LRL heads to the fast life in the GT3 cars around the fast flowing Mid Town circuit in New Zealand for what was to be an exciting race from start tofinish




Qualifying

Setting a lap around the fierce track is one thing, but making it a good one is another. Qualifying appeared to be a head to head duel between Team Rock Racing's Trespasser and Race Green's Mandula, both swapping top times as the session went on, only for SIDUS's Gabor to snatch pole position when it mattered, by the smallest of margins over to 2nd and 3rd. With minimal track time or practice, TC-Racing's Adam put in the lap of his life to put himself 4th, ahead of experienced and quick driver Pickard, who could only manage 5th. MRc's Firestone qualified 9th on his debut to the championship while Maciek for the second Race Green machine rounded out the top 10.



Race

With a cloud of uncertainty over tire choice, the race got underway with the top 4 drafting away by the end of the first lap, leaders running side by side into the final corner before settling down with Trespasser coming out on top. Further back, a clumsy incident saw Pickard spin around L.Rydh, sending the latter back down the order, only to be collected and rolled 2 corners later by Jereloco.

As the race drew on, it was clear Trespasser had the pace to maintain his lead, however, Mandula was giving him a run for his money, closely following him for the majority of the first stint. Gabor held off Adam for 3rd, although some intense battling between them and Pickard produced some nail biting action. Firestone found his way past WCL's Soini and was in a brilliant 6th after a storming start, but would soon receive a Drive-Through Penalty for a chat infringement before losing connection; a disappointing result for what was a great potential.

Fast forward a couple of laps, and Adam had passed Gabor for 3rd, only to shuffle backwards behind Pickard in 5th after a mistake. The battle for 7th and 8th between Jereloco and Maciek carried on for a few laps before Maciek pitted for the undercut, which would result in a positional swap. Lap 18 saw Rydh crash out of a recovery drive in 11th, rolling in the final corner and bringing out the Safety Car, which bunched up the field and saw some drivers take a their compulsory pit - with Trespasser retaining his lead for the restart and fending off his rivals to claim a brilliant 2nd win in Season 2!

Driver's Championship



Full race results and Driver's Championship Standings can be found at https://www.lfs.net/forum/post/1955979#post1955979

See you again for Round 3 at LRL's version of the Nurburgring - the Schwarzwald, on 6th June for more action!