The Steak and Shake New York V-Prix was held on the hallowed ground of Watkins Glen in upstate New York, with Yakumi Takahashi on pole position for Morley ahead of KGP’s Aron Einarsson. As the lights went out, it was third-placed Kip Maxwell that got the best start, leapfrogging Einarsson into turn one, with the Icelander sliding wide and losing another position to Felipe Cesar. Further back, Stuart Harrison had a shocker of a start, very nearly causing a massive pileup as he backed the midfield up, but in the end, it was only him who lost ground, losing three positions. In a departure from the strategy of the first round, a number of drivers completed their pitstops in the first segment of the race, the highest placed of those being Felipe Cesar from third position. Further back; Daniel Bruner, Keith Murphy, Keith Boston, Callum Brandon and Luke Stokey all opted for the early stop, meaning any advantage from running clear track early on was somewhat negated.
On lap 15 of 74, Kiara Thunder’s race came to a premature end when her engine capitulated, but quick work from the Brit meant she parked in the perfect spot to be recovered, meaning the race could continue unabated. Takahashi’s lead continued to be commanding, with the gap to Einarsson, Maxwell and Taylor growing steadily. Felipe Cesar had such a margin prior to his pitstop that he re-emerged in 14th, ahead of no fewer than 6 drivers who had yet to stop. After what had been a relatively tame first 30 laps, all hell broke loose when Marcus Thunder spun in the Boot and stalled, leaving his car stranded on the racing line for the blind corner. Enzo Domenicalli and Alex Wright were unsighted only a couple of seconds later, and they both collected the stricken Formation Competition car, causing absolute chaos. Within seconds, the race was neutralised with a full course caution to clean up the wreckage and ensure everyone involved was OK, closing the pack right up and losing Takahashi a 7 second advantage, but also closing the pit road to racing traffic, which was to prove crucial. After a stellar effort, 5 laps later the debris was cleared, and word came through that all drivers had emerged entirely unharmed from the accident. At this point, the pits reopened, and 8 drivers pitted, most notably Takahashi who plummeted down the order, handing Taylor the lead, who had yet to stop. When the pitting drivers returned to the back of the crocodile, hostilities resumed on lap 41. Taylor got a great restart, getting the jump on Einarsson and Scott Parsons, who were both also yet to stop. Hugh Dwyer was more alert however, picking up the tow on the two of them down the back straight, getting ahead by the bus stop chicane to take second place. Hiroto Nakumaya capped a miserable day with a retirement in the pitlane on lap 43 with hydraulics issues, while Drake Davies suffered a similar fate only a lap later after engine problems. Takahashi’s race went from bad to worse when he ran wide at the final corner, clouting the wall with both left-side tyres and making a mess of his Morley’s suspension. The Japanese driver limped around the entire lap before retiring in the pitlane. As the third round of pitstops happened, Taylor dropped to fourth, while Felipe Cesar jumped up to second place, with only Dwyer ahead who still hadn’t pitted. Keith Murphy’s early stop strategy also seemed to pay off as he moved up to fifth place. Meanwhile, Kip Maxwell – who was as high as second – was languishing in 16th after being caught out by the full course caution, and the day went from bad to worse for Signature Performance as Alexander McLaughlin and Stuart Harrison retired in the pits within two laps of each other with identical electrical faults. While Cesar inherited second place after the pitstops, his pace on aging tyres was beginning to wane. A bold move from Jochem van Snelheid into the Boot gave the Dutchman second place (though he hadn’t pitted), while Will Taylor pushed hard on his fresh Firestone rubber to also gain a place, before also overtaking van Snelheid into turn one with a stunning move that saw him jink left, then right to take the position. Dwyer then pitted on lap 62, triggering the final round of pitstops. The Canadian dropped to third place, handing Taylor the lead and Cesar second. The Rodeo Racing driver had a 3 second margin when he took the lead, and by the end he extended the gap to 5.5 seconds, taking a comfortable victory ahead of the Brazilian driver. Dwyer held on to third, while Einarsson, Murphy, Stokey, Parsons and van Snelheid rounded out the top 8. See below for full race classification and championship standings:
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April 2018
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