Welcome to yet another race report, we're at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal for the 5th Round of Season 12. Will the Haas domination continue in McKeon? Will Massey come up clutch once again in Div 2? Or will Div 3 continue to swing every person's way possible? I guess it's time to find out!
McKeon
Qualifying
Pole Time: 1:15.386
1. JagerUK
2. SLR Corey
3. BRT Griffiths
4. Skwiffz
5. AMS Tobias
6. raceroller22
7. Adzzz37 x
8. SLR Ham19
9. SimbarocksONE
10. SparksYT15
11. dRaSt1k bLazE
12. SLR Medal2533
13. SemmF1
14. Jxcob Brown
15. SLR Jam40
16. Jay Reynaldo
17. SLR EVVO (DNQ)
Race
Fastest Lap: 1:17.449 - JagerUK
1. BRT Griffiths
2. Adzzz37 x
3. SLR Corey
4. JagerUK
5. SLR Ham19
6. AMS Tobias
7. SimbarocksONE
8. SLR Jam40
9. dRaSt1k bLazE
10. Skwiffz
11. SparksYT15 -5 sec
12. Jay Reynaldo
13. SLR EVVO
14. SLR Medal2533
15. SemmF1
16. raceroller22 (DNF)
17. Jxcob Brown (DNF)
Lap 1 incident involving SLR Medal2533 & SemmF1
Outcome: No Further Action. The stewards believe that enough space was left and that Semm is not at fault for the collision.
Lap 27 Incident involving SparksYT15 & dRaSt1k bLazE
Outcome: 5 seconds removed from SparksYT15 - this was an unfair penalty and Sparks proved that this penalty was not served.
Division 2
For round 5 of the season we headed to a circuit that has been described as a rollercoaster in the past, Autodromo Internacional do Algarve or Portimao for short.
It was yet another tight qualifying session with the top 8 being covered by a 3 tenths spread.
OwenHowell36 managed to snatch pole position at the death by the slimmest of margins off SLR Liamm with a 1:16.306. It was a top 4 that had the commentators creaming their pants as the '3 stooges' became the 'fantastic 4' with the inclusion of Liamm. Now I'm not sure if the inclusion of Liam makes them fantastic but each to their own.
As the drivers lined up Liamm took a big risk by starting on the soft tyres to jump OwenHowell, who starts on the mediums, into turn 1. Liamm is not able to make the move instead OwenHowell puts in a brilliant first lap and is able to build up a gap of a second over Liamm.
Things went from bad to worse for Liamm as on the approach to start lap 3 UKBeastAssassin was able to breeze past the McLaren driver. Perhaps starting on the soft tyre was a bad idea as it wasn't just Liamm struggling. It seems all of those that started on the soft tyres were not able to make up positions as they would have expected too.
Well if you came here to read about the carnage of division 2 I'm afraid to say it would seem for the most part everyone was behaving themselves. In no time the race got to lap 10 with nothing of note happening. Just a few positional changes here and there. UKBeastAssassin managed to take the lead off OwenHowell. Our championship leader Massey F1 has worked his way into the top 3.
Lap 15 Liamm pits to get off his softs and Massey joins him in an attempt to undercut the top 2 drivers. Yet again not alot else seems to be happening, just the drivers pounding laps in. On lap 16 we get our first retirement of the day as Mash pits to retire and call it a day. Pricey joins Massey and Liamm on the undercut attempt of the top two drivers.
Lap 20 and UKBeastAssassin pits from the lead. OwenHowell decides to stay out for one more lap and push the overcut. Pricey, Massey and Liamm were able to make the undercut on Beast work by a good gap. But with 13 laps to go now and Beast coming out on fresh softs can they remain ahead?
Lap 21 Owen does indeed pit dropping all the way down to P7 losing a lot of time by trying to remain out an extra lap.
As we head onto lap 24 Beast has finally been able to get onto the back of Massey and co. With the DRS and ERS dump Beast manages to perform a fantastic overtake around the outside of Massey into turn 1 moving up into third place. Even though Massey has just lost one position it almost becomes two as Fanybash tries to follow Beast through.
Towards the end of lap 24 we have our first bit of proper Div 2 carnage. F1ABQW3RTY seems to attempt an optimistic overtake on both Massey and Fanybash. Causing damage to the Ferrari of Massey and Fanybash to spin. As a result Massey pits to get the damage repaired but due to the time lost Fanybash retires in the pits at the end of the lap.
During all of that happening Beast is able to get past yet another car in Pricey and regains the lead of this race. With only a handful of laps to go now it becomes a question of can his soft tyres give him enough life to hold on.
As we hit the final few laps it became a three way battle for the race win between BeastAssassin and the two Haas drivers of Pricey and Qwerty. Even though Qwerty is the man sitting at the back of this battle he is in the strongest position with double the amount of battery saved compared to the other two.
On the approach to turn 1 on lap 31 Pricey is able to just about hold Beast behind. With no easy overtake options elsewhere Pricey just needs to repeat this twice for the race win. Lap 32 it seems Beast has the run and chance to overtake Pricey into turn 1 but decides to disengage his DRS and lift. On the climb out of turn 8 Beast gets a slight snap which gives Pricey a half second gap.
So here we are then the final lap, the final run into turn 1. Pricey goes slightly to the right to try and break the toe on the two drivers behind. Beast tucks in behind him for the toe which opens the outside line for Qwerty to have a look at a possible double overtake. Pricey decides to shift back to the left thinking his work is done which results in his teammate closing right up behind him. However more importantly Beast senses his opportunity to try and send one down the inside into turn 1.
There is contact! Beast and Pricey come together on the apex of turn 1 with the Haas driver losing out. Not just to Beast but Qwerty who was able to glide past his spinning teammate. Pricey does well to catch this spin which resulted in it only being a half spin. This drops him to P4 behind Liamm. But with Liamm having a 3 second penalty Pricey still has a good chance of a podium finish.
Back to the front and Qwerty is all over the back of Beast even trying to put Beast off by putting the car alongside. As they round the final corner it all comes down to a sprint for the line. Beast gets a good exit through the long arching final corner but Qwerty gets a better exit. Not just that but the vast amount of battery he was able to save comes in clutch here. Qwerty is able to dump and gets the overtake done on the finish line though a photo finish. The two drivers were separated by a mere 0.028, so not even a nose.
What an ending to what was a proper drivers race, no VSC's or safety cars for the first time this season. Join us next week as we head to Paul Ricard for the French GP.
Qualifying
Pole Time: 1:16.306
1. OwenHowell36
2. SLR Liamm
3. UKBeastAssassin
4. SLR Fanybash
5. Massey F1
6. F1ABQW3RTYYY
7. DPT Paul
8. Adrian VIII
9. LSW L3G3ND44
10. GoldenEggFryer
11. PxrpHaze 44
12. Pricey
13. THATGUY691244
14. TCP Coutinho 10
15. Ski Fee
16. ZachIsBeast25
17. SLR Moley
18. TIRCODZILLA
19. SLR Mash (DSQ)
Race
Fastest Lap: 1:17.456 - Adrian VIII
1. UKBeastAssassin
2. Pricey
3. OwenHowell36
4. SLR Liamm
5. F1ABQW3RTYYY +10 sec
6. TCP Coutinho 10
7. Ski Fee
8. ZachIsBeast25
9. TIRCODZILLA
10. Massey F1
11. DPT Paul
12. GoldenEggFryer
13. PxrpHaze 44
14. LSW L3G3ND44 +5 sec
15. SLR Moley
16. Adrian VIII
17. SLR Fanybash (DNF)
18. THATGUY691244 (DNF)
19. SLR Mash (DNF)
Lap 1 Incident involving GoldenEggFryer, PxrpHaze 44, Pricey & LSW L3G3ND44
Outcome: 5 second time penalty and 1 licence point to LSW L3G3ND for an unsafe rejoin. Rejoining in this manner has caused drivers to receive damage that could have been avoided without a car in L3G3ND’s position.
Lap 24 Incident involving Massey F1 & F1ABQW3RTYYY
Outcome: 10 second time penalty and 2 licence points to QWERTY for causing a collision resulting in damage. A misjudged lunge has impacted two drivers here and could have been avoided with patience.
Division 3
Qualifying
Pole Time: 1:16.706
1. legendaydannyd
2. BadOtterTV
3. Fat Ted24
4. SSR Halo
5. SLR Hicklin
6. RaceBoy2005
7. SLR Vettel
8. Starsorphan6
9. SLR Dodgy
10. l 21 l Maxwell
11. TylerJenkins
12. TeaseCat76
13. Baggiefan 1995
14. TeH Punisher946
15. HuskySaturn1943
Race
Fastest Lap: 1:18.997 - Fat Ted24
1. BadOtterTV
2. SSR Halo
3. RaceBoy2005
4. legendaydannyd
5. SLR Dodgy
6. Baggiefan 1995
7. TeH Punisher946
8. Fat Ted24
9. Starsorphan6
10. SLR Hicklin
11. l 21 l Maxwell
12. SLR Vettel
13. HuskySaturn1943
14. TeaseCat76 (DNF)
15. TylerJenkins (DNF)
Lap 1 Incident involving RaceBoy2005 & TylerJenkins
Outcome: 2 LP (due to DNF) for Tyler for spinning another car.
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