The last race of this years OWRL F1 championship 2009 took place at the Kyoto GP circuit. Although both titles were tight in the hands of the 1stBFA Racing Team there was still a position left at the podium of the driver championship. Contenders were Carsten Hörenbaum, SK Gaming, who led with one single point against Pete Hopkins, Sonicrealms Racing. Next to their fight it was also important to say goodbye to this year in a way that will be remembered in the upcoming months when the OWRL F1 will have a long winter break.
A typical issue of this track is the fast chicane where the cars leave the oval part. This race the OWRL F1 installed a few poles to force drivers to stay on the tarmac, but that did not stop drivers from spinning during qualifying. In the second and important session many attempts were destroyed by the chicane, however we still got a proper order for the race. Carsten Hörenbaum took pole-position in front of champion Adam Wisniewski and his contender, Pete Hopkins on third, who were separated by just 0.01 seconds. But like a few times before in this season, grid order of the start is not the same in turn one.
When the red lights went out Hörenbaum lost his position at the top to Wisniewski after a very bad start and was lucky enough that Hopkins and Innovate Racing driver Sascha Zimmermann couldn’t pass him. The first half of the grid made it without problems through turn one, but then Gießler hit Juvani slightly and started spinning while taking Speedfreak Damon Ryder with him. Piotrowski didn't slow down enough and him, his followers Franz-Josef Stumm and Matthias Lust of Factory Phantom Racing drove in the back of him and Piotrowski and Stumm were sent flying into the air. Stumm had to retire once again, Piotrowski had to pit for damage. Zimmerman, who was fourth, got caught by Sascha Riegler and Pasi Juvani. The first victim of the chicane was Jürgen Gießler of Innovate Racing, who fell back from seventh to thirteenth in lap three. Wisniewski was leading in front of Hopkins, but both of them could only stay at the front until lap four. Wisniewski had to retire after a slide at (of course) the fast chicane and Hopkins ran wide at a rather unusual corner. A trip through the gravel after the first split let him fall back from second down to eighth, that way Hörenbaum was leading the race.
But the race on this challenging circuit became a lucky bag. Zimmermann went from fifth to second within a few laps and after a short mistake he was already back on sixth. During that time Sonicrealms Racing was leading with both drivers because Riegler and Hopkins found a way to pass Hörenbaum. Shortly after that Riegler was alone at the front when the other two went to the pits. Zimmermann was back on second in front of both Speedfreaks Ramon and Damon Ryder and Storhaug of 1stBFA. Storhaug managed to pass both at the pits but after he rejoined in front of them he had to retire with technical problems. Everyone was making their pit stops except for leader Riegler and Timo Höfer, guest driver for Maslen F1 racing, who was now second after starting from fifteenth. He and Riegler were the last into the pits and Riegler could keep his lead. But even Riegler was not safe against the chicane and just before his pit stop he lost the car like many drivers before him. The following pit stop was now longer than expected and he dropped back to ninth. Zimmermann was now in the lead in front of Damon Ryder, who was on a very short middle stint. But just before his stop he got overtaken by Hopkins.
Matt Maslen went to his second pit stop as fifth and rejoined just in front of Damon Ryder. Both were behind Yann Laprevotte, who still had to pit a second time. Gießler with a Drive-through penalty and Piotrowski with his third stop were behind Maslen and Ryder, all four were joined by Riegler after his stop. All five drivers were in the running for sixth position, fifth was safe in Timo Höfers hands. Maslen had a bad set of tyres and dropped back to tenth before spinning off at the chicane. Ryder got close to Höfer on fifth in the final laps but couldn’t find a way past him to finish sixth. Behind them were Piotrowski and Riegler, with the latter being faster. While coming out of the hairpin at the end of the last lap both crashed and spun. Riegler waited for Piotrowski and both recovered on P7 and 8 just before Gießler was coming by, that way his DT penalty cost him four championship points.
Hopkins and Hörenbaum were on second and third after overtaking Ramon Ryder, who will finish fourth. That way Hopkins would retake the third place in the championship, but Hörenbaum was faster and in the final laps he was directly behind him. But when they approached the fast chicane, Hörenbaum lost the car and drove through the grass, losing ten seconds. He was able to cut the gap in half but Hopkins could stay in front of Hörenbaum and therefore finishes second in this race and third overall. Sascha Zimmermann, who led the race since lap twenty-one, had a very long middle stint and gave the lead never away once he had it and wins his first OWRL F1 race.
That was the last OWRL F1 race of this year, we hope you enjoyed the season and we will see you again next year. The Open Wheel Racing League still has one division race and a cup during Christmas planned, so we hope you’ll take a look at those races as well.
Keep racing!
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A typical issue of this track is the fast chicane where the cars leave the oval part. This race the OWRL F1 installed a few poles to force drivers to stay on the tarmac, but that did not stop drivers from spinning during qualifying. In the second and important session many attempts were destroyed by the chicane, however we still got a proper order for the race. Carsten Hörenbaum took pole-position in front of champion Adam Wisniewski and his contender, Pete Hopkins on third, who were separated by just 0.01 seconds. But like a few times before in this season, grid order of the start is not the same in turn one.
When the red lights went out Hörenbaum lost his position at the top to Wisniewski after a very bad start and was lucky enough that Hopkins and Innovate Racing driver Sascha Zimmermann couldn’t pass him. The first half of the grid made it without problems through turn one, but then Gießler hit Juvani slightly and started spinning while taking Speedfreak Damon Ryder with him. Piotrowski didn't slow down enough and him, his followers Franz-Josef Stumm and Matthias Lust of Factory Phantom Racing drove in the back of him and Piotrowski and Stumm were sent flying into the air. Stumm had to retire once again, Piotrowski had to pit for damage. Zimmerman, who was fourth, got caught by Sascha Riegler and Pasi Juvani. The first victim of the chicane was Jürgen Gießler of Innovate Racing, who fell back from seventh to thirteenth in lap three. Wisniewski was leading in front of Hopkins, but both of them could only stay at the front until lap four. Wisniewski had to retire after a slide at (of course) the fast chicane and Hopkins ran wide at a rather unusual corner. A trip through the gravel after the first split let him fall back from second down to eighth, that way Hörenbaum was leading the race.
But the race on this challenging circuit became a lucky bag. Zimmermann went from fifth to second within a few laps and after a short mistake he was already back on sixth. During that time Sonicrealms Racing was leading with both drivers because Riegler and Hopkins found a way to pass Hörenbaum. Shortly after that Riegler was alone at the front when the other two went to the pits. Zimmermann was back on second in front of both Speedfreaks Ramon and Damon Ryder and Storhaug of 1stBFA. Storhaug managed to pass both at the pits but after he rejoined in front of them he had to retire with technical problems. Everyone was making their pit stops except for leader Riegler and Timo Höfer, guest driver for Maslen F1 racing, who was now second after starting from fifteenth. He and Riegler were the last into the pits and Riegler could keep his lead. But even Riegler was not safe against the chicane and just before his pit stop he lost the car like many drivers before him. The following pit stop was now longer than expected and he dropped back to ninth. Zimmermann was now in the lead in front of Damon Ryder, who was on a very short middle stint. But just before his stop he got overtaken by Hopkins.
Matt Maslen went to his second pit stop as fifth and rejoined just in front of Damon Ryder. Both were behind Yann Laprevotte, who still had to pit a second time. Gießler with a Drive-through penalty and Piotrowski with his third stop were behind Maslen and Ryder, all four were joined by Riegler after his stop. All five drivers were in the running for sixth position, fifth was safe in Timo Höfers hands. Maslen had a bad set of tyres and dropped back to tenth before spinning off at the chicane. Ryder got close to Höfer on fifth in the final laps but couldn’t find a way past him to finish sixth. Behind them were Piotrowski and Riegler, with the latter being faster. While coming out of the hairpin at the end of the last lap both crashed and spun. Riegler waited for Piotrowski and both recovered on P7 and 8 just before Gießler was coming by, that way his DT penalty cost him four championship points.
Hopkins and Hörenbaum were on second and third after overtaking Ramon Ryder, who will finish fourth. That way Hopkins would retake the third place in the championship, but Hörenbaum was faster and in the final laps he was directly behind him. But when they approached the fast chicane, Hörenbaum lost the car and drove through the grass, losing ten seconds. He was able to cut the gap in half but Hopkins could stay in front of Hörenbaum and therefore finishes second in this race and third overall. Sascha Zimmermann, who led the race since lap twenty-one, had a very long middle stint and gave the lead never away once he had it and wins his first OWRL F1 race.
That was the last OWRL F1 race of this year, we hope you enjoyed the season and we will see you again next year. The Open Wheel Racing League still has one division race and a cup during Christmas planned, so we hope you’ll take a look at those races as well.
Keep racing!
Q1 | Q2 | Race
Standings (Clear your cache if necessary)
Replay Race (members only)
Full screenshots at owrl.de