OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS PENDING
Layout Racing League kicked off its 5th season with a great turnout at Westhill Cadet. With a new car to get to grasp with and a fast, flowing track, the drivers had their afternoon busy to squeeze the best they could out of their racecars.
Qualifying Result
Qualifying was a initially a tossup between TAV's Suforr and new entrant kyr1l?, however S1DUS's Rik showed top pace, lighting the timing screen with fastest lap after fastest lap, ultimately taking Pole Position by over half a second from Suforr, with a total of 26 drivers set to take on the 32 lap race.
The race start
The race started and a great launch saw kyr1l challenge Rik down into Turn 1, with Suforr going deep round the outside and running off track, with MRc Gabri following in sympathy. RG Falcon took his chance to pass dod1saw and kyr1l into Turn 3 however could not pull up in time, residing to 6th as RP's Lucas also caught the grass on exit.
Meanwhile, spins from VM's January and RG Lorenzo saw them drop to the back of the pack, and Suforr joining them with a punt by DLV. In the shambles, Rik streaked far ahead in the lead, building what was a half second lead into 2 seconds in just a lap. Lap 3 saw contact between dod1slaw and kyr1l at the end of sector two, wiping them clean out of the podium, with RG NOSLE barely avoiding the chaos. Team Race Green silently climbed up places and soon both their drivers NOSLE and Falcon were running in 2nd and 3rd.
Swift avoiding action sees a pile-up avoided
Fighting back through the field
As the race continued, Suforr, Lorenzo and Redbot (whom started from the pitlane) were slowly gaining back lost time and places. Similarly, MRC's Texas who had had only qualified 10th, was now the driver on the move, soon up to 5th place battling with kyr1l, who himself was regaining his composure.
As the laps drew on, it was still S1DUS's Rik far out in the lead, with the RG duo tussling for 2nd best, followed by another new entrant, Mugrilo, who was holding his own in 4th. Egorka suffered a spin and retired, and so did bozso, as the car's lack of downforce and slippery nature started to catch drivers out.
Lap 14 was just around the corner when Suforr, who had now caught up to Texas for 6th, attempted a bold overtake round the outside at Turn 6 and made it stick, however a cheeky poke down the inside by Texas caught him off guard - sliding off the track and spinning out in a huge cloud of dust. Unfortunately, RG Lorenzo came up on the stricken car too quick and made big contact, effectively putting both cars - and potential championship contenders, out of the race.
Texas escaped the shambles, just, with minor wing damage and soldiered on. We also saw great battles down the field, with MRc jsk dualing it out with resident streamer RG Maciek for 8th, trading paint and probably swear words before the latter decided to pit for clear air, and so did his team mate from 2nd, NOSLE. As the field slowly spread out, drivers got into rhythm for for once, the spins and incidents took a pause. Drivers pitted for fuel, or to complete their compulsory pit, as the laps trickled down to the final few tours.
kyr1l pits from 2nd, view of the elevated pit bridge
The last few laps saw a flurry of drivers making last-minute pit stops. Kyr1l eventually pitted from 2nd, letting by Texas, Falcon and NOSLE, the two latters eventually making up the podium. Mugrilo fought the freshly-pitted kyr1l for 4th, however had to settle for 5th after a valiant effort.
It was S1DUS's Rik Kardol who claimed an absolutely class victory at the season opener, grabbing the win by 23 seconds over the two Race Green drivers. MRC's Texas clawed back a rewarding 5th, and VM January finishing in the top 10 after fighting with GR Maty and FSR's DLV - a great result in his first ever race in the series and in the single seaters.
A dominant victory
Provisional Race result
The next round sees us back at familiar territory at Broker Hill, with the flowing, but tight course built on Westhill's carpark sure to provide action as it did for the past 4 seasons! We certainly can't wait!
