The fifth round of this years’ OWRL F1 season was held at the Westhill International course which was used in the reversed configuration under sunset conditions. After the lead change in the world championship last race where SPDO Racing’s Adam Wisniewski took the lead from Quentin Benoît of Redline Racing, the latter had to react this time. In addition to that many new faces were seen on this high-speed track.
Benoît got support from Mika Raymond and Christian Felder of Sonicrealms Racing got with Sebastian Hutchinson another team mate as well. But the best debut had Lukas Vieten, who was driving for SPDO Racing and showed everyone how fast he was right in the first qualifying segment by beating the current champion Adam Wisniewski. With seven drivers within one second everybody awaited a tight battle throughout the race. In the second part of qualifying it was Adam Wisniewski for the third time in a row that got the pole-position in front of Christian Rauch of Raptor-Gaming, Felder and Vieten formed the second row. But the way to the first turn was long, that meant that this order didn’t had to be the order the first couple of miles.
When the red lights went out, Vieten went past Felder right away and then attacked Rauch on the outside, but he safely remained in third position. Behind him Carsten Hörenbaum overtook Hutchinson, who was also passed by Benoît and therefore lost two places to find himself back in seventh position. In the middle of the grid Lucas Araújo got tangled up with Maciej Wójcik which left the latter struggling in the grass and losing a few positions. Before the fast chicane Felder could retake the position of Vieten, who had to slow down which robbed Hörenbaum of his downforce at the exit of the chicane and sent him off the track, dropping to position eight. Struggling with the loss of downforce were Rauch and Benoît as well. While Benoît could keep his car on track, Rauch was sliding into the wall and was barely able to get his car back into the pits. Hutchinson got off the track in the penultimate corner and had to pit as well after the first lap.
Generally the race was over for a few drivers before the first set of pit stops. Araújo retired desperately after two pit stops within four laps, later Lukas Vieten and also Jarl Teien of the NordicUK Racing Team, who was more fighting with his car than with his opponents, retired as well. Hutchinson, who visited the pits early after his first stop in lap one, let another two stops follow, but refused to abort his first OWRL F1 race. Hörenbaum and Raymond were missing after four laps in the leading group, too and had to be satisfied with a position outside the points. After the retirement of Vieten the leaders were a trio consisting of the current leader Wisniewski, followed by Felder and Benoît. Maciej Wójcik followed on fourth position after falling back to sixteenth during the first lap and recovering nicely. Nonetheless the gap to the drivers in front of him was already at twenty seconds, which continued to grow in the following laps.
Following Wójcik was Erwin Caffé, even though he had a kinky start, who was in front of his teammate at the 1stFBA Racing Team, Lars Ole Storhaug, and Mika Raymond, who was back in seventh after his accident and pit stop in lap one. The third trio was behind him and consisted of Christian Rauch, Yann Laprevotte and András Szabó. Both Laprevotte and Szabó were racing with a one-stop strategy which is rather unusual for a high-speed circuit. Adrian Bakaj was joining them during the race, who was the only driver in the middle of the grid who was on the regular two-stop strategy. Completing the grid were both drivers of the Maslen F1 Racing Teams. While Matt retired at half-time, Ian was struggling with his pace after moving up to seventh place and dropped down to last position as the race went on.
In the leading group everyone was waiting for the first pit stops. Wisniewski went to the pits two laps earlier than his opponents, that gave Felder the chance to take over the lead after his stop and when he rejoined the track, he was in first position. Benoît stayed behind Wisniewski within his reach and that led to a duel between the two current top drivers of the championship. In lap 21 Wisniewski went onto the grass on the exit of turn five and lost his speed for the following straight. Benoît tried to get past him on the outside just on the entry of the fast chicane, what resulted in a collision between them. Benoît saved his car in the chicane at high speed and recovered without any major time loss, Wisniewski however had to drive again over the grass and lost eight seconds. Felder could open the gap to Benoît to three seconds.
Before the second pit stops the order in the middle of the grid was mixed up after many spins, which gave Bakaj surprisingly the fifth position in front of Storhaug and Raymond. Caffé made a mistake after his second pit stop in one of the numerous fast turns and had to retire from his race outside the points. Even Christian Rauch had to stop again due to a spin and found himself behind Szabó and Laprevotte, who were on a good way to score their first points of this season, on tenth place. But Rauch was much faster than these two and therefore he could move up two positions before the chequered flag. Szabó and Laprevotte finished the race as ninth and tenth, with Laprevotte scoring the first points for his team Tiger Express Motorsports Racing. Carsten Hörenbaum on eleventh left empty-handed, but drove the fastest lap of the race. In front of them Storhaug had to stop for a third time, therefore Bakaj finishing on fifth place in front of Raymond and Storhaug.
Felder was leading the race and went to the pits as last of the front-runners, Benoît was pitting three laps earlier than Wisniewski, but was able to keep his second position clearly. Wisniewski however had to pit again for an unscheduled third stop after his left front tyre blew up, but Wójcik was far away that made it easy for him to secure third place. At the front Christian Felder of Sonicrealms Racing was celebrating his first ever OWRL F1 win in his third race.
With his second place Quentin Benoît reduced the gap to Adam Wisniewski to just two points in the World Championship, Maciej Wójcik on third is next to Benoît the only driver who scored points in every race so far. Felder worked his way up to fourth with his win. In the Teams’ Championship SPDO Racing still has a lead of four points to Redline Racing, followed by three teams who are fighting for the third place.
The sixth and last race before the summer break takes place on 19 June at 17:30 GMT at the Aston North track, which will be broadcasted LIVE by MultiBC.
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Benoît got support from Mika Raymond and Christian Felder of Sonicrealms Racing got with Sebastian Hutchinson another team mate as well. But the best debut had Lukas Vieten, who was driving for SPDO Racing and showed everyone how fast he was right in the first qualifying segment by beating the current champion Adam Wisniewski. With seven drivers within one second everybody awaited a tight battle throughout the race. In the second part of qualifying it was Adam Wisniewski for the third time in a row that got the pole-position in front of Christian Rauch of Raptor-Gaming, Felder and Vieten formed the second row. But the way to the first turn was long, that meant that this order didn’t had to be the order the first couple of miles.
When the red lights went out, Vieten went past Felder right away and then attacked Rauch on the outside, but he safely remained in third position. Behind him Carsten Hörenbaum overtook Hutchinson, who was also passed by Benoît and therefore lost two places to find himself back in seventh position. In the middle of the grid Lucas Araújo got tangled up with Maciej Wójcik which left the latter struggling in the grass and losing a few positions. Before the fast chicane Felder could retake the position of Vieten, who had to slow down which robbed Hörenbaum of his downforce at the exit of the chicane and sent him off the track, dropping to position eight. Struggling with the loss of downforce were Rauch and Benoît as well. While Benoît could keep his car on track, Rauch was sliding into the wall and was barely able to get his car back into the pits. Hutchinson got off the track in the penultimate corner and had to pit as well after the first lap.
Generally the race was over for a few drivers before the first set of pit stops. Araújo retired desperately after two pit stops within four laps, later Lukas Vieten and also Jarl Teien of the NordicUK Racing Team, who was more fighting with his car than with his opponents, retired as well. Hutchinson, who visited the pits early after his first stop in lap one, let another two stops follow, but refused to abort his first OWRL F1 race. Hörenbaum and Raymond were missing after four laps in the leading group, too and had to be satisfied with a position outside the points. After the retirement of Vieten the leaders were a trio consisting of the current leader Wisniewski, followed by Felder and Benoît. Maciej Wójcik followed on fourth position after falling back to sixteenth during the first lap and recovering nicely. Nonetheless the gap to the drivers in front of him was already at twenty seconds, which continued to grow in the following laps.
Following Wójcik was Erwin Caffé, even though he had a kinky start, who was in front of his teammate at the 1stFBA Racing Team, Lars Ole Storhaug, and Mika Raymond, who was back in seventh after his accident and pit stop in lap one. The third trio was behind him and consisted of Christian Rauch, Yann Laprevotte and András Szabó. Both Laprevotte and Szabó were racing with a one-stop strategy which is rather unusual for a high-speed circuit. Adrian Bakaj was joining them during the race, who was the only driver in the middle of the grid who was on the regular two-stop strategy. Completing the grid were both drivers of the Maslen F1 Racing Teams. While Matt retired at half-time, Ian was struggling with his pace after moving up to seventh place and dropped down to last position as the race went on.
In the leading group everyone was waiting for the first pit stops. Wisniewski went to the pits two laps earlier than his opponents, that gave Felder the chance to take over the lead after his stop and when he rejoined the track, he was in first position. Benoît stayed behind Wisniewski within his reach and that led to a duel between the two current top drivers of the championship. In lap 21 Wisniewski went onto the grass on the exit of turn five and lost his speed for the following straight. Benoît tried to get past him on the outside just on the entry of the fast chicane, what resulted in a collision between them. Benoît saved his car in the chicane at high speed and recovered without any major time loss, Wisniewski however had to drive again over the grass and lost eight seconds. Felder could open the gap to Benoît to three seconds.
Before the second pit stops the order in the middle of the grid was mixed up after many spins, which gave Bakaj surprisingly the fifth position in front of Storhaug and Raymond. Caffé made a mistake after his second pit stop in one of the numerous fast turns and had to retire from his race outside the points. Even Christian Rauch had to stop again due to a spin and found himself behind Szabó and Laprevotte, who were on a good way to score their first points of this season, on tenth place. But Rauch was much faster than these two and therefore he could move up two positions before the chequered flag. Szabó and Laprevotte finished the race as ninth and tenth, with Laprevotte scoring the first points for his team Tiger Express Motorsports Racing. Carsten Hörenbaum on eleventh left empty-handed, but drove the fastest lap of the race. In front of them Storhaug had to stop for a third time, therefore Bakaj finishing on fifth place in front of Raymond and Storhaug.
Felder was leading the race and went to the pits as last of the front-runners, Benoît was pitting three laps earlier than Wisniewski, but was able to keep his second position clearly. Wisniewski however had to pit again for an unscheduled third stop after his left front tyre blew up, but Wójcik was far away that made it easy for him to secure third place. At the front Christian Felder of Sonicrealms Racing was celebrating his first ever OWRL F1 win in his third race.
With his second place Quentin Benoît reduced the gap to Adam Wisniewski to just two points in the World Championship, Maciej Wójcik on third is next to Benoît the only driver who scored points in every race so far. Felder worked his way up to fourth with his win. In the Teams’ Championship SPDO Racing still has a lead of four points to Redline Racing, followed by three teams who are fighting for the third place.
The sixth and last race before the summer break takes place on 19 June at 17:30 GMT at the Aston North track, which will be broadcasted LIVE by MultiBC.
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Standings (Clear your cache if necessary)
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Full screenshots at owrl.de