Round 8 - Austrian GP - ÖsterreichringThe weather report for today's race, unlike yesterday rain won't play a part, at least not until the race is over
The 5 red lights are on
Off they go! Blistering start by Hinz
Onboard with Mills watching his teammate Steer fight O'Neill's Alpha
Elleker was too late on the brakes for turn 1
He takes Jalving out with him as he shoots across the track
Luckily for both no damage to the cars, only some positions lost
While the cameras for focusing on this, both Pedersen and Kederer found their way past Hinz
Warrington glued to the back of Worseling's SCR
Pedersen leading, as we can see in the timing that Russell got past Steer
Hinz has his hands full defending 3rd, further back there's a 5-way fight for 7th
Mills got past Russell
The Brit fights back immediately
Vilela putting pressure on Hinz
Many battles going on as they go up the hill
3-wide they go
And there's contact between McCarthy and Russell
The MAC can continue without losing a place, while Russell's off and facing the wrong direction
And he's out! Trying to get the car back on track he was careless and slides in the barriers
Silva's right at the back of Vilela
Battle for 6th between Mills, O'Neill and McCarthy
Hinz is getting closer to Kederer
Warrington in 14th, still a long way to go for him
Soutsen's stuck between the 2 SCR
Mills back in 6th
Scala got past McCarthy, now sitting right behind O'Neill
Yellow flags are out, that's McClure in trouble
Oh my, big one for the Brit, he was sent flying after a contact with Greidanus
His right rear wheel's off, his race is over
Greidanus escapes unscathed, but he's a long way behind 19th now
His teammate Keranen defends 10th against Rodríguez
Nicely done by Scala and McCarthy, both going past O'Neill in turn 1
I spoke too soon, Scala carried too much speed in the corner and lost his rear
He drops all the way back to last place
Pedersen extends his lead ever so slightly
Keranen goes a very wide line here, luckily manages to keep it out of the wall
O'Neill loses further ground
Elleker seems to be stuck a bit behind Steer
Greidanus is off the track
He can continue, but it was a costly mistake as had just closed the gap to the back of the field
Both Elleker and Jalving now past Steer
While the cameras were focusing on the midfield battles, Silva managed to get past both Vilela and Hinz, and is now chasing down Kederer
Warrington too made some progress, he got up to 10th place
Keranen still battling Rodríguez
Warrington tries to make use of the situation
And succeeds in passing Keranen
O'Neill makes a move
He too gets past the Finn
From 8th to 13th in not even one lap, Keranen really lost out in this situation
That's O'Neill off the track and out of the race, he reports a broken suspension via teamradio
Pedersen keeps on extending his lead
While Silva's getting closer and closer to Kederer
Warrington side by side with Rodríguez for 8th
And he takes the place
Soutsen freed himself of the SCR sandwich, and got up to 10th in the meantime
Steer still sticking to Jalving
Keranen making up the places he lost a bit earlier, now past Worseling to 11th
The Dutchman now has to defend against de Bruyker
Silva goes past Kederer in the last corner
But the Alpha driver retakes the position going in turn 1
Worseling and Keranen swap places again
That's Jalving missing his left front wheel! He carried too much speed in the last corner and just slid off into the wall
Silva against Kederer, this time he makes it stick
British duel for 14th between Gilson and Elleker, the latter comes out ahead for the moment
McCarthy now in 6th after passing Mills
Warrington tries to follow the MAC, but has to sit back for now
He tries again up the hill to turn 1
And goes past
Silva's flying right now, it'll only be a matter of time before he's caught up to Pedersen at this rate
McCarthy kicks off the pitstops
Warrington, Rodríguez and Soutsen follow him
McCarthy's back out just ahead of Greidanus
Silva's in, attempting the undercut on Pedersen
Warrington's out!
Here's a replay of what happened, he carried too much speed in turn 2 and went a bit off line
And just didn't have the grip anymore to keep the car on track
One of his wheels is rolling across the track
And is collected by Keranen! Broken frontwing for the Aussie, who just had made his stop and has to come in again now
Crucial situation for Silva, he can't afford to lose too much time here
Keranen gets a new nose, very unlucky for him, probably robbing him of a chance on points
Race leader Pedersen heads to the pits
Kederer's in as well, which hands the lead over to Hinz
That's very close between Elleker and Steer
Too close in fact, the MMM driver runs in the back of the AMR
Big slide for Elleker, but both can keep the car under control
However that allowed Scala to close up to them
No hesitation at all, the Italian immediately with a move on Steer
And he takes the position
Hinz is in for fuel and fresh tyres
What's happening here?! De Bruyker slows down in order to enter the pits, catching Pedersen completely off guard
He runs into him, and then moves back just in the path of Silva
Who only just avoids contact
And de Bruyker missed the pitlane! He kept the car from hitting any of the walls, but in doing so he also missed the pit entry. Let's hope he has enough fuel to do another lap
Pedersen can consider himself lucky to still be in the race, and also still leading it.
Silva as well incredibly lucky to not become the innocent victim of Pedersen's blunder
Timing shows us Soutsen got past Rodríguez, however the latter is nowhere to be seen
Here we have a replay, Rodríguez had run in the back of McCarthy
Sending the MAC off track and himself in a spin
McCarthy then rejoind just ahead of Soutsen
While Rodríguez comes back between the two SCR in 11th
Kederer goes past de Bruyker, who's almost made it back to the pits
Scala's still battling Steer
And de Bruyker made it back, luckily he had just enough fuel for one more lap
The gap between Pedersen and Silva is getting slightly bigger
Trouble in turn 1, Gilson and Rodríguez crashed!
It loos like Gilson tried to hold on to 10th around the outside, clipped the kerb, and then just went into the MTP
Elleker arrives at the scene, the two of them pretty much blocking the track
But Elleker simply forces his way through, pushing Gilson in the right direction again
Rodríguez most definitely will need a new wing
McCarthy and Soutsen going at it for 6th place
And Soutsen goes past
Rodríguez leaves the pits and rejoins just in the path of race leader Pedersen
Allowing Silva to close the gap
McCarthy tries to retake 6th
Goes up the inside and past Soutsen
Mills takes 8th from Worseling
Hinz in 5th place, trying to catch Vilela who got past during the pitstops
Steer in 12th place currently
de Bruyker shuts the door on Scala
That didn't end well for him
Neither for Scala, who's off at the very right of the screen
Greidanus tries to take this opportunity
But has to sit back
Silva's losing a bit of time on Pedersen, he can't seem to go quite as fast as before his stop
Onboard with Worseling through turn 1, and that's McCarthy's MAC off the track
Contact!
That's the remaining Christel of Soutsen upside down
Big crash!
Let's see a replay of what happened: Soutsen was trying to pass McCarthy in turn 1
McCarthy didn't want to back off, resulting in him running off the track
Then going straight into the path of Worseling, who almost flips over
Then touching wheels with Soutsen, who actually flips over
And lands on his wheels again, with seemingly only a broken front wing
McCarthy can continue, but has to pit for a new wing
As does Soutsen. Boy are these cars durable
Meanwhile Pedersen increases the gap to Silva
While Hinz keeps on closing up to Vilela
Greidanus still tries to find a way past de Bruyker
He succeeds, and sits in 11th now
McCarthy and Soutsen in to repair the damage
And again Pedersen's blocked by a car leaving the pits, this time it's Soutsen
Silva again able to close up thanks to that
With all the action going on, we missed Hinz taking 4th from Vilela
Steer goes past Elleker, up to 9th
5 laps to go for Pedersen
Hinz now with his eyes set on Kederer, might be just enough laps left to catch him
Elleker loses another position, now to de Bruyker
The next one's already in line, in person of Greidanus
Hinz needs to be 1 second faster per lap
de Bruyker takes 9th from Steer going into the last corner
But Steer makes use of the slipstream down the straight, and retakes the position
Greidanus carefully analysing his options
The battle for the wooden spoon between Rodríguez and Soutsen
It seems that Silva has settled for 2nd now
Not quite enough time gained in order to catch Kederer
Worseling still running in 7th after his almost flip
Teammate Gilson behind him in 8th
The gap's so small they're almost bump-drafting here
Steer and de Bruyker keep on swapping places
Greidanus goes for it
Elleker tries to defend and runs off the track
He can't control the car any longer and runs right into Greidanus
Greidanus only just keeps the car pointing the right way, while Elleker runs away with 11th. Not exactly the fine way.
Kederer within 2 seconds of Silva
While Hinz brought the gap to Kederer down to 3s
de Bruyker past Steer again, the same place as some laps before
And just as before, Steer retakes the position in turn 1
de Bruyker's off a bit, this might have decided the battle
Pedersen enters the final lap of the race
Kederer got closer to Silva again, but not enough to catch him
Same goes for Hinz on Kederer
Vilela also too far back to pose a threat to Hinz
Soutsen and Rodríguez still going at it
de Bruyker made it back past Steer!
Pedersen crosses the line and wins the Austrian Grand Prix!
Silva finishes in 2nd place
Kederer completes the podium in 3rd
de Bruyker held on to it, fantastic final laps by the current championship leader
Steer has to settle for 10th in the end
Greidanus takes the final point after many troubles this race
Congratulations to Michael Pedersen on his 3rd career win!
Race Director: Ernie B. Ecclescake
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