Moderator's Report
Summary
Another win for Evil with Clives Loynes having to settle for second place for the fourth time so far this season. As in previous races they both chose the same car, this time the Maserati. Third place was secured by JonnyO in a Vanwall.
Server replay time: 0h04m18s
Lap 3 - BP Bend – Francesco Molteni and Paul Villiers
Paul is following Francesco down the straight approaching BP Bend, there is about 5 car lengths between them as they approach the braking zone. Both drivers appear to be struggling with “red” brakes. Francesco runs very wide which leaves the door wide open. Paul tries to maintain a tighter line but he can’t slow down sufficiently and he also runs wide. Unfortunately contact is made. Francesco can continue but Paul is out of the race.
Francesco did nothing wrong.
Paul wasn’t trying to overtake here, starting from 5 car lengths back it wasn’t a viable option. He simply ran out of brakes. Whilst there was no intention, the responsibility for the contact must lie with Paul. Fortunately Francesco could continue. No client reply was submitted so it wasn’t possible to ascertain whether warp was a factor.
Server replay time: 0h27m12s
Lap 20 - BP Bend – Dulima Dulima and Gregory Taber
Dulima and Greg are engaged in tight battle. They have been circulating together for several laps. Dulima is passed by Greg on the exit of Quarry Curve and on the run down to BP Bend Dulima is on the inside as they approach the braking zone. At turn-in (this is where Greg turns in, as he is on the racing line), Dulima has achieved more than 50% overlap but not quite 100%. Dulima maintains a tight line and Greg keeps to the racing line. As the cars approach the apex contact is made. Both cars loose time but they can both continue.
Although Greg passed Dulima on the exit of Quarry Curve, he only managed to get one car length ahead. At no point did Dulima appear in Greg’s mirrors, so Greg could not be sure he had completed the overtake. Dulima was entitled to defend his position and make a legitimate overtaking attempt into BP Bend. He had enough overlap to force Greg to yield but not enough to claim the corner outright. Dulima maintained a tight line so it was a very clean move. Greg didn’t yield by deciding to take a wide line, instead he contested the corner. He relied on the assumption that he had completed the overtake and that Dulima wouldn’t have judged his braking so perfectly.
This incident is a typical borderline case that often occurs when drivers are closely matched and fighting hard for position. To entirely apportion blame to one person or another in these circumstances is not constructive. The 50% to 100% overlap guideline implies this is a contested overtake.
