Moderator's Report
A fine win for Clive in the little Brabham. Second place goes to Axel and third to Ziu after Tristan is demoted because of an incident on lap 3.
This race had an unusually high number of incidents & I must thank my colleagues on the moderating team for their assistance in reviewing this race.
Also apologies for the delay in publishing the final results.
Server replay time: 0h04m31s
Lap 3 – Esses - Tristan Bot and Ziu Bacubacu
Ziu is leading into the Esses and brakes at his normal place and speed. Tristan rear-ends Ziu.
Ziu did nothing wrong. Tristan braked too late. Whilst Ziu may have braked earlier than Tristan expected, it is the following driver’s responsibility to avoid contact. This incident was very early in the race and so there was plenty of time for Tristan to watch Ziu for a few laps before picking a safe place to try to overtake. Thankfully the contact was minor and Ziu could continue but he lost a lot of time and eight places.
Server replay time: 0h20m36s
Lap 14 – Esses - Andreas Gebhardt and Bastian Grupp
Clive, Andreas and Bastian are line astern through Butts Corner. Andreas maintains a safe distance from Clive under braking, but Bastian gets too close to Andreas and rear ends him. Both drivers end up overturned and both need to take a reset in order to continue.
Andreas did nothing wrong. As the following driver it is Bastian’s responsibility to avoid contact. Andreas kept to his normal line, clipping the kerb on the inside of Butts Corner and moving over to the left, maintaining the racing line on the approach to the Esses. The responsibility for this incident lies with Bastian.
Server replay time: 0h43m10s
Lap 29 – Cocobana - Billy Nobrakes and Francesco Molteni
Francesco takes advantage of the slipstream on the way down to Cocobana. He gets ahead of Billy but he leaves his braking too late and he locks up and overshoots the corner collecting Billy in the process.
Billy did nothing wrong. Francesco simply misjudged his braking; he had achieved 100% overlap at turn-in, but he wasn’t in total control and it is debateable whether he would have made the corner. At best this would have been a Motocross style block pass.
Server replay time: 0h45m28s
Lap 31 – Cocobana - Mike James and Andreas Gebhardt
Mike and Andreas are having a titanic battle. Mike runs wide onto the grass at Riffle Bend and Andreas takes this opportunity to overtake. Andreas leads into Cocobana followed closely by Mike who has recovered control and immediately tries to retake the position. Mike makes slight contact with Andreas but that is enough for Andreas to have to make a minor correction and consequently slows him down. Mike is early on the throttle and that is enough to make contact with Andreas again. This time the contact is much heavier, and Andreas is overturned and is out of the race. Mike can continue.
Andreas did nothing wrong. Whilst Mike may have expected Andreas to be a little quicker, as the following driver it is Mike’s responsibility to make a clean pass. It is appreciated that this was towards the end of the race and a degree of urgency creeps in, but drivers need to be patient. Mike must shoulder responsibility for the incident.
Mike James - Simple Rear End Shunt: Penalty 1 Place
Server replay time: 0h45m47s
Lap 31 – Esses - Mike James and Dave Curtis
Mike is recovering from his incident at Cocobana and consequently is vulnerable to attack from Dave who has more momentum along Beach Straight. As the drivers approach Butts corner, Dave is ahead but he leaves Mike plenty of room. Too much room in fact, he clips the kerb on the inside and this unsettles his car. As Dave tries to regain control he slews across the track and makes contact with Mike.
This was a legitimate overtaking attempt. Dave had made the same move stick on a couple of other drivers on laps 4 and 8. However this time he takes a little more kerb than on the previous occasions and he loses control. Dave must make a clean pass but there is some scope for leniency given that he had a loss of control. Mike did nothing wrong.
Dave Curtis - Marginal Side by Side contact: Warning