Allar Kangur put in another great performance to become the first Formula Virtual driver ever to win in Slovakia, and power himself into the championship battle. The Estonian started fourth but moved into second when Adrien Simon and Olen Inman crashed into each other and took the lead when Enrique Ruiz was held up behind Jean Mattson, Ruiz came second after it looked like Puccio Giodano would finish there, but a slow pit-stop put him behind Ruiz and Nathaniel Powers who finished third, elevating the Brit into the championship lead after Simon lost his rear wing and retired. Ruiz got off the line well at the start as Simon put pressure on Inman, however it came to no avail. There were no changes in the top seven, but James Vasquez passed Klaas van Snelheid for eighth. Will Hoskins lost his front wing after hitting teammate Tumo Kinnumen as they flew through turn two, ruining his race before it got going while Kinnumen himself spun off at turn six, losing plenty of positions. Van Snelheid quickly re-passed Vasquez before the lap had ended and set off after Ryota Yoshida. The big gainer from the start was Finn Schnyder who moved from twenty-second to fifteenth. It became clear that the DS Mathershaw's had better pace than the Franklin duo up front, with both Simon and Kangur sticking onto Inman’s gearbox. A train was also beginning to form behind Giodano; with Powers, Yoshida and van Snelhied all keeping each other company. It didn’t take long for van Snelheid to pass Yoshida, his soft tyres giving him plenty of grip. On lap five Simon tried to go up the inside of Inman at turn one, but disaster struck. Inman turned into the corner and Simon’s car mounted his car. The two went off at high speed and smashed into the barrier, breaking their front wings. Simon managed to rejoin the track and pitted, dropping down to last. But Inman hit the barrier again while trying to get back onto the tarmac and his race was over. With Simon now out of the fight for the win, Kangur picked up the chase and stormed after Ruiz, wasting no time in catching up with him. Powers finally passed Giodano on lap eleven, putting him on the podium. Van Snelheid made his first pit-stop on lap thirteen, refitting his soft tyres. He rejoined in fifteenth. At the back Simon was making up time, beginning to pass the back-markers. Another driver making up time was Kinnumen, who had caught up to Johan Halvosen, Carson Davenport and Sergio Álvarez, who were tenth, ninth and eighth respectively, all having great races. The Finnish driver however was quickly passed by van Snelheid who was flying on his fresh rubber. All medium shod drivers pitted on lap twenty and onwards, with all the top drivers pitting on lap twenty. Just before entering the pits Powers made a mistake and fell behind Giodano and Yoshida. Slow stops for both Ocelots however meant Powers went back into third. Mattson took the lead with his hard tyres with Ruiz Kangur slotting out around eight seconds behind. Giodano flew around the outside of Powers at the final corner to move back ahead. Kinnumen was now under pressure from Giodano, Powers and Yoshida. When the Italian went for a move into turn six, Kinnumen got onto the kerb and spun, letting a few drivers pass. Up front Ruiz and Kangur were slicing into Mattson’s lead like cheese, catching him after four laps. Powers had a very scary moment, losing control of his car on the exit of turn three, but he managed to hold onto it and straighten the car without losing any positions. Ingram may have been using the same engines as Franklin but Mattson did Ruiz no favours by letting him pass, if anything he held him up. This allowed Kangur to gain on Ruiz and he didn’t waste any chances; he went up the inside of Ruiz at turn three and took second behind Mattson. He passed the Frenchman a lap later for first. Van Snelheid made his second stop on lap twenty-five, leaving him on a four stopper. Elroy Wagner tagged the rear end of Felix Pérez’s car at turn six and both cars spun off into the gravel. Mattson was continuing to hold up Ruiz and Giodano began to close up to him. Mattson peeled off into the pits at the end of lap twenty-seven, the damage had been done for Ruiz however. At turn three Giodano had a look up the inside, and Powers hit Ruiz’s rear end, allowing the Ocelot driver past into second. Van Snelheid’s third pit stop came on lap thirty-seven. Kangur made his final pit-stop on lap thirty-nine, coming out well ahead of Mattson, while Zozulya joined the list of drivers to spin off at turn six. The rest of the front runners all pitted the next lap, but another slow stop from Giodano meant he dropped behind Ruiz and Powers. On lap forty-two Schnyder spun at turn six, but when he tried to spin his car back around, he hit Yoshida head on, breaking both of their front wings. Both Adrien and Jules Simon also spun off, and when Jules went back onto the track he hit Vasquez, breaking their front wings. Sebastian Vocquelin hit Vasquez’s stranded car, and so did the older Simon, before the Colombian’s car was pushed onto the gravel an he rejoined the track. The chaos wasn’t over though. A few laps later Simon spun off at the now infamous turn six, and reversed into the barrier when trying to rejoin, breaking his rear wing and congesting him to a DNF. Viktor Ostberg spun at the final corner and when he came back on track, he hit the pit wall, breaking his tyre off. Yoshida was now on a charge to get back into the points; Simon’s silly act promoted him to eleventh before he entered the top ten by passing Davenport. He then caught Halvosen and made light work of him to move into ninth. Van Snelheid passed Mattson for fifth but soon made his final pit-stop, dropping him down to sixth. Yoshida was now working on closing the ten second gap to Alvarez, who was also closing up to Kinnumen. They all caught up to each other with just over a lap to go; Yoshida blasted past both of them with little effort, while Alvarez passed Kinnumen at the first corner for eighth to send the Phoenix garage into ecstacy. At the front, Kangur had no issues and he won the maiden V-Prix at Slovakia, his third win in four races. Ruiz took his fourth podium in a row, though his first win of the season still eluded him. Powers’ third place put him in the championship lead after Simon’s retirement, while Giodano took fourth in his first race after his team announced he was being dropped. Mattson put in another excellent drive to take fifth while van Snelheid’s strategy left him in a disappointing sixth, though he did take the fastest lap. Yoshida’s late charge rewarded him with seventh, while Alvarez continued to star with eighth. Kinnumen claimed more points with ninth, while Halvosen rounded out the points paying positions. See the full race below: Comments are closed.
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