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Layout Racing League - Round 8, Hong Kong, Race Summary
The pack returns from the summer break with Round 8 of the season at Hong Kong. A tight, fun street circuit that previously hosted several successful races, it was make or break for several drivers, and with only 1 race remaining after this, it was all to play for! [TC-R] Pete drove a fantastic, battle-ridden race to receive another win.
Qualifying
The streets of Hong Kong played host to another interesting qualifying session, with drivers struggling to find their own piece of real estate as the times tumbled. A flurry of drivers exited the pit-lane as the green flag dropped, desperately getting heat into their tires.
Championship leader [6S] SIMOX set the early pace before B2r Spiky dipped into the 1:02s, dragging Pete along with him. Not far behind was L.Rydh and Trespasser. [WCL] J.A.Katila had great consistent pace whilst [LCS-R] Texas fought his car to try and gain time. However, by the halfway point, Pete put in a perfect lap of 1:02.42, which would not be eclipsed, staying on provisional pole to the session end.
Spiky responded but was unable to match the pole time, with Trespasser recovering lost pace to somehow place his XFG in 3rd just ahead of Katila, the World-Class-Lions driver putting his best qualifying result to date. SIMOX and Teho Ngottini rounded up the top 6, with Texas back in 10th and [TC-R] Elmo off-pace in 13th.
Race
17. LUXANNN! +13L Technical
18. B2r Spiky +15L Accident
19. Kage +20L Technical
20. [BR] Sick +32L Did Not Start
Fastest Lap : [TC-R] Pete - 1:02.66
Penalties :
AA|Rane - POST RACE 25 Second Time Penalty - Safety Car Procedure
[]Pedro(17) - POST Race 5 Second Time Penalty - Causing a Collision
It's go go for Round 8!
Drivers fight for position into Turn 1
The race began with equal starts from most of the field, with Trespasser braking later than Pete and SIMOX, taking an opportunistic move to take over in the lead. Further back, Katila and L.Rydh drag-raced down the back straight, with Katila holding position into the following sector.
Up front, the top 4 were nose to tail, with Trespasser determined to hold his lead and advantage. In the mid-field, B2r Rayman had made a poor start, dropping back several positions as the field swarmed past the first lap.
Quick starting Elmo in 9th
There were movers in the race, with [TC-R] Elmo and AA|Rane making up a handful of positions in the opening laps. With limited overtaking opportunities, the drivers stayed in station for the long-run, with only a few passes taking place, namely Kage around the outside of [MRc] KIG on the penultimate corner for 15th.
The leading duo pulling a gap early on
The pace of the top 2 was quick, with Spiky and the rest of the field unable to catch up. However, with the tussling between Pete and Trespasser becoming ever more rough, what was a 3-second gap was slowly eroding and by lap 8, Spiky was now back in the battle with undeniably better tire conditions. Behind Spiky, [6S] SIMOX struggled for early pace, hanging back in 4th with the mid-field now behind him in a Trulli-train.
A bold pass attempt for 6th
With the field stuck behind SIMOX, Texas took a bold move up the inside of L.Rydh, who left the door open and dropped behind Texas, only to get the drive out of the Turn 1 exit to re-pass into turn 2. Further back, Kage and B2r Rayman fought for the minor placings, swapping positions constantly as they battled.
The overtake for the lead
Lap 10 saw Trespasser's strong defense break down after a small mistake into Turn 1 allowed Pete to draw alongside into Turn 2, passing into the lead. A few laps followed with Trespasser attempting to hold on to Pete, however, failed as the [TC] Racing driver pulled out an amazing 11-second lead in a handful of laps.
Lap 12 saw our first retirement in the form of Kage, who retired with tire trouble.
With his lead gone, Trespasser refocused onto Spiky and SIMOX who were trying to find a way past. By this point, the pit window was wide open, with a nice gap in the mid-field if anyone was to drop into after pitting.
Elmo defending his position from Pedro
A careless blunder on Lap 15
With drivers waiting for each other to pit first, it was a tense situation up front. In a flash, a rolling XFG in the form of B2r Spiky brought out the FZ5 Safety Car. In post-race, Spiky remarked that he had thought Trespasser was pitting, and was going to follow him in - commenting that "you (Trespasser" took a wide line, I thought you were pitting", and clobbered right into the side of Trespasser, rolling over in a comical fashion.
In the mess, SIMOX had taken advantage and pitted just as the incident unfolded, with no one else except [MRc] KIG towards the back of the field taking this cheat pit stop.
SIMOX leapfrogs his competitors
With his undercut, SIMOX had emerged in 2nd, much to the dismay of Trespasser. Most of the field came in on the first lap of the SC period, with Biroot choosing to stay out for track position, hoping for another Safety Car situation later in the race.
The perfect restart by the top 2
The field bunched up as they got ready to get under way for the green flag. In a surprising move, AA|Rane had jumped the restart by a mile, overtaking several drivers under Yellow, which gave him a 25 second post-race penalty.
The race restarted with the top 2 of Pete and SIMOX instantly pulling a gap on Trespasser and Katila, who were asleep on the throttle for the green flag. In the few laps to come, SIMOX tried but failed to stay with Pete, with the leader racing into the distance. Trespasser had his mirrors full of L.Rydh, the latter getting past Katila for 4th.
A botched overtake into Turn 1
The third retirement of the race came in the form of LUXANNN, who retired with a disconnect near the back of the pack.
With the race settling into place, drivers found their own piece of track and spread out well as the second part of the race neared the end. Texas was coming under immense pressure in 6th place, after failing to find a rhythm at the restart, and having to defend hard from Ngottini and the rest of the pack behind him. Biroot had pitted out of his 6th place, falling near the back end of the points positions.
With the laps tumbling, drivers were unable to find ways past each other, except on the final lap, where the battle for 8th with Elmo, Rane and Pedro heated up, with Pedro missing his braking point into Turn 1, diving past Rane and up the inside of Elmo, knocking the [TC-R] driver aside and letting Rane past as well. For his troubles, Pedro received a time penalty, promoting Elmo back into his position.
A stunning victory after races absent
However, up front it was yet again [TC-R] Pete who put in another rewarding performance to claim victory and fastest lap at Hong Kong, vaulting him past SIMOX in the championship by one singular point. SIMOX himself finished a distant 2nd, ahead of Trespasser who retained his podium ahead of L.Rydh.
Katila finished a respectable 5th, ahead of the struggling [LCS-R] Texas. Further back, Elmo earned a nice 8th place, with Biroot in 11th following his poor strategy choice. Pedro rounded off the points positions following his penalty.
Driver's Championship as of Round 8
Pete has now retaken the championship lead after his brief absence, with SIMOX on the back foot and Trespasser now out of the championship chase. Who will be LRL's first champion?
Round 9 - Norisring, RB4 (7 September 2019) SEASON FINALE