Session reports from day two of the first round of the 2020 VARS season from the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo in Argentina. Ellie-Mae Theodoulou stunned the field with a win from sixth in her first ever race yesterday and starts third today; but the more experienced Carl Sandholm starts from pole and as the favourite with a trio of rookies behind him. Race TwoThe second race of the season saw more of the same as race one. With Sandholm wanting to recover from his poor showing in race one, most expected a "lights to flag" from the Swede as he was being followed by 3 rookies on the grid. The race start saw most of the top half of the field maintain the same order, Barney Hoskins fell to 6th after lap 1 after a poor getaway from the grid yet numerous fatal spins from Campbell, Felix and Logan James saw him return to 4th after the start. As the drivers settled into a rhythm for the second time around the Argentinian track, a similiar outcome to race one was observed as Ellie-Mae Theodoulou made her way past Carl Sandholm, who made a mistake coming out of the final corner. Danilo Casemiro seemed to copy Sandholm laps later, yet the outcome of his spin was slightly more severe than Sandholm's, resulting in his front tyres being indented into his chassis. Further down the grid, Luca Gray and Teofilo Guerrero suffered accidents of their own, both not being able to get going again. As of last race, the end phase of the action seemed to calm down a bit, with the entirety of the top 5 maintaining their position. Ellie-Mae Theodoulou took a double for her debut weekend in an impressive drive over two more experienced rivals in Sandholm and Ruotsalainen. Race ThreeThe third race of the VARS opener in Argentina saw the top 10 from race 2 flipped on its head, with Juana Martinez leading Robin Best into the first corner. The start saw many changes with Chase Newfield taking the lead from third on the grid after an excellent braking maneuver on both Best and Martinez. Guerrero collided with Luca Grey coming out of third lap, with the latter coming out unscathed with the other in the barrier. Heading into the mid-section of the race, the double-race winner in Theodoulou was stuck behind Toby Evans in 10th position while Robin Best took back the lead from Newfield with an excellent outside move on the Canadian. The race then subdued from there, with not a lot of moves happening throughout the field apart from the front, in which Juana Martinez pulled ahead after a opportunistic move on Newfield and Best in consecutive laps and led the field to the finish. The podium finished with Robin Best on the second step and Newfield close behind with a reasonable gap to the train of Hayward and Evans. StandingsIn terms of the current standings in the VARS series after a thriller opener weekend, Ellie-Mae Theodoulou leads with a triumphant 24 point gap to Chase Newfield in second, who picked up 2 podiums in what could be said a lucky weekend for the American. The two scandinavian drivers in Sandholm and Ruotsalainen followed closely behind with rookies Hoskins and Martinez picking up various good results in the midfield. Out of all the drivers to finish 3 races, Elon De Minassi was the only driver not to score in the entire weekend not due to retirements.
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December 2023
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