GPC FR2000 International Championship - Race 1 - Aviano Short

[Jaap Wagenvoort]

Today is the final day of Pre-Qualifying. Already 48 drivers representing a massive 21 different countries have submitted a time in Pre-Qualifying for Race 1 of the FR2000 International Championship by GPChampionship.com.

Only the best of the best will pre-qualify for the event, tomorrow at 22:30CEST. This means a full grid tomorrow and a grid with the quickest drivers around - competition as its best!

Follow the progress of the final 12 hours of Pre-Qualifying, LIVE, using the Live Timing system on GPChampionship.com which has a live data feed connection from the track.

It doesn't get more competitive - tonight will again be a dramatic fight to get into and stay in the top 15. Who will make it .. who will drop out!

[Jaap Wagenvoort]

August 5th, 2006. The GPChampionship.com FR2000 International Championship is Go-Go-Go!!! 57 drivers participated in Pre-Qualifying for Event 1 of the 2006.1 season. Only the 15 fastest drivers would pre-qualify to be able to participate in the event where the points are distributed. At Saturday 0:00CEST, after a very intense 3-day Pre-Qualifying session, the 15 drivers were known and the Russian eXpansion was nothing but impressive. However, it's all about the Qualifying and two Races on Saturday. Who would take first glory in 2006.1?

Qualifying

After the Driver Briefing on Saturday 22:30CEST the drivers prepared for the challenge to obtain the best possible starting grid position in their FR2.0 racecar. Raised heartbeat and hectic minutes for the drivers that made it through PQ into the real event. This is where all the PQ practice should come out, be collected and put into the best possible lap given FullMode conditions in 15-minute Qualifying session. Finding the balance between driving at the limit and preserving your car - this is the car that is taken into Race 1 after Qualifying so the drivers had to be cautious in order to keep their cars unscatched in Qualifying.

After 3 minutes, Monaco testrace winner Wagenvoort (NED) recorded the first serious laptime: 1m06.606. It proved to be a major challenge for the other drivers. Almeida (SUI) came close by clocking a 1m06.816 halfway the session. Wagenvoort drove another 1m06s6, but could not crack his previous laptime. Then, PQ #2 Phil Woodward (GBR) created a shock by beating Wagenvoort's time: 1m06.522. Wagenvoort immediately left his FWN pitbox again. A few minutes later, he managed to go even quicker as the chronos stopped after 1m06.465, 0,057 quicker than Woodward. What an incredible qualifying session!

After 15 minutes, Wagenvoort had taken pole-position, Woodward was second and Almeida took 3rd. The second row was completed by Stuart Whitehead (GBR) as Dahlberg (FIN) and Purcell (IRL) lined up on the third row. On the 4th row PQ quickest Kirill Izotov (RUS) was found, joining Russell Daly (GBR) whereas Raposo (LUX) and Pyy (FIN) completed the top 10.

Race 1

Less trouble in the pitlane than in Monaco where teams were working frantically in order to get their cars ready for Race 1. Immediately trouble for Woodward who could not make the start due to technical problems. At the front, Wagenvoort had the best start and managed to convert his pole-position into the racelead. With Woodward out, Almeida followed in 2nd place. Purcell had a great start and immediately put pressure on Almeida. Raposo had the best start of all as he moved from P9 on the grid to P4 on lap 1, followed by Daly, Pyy and Pettit.

Race 1 went over 10 laps. Wagenvoort had created a 4-second gap to Almeida on lap 2 who had to check his mirrors for Purcell and lost some time with it. Whitehead followed close behind them in 4th.

Purcell put a lot of pressure on Almeida, but couldn't find a way past the Swiss driver. Things sorted out behind them. Trouble for Purcell on lap 7 as he lost 4 places and dropped from 3rd to 7th, enabling Whitehead to take over third place in the race.

Wagenvoort controlled the race and dropped some pace in the closing laps to preserve the car. Almeida now had less pressure and settled for 2nd to score solid points in the opening round. Whitehead was a very happy driver in 3rd, looking to claim his first podium finish already in Race 1. And he did. After 10 laps, Wagenvoort passed the chequered flag and his wild FWN crew who were all over the fence to cheer the flawless drive from pole-position. Almeida finished second and Whitehead, cheered by the Team Skunk Racing crew, third. Raposo claimed 4th, scoring valuable points for Team FWN. Daly finished a strong 5th, ahead of Jyy, Purcell and Pettit who all managed to score important points in this first race. Also, this result gave them a good starting position for Race 2.

Race 2

The grid for the feature race (over 20 laps this time) was based on the final result of the sprint race. Wagenvoort and Almeida lined up on the front row, Whitehead and Raposo filled the 2nd row with Daly and Jyy on the 3rd row.

As the lights went green, both Wagenvoort, Almeida and Whitehead had a great start. No change of position. Behind them though, Raposo was taken out by another car who hit the #3 FWN in his rear suspension. Furiously waving the Luxembourg-based driver got out of his damaged car. Daly moved up to 4th, followed by Richard Hooper. The reliable British driver had trouble in Race 1, but moved from 10th to 5th on lap 1 of Race 2.

Curnow and Woodward, victims of Race 1, now had their cars properly running and immediately moved up the field. In comparison to Race 1, Wagenvoort this time couldn't develop a big lead over his rivals on the opening laps. Almeida managed to keep the gap to 1,5 seconds in the opening laps. On lap 6, Daly got into trouble and dropped from 4th to 9th. One lap later it was Daniel Pettit who had to retire the #76 sim-racer.net car. After scoring 3 points in Race 1, a DNF for the young and talented British driver in Race 2.

Hooper now moved up to 4th, with Woodward closing in behind him. On lap 7, Almeida lost some time and the gap to Wagenvoort extended to 3 seconds. Hooper made a mistake on lap 9 and Woodward took advantage to take 4th in the race. Halfway the race, after 10 laps, Wagenvoort lead Almeida by 4,7 seconds, with Whitehead 7 seconds down on the Dutchman. Hooper again made a mistake on lap 10 and lost more time, dropping from 5th to 7th, just in front of Daly.

On lap 14, Stuart Whitehead pushed more and more and starting closing in the gap on 2nd placed Almeida. Two laps later his was without 0,5 of a second behind Almeida and the fight started. On lap 18, Whitehead passed Almeida, but Almeida fought back. A great, fair battle full of respect between two FR2000IC aces. Whitehead's driving style had impact on his tires thought and he overcooked it exiting the tight hairpin and lost the car. Race over for the British driver after a great display of talent that impressed the FR2000IC paddock.

Almeida now had a safe buffer behind him where Phil Woodward, coming from last place (P15) on the grid, now drove in 3rd place. Almeida was already almost 10 seconds down on Wagenvoort and therefore again settled for 2nd place, knowing he was going to earn another big load of points with this podium finish.

Curnow, coming from P12 on the grid, in the meanwhile moved up to P4 - another great drive by #42 kerbcrawlers driver as he had lost the support of teammate Morgan 'mo' Purcell early on in Race 2.

Two laps later, the FWN crew again in the fence, together with Antonio Raposo who was still angry because of his DNF, as Jaap Wagenvoort was on his final lap. After almost 23 minutes, Jaap wagenvoort also won Race 2 from start to finish. A great start to the season for the Dutchman with pole-position, wins in the sprint and feature race and fastest lap in both races. Almeida finished nearly 10 seconds later in 2nd place, another great result for the RSC Motorsports driver as his teammate had a terrible event, DNF-ing in both races. Woodward crossed the finishline 20 seconds behind Wagenvoort. He had both arms waving out of the cockpit as he took the chequered flag to celebrate his move from last place to the podium.

Curnow took 4th place and his first season points. Juha Pyy finished 5th to score points in both races as he has a solid start to his campaign. Hooper finished an eventful race in 6th as he managed to control the pressure by Daly who settled for 7th place.

A fantastic start to the FR2000iC 2006.1 season. Great competitive racing, intriguing wheel-to-wheel racing, drama with retirements and spins and happy faces on the podium.

Links

Pre-Qualifying Result

Race 1 Result

Race 1 Lapchart

Race 1 Driver Comments

Race 2 Result

Race 2 Lapchart

Race 2 Driver Comments

Driver Championship Standings

Team Championship Standings

A very successful start to the season. An exciting 3-day Pre-Qualifying session resulted in the 15 quickest drivers fighting each other in the official event. Wagenvoort came out as winner in Aviano - who will take the glory in the next race? The FR2000IC paddock already prepares for Event 2 of the official season, already next week at Zandvoort. Pre-Qualifying for this event already starts on Wednesday. Join and fight for a place in the top 15 and the official event on Saturday August 12th, 23:30CEST.