The first round of the 2011 LFSCART Season took place at a track from the original season - Aston North. It was brought back to the series after going well in season one. This season sees record signups, and set an all-time LFSCART attendance record (excepting the Kyoto 500) with 45 drivers attempting to qualify for the race.

The race started under clear skies, with Jarno Lehikoinen on pole. Off the grid, Simon Cattell got a brilliant start to take the lead before reacing Turn 1. Turn 1 was clean, but chaos ensued after Turn 2 and through Turn 3. Multiple instances of contact lead to several cars going off, with the biggest carnage at Turn 3 after Ben Keough outbraked himself, running into Andres Azpiazu, who collected Chris Ford and others in the chain reaction. The safety car was not needed, and all cars carried on.

As the race settled in, it was clear that the man to beat on the day was Simon Cattell. Pulling out nearly 5 seconds in two laps, Simon was on a charge to start the season on a high note. Other drivers weren't so lucky, however - many drivers had problems on the tricky course. Christian Kistner was among them, having an off at Turn 16, The Dipper, and winding up stuck in the gravel. A Safety Car was called, but he spectated immediately after.

After the Safety Car, Cattell again stretched his lead, until scaling back to save fuel in the waning laps of the race. The gap at the end was small, but the difference in pace was high. Simon starts the season with a dominant wire-to-wire win, but defending champion Sebastian Hutchinson also takes a strong start with a third place finish.

The series heads next to the historic Blackwood Grand Prix circuit for 98 gruelling laps on Saturday, May 28th. Watch the race live on multiBC, channel to be announced. Full results of Round 1 are on the next pages.

View the results and a few other pictures at the official NDR website page for this event.