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The streets of Monte Carlo plays host to the 2nd running of the Monaco event here at LRL, and it was an action-packed race as per usual, with close, fast racing, paired with fumbles and even, one red flag!
Qualifying Results
The baby UFR, better known as UFBR, was a car totally new to the field at Monaco. Having tasted tarmac previously using the UF1, it was tippy-toes for most of the runners following Free Practice. A shock turn of form was seen with Jereloco briefly topping the time sheet early on in the session, only beaten by championship leader Trespasser, who once again set the pace in his Team Rock Racing car. Closest championship Michal was able to put in a clean, unobstructed lap to line up on the 2nd row alongside Born 2 Race's Rayman and Race Green's Mandula, both of whom were on the pace. FFM's Number made a return to the series, lining up 6th ahead of Jamin, a series rookie and fellow B2r driver Twincam. SIDUS Gabor capped off the top 10, with Air Support's Azyer making a return down in 12th, and M@ciek in 15th after a troubled session.
Unofficial Race Results
The second start, after a red flag
A short run down into Turn 1 meant that the start was crucial for all the drivers. The flag dropped, and the field entered the first turn, only for cars to trip over each other and create a 4-car pile up on the exit, resulting in TC Racing's Elmo turning turtle, bringing out the red flag.
The race restarted, this time, cleanly, with the drivers taking it cautiously on the opening sequence of corners.
Mandula got ahead of Rayman after a little arm wrestling, with Number following suit, and Elmo going around the outside at Turn 2, to drop the B2r driver 3 spots in under a sector.
Down into Turn 3, a light tap from Azyer saw Jamin spin around, with the domino effect causing Cooper to stamp on the brakes and spin out himself. Further down the road, PitlaneRacer, who had skillfully made his way up from 18th into 13th, was the first victim to over-enthusiasm, tripping over the walls at Rascasse and ending up turtle on the exit - bringing out the first Safety Car!
The proximity of the field meant only Jamin and MRc's KIG made their way to the pits for the ultra-early stop. The rest of the field, carried around and pitted the next lap. Leader Trespasser and most behind followed him in, except for nearest rival Jereloco, who was on the alternate strategy, hoping to stretch out a lead and pit later on. Meanwhile, further back, Number had made an unsafe pit entry, chopping across Elmo's car, forcing him to brake, earning the FFM driver a Drive Through Penalty. As the drivers emerged from the pit entry, a race-breaking situation between Rayman and Trespasser saw the latter just emerge ahead - crucial for the race at the point in time!
The restart saw Mandula leapfrog his teammate M@ciek into 5th, whilst Gabor got a jump on Elmo down the front straight; which would turn out to be too much of a jump, for he would be penalised for passing before the Start line. Trespasser made short work of Jereloco and was soon stretching out a lead, as we have seen all too often. HR Cooper and ATR's Cabezon made their stops whilst Team GG's Simgintas had a little spin fighting within the pack.
A lag spike by Mandula saw him punt Michal out of 4th, an unfortunate situation for the man in 2nd in the standings. Azyer made a move on KIG for 17th, drawing alongside and past into Turn 1. As the field rounded onto lap 9, it was prime stint groove as the field spread out, but it was not long before the barriers claimed another victim - this time, MRc's Shamz, clobbering the Swimming Pool chicane and ending up against the wall, upside down. Safety Car was out!
Deja vu! Car stranded in the same position as B2r Rayman, a year before!
In the chaos, Azyer suffered the first mechanical retirement of the season, with a burnt out clutch in his UFBR. HR Cooper also rolled his machine just past Rascasse, again showing the precision needed around the principality. The race restarted yet again, with Trespasser leading Rayman and Mandula with Number, who had yet to serve his penalty, ahead of Michal. Jereloco had fallen back into the mid pack,
The field bunched up as the drivers battled for real estate, with Jereloco keen on moving forward after dropping from the lead, into 10th. As the saying goes, "Safety cars bring Safety cars", and this was never more evident, with Number, who was running down the leaders, going upside down at the Swimming Pool after a mistake. Midway through the race and the action continues, with Jereloco fumbling with his controls, causing an innocent Simgintas to spin around and get collected, losing positions; mind you, under Safety Car!
Green flag saw Simgintas making a position up after his incident, passing M@ciek into Turn 1, whilst Air Attack's Ahmetaj made spots into Turn 2. A few spots ahead, Twincam was holding off a aggressive Jereloco, sustaining taps left right and center. Gabor served his Drive Through, which cemented him 16th, in last place, with some catching up to do. Up ahead, Cabezon ran wide out of Swimming Pool, tripping over the nose of Naga, who sent the Argentinian into a spot of ballet at Rascasse.
As the field finally spread out and drivers found a rhythm, battles started to emerge, with the main ones being Mandula, Rayman and Michal for 2nd, and the shambles unfolding in 7th with Jereloco, Ahmetaj and Twincam, who had been given the fist and also a shove aside, dropping him behind both.
With the fuel load burning down, Mandula found his turbo button and scampered away from Rayman and Michal, who were now engaging in war - going side by side into any corner possible, tussling hard and fair for the last spot on the podium, until unfortunate contact occurred at lap 21, sending Rayman into a spin and stranded at Turn 3, following which a t-bone by an unsighted Jereloco sent him on the right direction. Rayman dropped way back into the clutches of his teammate in 5th, with Ahmetaj pulling ahead on pace.
With just 5 laps to go, Simgintas clattered over the kerbs and was another DNF in the race, bringing out a Safety car. The field bunched up for one final go, and Trespasser, who had pulled a huge gap prior to the caution, pulled away from the field as Mandula tried to catch up. Michal ran with him in 3rd, as Twincam gave the big hurry up to Ahmetaj for 4th.
Just as we thought we could get a feisty green flag sprint to the end, a clumsy manouver and mild lag saw Jereloco send Naga skywards, resting against the outside wall, and; you guessed it, bringing out the final Safety Car, concluding the action-packed race under yellows, with Trespasser taking a dominant, yet frustrating win ahead of a triumphant Mandula and Michal, who keeps the championship gap alive heading into the next round. Twincam recovered well to finish 5th, just behind AA's Ahmetaj in a brilliant 4th. Rayman finished 9th after his unlucky tangle, with Gabor driving a clean second half of the race to pick up 10th. Jereloco, who was once leading, ended up last of the finishers on the lead lap after a poor second stint.
We can thank the huge turn out for this eventful and exciting event, and we'll see you for the next round at Fern Bay for the Fern Bay F11 circuit with the RB4!
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 8th of August for Round 7 at F11!