Allar Kangur returned to winning ways in a race which wasn’t short of action. The Estonian had a battle with Klaas van Snelheid early in the race before catching up with the battle at the front. Nathaniel Powers’ risky strategy on hards failed to pay off, though he did manage to come third. Puccio Giodano was set to at least factor in the battle for first but hit Kangur at the Parabolica and lost his front wing. Polesitter Adrien Simon led the first part of the race, but problems meant he couldn’t pit which wreaked his afternoon. Franklin meanwhile had a double DNF when first Nikolai Milkovich and then Enrique Ruiz retired with mechanical failures while challenging for the podium. This left Tumo Kinnumen to storm from 19th to 2nd in a phenomenal drive, but a spin prevented him for fighting for the top step. There was action from the off, with Giodano getting a good start and edging ahead of Simon going into turn 1, but the Frenchman used the inside of the second part of the chicane to reclaim the lead. Kangur passed van Snelheid for fourth. Kinnumen was the biggest gainer, jumping to 14th place. Ruiz passed his teammate on lap two, while van Snelheid and Kangur went wheel to wheel from turn 1 to 6, with the DS Mathershaw driver keeping fourth. James Vasquez nipped past Milkovich for 7th, the Ingram driver having a good race after a poor run of results. Before the end of the lap, two more significant changes came about: Giodano divebombed Simon at Ascari for the lead and van Snelheid did likewise to Kangur. The battle at the top wasn’t over though, as Simon roared pasted Giodano on the main straight not 20 seconds later, and Powers also overtook the Italian. Giodano was back past the Downton at Ascari but was now over a second behind Simon, while Kangur and Milkovich overtook van Snelheid and Vasquez. Powers tried to find a way back pass Giodano but soon his tyre disadvantage became clear as he began to drop back. Kangur, van Snelheid and Ruiz remained nose to tail, constantly trading positions, as was Vasquez and Milkovich. Kinnumen was flying at breath taking speed, reaching 11th by lap 5 and already beginning to line up the Holmqvist cars. On lap 6, Kangur finally got out of firing range from van Snelheid and while the Dutchman and Ruiz battled each other he set off after Powers. The action wasn’t only at the top though, as Halvosen, Wagner and Ostberg went three abreast into the first chicane, with the Dane eventually coming out on top after him and Wagner dragged the battle down to the Variante della Roggia. By lap 8 Kinnumen had cleared the midfield and was now chasing after Milkovich. If the Halvosen-Wagner-Ostberg battle had looked trilling, by lap 8 it looked chaotic, as Sikes, Zozulya, Schnyder and Perez joined them, leaving 7 cars separated by 2 seconds. Kangur quickly caught Powers and made light work of him. The first round of pit stops was on lap 13, as the two AMR cars on their supersofts pitted, leaving them on a projected 4 stop race. By lap 15, Kinnumen was fifth having caught van Snelheid and Ruiz. The pair had been duelling the whole race, which had allowed Milkovich to catch up to them. At the end of the lap Simon and Kangur pitted, leaving them on three-stop strategies. The rest of the soft shod cars pitted over the next few laps, while Ruiz and Milkovich were embroiled in an intra-team battle, costing Simon time to new race leader Giodano. Kangur took even longer to overtake the Franklins, and he lost time to his teammate. Next up Simon caught up to another teammate battle, this time the two Downtons. Van Snelheid had the faster tyres, but Powers wasn’t giving up his position without a fight. Drivers on the medium tyres pitted from lap 23 onwards, handing them two stop races. Giodano came out in 4th (3rd when van Snelheid pitted) while Simon took the lead with a double pass on the orange cars at Ascari. Powers retook the lead moments later at the Parabolica however. Simon and Kangur eventually overtook Powers at the second chicane/Lesmos for good, but now they were approaching backmarkers, including the one and only Vocquelin. The Mathershaw cars thankfully got through unscarred, while Giodano slid past Powers at the Curva Grande before the Briton lost lumps of time in traffic. A battle at the front was brewing now, with Simon, Kangur and Giodano all within close proximity, but the Ocelot driver was ruled out when he hit Kangur under braking for the Parabolica while lapping Schnyder. He pitted at the end of the lap for a new front wing, shaking his head in despair. That left Simon and Kangur to fight it out mano a mano, but even that was soon to be ruined by outside factors. By the halfway point the order was Simon, Kangur, Powers, Kinnumen, van Snelheid, Ruiz, Mattson (who had recovered well from 13th), Milkovich (who lost time to his teammate in the pit stop phase), Giodano and Vasquez. Kangur forced his way past Simon at Ascari on lap 28, despite his teammate squeezing him. Amongst all the drama Vocquelin’s race had come to a premature end due to a brake failure. Simon was back ahead on the pit straight however, while Powers made his one and only stop on lap 29. Kangur made his second stop a lap later, coming out in fourth and the other soft runners did likewise. The Mathershaw crew were ready for Simon, but the championship leaders stop never came – a mysterious problem meant he stayed out and never pitted again in the race. It looked like Kangur would now have a straight forward drive to the chequered flag, but a certain Finn had something else to say about that. Kinnumen had sustained his pace and was still had the Estonian in his sights. Carson Davenport’s Judd died while went through the Parabolica on lap 31, and he stopped on the apex. He was hit and spun around by somebody, though it is unknown who. Van Snelheid meanwhile hit Jules Simon while trying to put a lap on him and spun at the first Lesmo, costing him time. He caught back up to Powers but again the Briton defended against his teammate, allowing Milkovich to catch up to them. A few laps later Simon spun at the second Lesmo while trying to lap a Lopez, dropping him from first to third. Powers, van Snelheid and Milkovich continued their battle, with one of them gaining the upper hand, then the other, then the other in a never-ending circle. As Simon dropped down to 7th. Up front the gap between Kangur and Kinnumen had stabilized at a whisker under 2 seconds. However, when they reached backmarkers, the Ocelot came off second worst, losing about a second. Behind the leading pair, the battle got even more intense as Ruiz in third spun while unsurprisingly lapping backmarkers at the Lesmos. He dropped back into the Milkovich, Powers and van Snelheid battle which was as ferocious as ever. Both Jamie Franklin and Bradley Downton were biting their fingernails off the four drivers battled to the death for third. Milkovich managed to gain the place on lap 43, and having held off Ruiz on the next lap, things were looking good for him. Jules Simon meanwhile had an engine failure, leaving Meteor with a double DNF. Kangur pitted on lap 45 for the last time, while Kinnumen boxed a lap later. There was heartbreak however for Franklin as Milkovich pulled over to the side of the track from third with a brake failure. Kinnumen joined the long list of drivers to spin at the Lesmos, though he didn’t lose and positions, remaining in second. Van Snelheid and Ruiz pitted with a few laps to go as well for a fresh set of boots, but there was more disaster for Franklin as Ruiz’s engine also started smoking. He tried to keep going but eventually parked on the side of the racing line after a few laps, leaving his team with a double DNF. Giodano meanwhile caught up to Simon and passed him, capping off a what could have been for the 31-year-old. There was still some action left however. Will Hoskins was now 7th or ‘best of the midfield’ as he, on the hard tyres, didn’t need a late pit stop, while the two Ingrams did. The green cars now were lapping very quickly though, and on the last lap they had caught up to the Holmqvist. Mattson dived down the inside of Hoskins at Ascari and made the move stick, leading to a round of applause from the Ingram garage. Up front though there was no more dramas, as Kangur crossed the line for his sixth career win to close the gap to Simon in the championship to 25 points. Kinnumen took second from nineteenth with the fastest lap, while Powers ended up third after a great drive. Van Snelheid was fourth to bring home solid points for Downton and keep the constructors championship alive. Giodano rued a potential lost home win in fifth while Simon was gutted in sixth, meaning the drivers championship also continued. Mattson beat Hoskins to seventh while Vasquez was back in the points with ninth. Felix Beyer rounded out the points in tenth. See the full race below: Comments are closed.
|
|