Las Vegas
Division 1
After 3 years and 9 seasons DTR F1 for the first time ever have an official Grand Prix at the Las Vegas circuit. A track with long long straights and a few slow corners is the ideal recipe for chaos in a sim racing race. Well we sure got that this week.
With just two more races to go it’s much more about not making mistakes and getting as much points as possible instead of winning a race or getting a podium. In this crucial part of the season it’s all or nothing.
Usually Division 1 has a front row of two Greek’s who are unbelievable quick over a lap but then also most times find unbelievable ways not to win or end up on the podium, apart from the rare occasion where do end up glorious, like Athanasiou who had a brilliant win at Monaco or Maridako finishing third in Brazil for example. However both of the before mentioned drivers were found at the Casino instead of at the race track. This opened a window of opportunities for the rest of the grid to start on the front row. Czech driver Klepy secured pole position ahead of Nellboy, Evan and BeniBunno, the three remaining title contenders. That order remained until lap 3 where Nellboy overtook Klepy and took the lead, hoping to build a bigger lead in the championship as well. A few safety car situations changed up the order behind a few times and in lap 10 we even had the miraculous moment of the Ferrari’s being in second and third as both of them didn’t pit during a SC situation. That was a situation that didn’t last very long though, on their older tyres they quickly fell back in the order and a few laps and safety cars later the order up front was restored again. Nellboy lead ahead of Klepy, BeniBunno and Evan. In lap 22 a Virtual Safety Car was the deciding factor in this race, as once again disaster struck for Nellboy in a possible title decider. Despite being far under the delta for the entire period of the VSC, as soon as it went green, suddenly Nell’s delta went over and he got a drive through with just 3 laps to go. That meant the end of his aspirations on the win or any good result. He stayed out and even got disqualified for it on the last lap, taking away even more points. A fierce battle between BeniBunno and Klepy remained for the race win, that ended not the way Beni hoped for as he got tapped by Klepy on lap 12, lost traction due to it and got overtaken by both Klepy and Evan. Something the stewards will probably will take into account when looking back at it, but for now the win went to Klepy. Evan fell back in the race results, due to a 10 second penalty he got during the race, but he is confident that will be removed by the stewards, which will move him back up the podium and create a new dimension in the championship with just 1 round to go.
So the unofficial results:
The Standings:
In theory there are still three drivers in the race for the drivers championship, but will Nellboy on holiday next week it will be a showdown between BeniBunno and Evan, who hopes to make it two in a row, while for the constructors championship Nellboy’s team mates Bogarovski and HammersUK will have to step up their game to have to chance to beat Red Bull.
Division 2
With the Drivers’ titel already decided in DTR’s Thursday’s F1 Division, there may have been less at stake, but there’s still a group of drivers fighthing for the remaining top 3 spots, race wins, podiums and of course the Constructors title, who despite a big lead for McLaren still has not been won yet.
In Qualifying Bobspun showed his recent progress and took his third pole position of the season ahead of HummerGP, Bogarovski and Brother Adam. Even though this was a race with many incidents and Safety Cars, the top 5 remained mostly the same for the whole race. It was the top four from quali and Connor, who constantly changed position with his team mate Adam. The real action, or incidents were behind these drivers, where new champion Hammers was also being included in. A Safety Car in lap 15 brought some change into that as some drivers opted for different strategies. Bobspun, HummerGP and Adam decided to stay out on their older Harder tyres while Bogarovski and Connor went for a more attacking strategy and went for Medium and even softs for Connor. After the restart of that situation the race really derailed. First Adam and Bogarovski had a slight contact in lap 12 dropping Adam back a few position, but the real drama happened when HummerGP and Bogarovski collided at the end of lap 19. Both ended up in the wall, having severe damage and had to pit for repairs, while a SC was once again brought out. This all moved Connor up to second with much better tyres than the leader, Bob who had been flawless up until this point. When we got underway again and Connor had closed the gap and smelled glory, turn 1 of the final lap also was his last turn of the race. He misjudged Bob’s braking point, had to make a avoiding move not to hit Bob and hit the wall, ending his race. Bogarovski then ran into Connor’s car, dropping him back again. After the dust from all the chaos was gone, Bobspun got the biggest trophy of all as he won his third race of the season, while his team mate ManlikeDonkey secured second and kept the title hopes of Red Bull alive as well, as both McLaren drivers just barely managed to secure some points. Adam secured the final podium spot after an eventful race, but if this full result will stand is something the stewards will have to decide upon as quite a few cases on on their plates.
The unofficial results:
The standings:
Seond place in the championship has been decided, but the battle for third remains open, as is the fight for constructors. How that will end? You can watch that next week when we go to Silverstone for the season finale. See you there!
