Round 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Part 2Welcome back to Interlagos! When we left the pitstops had just started, ready to put positions in the race into even more confusion. Portugal, Ireland and Uruguay have suffered with awful first halves of the race, and will be hoping for much better performances in the remaining 27 laps. Monaco and South Korea have enjoyed much stronger performances at the front, and will hope to build the lead even further. Lets go back to the track to catch up with the rest of the action.
As we go back, Keranen is on the attack, trying to repass the Maslov. Off camera the Russian had taken 5th back, and the Finn returns the favour instantly into turn 4.
The leader is in the pits! It's a crucial time for the whole of the Monegasque team, no mistakes if Grimaldi is to keep the lead.
Things go fairly smoothly for Monaco, but leaving the pits it's ultra tight between him and Australia on the track! Grimaldi just about comes out ahead, and the clean air could be crucial.
Next lap and South Korea is in. Will one lap have been enough to deal some damage? Nope, and in fact its made things worse for Kuei. He now has two cars between him and the leader, which can only be seen as a disaster!
They're taking it in turns, and now Kederer is in from 3rd. Maybe the traffic will let him passed Kuei?
Kuei is immediately on the attack trying to fix things. The fresher tyres make him much faster than Prost, and he pulls out the slipstream on the main straight. He keeps it up the inside and it's a simple move into turn 1.
Kederer is leaving the pits as this overtake is going on, and he manages to get ahead of Prost too! It's a cracking result for the German, and he now sits much closer to Kuei.
Next lap and the new leader, Ricky Bobby is into the pits. He gives Silva a glimpse at what he's missed out on as the Portuguese driver takes the provisional lead.
Keranen has had good pace all day, and now he makes a move on the backmarker of Vukcevic. A simple move at the Senna S and the Finn isn't help too much.
Bobby comes out well behind Kederer, but the American does have a reasonable amount of space to play with.
Next up for Keranen is Hatfield, and he does the job once again without much fuss.
The pits are creating overtakes, but they're not exactly important ones. Maslov goes for a lunge on Vukcevic to clear him, and just about gets through cleanly.
Silva has had his time and the front and comes in for his mandatory stop. It was nice while it lasted.
Rodriguez comes out after his stop oh so close to Pryce. The welshman tries to get immediately by, but Rodriguez just about holds on to the valuable position of 19th.
Just a quick confirmation that with people filing into the pitlane, Grimaldi has retaken his place at the top of the order.
Prost is one of the last to pit, and coming out will be frustrated to see Silvestre ahead of him. The Frenchman is one of the only people to have lost a position in the pit window.
So with everyone having pitted, lets take a look at the standings. Grimaldi's lead has grown, but as we saw Kuei and Kederer are much closer. The field has spread out a bit, but there are still plenty of battles to be had.
A new stint, a new Daly. Maybe it was the balance of the car, because the Irishman is immediately on the attack. He dives up the inside of Tafuro and takes back 14th easily.
Prost is also on the move, pulling out from behind Silvestre to reclaim the place he lost in the pits. He's ahead by the first corner, with the boost making a huge difference.
Tafuro has taken over the mantle of "everyone can overtake me", with Cremasco breezing by. It doesn't look like it's be points for the Brazilian, but it's a crowd pleaser non the less.
Ooooh no, well I've properly cursed him and now everyone will passed, because Tafuro's engine has given out! Smoke is billowing, and the Italian has to pull over to the side of the track and retire. The first non-finisher of today!
A couple of laps of closing later, and Silva is also on the attack. He's right on the back of Maslov, ducks out the slipstream and takes 6th place before the straight is finished. Things are looking a little better.
Prost is also on the back of someone, as he tries to make a move on McGregor. The Aussie tries his best to defend, but it's not too difficult for Prost in the end.
It's more bad news for Maslov, as the new set of tyres clearly aren't living up to what he'd hoped. Saputra is the one on the back of him this time, and gets by at turn 4. The Russian may be a little aggrieved at the yellow flags, but they were being retracted just as the pair arrived on the scene.
We have a quick look at 2nd to 4th. Bobby looks like he's much closer to the German, but Kuei has maintained his gap.
Tung has sat comfortably in the points so far but that's under threat as Prost has closed quickly on him. As you'd expect, the move is easy enough, and the Chinese driver is demoted to 11th.
Daly is trying to forge the same path towards the points, although it's going to be a lot tougher. First up though is Silvestre, and he makes quick work of that.
Bobby has properly closed that gap to Kederer and takes a look on the start/finish straight. He's a little way back though so it might not work quite yet... except it does! Cracking bold move there, and the American is onto the podium in his debut race!
The field is fairly spread now but that doesn't stop the attacks. Prost was 9 seconds behind De Boer just 3 laps ago, and is cutting the gap at 1 second a lap. Will he have enough time to catch?
Further back and the Irish charge for points is still on. He has 7 laps to make 3 places, and with only a second to Australia in front, one of those is close.
Hang on! Kederer has locked up and that's definitely not the way he should be going! He's fired wide at turn 12!
The mistake has not lost the German a place, but Keranen is right on the back of him now! The Finn pulls alongside, and keeps it that way through the first corner. They still side by side...
And Keranen takes the inside line through turn 3 to grab 4th! That mistake has properly cost Kederer now.
The German has a little look into turn 4 for some instant revenge, but he can't get close enough and remains in 5th for now.
It's taken him 3 laps, but Daly has finally bridged the gap to Australia. He goes for the attack up the inside, and manages to make it work. 12th for Ireland!
Bobby is on an incredible charge now, and has now caught up to Kuei in 2nd place. He got a good bit of slipstream there, pulls alongside... and he's through! USA are now in 2nd place, and looking very strong!
We go back to Grimaldi who is enjoying a nice 3.7 second gap at the front. Looking at the places gained stat, it confirms just how good a day Finland and USA are having. Finland currently has the places gained point though.
That might not be for long though! Kederer is looking to take that spot back, and Keranen looks really nervous going into turn 4. No move yet though.
1 lap later and now there is though! Kederer ducks out from turn 3, gets a cracking driver and... he's through! Back into 4th. It really shouldn't have been that tough, but it's his position once again.
At this point it's not that important, but Cremasco dives at McGregor. The Australian doesn't defend too hard, leaving the Brazilian to take 13th.
Final lap now and Grimaldi looks set to win this. Bobby has cut the gap impressively down to 2 seconds, but is just going to run out of laps.
Prost has put in a real shift, and with 1 lap left has got the gap down to under half a second. He's not close enough into turn 1 though, so realistically only has turn 4 to try a move.
He comes out of Curva do sol with a good drive and goes for the inside line. It looks good... but De Boer defends hard! The Dutch driver uses all his experiences and keeps 9th! That must surely now be it!
What's this? Kederer is heading off again! He's looking up at turn 9 of Pinheirinho! Except this time, there aren't acres of grass to protect him, just a barrier. The German loses a tyre and is out on the spot! Of all the people to crack under the pressure, I wouldn't have expected some as experienced as Kederer.
In all the drama, Grimaldi hasn't cracked though! The Monegasque driver wins the Brazilian Grand Prix! One of the few drivers to show genuine pace over both stints, and it's a fully deserved win!
Ricky Bobby of USA comes through in 2nd. Some very good overtakes towards the end, and the American will be chuffed with that debut performance.
Completing the podium we have Lin Kuei. So close to getting 2nd, but considering the starting position, 3rd will be nothing to complain about.
The race isn't quite done yet though! Silva is showing some remarkable fight and has managed to pull out of the slipstream coming up to the finish line! This is a straight drag race for 4th place!
SILVA DOES IT ON THE LINE! The Portuguese driver has just pipped Keranen across the line and taken 4th by 0.034s. An absolutely astonishing finish!
Saputra profits rather nicely from the chaos around him, taking a strong 6th place from all that. Another good debut.
Maslov ended up in a bit of no man's land after all that. Again a solid debut, with some good overtakes to be proud of.
We're still not done for the points, as Prost is trying to do exactly what Silva just did! He's pulled out of De Boer's slipstream and he's going to try and outspeed him for 8th!
SO CLOSE BUT DE BOER HOLDS! It's even closer, with De Boer finishing just 0.026s ahead! An incredible finish, I don't think I've seen anything quite like this before.
Rounding out the points is Tung, who crept back in thanks to the German retirement. Daly ended up finishing just half a second away from points in the end, which can only be seen as a disaster after his qualifying.
And that's that! Congratulations to
Graham-Ayrton Grimaldi of Monaco! He got a fantastic start and from there it was pure consistency that gave him the race win. Some strong performances behind, with Bobby and Kuei doing well. Silva had a real tale of two halves to take fourth, but I'm going to thank him purely for making this race as ridiculously entertaining as it was.
But anyway I hope you enjoyed the race! Some cracking action there, and I'm certain things will only get better when we head to Motorland Aragon for the next race weekend. Join us there!
Official results to follow.