Adrien Simon took victory at the Australian V-Prix, the opening round of the 2018 Formula Virtual season. The Frenchman started on pole and led the majority of the race but was run close by Puccio Giodano and Nathaniel Powers, who completed the podium. Simon held the lead from the start, while Ruiz flew around the outside of Powers into second at turn one. Allar Kangur moved ahead of James Vasquez too, but the biggest gainer was Elroy Wagner; moving up to 8th after passing four cars around the outside of turn 1. The big shock however came at turn 9 as Klaas van Snelheid tried to pass Viktor Östberg up the inside. The Dutchman misjudged the move, hit the inside kerb and spun; and was collected by an unsighted Felix Pérez, eliminating both on the spot. Sergio Álvarez was also hampered in the incident – the Phoenix temporarily blocked by the stricken Downton – but was lucky to avoid picking up damage. Simon and Ruiz – both on softs – began gapping Powers, the latter on the hard tyres. The reigning Champion had Giodano and Kangur in his mirrors, though the pair were rarely close enough to attempt a pass. The first set of pit stops came on lap 9, when Ötsberg and Dmytro Kovalenko came into the pits to change their super soft tyres, confining them to six-stop strategies. On lap 14, Simon and Ruiz pitted from the leading two places on their soft tyres, as Powers took over at the head of the field. More drivers pitted the next lap, but crucially the race leaders were now staring at four-stop races, with their final stop just two laps from the end. This gave Powers and Giodano some hope, as they could make two or more stops fewer than the pair. Simon came out less than five seconds from Powers, but Ruiz came out behind both Holmqvist cars, a further four seconds down the road. Simon caught and passed Giodano but failed to make it further, while behind him Ruiz passed Hoskins. On lap 22 however the Brazilian made a mess of trying to pass Jean Mattson and spun at turn 1. Hoskins hit the stranded Franklin as Ruiz crept back onto the racing line and a number of drivers got tangled up in the incident. Most managed to escape undamaged; but Hoskins, Ruiz, Kinnumen and Wagner all lost their front wings, while Beckenbauer lost a substantial amount of time. Ruiz hit the wall while trying to re-join the track and limped back to the pits, leaving the Brazilian down in 23rd. Back up front, Simon began to get aggressive with Powers and tried to overtake into turn 13, but the British driver covered him off; with the battling allowing Giodano to gain on the pair. The top three began to catch traffic, with Ruiz the first to be lapped of the many that pitted after the first corner mayhem. The Franklin driver let Powers through but blocked Simon and Giodano for over two laps, costing them time to the Downton. Medium-shod drivers began to pit from lap 23 onwards, with Giodano leading the charge into the pits. Crucially this put him on course for a two-stop race – two less then Simon – who had closed up on but was once more stuck behind Powers. The Frenchman made his second stop on lap 28, re-joining behind Giodano. The pair again began to close in on Powers, but all three – amongst other drivers – were held up when Sebastien Vocquelin and Sergio Álvarez collided and subsequently both retired. Simon used the opportunity to pass Giodano, though he now had to pull out an entire pit stop on the Ocelot to effectively be ahead of the Italian. Powers finally pitted on lap 32 and re-joined behind the Ingram pair but ahead of Yoshida, the Japanese driver having spun and lost time. At the tail end of the points Kangur, Halvosen and Schnyder had an exciting duel which ended with Kangur passing the Dane and Schnyder following suit, albeit quite a few laps later. Simon pitted for a third time on lap 42 and re-joined just ahead of the two Ingram’s and therefore Powers, the Downton driver having lost time behind the pair. The DS Mathershaw driver began to once more charge after Giodano, catching the Ocelot before the Italian's final pit-stop – albeit with Ruiz between them. The Brazilian again began to hold up Simon, and matters turned on their head when the Frenchman hit Ruiz at turn 13 and spat him off the road into the gravel. The Franklin driver then hit the barrier and lost his rear wing, but incredibly persisted until the end of the race, though he was later disqualified as per the regulations. Giodano pitted at the end of that lap for his second stop and re-joined five seconds behind Powers. He started to bring the gap down, but up ahead Simon had put the hammer down and was extending his advantage over the pair. Behind them; Inman, Yoshida and Kangur were also in a battle – though there were no overtakes – while Kinnumen briefly ran in sixth before his final stop. The Finnish driver re-joined in 11th but disposed of Johan Halvosen for the final points position before the end of the race. Giodano caught Powers just as they hit traffic, while ahead Simon pitted at the end of lap 56. His great pace however – combined with the backmarkers for his rivals – saw him emerge in the lead, while Giodano swept around the outside of Powers at turn one to take second. The Frenchman had a last-minute scare on the final tour while lapping a front wing-less Carson Davenport at the fast left-right of turns 11 and 12, but survived to take the first victory of 2018 ahead of Puccio Giodano – who secured Ocelot’s maiden podium – and Nathaniel Powers of Downton. Behind the top three James Vasquez put in an impressive debut performance with fourth ahead of team mate Jean Mattson, while Olen Inman recovered to sixth after a poor qualifying. Ryota Yoshida also got points in his first race ahead of Allar Kangur – who set the fastest lap – with Finn Schnyder and Tumo Kinnumen completing the top ten. Watch the race below:
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