Round 7 - Brazilian GP - Autódromo José Carlos PaceRace day at Interlagos, and it's raining cats and dogs here. Predictions say it'll go on like that for at least another 30 minutes before the rain might lose some intensity. Kederer secured pole in the quali lottery, and with the other championship contenders far down the order he might retake the lead. Silva in 2nd will be looking to do better than in Barcelona, where he threw away a good starting position. For Dan Mills in 3rd it'll be his first career race, having filled a tester seat ever since season 2.
The weather report, challenging conditions for the drivers, who all opted for heavy wets
The red lights are out, off they go!
Kederer sticks to the outside, and keeps the lead ahead of Silva and Mills
Onboard with Nell, and we can see just how bad the visibility for the drivers is
Yellows are out, contact between Hinz and Cremasco sent them off the track
Sanvitale managed to get past Mills
Silva with the fastest lap, as the first two already are pulling away slightly
Gilson takes 7th from McClure
In the background Elleker got past Warrington
Silva has a first look at the lead
But Kederer shuts the door and keeps him behind
Elleker moves up another spot, passing Nell for 13th. Behind them Jalving gets past Warrington
Timing shows that Spangenberg managed to take 8th from McClure
Jalving must've had a slight mistake, he dropped back behind Warrington, Copeman and Soutsen
Gilson the great winner of the opening laps, he gained 7 spots. Spangenberg up 4, while McClure lost 4 places
Riding onboard with Mills, who's doing well so far in his first outing in a race seat
Gilson gains another position, passing Rodríguez into turn 1
His teammate on the other hand lost a spot to Pedersen
de Bruyker gained 3 places, but is still far off from where he wants to be
Spangenberg right at the back of Rodríguez
Elleker now found his way into the points
Yellow flags are out again. And this is no replay, again Cremasco and Hinz made contact in turn 4
Worseling went off in turn 6
Spangenberg goes for the move
and he succeeds in taking 7th
Keranen still holding on to 5th, but now he's got Gilson chasing him down
At the front Silva keeps the gap at about 1s
Another successful overtake from Gilson, handing him 5th place
Snake internal battle for 6th
Keranen holds on to it for the moment
Fastest lap set by Gilson, the Englishman is flying in these tricky conditions
Same goes for Elleker, who moves up to 11th
McClure seems to have found his rhythm, challanging Rodríguez for 8th
Pedersen fights back, retakes 11th from Elleker
Hinz and Cremasco at the back end of the field, the German now got ahead
Warrington starting to form a train behind him
Mills in 4th, but Gilson's closing up fast
Elleker has another go at Pedersen, and takes 11th
Spangenberg has a look at Keranen
And they make contact!
Spangenberg spins off, Keranen only just keeps it under control, but loses out to Rodríguez, McClure and Scala
Scala has a good run on McClure, and moves up to 7th
Nell with a late move against Pedersen for 11th
He manages to get past
Warrington tries his luck as well going into turn 4
But he has to pull back, compromising his line and allowing Copeman to get past
That's de Brukyer and Jalving off in turn 6! A failed passing attempt by de Bruyker sent both of them in a spin
Not much of a gap from 3rd to 5th
Keranen has to hand 9th to Elleker
A few corners later and Nell is at his back already. Might be that his car has taken damage in the contact earlier
Hinz now chasing down the Tyrant of Warrington
Soutsen gets past Warrington for 14th
Hinz with the move on the outside
And he gets it done
Gilson now right at the back of Mills
Going into turn 1 Scala passes Rodríguez for 6th
Almost contact between Elleker and McClure
Keranen loses another position as Nell gets past
Silva still in close distance to Kederer, carefully preparing a move?
Pedersen goes past Keranen, there must be something wrong with his car
Copeman too passes him
Mills down to 5th, Gilson got him going into turn 4
Elleker against McClure, this time he makes it past
Keranen tries to take back 12th from Copeman
But he loses the rear and spins
He keeps the engine running, and continues behind his teammate in 19th
Pedersen the first on to come to the pits
Yellow flags out on the main straight, might be something involving Cremasco and a Snake. What exactly has happened?
Here's the replay. Cremasco went for a move on Warrington, and there's the Aston Martin of Hinz entering the pits
He ran into the Aston! Might have been the visibility, or maybe Hinz was going slower than Cremasco anticipated
Left front wheel of the Tyrant torn off, and Hinz spun around in the pitlane!
Hinz only just kept it out of the wall
Cremasco spins across the track, in the path of his teammate and a Snake
And Warrington hits him head on! Broken frontwing for the Brit, while Cremasco loses another wheel and is out of the race
Hinz managed to get going again and goes into the pits
Yellows out in turn 4 as well, Elleker and Rodríguez have spun!
Here's the replay, Elleker was too late on the brakes and hit the MPR
Yellow flags in turn 1, McClure has spun off. He gets going again, but loses a whole bunch of places
Pedersen has just come out of the pits, makes use of the fresh tyres and passes Elleker
Silva's coming in, he's trying the undercut
Spangenberg goes past Gilson, who's just pitted. Unlucky for the Brit, who doesn't want to lose too much time here
Nell now in 2nd, Soutsen in 3rd, both yet to pit
Mills got back ahead of Gilson with his stop, it doesn't last long though
Elleker in 19th after his stop, the chance on points pretty much gone
Silva right behind Soutsen
And drama for Silva! He was going for a move on the inside of Soutsen, just as the MTP driver moved to the left to enter the pits
He keeps it out of the wall and can continue in 9th, but it has most likely cost him the chance on the win.
Kederer pits from the lead
And rejoins in first with a comfortable gap to teammate Sanvitale
McClure's off in turn 4, yellow flags are out
Jalving off the track as well, seems they made contact
Both can continue, although Jalving almost took out his teammate when he rejoined
All drivers have pitted, these are the standings with 21 laps completed
Gilson's on a run, closing the gap to Sanvitale in 2nd
Nell with a quality of his title winning season, staying out of trouble and quietly working his way up the field
Spangenberg managed to get back in the points, he's chasing down Warrington
Elleker trying hard to make up for his mistake earlier on, passing Worseling for 16th
Silva's misfortune allowed Mills to get back to 4th
Scala too with a faultless drive so far, currently running in 5th place
de Bruyker in 13th, but the gap to 12th is massive, 14 seconds
Hinz didn't exaclty have a quiet and easy race, running in 15th behind Keranen
Gilson now with the move for 2nd place, and he takes it
Soutsen got past Copemen, and makes on the chase of Pedersen
Spangenberg up to 11th, judging by his pace he might've been up for a podium finish
Soutsen has a look on the inside of Pedersen
But there's more grip on the outside, and Pedersen manages to stay ahead
He tries again in turn 1, and is very late on the brakes
Too late, he runs wide!
Copeman gets through, Spangenberg tries as well but doesn't get past
Silva passes Scala for 5th, but he must be fuming under his helmet
Elleker got past his teammate to 15th, he sits behind Keranen now
One lap later and he overtakes him going into turn 1
McClure in 18th anhead of Warrington, these 2 incidents cost him a points result today
Soutsen goes back past Copeman
Spangenberg passes him as well going in turn 4
Dreadful race for MPR, both cars at the back end of the field
Warrington has an off in turn 11
Hinz overtakes Keranen going into turn 1
3 corners later, and Worseling slips through as well
3 laps to go as we get a look at the movements in the top 10. Gilson, Nell and Soutsen the big winners
Soutsen tries once more against Pedersen, this time he makes it stick
Spangenberg and Pedersen side by side
And Spangenberg moves up to 9th
Soutsen has run a bit wide, Spangenberg doesn't hesitate and passes him immediately
Copeman out of the slipstream, past his teammate for 10th place
Kederer enters the final lap
Nell with the fastest lap as he moves past Scala for 6th
Chequered flag for Kederer, he wins the Brazilian GP
Gilson with a stunning drive, from 14th on the grid to 2nd
First career podium for Sanvitale in 3rd place
Mills finishes 4th in his debut
5th place for Silva, but it could've been so much better
Race Director: Ernie B. Ecclescake
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