Round of Japan - Race 2It seems that pretty much every team saw Joel Melrose yesterday and decided pitting was a good idea. Every driver in the field pitted, except for three drivers, who all scored points.
ProspecDan Greenlaw looked in good stead to hold a strong lead going into Surfers, until shortly after his pitstop. He made slight contact with Bainomugisha under brakes, and spun himself around, losing lots of time. This didn't hurt as much as it could have, as once again most of his rivals faltered. On the plus side for the team, Cameron took a podium, passing Pacer at the death for third place.
AeroracingGary Pacer took his first points with fourth place in a strong showing. He was one of the three who didn't pit, and was unlucky not to take third. Despite the heavier fuel load than those around him, he still showed very good pace (see what I did there?
). Souto Maior was less impressive, but still brought home a couple of points, holding off Nurmester at the end.
JonesIf Sammy was annoyed yesterday, he will be absolutely livid today, as his was the only team to get neither car to the finish. In fact, Swerts was the first DNF of the day, his suspension collapsing on lap 6, while a sudden puncture for Dinella sent him spinning way off the track and unable to continue. If there is a bright side, Dinella was at least classified.
West CliffA bad day for West Cliff, with both drivers spinning at the chicane, Port after running into Verbeeck early and Davies hitting Reatherson trying to slice through the field. Both cars then failed at passing the Gulf cars on the final straight.
TakagiTetsuya Takagi had a dismal race, with a puncture on lap 2 putting her way behind the field (and almost wiping out McAllister as she tried to pit). Things got worse when the team didn't give her any fuel at this stop, so she effectively went onto a two-stopper, in an 11 lap race. Naufal wasn't much better, and had less excuses.
OctanA so-so race for both cars, Lamberigts making the top 20, Bainomugisha doing sod all.
Porto WineSoares wasn't too far away from the points, only about 3.7 seconds, and he had the 5th fastest lap of the race, showing he does have some one-lap pace. Mondlane also did a good job, finishin 18th.
KingfisherVan der Maeyede wasn't particularly fast, finishing 19th, while Davidson's race ended in electrical failure.
ZombieKartShane Walsh was running inside the top 10 when on the final lap he found the spinning Hannesson and destroyed his front wing. A shame, as the lack of pace dropped him outside the top 20. Hershall wasn't brilliant, but he wasn't bad, a slow stop costing him dearly.
Parma CorseBy rights both cars should have scored points, but Hannesson suffered a severe case of brain fade on the last lap, spinning at turn 6 and nearly taking Lucarelli out with him. He lost so much time he dropped from 5th to 24th. Lucarelli was one of the three who did not pit, a strategy that worked brilliantly for him, even if he was a bit slower than Yorke and Pacer. Actually, he was slow enought to almost cause a 5-wide finish...
ZimSportMelville was the only title challenger to score points, finishing second and just coming short of victory. Zimmer in the other car failed to finish again, a brake failure putting him, although he was classified.
FusionMarko Jantscher dominated the first four laps, disappearing off into the distance. Until the electrics packed up and he had to coast into the pits. Fusion fixed the problem fairly quickly, but by then his day was effectively done. But then - it got worse. He spun at the chicane when Samelko decided the best way to defend was to close the door despite Jantscher already being ahead, and in the rush to fix the electrical problem, they didn't put more fuel in, meaning he had to come in again. That'll be the end of his championship challenge then. As for Mazzacane, he was very impressive in taking 10th place, showing good ability in passing anyone down the straight.
Gulf JCWNeither car was quick, as usual, but Buckley held off Davies and Davidson held off Port on the final straight.
Best In The WorldMcAllister had a strong race after his poor qualifying, finishing 15th, while Verbeeck's race came to an end when his electrics died the moment he left the pits.
Good CallHoly crap. I didn't see Good Call winning at all this season, let alone Yorke, but there you go. Yorke was fast enough all race to keep up with those on light fuel loads, so when they all pitted he came out in the lead, despite a minor incident with Travesen. He only led the one lap though - the final one, and only just held off Melville for the win (in doing so, making himself Greenlaw's best friend). Piscine was also fairly quick, but he didn't do quite enough to score points.
Linton-SolindahlNot a good day out for LSM, with Travesen's race being ruined when he ran into Yorke, spinning himself out and dropping him way down the order. Reatherson fell just short of points, denied by some blocking by Souto Maior and a slipstream allowing Nurmester ahead.
DofascoCezary Samelko had a bad race, after aiding in the destruction of Jantscher's race that will land him some penalty points, combined with an eventual transmission failure. But does it surprise you to know that he was still better than Maylander?
Red BullNeither car was noticeable all race, but both were solid, finishing in the top 20.
HydookSee above, but switch solid with poor and in the top 20 with outside the top 30.
JLDMelrose spent the time before the stops holding up everyone behind him, only letting Jantscher get away. With the strategy option taken away from him, it was luck and good straight line speed that scored him points.
KamahaVictoria Desai had a poor race, spinning at turn 3 after locking up, and stopping on the last lap when a wheel fell off. However, and I don't believe it either, Nick Nurmester scored points! Well, a point, but still, he got in the slipstream of Reatherson on the final straight and when he pulled out to pass him, took advantage of Melrose's to blast past.
ShonanMeh. Harmsky was in the top 20, Sokolov 25th. Not much to say, really.
ResultsCode: Select all
Pos Driver Team Time/Retired Gap
1 Thomas Yorke Good Call 17:14.245 11 LAPS
2 Daniel Melville ZimSport 17:15.070 + 0.825
3 Nathanael Cameron Prospec 17:19.433 + 5.188
4 Gary Pacer Aeroracing 17:19.446 + 5.201
5 Alessandro Lucarelli Parma Corse 17:26.139 + 11.894
6 Joel Melrose JLD 17:26.192 + 11.947
7 Raul Souto Maior Aeroracing 17:26.285 + 12.040
8 Nick Nurmester Kamaha 17:26.338 + 12.093
9 Quentin Reatherson Linton-Solindahl 17:26.388 + 12.143
10 Thiago Mazzacane Fusion 17:27.351 + 13.106
11 Franc Piscine Good Call 17:29.510 + 15.265
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12 Joao Antonio Soares Porto Wine 17:30.009 + 15.764
13 Dale Hamilton Red Bull 17:30.667 + 16.422
14 Dan Greenlaw Prospec 17:31.570 + 17.325
15 Judd McAllister BITWM 17:34.441 + 20.196
16 Joe Harmsky Shonan 17:35.134 + 20.889
17 Takuma Taki Red Bull 17:35.400 + 21.155
18 Samora Mondlane Porto Wine 17:40.254 + 26.009
19 Martin van der Maeyede Kingfisher 17:40.542 + 26.297
20 Dorien Lamberigts Octan 17:40.646 + 26.401
21 Shane Walsh ZombieKart 17:40.910 + 26.665
22 Tyler Buckley Gulf JCW 17:41.570 + 27.325
23 Jordan Davies West Cliff 17:41.598 + 27.353
24 Olafur Ragnar Hannesson Parma Corse 17:42.763 + 28.518
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25 Yuri Sokolov Shonan 17:43.664 + 29.419
26 Stephanie Brown JLD 17:44.676 + 30.431
27 Roland Davidson Gulf JCW 17:47.884 + 33.639
28 Peter Port West Cliff 17:47.907 + 33.662
29 Kevin Bainomugisha Octan 17:48.734 + 34.489
30 Richard Hershall ZombieKart 17:48.745 + 34.500
31 Branko Ristic Hydook 17:50.266 + 36.021
32 Paul Travesen Linton-Solindahl 17:55.681 + 41.436
33 Hendra Naufal Takagi 17:58.165 + 43.920
34 Marko Jantscher Fusion 17:58.190 + 43.945
35 Carsten Jancker Hydook 18:00.293 + 46.049
36 Tetsuya Takagi Takagi 18:04.503 + 50.258
37 Jan Maylander Dofasco 18:11.298 + 57.053
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38* Victoria Desai Kamaha Loose Wheel (L11) +1 LAP
39* Ryan Zimmer ZimSport Brakes (L10) +2 LAPS
40* Jef Verbeeck BITWM Electrical (L10) +2 LAPS
41* Roberto Dinella Jones Puncture (L9) +3 LAPS
42* Cezary Samelko Dofasco Transmission (L9) +3 LAPS
DNF Scott Davidson Kingfisher Electrical (L6)
DNF Eric Swerts Jones Suspension (L6)
Fastest lap: Nathanael Cameron (1:30.298)
Championship standings and stewards' report to come when I feel like it.
R.I.P.
GM HOLDEN
1948-2017
, if it were not it would be better and it is hopelessly