Round 8 - United States GP - Road AmericaThe sun greets us for the race day at Road America, though we'll have to wait and see if it'll remain like that for the whole race. The forecast predicts a small chance of light rain in about half an hour, which could make things interesting in the closing stages of the race. The quali yesterday saw the expected strong performances of the MPR guys, with Jalving taking pole and Rodríguez in third. Hinz sits between them in 2nd, he'll certainly be looking to achieve his first career victory. Steer, McClure and Soutsen follow in 4th to 6th, with a podium in close reach they might provide some good battles. One to look out for today will be Silva, despite his boost he only managed to qualify in 17th. It should be interesting to see how far he'll manage to climb up the order.
The weather report, about 25% chance of light rain in about half an hour
The red lights are out, and off they go
Hinz with the better launch it seems, pulling alongside Jalving on the way to turn 1
Several cars going 3-wide, as we see the timing shows us Hinz in 1st
He is ahead, but will he manage to hold on to it on the outside line? Rodríguez with a poor start, looks to have dropped to 7th
He does, but Jalving hasn't given up yet
Through turn 3 and Hinz gets the upper hand
Jalving under some heavy pressure
Soutsen goes for the inside, right behind them McClure tries to snatch 4th from Steer
At the back end Keranen made up a whole bunch of places, he's up to 17th already
Elleker one down to 13th, Silva 2 down to 19th
Hinz in the lead, and Jalving in 4th only. He dropped behind McClure as well. Rodríguez on the other hand has got past Steer to 5th
Steer finds himself under pressure from teammate Nell, behind them Kederer goes for a move on Scala
Both managed to get past
The back end of the field, and the timing shows us that Pedersen managed to overtake O'Neill
Several overtaking moves down to turn 1, Kederer against Steer for 7th, Warrington against Warrington for 10th, and Pedersen against Elleker for 13th
Kederer and Chris Warrington both get past
While Elleker keeps the upper hand against Pedersen
Silva past Gilson for 18th
Jalving fighting his way back, successful pass against McClure gives him 3rd
Steer retakes the position he lost a few seconds earlier
So does John Warrington
Gilson tries as well, but Silva holds on to it on the outside line
Cremasco goes past Copeman for 20th
And that's Pedersen in the wall in Carousel, that's the end of his race
Rodríguez with an overly optimistic attempt to get past McClure in Canada corner, they make contact
McClure gets sent straight into the gravel, and Rodríguez spins around
Scala runs wide as well! McClure seems to have managed to avoid the tyre barrier
Crash between Scala and Chris Warrington as the former doesn't pay attention upon rejoining the track. Wheels are flying across the track!
Warrington manages to steer his car to the side, but Scala goes straight in the path of the oncoming cars!
De Bruyker only just avoids him, but Elleker hits the MTP! Broken front wing on the AMR
Debris all over the track, but luckily noone else collects anything
McClure manages to get out of the gravel, and can continue
The big profiteers of the chaos
The midfiel all bunched up now
Going 3 wide into turn 1, let's hope this goes well
It does, and great driving by O'Neill to hold on to 9th on the outside. Silva up to 10th
It doesn't last long, Worseling fights back going into turn 5
Copeman passes Gilson, he sits in 13th now
Spangenberg past Cremasco to 15th
Elleker in dead last after his stop for a new front wing.
Silva with another move on Worseling, retakes 10th
Rodríguez goes past Cremasco for 16th
And that's Steer back ahead of Kederer
Meanwhile Keranen has found his way into the points, 11th already after overtaking Worseling
The top 3
Rodríguez gains another place as he goes past Spangenberg
Silva takes 9th from O'Neill
And that's O'Neill in the wall! The Carousel has claimed another victim
Contact between Copeman and Gilson under braking for Canada corner
Both in the gravel, and Copeman has lost his whole nosecone
Elleker into the wall in turn 1, he probably was pushing too hard trying to make up the lost time
The gaps at the front get smaller
Nell and Steer in 4th in 5th, would be a good result for Demon if it remains like that
I spoke too soon, Steer's in the wall in Carousel! The third driver to crash there today
Jalving goes past Soutsen for 2nd place
But Soutsen fights back going into turn 5
Rodríguez back in the points in 11th. And the timing shows that Kederer lost a place
He has indeed, John Warrigton got past
From 21st on the grid all the way up to 9th already for Keranen
Silva has closed the gap to de Bruyker
Lap 10 as Nell is the first one to head in for a scheduled stop
Jalving back in 2nd again
Rodríguez gains another place as he goes past Worseling
Jalving now chasing down Hinz, as Soutsen heads to the pits
Bad timing as he gets out just ahead of Cremasco, who immediately challenges him for 9th
He's forced a bit wide, allowing McClure to pull alongside
And the Mistral driver gets past as well, some important seconds lost for Soutsen in the fight for 2nd, or even the win
Rodríguez pulls off the track!
A gearbox failure ends his race
McClure right at the back of Cremasco
The pressure leads Cremasco to make a mistake, he runs off in Carousel, he only just manages to stay out of the wall
He can continue the race in 11th
That's McClure in the wall in Canada corner, and Soutsen seems to be off in the background as well. They must have made contact
He is indeed, and he's missing his right front wheel! A promising race put to an end, and a double DNF for MTP
Race leader Hinz heads to the pits
A quick service by the Aston crew, he gets back out ahead of Jalving
But the Dutchman has his tyres up to temperature already, and easily goes past in turn 5
A rather slow stop dropped Warrington back behind Kederer
Jalving looks set to put some distance between him and Hinz
Worseling up to 9th as Cremasco heads to the pits
Everyone's stopped once now, these are the current standings
Keranen in 8th, and he might get up even further
The fight for the final point between Cremasco and Copeman
Hinz is back in the lead! Missed by the cameras he's gone past Jalving in turn 1
But Jalving does yield that easily, he retakes it going into turn 5
Copeman heads to the pits, apparently they didn't fuel him to the end when he pitted for a new nosecone
He gets out right ahead of the race leader
Doesn't look like he interfered that much, both go past on the straight down to turn 5
Keranen now up to 7th after a successful pass on de Bruyker
Jalving can't pull away, Hinz stays right at his back
Nell's running in a safe 3rd place, big gaps to both the drivers in front and behind
Hinz pulls out of Jalving's slipstream going down to Canada corner
But he doesn't manage to get past
He tries again in turn 1, but again Jalving keeps the upper hand
Warrington takes 4th from Kederer
3rd time's the charm, going into turn 5 Hinz takes the lead
The same corner Kederer retakes 4th from Warrington
What's this? Now Copeman has unlapped himself from Jalving, interfering in the battle for the lead
Warrington and Kederer keep on going at it, now the Brit's ahead again
Only for a few metres though
The battle for 9th between Worseling and Spangenberg
Copeman still separating 1st and 2nd
With Kederer and Warrington battling Silva managed to close up to them
He immediately goes for a move on the One driver in turn 1
But Warrington retakes 5th in turn 5
Keranen now has closed up as well. It's 14 places up already for the Finn, and he might make that even more
3 laps remaining for Hinz to take his maiden win
Copeman in last, and still ahead of Jalving. The Dutchman doesn't seem to be able to lap him again, might be he stressed his tyres too much while battling with Hinz
Silva with another move on Warrington, he takes 5th place
de Bruyker in 8th not that far behind
2 laps now for Hinz
Warrington tries to retake 5th, but Silva keeps him behind
Spangenberg can't get close enough to try to pass Worseling
Hinz enters the final lap
Warrington with another attempt, and this time he gets it done
Keranen tries to slip through as well, but can't quite make it
In his 110th GP Chris Hinz takes his career first win!
Jalving takes 2nd
It looks like Keranen managed to get past Silva
He did indeed!
Nell completes the podium in 3rd
Silva tries hard, but Keranen crosses the line a few thousandths ahead of him
And that's it, an eventful United States GP ends with the maiden win for Chris Hinz, and the second of the season for AMR. They will undoubtedly have some big celebrations tonight. Jalving won't be too happy with how the race ended. The interference of Copeman sure played a part, but even then it didn't look like he could go the same pace as Hinz in the last laps. Nell kept his hopes on a successful title defence alive.
Race Director: Ernie B. Ecclescake
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