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Last Thursday night saw the drivers make an assault on China. This round saw 3 new comers Christopher Romeo, Jesse Dunn and Brad Aiken.

Practice:

Practice got underway and Iceman again offered his setup to the other drivers. This certainally helped the new comers namely Jesse and Brad. These 2 found at least 2 seconds a lap on the setup. The end of practice saw Jason Brooks as the fastest and the only driver to dip into the 1.34's, Jesse and Bard impressing by finishing practice in p2 and p3 respectively 

Qualify:

We then moved to qually and Jesse stamped his intention on the race claiming pole with an impressive 1:34.749, I believe this is the first time in F1 where a rookie has claimed pole in their first race. The rest of the grid was locked in with Brooks starting from p2. Duran Nikora put in a cracking lap late in the session to secure third spot on the grid. Scott Daniels found himself in p4, the iceman sat back in the pack in p5, p6 was filled with yet another new comer, Brad Aiken just over 1 sec off the pole sitters time, Matt Sofi took p7 and rounding out the grid was the other new comer Christopher Romeo.

Race:

The grid was set and the visors dropped, light went out and we were underway. Brooks got a cracking start from p2 and found himself leading into turn 1, a position he would be familiar with throughout the race. Nikora stepped the back end out but was able to maintain control and didn't surrender too many positions. At the end of lap 2 the top 6 drivers were all within 4 seconds of each other. There was some good close driving going on with clean passes. 

Pit stop strategy would be a critical factor in this race due other race distance. Iceman and Nikora both appeared to be on the same strategy hitting the pits together on lap 6, the race leader Brooks remained out until lap 10. Lap 13 saw Nikora's Merc suffer what was reported to be a severe electrical issue which shut down his car and brought an abrupt and unwanted early retirement from the race. It was unfortunate as he was consistent and mixing it up at the pointy end of the field.Lap 15 Scott Daniels and Iceman was nose to tail battling it out, Matt Sofi was having a much improved race in his second outing.

The field settled into a nice rhythm all getting around the track well, there were lots of close tussles the 2 Scott's were at it lap after lap and the 2 rookies Jesse and Brad both found themselves jostling for positions. Meanwhile out in front Brooks remained composed and calm and in complete control of the race.

The 38 laps were over and Brooks took a commanding victory over a minute ahead of second place Scott Daniels. The third spot on the podium went to the rookie and pole sitter Jesse, excellent race! Followed closely by the other rookie Brad. Another excellent drive. I am confident these rookies will get regular seats in this championship and will certainly keep the front runners honest all season. Iceman resembled more of a puddle at the end of this one. Not his greatest performance however 5th was a respectable finish and we all know he will bounce back. Matt claimed 6th in a greatly improved race and the final rookie Chris spent some valuable learning time I the seat and consistently Improved over the race.

Thanks to all drivers for making it a great race...see you all next round!

By Sam Owen

Race Results: