With only two weeks down the driver championship battle is heating up. With a 9 point gap between 1st and 2nd, and a 13 point gap between 3rd and 5th, this is turning into a very tough season. The team Championship seems to be dominated by Yerphuct Racing with a commanding 53 point lead over the second place team of Steve squared racing, who hold second by 16 points over FD&H.
Last week, the drivers were at Brands Hatch Indy for an afternoon to Dusk race.
@HazardLvL4 takes the pole with the top 7 all within a second of each other. Drama at the start caused some lagcidents right off the bat and
@Lessen took the brunt of it all. The drivers fell into their pace about 5 laps in where everyone had finally picked their real estate and laid claims. As the race started to move into the latter stages, pit strategies varied tremendously as some drivers took 2 stops with soft tires, some with 1 stop on soft tires, and others with one stop on mediums.
@HazardLvL4 takes the checkered flag to win his second race in this series. Followed by
@Zii1993 and
@Mike Lobban for podium finishes.
Race 2 brought a whole new set of challenges for some drivers. While the start being brutal to some drivers, others were able to take advantage of the situation. Team managers begged race control for a restart, but were told "This is racing and that it's up to the driver behind to not hit the driver in front."
"It was a tough race. I tried to let everyone bunch up at the start before the last turn which unfortunately caused some problems in the back of the field." Commented
@Alex ONeill "I didn't have the pace that some of the other guys had and really had to defend my position most of the race in order to finish in the top 3 in the second race."
With some having damage right from the start, the feild took a little longer to settle into a pace this race with cars acting irradically. Most were able to push through their first stint and just deal with the hanging parts on their cars.
@cheezzus had troubles with suspension gremlins afterwards for the whole race that really hindered the fighting ability of his car.
We had a newcomer for this race @chadbaseball15. First time racing with the series and gets a solid 2nd place finish behind
@Zii1993 with
@Alex ONeill behind them in 3rd.
Driver Spotlight
@HazardLvL4
1. You qualified pole and took 1st in the first race, how did the car feel during the 1st race?
Hazard:
During the first race the car felt really good. The confidence the car provided me allowed me to attack the circuit with my full potential. My only limitation, was as the stint wore on how long would the soft tires hold up, and that was nagging at the back of my mind the whole time.
2. Pit strategy in race 1 was crucial due to the variants in the tire compounds people were running, what were your plans going into race 1 for pitting, and did anything mid-race make you change on the fly?
Hazard:
Qualifying on pole gave me an advantage, thus I started on softs to allow me to attack the circuit and begin to build a gap between the pack and myself. For me, the softs began to fade quickly and decided to try to make them last till 25 minutes remaining. Knowing the stop would compromise first place, I stayed on the softs with no changes to maintain pace. Once I regained first, I had to nurse them immensely to the finish of the race.
3. Track temps change a lot during these series races, how does that affect your outlook on the race?
Hazard:
Track temp. does play some role in deciding tire compound and pressures going into an event. However, I find myself not giving any thought to this issue. I pick a pressure range putting the tires a little warmer than ideal, knowing they will cool down into an ideal range as the track temp. drops.
4. Race 2 had a rough start, how did you fair?
Hazard:
The start of race 2 was less than desirable for me (laughs). Unfortunately, I made contact with another vehicle before the green flag waved, and damaged my car pretty extensively. I decided to tough it out an make up any track position I could, in order to not put myself on a 2-stop strategy. Due to the damage it made the car behave erratically, which caused me to make minor contact with other vehicles throughout the first half of the race. Finally, after 24 laps and no longer gaining ground on the positions in front of me I decided to pit. I put the car onto soft tires and went back out hoping for a top 5 finish. A glimmer of hope presented itself when I was fighting with Alex for 3rd with 5 min. remaining, but the softs were cooked so bad, that I lost it going through McLaren into the final corner, and decided to pit one more time. I watched, dismally, as I fell to 10th with 3.5 minutes to go. I was able to salvage an 8th place finish, but I was disappointed in my performance.
5. Did you make any adjustments after race 1 that changed the way you attacked race 2?
Hazard:
Going into race 2 staring dead last on the grid, I knew tire strategy would be key here. I decided to change from the softs, foregoing some pace, and started on the mediums. Plan was to run longer on the mediums during the first stint and finish it up on the softs, but as we all know things didn't work as planned (laughs).
6. What was the toughest part of the track for you on fresh tires/worn tires?
Hazard:
The toughest part of the track for me, regardless of tire wear, was Paddock Hill, turn 1. The back of the car always felt like it wanted to come around and say hello to the front end. However, outside of Paddock Hill, I had no issues what-so-ever on fresh tires anywhere else on the circuit.
Worn tires posed considerably more issues. Paddock Hill, turn 1, became a monster to keep the car from spinning like a top. The car began to pose oversteer issues under braking into Druids Bend, turn 2. Finally, going up McLaren into the final turn she would want to oversteer under braking as well.
7. Your thoughts on the series as a whole, or the community?
Hazard:
The series has been great thus far. The racing has been clean, and challenging. The car selection is absolutely supreme in my opinion. Looking a head at the schedule, the track selection is also something that has me pumped about this series. Only one circuit on the calendar that I am not looking forward to. As for the community, man what can I say, all of them are great guys. I am new here, and they have accepted me in and made me feel at home. I plan on staying with this league for as long as they will have me.
8. Anything you have to add?
Hazard:
Being the new guy here, I first, just want to say thanks for having me, and providing some great racing.
Secondly, I am looking forward to the remainder of the season fighting it out at the top for the championship with Zii. He has some serious pace this season, and I am looking forward to have more great racing against him, however, hopefully I come out on top (laughs).
Things will only get touher as we head into week 3 at Oulton Park International. Weather is looking to be foggy for the whole race. We will be there to get record and write another article for each week. Until the next time, cross the checkered line safe and fast.
