Qualifying Results

The qualifying session was a packed one, with drivers out to find the best line especially through the fast-paced Silverstone section. It was key to the lap and precision was what mattered up at the top. Pickard and Teho's Ngottini set the initial pace before championship leader Trespasser put his Team Rock Racing XRT onto provisional pole by quite a considerable margin, ensuring what was going to be another easy lights-to-flag win. Further back, JJD surprisingly outpaced Master Race Car's MRc Michal to snatch away 4th on the grid by the smallest of margins! The two Race Green drivers of Redbot and Maciek lined up 6th and 7th respectively, whilst newcomer Zesty from MRc lined up in 12th amongst World Class Lion's Soini, and HR Cooper brought up the back of the grid. Unfortunately, Redbot failed to join the grid in time, lining up in true-last due to LFS's grid system.




Race Results



Off the start, Trespasser covered the launch of Ngottini down into the first sweeping turn whilst Michal got an excellent jump on JJD, going ahead of him down into Turn 2. Into the braking zone for the infield section, Ngottini got ahead and past the championship leader, whilst Pickard had to fend off the fast-starting Michal. Zesty was thick in traffic as he made a good start himself, elevating into 11th, battling with PitlaneRacer who attempted a outside pass, whilst Minve and Sobis tussled into sector 2.




Entering the back straight, Trespasser encountered a technical glitch, hitting the inside wall and getting semi-spun out in recovery, dropping him from his unassailable lead into a lowly 12th by lap 2 - a place he has not been in since Season 1! This put Ngottini in the lead, Pickard in 2nd, and JJD in 3rd fending off a huge train of angry cars behind him.




Minve and Redbot took an early pit stop, attempting to undercut the pack in front of them, whilst they battled furiously. Meanwhile up at the front, Pickard was chasing down leader Ngottini, and a battle was soon in the making. An equally exciting battle laid behind them for 3rd, with JJD defending hard against Michal, who now had an opportunity to make up points on Trespasser. The train JJD had made now consisted of 5 drivers - Michal, Maciek Last Lap Motorsport's Sobis, MRc KIG and Trespasser, all of which appeared quicker! As the field spread and Ngottini kept Pickard in check, this 3rd place action was the battle to watch!




As the battle for 3rd intensified, Sobis found his way past Maciek, and JJD continued to make his car as wide as possible, which proved to be a huge problem for Michal, who was now under fire from Sobis.


Tight battling for 4th

As Michal tried to pass JJD, he out-braked himself into the final hairpin, which opened the door for Sobis to draw alongside, and the pair went side by side into Turn 1 and most of the entire first sector, with Michal eventually coming out on top. Trespasser, who was at one point in 12th, now right on the pair, and slipped right past Sobis on the final corner, putting himself back into contention, now in 4th. The TRR driver would pass his championship rival 2 laps later, with a brave pass round the outside at Turn 4.





Zesty, the rookie, was running in a solid 9th, before an ambitious line out of Turn 1 sent him spearing into the inside wall, dropping him back and getting damaged. JJD who made his pit stop right as the train began attacking him a few laps back, was in 10th, after making his way past PitlaneRacer. Michal had also made his way past Sobis to retake 4th, the latter who was now dealing with over-heated tires. Trespasser was now on the back of Pickard and was let past into 2nd, free to charge up towards Ngottini for the lead.




JJD, who was now trying to find his way past TC-Racing's Elmo for 8th, was too brutal with his pass, spinning Elmo around and getting himself penalised for the maneuver. Our first retirement came in the form of PlotNom, retiring his car on Lap 12. Redbot suffered a disconnect on Lap 16, with Cooper following suit 2 laps later. JJD then had his own connection issues on Lap 20, dropping out of the race in 10th. At the back, the other newcomer Beluthar, who was in his first race event, had a couple of chat-penalties after failing to abide by the series rules.




Lap 23 saw Zesty awkwardly rolling at the Becketts section, which brought out the one and only Safety Car for the race! Being this late into the race, the leaders, who had all luckily stayed out, shuffled right into the pit lane - a good timing, as they were just at the pit entry! Ngottini retained his lead out of the pit lane, with Trespasser in 2nd, whilst Michal got past Pickard in the stops for 3rd. Sobis was in 5th, ahead of Maciek, Minve, and MRc KIG, who was in a lonely race at the time.




The race restarted with Ngottini giving his all, bolting away from Trespasser, who very quickly closed the gap and pressured the Teho driver, who eventually succumbed and ran wide, letting Trespasser back into the lead with 1 lap to go! Michal, Sobis and Pickard battled to the line, with Michal holding on to his podium, Pickard in 4th and Sobis trailing in 5th. Further back, Minve held back Maciek and KIG as they also traded paint to the finish!

It was once again a stunning showing by championship leader Trespasser - once again showing why he is the man to beat this season, with a brilliant recovery drive to take another win! With the next race at Hong Kong Circuit proving to be one not to miss, will we see a challenge to our champion-elect?


Official Driver Standings


Full race results and Driver's Championship Standings can be found at https://www.lfs.net/forum/post/1955979#post1955979
Join us next time on the 5th of September for Round 9 at Hong Kong Eprix!