Round 1:
The Staynish Grand Prix.
Hello and welcome to the new season of the S1. My name is Madison Harris, I am joined here by a former driver and even a team-boss for a few races Luuk Graveland.
Maddison: Luuk, what do you expect for the season to come?
Luuk: Well, Madison I expect another fight between the top two teams of last year like we saw in the wintertests. I expect the fight between the Spiiker drivers and the Novia drivers to be fierce. We could even see an epic battle between Kalming and Soyer again, But if they start to fight too hard their teammates might close up or even pass them in the championship. And also I am currious to see what Gyllir will be able to do.
Maddison: Yes, you mentioned them like a lot of others, what can we expect from them?
Luuk: They bought the bankrupt team of Eclipse and invested quite a lot of money straight away in the team, they were already supplying them with engines last year and might even helped them with producing this car. But in the wintertests we already saw them being up there. They could turn out te be the biggest competitor of Spiiker and Novia.
Maddison: Let’s go quickly to the recap of the qualfying with commentary of Austin Fisher.
There is a lot of pressure normally on the drivers during qualiying since everything has to go right in that one lap if you want to advance to the next round of qualifying and ofcourse to end on pole-position.
In Q1 positions 20-16 are determined. Pedro Wilson was just above the cut-off line with a 1:33.036, at the end he had a “comfortable” back behind him since Kobayashi his fastest time was a 1:33.415 almost 4 tenths slower and he was the fastest of the drivers eliminated from Q1.
Q2 will determine the positions 15-11. Pablo Saez with the time 1:32.468 was the last one to advance into Q3.
Q3 is all the positions from 1-10. Marlan Kalming set the fastest time with an 1:30.115, followed by more then 6 tenths by his title opponent of last year Matthieu Soyer.
Here is the starting grid of the race:
- Marlan Kalming 2. Matthieu Soyer
- Kasran is’Vaara 4. Sølvi Ny’Aæn
- Mitch Noxal 6. Azznup-Øtsypflæ
- Stefan Amanar 8. Pablo Saez
- Czesława Pajor 10. Pedro Wilson
- Marchello Bellini 12. Leo Arntsen
- Haulan Edzhurat 14. Nákel Intásime
- Niki Strauss 16. Sirio Kobayashi
- Marianna Edifredi 18. Alphonse Dubost
- Ceana Doilidh Siosal 20. Eumann Zerkaryon Tiridh
The build-up:
Maddison: And welcome back to the grid. So, Luuk any surprises we can make up already from qualifying?
Luuk: Well it’s hard to tell since it is the first qualifying. But as we can say Pedro was lucky not to be eliminated in Q1. He was sure his one lap in the session was enough, it turned out it was and he will start 9th but if 1 of the guys behind him in Q1 managed to pass him he would’ve started from 16th. Tamradh and MetroCiv need to improve with both of their cars eliminated from Q1. Also I am surprised by Niki who managed to advance through to Q1.
Maddison: It’s funny you mention him. Since our pit-reporter is with him next to his car, right Casey?
Casey: Yes Maddison, I am here with one of the few rookies of the grid this year. So Niki what are you’re goals for the season?
Niki: Garner experience! I can’t expect to just win races this year. We all have to start from somewhere. Even the great champions have to learn the basics.
Casey: You have Wilson as your teammate this season. He is an expierenced driver, is he an mentor for you?
Niki: Oh very, he was a driver I admired when I was watching races!
Casey: You start 15th, where will you finish today?
Niki: I don’t have a crystal ball but I don’t know. Preferably, in the points. I’ll try my best, and so will Wilson and the rest of the team. We are on this together.
Casey: Good luck today, and don’t forget to enjoy your debute
Niki gives a thumbsup and a wide smile
Maddison: So Luuk what do you expect of Niki this season?
Luuk: I think he said it good enough, he needs to get experience. He is not in a team that fights for wins. If he can finish in the points somewhere this season I am sure his season will be a succes. And don’t forget he has a contract with the team for 2 years.
Let’s go to the booth now to our commentator this race which we haven’t named yet. Which is ofcourse Sebastian. With Casey being the pit-reporter and Austin in race-control
The race:
The start went without a mistake. All driver got away from the start cleanly, this beaing the first race of the season might have something to do with it. The first part of the race also was quite calm, There ofcourse were battles during the race. Lap 18 brought us the first round of pit-stops for the people who chose for the 2 stop strategy. Lap 34 started with a big crash in turn 3. Saez suddenly slowed down because of engine problems, Bellini had no time to react and crashed hard in his team-mate. Øtsypflæ also crashed in the teammates and Strauss was also a victim, he however was able to continue but he had to make an emergency stop because his front-wing broke. A VSC was called and it took some time to get all the carbon of the track. The race ended almost with a sprint with most of the drivers chosing to pit and take the medium tyres to not have to stop again.
Marlan Kalming came home to win his home-race. He also got the fastest lap which granted him 26 points.
The top 3 of the championship is also the top 3 after the first race:
- Marlan Kalming, 26 points
2. Mitch Noxal, 18 points
3. Matthieu Soyer, 15 points
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