Brazil
Division 1
You know the story of Division 1 by now, right. We will have a Greek front row, Nellboy starting last and a podium of Nellboy, Benibunno and Evan, while the front row Greeks will find new ways to not get a podium finish or points at all. Well, that’s not quite how the story went this time. Yes, we had a full Greek front row once again, and yes somehow four time pole sitter Athanasiou did not get points again, but the rest of it surely went unexpectedly different.
Or was it really that that Nellboy would run into trouble at this track? It’s actually a returning thing each season. Or to make it even worse, it’s a curse pre dating the existence of DTR, so over 3 years long every season something magically happens to end Nell’s race.
Even though he qualified in 5th and took the lead with a double overtake on both Greeks in lap 7, his tragedy started when not much later a Safety Car was on track and Nell received a Drive Through penalty for speeding under yellow flags. As rule state you can not serve this penalty under SC conditions, so when the SC went in and the race was about to restart at the end of lap 12 Nell came in to serve it from second position as he pitted earlier under the SC for fresh tyres. The commentator nearly fell off his chair when he saw what happened. Normally serving a DT pen you just drive through the pit lane and you’re good to go, but this went a little different as the team actually pitted him and changed his tyres. Then when leaving the pit lane his car went straight on instead of taking the left turn, rest him on track and it retired the car.
Wow. A bug even Codemasters will be ashamed off. (You’d think).
Crazy, right? So there’s the story of Nell at Brazil and why he didn’t score any points. Our usual number two in the races BeniBunno didn’t have a much better day himself as he was involved in multiple incidents, but still got himself 2 points at the end of the day.
So who won then? It was Irishman Evan, who as usual is looking for a late season surge to maybe clinch another title. His team mate Xavi actually crossed the finish line first, but a 3 second penalty cost him the win, but it did get Red Bull a 1-2 finish and the lead in the constructors championship. Maridako finally prevented a new Greek tragedy for himself and Magee to get 3rd ahead of team mate Zettervall, moving McLaren out of last position.
Results
Standings
With just 2 races to go we’re heading off to a 3 man fight with Nellboy leading with 11 and 13 points on respectively BeniBunno and Evan, while the team title seems to be fight between Red Bull and Haas.
Division 2
The Thursday division saw the return of Greek phenomenon Paqman, who once again showed that over 1 lap he is the very best driver of this group. With a stunning lap he took pole position with a time even in Division 1 would have meant he’d be the fastest. Next to him on the front row was HummerGP who has been on fire lately. When the race went underway championship leader Hammers was the first with a big mistake, he spun on lap 1 which dropped him to last position. A few laps later his team mate Bogarovski did the same and even repeated his mistake a lap later. The McLaren had work to do and ground to make up to get some points on the board. Up front however Bobspun slowly but surely reeled in those who started in front of him. First Lakatzis, then HummerGP and finally even Paqman, whose race pace is not the same as his qualifying pace. Halfway through the race those in earlier trouble got help when an on track incident brought out the safety car. Despite its name (safety) there were still a few incidents to happen during this period. Scully and Paqman collided for example and Dubble slammed the brakes to come to a stand still causing Bogarovski and Composite to go full Stroll on him.
This hampered the race of both Dutch drivers quite a bit, what mattered much more was the action up front. HummerGP and Bobspun gave the viewers a great show with their battle for the lead, while the fight for the last podium spot was a fight near everyone left in the race.
When we had another SC late in the race both Bobspun and Paqman decided not to pit, just like Skipper, who were now the top three and that with just two laps of racing to go. A drive through penalty threw Skipper back and despite HummerGP still crossing the line in third a 3 second penalty dropped him to fifth position, giving the last podium position to Hammers, who with that he also claimed the drivers title. Bobspun took his second win of the season and hopes to get a few more trophies in the last two races.
Results
Standings
The battle for second place continues while Red Bull only has a small chance to claim the title from McLaren
Next week we go to Las Vegas for round 9. See you there!
