Post by Mαττ on May 10, 2006 23:18:11 GMT -5
2006 WSRC European Grand Prix
The rain continues to fall as Europe experiences a lashing from the Heavens. This seasons’ most popular past-time is ‘guessing the setup’. One team who continually do their homework correctly appears to be the Audi Motorsport team as Diogo Vincenzi continues his massacre of the rest of the field.
With the first practice sessions being dry, it looked to be anyone’s race, but the two main contenders were Vincenzi and Bruno Castello of the Raltwest team. Each driver traded times to continually lower the benchmark and things were looking competitive as HSV’s Matt Finlay and Rhino’s Kyle Schroeder battled it out with Dave Carr-Smith of the Vodafone Audi team and Flavio Santos in the second Raltwest not far behind. Just before qualifying got underway, the rain came and washed away the form guide completely. Vincenzi reacted the best and was able to put his Audi on pole position, followed by Castello who was certainly disadvantaged by the weather. Finlay would start a distant third, narrowly beating Carr-Smith, while Schroeder and Santos rounded out the rear, the Raltwest of Santos looking particularly ropey around the wet corners.
Nothing much was wrong with the launch control of Schroeder at the start, and he zipped into the lead, followed by Carr-Smith and Finlay. Once again, a poor start for Vincenzi as his car appeared to get too much wheelspin on the line. By the first corner he was dead last. This state of affairs didn’t last long however, and Vincenzi picked off Santos by the third turn, and swooping past the HSV of Finlay at the hairpin. Through the sweeping turn nine, Schroeder ran wide over the kerb and had a very lucky escape as the car slid out of control. He gathered it up, but Castello, Vincenzi, Carr-Smith and Finlay were through, Vincenzi taking the lead from Castello at the chicane.
The race then settled and Vincenzi was able to pull steadily away from Castello, who in turn was pulling away from Carr-Smith who seemed to be struggling with grip. On lap four, the Vodafone Audi touched a kerb and spun wildly, allowing Finlay and Schroeder through. Carr-Smith rejoined just in front of Santos who was forced to take evading action.
On lap five, Castello was five seconds behind Vincenzi as the Raltwest pulled off and into the pits for his scheduled stop. Slick work by the Raltwest team and he rejoined the fray. On lap six, Vincenzi pitted the Audi but was able to rejoin just 4.9 seconds ahead of Castello.
Meanwhile, Carr-Smith was having fun. On lap seven, the Vodafone Audi driver once again spun his car on the greasy circuit but kept his position. Schroeder decided that this would also be fun to partake in and he looped his Rhino car on the final lap. No such antics from Vincenzi however as he crossed the line to take the win, followed by Castello and a distant Finlay who drove an uneventful race. In fourth place was Schroeder who headed home Carr-Smith and Santos crept through for the final point.
Qualifying:
1. Diogo Vincenzi 1:21.585
2. Bruno Castello 1:22.135
3. Matt Finlay 1:24.283
4. Dave Carr-Smith 1:24.428
5. Kyle Schroeder 1:25.938
6. Flavio Santos 1:30.141
Race:
1. Diogo Vincenzi 14:17.029s
2. Bruno Castello 14:26.023s
3. Matt Finlay 14:43.283s
4. Kyle Schroeder 15:16.921s
5. Dave Carr-Smith 15:33.367s
6. Flavio Santos 15:43.570s
Championship Standings
Diogo Vincenzi – 57
Matt Finlay - 31
Tom Matthews - 26
Bruno Castelló - 27
Matthew Green - 11
Reece Byrne - 9
Flavio Santos – 5
Dave Carr-Smith - 6
Kyle Schreoder - 6
Tom Pell - 0
Michael Adenekan – 0
Audi Motorsports – 68
Holden Motorsport – 40
Raltwest Honda – 32
KDR Racing – 26
Vodafone Audi – 6
Rhino Racing – 6
=====================
It's still a little early I know, but some of you have been doing some laps around this circuit, so I thought I'd post the thread now so you may all undermine each other's confidence with the laptimes you guys post.
the weather has been called and is is a wet race! we'll be using the city of Neuwied for the weather forecast as it was decided last year that this was the closest city to the circuit.
don't forget;
deadline for submitions: Sunday 21st May, 24:00 GMT-5(EST)
deadline for late submitions: Monday 22nd May, 12:00 GMT-5 (EST)
get driving and lets see those times tumble 8)
The rain continues to fall as Europe experiences a lashing from the Heavens. This seasons’ most popular past-time is ‘guessing the setup’. One team who continually do their homework correctly appears to be the Audi Motorsport team as Diogo Vincenzi continues his massacre of the rest of the field.
With the first practice sessions being dry, it looked to be anyone’s race, but the two main contenders were Vincenzi and Bruno Castello of the Raltwest team. Each driver traded times to continually lower the benchmark and things were looking competitive as HSV’s Matt Finlay and Rhino’s Kyle Schroeder battled it out with Dave Carr-Smith of the Vodafone Audi team and Flavio Santos in the second Raltwest not far behind. Just before qualifying got underway, the rain came and washed away the form guide completely. Vincenzi reacted the best and was able to put his Audi on pole position, followed by Castello who was certainly disadvantaged by the weather. Finlay would start a distant third, narrowly beating Carr-Smith, while Schroeder and Santos rounded out the rear, the Raltwest of Santos looking particularly ropey around the wet corners.
Nothing much was wrong with the launch control of Schroeder at the start, and he zipped into the lead, followed by Carr-Smith and Finlay. Once again, a poor start for Vincenzi as his car appeared to get too much wheelspin on the line. By the first corner he was dead last. This state of affairs didn’t last long however, and Vincenzi picked off Santos by the third turn, and swooping past the HSV of Finlay at the hairpin. Through the sweeping turn nine, Schroeder ran wide over the kerb and had a very lucky escape as the car slid out of control. He gathered it up, but Castello, Vincenzi, Carr-Smith and Finlay were through, Vincenzi taking the lead from Castello at the chicane.
The race then settled and Vincenzi was able to pull steadily away from Castello, who in turn was pulling away from Carr-Smith who seemed to be struggling with grip. On lap four, the Vodafone Audi touched a kerb and spun wildly, allowing Finlay and Schroeder through. Carr-Smith rejoined just in front of Santos who was forced to take evading action.
On lap five, Castello was five seconds behind Vincenzi as the Raltwest pulled off and into the pits for his scheduled stop. Slick work by the Raltwest team and he rejoined the fray. On lap six, Vincenzi pitted the Audi but was able to rejoin just 4.9 seconds ahead of Castello.
Meanwhile, Carr-Smith was having fun. On lap seven, the Vodafone Audi driver once again spun his car on the greasy circuit but kept his position. Schroeder decided that this would also be fun to partake in and he looped his Rhino car on the final lap. No such antics from Vincenzi however as he crossed the line to take the win, followed by Castello and a distant Finlay who drove an uneventful race. In fourth place was Schroeder who headed home Carr-Smith and Santos crept through for the final point.
Qualifying:
1. Diogo Vincenzi 1:21.585
2. Bruno Castello 1:22.135
3. Matt Finlay 1:24.283
4. Dave Carr-Smith 1:24.428
5. Kyle Schroeder 1:25.938
6. Flavio Santos 1:30.141
Race:
1. Diogo Vincenzi 14:17.029s
2. Bruno Castello 14:26.023s
3. Matt Finlay 14:43.283s
4. Kyle Schroeder 15:16.921s
5. Dave Carr-Smith 15:33.367s
6. Flavio Santos 15:43.570s
Championship Standings
Diogo Vincenzi – 57
Matt Finlay - 31
Tom Matthews - 26
Bruno Castelló - 27
Matthew Green - 11
Reece Byrne - 9
Flavio Santos – 5
Dave Carr-Smith - 6
Kyle Schreoder - 6
Tom Pell - 0
Michael Adenekan – 0
Audi Motorsports – 68
Holden Motorsport – 40
Raltwest Honda – 32
KDR Racing – 26
Vodafone Audi – 6
Rhino Racing – 6
=====================
It's still a little early I know, but some of you have been doing some laps around this circuit, so I thought I'd post the thread now so you may all undermine each other's confidence with the laptimes you guys post.
the weather has been called and is is a wet race! we'll be using the city of Neuwied for the weather forecast as it was decided last year that this was the closest city to the circuit.
don't forget;
deadline for submitions: Sunday 21st May, 24:00 GMT-5(EST)
deadline for late submitions: Monday 22nd May, 12:00 GMT-5 (EST)
get driving and lets see those times tumble 8)