberg found a sudden burst of speed and went on an overtaking spree, passing Zvironas, Zhao, Hutchinson, Hudson, Einarrson and Vocquelin to put him right on Garcia's tail. To his credit, Zvironas managed to follow him through as well to move into 9th. That was as good as it got for him though, as he tagged the wall and got a puncture on lap 32, which put him out of the race. Balanced runners took to the pits on lap 34 for their 2nd stop, and Maxwell crucially came out behind Cesar - who got past Vocquelin to put a car in between them. Garcia had a slow stop and dropped behind Ostberg and Einarrson - the latter then went on to get the Swede on his out lap. Back at the front, Ellington, now 2nd, made two crucial mistakes to allow Bergkvist and then McLaughlin by. Taylor began to stretch his lead up front while Cesar made light work of Ellington, McLaughlin and Bergkvist. Zozulya was next to line up Vocquelin after Maxwell had passed the Frenchman, while Hutchinson suffered a loss of power to make him the third retiree. As the race hit half distance on lap 42, both aggressive and efficient drivers dove into the pits. Maxwell went back into the lead ahead of Taylor and Cesar, put some cracking laps from the Lada drivers put Ostberg in 4th and Hudson 6th - Bergkvist split the pair, while McLaughli was down in 9th behind Einarrson and Zhao. With aggressive and balanced strategies both left with 2 stops (efficient with 1 left), Cesar began to chase after Maxwell. He easily overtook Taylor on lap 43 and Maxwell was given a hurry up. He began to push - but he pushed too much, and as he went through turn 4 on lap 44 he had a slide and banged his rear wheel against the barrier, taking him out of the race. Cesar took the lead, while Hudson fought past Bergkvist and Taylor on a faster strategy to move into 3rd, before getting last Ostberg. Zozulya moved past Garcia while Vocquelin continued to slip back. Cesar and the Lada's pulled away from Taylor, while Zozulya - the only remaining Downton - put in a move on Ellington, as did Yoshida on Domenicalli. The balanced drivers pitted for the second last time on lap 51 - Hudson and Ostberg dropped to 13th and 14th, Zhao and Einarrson to 16th and 17th with Garcia further back. Matthews joined the list of retirements due to a braking issue on lap 53, a lap before McLaughlin got back past Bergkvist to place behind Taylor. Aggressive strategies were due in on lap 56 and Cesar, importantly, just came out ahead of Hudson as the American put in a move on Vocquelin. Zozulya and Yoshida emerged behind Einarsson, Domenicalli behind Garcia. Alaniz had a bizzare crash just before lap 60 as he spun down onto the infield and tagged the barrier - the damage wasn't severe but he stalled and had to retire. Zozulya got Zhao and Einarrson over the course of 3 laps - Zhao also lost out to the Renault afterwards - while Domenicalli zipped past Garcia on the back straight. Efficient cars pitted for the last time on lap 63. Taylor came out behind Yoshida in 8th, but a slow stop for McLaughlin dropped him behind Bergkvist and Ellington, the trio in 10th to 12th behind Domenicalli. Surprisingly, Taylor and Ellington struggled after their pit stops. Domenicalli was easily past the former and then Bergkvist caught him by surprise into turn 2. McLaughlin passed Ellington on lap 65 and the Highwid slipped behind Ledesma and Thunder quickly. Balanced cars' last stops came on lap 67 - Hudson came out in 9th, behind Bergkvist and Taylor, with Ostberg in 12th. Einarsson and Zhao were either side of Vocquelin in 13th and 15th. Cesar - leading with a pit stop left on lap 70- became favourite to win when Bergkvist half spun and dropped behind Taylor, McLaughlin, Ledesma and Hudson. As McLaughlin got his head down and passed Taylor on lap 69, it was a question of whether Cesar would beat the New Zealander out of the pit lane. But then, Ledesma spun at turn 3. Most drivers avoided him, but Ellington went smack bang into him, destroying the two cars. Both were thankfully unhurt but the safety car was called and the pit lane closed. By the time it was opened, the aggressive drivers pitted and dropped right to the back - Cesar, Zozulya, Yoshida and Domenicalli now 10th to 13th. The safety car went back in on lap 77, and McLaughlin, now leading thanks to his move on Taylor, pulled away quickly. Taylor was caught napping by Hudson, who took him around the outside of turn 3 to get into 2nd. Zhao nabbed 7th off Vocquelin while Cesar stormed past him and Garcia to move into 8th with just 5 laps remaining. Ostberg overtook Bergkvist on lap 80 of 84 and tried to pressurise Taylor for 3rd, while Cesar was all over Zhao, yet the Chinese driver defended with his life. A pair of last grasp moves on Garcia and Vocquelin moved Zozulya into 9th, but up front nothing could stop McLaughlin as he took his maiden eV win after many close calls. Hudson was a fantastic 2nd, backed up by Ostberg in 4th on by far Lada's best day in the spot. 3rd for Taylor perhaps should have been a win, and the same could be said about Bergkvist's 5th. A gritty drive from Einarrson rewarded him with 6th, while Zhao clinged onto 7th as Cesar dropped back in the end - 8th and the fastest lap was scant consolation for a furious Brazilian. Zozulya salvaged 9th ahead of Vocquelin - Garcia just missing out on points in 11th. Yoshida and Domenicalli were also disappointed to miss out on points thanks to the late safety car.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2024
Categories |