Session reports from day one of the second round of the 2020 VWRS season. Early favourite Matteo Zetticci leads the championship after a win and a second place in Australia, ahead of Max Meyer who impressed many – can they keep ahead of the pack or will Jules Barclay or Maximillian Thunstrom close on them? QualifyingQualifying started under good weather conditions but a green track, with mostly the lower end drivers taking to the track initially. Italy’s Gianluca di Stefano was the fastest of the first bunch, but he was quickly beaten by a brilliant lap from rookie Raj Sharma. It wasn’t too long however until the established runners came out and Meyer proved to be in fantastic form. The South African did a fast two lap stint and both times were comfortably faster than anyone else. Thunstrom laid behind, just ahead of Barclay and Zetticci, with Erik Oliversson a surprising 6th. Both Swedes however had only one good lap, and with 30 cars in the session they were struggling to find space to go out again. The notable exception above was Sebastien Vocquelin, who had also struggling in traffic and was well down the order. With just minutes left on the clock, his team spotted an opening and he tore out of the pit lane to start his final lap. The Frenchman drove perfectly, and as he crossed the line, he went fastest of all and denied Meyer a perfect two poles. However, Vocquelin will start well down the order in race 2, as will Thunstrom, while Zetticci and Barclay crucially managed to secure good starting positions for both races. Race OneAfter his great pole lap, Vocquelin was in buoyant mood for the race, and he got a perfect getaway from pole, leaving the rest of the field behind. Meyer was left to hold off Thunstrom, and as the Swede failed to make his way past of the course of the first few laps, Barclay and Zetticci were also looking to get past the Swede. Zetticci managed to pass Barclay with an optimistic move into turn 2 and when Thunstrom tagged Meyer, the Italian pounced and took 3rd. Further back, Zhivko Dimitrov bogged down from 8th on the grid and slipped down to 12th, while on the other hand Daniel Zientek went from 24th to 19th. Michael Kennedy tried to make a move on Luca Romero on lap 5 for 27th but locked up and hit the San Marinian, putting the Irishman out of the race, and leaving Romero last having pitted for repairs.
With Vocquelin off in the distance, all eyes were on the battle for second and having fallen victim to Zetticci, Barclay was ready to fight back. When Thunstrom had a moment through the chicane, the Canadian stuck into his slipstream and got past before turn 1. He then returned Zetticci the favour by sliding down the inside of him into turn 2 – surprising him so much that Thunstrom also managed to get past Zetticci on the exit. Finally, Barclay got a beter exit out of turn 4 and eased past Meyer ino 2nd. There was plenty of action behind as well with Sharma, while running a brilliant 6th, went too far onto the outside kerb at turn 1 and spun across the track, miraculously not hitting anything, but he dropped down to 10th. Declan Byrne moved into 6th, having quietly made his way past Oliversson in search for his first points of the season. Towards the back, Alexandru Nicolae’s engine failed from 25th and he pulled over to the side of the track. With the race coming to a close, Johansson told Thunstrom to turn up his engine and he finally managed to overtake Meyer, albeit with a forceful move into turn 3 which allowed Zetticci to follow him through as well. With just three laps to go, Barclay, under pressure from Thunstrom, locked up into turn 4 and compromised his exit, allowing Thunstrom to pass him with a beautiful move through turn 5 and 6. Behind them, Byrne’s tyres began to blister and he slipped down the order in the final few laps. But up front, Vocquelin stormed to a dominant win, ahead of Thunstrom, Barclay, Zetticci and Meyer all in close company. Oliversson was happy with 6th, Urmo Kruuda had a quiet race in 7th, but Danilo Forini in 8th was one of the stars of the race, making his way up from 16th with plenty of overtakes and a well-deserved fastest lap. Byrne and Sharma were the highest placed rookies in 9th and 10th, though both were disappointed after their mistakes. Dimitrov make-did with 11th and Rafael Palou took the final point in 12th, ahead of Hector Draper who ran as high as 9th but couldn’t sustain his pace and was frustrated to miss out on points.
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