Round 8 - France (Magny-Cours) | ||||||
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Round 8 - France (Magny-Cours) | ||||||
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In the French countryside the next round of the IAF1GP Championship took place in perfect racing conditions. Warm summer sunshine and not a cloud in the sky were the conditions for race-day and as the cars formed up on the grid after the parade lap a strange sight befell us. Yes there was a Digitech on pole but it was the wrong one! No Janak this time but Mirko Patzenbein who had a fantastic qualifying to take the number one spot. Even stranger was his companion at the front. Rafal Ziarnik had put in one of his best qualifying laps just at the right time and second place was his reward. To find the title challengers we had to look back to row 2 where Jan Svehlik sat in 3rd, Janak 4th.
At the start Patzenbein made an average getaway but Ziarnik bogged down badly and fell back as Svehlik had a flyer and passed them both for the lead. At the back there was a moment of panic as John Duncan's Players-Racing machine burned out it's clutch and stalled causing Scott Dryden and Damir Arh to take creative lines to get past him. Meanwhile Patzenbein got a fine tow from Svehlik and re-passed the Wild 13 into Melbourne Hairpin and regain the lead. Tom Nielson had made a stellar start from 9th and took 2nd for a fleeting moment as he flashed past Svelik at the hairpin and on to the outfield, lucky not to spin. He rejoined 6th. Steffan Diener also made a good start, taking 4th from 8th on the grid. The confusion caused by Nielson at the hairpin had allowed Ross Kirk to take 5th place from 14th on the grid as he weaved creatively through the field. Lap 4 however, saw him fall back as Ziarnik went on a charge, taking 4th from Diener on lap 5.
As the front 3 began to pull away, Alan Strang made his move and passed four cars in one lap to take 4th but got sideways out of the last corner, letting Ziarnik and Diener through. On lap 12 the French crowd gasped as Patzenbein got crossed up coming out of the final corner - Svehlik and Janak taking a side each with the cars crossing the line three abreast. Svehlik had the best run and came out ahead, Janak taking second and Patzenbein slotting into 3rd. At the end of the lap Patzenbein peeled into the pits to make the first of what was to turn out to be 4 pit stops! He came back out in 4th behind Ziarnik whilst on lap 17 Svehlik and Janak came into the pitlane nose to tail for fuel and tires. The Wild 13 Crew made their stop in half a second quicker than the Digitech boys and Svehlik re-gained the track in first place, Janak right behind him. At this moment Patzenbein was taking advantage of his fresher rubber, breezing past Ziarnik for 3rd.
Hendrick Mehl was on the up at this point, holding 4th for a brief time during the stops. On lap 19 Janak made his move, lining up behind Svehlik into the hairpin and braking at the last possible moment to take the lead. Further back a spin from Mehl dropped him to 10th while Alan Strang's Team Ecosse could be seen pulling back onto the track from the grass, the driver furiously shaking his head. The televison replay showed what had happened - Ziarnik had tried an 'optomistic' overtaking manouvere on the Scot, bumping the white car off the road and pushing it down to 11th.
Patzenbein was back in the pits again on lap 29 and he once again rejoined 4th behind Ziarnik.
At this point Janak and Svehlik arrived behind Nielson to lap the Graton GP but once they had gotten past him, Nielson missed his braking point and ran into the leader, breaking his nose cone and giving Janak a scare. The incident promoted Svehlik to 1st and Janak powered off behind him, leaving Nielson's car noseless and slowing down. He made it to the pits for repairs but after a lenghty stop he rejoined for one lap but came straight back in, the car proving undriveable.
On lap 34 Patzenbein once more slipped past Ziarnik to take third and just two laps later Svehlik and Janak once more entered the pits together. Oliver Roberts' team could only manage a stop which was a second slower than the Wild 13 crew and Svehlik retained his lead as they left the pitlane. However Janak was destined to take the lead when they came to lap Maistralis for the 3rd time. Svehlik hesitated and Janak pounced, taking them both and boxing Svehlik in behind the back-marker.
Rafal Ziarnik was knocked out of 4th by Mehl who attempted a late braking manouvere at the Hairpin on lap 38 leaving the Yapamotox driver in 8th while Marco Saupe made up 2 places to grab 4th for himself. Mehl's move had left him with deranged suspension and he began to fall back, being picked off by Saupe, Strang, Ziarnik and others as the race wound down.
On lap 44 Patzenbein was in for the 3rd time but stayed in 3rd, comfortably ahead of the battle behind him. Things settled for the next few laps with Patzenbein making his final stop on lap 56.
On lap 57, Jan Svehlik pitted for the last time. The stop was a poor one and Janak took an immediate 6 second lead which he kept fairly constant to the chequered flag when he lost a couple of seconds behind back markers. Patzenbein finished a safe 3rd with Marco Saupe taking 4th, Diener 5th and Strang leading a furious battle for 6th over the line comprising of Kirk, Bruns and Ziarnik who were all covered by a couple of seconds at the end.
Digitech - All 3 cars in the top 4 at the finish said it all about Oliver Roberts' squad. Michal Janak qualified in 4th but was soon up at the front battling hard with Svehlik for the lead. Survived a brush with a lapped Nielson on lap 29 and after the pit stops managed to edge Svehlik out by 4 seconds at the end. Mirko Patzenbein was the most creative of the field - going for an unusual 4 stop strategy that had him at full output throughout the race. This allowed him to lead for the first part of the race from pole position and despite falling behind the two leaders was an unchallenged 3rd place at the end. Marco Saupe was quiet for the first half of the race from 7th on the grid but managed to keep the car on track while others were making mistakes to lead Diener across the line for 4th place.
Dutchy - Eric Van Der Veen started 16th and finished 11th in what was a steady run with few errors.
Graton GP - The 'character' of the pit lane, Tom Nielson again made a lightning start to take 2nd at the hairpin from 9th on the grid but he left the track at that point and dropped back. He continue to fall back through the field until misjudging his braking while being lapped by the leaders on lap 29 and hitting Janak. He made it to the pits for repairs but little could be done and after one more lap he retired.
Peralton F1 - Treating the race as more of a test session for the debutant team, Damir Arh had a subdued event - starting at the back and having to take to the grass to avoid John Duncan. Retired on lap 15 soon after being lapped.
Players Racing - Lined up 17th but John Duncan's clutchless machine didn't make it away at the start.
Roadrunner - A promising race for Steffan Diener, the confusion on the first lap gained him 4th for a moment from 8th on the grid. Fell back from then on but had a fine last half of the race to finish just behind Saupe in 5th.
Rocketship - A great 5th in qualifying but Maltez dropped back during the race with electrical troubles which stopped him on lap 61.
Team Ecosse - Strang started 6th and finished there, a nudge from Ziarnik in the middle of the race losing him positions. Led the train of cars battling for 6th over the line. Scott Dryden started 18th and finished 1 lap behind in 13th.
Wild 13 Bolgani - Jan Svehlik qualified 3rd but a great start elevated him to the lead before Patzenbein repassed him into the hairpin. However when Patzenbein pitted Svehlik and Janak were left battling for the lead but a late pitstop left Svehlik 6 seconds behind the Digitech driver. He finished 2nd having closed to 4 seconds behind at the end. Axel Bruns had a steady first two thirds of the race to be running as high as 5th during the stops from 15th although a couple of late errors left him in 8th at the flag.
Yapamotox - Rafal Ziarnik put in a spirited qualifying effort to take second on the grid but an awful start dropped him to 6th. Fought back up to 4th. Fought with Patzenbein breifly for 3rd after each of the Digitech's first two stops and was later involved in a couple of bumping matches. His bruised machine finished 9th. Bielawski started 10th and finished there - just behind his team-mate.