The eighth race of the 2010 season took place at the Kyoto National circuit. Quentin Benoît was still the current world championship leader, but he had to come back from a hard loss in last race. Now it was about getting back into a rhythm to keep the gap from getting smaller.
In the first qualifying three of the four new drivers were able to qualify for Q2; only Peter Corbalan of the 1st BFA Racing Team wasn’t able to move on and qualified last, his new teammate Stephan Klatt managed to get into eighth place. The second Spdo Racing driver Ramon Blauwhoff wasn’t able to match the speed of his teammate and qualified seventh, Boris Mignien of Sonicrealms Racing had bad luck and had bad luck after getting stuck in a gravel trap and finished the qualifying in tenth. At the front familiar faces were seen with Adam Wisniewski on Pole Position, followed by Quentin Benoît and his colleague at Redline Racing, Mika Raymond.
Normally the start on Kyoto National doesn’t work well for the driver who is on pole because the drivers behind him can use a lot of slip stream to get past him on the very long straight. But not this time, Adam Wisniewski went into the first chicane in first position in front of Benoît and Raymond. Overall this start isn’t normal, because no incidents were reported in that chicane, which is unusual, although Blauwhoff and Mignien got really close after the first right turn and Mignien has to keep his car under control over the grass. Behind them Peter Hopkins has to let Maciej Wójcik by. After Rob Logtenberg Boris Mignien is back on position seven, Ian Maslen felt the opposite and went back to thirteenth position within the first lap.
After a few laps Mignien was a member of a group with Klatt and Blauwhoff, who were within a second for a few laps, until Klatt and Mignien said goodbye on the grass and dropped back a few positions, Blauwhoff and Corbalan took their spots. At the front Wisniewski couldn’t get away from Benoît and then he spun in the chicane but was able to recover. But Benoît was now the new leader and in that order they went to their first pit stops. The strategy was clearly two stops with that long pit lane, only András Szabó tried it with one stop, but had to retire after his stop, same went for Stephan Klatt, who retired in his first race with technical problems.
Many drivers didn’t change the tyres at their first stop, only Wójcik couldn’t resist and therefore he had to give away his fourth position back to Hopkins. After that he was lucky enough to continue his race when he escaped the gravel trap in the chicane by reacting quickly, but of course he lost a position to Rob Logtenberg. Benoît was able to increase the gap to Wisniewski when the latter had some problems with overlapping Corbalan resulting in a small journey through the gravel.
The second set of pit stops was coming nearer and Benoît headed as leader into the pits with a cushion of ten seconds, when Wisniewski started driving fastest laps. He didn’t change the tyres as the only driver of the top four and therefore rejoined the track just two seconds in front of Benoît, but another collision with an overlapped car in the same turn as before got Benoît back into the lead. Behind both Hopkins was able to get past Raymond with a later pit stop. Ramon Blauwhoff on fifth tried the same strategy against Logtenberg and Wójcik but he had to be satisfied with seventh position as well. On positions eight to ten Corbalan had to let both Maslen F1 drivers by.
A few laps before the chequered flag Wisniewski could close the gap to Benoît completely and was on his way to attack him to keep his chances in the world championship. At the entry of the chicane Benoît lost his car and ended up in the gravel, is able to recover just like Wójcik before him, but now more than ten seconds behind Wisniewski. Feeling slightly irate, Benoît reduced the gap to six seconds within three laps when he lost his car again before turn two. This time he got stuck.
In the end he will be placed seventh, but he lost not only nineteenth points, but also the lead in the championship as well to Adam Wisniewski, who is now leading by three points. Wójcik on position three has only theoretical chances. In the Team Championship Redline Racing leads, but Spdo Racing could reduce the gap by twelve points. Sonicrealms Racing is in third position.
The next race at Aston National Reversed marks the beginning of the last third of the season starting on 18th September. The OWRL F1 will return to this track for the first time since 2007. The race will be shown at 17:30 UTC – 19:30 CEST live on MultiBC.
Q1 | Q2 | Race
Standings (Clear your cache if necessary)
Replay Race (members only)
Full screenshots at owrl.de
In the first qualifying three of the four new drivers were able to qualify for Q2; only Peter Corbalan of the 1st BFA Racing Team wasn’t able to move on and qualified last, his new teammate Stephan Klatt managed to get into eighth place. The second Spdo Racing driver Ramon Blauwhoff wasn’t able to match the speed of his teammate and qualified seventh, Boris Mignien of Sonicrealms Racing had bad luck and had bad luck after getting stuck in a gravel trap and finished the qualifying in tenth. At the front familiar faces were seen with Adam Wisniewski on Pole Position, followed by Quentin Benoît and his colleague at Redline Racing, Mika Raymond.
Normally the start on Kyoto National doesn’t work well for the driver who is on pole because the drivers behind him can use a lot of slip stream to get past him on the very long straight. But not this time, Adam Wisniewski went into the first chicane in first position in front of Benoît and Raymond. Overall this start isn’t normal, because no incidents were reported in that chicane, which is unusual, although Blauwhoff and Mignien got really close after the first right turn and Mignien has to keep his car under control over the grass. Behind them Peter Hopkins has to let Maciej Wójcik by. After Rob Logtenberg Boris Mignien is back on position seven, Ian Maslen felt the opposite and went back to thirteenth position within the first lap.
After a few laps Mignien was a member of a group with Klatt and Blauwhoff, who were within a second for a few laps, until Klatt and Mignien said goodbye on the grass and dropped back a few positions, Blauwhoff and Corbalan took their spots. At the front Wisniewski couldn’t get away from Benoît and then he spun in the chicane but was able to recover. But Benoît was now the new leader and in that order they went to their first pit stops. The strategy was clearly two stops with that long pit lane, only András Szabó tried it with one stop, but had to retire after his stop, same went for Stephan Klatt, who retired in his first race with technical problems.
Many drivers didn’t change the tyres at their first stop, only Wójcik couldn’t resist and therefore he had to give away his fourth position back to Hopkins. After that he was lucky enough to continue his race when he escaped the gravel trap in the chicane by reacting quickly, but of course he lost a position to Rob Logtenberg. Benoît was able to increase the gap to Wisniewski when the latter had some problems with overlapping Corbalan resulting in a small journey through the gravel.
The second set of pit stops was coming nearer and Benoît headed as leader into the pits with a cushion of ten seconds, when Wisniewski started driving fastest laps. He didn’t change the tyres as the only driver of the top four and therefore rejoined the track just two seconds in front of Benoît, but another collision with an overlapped car in the same turn as before got Benoît back into the lead. Behind both Hopkins was able to get past Raymond with a later pit stop. Ramon Blauwhoff on fifth tried the same strategy against Logtenberg and Wójcik but he had to be satisfied with seventh position as well. On positions eight to ten Corbalan had to let both Maslen F1 drivers by.
A few laps before the chequered flag Wisniewski could close the gap to Benoît completely and was on his way to attack him to keep his chances in the world championship. At the entry of the chicane Benoît lost his car and ended up in the gravel, is able to recover just like Wójcik before him, but now more than ten seconds behind Wisniewski. Feeling slightly irate, Benoît reduced the gap to six seconds within three laps when he lost his car again before turn two. This time he got stuck.
In the end he will be placed seventh, but he lost not only nineteenth points, but also the lead in the championship as well to Adam Wisniewski, who is now leading by three points. Wójcik on position three has only theoretical chances. In the Team Championship Redline Racing leads, but Spdo Racing could reduce the gap by twelve points. Sonicrealms Racing is in third position.
The next race at Aston National Reversed marks the beginning of the last third of the season starting on 18th September. The OWRL F1 will return to this track for the first time since 2007. The race will be shown at 17:30 UTC – 19:30 CEST live on MultiBC.
Q1 | Q2 | Race
Standings (Clear your cache if necessary)
Replay Race (members only)
Full screenshots at owrl.de