Round 7 of season 8 was upon us as the SLR F2 division headed to SPA, a circuit which has produced some iconic moments in the past and some of our drivers getting a close up with some Belgium nurses 😉 Qualifying was an absolute washout but one that would go down in the history of SLR F2Z, SLR Corey would return to pole position for a 18th and a record breaking 18th time in SLR F2, breaking the longest record in SLR F2 of most pole positions. BRT Griffiths would be a few tenths back hoping to get one better of the Rodin Carlin in the feature race.
The sprint race would see the Prema driver of Echo on reverse grid pole hoping to add to his points tally. A tough opening lap for the Prema would see him drop down the order unfortunately. SLR Medal would make great progress in the opening laps in his MP Motorsport car, slicing his way through the pack and looking for a 2nd SLR F2 victory. Championship leader Griffiths would also be making his way through the field after starting 9th closing in rapidly on the top 3 and eventually making his way through into the lead. Coupe a Benz would maintain his 2nd place for now but Corey after a huge error through stavelot should be thanking his lucky stars he’s still in the race but would not give up the charge for 2nd. BRT Griffiths would complete a sprint race masterclass coming home to take another victory and a step closer to the title. Coupe a Benz would just about hold off Corey to round out the podium. SLR Southerner after being under immense pressure from Medal at the end would pickup another 4th place, keeping his 100% points scoring run in season 8.
The feature race would see Corey and Griffiths on the front row, but not the way round we regularly see it. Griffiths would get the better launch but Corey would get his elbows out on the opening lap, holding off the Campos with any means necessary. Griffiths would be so under pressure from Medal behind. Southerner refused to rule himself out of this battle, holding onto the train and going for an undercut to potentially jump into the lead, could he make it work? Well his brother SLR Darnell tried to stop that as his departure from the race brought out the SC. But somehow Southerner was able to jump his way up to 2nd even with the saftey car with reining champion SLR Corey managing to hold onto the lead. We’d be back racing for a 4 lap sprint to the chequered flag. Griffiths was not waiting around behind SLR Medal, as he made the move on the MP into turn 1 on the restart, but little did he know that the widest Dallara F2 car in the world (also known as SLR Southerner’s DAMS) would be his hardest challenger. Southerner with some expert defending showing all his centuries of experience dating back to the 1600s, somehow keeping Griftiths behind all the way to the final lap where the Campos with the assistance of DRS flew past the DAMS and into 2nd place but was the win out of reach? Fir the first time in Season 8, SLR Corey would return to the top step of the podium with a drive I’ll remember for the rest of my time in this division. BRT Griffiths would finish runner up and SLR Southerner (who I owe many many pints after that one) would take the final podium position after his superb defence was beaten by Griffiths.
Our weekend at the SPA comes to a close then, with SLR Corey returning to the top of the overall weekend points standings for the first time since he wrapped up his championship in COTA last season. BRT Griffiths extends his championship lead to 80 points over SLR Medal but the battle for 2nd in the championship is really heating up now with Southerner in 3rd only 1 point off Medal and now SLR Corey another 9 back. A great weekend for DAMS as they now move up to 2nd in the Constructors championship jumping ahead of MP Motorsport and only 48 points of leaders Campos. A strong weekend for Rodin Carlin with the points coming from SLR Corey shoot them up to 4th now ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing.
Next time out we head to the temple of speed that is Monza, a track which can definitely throw up a surprise up and down the grid and hopefully we get that once again on our trip to the south of Milan this season.
Until then, have a fantastic week folks.
As you were, CM x
Blogs driver of the round – SLR Corey: What has been a season to forget for the reining champion has finally gone right this weekend, a record breaking 19th SLR F2 POLE and converting to a first race victory of the season as well. I couldn’t be further up my own ass if I tried, but let me off just 1 week pls x
P.S, SLR Southerner I can assure will be receiving a pint from me after performing gods work in the feature race
Qualifying result:
Pole Time: 2:10.093
1 SLR Corey
2 BRT Griffiths
3 SLR Medal2533
4 SLR Southerner
5 UKBeastAssassin
6 SLR Mash
7 SLR Darnell
8 SLR Dodgy
9 Coupe A Benz
10 ECHO
11 Para Quickz
12 BaggieFan1995
13 HuskySaturn1943
14 SLR Allen
15 F1ABQW3RTYY
Sprint result:
Fastest Lap: 1:59.823 - BRT Griffiths
1 BRT Griffiths
2 Coupe A Benz
3 SLR Southerner
4 SLR Medal2533
5 SLR Corey 10s + 2LP
6 ECHO
7 F1ABQW3RTYY
8 BaggieFan1995
9 SLR Darnell
10 SLR Mash
11 HuskySaturn1943
12 SLR Allen
13 SLR Dodgy
14 UKBeastAssassin
15 Para Quickz
SLR Dodgy vs SLR Corey
Sprint - Lap 3
Verdict: 10 second and 2 LP to SLR Corey
SLR Corey changes his line in fear of being boxed in and causes a collision with SLR Dodgy.
Feature race:
Fastest Lap: 1:59.453 - SLR Corey
1 SLR Corey
2 BRT Griffiths
3 SLR Southerner
4 SLR Medal2533
5 Coupe A Benz
6 UKBeastAssassin
7 Para Quickz
8 F1ABQW3RTYY
9 ECHO
10 SLR Dodgy
11 HuskySaturn1943
12 BaggieFan1995
13 SLR Darnell
14 SLR Allen
15 SLR Mash
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