Round 2 of the mixed league saw an old skool 1975 F1 race in France this week at the Paul Richard Circuit . The boys from the south took up the challenge. While the event was held over three races, all the guys got in early to test out several cars to ensure maximum points were taken.
Qually:
Jeremy Pernesz knocked out the fastest qually lap of 1:19.887, followed very closely by Nick Fittock, Scott Durham who both managed to come in under the 1:21 mark. Shane Gilfeather, Allan Marks, Chris Naumovski & Michael Tyquin respectively finished out the grid.
Races:
One single lap time doesn't prove anything unless you can back it up come race day.
Race one and two were short 14 lap sprint that would require maximum focus to keep opposing drivers at bay. Jeremy took his quick form into the race to clocking an even quicker lap than his qually lap @ 1:19.553. Shane Gilfeather looked extremely sharp and seemed to have figured out his car very well and was leading most the race but somehow managed to become distracted by the outstanding rFactor graphics on the last lap to gift the race, and maximum points, to Jeremy. It was Nick Fittock though who ran in the quickest lap so far of 1:19.310, however, could only manage third place.
Race two was almost a replica of the first race, all the way down to Shane leading the race, only to have gifted the points, ON THE LAST LAP, to Jeremy again! The 2 were side by side going up the main straight and Shane was protecting the inside line as Jeremy was closing in under the draft. The ultimate line was the outside line for the next right hander which meant that Shane had to back off slightly to get around. This saw Jeremy take his last chance of over taking and he planted the foot and closed his eyes as he successfully went around the outside of Shane with 2 wheels on the dirt to take the lead and the win. The majority of the field clocking times under the 1:21 mark, things were heating up nicely for the finale.
The final race came and this would include a compulsory pitstop that wasn't really required. There was talk amongst the pits deciding when to take it. With no pit limiter installed in 1975 the boys had to monitor the speed manually which added to the challenge. The lights went out and everyone was cautious going into the first turn Jeremy got the corner first with a great launch and Shane again protected the inside line to hold 2nd. Behind there was a bit of congestion with a couple of drivers getting bumped off. At the end of lap 1 Scott and Nick scramble to the pit entry to get the compulsory pitstop out of the way early while the rest of the field stayed out. Shane made about 3 mistakes to give Jeremy a slender 21 second lead. This would cost him any chance of getting a round win. Throughout the entire race both Scott and Nick were glued together showing some classy side by side racing. This would come undone as Shane joined the trio Nick lost control of the soft setup of the F1 cars. Handing 3rd to Shane. Allen Marks had trouble finding the speed in his car as he kept losing time to the leaders. Chris did a great job to minimise his mistakes and run some consistent laps which wasn't easy around this circuit. Rookie Micheal Tyquin also did well with his limited experience as he was mixing it amongst the leaders.
Jeremy took the win and a clean sweep for the night and Scott came home 2nd with Shane in 3rd only 2 secs ahead of Nick after a late spin. A fantastic night of racing !!
By Daniel Gialdini
Race Results:
Drivers | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Points |
Jeremy Pernesz | 1 | 1 | 1 | 60 |
Shane Gilfeather | 2 | 2 | 3 | 49 |
Scott Durham | 4 | 4 | 2 | 43 |
Nich Fittock | 3 | 3 | 4 | 43 |
Allan Marks | 5 | 6 | 5 | 35 |
Chris Noumovski | 6 | 5 | 6 | 34 |
Michael Tyquin | 7 | 7 | DNS | 20 |
Championship Table:
2014 Mixed League - S2 | |||||||||||||||
Drivers | State | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Race 7 | Race 8 | Drop Points | Total Points | Current Place | |||
Jeremy Pernesz | NSW | 17 | 20 | 37 | 1st | ||||||||||
Scott Durham | NSW | 20 | 15 | 35 | 2nd | ||||||||||
Shane Gilfeather | NSW | 13 | 17 | 30 | 3rd | ||||||||||
Allan Marks | NSW | 15 | 12 | 27 | 4th | ||||||||||
Nick Fittock | NSW | 8 | 13 | 21 | 5th | ||||||||||
Chris Naumovski | NSW | 9 | 11 | 20 | 6th | ||||||||||
Rob Cooper | QLD | 12 | 0 | 12 | 7th | ||||||||||
Enda Murphy | QLD | 11 | 0 | 11 | 8th | ||||||||||
Adam Gill | NSW | 10 | 0 | 10 | 9th | ||||||||||
Micheal Tyquin | NSW | 0 | 10 | 10 | 10th | ||||||||||
Sam Owen | NSW | 7 | 0 | 7 | 11th |
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