Welcome back ladies and gentlemen! We are back once again for the Russian Grand Prix, with some loving and hating the track. Kicking off the report with Elite, HamJam2002 took the win on pens after having a battle for P1 with Hoopolicious, who dropped down to 3rd after he was deemed to be guilty of an incident in the stewards room. Xx JamHam xX made it a 1-2 for the Noble brothers after having been knocked out of Q2 and started 11th. FRA Freeman9 was promoted to 4th after a solid race in a very tight upper midfield, which included Jito DV in 5th after a race that I’m sure he will be pleased about. Ryan Jones123 was demoted to 6th after he was also found to be guilty of an incident by the stewards. gho3t COLT produced a strong recovery drive to go from 14th to 7th. Midzy15 dropped back from his starting position of 6th to come home in 8th, with SLR Darnell behind him in 9th, a result I’m sure the Racing Point driver will be pleased about. Rounding out our points finishers was the Williams driver of raceroller22.
Moving onto our non-points finishers and retirements, Snypz SB ended up in 11th after a late tangle with Ryan Jones123, sending the Mclaren driver into a spin in turn 5. SLR Dylan was right behind him in 12th, who elected to stay out during an early Virtual Safety Car due to being on an alternate strategy. SLR Niki came home in 13th, with the Red Bull drivers of MeRkz47 and bezzas1 in 14th and 15th, with the latter spinning down in turn 2 on the opening lap. UKBeastAssassin and SLR Smoke68 came home in 16th and 17th in what was a very entertaining and close battle in the bottom half of the grid. Finally, ZyDRAD rounded out our finishers after sustaining damage on the opening lap and forced to pit early. Our sole retirement of the Russian Grand Prix was the Racing Point of BDunk; it’s been a tough second half of the season so far for the American, and hopefully he can rebound in Japan.
We hope to see you Sunday at 7pm for the Japanese Grand Prix around the classic and legendary Suzuka Circuit!
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.29.703
1. Hoopolicious
2. HamJam2002
3. bezzas1
4. Ryan Jones123
5. FRA Freeman9
6. Midzy15
7. ZyDRAD
8. Snypz SB
9. Jito DV
10. raceroller22
11. Xx JamHam xX
12. SLR Darnell
13. SLR Smoke68
14. gho3t COLT
15. SLR Dylan
16. BDunk
17. UKBeastAssassin
18. MeRkz47
19. SLR Niki
Race
Fastest Lap:
1. HamJam2002
2. Xx JamHam xX
3. Hoopolicious +5 sec
4. FRA Freeman9
5. Jito DV
6. Ryan Jones123 +5 sec
7. gho3t COLT
8. Midzy15
9. SLR Darnell
10. raceroller22
11. Snypz SB
12. SLR Dylan
13. SLR Niki
14. MeRkz47
15. bezzas1
16. UKBeastAssassin
17. SLR Smoke68
18. ZyDRAD
19. BDunk (DNF)
Snypz v Ryan Jones
Outcome: Racing Incident
Reason: Goes for a move, clips the inside curb which creates oversteer that initiates the contact. Ryan Jones leaves just enough space
Ryan Jones v Hoop
Outcome: +5 second and 1lp to both drivers
Reason: Hoop dangerous entry into the pitlane and cutting the pit lane entry. Ryan with dangerous re entry to the track whilst on the racing line. Stewards understood Ryan didn’t want to double stack but swerving out of the pitlane onto the racing line could easily cause a collision
Ham v retiring on track
Outcome: No penalty
Reason: Ham clearly tries to brake and does not crash the car deliberately. However, in future all drivers must be more considerate should they invalidate or make a mistake in quali. An incident like this could have been different in a different scenario
The rain stayed with us for 3/4 of both qualifying and the race. We saw some surprised exits early on within qualifying including the duo in the racing points who are in the championship fight. By the time it got to Q3 the rain had stopped and with the track getting ever dryer and faster we saw a pole time of 1.30.615 from JH199 being on wet set ups. In the race the field stayed mostly the same with Heavy to light conditions of rain then we had the crossover onto dry on Lap 18 seeing a driver of the day performance from Southernerz getting onto the podium in 3rd starting in 11th with Cech in 2nd and JH converting his pole into a win.
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.30.615
1. JH199
2. SillyBunny47711
3. CechThisOut
4. SLR ranga
5. Lil Wiggy
6. ARL PReDaToRZz
7. SLR Kolka
8. SotierClock110
9. BlandSiamang908
10. Riggsey x
11. zZSouthernerZz
12. SLR Liamm
13. SLR Gooner
14. SLR Connor
15. Lewisod
16. tooman3sweets
17. JibJab325
Race
Fastest Lap: 1:33.058 - Lil Wiggyy
1. JH199
2. CechThisOut
3. zZSouthernerZz
4. ARL PReDaToRZz
5. tooman3sweets
6. SLR ranga
7. Riggsey x
8. Lil Wiggyy (FL)
9. SLR Kolka
10. SotierClock110
11. SLR Gooner
12. SillyBunny47711 (+5s)
13. JibJab325
14. SLR Liamm
15. BlandSiamang908
16. SLR Connor (DNF)
17. Lewisod (DNF)
Riggsey x vs SLR ranga
Outcome: no penalty given
Reason: the collision was down to lag; SLR ranga’s view showed that he did not hit Riggsey x under the Safety Car. We can’t take off Riggsey x’s 5 second penalty as he pitted after the incident, and so served the penalty.
SillyBunny47711
Outcome: +5s +1LP
Reason: Unsafe entry to the pits
SLR ranga
Outcome: Qualifying ban + 7LP
Reason: readying up early on grid
SLR ranga
Outcome: Race ban due to reaching 15 LP
It doesn’t matter whether you ready up 4 minutes early or 15 seconds early, if you ready up before an admin has given the go ahead then the full penalty will be awarded as stated by the rules. Please make sure to look at the discord for the official start time of the race.
In Division Two this week at the Sochi Autodrom it was rockamad73 who took a close pole ahead of SLR Semm and PlainTeddy24.
After starting P4, it was DnK Rando18 who would go on to take the win by just 0.1 seconds!
Championship Leader bennett628 was the man who was just pipped to the win after hunting down the Renault driver for the last few laps.
It was ZachIsBeast25 who took the final spot on the podium in Russia for his 5th of the season after very little penalties.
It looked likely that SLR Semm would be on the podium but after a late spin after the final safety car he was out of the race from P2!
Of course big news this week as you can see from the result is that vTaqx was disqualified from the result due to the fact that he was not part of the league before finishing the race. Every clip sent in against him has been reviewed by the stewards and they decided that he had enough penalties for the admins to disqualify him.
After this confirmation of results, we can confirm that bennett628 can win the Driver’s Championship next weekend in Suzuka! He will need to win, with championship rival MRC R Leah finishing outside the Top 7. Perhaps this time next week we could see a new champion? Only time will tell.
Qualifying
Pole Time: 1:30.477
1. rockamad73
2. SLR Semm
3. PlainTeddy24
4. DnK Rando18
5. bennett628
6. MRC R Leah
7. SSR Halo
8. AG ll Panther
9. Coupe a Benz
10. Original96
11. SLR iCallum
12. ZachIsBeast25
13. SLR Hicklin
14. dRaSt1k bLazE
15. SLR Scopezz
16. jacksondog123
17. SLR vTaqx
18. SLR Barlow
19. SLR Owenn
Race
Fastest Lap: 1:33.847 - Coupe a Benz
1. DnK Rando18
2. bennett628
3. ZachIsBeast25
4. MRC R Leah
5. PlainTeddy24
6. SSR Halo
7. Coupe a Benz (FL)
8. SLR Barlow
9. rockamad73
10. SLR Owenn
11. SLR Hicklin
12. dRaSt1k bLazE
13. AG ll Panther
14. SLR Scopezz
15. Original96
16. SLR Semm (DNF)
17. jacksondog123 (DNF)
18. SLR iCallum (DNF)
19. SLR vTaqx (DSQ)
Scopez vs in game pen
Outcome - No Further Action
Scopez vs In game pen 2
Outcome - No further action
Original vs Bennet
Outcome - No Further Action
Reason - Bennet is about to be squeezed slightly so taps the brakes to prevent a collision however this results in an unfortunate collision with Original
Original vs Owen & Blaze
Outcome - No Further Action
Reason - Original and Owen are battling and coming out of turn two Original loses the back end slightly and goes out wide, Blaze is then clearly as shown by the proximity arrows on Original’s left but Original seemingly comes across him so easily avoidable
Benz vs Zach
Outcome - No Further Action
Reason - Zach leaves Benz enough room and Benz understeers into him.
! Incidents with Vtaqx are not shown on the report as he is no longer in the league !
Division 3 seemed to get off to a clean start as all cars rounded the fast-paced turn 1 until Dingledolphin86 in 15th and l Russell l9008 in 16th came to blows both ending up in the pit exit wall. The incident immediately ended the race for l Russell l9008 and brought out the safety car before turn 3. Lap 1 then saw five drivers opt to take advantage of the early safety car to pit for new tyres as Cal Smith F1 and Spr1ghtly went onto mediums with DaredPaul1986, x J Geddes x and Crafti3stJ3st3r going for the harder compounds. All 5 looking to take their fresh tyres to the end of the race. The safety car then remained out for a further 3 laps giving the drivers a chance to regroup with the big winners being SLR Stevooo up 4 places into 4th, Jon5y up 9 places into 5th, Aflyinglemon318 up 14 places into 6th and Scott85laney up 11 places into 7th. The safety car came back in at the end of lap 3 and SLR Dodgy got the race underway again getting a great start on the penultimate corner over SLR B33n pulling out a second gap on lap 4. The top four remained as they were it was Baggiefan1995 that made an overtake on SLR Gareth round the sweeping turn 3 to take 5th place leaving SLR Gareth and SLR Hyperz to battle out for 6th. At the end of lap 4 it was Cal Smith F1 who made a move on Scott85laney for 13th place and as contact was made it was Scott85laney being spun out and dropping down to 19th place. Lap 5 then saw both SLR Gareth and SLR Hyperz overtake Baggiefan1995 on the DRS straight pushing Baggiefan1995 back down to 7th. It was lap 8 that saw the first of the pitstop for the lead cars as Craigfk in 2nd came in for his medium tyre stop going for the undercut on the leaders as SLR Dodgy and SLR B33n stayed out. Into turn 2 on lap 9 saw SLR St2oh and Jon5y come together in a battle for 7th with SLR St2oh spinning off the track and dropping down to 15th.
The end of lap 9 then saw SLR B33n in 2nd and Sphh in 3rd come in for their pit stops as SLR Dodgy opted for another lap. Lap 10 and race leader SLR Dodgy and 2nd place SLR Gareth then come in for pitstops with SLR Dodgy coming back out in 8th losing out on the undercuts. Lap 11 then saw SLR Hyperz lead the race with Cal Smith F1 in 2nd after pitting on lap 1 meaning he was net P1 as he was hoping the medium tyres would last another 16 laps. SLR Hyperz then came in to pit on lap 11 giving Cal Smith F1 the lead with Jon5y 2nd and Spr1ghtly in 3rd. It was then lap 12 when SLR Dodgy in 7th caught Crafti3stJ3st3r in 6th and made an audacious move on turn 8 only to clip the rear wheel and end up in a spin. The move losing 3 places dropping to 10th while taking slight front right wing damage. The end of lap 14 then saw Alpha Tauri teammates Spr1ghtly in 3rd and Craigfk in 4th slowing through close racing allowing SLR B33n in 5th to close the gap. The start of lap 15 then saw SLR B33n take 3rd from Craigfk on the DRS straight down to turn 2 with Spr1ghtly dropping back into 5th. By turn 11 though it was Craigfk taking 3rd place back as SLR B33n ran wide having to concede the place. The end of lap 17 then saw a 3-way battle between Crafti3stJ3st3r, SLR Gareth and SLR Hyperz for 7th place. SLR Gareth managing to take 7th by turn 14 with SLR Hyperz taking 8th on turn 15 only to lose it back on the DRS straight to Craffti3stJ3st3r. SLR Hyperz did however manage to reclaim 8th place on the 2nd DRS straight ahead of sector 3.
Lap 23 then saw Spr1ghtly lose out 2 places as SLR Hyperz and SLR Gareth took 5th and 6th on the main DRS straight. SLR B33n then made a move into 2nd past Craigfk on turn 11 of the same lap. The final 3 laps then saw a close battle between SLR B33n, Craigfk and Sphh as we hit the final lap. It was however SLR B33n that took the race win with Craigfk in 2nd, Sphh took 3rd, SLR Gareth was 4th, Cal Smith F1 5th, SLR Hyperz 6th, SLR Dodgy 7th, Crafti3stJ3st3r 8th, x J Geddes x 9th & Baggiefan1995 making up the top 10.
Qualifying
Pole Lap: 01.30.896
1. SLR Dodgy
2.SLR b33n
3. craigfk
4. Cal Smith F1
5. Sphh
6. SLR Gareth
7. SLR Hyperz
8. SLR Stevooo
9. Crafti3stJ3st3r
10. Baggiefan 1995
11. DaredPaul1986
12. SLR St2oH
13. SPR1GTHLY
14. JON5Y
15. x J GEDDES x
16. dingledolphin86
17. I Russell I9008
18. Scott85Laney
19. SLR COLDEN
20. Aflyinglemon318
Race
Fastest Lap: ?
1. SLR b33n
2. craigfk
3. Sphh
4.SLR Gareth
5. Cal Smith F1
6. SLR Hyperz
7. SLR Dodgy
8. Crafti3stJ3st3r
9. x J GEDDES x
10. Baggiefan 1995
11. JON5Y +15 sec
12. dingledolphin86
13. Scott85Laney
14. DaredPaul1986
15. SLR Stevooo
16. SPR1GTHLY
17. SLR St2oH
18. Aflyinglemon318
19. SLR COLDEN (DNF)
20. I Russell I9008 (DNF)
dingledolphin86 vs Start
OUTCOME: Racing incident
REASON: Bad luck
J0N5Y vs Crafti3stJ3st3r Lap 1
OUTCOME: No further action
REASON: No contact is made between J0N5Y and J3st3r. Other drivers reported that J0N5Y was lagging at the start of the race and likely caused this.
Scott85Laney vs Cal Smith F1 Lap 4
OUTCOME: Racing incident
REASON: Cal is along side Laney however Laney turns in ignoring Cal resulting in him spinning.
SLR St2oh vs J0N5Y Lap 9
OUTCOME: +15s 3LP J0N5Y
REASON: St2oh and JON5Y are approaching T2 and JON5Y turns in to hit the apex ignoring St2oh is on his inside resulting is a spin and major wing damage. This corner is not easy to keep it in track limits going 2 wide however J0N5Y makes no attempt to leave any space.
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