Round 2 - Malaysian GP - Race Part 2We get straight back to the action with Copeman diving up the inside of Chris Warrington in turn 4. A flick to the view from the other Tyrant shows the MAC stays behind, but also Cremasco attempting to get passed Hinz. He fails to get the car stopped in time, instead running into the back of the AMR, losing all grip, and finding himself facing oncoming traffic. Hinz gets away scot free, but Cremasco is forced to watch most of the field go by.
A couple of corners later, and Copeman's frustrations get much worse. He makes the same mistake as Worseling, visiting the gravel trap on the outside of turn 6. 6th to outside of the points is far from ideal.
Silva makes a mistake in turn 10, and whilst he doesn't lose a spot, it does mean that Hinz is now all over the back of the Ecurie machine.
With the pace Hinz has shown so far, it was inevitable that mistake would eventually cost Silva. Turn 1 and the AMR driver makes a simple move up the inside.
We have someone slowing and it's... Cremasco! It seems his transmission has given out, and from just after his spin things get about as bad as they can in the race. A real shame for the Tyrant man.
Silva is clearly spooked by his mistake, and just a couple of corners after Hinz goes by, Scala takes advantage and goes passed. Up to 7th for the MTP driver.
Hinz is not done yet. The incredible drive for the German continues, with Chris Warrington his next prey. He goes up the inside into turn 15 and completes a relatively easy move for 5th place.
His teammate must be wondering where that pace is in his own car. Elleker is just going backwards, and in the same place we just saw an overtake, Pedersen gets passed the other AMR.
Time to check in at the front, and it seems the gap between first and second is waaayyy down. Kederer seems much faster at this point in the race, and it won't be long before we have an all out battle for the lead.
Oh that's a real shame! Hinz has put it in the gravel trap! In much the same way as Copeman and Worseling, Hinz has lost it in turn 6, and all the good work from before is out the window. A real disappointment from the AMR team, as the German had put in such an incredible drive. He gets back on track down in 15th.
IT'S A MISTAKE FROM MCCLURE! Maybe it's the pressure from behind, but he gets a fraction over the kerbs in 12 and that's all the invitation someone like Kederer needs. The Alpha driver powers round the outside, and now sits in 1st!
The Ecurie Mistral driver is out of it yet, and goes on full attack into the turns 15 and 1. Some experienced defending from Kederer keeps him behind for the moment.
Scala is following the path set by Hinz, albeit Maverick is probably hoping for 1 less mistake. The MTP driver goes up the inside of Chris Warrington into the final corner, and takes 5th place.
Pederson meanwhile is still attempting some sort of comeback. He's now caught up to the back of Thomas, and makes a relatively easy move up the inside of turn 15 for 9th.
The other MAC is struggling to get back close to the points. Copeman doesn't seem to have much grip out there, and Worseling makes that count with an overtake into turn 1.
The pitstop window is open! Thomas heads in for his stop, but not before Pedersen makes a late change of strategy and comes in himself. The MAC team put him on dry tyres, which definitely wasn't his planned strategy, so things may get interesting.
Gilson comes back into the pits again, and this time puts the dry tyres back on for his actual stop. It seems that's the current trend, and that early stop for the SCR man doesn't seemed to have paid off.
Both leaders are in! Kederer heads in for his stop, before McClure makes a late late choice to follow him in and switch to drys too. There's some really interesting strategy going on right now.
McClure comes out just in front of Elleker, and behind Kederer. That strategy may just have worked, preventing him having a car between him and the Alpha. Note also the drying line starting to appear.
Spangenberg is off again... It's a real day to forget for the Snake driver, with yet another off-track trip highlighting his dislike for the conditions.
Chris Warrington comes in for his scheduled stop, but gets held up trying to exit by Jalving. It means the MPR has jumped him, a few real duff laps for the lone Tyrant.
As we see Jalving lead the pits, Pedersen sets the fastest lap. It's a good 2 seconds quicker than the fastest lap just 2 laps before, so things conditions are getting quicker. And fast.
Warrington comes out right next to Thomas, and has to fight hard to keep the advantage over the Demon. Pedersen sits between him and Jalving, so the Tyrant has lost a lot of time.
The MAC of Pedersen closes quickly onto the back of Jalving ahead of him, but the fact he has to drive off the drying line to overtake proves a huge disadvantage. Overtaking could get really tough now.
The temporary leader, John Warrington, takes his stop. He comes out behind Kederer and McClure, in a very comfortable 3rd place.
Worseling sets the new fastest lap, and again we've lost 2 seconds as the track dries out. It's basically a dry race now, so it's all down to overtakes rather than strategy and mistakes.
Spangeberg heads into the pits on lap 17 from last. With that, every driver has made their stop.
So now would be a good time to get some standings! Kederer and McClure have a big lead over the rest of the field, with Warrington and Nell both very alone behind. In the lower order, there's quite a lot to be fought for though so there's plenty of action left.
We take a quick look at some of the closest fighting. 5th to 10th all on a single straight, with Pedersen and Jalving pretty close.
Just a lap later and they're very close. Pedersen gives Jalving a taste of his own medecine, and physically forces the MPR out the way into turn 1. Both are unharmed, but Pedersen now sits in 7th.
Wait what's this? Pedersen is back in the pits! It seems with his first stop being a late decision to get him on the dry tyres, the team didn't fuel him up for the rest of the race! The MAC driver has gone from a good points finish to way down in 16th just in front of his teammate
MCCLURE IS IN TOO! The Ecurie Mistral team were one of the others to pull their driver in early and McClure doesn't have enough to get to the end so he's got to stop again! Absolute disaster, and that surely leaves Kederer with an assured win. McClure remains in the points, but comes out just in front of Jalving in 6th.
As I say, that surely must have handed Alpha their first victory ever. The German has a 10 second lead over John Warrington in second, so just has to bring it home.
Rodriguez has managed to drag himself back into the points, and is now chasing down Gilson for an even bigger prize. The MPR is far faster though, and makes easy work of it into turn 15.
It gets worse for Gilson, as he's slow to exit giving De Bruyker a good run into the first corner. The One driver gets it done, dumping SCR back out of the points.
Silva makes yet another mistake, dropping it wide at turn 7. The Portugese driver seems determined to chuck away his points, as McClure and Jalving queue up to make him pay.
McClure is the first to try, and perhaps the fact that they're teammates shows, because the move isn't exactly difficult. That's one place recovered, but McClure will still be kicking himself.
It's the final lap of the race, as Kederer makes his way through turn 2. Just 13 turns remain, as Alpha cross fingers and toes for a maiden victory.
Not everyone is quite done yet though. Pedersen is racing for his pride out there, and makes a good move on Worseling to show what could have been.
AND TOBIAS KEDERER WINS! The boost paid off, Kederer remained calm when so many around him faltered, and Alpha take their first ever win in the current form. Absolutely cracking drive!
John Warrington takes a second place for One racing. Another one with very few, if any errors. But not quite enough pace to match up to Kederer today.
The Demon of Nell takes the final podium place, continuing his fantastic season last time round. Considering where he started, a podium may be way more the Nell had hoped for after qualifying.
And behind him, Scala finishes in 4th, just 0.088 seconds ahead of McClure. Ecurie Mistral will wonder what might have been without the pit stop error, but Scala will be incredibly pleased with how his day turned out.
Whilst others are finishing up, Pedersen is still not done. He makes a final corner dive on Hinz for the prestigious 14th place, and takes the place ahead of the AMR.
That's the end of the event! Congratulations to
Tobias Kederer of Alpha Motorsports. They drove an absolutely flawless race out there in incredibly tough conditions. A fully deserved victory.
Also worth a mention are some of the great drives, including Scala and Hinz. Only one worked out well, but there was some fasntastic driving, brilliant overtakes, both of which were slightly tainted by mistakes.
Official results will follow, but I hope you enjoyed the coverage here today. It's been a cracking event, and one of the most dynamic sets of conditions I've ever seen in the GPGSL. A really fascinating weekend.
Join us next time in Suzuka, but until then, Goodbye!
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